#basically those two episodes in a nutshell

[ccxssi]

Number One Spock defender: James T. Kirk

Someone: Captain, Mr. Spock has kidnapped former Captain Christopher Pike, stolen your ship, and marooned you on some starbase! He must be punished!

Kirk, looking lovingly at Spock: Nuh-uh

[txttletale]

how would you recommend watching doctor who? there are so many different guys idk how it works.

so the thing about doctor who is that there's two shows -- classic who (1963-1989, doctors 1-7) and new who (2005-2023, doctors 9-14). due to a renumber of the seasons and a change in production company, i think it's fair to call the upcoming version of who (2023-??, doctors 15-??) its own, third show. the reason it's been able to run for so long is that when the show's lead actor, (william hartnell as the titular doctor) had to step down in 1966 due to failing health, they made up some sci-fi bullshit: the doctor's species can 'regenerate' instead of dying, instantly healing but changing their appearance and some of their personality. this means that every time a lead actor has walked away (or, in one unfortuante case, been fired) the show's just recast the doctor and moved on, often with notable changes in tone and format.

the easiest option if you don't want to backwatch anything is to start with this year's christmas special, the church on ruby road (2023). it's an obvious jumping on point to the series, introduces you to all the basic stuff (the doctor, the TARDIS, the fact that it's a silly sci-fi show about fighting weird rubber prop critters), and presumably sets up the upcoming season 1 of the disney-bad wolf version of the show that's gonna come out in may 2024.

if you do want to backwatch, you have to decide if you want to start with new who or classic who. i personally would recommend starting with new who, because there's less of it, it's got higher production values, and (imo this is the biggest obstacle to getting into classic who) it's paced in a way that makes much more sense to a modern TV viewer (self-contained 45-minute episodes). also once you're invested in the show, its main character, and some of its classic elements, you get to soyjak at the screen whenever you're watching classic who and you get to see the oirign of a monster you already recognize. you can also skip classic who entirely and never watch it, they don't bring up anything from it in the new series without giving it a new explanation, but if you do this you hate fun.

anyway, starting points for nuwho: the most obvious one is rose (2005). it's the pilot episode for the new show and imo it holds up brilliantly -- it introduces all the most basic concepts of the show, but ultimately it's really all about billie piper and cristopher eccleston's performances and they deliver. the special effects are gonna be pretty terrible for a while because it's early 2000s cg. there's no jumping on point like it for the whole of RTD's run of the show (imo, the best run of nuwho) so if you want to watch seasons 1-4 you've gotta start on rose.

another episode that's written as a jumping on-point is (heavy sigh) the eleventh hour (2011). as well as introducing matt smith's doctor and his companion amy, this also does the whole rigamarole of introducing the show's core elements, giving a nutshell recap of its history in the form of the doctor's rooftop speech, and also signal what the oncoming moffat era is going to be like (whimsical, full of complex time travel plots, way more misogynist). i'm biased -- i'm a hater, one of this episode's central plot conceits sucks real bad and i also hate the eleventh doctor's whole run. but it is meant to be a jumping on point.

there won't be another one of those in nuwho until the pilot (2017). this begins moffat's final season with which he made the odd but extremely welcome decision to jettison all his convoluted continuity shit from the last five seasons and refocus the show with the doctor being a professor at bristol university with a mysterious secret. i think season 10 is a hidden gem and if you find starting from rose daunting this is the next best place to pick up. capaldi's doctor is a delightful abrasive eccentric with a heart of gold at this point in his run & the stories are wall-to-wall bangers with only a couple misses.

finally, you could start on the woman who fell to earth (2018), the first episode to feature jodie whittaker's 13th doctor and head writer chris chibnall. i'd recommend this even less than the eleventh hour, because while i actually like it more, i think it's a much worse preview of what the upcoming era is going to be like than that one. if you watch the woman who fell to earth and keep watching from the start of whittaker's run on the show off the back of it, you're going to be severely disappointed as most of the more promising aspects of the episode get instantly abandoned.

so, summary, if you're starting with nuwho, there's five jumping on points, which i'd rank:

rose > the pilot > the church on ruby road > the eleventh hour > the woman who fell to earth

but i want to start with classic who because i'm a contrarian

alright. classic who also has a few jumping off points -- before i mentioned them, let me just talk about that format thing i mentioned earlier. classic who doesn't have self-contained episodes for the most part, but rather for most of its run told each of its episodic narratives across between two and seven 20-minute episodes. this leads to a lot of weird pacing, forced cliffhangers, and infamously a lot of filler shots of the doctor running up and down identical corridors. so obvsies i'm recommending entire stories here nad not individual episodes. that said, let's look at where you could jump on:

an unearthly child (1963). this is, like, the start of the show. that said i don't recommend it as a place to start (funnily enough), for a couple reasons. firstly, because of dreadful fucking archiving by the BBC, a lot of episodes from the show's first six seasons are straight up missing. some of them have been animated by the BBC from surviving audio recordings, but some of them are just straight up lost -- due to the format, this means there's very few full complete stories, which makes this whole era really hard to navigate. if you don't mind that and really want to start in the black and white era, i'd still recommend the tomb of the cybermen (1967) instead -- hartnell's portrayal of the doctor as a haughty, slightly impish old professor is great, but troughton basically defined the character's core traits for the next sixty years.

spearhead from space (1970) is a pretty big format upheaval for the show and so serves as a pretty great classic jumping-on point. it's the first episode to be in colour, and sets up a new status quo for the doctor as being trapped on earth and working for an elite paramlitary organization called UNIT that operates out of a ratty office. it's an interesting premise that the show gets some great stories out of. the special effects are bad in the best way. pertwee has instant charm in the role and it's all around a banger by classic standards.

if you want to jump right to the one all the boomers are nostalgic for, you can also start with robot (1974). i wouldn't recommend it, though--tom baker is electric in the role from the start, but the episode itself kind of assumes a lot of the context of the third doctor's setup and supporting cast which you're not gonna have.

i wouldn't recommend anyone start at any point during the fifth or sixth doctors runs because i want them to actually like the show, so i guess the last jumping on point i could really recommend after robot would be, like, dragonfire (1987), which heralds the show's short-lived renaissance with the seventh doctor and his best companion, ace. but although you'd be watching some of the absolute best the classic show ever gets, it feels like it would be a weird and disorienting place to start.

finally, you could watch tales of the tardis (2023), a limited series produced to celebrate the show's 60th anniversary. each episode follows the same format: through a vaguely handwaved Palace of Memories plot, two much-aged characters from the classic series meet up and fondly remember one of the adventures they shared. the bookends with the original actors are mostly shameless fanservice, but the episodes they're reminiscing about are superbly edited down into a much more watchable format -- it works as a good 'sample platter' for most eras of the show (although, weirdly, there wasn't anything from tom baker's run!) and i think it honestly wouldn't be a bad shout to just start from tales of the tardis and then keep watching from whichever of the stories featured in it you liked most. that all said, if you want to start with classic who, i'd rank these jumping on points as follows:

spearhead from space > tales of the tardis > tomb of the cybermen > dragonfire > robot > an unearthly child

all that shit said it's fundamentally a very episodic show with very few exceptions like trial of a time lord and whatever moffat was doing seasons 6-7 so in the end you can basically just start with any episode and more or less get some of the idea. have fun and make sure to do the most important job of a doctor who fan, update the tardis wiki page for penis whenever one is mentioned

[ms-scarletwings]

Irken Zim’s 8 biggest fans

For funsies! As we are well aware, this guy has a lot of gut-haters and censurers across the galaxy. Over his long years of life, he’s gained a proud infamy from every corner of the Irken empire, all the way to the fringes beyond, and the number of critics snapping at his heels only grows with every adventure. Whole civilizations sit at their seat’s edge waiting for this invader’s downfall, but what of those who defy all odds, expectations, maybe even logic? Even devils somehow find worshippers, even criminals get fan mail, and even Invader Zim has someone rooting for him within the 4th wall. Weirdly quite a handful of them, actually, let’s recount.

8. Table Headed Service Drone Bob

It’s humorous, how odd circumstance can make for strange advocacy. The show’s universe operates on the rule of funny, and Bob just so happened to be in the right place and time to comedically become the only Irken alive with something to gain from Zim’s success, and so much to lose for his failure. The sheer unfairness of what the Tallest put him through along with Zim serving some hope for a miracle ticket out of his low standing seemed to snap something in him, even if just for an episode. It would make sense for anyone in his position to have a much more dampened love for their society and leaders, to the point where cheering on its greatest enemy would be preferable than another moment of being a doormat. An underdog rooting for an underdog, even if for purely selfish and coincidental reasons.

7. The Judgementia Control brains

Even more deliciously ironic, isn’t it- That Zim’s praise was be sung once from the very bottom rung of Irken society and then again from the highest spike? What better to follow up poor Bobby than another victim of astronomical circumstance, or rather, three victims together? The nutshell recap of “The Trial’s” plot climax spells out the tragedy of, what is basically Irk’s highest court officials, to become he first ever victims of Zim’s malignant code becoming a contagion. They’ve joined the Fanclub, even if against their will, and all the better for Zim this time to have support from such a high place, seeing that it literally saved his hide in this instance.

6. Dib Membrane

Yeah, that’s freaking right. He’s on the list. You think being a hype man and a mortal rival are mutually exclusive? You either haven’t been watching enough DBZ or you haven’t been watching enough Hellsing and should fix that. Anyway, and I’m speaking within the actual canon dynamic of these two… it is very important to Zim that Dib is perceived as a formidable opponent to bluster his own ego, and vise versa. Dib is not in any self-serving position to accept what an actual mess Zim’s operation is, even though he has more evidence of the alien’s horrible tactics, nonsense plans, failures, etc. than anyone else on the planet. Gaz can see Zim for exactly what he is and why fighting him doesn’t have to be this 24/7 urgent priority. Dib refuses to get that because stopping Zim’s pop-up schemes only keeps the score tied for them. They’ve both been at this long enough to get incredibly frustrated with the lack of progression regarding the big picture goals, taking over the world, and exposing a live alien to the world, respectively. I don’t think he has to keep describing this space goblin as some ultra-cunning master of villainy, or GIR as this nefarious minion because that’s what he actually thinks of them, but because if he admits otherwise, that’s not a great reflection of his own merit for the obvious reasons. Just the presentation of another dimension’s version of himself succeeding against Zim before him causes a spiral of self doubt, just as it can bring Zim to a minor panic watching other invaders leaving him in the dust. Dib wants this guy to be a challenge worth the victory lap when he finally gets what he’s been fighting so hard for.

When Zim is getting on some truly idiotic antics, Dib doesn’t actually revel in his disorganized stupidity, but meets it with a baffled or annoyed disappointment. Like me watching a character I thought was super badass suddenly do something that reveals them to just be utterly lame. Too often he almost comes off like he is critiquing Zim’s performance as a villain rather than,, you know, the fact that Zim is a villain in the first place. It more than once has led to accidentally giving the guy new ideas or pointers on how to do his own job better once in a while. If I were in Dib’s place I would under NO circumstances be giving Zim advice or corrections on what he’s doing “badly” when it comes to the invader thing, but, whatever makes you feel cool & smart, you little dork. There’s also the whole “Dib’s hatred for Zim belies his geeky fixation with aliens broadly” angle I’ve mentioned here or there before, and don’t mind to again. Studying/stalking Zim is only partially about defeating him. His curiosity over Irken tech, biology, etc. is still coming from a place of genuine scientific passion, as literally all of us know. And of course, on occasion the two make for unlikely allies against much bigger shared enemies.

5. Minimoose

Oh come on, how much could I even have to say about this moose-weapon? He has two fathers and is fully aware that Zim is one of them. Assuming we all here know about the cute Florpus quote; no need to recap the whole existence of the lil guy.

