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[fourstrandsofrope]

Wait, it was Usagi Tsukino/Sailor Moon's birthday yesterday.

I don't normally make posts celebrating character birthdays, but Usagi's a "special case", as Sailor Moon was influential to my childhood, and she's a wonderful person in general.

Happy birthday, Usagi Tsukino, and may you enjoy a long life, your friendships, and your Miracle Romance with Mamoru Chiba.

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I was about to head to bed, but I just remembered today’s the birthday of Usagi Tsukino, the protagonist of Sailor Moon.

I want to make this post wishing the character a happy birthday and a happy “Miracle Romance” with Mamoru, because I used to love watching the 90s Sailor Moon anime as a kid, and the show moved me.

So, happy birthday Usagi, she deserves the very best cakes and sweets.

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I had a thought about the Across the Spider-verse movie:

We know how the “Canon Events” affect the Spider-people themselves.

However, I wonder how it would feel to BE the canon events, if we knew we “had” to die to further the development of the spider-people.

I wonder how I’d feel if I were the Peter Parker of Spider-Gwen’s universe, if I knew I was destined to die so Gwen Stacy could survive.

Or if I were the Gwen of every other universe, destined to die so Peter could live.

I wonder how I’d feel to be Peni Parker’s father, or whoever ELSE she lost in between movies that made her more cynical in “Across”.

I wonder how I’d feel to be the Uncle Ben or Aunt May of every universe, if I knew I “had” to die so a Spider could learn responsibility.

Or if I were the police captain, Stacy/Singh/Morales/etc., and I knew I “had” to die saving a child’s life.

Because in my case, if I knew I was going to be the dead police captain, boyfriend, girlfriend, uncle, aunt, etc., and if I knew that Miguel and the rest of the Spider-society wanted to make sure it happens so Spider-people could “grow as characters from my tragic death”, I would probably be at least somewhat irritated at Miguel over it.

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The issue for me with Belos's death is actually exactly what you touched on in your post--Belos viewing his death as a sort of martyrdom. Even when he's unceremoniously stomped to death, this doesn't change his view that he has always been right, so if this is supposed to avoid Belos viewing himself as a martyr for his cause, for me it falls flat too. An actual humiliating death for Belos would be one where he is forced to acknowledge before he dies that everything he has done has been for nothing, that he murdered his own brother again and again for hundreds of years for nothing. They even hinted that this is where his story was going in For the Future when he hallucinates Caleb and the Grimwalkers, demonstrating that he does feel extreme guilt as well as doubt that he is actually doing the right thing, and that the mental walls he has put up to avoid these feelings are starting to break down.

You have a point. I was merely trying to say that I was satisfied with his "manner of death" being unceremonious, but you have a point that the "lead-up to the death" could have used a greater emotional payoff.

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There appears to be some debate in The Owl House fandom as to whether or not Belos’s death was satisfying.

In my opinion, Belos’s death was very unsatisfying and anticlimactic...

...and that’s perfect for him, exactly what he deserves.

Belos has spent his entire life thinking he’s the hero of the story, destined to wipe out the “evil witches”.

If he’d gotten a glorious death, being blown to smithereens like a Dragonball villain, or falling off a great height like a Disney villain, etc., then he probably would have justified his death as some type of twisted “martyrdom”.

So he’d still think he was a hero, just a “tragic hero who lost”.

Instead, he just dissolves into goo and is stomped to death by Eda, King, and Raine.

It’s not a satisfying death. It’s not a glorious death. It’s not the kind of death that inspires catharsis in the viewers, or pathos at “what might have been”.

It’s an unremarkable death, the kind of death that’s honestly kind of boring to watch, just a few seconds of being stomped by Eda, King, and Raine.

And that’s exactly what he deserves. He doesn’t deserve a dramatic villain send-off; that would only reward his delusions of grandeur.

Him dying in ignominy is a more fitting consequence for the glory and fame seeker.

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Now that the Owl House cartoon has ended, one thing I notice is slightly unusual about the Hunter/Willow pairing:

In other media, when a shy or timid girl finally gets together with the boy she likes, it gives her a confidence boost.

