Articles by Antoni Matteo Garcia

The Fourteen Anime Martial Arts Teams Redux

Greetings, anime fans, martial arts aficionados, fighting game devotees, and enthusiasts of all things about anime, martial arts, video games, and fighting tournaments. Antoni here with another written entry. It is no secret that I revel in my fourteen seven-anime-character martial arts team AU headcanon, as I have been developing this concept since a year ago. However, this concept has been tried and tested from childhood to adolescence to adulthood. From 1998 to 2009, I have been traveling with my family and by myself on a couple of occasions to various locales, encountered different television stations, and played a good chunk of fighting video games. Cebu and Manila in the Philippines; Oxford, England in the United Kingdom; Hong Kong; New York, New Jersey, Minnesota, California, Florida, North Carolina, and Hawaii in the United States of America were among the many destinations my family and I traveled to, especially when it came to searching for anime that I still hold dearly to this day. Whenever I tuned in to ABS-CBN, Adult Swim, Animax, The Anime Network, AXN, Cartoon Network, the Funimation Channel, GMA-7, Hero TV, QTV, RPN 9, Studio 23, Solar TV, Toonami, and even on YouTube, I have always kept my mind open to the characters I enjoyed the most and delved into a lot of the fan-related discourse on various anime and pop-culture magazines. Bulking this passion for anime with fighting video games I played on Play Station 1, 2, and 3 as well as in the arcades such as Tekken, Street Fighter, Mortal Combat, and King of Fighters also helped to feed the ever-burning flame. All of this led me to create the pipe dream of wanting to be a voice actor for anime and video games and even want to go the direction of announcing, being the performing arts aficionado I have always been. However, I am glad to have taken a more objective route with the visual media I care for the most in written-discourse and video-review forms. Cutting this long prelude short, I want to thank my family and extended family from the Philippines to the United Kingdom to the United States of America to Canada to various parts of the world for encouraging me to be open-minded, passionate, and maintain high interest in anime, martial arts, and fighting video games. I owe it to each and every one of you for giving me the drive and determination to create my anime martial arts teams AU headcanon. This anime fan-related AU headcanon concept has been on the backburner for over two decades, especially since I started to become a full-fledged anime fan as a 12-year-old sixth grader in 2004. Now that I am a 32-year-old man about to finish my Master’s in American Studies degree in a couple of months, I am more determined as ever to cherish my anime martial arts teams AU headcanon and learn a lot about the martial arts I have been providing to the anime characters I have always enjoyed on the small screen.   While I truly revel in my fourteen seven-anime character martial arts teams AU headcanon, I realized that some of the team-ups did not make sense in hindsight. Granted, I am still happy and satisfied with a good number of the team-ups. However, some of them must have the switch-up treatment. This has also extended to some of the martial arts I gave to a good number of them, which did not hold up as well as I thought it did. After much reflection, reassessment, and rethinking, I present you the fourteen anime martial arts teams I have formulated consisting of seven anime characters per team. The selected characters come from Inuyasha, Baki the Grappler, Shura no Toki, Shootfighter Tekken, Hajime no Ippo, Fullmetal Alchemist, Solty Rei, Ultra Maniac, Wolf’s Rain, Texhnolyze, Geneshaft, Chrono Crusade, Samurai 7, Kiddy Grade, Hungry Heart, Full Metal Panic, GetBackers, and Cardcaptor Sakura. Some of the martial arts choices I have come up for some of the characters might seem bizarre and contradictory to some of the anime series’ canon universes. Nonetheless, I can roll with those choices and thrive at them with all of my being. Furthermore, I am arranging the team members from oldest to youngest that include their main martial arts, their birthdays, and their ages as of 2024. With that said, let’s get ready to rumble and may this be a full house in the anime martial arts tournament arena. Osu! Hajime!   The Splendid Seven (Sesshoumaru, Shuran, Inuyasha, Hakkaku, Ginta, Ayame, and Shunran) The arena resounds in triumph and majesty when Sesshoumaru, Shuran, Inuyasha, Hakkaku, Ginta, Ayame, and Shunran take center stage. Opponents would be foolish to trounce two dog yokai brothers in Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha, three spiky-haired yokai brothers in Shuran, Hakkaku, and Ginta, and two auburn-haired sisters in Ayame and Shunran. Sesshoumaru’s German suplexes, Shuran’s torture racks, Inuyasha’s piledrivers, Hakkaku’s upward headbutts, Ginta’s downward headbutts, Ayame’s elbow slashes, and Shunran’s leopard blows can cause collateral damage to their opponents and leave them half-dead. Sesshoumaru from Inuyasha– Mixed Martial Arts with a background in Vale Tudo, Kapu Kuialua, Folkstyle Wrestling, Pancrase, Combat Sambo, Catch Wrestling, and Huka-Huka; April 30, 1981; 43 years old Shuran from Inuyasha– Professional Wrestling with a background in Sumo Wrestling, Lutte Traditionelle, Gidigbo, Malla-yuddha, Pehlwani, Boli Khela, and Mongolian Wrestling; March 12, 1981; 42 years old Inuyasha from Inuyasha– Ancient Greek Wrestling with a background in Ancient Pankration, Modern Pankration, Luta Livre, Ssireum, Greco-Roman Wrestling, Freestyle Wrestling, and Shoot Wrestling; April 1, 1982; 42 years old Hakkaku from Inuyasha– Muay Boran with a background in Lerdrit, Bokator, Muay Lao, Muay Korat, Muay Chaiya, Muay Lopburi, and Muay Thasao; May 13, 1983; 41 years old Ginta from Inuyasha– Lethwei with a background in Bokator, Lerdrit, Muay Lopburi, Muay Lao, Muay Thasao, Muay Korat, and Muay Chaiya; May 15, 1983; 41 years old Ayame from Inuyasha– Xtreme Gladiator Kickboxing with a background in Shooto, Shootfighting, Shoot Boxing, Draka Kickboxing, Kyuk Too Ki, Muay…