4. Invader Skoodge

Now this guy… this guy ain’t right. Exactly here, at this (I say with love) loser of an invader, we reach two tipping points when it comes to Zim-affinity. One, the tipping point where Zim ceases to ask for and ceases to appreciate the toadying. Two, the point where I actually kind of struggle to find any rational explanation for the toady’s behavior. Like I’ve tried and I genuinely don’t know how to put together how Skoodge keeps jumping into this position other than ‘it’s that funny’ or some weird familiarity from smeethood factor. All of the invaders know what Zim has done and what he’s capable of. He’s a consistent terrorist of his own kin and defamed as the greatest disgrace to the Empire. The two options for how to feel about Zim as any random Irken soldier are fear, and/or loathing. If Skoodge were just neutral or indifferent of Zim, that’d be pretty freaking odd. But Skoodge interacts with Zim on the level of at least a lukewarm acquaintance, readily even deferring to his command, despite the fact that he nearly dies every single time he does so. He survives miles of being chased by a monster on Hobo-13, he makes it to the finish line, and his first reaction is to let Zim know he’s made it in one piece. He decides to lay low and slack off after getting fired (into the blighted surface of Blorch) and out of the entire universe to choose from, he decides to go hole up at Zim’s place and stay conveniently out of the way for some time. Dude finally shows himself in the unfinished scripts, and it’s to motherfucking help Zim troll around with Dib. I’m up at night wondering what is going on in Skoodge’s head because he’s n o t an idiot. He’s a real invader in all other respects, just as competent and nationalistic as the rest of them. Easily suggestible, yes, but not stupid. There’s basically no way for him to be ignorant of the big lie the Tallest sold Zim, yet he chooses not to utter a peep on the matter. Pity? A bizarre sense of solidarity?? A delusional one sided friendship??? Don’t look at me like I know other than the fact that he’s on our protag’s team, in spirit. The wannabe Irwin to Zim’s Billy, essentially.

3. Keef

So yeah of all things to blow Skoodge’s unhealthy attachment clean out of the water, we stumbled into this freak of a human child. Keef is a loyal compadre to a fault. A huge, creepy fault. Kid was originally supposed to make a return as well, wherein he was no less of a stubborn stalker than already proven once. And extra points for the irrational selflessness. Even while demonstrating an understanding of what Zim did in Dark Harvest, possibly even with the memory of that whole squirrel incident, he still wishes nothing but for the ability to put a smile on his green friend’s face.

2. The Amoeboid Cult

And when none thought that the scary conviction Zim garnered on Earth could be his biggest fans, you find this little ditty in the comics, and it starts turning into an irresponsible god analogy fairly quick. The short recap is that following a crash on a strange planet, the Voot Runner starts leaking fluids that inadvertently spark abiogenesis, which results in the creation of a rapidly evolving race of blob-things. Seizing an opportunity, Zim at first demands their followership, and then shortly after gets fed up with it as he did the previous fanatic on the list. Nonetheless, the cell people continue to reproduce and age thousands of years their time in the span of a couple minutes, never losing that zeal for their unintentional creator, even going so far as to repair the cruiser despite Zim’s rejection of them. Out of what little they gathered about him during his short visit, they correctly learned he’s a destructive god who planned to abandon them as soon as he could. Their last wish as a civilization? For this god to also obliterate them, as final treat. Such was their devotion that it even left Zim himself completely baffled for a moment when its full depth was revealed.

1. GIR

You watch this show, right? Yeah? Henchman and sidekick number one? Chaotic thing this whole fandom can’t decide to perceive as an adoptive child or a talking pet? He may not be as competent in pleasing Zim’s wishes as minimoose, or as focused, but his heart and loyalty are ultimately with their intended master, unconditionally and for as long as this setting has continued.

[plumsaffron]

Why am I not surprised that these miracusalters are still going on with their Lila Rossi hate campaign? These “people” really do have nothing better to do aside from hating on a fictional character since their debut.

I don’t normally compare real people and fictional characters but the miracucunts deadass remind me of Dio Brando (JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure) and even Frieza (Dragon Ball franchise) but way more unlikable. Haters who just can’t let it go and their faux politeness act immediately drops when their opp is around.

Let’s try these jokes on these miracubozos:

You wanna know what’s funny? They hate Lila and similar liar type characters but are now behaving just as bad if not much worse than her. Causing misinformation/Mandela Effects for the unfortunate online newcomers.

Salt fics are brainrot of the worst kind. Akin to addiction of any negative content hating on fictional characters to the max.

Congrats, you not only make most other non-miraculous Xover creators look worse even though some non-ML folks are kinda guilty of similar bad writings. Again, other Xover creators are more stable than your kind as per usual. But you miracubitches ruined Xovers with all that hypocritical preachiness. Not just using characters as your mouthpiece against your most hated OPPs.

Thanks a lot TVTropes users, most popular media’s the negative fan content greatly overshadowed the positive ones. Now the positive fics hardly get attention these days only kudos/reviews at around 30 each... Should I create alt accounts to give kudos for those postive fics? Nah, that’s cheating and too draining.

Y’all are really addicted to bloodsports on hatred of certain characters huh? Why don’t you play violent games then?

So you’re fine with literal murderers getting away with their crimes yet want death on abusers and liars? All bc those murderers showed genuine love towards their loved ones for a little while? What happened to wanting equality for everyone?

At this point I don’t feel sorry for the miracutwats for “allegedly” having a shitty life! I’m going to assume that they’re liars like Lila or Marinette, feigning sympathy for the online sheep. If they do have a crappy life, I bet their trauma melded with canon and assumed that salt is the true timeline. Ah, instability…

Heh heh.

Well between today and yesterday, seems that Revelator miraculous episodes sums them morons up them in a nutshell.

I short, Marinette was acting like woe me there’s suddenly nothing she can do against this liar, Vincent Aza. Earlier was pleasant doing anything upon two her age no matter who is affected (saoatoge to her favor because accepting others povs that could help her and not causing problems is evil and being a liar) til Lila and Chloe were out of her sight in life. So yep they can handle worse but collapse over Lila (or Chloe). Just like Marinette collapses of Vincent apparently so.

I’m not gonna go on about it but these instabilities decided to go be disgusting upon Alya Cesaire/Rena Rouge. All because they were “terrified” of what Alya finds out according to previews. Terrified of Alya not reacting in the favor of Marinette’s crap as shown when release. They must really hate individuality or something when it doesn’t benefit Ladybug. Basically she temporarily found out the truth of what Marinette did and is hidden from Adrien about his father and the world. What Adrien has the right to know especially. Idiots making bait or having to audacity to call Alya the betrayer. And like you said. Spreaders of lies being worse than Marinette and Lila ever can be. Gabi coded supreme.

Everything tells them in their face Alya’s right (even Marinette knows). Still they wanna give their spinal cords to Ladybug again or make it out that Alya’s the problem. Being angry is wrong apparently (ah where do I remember that reoccurrence again hehehehe).

They funny honestly. So brave but then cowards later. Pretending they care of the truth or their interesting disgust against liars til they are given a Revelator treatment (like npcs in that Revelator episode). Then they cower in fear when they become the target for their lame ridiculous abhorrent ways.

Roachtuber (probably making common bait).

Still. clearly making it out a visual portrayal that that Alya is somehow the problem. Yeah if I recall, she willingly wanted her memory of that removed. Like dang, being labeled a possible traitor of Marinette despite Marinette being the traitor and Rena being loyal despite Ladybug unloyalty.

[its-to-the-death]

Fourth Wall Fight Wave 1 Preliminary Round #7

The winner will enter the bracket

Propaganda for each character below the cut. May contain spoilers!

Princess H

As the narrator highlights how Princess H is trying to lead Super64 into a trap, she yells at him to pipe down, as they haven't figured it out yet. Then after the narrator reintroduces her (moments after she says her name), she interrupts, saying she already introduced herself. The two then proceed to have a massive argument while Super64 just stands there awkwardly and then leaves.

Triangle

Triangle and Robert was one of those meta webcomics that were oh-so popular back in the day, and that i still love now. Anyway in a nutshell, Triangle has an actively antagonistic role with the creator of the comic.

Robert

See the submission for Triangle for the preamble, but basically Robert, in addition to a basically antagonistic relationship with the cartoonist, has a keen skill for cheating and working around the structure of the comic.

Katrielle Layton

She routinarily looks at camera three times in every episode when explaining the mystery. Here's an example:

[stripedtabbycat]

finished the hitchhiker's guide books! final thoughts:

totally get what adams meant by being in a bad place when he wrote the last book because whoof that ending. that said i think if this is the final book it's not entirely unfitting to have it end with this kind of nihilism with jokes. at times like these all you can do is laugh

however it is especially jarring when the second-to-last book is almost unusually optimistic and lighthearted. book 4 is almost something like a breather episode in the midst of all the "everything happens so much" of the rest of the series.

book 4 contains a chapter ruminating on the fact that if you write a character who does not show any particular interest in sex or romance, readers will respond to them by basically saying "wtf is this guy's deal?" and be unable to get their minds off the subject. if you don't care about that and skip to the end as suggested, though, aroace arthur dent can still win

that said i actually do really like fenchurch and her and arthur's relationship. it was really sweet and i'm sad she doesn't get to show up again. i wasn't expecting to be invested in the romance plot in this book but it was good!

adams miiiight be one of those male authors who doesn't really know what to do with his female characters, as evidenced by trillian not getting much of anything to do in the first two books and kind of completely changing her characterization during her appearances in the last few. i like her saving the day in book 3 and i think she's probably the most interesting in book 5, with the two converging versions of herself and all, even though she also doesn't get much to do after a certain point.

i also like random. she's a surprisingly well-written teenager for her relatively small page time and i also wish we got to spend more time with her. sadly we will never have a sixth book so we can't (yeah, i am of the opinion that officially published fanfics written after the literal death of the author don't count)

"young zaphod plays it safe" was a fun story to tide one over between installments but when i finished i was feeling like there was some kind of point i wasn't getting. turns out that point was that the clone that was sent to earth who was dangerous because they could be allowed to get away with anything was implied to be ronald reagan and this was much more explicit in earlier versions

given the author's open admission of rewriting canon in every version and the books often contradicting each other (not too blatantly as far as i could tell though), it's probably true that there are multiple canon reasons for why the earth was destroyed. i think they can all be true at once even within one canon.

the humor remains very consistently good throughout the series, with ever-prescient bits about technological inefficiency and politics. my hot take is that the guide mk. ii is like previously reliable search engines pushing ai shit as "the future"

i'm realizing my version of the books is probably the us edition because of the use of "belgium" instead of "fuck" in book 3. does anyone know why they were required to censor this because as far as i know you were absolutely allowed to swear in books in the 1980s. yes the belgium bit is funny but i was not previously aware of any mpaa-like censorship guidelines in publishing back then. each subsequent book has i think one uncensored f-bomb ("does he not, to put it in a nutshell, fuck?" being particularly memorable) so whatever it was they got over it. apparently

i think some people on here would be very taken with the idea of someone on whom it is perpetually raining not because the rain gods hate them but because the rain loves them, and who has become an actual rain god because of this

i also wonder if the world had become more open to believing in unnatural phenomena such as the above after the near-apocalypse resulted in our world merging with a parallel one, but i may be overthinking a series that runs on jokes

[talkinpunchline]

A review of Knight Terrors: Punchline 1 & 2

So I was going to just post a review of Knight Terrors: Punchline #2 today but then I figured why not go ahead and talk more about both issues? Before I start though I wanna just compliment Danny Lore, Lucas Meyer, & Alex Guimarães. They came together to make a REALLY great pair of comics

So the issues follow the pretty basic set up of all the Knight Terrors tie ins. The protag of the book falling asleep, being subjected to whatever they were fearing at the moment, and then eventually fighting them off. Where these two set themselves apart though is the execution. I don't really have a reason to bring it up here, but if you follow me on my main, you might know I'm a MASSIVE horror fan. A fact that has lead me to feeling pretty let down by this event as a whole. Sure, some of the stuff being shown in the other books is creepy, but scary? Nope! Which isn't a slight at the other writers at all, a lot of them are pretty good and even some of the other Knight Terrors books are fun, it's just hard to write really good horror. Danny thought? They absolutely nailed it. Working off some pretty logical and, I'd say, relatable fears to tell the story and explore Alexis's perspective as much as you can in just two issues

Another thing I think this book has over others, and again no shade, is really subtle bits of dream logic in the art. Costumes not being quite right in photos, things notably shifting to afford you a better look when you want to see something from another angle. All those little things your brain plasters over It's a smart touch!

But that all leads to the question of what Alexis fears. It's a couple things, nothing that the solicits said, the first is pretty simple- Surveillance.

I've seen a few people complain about Babsgirl's inclusion in this, myself included, but it really makes sense with how the book presents it. It's not Babs, it's the surveillance she has.

Like love her or hate her Oracle has a genuinely horrifying level of control over the internet, and when you think about that constant threat of violence that molded Alexis into what she is? OFC she'd worry about that when she finds out just what she's been living under for life.

So yeah the big Batgirl monster isn't Babs it's the concept of surveillance like we're in the middle of a Magnus Archives episode. I also like that it does, ultimately, play into her second fear: A lack of control.

(I don't wanna post too many full pages, but this one is too good not to drop in full)

But yeah control, and the fear of losing it, really does make sense for Alexis. Losing control of the narrative, the small amount of safety she's literally paid for with blood, it's perfect.

