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Immortality be damned

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The sillies

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One of the trailers from 西游笔绘西 in which Er’lang Shen is sent to Flower Fruit Mountain to retrieve you, the MC. After sealing his powers, Sun Wukong immediately breaks them and a confrontation ensues.

There is no planned international release. The website for the video game can be found here. https://xy.changyou.com/m/index.shtml

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wukong would say skill issue we all know it

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Assorted Monkey King 2009 text post memes #3

This is the half that's a little more of a genuine assortment! Spoilers up to Episode 15, but mostly minor ones.

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Assorted Monkey King 2009 text post memes #2

I say assorted, but it's nearly entirely Episode 13 brain rot. There are maybe two exceptions. It's like a scavenger hunt!

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Monkey King 2009 Episode 16

Ohhhhh, cliffhanger! Stone Monkey scooping White Dragon and Ginseng Fruit behind himself to try and protect them was expected, but still. I'm absolute trash for protective Stone Monkey. I love that writers and/or animation team apparently are too, for how often they shove it in there.

Yet another Heaven episode, but it has Jade Rabbit, so I guess it's fine.

Quick question, though: Can't Jade Rabbit just like...magic reishi mushrooms into existence? Why is she out here gathering them? Is it just a hobby? Keeping those skills sharp? Or was her waving her wand and making any amount of reishi mushrooms grow for Stone Monkey - repeatedly! - just a fancier sort of matter displacement. She was pulling those out of her pantry, actually.

Jade Rabbit proves herself a true teenager by seeing a weird man acting kind of suspicious, wondering what he's up to, and deciding the best way to solve that mystery is hiding herself in his luggage to be taken to a secondary location she only suspects she knows, and that if she's right is still somewhere between another country and another dimension. For, like. Kicks.

Zero forethought went into that decision.

I love her.

Wudou continues to be the absolute slimiest. Old White Deer is creepy, but Wudou is slimy. Ugh. Gross. Also a terrible liar. He gets way too into it when he's nervous. The gate guards asked him a simple question! A simple, professional question! Why do they suddenly know all about his Beyblade dates with General Li and also the whole dietary history of his bird? Plus whatever that third thing was. I don't even want to speculate. I can guess, but I don't want to.

He also nearly spilled the entire sack of beans all over General Li's feet at the barest provocation when the guy turned up on his doorstep somewhat miffed. He wants to spill that secret. He is primed. But also, did he actually have a secret recipe he's been feeding his bird? Because I have to wonder what he's going to pull out of his ass to give to General Li to get the man back out of his house otherwise, lol. General Li does not mess around with his responsibilities as a Pokemon trainer.

(I kind of have to think of the Divine Treasure Birds as basically pokemon - I mean, General Li's is also his pagoda, or like, something like that??? so - because otherwise I am going to lose it. I don't need more reasons to tune out of the Heaven subplot.)

Besides finding land, not a lot going on with the kids at first lol. Much to their frustration, poor guys. Ginseng Fruit continues to be needlessly aggressive toward White Dragon, so I guess that reassuring talk didn't go quite as far as might have been hoped, but they're also not outright trying to get him lost in the ocean anymore so I guess that's progress.

BUT ALSO

What's that they're eating once they find land...?

Are those...green peaches?

Stone Monkey, who was ready to die on that hill when Six Ears was grabbing just slightly unripe peaches to bring back to the cave? That Stone Monkey? Now eating...GREEN peaches?

HOW THE TURNS HAVE TABLED!!

(There is nothing serious about that, I'm just laughing. I hope somewhere over the horizon, in what non-corrupted corners remain of his heart, Six Ears felt a little glow of vindication. He can have one win.)

Ginseng Fruit was really on the ball with breaking out the lectures this episode. Stone Monkey finding them kind of funny and taking them 0% seriously was the best part, though. White Dragon continually getting blindsided by Ginseng Fruit busting out of the corner with a steel chair every time he makes any sort of comment about anything at all was also pretty funny.

I'm not sure if the 'I HATE LAZY PEOPLE!! I'M GOING TO BE THE 'LISTS OFF A THOUSAND ADJECTIVES UNTIL THEY LITERALLY CAN'T THINK OF ANY MORE' BEST BEST BEST SOMETHING HERO FOR THE PRIDE OF ALL GINSENG FRUITS' one in response to White Dragon innocently going 'dang this is pretty nice I'd like to be this comfortable all the time' or the one that went something like 'I WAS BORN TO THE TREES AND AM ONE WITH THE FOREST YOU TOTAL INCOMPETENT' where White Dragon could only respond with '...What?' and Stone Monkey had to sidle in all like 'No, yeah, actually that one's true.'