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Thirty-Second Birthday Gratitude

This is my face when embracing new challenges as a 32-year-old man about to complete my Master’s in American Studies degree in a few months with the completion of my Master’s Thesis. I know I should have proclaimed this over three weeks ago. However, I want to thank you all for greeting me on my 32nd birthday three Mondays ago. I am elated and humbled by all of your wonderful wishes, and they have helped me become more motivated to accept every new challenge I encounter as an artist, a performer, a scholar, an online reviewer, and a total media, popular culture, literature, and music enthusiast. As much as I would have loved to thank you much earlier, I have been dealing with my Master’s Thesis. I am currently in my 27th going on the 28th page out of the standard 60 pages, let alone the maximum limit of 66 pages. There is going to be a fair bit of close reading and analysis of a certain 1990’s Black American sitcom that I hold dearest to me starring a certain movie star who started as a rap star in his prime, hint hint wink wink. Therefore, I am filled with high motivation to get this last piece of academic work for Humboldt done so that I can graduate with excellently flying colors. Throughout this current tenure doing my thesis, I have also learned to embrace critical objectivity both as a scholar and as a media, pop culture, and music enthusiast. Healthwise, I am glad to remain no longer obese. Granted, I am still madly keen on losing 3 to 4 more stone (42 to 56 pounds or 19.1 to 25.4 kilograms) of my excess weight. Nevertheless, I am glad to still remain mobile and physically independent, and I have also discarded the foolish victim mindset. I’m strong enough to stand and thrive well. I want to wrap this up by thanking all of you for the warm birthday wishes. Thank you to my parents, siblings, uncles, aunts, cousins, family members from other families, fellow online reviewers, fellow actors, fellow filmmakers, fellow artists, fellow writers, university colleagues, fellow singers, fellow musicians, and fellow enthusiasts of popular culture, media, and music. You have all made my transition to my 32nd year in life an exciting one. Have a grand spring/summer season.  