Most of the second issue is a fight, alongside what I mentioned before, but one thing I really appreciate that got lost in Gotham Game is the fact that Alexis refuses to just die despite fantasizing about it

Out of all of the clowns she is the one trying to expose a message and she's not going to stop I dunno if her using broken glass to try and fight even when she's as good as dead is an explicit reference to the Orca fight in Joker #3 or a happy accident, but either way it rules.

And that's it in a nutshell. An expertly done two issue book with some phenomenal art and coloring that handles Alexis pretty much perfectly.

Seriously DC I'd buy every variant of an ongoing with this creative team I NEED it

[smokeybrandreviews]

Scooby Dooby Don’t

I feel like I'm piling on with this post but, f*ck, is Velma bad! It is every bit as terrible as you’ve heard, and has uniquely offended every one. I’m talking both sides of the aisle and it’s kind of insane. I’ve seen cats talking about how Mindy Kaling, voice of the titular Velma Dinkley and executive producer of this show, is some sort of deep cover, radical Conservative, who created this show specifically to be a parody of everything the Left looks for in content. I read a whole ass article that basically said Kaling is a self-hating Indian woman because all of her characters are basically self-hating Indian women and that’s a fair analysis. What has that got to do with Velma? Probably a lot but I'm not here to unpack Kaling’s personal issues. I’m just her to tell you this show is f*cking awful!

Now, don’t misunderstand me, I'm not here for this superficial outrage. All of this “woke” diversity sh*t is not a problem for me. I love a re-imagining and making these characters racially diverse is a thing that i am more than okay with, red-headed, ambiguously Asian, Daphne Blake aside. I like the subversion of Shaggy, for the most part. Norville is probably my favorite character in this show and that’s only because he’s redeemable. I mean, the dude is a total simp for Velma, much to his detriment, but Shaggy is, quite literally, the only likable character (if you can call him that) in this entire goddamn show. Everyone on this cast is abhorrent. It’s like someone drunkenly said in some Hollywood party, “Hey, what if Scooby-Doo but Always Sunny? And way worse?” That’s Velma in a nutshell. That’s the entire f*cking show, right there.

The writing is f*cking atrocious. It's not clever or funny and is just kind of what you'd expect a modern sixteen year old would make if they were penning a Scooby-Doo fan fic. Like, i didn’t laugh at anything in this show. Not once. Not even a chuckle. It was edgy cringe, the whole way through. This sh*t is written in the most derivative, performative progressive, corporate woke way possible. I’m watching this show and it feels like I'm looking at all the Rainbow Flags being flown over f*cking Disney during Pride Month. Watching this feels no different than Nike posting a bunch of MLK quotes over whatever new Zoom Air product poster their releasing, in February. This woke bullsh*t says the thing but doesn’t go any deeper. It’s recognizable as “progressive” but doesn’t earn any of the weight which goes with that. I mean, Daphne and Velma kiss at the end of episode f*cking two. That right there is your “safe” LBGTQ+ representation. At the end of the second f*cking episode. Unearned. Inorganic. Just shoved in there because, gay needed to be checked off the list.

It’s all just dick jokes and terrible pacing and f*cking nonsensical tomfoolery. Nothing is funny. Nothing is compelling. This show is just a mess but the most egregious transgression committed by Velma is the fact that Velma Dinkley is the absolute worst! She is, without a doubt, the worst f*cking character in this entire f*cking show, and it’s HER show! How can your title character be this goddamn unlikable? Velma in this show, resembles no other iteration of the character. Because she’s not. This Velma is every other character Mindy Kaling has ever played, which is just her. This Velma IS Mindy. She’s a self insert and acts just like every other character Mindy has written, because all she writes IS herself. There is no difference between Velma or Mindy Lahiri or Bela from that other show Kaling produced, The Sex Lives of College Girls. If you’re Indian in a Mindy Kaling production, you’re going to be a self-insert whether it’s prudent to the script or not. And she got away with this sh*t for years because, you know, it was HER sh*t. Now it’s not. Now it’s Scooby-Doo, a franchise that has been established for more than fifty f*cking years. When an franchise has been around that long, with so many different iterations of those principal characters, your lack of nuance and creativity molding one of the core cast is definitely going to stand out. Velma is so goddamn bad, cats are questioning Mindy’s entire career. That’s how bad she f*cked this up.

Who is this for? Its too woke for the Right and too poorly written for everyone else. Like, don’t misunderstand me, this is a bad show. It was bad on the page before the sh*t even got ethnically diverse onscreen. Everything in this show feels like it was focus-grouped for Zoomers and Alphas, and then no one listened to the feedback. They just went off some notes they got from the Old Twatter guard. Those Bluehairs and Checkmarks and the like. How is this thing so goddamn bad? Harley Quinn is everything this show wants to be and done correctly. SO much goddamn gay in that show but no one complains about any of it. SO much ethnic diversity and big ass female energy coursing throughout, not a peep from those more Conservative viewers. Because it’s good. Because the writing is witty, satirical, genuine, and earnest. This is what Adult animation is supposed to be, not just gratuitously violent, overtly sexual in very problematic ways, and chock full of mic drop F-bombs just for the f*ck of it. This is written like some wish fulfillment from the chubby goth girl that no one talked to in high school. Velma is the Twlight-ification of Scooby-Doo and it's f*cking terrible because of that.

[kob131]

Oh my God, RWBY is so amazing because look what a little independent studio of nobodies was able to create! Ten years, nine volumes, four original video games, three video game collaborations, two runs of Japanese manga, and an anime made by Studio Shaft.

Well I'm glad that you're still so passionate about RWBY, Sunder. To be honest, I thought this was sarcastic at first.

But yeah, even if I don't find the manga or anime to appeal to me, you have to admit that having so many other people willing to work on the franchise that was made by a cool animator and two drunk interns from a studio whose last claim to fame was a Halo fanfic is pretty damn impressive.

I think the pinnacle of coolness from RWBY's collaborations will always be Cross Tag Battle for me. It showed me Blazblue and how cool and well respected those games are, to the point that I can't help but see how it influenced RWBY. So seeing a crossover between the two is just so cool to me. Though I haven't been able to play it for...silly reasons.

Though I can see why Ice Queendom is seen as the true big name accomplishment, given that most anime inspired shows can't claim to have been adapted BY a big name anime studio. And when I called it 'basically high profile Japanese RWBY fanfic'- that wasn't a negative. It's very clear the people working on Ice Queendom did love RWBY and want to add onto it, which really helped the end product. It would not have been well liked in the slightest if it was just a 'for hire' job.

And really, I understand why it's endured. It did get lucky being at the right place and at the right time with the boom of anime in the 2010's as well as the name recognition of Monty. But I've always found the writing to be the best part. The actions are cool but what really gives the action the kick has always been the context behind them. The context of Episode 8 being the final step for the show to truly begin with the dynamics of the main teams being set up as well as Ruby and Weiss working together to take down the Nevermore is a great example of classic but effective writing.

And that's kind of RWBY's writing in a nutshell. 'Classic but effective.' The characters aren't new, the setting has a unique mix but the elements are familiar, the themes are...really fucking old, the plot beats are your average 'world threatened, coming of age story'. But RWBY is an example of WHY these tropes and cliches exist. Ruby is compelling because everyone wants to be strong enough to endure the harshness of life, even if we know we can't always do it. Weiss shows that you can grow beyond just your family and be your own person. Blake speaks to a lot of cynics because deep down, so many of them WANT to believe in better things. And Yang shows a light at the end of the tunnel when things go south, that you can use your pain and mistakes as a basis for growth. These aren't new ideas but they're ENDURING ideas.

I may not be as passionate about RWBY as I once was, but I'm certainly respectful of the show. Because I think the writers and animators have a good grasp on why people like fiction. And you can't help but respect them and the show for it.

[geekgemsspooksandtoons]

25 years of Godzilla 1998

I don’t think I should call this a retrospective. But whatever it is, and nothing really of a review. Because this film has been talked to death, but I wanted to watch the film and I just did. Even though I went to bed early and woke up at like 12:33 or 35 am, I think 33. But alias, back to the point. I’ve been talking about this movie recently and other things. I’ve talked about it around its 20th anniversary. And I’m going to talk about it again.

But I want to say this. I don’t hate this film. Which sounds REALLY stupid. And that’s likely because I was too young to understand the hate towards it...it does rightfully deserve the criticisms it gets. But you know there are things I legitimately like or love about this film. And I want talk about those aspects. But this one part seems strange for why I love it.

THERE’S SO MUCH RAINING IN THIS MOVIE THAT I FUCKING LOVE IT.

It sounds strange. And maybe me as a Bioshock fan these days. But just seeing the rainy aesthetic, how much it’s pouring in scenes in New York or outside of the city. Scenes are just drenched in that rainy aesthetic that it’s strangely amusing.

You also got the practical effects when they are in motions even with the CGI. You got the terrific score by David Arnold and it works well in a lot of areas. And...this movie is strangely a parody. It’s strangely hilarious and it’s like the 90′s encapsulated in. But alias...

It’s a fine monster movie...but it’s not a Godzilla movie like everyone else has said. Again, there’s really no need to speak about this much more. But alias, this film’s existence is the reason why the Millennium series got started early. And years later, Godzilla 2014 would be released and well...we have the Monsterverse now. Godzilla is in a better spot than ever before.

And if you’re looking for a better review or some sorts. Here’s this. https://tyrantisterror.tumblr.com/post/85695505799/a-sort-of-review-for-the-98-godzilla-remake Which I’ve been reading and it basically covers what I would’ve said and they put it much better. I’ll reblog it soon.

And here’s Up From The Depth’s video on the film as well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eb5ctUTSkF4 This video is short, yet perfect.

But hey, it gave us the sequel cartoon series. Which I should watch sometime this weekend. Likely not all of it. But from what I’ve seen, mainly the first two episodes long ago. It’s basically what the 1998 film should’ve been.

I should just end this post. In a nutshell, Godzilla 1998 is a misstep in the franchise that left a big impact on the franchise. For both good and bad reasons. But now, we have what we got. Yet it’s likely best we never forget this remake and the quote on quote “Lessons” it gave us.

Anyway, guess I should say happy 25th anniversary Godzilla 1998. Yeah, saying happy for it is weird...but hey, it’s in the past. It has its fans, and that’s okay. We’re in the present now, and we just gotta keep moving forward in the future considering the franchise.

[eyrieofsynapses]

Alright, YJ peeps, listen up, because I’m sick and tired of seeing constant criticism lobbed at YJ for making Wally slower than his comic canon version, Barry and Bart. There’s a very good reason to do this—and it’s completely in Wally’s favor.

Let me preface this by saying that I sincerely love Wally’s comics. I am one hundred percent on board that Wally deserves to be recognized for the badass he is. His 90s comics established the most important elements of the Flash today. We wouldn’t have the Speedforce if it weren’t for him! It’s been defining the Flash for decades! He gets the short stick over and over. It only rubs salt in the wound that people believe Barry’s faster when it’s been stated repeatedly that Wally’s the fastest person in the DC universe. (There are few faster ways to piss me off than to say Barry’s a better Flash than Wally.) 

But. But. YJ was incredibly clever when they made him slower. Why? Wally has to be more creative than Barry because he’s slower, showing his intelligence and building him up to be a better Flash. Don’t believe me? Take a close look at Bloodlines.

Barry and Impulse figure out how to foil Neutron’s first blast of energy on their own. But it’s Wally who figures out that Neutron’s about to release an even more deadly wave with the help of his goggles, which Barry immediately borrows. Wally hand-made his goggles to compensate for his lack of speed. He wouldn’t have had them if he were as fast as the other two. Nobody would’ve realized how much danger they were in, and everyone would have died.

While comic!Wally is definitely smart, he’s so powerful that as the Flash, he can often solve problems just with sheer power. He doesn’t have to be super clever about it most of the time. In YJ, this is true of both Barry and Bart. They can be clever, but they’re heavily reliant on their powers. YJ!Wally has to compensate for lack of power with intelligence. He diversifies his skillset, using a mixture of science, strategy, and superpowers to solve problems instead of relying on sheer force.

Wally isn’t just slower; he also can’t control his momentum. Barry and Bart can dissipate kinetic energy at will, while he has to find ways to get rid of it. But he turns it to his advantage. 

Pay attention to how he fights. You’ll notice he often cannonballs into people and uses acrobatics instead of flat-out running. He can’t bombard someone with a rain of blows the same way, so he dodges and avoids close combat.