And then resets the balance by pointedly leaning down to ask Ginseng Fruit what they should do next about this whole 'never-ending forest' business and Ginseng Fruit has to admit they have absolutely no idea.

This dynamic is just really funny. It's growing on me.

That and Guanyin - presumably having watched these kids lap the island for a whole day with popcorn - finally popping by to put an end this utter circus and ending up with three screaming children hanging off her sleeves. I like to think she genuinely wasn't expecting that. She was just here to give a simple character test and finally let them out of the labyrinth, but she didn't have to do it by smacking them across the map. It just sort of happened.

Stone Monkey going full kowtow and White Dragon edging up to Ginseng Fruit to ask if that's, uh...normal where they come from, when asking for directions. And Ginseng Fruit continuing to stare straight at the scene in front of them and only going something like, "...Sure." because they can't admit they have no idea what Stone Monkey's doing. Comedy gold. Love it. I say it again, this trio is growing on me.

I also like that Stone Monkey's entire argument for why this lady should give them these directions she is trying to keep from them for their own good is 1) If she doesn't he will have no reason to leave and therefore she will be stuck with him and 2) Ma'am, I am incredibly stubborn.

If this really was just a kindly old lady Stone Monkey had zero doubts in his ability to get her to willingly pack them off to their deaths after just a short while of exposure. He is confident.

That Qilin, though! But first the kids, like Stone Monkey yelling at the top of his lungs, White Dragon (maybe sarcastically, maybe entirely earnestly) going, 'maybe you weren't loud enough' and Ginseng Fruit popping up to go, 'Bet.'

Or, actually, Ginseng Fruit going, 'Listen, he's elderly, he can't hear well,' and then SCREAMING.

And them taking literally five seconds to decide that, actually, walking in is fine. They're excited! Stone Monkey and White Dragon have hugged so much over this! They literally cannot wait!

And then they run into the Qilin who wastes zero time going for the throat. Like literally. Guanyin wasn't kidding when she called them a raging asshole unmatched by any other.

Appreciate that the kids had the good sense to make sharp turns coming out of the cave so they aren't straight in the Qilin's path, even if it was immediately overshadowed by them climbing a half-dead tree while being pursued by walking fire hazard and deciding that was good enough. Not your best move ever, Stone Monkey.

White Dragon can actually turn into a dragon! That's pretty cool. He also talks a little bit differently? I'm not sure if I'm hearing it right, but I like it. Even if he does totally fail to understand basic tactics, like Stone Monkey and Ginseng Fruit drawing the Qilin's attention so White Dragon can get a chance to properly hit them, only for White Dragon to not do that and instead decide that he was included in the 'draw their attention' plan himself! Just because, I guess! I mean, it's endearing, don't get me wrong, but child, please. You are not good at this.

Oh, and Ginseng Fruit being big bossy lol. Finds out literally two seconds ago White Dragon can use water spouts and takes it upon themselves to tell White Dragon how to use their own magic. Absolutely stellar. Never change, Ginseng Fruit. To be fair to Ginseng Fruit though, Guanyin went through a lot of trouble to hammer home that there was a fire Qilin on the mountain and they were mean and also made of fire. Then the trio runs into the fire Qilin - who is mean and made of fire - and White Dragon has the absolute gall to be like, "What the heck monster is that?!" while running away. From the fire blasts. And Stone Monkey has to remind him that it's probably that fire Qilin Guanyin was telling them all about maybe just fifteen minutes ago. And then White Dragon. This kid. He goes, "Oh, I didn't think she was serious."

CHILD.

To be honest, I would have sicced Ginseng Fruit on him right there. He would have deserved it in that moment. Ginseng Fruit not trusting them a single inch and bossing them around later is just delayed desserts.

And then we get our cliffhanger! The kids are backed into a corner, Stone Monkey herds the other two behind him, the fire Qilin unleashes its fiery blast-!

I mean, they're going to live, obviously, but will it be Subodhi? One of Stone Monkey's hairs? Guanyin back again? A clever, last-minute trick?

I guess we'll find out! Not tonight though. Getting through this episode was a rough few days. I've been too sleepy after work this week. I'm too sleepy now.

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Monkey King 2009 Episode 15

So this is basically all the many ways Old White Deer is an absolute ass, the episode, right?

Look, I don't want to feel bad for King Flood Dragon, all right. Dude was having the time of his life terrifying and trying to drown two kids (and succeeding, so far as he's aware), but Old White Deer is just that bad, I guess. I want to slap this dude on the back and pep talk him up. He's a big, strong demon king who doesn't need some old stinky deer making him feel small! He EARNED those powers!