But that doesn’t quite happen here, because Hunter and Willow don’t even meet until AFTER she’s become confident.

By the time they meet in “Any Sport in a Storm”, Willow’s trying to recruit people for her Flyer Derby team, and in “Labyrinth Runner”, when Severine impersonates Willow, Hunter is able to tell that she’s a fake because the Willow he knows would never be afraid of him.

The only time Hunter ever sees Willow not be confident is when she has a breakdown during “For the Future” and calls herself “half-a-witch Willow”, which inspires Hunter to break out of the vines to reassure her she isn’t.

So, this is a slightly unusual twist: Willow’s relationship with Hunter doesn’t give her a confidence boost, because Hunter ONLY knows her as “confident Willow”, with the breakdown during For the Future as a one-time incident.

I just thought that was an interesting detail.

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Some people have mentioned this on TV Tropes, but I want to bring it up here on Tumblr:

Regarding The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Bowser spends the whole movie thinking Mario is “stealing Peach away from him”, since Bowser wants to marry Peach but she’s growing closer to Mario instead.

The thing is, Peach and Mario are only traveling together because Mario wants to save his brother Luigi, and Peach is trying to recruit the aid of the Kongs.

But ironically, by providing this huge adventure for Peach and Mario to bond over, Bowser’s probably CAUSED the beginnings of a potential romance to blossom between Peach and Mario in the future.

So, ironically, Bowser’s caused a bit of a “self-fulfilling prophecy” here: by antagonizing the two heroes the whole movie, and thus providing opportunities for them to bond and potentially deepen their relationship in the future, he’s probably CAUSED the very relationship he thought he was stopping.

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So, now that episode 12 of Buddy Daddies has been released, one thing that will probably be a relief to fans:

Remember back in episode 6, when Kazuki was freaking out and imagining Miri growing up into a teenage delinquent?

Well, in the time-skip at the end of this episode, we do get to see what Miri looks and acts like as a teenager...

And she doesn’t look or act anything like Kazuki’s imagination back in episode 6. She’s still as cheerful and energetic as ever, and still loves both her papas very much.

Admittedly she does snark at them a bit, but she hasn’t lost her kindness from her childhood at all.

So, luckily for Kazuki, he was freaking out for nothing, Miri grew up well.

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It looks like I was wrong about the Judgement of Solomon metaphor.

Because in the story, Solomon is able to figure out who the real mother is because the real mother would rather give up her baby than see her child be harmed, but the remaining mother isn’t killed over it, she just doesn’t get to raise the child.

But in episode 11, Misaki is killed by Ryo Ogino.

So, I was wrong and I admit it.

On an unrelated note, Ogino said he wanted to collect both Misaki’s last words and Miri’s.

But Miri’s only 4 years old...or I think 5 now, given how much time has passed.

What sort of last words was Ogino hoping to hear?

Because if it were my 4 or 5 year old self, and a strange man was in my room with a gun, I don’t think I would have managed to say anything more coherent than “Aaaaaaah!!!”

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I just realized, when I brought up the Judgement of Solomon story in my last Buddy Daddies post, I didn’t adequately explain the story or how it might relate to what just happened in episode 10. I should clarify the story I was referring to.

The Judgement of Solomon story comes from the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible), also known as the Old Testament (Christian Bible), specifically Kings 3:16-28.

In this story, two women are living in the same house, and each has given birth to a child. Unfortunately, one child dies, while the other child lives.

Both women appear before King Solomon claiming to be the mother of the surviving child. Each woman claims that the other stole their child because their own child died.

Since both women are making the same claim about being the surviving child’s mother, it’s difficult to tell who is telling the truth. So, King Solomon comes up with an idea:

He asks for a sword to be brought to him, and then decrees that the child will be cut in two, so each woman can have half of the child.

One woman is satisfied with this solution, but the other woman is horrified, begging Solomon not to kill the child, and at least allow the other woman to raise the child as an alternative.

King Solomon then realizes that the second woman must be the real mother of the child, since she was willing to give her baby up and let her rival win if that would save the child’s life.

So, how does this relate to Buddy Daddies episode 10?