There’s a lot more to that, but in a nutshell: Wally’s fighting style is significantly more complex than Barry’s. I’m not saying Barry never uses those skills, but I can’t remember any time we saw him do it. Wally learned to do that on his own, and he figured out how to incorporate other people’s fighting styles into his repertoire. Remember the acrobatics? Who wants to bet he picked that up from Dick?

Which brings me to my next point: Wally works better with the Team not just because he grew up with them, but because he has to cooperate with others to make the best of his skills. Wally can’t just blaze through things. He has to conserve his energy and make the best of his speed. In the Team, they have to piece together where he’ll be the most effective. It forces him to stop and consider what he’s doing and how it’ll impact the overall picture, taming his impulsive behavior.

Think about his attitude in the pilot. He races on ahead, alerting the enemy to their presence and nearly getting himself killed. Over the course of the season, he learns stealth and patience, which we see repeatedly demonstrated in the last few episodes.

Back to Bloodlines for a moment. When Wally, Barry, and Bart initially show up to the disaster scene, Barry runs headlong into the danger. Bart follows him. Wally, however, stops to talk to the police captain and gather information about the situation. Barry and Bart join them afterward. They proceed to speed-talk at each other, coming up with a plan… and then instead of explaining it to Wally, they just tell him to follow their lead.

Barry and Bart were impulsive while he stopped to think. Wally was a better team player: the other two didn’t include him in their planning, thus missing crucial details and potentially putting him in danger.

Their plan works in the short-term. But when they think they’ve solved it, Wally takes a second look, analyzing the situation and double-checking that they’re finished. If they stopped ahead of time and took a moment to consider what was happening, they might’ve noticed the energy problem sooner and come up with a better solution.

Worst of all, Barry rushes in again to pull Neutron out the second time. He only survives because of Bart. Yes, it’s because they’re short on time, but again: this might’ve been prevented sooner if they thought things through.

What does it say that Wally patiently paid attention to detail and was more thoughtful than his experienced mentor?

Yes, some of this is stuff he might have learned with advanced speed. But would he really have to be so thoughtful about how he uses his abilities? Not likely. 

Nor would he have incorporated science and gear into his skillset. Among other things, he knows how to make an EMP and recognizes where to apply it in Homefront. Dick’s their tech whiz, but Wally comes up with technological and scientific solutions that he can’t.

But Wally doesn’t only use science and technology in ways his uncle and cousin can’t or won’t. He thinks differently about problems. 

In Bloodlines, Barry and Bart assume the coast is clear after they take down Neutron the first time. They only consider things within the vast range of their powers, assuming that covers everything. Wally thinks about what they can’t see. He’s more limited, so he’s learned to take every piece of a situation into account.

Basically: Wally is much more flexible than his faster counterparts. He adapts far better to adverse situations because he’s forced to make small-scale accommodations on a daily basis. Because of that, he’s able to come up with better solutions, work better in a team, and solve problems without his powers.

And may I remind all of you: YJ Wally GAVE HIMSELF HIS POWERS, but his comic version got them without effort! The Speedforce bestowed them on him without his involvement! 

People, YJ!Wally is a goddamn genius prodigy. We forget it sometimes because of his early-on immaturity and his jokes, but seriously, Wally’s far and away one of the smartest people in the YJ universe. YJ Wally is a distinctively unique Flash character because of his wit and intelligence!

But guess what? Guess what the real cherry on top is? If they bring Wally back in the fourth season at a full speed, he’ll be the fastest and the wisest Flash. He’ll know how to apply his new powers in ways that the others would never think of. Because he’s spent so much time applying science to his abilities, he’ll know how to use his new powers in sync with it, whereas Bart and Barry won’t think on those levels. 

Best of all, Wally’s the best team player. He’ll be incredible with both the original Team and anyone else he has to work with. 

Think about it. A full-speed Flash with Wally’s technological brilliance, intelligence, observance, and teamwork skills? He’ll be unstoppable.

So please shut up about how YJ did Wally dirty. It’s a thousand times more interesting to watch him work out how to solve a problem rather than just solve it in a snap with his powers. If anything, YJ improved his character and made him better.

[agentnico]

The Book of Boba Fett (The Mandalorian season 2.5) Review

Boba Fett sat on a wall, Boba Fett had a great fall, All of Lucasfilm’s horses and Disney’s men couldn’t put Boba together again. Thus the Mandalorian returned. The end. 

Plot: On the sands of Tatoonie, bounty hunter Boba Fett and mercenary Fennec Shand navigate the Galaxy's underworld and fight for Jabba the Hutt's old territory.

Straight up this review is a cheat. In a way that I have not seen the entirety of The Book of Boba Fett series, as I got really bored midway through episode 2 and was going to completely give up on the show as a whole. That was until I heard that a certain Pedro in a helmet made a return in episode 5, so I resumed watching it... from episode 5. That’s right, I have not seen episodes 2, 3 and 4 in their entirety, nor do I intend to, as from what I read online and what my friends told me, it doesn’t get better. So this is not really a review of The Book of Boba Fett. This is a review of The Mandalorian season 2.5, which is what this show becomes from episode 5 onwards. It’s as if the studio executives realised that their original show idea was dull, pointless and lacked momentum, so decided to kickstart the new season of Mando early instead and give us the fans what they deserve!! Heck, they even turn their central character Boba into no more than a cameo in his own show by the end (minus the finale). 

In here lies the issue with this show primarily. In the original Star Wars trilogy, Boba Fett was a cool bounty hunter/mysterious mercenary who we didn’t know much about, but he was simply cool from his costume to his silent demeanour. In this new Disney phase of Star Wars this character has been changed and given a moral compass, as someone who now wants to fight with honour and respect. And look, I have no issue with having honourable characters, but make new ones then. Heck, we already have Mando for that. Don’t take a fan-favourite badass and turn him into a bit of a wuss. Also, the show is pointless overall. At the end of Mandalorian season 2 Boba took over Jabba’s palace and his lands. By the end of The Book of Boba Fett, Boba deals with a few rebels and.....takes over Jabba’s palace and his lands. Okay there is a little bit more to it but overall that’s it in a nutshell. Unless we also mention the addition of those Power Rangers-rip-off punk gang that are introduced solely for us to roll our eyes and ask WHY?? 

Now let’s talk about the good stuff! So yes, from episode 5 onwards its The Mandalorian season 2.5, and its great seeing Din Djarin back saying “this is the way” more than a multiple times and just being a smooth mother-f. We see him training and struggling to master the Darksaber, getting a new spaceship, and we also see Luke Skywalker (the de-aging effects now looking way better than in Mando season 2) train Baby Yoda with many call backs to The Empire Strikes Back, and all that stuff is great and overall just makes one look forward to the upcoming third season of that series. It’s basically like a massive tease, and I ate that stuff up like a gullible fanboy! Also the introduction of The Clone Wars character Cad Bane, who brought such a wonderful villainous vibe in his presence, and I absolutely adored that every time he appeared the show turned into a western stand-off. With his appearance it’s as if this show momentarily became Cowboys vs Aliens and I was living for it! Shame that at the end this fella meets his demise, but for the time he got he was one hell of a villain and a great inclusion! Cad Bane for the win!! Or more so for the lose, cause he’s dead now. Then again, is anyone in Star Wars ever really dead?... Oh, and my lovely fiancée got a major kick from seeing the little droids being really cute in this show, so yes, CUTE DROIDS! They are present and in this show!

This isn’t my most detailed review as it very much boils down to two points: Boba Fett is really mistreated as a character in his own show, with that show being really boring and without much purpose serving. And two - I really wanna see The Mandalorian season 3! 

The Book of Boba Fett overall score: 3/10

The Mandalorian season 2.5 overall score: 8/10

[licuadora-nasir]

Thoughts on Eldarya ANE Episode 6.

Ah, yes, this great moment where I have to truly think about one of the reasons why I'm obsessed with fictional characters and realise that it's full of plot holes and incoherence. Great.

This is quite large, so I've splitted the ramblings in several topics, therefore, if you want to read about an specific subject, you just have to scroll down and take a look a the titles lol.

Erika

To begin with, let’s talk about Erika. I’m glad this episode inserted internal dialogues to give her development and personality, but there are some things I don’t get. How’s that you do not miss the place where you’ve lived more than 20 years? You have literally been one year and two months awake in eldarya.

That crap about how useful and appreciated you are here? At the beginning they saw you as some kind of hindrance, and now you’ve become both a myth and a legend, a tool, they don’t worry about your mental health nor Leiftan’s.

Basically, they’re relieved that you’re here again so you can fix their new and growing problems, to add insult to injury, you’ve been sent to a mission where if you hadn’t magically (and I said magically cause the sparkling guard already knew Leiftan wasn’t going to help her) recovered your powers you would have almost died several times. To pinpoint, I’m kinda disappointed this hate towards Lance has already ended. You literally despised him yesterday.

Koori

Koori, well, makes me very nervous. Yes, please do not come to roast me, I fully understand that this mission is a trigger to all her traumas, stress and anxiety, but there are behaviours that doesn’t justify it. The peebles, for example. In the battle, it was a delicate situation and it wouldn’t have been convenient to tell her how dumb she has been, but I dont agree with the “Don’t worry, it wasn’t your fault thing”, yes, yes it is.

You almost end your life because of the stupid peebles, and you knew they were dangerous for both you and your crew and you still kept them after being told to drop them. Very unprofessional. What I did like was her new growing friendship with Leiftan. I feel like those two might get along.

Leiftan

At first, I did understand Leiftan’s attitude. It’s completely understandable that he needs time to think about his well-being and mental health, but there are things that I can’t stand. One thing is that you do not want to use your powers and hurt people (whether enemy or not) and another is doing absolutely nothing, which is worthless.

Leiftan is completely capable of managing in any situation with or without his powers (please, he was part of the sparkling and managed to kill several people disguised as a stupid lorialet), and If he had wanted, he could have helped Koori waking her up, try and assist Matheiu when the kitsunes were after him OR KEEP EDGAR SAFE with a low-key profile. However, his great decision was running to the boat leaving his crew in a dangerous and mortal situation. Lol.

Yes, it was Huang Hua’s fault for forcing him to go to that mission but he isn’t dumb, he knew what to expect from this situation.

Nevra, Lance, Mathieu.

I don’t have much to say about Lance and Nevra? Yeah, it was utterly cruel leaving Edgard to froze to death, but honestly? Coming from those two I’m not surprised lol. It was a logical and a stupid decision, cause I don’t know what they would have told Huang Hua as an excuse of why the two most powerful men in the guard coouldn’t find a solution to get a human in the boat. Guess you’d have to eat less, but after living in a world where food and water used to be racionated, I think you’ve been through worst lmao.

I liked how they expressed that Mathieu was very worried for his friend, during the whole episode we’ve seen he was genuinely concerned about Koori and how he appreciates her.

Edgard.

Edgard is a great example that explains that Beemoov does know how to write characters, but sometimes I don’t know why but it seems that they don’t feel like doing it. We’ve get a character with humanity (You cannot convince me that Erika and Mathieu act like humans lmao), that has reacted as any other human would have done in his circumstances, suffering cold, hunger, fear and dirtiness. I’ve liked him since pretty much the beginning, I’ve even become fond of him.

Honestly, even though it has been heartbreaking and expected, my favourite scene it’s his death. During the whole episode Mathieu and Erika have been trying to cheer him up, to calm him down, while they’re hope about saving Edgard and show him the world of Eldarya (starting with the companions while Erika, Edgard and Lance were having a conversation) was sinking. Damn., even I for a moment was hopeful.

The moment where Ophelia appeared and said that one of them was going to die while Edgard was terrified freaked me out, but it freaked me out in a good sense.

His assassination was… Scenic. After all those promises Erika made to the man, telling him she would keep him safe and sound, Tenjin threw a dagger at his throat in the middle of their departure, and Edgar falls dead. Gardienne doesn’t even have and opportunity to process how all her expectations are shattered when she was dragged to the boat, leaving Edgard's lifeless body on the snow. A reminder of how Eldarya is a cruel world where humans doesn’t have a place. A very dramatic moment, one of those that characterize Eldarya and that I missed so much.

Conclusion

In a nutshell, the plot’s development has been slow, there have been a lot of filling about useless explanations of obvious things that could have been replaced with MORE MOMENTS with the LOVE INTERESTS, and the last dialogue with d¡the crush… LMAO, come on let’s be honest, I’m glad they didn’t forget this is an otome, but was it really the moment after that failure of a mission? HAHAHAHAHA, oh goddamn, you better give me the flirting soon or I’ll drive mad Beemoov. A slow episode but with good moments.

[popculturebuffet]

Spongebob: Rock a Bye Bivalve Review (Patreon review for Emma Fici)

Hello all you happy people and happy pride! And for my friend Emma’s patreon review, you can get your own right here by pledging 5 bucks or more, guaranteed every month WITH a bonus one time review on signup, this month she went with a classic.