Old White Deer threatening to rip his cultivation away from him, though? Yikes. The fact King Flood Dragon even...look, I guess that's sort of like if your abusive family member threatened to, I don't know, take away your PhD? This thing you worked for and earned, and them thinking they have the power to strip it from you? Them saying that they'll get you fired from your job, discredited, and you not doubting at all that they have the power to do that? It's not hard to take a step to the left and see how this would look in real life. Old White Deer also does that thing where he builds King Flood Dragon up just to smash him back down, then sprinkle the tiniest of approvals in there ("I gave you this important responsibility because I trusted you.") to get him back to chasing that high? Old White Deer might as well have written the textbook for abuse. He's hitting all the dockets. Pitting his victims against each other, deliberately setting them up to displease him and making them feel like it's their fault, making them feel like they have to chase his approval, just...Yikes. YIKES.

But also I'm like...80% sure that him getting pissy at King Flood Dragon for his performance at that overlook they were all hanging out on was maybe a snap decision all because Demon King praised King Flood Dragon's power. This is the same guy who was lapping up a little kid's awe and approval just last episode (ugh) (seriously though he repeated his show like three times and kept asking Six Ears to praise him it wasn't subtle), so I guess having his grandson finding someone else (even if that person is his DAD and HIS OWN SON) impressive was just...too much for him. His ego couldn't bear it. He not only had to crush King Flood Dragon back down but he needed to do it in front of Demon King.

This guy. He's so pathetic but so good at being a manipulative shit.

Oh, right, and they're trying to find the Golden Hooped Rod. Good luck with that, I guess. We know they're not going to succeed. RIP King Flood Dragon. Maybe never come back and also change your address. That might be a good life decision.

Stone Monkey found Ginseng Fruit, though! Good. That's good. And how Stone Monkey's laugh actually sounded kind of thick and broken up when he scooped Ginseng Fruit into that hug. I'm not getting emotional, you are.

And then they meet this little con artist. Biggest takeaway from that scene? Stone Monkey's face going from slightly baffled to delighted the second Little White Dragon opened his mouth and started scamming the shit out of them. The second he started in on his "Oh! The agonies!" Stone Monkey's face split into the biggest grin.

I've said it before, but this kid has a type, I swear to god. All his friends would sell you to satan for a single corn chip, all for their own somewhat horrible reasons, and Stone Monkey loves them for it.

Ginseng Fruit managing to peg him right off the bat strictly because of their flair for the dramatic, though. "WHO ARE YOU ON THE RUN FROM?!" be still his drama-loving heart.

This Sea Demon guy says capture, army immediately begins screaming KILL?, huh? Then they throw a giant death octopus at them? And the "capture" guy busts out with, "Yes. YES. Eat well, Giant Octupus!"? Well, that clears that up. The army knew what was expected of them right away, clearly lol.

Anyway, I thought that discrepancy in commands and actions was weird even before finding out later that the Sea Demon worked for Little White Dragon's dad and was supposed to only be recovering him after he just ran away, but after it's definitely. Something. I sure hope Little White Dragon's right and his dad is going to take this terrible man's shitty behavior seriously now and strip him of his rank, but I'm also remembering the source material and the guy Little White Dragon is meant to be based off of, specifically the death penalty part, and, uhhhh...

Well, we can hope.

Little White Dragon and Stone Monkey being two peas in a pod was adorable, though. Even when we find out that the entire reason Little White Dragon put them through all that was because he was bored. That's it! He didn't want to read and recite books anymore. Stone Monkey (of course, but also ironically coming from the guy out on a dangerous world-spanning quest to go to school) is perfectly understanding, of course, and it's not that I'm without sympathies for the drudgery, but still. They could have died!

Convenient that Little White Dragon knows all about Patriarch Subodhi though, lol. Not even a little vague, either! Right down to his address! The writers needed to get this journey moving.

Ginseng Fruit going max possessive wasn't all that surprising. Them turning into an absolute brat about it was...a little? For instance, their arms-folded-behind-the-back pensively staring into the distance thing. Hilariously ominous! That calm look over their shoulder when Stone Monkey dubiously commented on how good their eyes were after they sent Little White Dragon on a wild goose chase and their serene "Would I deceive you?", too. Absolutely amazing. I busted out laughing.

Can a single one of Stone Monkey's friends not be just a little bit evil? Not be one bad day away from their villain arc? A single one? I mean, apparently not. He does this to himself, though. He's drawn to this kind of thing.

Anyway, I'm glad Ginseng Fruit's lowkey preference for an unhealthy codependent relationship with Stone Monkey got called out, addressed (a little), and that they were neatly reset back to their normal levels of "weirdly intense" and less "budding evil".