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Gratitude to All of My 2,200 YouTube Subscribers

Good evening, everybody. This morning, I discovered that I reached the 2,200 YouTube subscriber mark. I continue to be grateful for all the love, support, encouragement, and joy you all have been giving me during my YouTube tenure. As much as I have been continuing to upload more videos on my channel, I have started to do a bit more streaming where I can be communicative with all of you, dear viewers. Yes, I am continuing to write my Master’s Thesis like the full-time academic job like it is. However, I will continue to find some time to stream for you and keep on growing my channel. I even hope to do some Halloween-related reviews from September to October once I have all my academic prerequisites behind me. The videos that continue to gain a lot more traction than ever before are, of course, my Saban-era Blue Ranger morph attempts and ranking the Saban-era Power Rangers series Blue Ranger-morph style. So, I thank all of you wonderful Power Rangers fans for keeping up with me. Hopefully, by this coming Red Ribbon Reviewers’ month, I will do the Disney-era Blue Ranger morphs. I want to thank all of you 2,202 YouTube subscribers for keeping up with me and my content. I also want to thank my parents, siblings, fellow actors, fellow singers, fellow musicians, fellow voice actors, fellow filmmakers, fellow artists, university colleagues, teachers, mentors, fellow online reviewers, fellow writers, fellow online content creators, and fellow aficionados of media, music, and popular culture for inspiring me to be the man I am today. Take care and have a grand spring/summer season, everybody. https://youtube.com/@operaanimelover369?si=uHitrCPzjrQH_kiJ

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My Six-Year DeviantArt Anniversary Art Summary