This is also my first time covering spongebob on the blog and it’s a series I have a fond connection to, having grown up with it as a kid , even having voted in the poll to pick an ending for Shanghied! , and seen it PLENTY years later when my niece, one of my nephews and my nibling all grew up on it. While the series did hit a rough patch, it’s first few seasons are great and unlike family guy which I suffered through two episdoes of (and enjoyed one) last week, it rebounded eventually, I just haven’t gotten around to it. Still don’t think the show needs 80 dozen spinoffs when you have shows just asking for revivial or spinoffs stinking in your vault, but Nick has never been a company that made rational or likeable desicions, why start now? 

So I’m happy to  cover the series even if this review will likely be short. 

For those who haven’t seen the episode, and if not i’ts on paramount+ with the rest of the series and I HIGHLY recommend it, rock a bye byvale is a season 3 episode, the show’s best season in my eyes. The episode follows Spongebob and Patrick as they find a baby scallop in the wild, adopt it and quickly take on the roles of mom and dad. That really is the episode in a nutshell: Spongebob and Patrick adopt a child and play house with it, and it’s as caked with subtext as it sounds. Thi sis the same series that faked us out with the idea patrick LICKED spongebob once so they clearly knew what they were doing. 

And while the episode has aged a little, the idea that a kid needs  amale and a femlae was outdated evne at the time as was the sterotype in a same sex relationship that one’s the “woman, it still largely works: I feel any implications are just accidental, which dosen’t make them entirely okay, but it’s clear it’s all in good fun instead of actually harping gay people and the real lintention is more two big oversized kids playing house, and thus feeling it needs a mom and a dad since that’s what they knew. Hell patrick even is eager to be a mom too and only dose’nt because “This would be kinda shocking”. Their not enforcing gender roles out of any malice, but because it’s what these two idiots know and it lightly decontructs it by having Spongebob be overworked, doing basically all the work. .while Patrick goofs off all day. It’s clearly just there to be silly fun and mlik Spongebob and Patrick having HEAVY ho yay between each other for all ti’s worth. Seriously they knew people shipped them even this early.. and I can’t say I blame them. Though what his sexuality is.. is an engima. Seriously nick trotted him out for pride with other queer characters a few years back and it still baffles me. He dated a krabby patty so he’s probably pansexual since she was a female crabby patty, or maybe bi like me, but otherwise it’s never been clear and it feels weird putting him out there just because the gay community took him in. If your going to make him some form of LBGTQ+ then fine, but don’t take credit for something you haven’t done.  

The jokes here are all classics and while it’s likely because i’ve seen this episode a LOT across two generations, they still hold up, and from minute one with Spongebob playin gwith a box and of course Patrick’s response to a baby being “I’LL TAKE CARE OF THIS” and almost ending the episode right there. Pitch perfect black comedy. There’s tones of all time’s classic “Uhhhhhhh”, “OVERTIME!” “A donut?”, and the ending is just pure greatness. It’s a perfectly paced episode that jumps around enough you don’t get bored but stays well focused. Again I don’t relaly have a ton to say here, it’s really hliarious, expertly timed and still holds up decently despite the age spots. It’s a good classic spogebob episode and I highly recommend it. Thanks for reading. 

[dutchforstrangers]

Digimon Astrology Journey - Independent women: Sora & Mimi

For references, more understanding and background, make sure to read my posts about basic Astrology 101! Part 1 | Part 2. 

A fire Sun/Moon placement combined with a strong Taurus placement... Look out for Femme Fatales! They have a natural beauty, are bold, sensual, strong and creative. Sora and Mimi both have all of that, even though they have very different personalities. Most likely because Sora’s Rising placement balances out her Sun and Moon with compassion and caring protectiveness while Mimi’s big three is here to be a princess and to live for the applause whenever she feels like. 

See it like this: Sora takes care with passion, Mimi wants to be passionately taken care for every once in a while. 

The important stuff

Sora Takenouchi, March 21st 1988 (around 11AM)

Sun: Aries (fire-cardinal) 

Moon: Taurus (earth-fixed)

Rising: Cancer (water-cardinal) 

Mimi Tachikawa, July 24th 1989 (around 11.30PM)

Sun: Leo (fire-fixed) 

Moon: Aries (fire-cardinal) 

Rising: Taurus (earth-fixed)

Charts and analyses under read more!

Beware!: I calculated their birthdays by assigning them a Sun and Moon placement. All of this is NOT CANON! It’s inspired by/based on the canon. I use these analyses and their headcanon birth charts as a reference/character sheet for -as an example- my own fanfiction. Of course be my guest to use these for your own, but remember it’s just someone else’s (in this case it being my) headcanon ;) Some credit, a reblog or a like when used is appreciated. 

Sora Takenouchi - March 21st 1988

We do know in Our War Game, Taichi gave her that hairpin for her birthday in the Spring break between 5th and 6th grade (for her 12th birthday). Conclusion: she probably has her birthday somewhere between March 20th and April 6th (even when it’s not canon? I once read that her birthday is not canon even though the movie implies her birthday is around that time…). Meaning two things: she is either an Aries Sun or a Pisces Sun. I went for the Aries Sun, because I feel like the Pisces is too ‘dreamy’ for her. Her Sun however is on the thin line between Pisces and Aries (even better: if she was born around midnight on the same day, she would have been a Pisces!). So she is an Aries, but her Aries Sun will probably be highly influenced by Pisces.

An Aries Sun is independent, determined and has a strong physical appearance. These Suns NEED sport or some kind of physical and practical activity to feel good, which in Adventure turns into Sora’s absolute and passionate love for soccer. The determination and independency can be seen in DA episode 26 when she stands up against her mother because of soccer even though her knee is hurt. However, that independency and determination is more often towards or for the sake of others, for example when Sora takes off on her own to secretely help her friends. This probably comes from her Sun placement close to Pisces, making her more compassionate and sensitive than any other Aries Suns. And it’s due to her Rising placement. 

Intermezzo: Reboot 2020 Sora is more of an Aries than her original counterpart. I know the character building in the Reboot isn’t that good -or even not existing at all-, but looking through the Astro-glasses, I do see some character. Reboot Sora fits perfectly in this chart!

Sora is a Cancer Rising. Cancer Risings are, even more than the Cancer Suns, protective of others. Cancer Risings tend to see everything or otherwise WANT to see everything. They’re not nosy, they just want to check on you and make sure you’re safe, healthy and happy. This is in fact Sora in a nutshell. 

Taking care of others is their priority number one and that’s exactly what Sora does all the time. Cancer is often called the mother of the Zodiac, a title she is given every once in a while. In Tri episode 10 (Confession pt 1) Meiko says “You’re just like a mom”, and Meiko is someone who doesn’t know Sora for that long. Even she sees, feels and experiences it, making Sora a natural mom-like protector. 

And even though that motherly role is not something what she wants to achieve, it comes natural to Sora. There are more DigiDestined with Cancer placements, but somehow it’s Sora who they call a mom all the time. Her Aries Sun makes her passionate and determined, while her Cancer Rising makes her care and protect. This Aries-Cancer dynamic gives her a mom-like character you can’t get around. 

Sora’s first reaction after Meiko calls her a mom is annoyance and a way of denying and is most likely her Aries-Cancer dynamic. Cancers have a hard shell and they like to keep it that way. Aries can say and feel things before thinking it through. Her face and reaction is a mix of that Cancer’s shell, not wanting to admit she is a mom, and Aries’ impulsiveness, an immediate and bold reaction. (However, it could also be her Moon speaking.)

Cancer Rising makes her sensitive, protective and caring. Place it next to her Aries Sun and she is a bold and independent person with a strong emotional touch. Put her Moon in Taurus next to all of that and she becomes a perceptive human being.

Taurus Moons are highly disciplined, can be somewhat stubborn and crave stability. They like to show others they have everything under control, all the while their bodies extremely react to stress, making Taurus Moons very emotional and (inwardly) reactive people. This could be the explanation why Sora is having such a hard time putting her feelings into words or even doesn’t want to talk about her emotions at all, even when she has these very strong, physical and intuitive feelings and emotions from time to time. So whenever she does have her words ready, she won’t say it, because she thinks about the other first. It’s likely for Sora to bottle everything up and when she can’t hold it any much longer, it will all come out at once. 

With her Mars placement in Capricorn -making her ambitious, feel responsible and act thoughtful- on top of it all, she might has the tendency to overwork herself and go into these downward spirals. Especially when she feels -in both her work and private live- like she can not mean anything to others. This is likely due to her MC = Midheaven (career and calling) in Pisces which makes Sora humble and very ambitious in helping others. And here it comes: preferably through sports or art! Maybe that’s why she is suddenly drawn into Ikebana. And I feel like she isn’t an ordinary fashion designer, but someone who wants to help others feel good through her designs. 

Also a Taurus Moon can make one very traditional, which is the case with Sora. In Adventure she caves more into standing up against her mother, which is more of the Aries-Taurus dynamic: stubborn and determined. Later on, especially in Kizuna, it turns into working with her mother which could be the Cancer-Taurus dynamic. And When she chooses for herself in Kizuna, she’s fully into her big three, using them all three equally. Well, if that isn’t growing up… No shit she was the first one to lose her partner (which I still think is so sad…).

Mimi Tachikawa - July 24th 1989

To me, Mimi is WITHOUT A DOUBT a Leo Sun. And also without a doubt a Taurus Rising! Making her a very very very fierce lady. With an extra emphasize on lady. Her Aries Moon makes her even more bold.

As you can see, her Leo Sun placement is on the thin line with Cancer, which means Cancer influences her Leo Sun and makes her more caring towards others whenever it’s needed. But: the Leo Sun is charismatic and can have a big ego. This is pointed out by Koushiro in Tri episode 6 (Determination pt 2). That ego could make Mimi chose for herself and the people that affect her directly in a certain situation first. Her Taurus Rising and Aries Moon will probably emphasize that even more. Let me be clear: that’s not a bad thing! It’s a good thing knowing what you want and need. And Mimi is a good at that! In comparison to Sora, Mimi is way better in letting others know what she really thinks and feels. In that same episode, just a view seconds before Koushiro puts her in her place, she says she is “sick of Palmon and the others being critisized”. Mimi is honest and sincere, of course she has the Crest of Sincerity/Purity! 

Leo Suns tend to be bossy, they like to boss around and delegate, something we see Mimi is very good at in the series. When she acts and dresses like a princess in Adventure episode 25, in the second arc of Tri (Determination) with her ‘Daters café’, even in the DA: 2020 reboot twice (episodes 6 and 37). She is a princess and a queen, but let’s not forget she can be an awefully good leader and Mimi is an amazing entrepreneur foremost! 

Whatever you think of Leo Suns, they are organized, can be very inspirational, work hard and are very creative. As an entrepreneur myself I can tell that those are the traits you have to possess if you want to make it into the business world. Mimi with her Leo Sun is all up for that! Seeing her starting up her own business in Kizuna is so suiting for her and with this amazing birth chart, it MUST be her calling. Even her Midheaven is in Capricorn, which makes her ambitious, hard working and possibly a tough business woman! She is very practical and needs to immediately act, do stuff. 

As for her Taurus Rising, funny thing with this placement is they can have these explosive tantrums, something we could see with Sora too. However, Sora gets angry and passionate after she bottled things up for too long. Mimi on the other hand just passionately rants when she thinks and feels is the right thing to do. Again I refere to the specific moment in Tri, but there are probably a lot more of these moments. Mimi is such a sweet girl, but in the end, she wants it her way and she will get it. She is stubborn, not to listen to any bullshit you have to say. She can be easily bored due to the Leo-Aries dynamic. Though to be clear, she isn’t shallow. Mimi just has a filter for bullshit and won’t budge easily, due to her Mercury in Leo too. However, when you do say something that moves her in whatever kind of way, she will act on that and makes sure it will work for her. This could partially be her Venus in Virgo, making her have the ability to be more critical to and reflective on her own values.   

Back to Mimi’s Taurus Rising which wants security just like Sora’s Moon placement, but in case of the Rising placements Mimi finds that security more in materialistic comfort. Mimi likes to possess stuff and things. Clothes, accessories, plants, designer furniture, cute home decoration and more. Flying business class? Definitely her Taurus Rising in combination with her Leo Sun. Her Aries Moon makes her impulsive and that Moon in combination with all of the above makes her buy new things and stuff on impulse. Good thing the girl is rich!  