It's such a good thing Little White Dragon is cut from similar cloth to Stone Monkey and thinks this is all hilarious. Ginseng Fruit scraped their nerves a couple times (those comments about his people at the Dragon Palace definitely weren't taken particularly well, and no wonder, like, seriously, Ginseng Fruit, don't be a jerk) but overall they had the patience of a saint. I'm pretty sure they're riling them up on purpose at the end. Ginseng Fruit deserves it though, so it's fine. It's good for them.

There was also Old Monkey King sitting on the cliff, watching the ocean, and the four generals begging him to go to bed. On one hand, he did just turn one of his kids loose on a raft on the open ocean, and his concern is totally fair. Him worrying about Stone Monkey is nice. On the other, you have shit to do, my guy. Don't think no one noticed that cough. Go to sleep, and then maybe go check on that other kid you still have. I know he's not your intended successor anymore, but dang.

I realize Old Monkey King probably didn't intend to sign up to be the primary caregiver of two kids, but...well, no one else is going to do it, so he kinda did put himself out there, and he just ripped the rug out of from under one of those kids, and he knows it, because there's no way he didn't know what he was doing when he was training up Six Ears. Has anyone even seen Six Ears since Stone Monkey left?

Old Monkey King, come on now.

The fact Six Ears was actually there the whole time is also kind of...he couldn't have been expecting to really get anything useful out of it? I'm not sure how the magic mind-whammy affects his feelings about things like this, but doesn't that mean he was just...hanging out, watching Old Monkey King watching the ocean, waiting for...something? Just being near?

Because that's kind of sad.

One of the funniest exchanges of the episode though, was probably General Ba girding himself for battle and wading into Old Monkey King's melancholy like a blunt force instrument. "Your kid is SMART. Your kid is FINE. Go to SLEEP." and it actually kind of worked!

(I don't think Six Ears is aware Stone Monkey is supposed to be dead yet. Hm. I wonder what would happen to this level of magic-whammy/corruption/whatever it is if Six Ears found out about that anytime soon.)

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Monkey King 2009 Episode 14

I feel like someone on the writing team took umbrage to the idea a little bamboo raft would do well in open ocean. The pointed camera angle on the stores falling into the water the second they hit rough seas seemed...targeted lol.

Anyway, another lower-energy episode. I can't really say "calmer" since Old White Deer on screen together with Six Ears makes my skin crawl and feel anything but calm (Six Ears is not acting right at all, what did he do?), but it was definitely transitional, at least.

Speaking of Old White Deer, he has all these 干 relationships and it's so freaking weird. First there was just Demon King, now there's King Flood Dragon, and then Six Ears. Are there others? Does he just make a habit of this? Is this how he acquires minions? Six Ears calls him teacher right now, but is Old White Deer someday going to try to induct him into this creepy, creepy "family"? This weird cult? Were King Flood Dragon or Demon King and whoever else at one point also kids he lured in off the street, or got in good with their parents' trust somehow?

I don't like this???

Augh. Old Monkey King, please cave this guy's skull in with your staff. That might sound excessively violent. It's not. Like, why did Old White Deer go through the trouble of changing Six Ears's clothes with that spell last episode? Aesthetic? He's not a doll? Everything about this is so fucking creepy and I wasn't actually expecting it to be this creepy?

ANYWAY

Six Ears was present when Stone Monkey left! The credits have them talking too, which is great, and actually kind of make Six Ears look more conflicted and sort of...like himself than the actual episode makes him out to be. Which is also good, but also...I'm confused about the extent of that mind-whammy spell? I guess it'll become clearer over time. He was present, though. I sure hope one of the adults picked up on the fact he's not acting right :) And wonder where he's getting off to. Checking up on him after that pretty public outburst at least, maybe. That would sure be nice.

And if my entire lack of any mention of them whatsoever wasn't a clear enough sign, I...do not especially care about the heaven subplot. It gets smiles out of me occasionally, like when Laozi and General Li had their chat, and I try to keep track of things like - apparently they all have Precious Heavenly Birds that are also sometimes inanimate objects that they fight like beyblades or something? (why???) but...*heavy sigh*. I just don't care. Especially not about Fucking Dipper. That guy is...not the worst because Old White Deer exists, but he is up there. He is extremely up there.

And now, because Wudou the Absolute Tool has apparently decided to finally start putting that awful, petty little plot he's been not-so-subtly "slyly insinuating" to everyone in heaven about for the entire damn show into motion, I have to actually pay attention to him. Ugh.