Happy Sixth DeviantArt Anniversary to me, ladies and gentlemen. I know I was supposed to post this yesterday. However, as you can tell, InuAya month continued to be in full swing. This is also evident in the fanart collage I have created when I started InuAya month two years ago and continued to observe April as the month dedicated to one of my most beloved OTPs ever. Therefore, I invite you to sit back, relax, take a stroll down memory lane with me, and celebrate the six years I have been here at DeviantArt. There is no doubt that my time on DeviantArt has been filled with ups, downs, fans, trolls, friends, enemies, and a whole bunch of netizens present here and outside DeviantArt for better and for worse. However, one attribute remains evergreen which is my passion and devotion to Inuyasha x Ayame as my cherished one true pairing not only in the Inuyasha franchise as well as all of anime but also in all of fandom. I have been a devoted partisan to this pairing since I was a teenager because I believed that there was potential for Inuyasha and Ayame to be a mighty power couple strong enough to defeat a horde of opponents in martial arts tournaments and protect their family and fellow tribespeople from invaders. Even in my teens, I was never satisfied with the canon pairings Inuyasha and Ayame received. I have already made my reasons clear as to why their respective canon pairings never worked in my eyes, even if the canon devotees do not want to listen or think I am bashing the canon pairings. Nevertheless, I chose to exercise my right to uphold Inuyasha and Ayame as one of my favorite power couples ever. Throughout my time drawing Inuyasha x Ayame fanart and delving into discourses in terms of the potential they have as a power couple, I have been toying with ideas in store for them. One of the ideas I had in store was my Mighty Morphin Inurangers AU headcanon. No doubt did I enjoy casting Inuyasha as the Red Tyrannosaurus Inuranger version of Tommy Oliver and Jason Lee Scott and Ayame as the Yellow Saber-Toothed Tiger Inuranger version of Trini Kwan and Aisha Campbell. While I always insist that Inuyasha embodies Tommy’s long-lasting legacy as the face of the Power Rangers and Jason’s original status as the Red Ranger leader and Ayame encapsulates Trini’s courageous compassion, Aisha’s warm fierceness, and even Tanya Sloan’s unstoppable graciousness, Inuyasha’s and Ayame’s power couple dynamics are reminiscent of the following Red Ranger and Yellow Ranger couples, especially in the Saban era. Inuyasha and Ayame possess Eric’s and Taylor’s military fierceness, Leo’s and Maya’s warrior strength, and Andros’s and Ashley’s warmly unconditional love with fortitude and glory as an Inuranger couple. My InuAya fanart collage illustrates that there is one other AU headcanon that propelled my admiration and fascination for Inuyasha and Ayame as a power couple. That is my anime martial arts tournament AU headcanon where a lot of the anime characters I grew up watching on television form teams of seven and possess trademark martial arts. The idea was born from my admiration of fighting games and real-life martial arts tournaments like Street Fighter, Tekken, King of Fighters, Mortal Kombat, Pride FC, UFC, WWE, TNA, and K1. Inuyasha and Ayame are the power couple who combine magnificent muscles, stupendous super strength, and formidable fierceness to dominate the competition. Inuyasha’s main martial art is Ancient Greek Wrestling with a background in Pankration, Ssireum, and Combat Sambo akin to Zangief and Guile, while Ayame’s main martial art is Muay Thai with a background in Kyuk Too Ki, Pradal Serey, and Muay Lao akin to Joe Higashi and Benimaru Nikaido. Given their respective fighting styles, Inuyasha and Ayame would end up winning the gold in every martial arts tournament they are in. What has always sold me about Inuyasha and Ayame as a power couple is the combination of mighty combat prowess and unconditional empowerment. I have always insisted that Inuyasha’s bulging biceps, alabaster abs, tremendous triceps, pulverizing pectorals, dominating deltoids, and crushing calf muscles complement Ayame’s furious fists, fleet feet, knockout knees, eviscerating elbows, and sharp shins to win any and every martial arts tournament. This is especially true when Inuyasha’s magnificent muscles and stupendous super-strength propel his double axe handles, tracheal grip chokes, camel clutches, German suplexes, fireman’s carries, elbow drops, and neck cranks join forces with Ayame’s Superman punches, uppercuts, jabs, hooks, flying knees, elbow slashes, and roundhouse kicks. Thus, Inuyasha’s magnificent muscles as a wrestler, bodybuilder, and weightlifter specializing in Ancient Greek Wrestling, Pankration, Ssireum, and Kapu Kuialua combine exceptionally with Ayame’s limbering limbs as a Nak Muay Ying Farang specializing in Muay Thai, Kyuk Too Ki, and Pradal Serey. Inuyasha’s and Ayame’s powerful combat prowess also has an effect on their progeny and family as a whole. I have always envisioned Inuyasha and Ayame to have an unbreakable marriage under Ayame’s grandfather’s blessings while they were still young and grow together into their old age, especially with having several children. They even end up having fourteen children, consisting of seven super-strong sons and seven determined daughters. Masataka, Masaya, and Masaru are the eldest InuAya sons who are virile weightlifters and wrestlers. Kenta and Keita are the second eldest InuAya sons who are magnificently muscular bodybuilders and wrestlers. Kazuhiko and Kaito are the third eldest InuAya sons who are handsome fitness models and wrestlers. Kiriko is the fourth-born InuAya daughter who is a fiery Muay Thai maven. Momoko, Makoto, and Mikoto are the fifth-born InuAya daughters who are tough Muay Lao winners. Maya and Minako are the sixth-born InuAya daughters who are fierce Pradal Serey champions. Meika is the seventh-born InuAya daughter who is a determined Dutch Kickboxing prizefighter. As their children grew and got married to Hakkaku’s, Ginta’s, and Shunran’s children, Inuyasha and Ayame also ended up being just as happy to be grandparents to their children’s children. Therefore,…

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Clearing the Air and Moving Forward