Mimi’s Aries Moon was a placement I had to put some thought in, but I knew she had a fire Moon. In the end, Aries fits the bill. Aries Moons make act quick and impulsive which lead them straight into action. They have a need for independency, which makes Mimi’s Leo Sun more bold and independent. The Leo-Aries dynamic makes Mimi a natural leader, her Taurus-Leo dynamic makes her a sensual leader and her Aries-Taurus dynamic a inspirational leader. She is a leader, she just needs to make sure she doesn’t become too bossy. And she has to pay attention to not let her emotions rule her actions, which is very common with Aries Moons. 

Mimi is a badass woman, but let’s not forget she has a soft side too. Again, Mimi’s Leo Sun will likely be influenced by Cancer, making her Leo Sun more protective towards others. Her Moon in her 12th House could imply she needs more alone time than others -and herself included- think. Her Venus in Virgo in her 5th House makes her more devoted and dedicated towards relationships, making her a caring and devoted friend (and lover). We see her devotion towards her own value and others in the Dark Masters arc in Adventure, when she makes a decision based on her own values and what she thinks is important to do. Mimi is not afraid to act and therefore she is beautiful and very strong! 

Her Venus in Virgo love-wise could also mean she is held back when it comes to love and relationships. Not because she’s insecure, but because she is picky and very critical when it comes to her partners! Hahaha, can you imagine Mimi breaking things of with someone, because he or she or they doesn’t meet up to her standards? Because I definitely can.

For an end note on both girls: People with a Taurus placement (mainly a Taurus Sun, but I’m using the freedom of intepretation rn) in the Big three are often called ‘natural beauties’. I think that’s very accurate with these two gorgeous anime ladies, don’t you agree??

Also bonus: strong, very caring and loving friendship between these two that can go the distance <3

[commentaryvorg]

Digimon Data Squad Dub Comparison Episode 3 - The Return of Thomas!

This is a companion to my commentary on the original Japanese Digimon Savers! Reading my commentary on the original version of this episode (which you can find here) is recommended before reading this dub comparison.

Original name ~ Dubbed name

Masaru Daimon ~ Marcus Damon

Yoshino Fujieda ~ Yoshino “Yoshi” Fujieda

Tohma H. Norstein ~ Thomas H. Norstein

Sayuri Daimon ~ Sarah Damon

Chika Daimon ~ Kristy Damon

Captain Rentarou Satsuma ~ Commander Richard Sampson

PetitMeramon ~ DemiMeramon

[Since several characters share the same name between the original and the dub, quotes from the dub will always be in italics, while quotes from the original will not, in order to distinguish them.]

In the original, Masaru’s VA is always the one reading out the title card, but the dub mixes it up with different characters depending on the episode. This time, we get Miki and Megumi reading it, complete with fangirl squealing over Thomas. Uh, thanks, dub.

Sarah:  “I think Agumon has been a really good influence!”

Marcus & Agumon: “More, please!”

Sarah: “See, he even says ‘please’ now.”

Agumon giving Marcus a reason to wake up early on a non-school day, that makes sense, but Agumon giving him a reason to be more polite? I dunno.

As you can see, there is no dub equivalent of “Agu-chan”. This is understandable and not the dubbers’ fault since English lends itself a lot less to casual terms of endearment like that, but it is a shame.

Marcus: “You served him first?! What did you do, adopt him while I wasn’t looking?”

Marcus says this like it’s not exactly what she’s literally done, and also like it’s not what he’d want. Don’t you want Agumon to be your new little brother, Marcus?

Sarah: “Keep it up, tough guy, and I’ll give your portion to him, too.”

Her affectionate ribbing calling him “tough guy” is cute.

Sarah: “After all, Agumon is a growing boy.”

A neat little nod to the time Agumon said that about himself in episode 1 (even if it didn’t make sense for him to have known that human phrase, but).

Agumon:  “I won’t hand over the last of Sayuri’s fried eggs, not even to you!”

~~~~~

Agumon: “Boss, the only way to get this last fried egg is to take it out of my belly.”

Alas, since dub-Agumon is only referring to this particular last fried egg, we lose the future relevance the original line will have. The dub is not watching ahead to be able to pick up on these things.

Chika:  “What a child…”

~~~~~

Kristy: “What a doof.”

Similar snark – he definitely is a doof – but there’s something I like about Chika calling her older brother a “child” that isn’t quite there when all she’s calling him is a doof.

Most of Thomas’s shower scene is cut. I will grant the dub that one improvement it consistently makes is doing its best to remove all the unnecessary fanservice bits.

[as Agumon tumbles from the bike basket]

Kristy:  “…Doof Two.”

Agumon: [sighing] “I guess…”

What do you mean, Agumon admits and agrees that he is a doof (and implicitly agrees that his boss is one as well). Original-Agumon would not have nearly enough self-awareness to acknowledge that.

Marcus: “Why can’t you travel in the Digivice like all the other Digimon?”

Agumon: “Those other Digimon just show up when they’re called, but you’re lucky. You have me all the time, Boss!”

Unlike in the original, Marcus does actually bring up how Agumon ought to be in the Digivice. But Agumon doesn’t protest with “but I don’t like it in there”, despite him having made even more of a point of not liking cramped spaces in the previous dub episode than he did in the original. If the dub was going to have them discuss this onscreen, it would have been better to take the claustrophobia angle and show Marcus respecting Agumon’s wishes than to make it seem like Agumon’s just being contrary for the heck of it.

Marcus: “This one? No? Oh, just press everything!”

I enjoy the dub being even more obvious about how Marcus figures out which button on his earpiece is the right one to press.

Street punk #2: “Nothing’s going on at all…”

PetitMeramon: “Nothing at all!”

~~~~~

Street punk #2: “Nothing ever goes on around here any more…”

DemiMeramon:  “I agree!”

This is significantly different – here, the DemiMeramon isn’t just parroting the dude’s words, it’s definitely expressing its own opinion about things. The implication here is therefore that it starts setting things on fire because of its own boredom, and these dudes here who happen to also be bored have nothing to do with it. That is categorically not how this is supposed to work.

Masaru:  “Let’s fight!”

PetitMeramon: “Fight…”

~~~~~

Marcus: “There it is! Fightin’ time again!”

DemiMeramon:  “Oh yeah?!”

Again, it’s not parroting his words; it’s responding on its own terms like it’s lucid and thinking for itself. Not how this should work.

Masaru:  “You’re not solid enough, damn it! If I could just hit you once, I could get Agumon to evolve!”

~~~~~

Marcus: “It’s not solid enough to land a blow! But I’ve gotta punch it to start the DNA Charge! Otherwise, Agumon can’t Digivolve!”

The original version of this line sounds reasonably naturally like Masaru is just expressing his frustration at the PetitMeramon. But in the dub, it reads a lot more like awkwardly stilted exposition just to make sure the audience understands why this is a problem.

Marcus:  “Stop setting things on fire! I just got these shoes!”

This is one of those dub additions for comedy, but I’m not sure I like the resulting impression that Marcus is somebody who cares that much about what he wears, because Masaru definitely never seems to be that kind of person.

Agumon: “Now be a nice fireball and let us punch you!”

Pfft. This episode in a nutshell. More of that dub-Agumon trait of saying things that would be snarky if it didn’t sound like he obliviously means them completely seriously.

Gaomon:  “Yes, Master!”

~~~~~

Gaomon: “Sir, yes sir!”

“Yes, Master!” (spoken in English) is Gaomon’s catchphrase in the Japanese, and… I have no idea why the dub couldn’t just keep it exactly as-is. “Master” is a perfectly reasonable thing for him to call Tohma (especially since he’s a dog!), and it even comes already translated.

Instead, he calls Thomas “sir”, which on its own is… fine, I guess. But in particular, the “sir, yes sir!” catchphrase just makes dub-Gaomon come across as some kind of army grunt, rather than as the very good and loyal dog that he is.

Masaru:  “Damn it… That thing pissed me off…”

~~~~~

Marcus: “Urghh… I am exhausted. Whew!”

Masaru here is complaining that he didn’t win, but Marcus is basically just neutrally expressing being exhausted without any sense that he’s specifically frustrated at the DemiMeramon for getting away from him. Since the entire ensuing several scenes are supposed to be a lot about Masaru’s frustration that he’s not good enough, the dub is not starting this off on the right note.

Yoshino:  “Well, I didn’t think it would go easily for you from the start.”

~~~~~

Yoshi: “Don’t worry, Marcus, you didn’t let us down! No-one here at DATS actually thought you could do it anyway!”

Yikes, that’s some way more backhanded reassurance than she gave originally. And also, why does she even feels she needs to “reassure” him? Marcus was not expressing any sort of notion that he felt like he’d failed in the first place.

Agumon:  “Hi there, pal.”

[Gaomon ignores Agumon and walks past him]

Agumon: “Hmph! No birthday present for that guy!”

How does Agumon even know about birthdays, and birthday presents, and the concept of giving birthday presents to people you’re on friendly terms with? These are not things he should reasonably have learned about yet when he’s only been with humans for like a week.

Masaru:  “You bastard! You took away my prey!”

~~~~~

Marcus: “Hey, you! When we talk, you listen!”

It makes perfectly reasonable Masaru-ish sense for him to be mad about Tohma winning what was supposed to be his fight. But Marcus? Isn’t even thinking about the fight, apparently, and is instead just being a jerk.

So far, all Thomas and Gaomon have ignored is Agumon’s greeting and a brief “who are you, blondie?” from Marcus (the “blondie” part is dub-only, unsurprisingly), which is a little rude but not really warranting this response already. Heck, “when we talk, you listen” implies Thomas has been ignoring something substantial that Marcus has been trying to say to him, rather than just a question and a greeting.

There’s a record scratch in the BGM as Thomas ignores Marcus’s attempt to challenge him to a fight and just walks past him. I liked the comedic record scratch they had in episode 1, but this one feels a little cheesy and unnecessary.

Megumi:  “His stern-looking profile is so wonderful!”

Miki:  “It really is!”

~~~~~

Megumi: “He’s so on top of things!”

Miki:  “He so is!”

I appreciate the dub changing the topic of Megumi and Miki’s fawning into admiring Thomas’s work ethic, rather than the original admiring of his appearance. (He is fourteen, you are adults, please stop.)

Tohma:  “…it seems rather peculiar that there are a large number of Digimon detected in this country lately.”

…

Satsuma:  “Is the frequency not as high in EU?”

Tohma:  “No. It must be because it has a larger area.”

~~~~~

Thomas:  “It seems there have been an unusually large number of Digimon appearances lately.”

…

Sampson: “Hmm. So do you think these numbers could eventually overwhelm the Data Squad?”

Thomas: “No. But of course, that all depends on having the right team in place.”

Seems the dub is ditching the fact that it’s specifically this country that’s been getting so many more Digimon appearances. Instead, Thomas just takes the opportunity to be a passive-aggressive jerk about Marcus sooner than in the original.

Satsuma:  “Oh, let me introduce you. This is…”

[Tohma barely even glances at Masaru; Masaru gets angry]

Masaru:  “Hey! I don’t care if you’re called Tohma or Tonma… but around here, I’m your senpai! I’ve only been here for three days, but make sure to call me ‘Daimon-san’ or ‘Daimon-senpai’!”

~~~~~

Sampson: “Oh. Go ahead and introduce yourself, Marcus.”

[Thomas barely even glances at Marcus. Marcus gets angry]

Marcus: “Say what?! Why doesn’t *he* introduce himself to *me*?! I’m the one with seniority, even if it’s only three days.”

This reads a lot less like Marcus getting angry has anything to do with the way Thomas just barely even looked at him, and more that he’s mad at Sampson for thinking he ought to introduce himself first. In that vein, it’s somewhat more reasonable for him to go ranting about seniority, I suppose. However, I liked the way that Masaru suddenly ranting about that with no real provocation was unreasonable and was very transparently him trying to assert some kind of superiority, not really about the appropriate-honorific-respect that he tried to insist was the point.

Marcus: “Who does he think he is, anyway? Look, kid! Agumon and I are the top fighters around here, and don’t you forget it!”

Meanwhile in the dub, the lines specifically asking for honorifics have no English equivalent, so we get this to fill the gap. I guess it has a reasonably similar effect and is a similarly uncalled-for assertion of superiority.

(I do like the “kid”, trying to make Thomas seem beneath him despite their equal age.)