Though him ending up in the middle of the monkey troop was a treat. Especially with them still so wired and territorial after almost all dying to the Demon King's army. Like, to be fair, they found a random stranger essentially taking photos of the entrance to their home, and that's a bit worrying for most people even when not regularly engaged in life-threatening warfare with their neighbors. Did they still jump to conclusions? Yes, absolutely. Would Wudou have deserved this if some nice paintings were really all he wanted? Of course not. But he's him, I've been stuck watching him weasel his way around being slimy and proprietary about Flower Fruit Mountain for pretty much the entire time I've known him, and so these guys giving him absolutely no quarter felt great, actually. No one deserves the four generals being the four generals at them more, honestly. I only wish they'd kept talking to him longer. They may have actually been able to make him cry with frustration. Especially Marshal Liu.

Also I called it, I called it, I even noticed this last episode but forgot all about it after the emotional bomb of those last five minutes, but General Ba really will not let General Beng say a single word anymore without immediately screaming GRANDPARENT TALK at him. It's so funny. Just let the man speak!

Especially when it gives us gems like General Beng, Mr. "I got praised once as a child for reading a book of poetry and I made it my whole identity" of all people busting out a sudden: "What the fuck just happened???" into the dead silence after Wudou's sudden vanishing.

Look, I'm harsh on them, but I really don't hate the four generals. I just think they should never in any way have any direct authority over children. They are better people when interacting with other adults and especially each other, honestly.

My heart, despite itself, did soften a little at General Beng and Marshal Ma yelling at Stone Monkey to just come back home if it was too hard, and all the commanders and maybe the whole troop picking it up. Though I also noticed how much better their attitudes became when Stone Monkey was given an actual title, especially one as prestigious as heir to their king. Definitely noticed that. Especially when them yelling at him to come home soon and safe contrasted their dead silence when they let him leave into the wilds of Flower Fruit Mountain entirely on his own just a few episodes ago :) Some things in life really are so much easier when you have status, I guess!

BUT. Stone Monkey. His calming breath as he looks out over the open ocean in front of him before buckling down was a really good moment? I liked that a lot. He was taking the adventure pretty okay, too! Cheerfully settling in, brightly looking for solutions to some minor inconveniences, and then...Ginseng Fruit is broken out of their gourd hiding place and you see Stone Monkey go through a mini-crisis when he realizes Ginseng Fruit is now in danger right along with him and Stone Monkey is going to have to keep them safe. The stress just slams back down. He makes the best of it, of course, and doesn't let Ginseng Fruit see much when he gets rattled, and he does genuinely like having friends with him, but I mean. Guy was definitely struggling for a few seconds there. What was he going to do, throw Ginseng Fruit into the ocean if he didn't like them being there? Try and row back to Flower Fruit Mountain against a headwind and the current to drop Ginseng Fruit back off? Like it or not, Ginseng Fruit is there to stay.

And then later when King Flood Dragon reveals himself (and he's a super creepy guy too, genuinely just messing with them and heightening their terror and struggle for fun, and it was actually disturbing), Stone Monkey snatching Ginseng Fruit up and tucking them up against his chest where they're safe and out of the way, immediately taking as much control of the situation as he can? His "Let me handle it!" making a comeback, like when he forcibly removed Six Ears from the canyon when their shelter went down. I think you can tell when Stone Monkey's genuinely scared or stressed because he immediately turns into a control freak about it. Just grabbing his friends and bodily shoving them out of the way as he tries to take over everything. I love this version of Sun Wukong so much. The writers really love examining his protectiveness, and how it's both a virtue and a flaw.

And then him trying so hard to throw Ginseng Fruit to safety when he realized he couldn't get them both out. Ay.

AND his "You can't die. You'll definitely find a big brother better than me someday (read: I'm about to die and I have to imagine you making it out and having a future and being happy and safe even without me because otherwise I'm going to lose it)." Putting all that effort into getting Ginseng Fruit clear, as safe as he can, followed by that long shot of him just having to sit there helplessly as he's pulled down to his death, unable to do anything to save himself.

Shhhush up, I don't have a lump in my throat.

It's okay though because Guanyin's coming in clutch. I couldn't see clearly enough to tell if it was another one of her hairs (if so, he's already gone through two and we're only about a quarter-ish of the way through the show oh no) or if she just called foul on King Flood Dragon and decided to intervene directly.

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I’ve been real sick so I’ve been watching Monkey King 2009

Anyways they talk about their issues and everything is better and no one has a villain arc the end

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Okay, I finally finished the episode entirely.

What the hell was that?

Six Ears was trying to leave! He kept saying no! Yeah, he wasn't as forceful as he could have been, but so what? He said no! He said he wasn't interested! I didn't realize Six Ears got hit with a mind-whammy spell right out the gate!

And that when Old White Deer starts working that spell, Six Ears is backing away. He words are interested, but in action he's actively trying to get physical distance from this man while he's apparently distracted, and when Old White Deer keeps pushing, Six Ears is making sure to clearly turn him down. He only does a complete 180 when he gets hit with that spell and I don't like it at all.