I decided to unblock a person on DeviantArt just to see if they still chose to behave irrationally after a certain number of years. Ironically, I was not any better for calling out and being acidic with that said person, who I do not want to name out of respect. I was not any better for bearing a grudge or being vindictive against that said person. I’m sure those of you who have been following me know who it is, but please just message me via Chat or Notes. I don’t want to re-fan the flames any further. Acerbic words were exchanged. Nevertheless, when that person said they were truly and genuinely sorry, I decided to forgive them. By that point, all the harsh criticisms we had about each other ended up being taken down, and they’re never going to come back again. As I said, I am not going to bring them up after this because we have already moved past the bullshit drama. Moreover, they have even extended a hand of friendship, which I lovingly accepted. Therefore, there is no animosity, no tension, and no trash between me and this person. It has all been resolved. What remains now is a newly formed friendship between us, which we are both glad to have gained. Another thing I would like to bring up is how people have been receptive to how I have been expressing myself here and outside the internet. I know not a lot of people like what I have to say whether on DeviantArt or YouTube or various social media or in real life. However, I stand my ground because everything I say comes from an honest place, i.e., from me, the research that I have done, and not from anybody else dictating me. You will not find smoke and mirrors or any of that rubbish. I don’t play that game, and I have long outgrown wanting everybody’s approval. What you see is what you get. Whether it is a character from a show or a movie, a pairing preference, a series or a movie, I do my best to formulate why I like or dislike it or them and back all of my arguments up with reasons. I also accept full responsibility for what I have said and done. I also respect other people’s opinions and understand where they are coming from so long as they are civil. However, I am not going to show any leniency to remorseless trolls or blatant liars. So long as there is civility and decorum online and in real life, being a liar, a troll, and/or a bully is never welcome. Finally, I want to apologize for the moments I have been acidic. While I am not afraid to speak the truth and will never back down from it, I know that my words and actions have consequences, and there have been people who have been hurt. Once again, I am sorry, and I hope we can maintain peace. I will do my best to maintain civility and not let any grudge get me down. I am already at peace with the person I have managed to take a good step towards a healthy friendship with. Life is too short for pathetic grudges. It is time to move on and thrive together.

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Ippo’s and Cole’s Insurmountable Compassion

This “What if Person became Friends” meme originally belongs to MagicalKeyPizzaDan and is dedicated to everybody who finds the idea of Ippo and Cole being great friends, the firmest of soul brothers, and the most compassionate of comrades grand. Sit back, relax, and revel in Cole’s and Ippo’s marvelously interpersonal warmth and genuinely unconditional love as brothers from other mothers who will always have each other’s backs and whose hearts of gold will forever shine as brilliantly as ever. Cole is a Red Ranger whose heart, mind, and soul are in the right place, especially when it comes to protecting all living beings from disastrous calamities. He wears peace, compassion, respect, understanding, and servitude to other people and nature like a well-fashioned suit of tribal armor. When he takes the time to consider the next best actions as well as get to the heart of individuals’ intentions, he finds the clearest distinction between a good Samaritan who has selflessly noble intentions and a malevolent bastard who has insidiously vicious intentions. Ippo may be an Olympic-level boxer with abundant dreams and aspirations, but even he needs to learn some sobering lessons from Cole. There is no doubt that Ippo respects, admires, and adulates Cole and his sense of intuition as well as compassion for those he cares for from his friends to his family. Furthermore, Ippo would learn a ton from Cole from the importance of family and friends to respect for nature, which he would soak up exceedingly well. This comes to a head when both Cole and Ippo end up accepting each other as soul brothers for life. Cole and Ippo have a genuine brotherhood that transcends respect, camaraderie, and positive vibes, for they can encourage each other to remain noble, pure, and steadfast not only toward each other but also toward the people they care about the most. Their brotherhood would also be well-implemented in the various activities they do. Ippo’s skills as an Olympic-level boxer would challenge Cole to sharpen his combat skills and diversify his repertoire of striking attacks. Cole would impart his tribal skills to Ippo to make him a resourceful hunter, gatherer, and tracker for food as well as a true protector for his family and friends. Both of them would be just as enthusiastic as each other, considering that they are the recent additions to their respective “Forever Red” universes. Outside their Red Ranger tenure, Cole and Ippo would even express happiness, gratitude, and joy as genuine brothers forever. Cole and Ippo would even express how much they want to have a brother in their lives. This motivates Cole to affirm to Ippo that he will be the best big brother he will ever be, thus culminating in a warm embrace. I hope you all enjoyed this, and I will see you in the next submission. Take care, stay safe, and may the power protect you, everybody. Ippo Makunouchi from Hajime no Ippo belongs to George Morikawa and Madhouse. Cole Evans from Power Rangers Wild Force belongs to Saban and Toei.

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