Satsuma:  “Already blazing down the warpath, eh?”

~~~~~

Sampson: “You are completely out of line.”

Satsuma was being reasonably tolerant of Masaru’s argumentative nature, accepting that this is just how Masaru is and he’ll hopefully be able to rein it in if he just understands the situation better. But Sampson is simply having none of it.

Sampson: “Marcus, Thomas is *your* superior. Deal.”

I guess it’s a lip-flap issue, but Sampson just telling Marcus to “deal” sounds weirdly colloquial for him. Also, “superior” is not quite the same thing as having seniority in terms of just having more experience. This implies that Thomas is going to have the right to give Marcus orders and Marcus will be obligated to follow them, which is not quite it.

Marcus: “You mean I have to take orders from him?”

…Okay, apparently that literally is what the dub wants us to think, even though this is not how things are actually going to work here.

(This is in place of the line establishing that Masaru and Tohma are the same age, but that will be a fact that gets mentioned in a later dub episode.)

Satsuma:  “Be sure to get along with each other, as you are colleagues.”

~~~~~

Sampson: “Unlike some teams, *they* have got discipline.”

Satsuma was trying to mediate between the two, but instead Sampson is very clearly taking Thomas’s side, which he really ought to know is only going to rile Marcus up more.

(If Marcus and Agumon’s lack of discipline is really such a big dealbreaker for you, Sampson, why did you even want to recruit him in the first place?)

Tohma:  “I think it will be futile to do so, Captain Satsuma. There is not a chance that this person could benefit DATS.”

~~~~~

Thomas: “Commander, please allow me to say a few words about the new recruit. Based on my first impression, I feel he could never benefit DATS in any way.”

Thomas is being a lot less out of line here, asking politely to speak his opinion and qualifying it as being only based on a first impression. This is also not him pointedly refusing to even try and get along like Tohma was, since Sampson didn’t ask him to. The blame in the dub version of this argument is a lot more heaped onto Marcus’s side rather than equally with both of them, and Sampson obviously siding with Thomas doesn’t help matters.

Masaru:  “Say that to my face! Look into a person’s eyes when they’re talking!”

~~~~~

Marcus: “Say that to my face! Look me in the eye! If you have the guts!”

There’s slightly less emphasis on Marcus caring about people looking him in the eye when they’re talking to him, since he turns it into a general jab about Thomas not having any guts, but I do appreciate that it’s pretty much still here and unchanged.

Marcus: “What fighting skills does Your Highness possess, you royal jerk?!”

Ehh, I don’t really like Marcus bringing in jabs about the nobility thing at this point. Thomas has just insulted his fighting strength, and in that particular fighting context, Masaru would not care about anything except his opponent’s strength and would not make uncalled-for jabs at something unrelated.

Yoshino:  “This is the worst… Go ahead, do whatever you want.”

~~~~~

Yoshi:  “Oh well… Good luck. Protect yourself.”

This is after Marcus refuses to put on his headgear in the boxing ring. Yoshino sounds like she’s just exasperatedly washing her hands of his self-destructive recklessness, because hey, at least she tried. But Yoshi still seems to be genuinely trying to help him, even as the “protect yourself” falls kinda flat because he literally just refused to do so. (It doesn’t sound especially sarcastic – the “good luck” at least sounds very genuine.)

Tohma:  “Why did you join DATS?”

Masaru:  “Huh?! It was so I could win, obviously!”

Tohma:  “Against who?”

Masaru:  “Against strong guys!”

~~~~~

Thomas: “What made you join DATS in the first place?”

Marcus: “Huh? It was so I could meet guys like *you*!”

Thomas: “Seriously?”

Yoshi:  “He means, he wanted to fight. Strong guys, like you.”

Marcus: “Not him…”

I think what the dub is trying to get at with “guys like you” is similar to a change they made last episode, in which Marcus apparently specifically wants to beat up bad guys, and Thomas is totally one of those, right. I guess props to the dub for at least trying to keep that vaguely consistent? Even though it’s a change that I very much do not like.

I presume the “not him” after Yoshi just said “strong guys like [Thomas]” is Marcus wanting to insist that Thomas isn’t strong, because it otherwise wouldn’t make any sense for him to deny the thing that he literally just said himself.

But, hey, notice something else here? Yoshino doesn’t have a line here in the original. They edited the footage to take away Marcus explaining his own goals and put those words into Yoshi’s mouth instead. Why? Why would you do that. I’d say that maybe they only did so to remove some of the punching from the fight because oh no violence (there will be some Issues the dub has with removing punching from this anime which is very heavily about punching), except they still keep the bit where Thomas punches Marcus in the stomach, so that can’t be it. They actually keep all the punches in this fight uncut, which is Rare for the dub.

Tohma:  (He’s beyond help.)

~~~~~

Thomas: (I’m getting tired of this.)

Thomas’s thought is a lot less unreasonable than Tohma’s. Thomas is still coming across as significantly more in the right than Marcus in the dub, rather than them being equally as bad as each other.

Masaru:  “A fight doesn’t end until one side admits defeat!”

~~~~~

Marcus: “Sorry ‘bout that. Why don’t you run along and catch up with Sampson. Maybe you can read a report together.”

Ughhh, I really, really don’t like this. The dub has apparently decided that, since Marcus is A Jock™, he must be disdainful of Nerds™ like Thomas and make jabs about that. Masaru doesn’t frigging care! He does not give a damn in the slightest how book-smart and workaholic Tohma is; the only thing that would ever matter to Masaru is how he fares in a fight.

And we get this instead of that fun line showing Masaru’s philosophy about street fights, giving more insight into why he insisted on getting up and continuing the fight even after the “match” had ended.

I also don’t like Marcus’s “apology”. He is very obviously not sorry for deliberately punching Thomas, and trying to act like he is when he obviously isn’t is such an insincere dick thing to do that would never even cross Masaru’s mind.

Yoshino:  “Tohma’s beaten Olympic champions in the past.”

~~~~~

Yoshi: “I’ve seen Thomas routinely beat Olympic champions in that very ring!”

…What, in that ring in the gym that’s presumably at DATS? Even if this is the dub assuming it’s not at DATS and is just some gym somewhere nearby in town, you’d have thought that if Tohma had fought champions, he’d have gone to them to do so, rather than inviting them to him. To them, he’s just some random rich kid; why would they go that far out of their way for him?

The “routinely” also serves to make Thomas’s talent sound even more ridiculously over-the-top than it already was.

Yoshino:  “Really, the only things worthy of a gold medal around here are your pride and your competitive attitude.”

~~~~~

Yoshi: “Marcus, I’m not impressed by your bragging, and Thomas isn’t even in the room!”

I miss the snark. A lot of characters the dub makes snarkier, but Yoshi kinda becomes a bit less so, it seems.

Kudamon:  “If even a small flame from PetitMeramon’s body remains, it has the ability to develop and multiply in a short time. It should have been prevented from doing so earlier.”

~~~~~

Kudamon:  “A DemiMeramon can regenerate itself over and over again, multiplying a hundred times in as little as half an hour. Apparently, the area wasn’t sealed off earlier.”

The dub manages to completely leave out the part where this is Masaru’s fault because embers from the PetitMeramon were scattered everywhere from his failed attempts to punch it and then he ran off and left things on fire for new PetitMeramon to regenerate themselves from.

Instead, apparently DemiMeramon can just multiply… whenever? It doesn’t do so from the flames it leaves behind, it just copies itself? Except, if Thomas secured the single DemiMeramon that there was to begin with, it literally should not have been able to do so. Sealing off the area would have been irrelevant once it had been safely turned into an egg. The only way it could have multiplied itself like this is if it did so before Thomas neutralised it – but it clearly didn’t do that in front of Marcus, so this is hardly his fault.

Marcus has the same flashback to punching the DemiMeramon and the same thought that this is his fault, but this makes absolutely no sense with the information the dub has given us. Great job there, dubbers.

Sampson: “And now, the DemiMeramon has been left on its own to multiply at will!”

Um, dub? Do you not remember the part where Thomas brought in the DemiMeramon’s egg? It was not left anywhere. That is not how this happened and not why this is (supposed to be) Marcus’s fault.

Masaru:  “Wait! Those fireballs are ours to beat!”

~~~~~

Marcus: “Hey! Hold on a second, that’s our case!”

They really are watering down any sense that Marcus sees this as being about finishing his fight. Instead he’s apparently invested because this is a case, like he ever really cared about the official DATS investigation side of things.

Masaru:  “Damn right! We’ll pull it off somehow using our spirits!”

~~~~~

Marcus: “You bet! And we’ll do it with style, too!”

I miss the “somehow”, making it clear that Masaru has absolutely no idea how he’s going to do this and is willing to basically admit that, yet still wants to throw himself into it anyway.

Marcus: “You two can’t handle that many alone! We’ll help!”

The “we’ll help” is a dub addition, but I am surprised by the notion that Marcus sounds willing to just help Thomas, essentially working together with him. That definitely shouldn’t be something he’d want to do right now. (Suddenly the dub is making Marcus come across as more reasonable and less of a jerk than it’s been doing the entire time, because what is consistency.)

Megumi:  “His lightning-fast techniques look great!”

~~~~~

Megumi: “His reflexes are lightning fast! And he’s cute!”

Okay, never mind what I said earlier, I guess the dub is still keeping the idea that the computer ladies think Thomas is cute, adding in a reference to that where there wasn’t even one originally.

Agumon:  “Wow…”

~~~~~

Agumon: “Cute?”

And because of that, we also lose Agumon being in awe of Tohma and Gaomon’s performance and accidentally making Masaru feel worse, in place of him simply irrelevantly questioning Megumi’s comment.

Kudamon:  “Aren’t you going to stop him?”

Satsuma:  “Leave him alone.”

~~~~~

Kudamon: “You’re not going to say anything?”

Sampson: “Not yet.”

So apparently, Sampson is planning to give Marcus some kind of talking-to about this at some point probably fairly soon. We’re really losing that sense from Satsuma that he understands that Masaru will be Masaru and is being patient and giving him space to sort his issues with Tohma out on his own, which I enjoyed and am sad to lose.

Agumon:  “Aniki… Why are you angry?”

~~~~~

Agumon: “Don’t be upset, Boss! Just because Thomas is better than you!”

Originally Agumon didn’t really understand what was going on in Masaru’s head. Meanwhile, dub-Agumon seems to have Marcus figured out perfectly – and yet is also tactless enough to outright say the thing he’s already realised is upsetting him.

Agumon:  “Well, I think Tohma and Gaomon are nasty guys too, but…”

~~~~~

Agumon: “Boss, I’m sorry I said that about Thomas. You’re better than him.”

At least dub-Agumon realises this and apologises after Marcus is clearly not thrilled by it, but his “you’re better than him” reads as pretty empty reassurance when he just said the exact opposite.

(Meanwhile, original-Agumon still didn’t realise this had anything to do with who’s better than who and just thought it had to be about Tohma being kind of a dick, while still being confused at how that would make Aniki this upset…?)

Masaru:  “No… It’s myself that I’m mad at, not them.”

~~~~~

Marcus: “No, I’m not. I’m just pig-headed and I let my pride get in my way.”

Marcus, like Masaru, is capable of realising that the problem is himself here… but he goes way further than Masaru does as to why that supposedly is.

And the thing is, this isn’t actually supposed to be the problem in the original! Originally, Masaru’s issue was that Tohma is “better” than him simply in the sense that he’s a stronger and more capable fighter, making Masaru face the fact that he might not be as strong a fighter as he thought he was. But here in the dub, apparently the problem is that Thomas is “better” than Marcus because of Marcus’s personality, because Thomas is supposedly just a better person than some pig-headed arrogant jerk like Marcus.

Which is not the point! Masaru can be reckless and prideful sometimes, but it’s never in a way that makes him a bad fighter or a bad person. He’s been a bit of argumentative jerk in this episode in particular with regards to Tohma, but Tohma himself has been equally bad in that regard in his own very different way. The original was great in having both Masaru and Tohma be equally the problem in this clash between them, in very parallel ways.

Yet apparently the dub wants us to think that, no, Thomas is a perfectly reasonable guy and the problem really is that Marcus is such an arrogant jerk compared to him. Which I guess is somewhat consistent with some of the small changes they’ve been making to the rest of the episode to make Marcus slightly more of a jerk and Thomas slightly less of one, and having Sampson clearly come down on Thomas’s side, to make it look like Marcus’s attitude alone is the problem.

But, urgh! I hate that the dub is doing this to Masaru’s character, presenting Marcus as more of a jerk and as if this is his biggest character flaw, when that has nothing to do with what’s going on with Masaru and just makes Marcus significantly less likeable! Why would you ever think this was a good thing to do with the story’s main protagonist, seriously.

Masaru:  “Damn it! What am I doing? Really… what the hell am I doing?”

~~~~~

Marcus: “It’s time I realised it. I still have a lot to learn. Face it. I’m not the ultimate fighter.”