That was so, so much worse than I thought it would be, actually.

Well, I mean, I actually sort of expected a more insidious and manipulative relationship, similar to what Old White Deer tried to do to Stone Monkey - luring him in with false friendliness and concern? Slowly wearing down his better judgement across a few episodes maybe? So I guess I can't say this version was 'worse' just...awful in a way I wasn't expecting. I was braced for a different kind of horrible start to their horrible relationship.

Not that extremely fast-paced, aggressively pushy confrontation we got, Old White Deer following him when Six Ears walks away, and then outright spelling him compliant/malleable when he keeps saying no. I saw Six Ears's eyes flicker into that weird filmy white-blank color! I did not like that either! And then there was the non-consensual body manipulation, which hurt Six Ears badly.

Seriously, some random person hurting him like that should have had Six Ears running for the hills, so it was especially disturbing that Old White Deer could do that to him and Six Ears was apparently incapable of caring about it. He didn't even complain or act surprised or afraid. What did Old White Deer do to him?

Old White Deer needs to die in a ditch. He needs to be dead right now. Holy crap. Stone Monkey get back here. Old Monkey King stop trying to bumrush your retirement and get back here.

Monkey King 2009 Episode 13

OW.

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Monkey King 2009 Episode 13

OW.

[cave-monkey]

Monkey King 2009 Episode 12

Jade Rabbit is the funniest character in this whole show. I will accept argument but you will not win.

The way she just straight tosses Ginseng Fruit once she's done with them, yes, but primarily I am talking about her faces. The look after she casually takes Ginseng Fruit prisoner? Absolute gold. Love it. Also the way she might soften a little but still gives zero ground whatsoever. Oh, you were gathering food for a starving refugee population? How noble! You're still wrong and should feel bad, but in light of this new information you've earned five seconds to grovel for forgiveness.

I love her.

Ginseng Fruit's flair for storytelling makes a comeback and I am here for it. Child was dramatizing for their life so hard they needed a whole other nap after that, and honestly? They earned it. Even made sure to throw in that audience participation. Ginseng Fruit is aiming for pro.

Anyway, back to the program. They're drawing their peaches differently! Huh. Did someone complain about the old style? I never really thought 'peach' when I looked at them, sure, but these new ones are like. Well, they certainly look more like peaches! To be fair! But they're almost so realistic it actually circles back around to looking super weird and sort of off-putting? It might be the coloring not really matching the coloring of anything else. I don't know, maybe they'll grow on me.

Another episode lightly touching on Stone Monkey's flaws and it was really good, actually. Unlike last time, these are less "flaws" that are mostly just products of him trying to survive his environment and more things that make me think, "Oh, yeah, okay. That actually is something he should work on."

The primary ones seem to be 1) a return of his obliviousness toward others' feelings and 2) impulsivity with 3) a dash of 'I'll just do everything by myself'.

Which sort of gets into the Six Ears Situation. Which I thought was really well done this episode. I really like how they're taking care to show why Six Ears - though still definitely going down a concerning path - might be feeling these things and give actual reasons for his growing distance from Stone Monkey. I think the primary example was in the food foraging mission.

Like, nearly from the word go, Stone Monkey doesn't fully grasp the gravity of the situation. This is frustrating for both of them. Stone Monkey, because he doesn't understand why Six Ears is acting so different, and Six Ears, because he feels he can't rely on Stone Monkey, forcing him to go on even higher alert and winding him up that much tighter.

And this is because Six Ears does understand the gravity of the situation. They are in enemy territory and Six Ears is tense. He's a far cry from the kid who was cheerfully helping Stone Monkey fix the peach stores just a couple episodes ago. He wants to get the mission done, get it done right, and go home. For probably the first time since they met, Six Ears doesn't want to play Stone Monkey's games, and Stone Monkey doesn't understand why.

And, honestly, Six Ears is right, is the thing. The peaches? Peaches ripen even off the tree. They're perfectly edible (if not very pleasant) even when they're still very green, so peaches that are just a little green are definitely not that bad. They won't taste as good as a peach left on a tree to fully ripen, but they'll do the job. Six Ears grabbing every peach in range as quickly as possible is absolutely the right thing to do when they need to get in and out quickly, and have so many mouths to feed on top of a need to pad out their stores (specifically so what happens to them later in the episode (they end up trapped and starving in a siege) doesn't happen). Stone Monkey wants to help and do right by the monkeys and give them something nice, but his priorities are off. He doesn't have a sense of urgency and he's not really thinking long-term. He's also not really willing to listen when Six Ears explains. This is a very realistic form of miscommunication and mutual frustration and I love how they wrote it and included it.