And now, while originally Masaru was unable to properly articulate what it actually was that was frustrating him about himself, Marcus has just fully completed this 100% self-aware reflection. From this, what you’d assume it’d lead into would be, presumably, Marcus trying to be less “pig-headed and prideful” and more like Thomas, since apparently Thomas’s way of doing things obviously makes him better than Marcus as both a fighter and a person?

Yeah, raincheck on that supposed character development. I’m sure you can already tell that’s not what’s going to happen here, since it isn’t in the original, because it doesn’t freaking need to be.

Also, remember how I made a point of how the original changed Masaru’s “already the number one street fighter” into Marcus’s “trying to be the ultimate fighter” in episode 1? That’s becoming extremely relevant right here.

This whole episode is a bit of a wake-up call for Masaru in terms of realising for the first time that maybe he’s not actually the greatest fighter like he thought and there’s still more growing he can do. But Marcus? He’s supposed to have already known that. “Face it, I’m not the ultimate fighter”? You literally never said you were in the first place. You were supposed to already know you had a lot to learn, so why is it only just now “time I realised it”?

There wouldn’t necessarily be anything inherently wrong with the dubbers changing Marcus’s ultimate fighter thing into this if they’d made sure to follow through on it and also change every character moment he gets to be consistent with the new version. Buuut they’re not doing that. I don’t think they realised how meaningful of a change it even was to make in the first place.

Old man:  “It’s hard lighting up a fire… The sparks go out easily whenever the wind gets a little too strong.”

Masaru:  “Well, obviously!”

~~~~~

Old man: “I’m having trouble starting a fire, though. Y’see, the flames keep dying out on me because the wind’s too strong and it keeps blowing it out.”

Marcus: “Yeah, that’s happened to me, too.”

Unlike Masaru, who was just expressing exasperation at this old guy telling him something obvious like he didn’t already know that the wind blows out flames, Marcus appears to be… getting the metaphor? His own experience that he’s referring to could just be his literal problem of not being able to punch fire, but based on what he’s just been reflecting on a moment ago and also judging from his tone of voice, that doesn’t seem to be it.

Which makes me sad! Masaru is a ridiculously straightforward doofus who wouldn’t know a metaphor if it punched him in the face, and I am disappointed to see the dub water down that delightful part of his character and make Marcus into some kind of regular person who can actually recognise that kind of thing.

Old man:  “But… once I get a larger flame going, it burns strongly no matter how much the wind blows. Fire is an interesting thing, isn’t it?”

Masaru:  “…This is…”

~~~~~

Old man: “Well… If you learn to use the wind instead of fighting it, you can make the fire burn brighter than ever before. Harness power, don’t extinguish it.”

Marcus: “…He’s right!”

But then, the dub’s version of the metaphor becomes something quite different. Instead of saying that Masaru’s “flame” will soon get so strong that no wind can blow it out, he’s saying that Marcus should harness the “wind” to make his “flame” stronger.

Originally, the metaphor was basically meant to be a reassurance to Masaru that he’s already doing fine – that he just needs to keep going as he has been and continue to grow and soon enough nothing will be able to stop him. But here in the dub, the metaphor appears to be prompting him to take new action of some sort, warning him that his flame will keep getting blown out if he doesn’t do whatever “harnessing the wind” is supposed to mean.

It’s ambiguous exactly what the “wind” could represent here. If it’s something that was getting in Marcus’s way until now, is it meant to be his “pig-headed pride” that he was just thinking was his big problem? Is the point of this supposed to be the old man telling Marcus through metaphor that actually he should keep being exactly the way he is and should just do that harder?

On the one hand I’d be okay with that because hey, guess what, newsflash, there is actually nothing wrong with Masaru being the way he is, and the dub is wrong to try and act like his personality is the issue and to distort his personality into being more of a jerk to make it an issue. But then that just serves to completely undermine the supposed realisation that Marcus had back in the tunnel and set him back on the track of not trying to change at all. (Which, yeah, again, spoilers, he’s not going to; of course he’s not going to be actively trying to make himself more like Thomas, because that’s not something that Masaru would ever do. Masaru has very strong convictions in who he is and wouldn’t change that for anyone.)

And somehow, despite this metaphor being a lot more metaphorical and ambiguous than it was in the original, and despite this being Marcus, he appears to completely understand what the old man is trying to say to him and take those words to heart. Whatever those words actually are. Somehow.

…I suppose it’s possible that actually the “wind” in the metaphor is supposed to represent Thomas, and that this metaphor is trying to encourage Marcus and Thomas to work together to make each other stronger. This would sort of make sense, since GeoGreymon uses fire-based attacks while Gaogamon uses wind-based attacks, and we’ll actually be seeing some metaphorical stuff being done with those attacks of theirs in the next couple of episodes. Still, if that’s the case, it’s nonetheless definitely not what Marcus gets from this metaphor right here.

But you know what else this dub version of the metaphor very much isn’t? It is not remotely useful literal advice about how to punch fire. At no point does it explain the part where a stronger flame won’t be blown out by anything (and will therefore be punchable). So whatever Marcus is getting from the old man’s words here, it isn’t that. This is kind of important for what’s about to happen next.

As Marcus hears about the trouble at the gas tanks and rushes off, the old man has an added line that’s just silence in the original:

Old man: “See what good fire does?”

…which makes even more of a point that this is definitely only meant to be some kind of metaphor. Though, wasn’t he trying to say that the wind would do Marcus good? Marcus already is the fire in this metaphor, so stressing that fire is good seems besides the point. I’m getting increasingly convinced that the dubbers just didn’t have an actual meaning in mind for their version of the metaphor at all and were half-assing this entire conversation. (Yet they somehow still felt they knew better than the original writers enough to change it at all.)

Thomas: “There’s no chance he can secure the DemiMeramon. There’s too many!”

[cut to precisely *three* DemiMeramon flying around]

Yep, sure, three of them is totally too many. Originally the “too many” comment wasn’t there, and Tohma thought Masaru couldn’t do this simply because he hadn’t shown he could handle any PetitMeramon at all. Numbers are not supposed to be the issue here, or at least not the primary one like Thomas is making it sound like it is.

Masaru:  “Fire sparks easily go out whenever the wind blows on them. But… Once they burst into flame…!”

[Masaru leaps to punch the Meramon quite solidly in the face and lands with his Digisoul flaring]

Masaru:  “They won’t be extinguished so easily!”

~~~~~

Marcus:  “Just like the old man said, a fire can be blown out by the wind. Then again… you know what I always say…!”

[Marcus leaps to punch the Meramon quite solidly in the face and lands with his DNA flaring]

Marcus:  “You gotta fight fire with fire!”

So… yeah. In the dub, the old man’s words were not actually advice on how to solve this problem, and Marcus’s decision to deliberately make the DemiMeramon stronger had nothing to do with what the old man told him. He had no reason to believe this would work. He really was just being dangerously rash and hot-headed with no sense of actual plan or strategy, and it really did only work out of sheer luck.

(I mean, okay, maybe he could have just figured on his own that making the fire stronger would make it punchable. But Masaru is definitely not supposed to be the kind of person who could figure that out without being nudged in the right direction by someone else. And if Marcus really is perfectly capable of figuring that out on his own, why did he not do so the first time?)

Thomas: “Marcus made Meramon Digivolve on purpose so he could activate his DNA…”

It is very debatable that this was on purpose here, Thomas.

Megumi:  “Not bad!”

~~~~~

Megumi: “Marcus proved he could do it!”

Thanks, dub, we needed it made obvious that this fight was about Marcus proving himself, because we couldn’t figure that out on our own.

Thomas: “Don’t get cocky. You just got lucky this time, that’s all.”

This line is basically unchanged, but guess what? Thomas is right to say this, where Tohma wasn’t.

Tohma:  “Don’t be absurd. You don’t come up with any strategy or tactics. Do you think using force all the time will let you win at everything?”

Masaru:  “Hah, sounds like a sore loser to me.”

~~~~~

Thomas: “Just as I thought, you had no plan and no tactics, just raw power.”

Marcus: “Hah. For a genius, you’re a real sore loser.”

Still basically the same, but again, Thomas is right this time, not being a sore loser. In fact, the added “just as I thought” (and this line comes after the cut back to HQ, so there was conversation prior to it that we didn’t hear) suggests that Thomas has just heard from Marcus himself that, yes, he really did just recklessly charge in with no plan.

I mean, sure, in a sense Thomas is still being a sore loser because Marcus’s raw power still worked. But the point of the sore loser line in the original was that Tohma insisting that Masaru used no tactics in and of itself was him sorely refusing to admit that maybe Masaru actually did have some idea what he was doing after all.

Tohma:  “What did you say?”

Masaru:  “Wanna make somethin’ of it? I’ll knock you out with one hit to the face this time!”

~~~~~

Thomas: “What did you say?”

Marcus: “Oh, just this: I’ll take my raw power over your tactics any day!”

Granted, outright saying he’d prefer raw power over tactics is definitely something Masaru might also say (of course he would; look at how he never tried to point out that he actually did have a strategy because he doesn’t care about that). But this is a bit of a different way for the dub to show Marcus having his confidence back, since his “conflict” this episode was apparently about “oh no what if raw power is bad and I should be more like Thomas”.

(…Did the dub actually deliberately remove the part where the metaphor was literal advice about punching fire so that Marcus could win through nothing but raw power in order to facilitate this complete backpedal in what briefly appeared to be some ill-advised character development? Ugh, but even if that was on purpose, it’s so much more interesting to show that Masaru actually can do strategy sometimes, and it’s just that his strategies are a lot more risky and head-on than Tohma’s!)

Tohma:  “You want me… to act alongside him?”

Masaru:  “You’re joking! I’ll never accept him as my partner!”

~~~~~

Thomas: “But sir, he’s completely undisciplined!”

Marcus: “This clown?! I’ll never be his partner – he’s way too annoying!”

Thomas and Marcus get given specific reasons to object to working together in the dub – and while Thomas’s complaint of “undisciplined” is perfectly reasonable, Marcus’s complaint of “annoying” seems rather beside the point. Too pompous, too uptight, (too makes-him-feel-like-maybe-strategy-and-not-just-raw-power-might-be-useful); something like that would be more relevant to Marcus. Is this supposed to be another Marcus Just Hates Nerds™ thing? Because ugh.

Overall differences

Oh boy. There’s a lot going on in terms of changes in this episode, and basically all of it is bad.

Rather than Masaru and Tohma both being presented as equally out-of-line for their own reasons in their initial arguments, the narrative firmly comes down on Thomas’s side by making Thomas less unreasonably harsh in his comments and by having Sampson clearly taking Thomas’s side.

The bit where they explain how DemiMeramon multiplied makes no sense and certainly doesn’t logically leave it as being Marcus’s fault at all, yet he still claims it is for no reason and we’re just expected to believe that.

Then there’s Marcus’s whole, ahem, “character arc” for the episode, if it can even be called that. Rather than some delightful subtle exploration of how Masaru deals with the realisation that he’s not necessarily the strongest fighter out there like he professes to be, it becomes this heavy-handed thing about how Marcus’s whole problem is that he’s Such A Big Arrogant Jerk. Marcus is way more self-aware about his supposed exact problem than someone like him really ought to be (including admitting he’s not the ultimate fighter when he never said he was), and for a moment it seems like his character development is going to be about him learning to be less of a jerk and more like Thomas. Except it won’t, because this won’t happen in the original, because this is not remotely Masaru’s problem in the original.

Then there’s the old man’s metaphor. Originally he was effectively saying that Masaru is doing fine the way he is and just needs to keep growing and getting stronger like this. Here, the metaphor is changed to imply that Marcus needs to take some kind of new action, except what new action is extremely unclear and is not actually going to happen, because, again, not how it went originally. Marcus apparently somehow gets this metaphor, which is ridiculous because I’m not even sure what it was on about, never mind that Marcus should be the last person who’s any good with metaphors, just like Masaru is.

And then there’s the part where the old man’s changed metaphor had nothing to do with teaching Marcus how he could literally punch fire and defeat the DemiMeramon. So his victory in the climactic fight really was complete boneheaded reckless luck without a semblance of strategy, and Thomas was right to call it that.

This entire dub version of the episode firmly wants you to come down on Thomas’s side and agree that Marcus is a huge dumb arrogant jerk whose personality is the entire problem here, and, urgh. I hate it. I hate it so much. I hate that the dub writers consciously chose to do this to Masaru’s character. Masaru does not deserve this.

(You’re probably starting to see why I’m actually quite glad that Masaru has a different name in the dub. Marcus may be a somewhat different character that the dub is insistently making worse, but at least Masaru will always be untainted and separate from the dub’s nonsense.)