I also love Old Monkey King's delight at Jade Rabbit bullying Stone Monkey into teamwork. Man was tickled.

And then later when Stone Monkey throws himself out of the cave to "lead them away", therefore immediately giving away their entire position even though the Demon King was still unsure, preventing them from using that time to better prepare themselves? Even Old Monkey King shouted after him to stop that shit. You know how you have that super laid back guy who is basically never phased by anything and then suddenly they decide to put their foot down and they use that specific voice at three times their normal volume and only a quarter their usual octave and everyone in the vicinity abruptly morph into wide-eyed scolded children no matter their age?

Right, so I have no idea how Stone Monkey didn't shrivel up on the spot. A true superpower.

I gotta say I love Stone Monkey's impulsivity. Any version of a young Sun Wukong just feels so incomplete without it. In this show it's also generally always worked out for him in the past too, so I think this is the first time he's actually messed something up and not been immediately able to fix it? Love that for his character. Sun Wukong should be so competent and capable that he outpaces his development of caution and a true sense for consequences.

And, oh, so now the monkey troops are able to make a stand when their backs are to a wall, huh? No one out here calling for an immediate retreat? Is that so?

Say what you will though, the monkeys continue the trend of a better second showing over the first. They believe in a culture of constant improvement! Old Monkey King is not playing around, either. He hasn't thrown down this hard since Episode 4.

And like Ginseng Fruit's flair for storytelling, Demon King's theater hobby has popped its head back up. He was thrilled to finally be able to use that line. Do you think he's taken the time to mentally sort the monkeys into these opera roles? Who are the painted characters and who gets which face color, buddy? Old Monkey King get his own special category? That's so precious. No, no, don't be shy. I want to hear all your meta.

(But also, show, are you telling me that Iron-Backed Gray Wolf can run sideways on vertical cliff faces but can't balance on a barely shaking branch? Guy, what are you doing.)

Honestly though, this whole battle scene is tense in exactly the right way. Loved it.

*bops Jade Rabbit gently* Stop meta-gaming.

Listen, if Jade Rabbit's going to be accusing anyone of "wanting the acclaim" based solely off their actions, Stone Monkey literally gave away their entire position by deciding all on his own to take on an entire army single-handedly, and prefaced this by solemnly-but-resolutely declaring to the king that he was going alone to "lead them away" despite literally everyone saying, "Wait, don't do that."

He wasn't doing it for praise, but you can't say a case couldn't be made that he was glory hounding. And I'm just saying that if anyone feels the need to accuse anyone else of fishing for praise, Six Ears should probably not be the first name that comes to mind. Just. Based on what little has been seen by a certain person's own two eyes. Get out of the script, Jade Rabbit.

(That is definitely a motivating factor in Six Ears's decision, yes, but the point is how does Jade Rabbit have any reason to know that? She doesn't. *bangs gavel* case closed defendant found guilty of meta-knowledge)

That said, it was sort of a struggle figuring out Six Ears's motivations here. I'd call his plan sort of a contrived event to force the plot along, but I actually think it does make sense. I'm about to ramble a lot, bear with me.

Okay, so Six Ears deciding to quietly stage a surprise attack on the enemy camp at night without input from Old Monkey King or anyone else...doesn't actually fit his character, in most circumstances? At least in my opinion? Since Episode 1, Six Ears has always made sure to declare his intentions/seek permission from at least Old Monkey King before taking on a task, as is typically the proper way to do these things. Just taking off on his own isn't really his MO - that's Stone Monkey's thing. We should also consider even just the beginning of the episode, where he was definitely taking his enemies seriously and trying to handle the whole mission in as efficient and safe a manner as possible, and also being the first to insist to Stone Monkey that he needs to work together with someone. Six Ears abruptly deciding to underestimate them and also go entirely rogue from any authority figure is just...odd.

Unless he doesn't think Stone Monkey was punished for his earlier stunt of throwing himself out of the waterfall in front of the whole Demon King army and trying to take them on single-handedly. (Are you still with me? I swear I'm getting to the point.)

This isn't quite correct. Stone Monkey was sort of being punished. Or at least that's how I took it. Old Monkey King's giving him the same unimpressed and doubtful looks he tends to give the four generals. He's not humoring him or favoring him with any extra patience when he defends Six Ears's plan. Stone Monkey takes it like a champ and convinces him anyway, sure, but only after Old Monkey King listens long enough to decide that Stone Monkey learned something beneficial from his mistake after all, and he's mostly a cold wall until he does. Even when he voices approval, it's not exactly warm. He's far and away from the indulgent figure we usually see around the kids. Stone Monkey is in trouble.

But I'm not sure Six Ears would have seen it that way. In his head, it might look like Stone Monkey's recklessness and impulsivity is what they all want. If he's barely gotten a slap on the wrist for a mistake that big, that's almost approval, isn't it?

So! Six Ears's plan makes sense to me if he's trying to be Stone Monkey. It doesn't sit naturally with him, but he's desperate and scared (see all of last episode) and has spent a good chunk of his life chasing Old Monkey King's approval. I can see him trying, even if he knows it's a bad idea. Six Ears's caution and prudence, after all, hasn't benefited him in a single way he actually cares about - it hasn't kept him safe from the Demon King's army and it hasn't kept him in Old Monkey King's esteem (in his view). If he's deliberately ignoring the voice in his head listing why this can't work and he needs to run it by Old Monkey King right now - all the things he would probably want to say to Stone Monkey, if Stone Monkey had tried anything like this - well, Stone Monkey's been just fine without that voice, hasn't he? And so Six Ears buries it. (I actually think that dramatic hesitation when he's being questioned by the guards is just him internally screaming when he realized he'd have to say his dumb plan out loud. RIP kid, make better choices.)

(He still brought people along, though. No amount of pretending to be Stone Monkey will be able to remove Six Ears's better judgement entirely. He's just gotten started. Give him a bit. He needs to work his way up to Stone Monkey's level. Baby steps.)

Also I agree with Stone Monkey that it's not a bad plan, exactly. It's the way Six Ears is trying to execute it that's wrong, not the plan itself. He's right that they need to break the siege as quickly as possible - they have no other options. They have no food and it's not even a day in, and the longer they wait the weaker they'll get. Even doing nothing, it wouldn't be a week before the Demon King's army could just walk right in with no resistance. A well-targeted, hard-hitting attack when they're most likely to be disorganized and slowest to respond is ideal considering their comparatively weaker fighting force. It's a good plan, actually.

The primary issue is that it's severely under-resourced and lacks any degree of cohesion with the larger troop. Old Monkey King, properly alerted to the plan, could have forces on standby in case something goes wrong and they need to provide an escape route, mount a defense of the entryway, or an opportunity to break the Demon King's army otherwise presents itself. They could make sure there are no conflicting operations. Old Monkey King wouldn't suddenly be absent three guards on the main entrance. I mean, hey, we don't even know if those three guys are good for a stealth mission. They could put together an actual team, maybe.

*claps hands* COMMUNICATION COMMUNICATION COMMUNICATION

(Moment of peace for Old Monkey King, having just finished hammering this lesson home in one kid and suddenly having the other immediately forget all his good sense and go sneaking off to single-handedly fight an enemy army.)

(The moment you realize these kids have one rational brain cell between them and by giving it to Stone Monkey he may have forcibly evicted it from Six Ears. Like magnets. They cannot both possess impulse control at the same time.)

(Really funny the whole 'kid sneaks off to single-handedly fight an army' thing happened twice in one day though. Literally can't turn your back on them for a single second, huh?)

[cave-monkey]

After watching Episode 12 I really need Mr. "It's the cast of the Beijing Opera! >:D" and "I use theater to playact my insecurities and get really into stage direction and critiquing the roles" to get locked in a room together with Mr. "I use literary tropes and character roles to define and explain both myself and the world and you will pry this out of my cold, undead hands" and "writes and puts on an entire play to really stick it to a kid and then gets upset when he doesn't understand it" with nothing but a script, a knife, and the question, "But what was the playwright's vision for the supporting male lead?"

[cave-monkey]

I really love jttw 1996 and I'm obsessed with wukong

[cave-monkey]

For fun and practice, attempted a translation of Monkey King 2009's closing credits.

月儿光华为谁收

For whom is the moon's brilliance intended?

遥送轻舟随波流

Small boats are sent far by the flowing currents

青山绿水在等候

Beautiful sights are waiting

风起云扬四方游

Winds rise and clouds spread in all directions

天上虽有仙境无限

Although heaven is an infinite paradise

心却系在花山水帘

my heart is yet tied to flowering mountains and cascading waterfalls

再多磨难又有何妨

Great suffering will come again, and again it won't matter

只为家园美丽依然

if only my homeland keeps its beauty

有爱相伴 不曾孤单

With love, there will never be loneliness

朋友期盼 让我勇敢

My friends are waiting and it makes me brave

有爱相伴 刻在心房

With love, this is engraved on my heart:

荣耀绽放 温暖依然

Flowers bursting into glorious bloom, and an unchanging warmth

[cave-monkey]

Bonus Old Monkey King hanging out in the background, probably also meant to be regarding Six Ears with concern, but in practice jump scaring unsuspecting viewers by staring into their soul.

Six Ears, and being left.