In this allegory, the “sword” is the Suwa organization, who has declared Miri a liability since she causes Kazuki and Rei to be “sloppy” in their assassin work. The “competing parents” in this case are Kazuki and Rei on the one hand, and Misaki on the other.

To save Miri from the “sword” (being killed by the Suwa organization), Kazuki and Rei were willing to give up Miri and let her be raised by Misaki instead.

But as per the Solomon story, that actually proves that Kazuki and Rei are Miri’s “real parents”, because they were the ones willing to put Miri ahead of their own needs.

So, if Buddy Daddies ends like the Judgement of Solomon story did, Miri will eventually realize that by being willing to place her life above their own happiness, it’s her two “papas” who are her real parents.

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I just had a thought:

Some people in the Buddy Daddies tag are worried about what episode 10′s events mean for the message of the show.

The show's message appears to be about the value of found family. But in this episode, Kazuki and Rei give up Miri to Misaki. So, does the show think that biological family is better after all?

Believe it or not, I actually think Kazuki and Rei’s decision to give up Miri REINFORCES the found family message, rather than invalidating it.

My reasoning is like this: there’s a saying, “If you love something, let it go. If it comes back to you, it's yours. If it doesn't, it never was.”

Kazuki and Rei decide to give up Miri, but they do so BECAUSE they love her, and they would rather she be with Misaki than be in danger.

How does this relate to found family vs biological family?

Because the found family is the one willing to let their daughter go out of love, while the biological family wants to undo her abandonment and have her daughter back.

And the key is, Miri will eventually have to make a decision between her mother and her two fathers. And she’ll realize that by being willing to place her safety above their own happiness, it’s her two fathers, her found family, who actually love her more.

And then she’ll find her way back to them.

It’s like the Judgment of Solomon story, where Solomon has to decide which of two women is the actual mother of a baby, and the real mother turns out to be the woman who would rather give the baby up than see her child be harmed.

The show does believe found family is important, but it HAD to have Kazuki and Rei make this self-sacrificing decision, as a “demonstration to Miri that they love her more than Misaki”, and that demonstration is why Miri will eventually find her way back to them.

At least, that’s my personal conjecture.

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My take on Misaki’s appearance in Buddy Daddies episode 10:

I share the concerns of most fans that Kazuki and Rei have been better parents to Miri than Misaki was, and ideally, I too would rather have Miri stay with her fathers than with Misaki.

The problem is that the situation has changed.

Before, the choice was between “Miri being raised by a mother who was willing to send her on a train alone” and “Miri being raised by two fathers who dote over her.”

However, right now the Suwa organization thinks Miri is a “liability”, which puts Miri’s life in potential danger.

So, now the choice is between “Miri being raised by a mother who was willing to send her on a train alone, but her survival is guaranteed” and “Miri being raised by two fathers who dote over her, but she’s at risk of being killed”.

Unfortunately, just for NOW, my take is that Miri is better off with her mother, at least temporarily. Not because her biological mother is a better parent, as she definitely isn’t.

But only because given how dangerous the current situation is, at least this way the Suwa organization no longer has a reason to kill Miri, so regardless of Misaki’s strengths or failings as a parent, at least Miri’s survival is guaranteed.

So, my take on Misaki is that I would ideally rather not have Miri go with her, but the current situation is not ideal, so for now, having Miri go with Misaki is the “least bad option”.

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The events of Episode 10 of Buddy Daddies have been an emotional roller-coaster, to say the least.

The thing is, I think from Kyutaro’s point of view, he was essentially “picking the least bad option”, because all of his options were sub-optimal.

He could let the Kazuki-Rei-Miri family exist as-is, but that puts them at risk of the Suwa organization eventually sending Ryo Ogino after them if the organization becomes too fed up with Kazuki and Rei’s “sloppy” work.

Or he could betray them to the organization, but that would make them angry and result in a shoot-out as they resist, which still carries the risk of people potentially dying.

Or he could try to smuggle the family out of the country somehow, but then they’d spend their entire lives on the run, never really being safe.

Or he could call Misaki and have her take care of Miri instead, which means Miri won’t affect Kazuki and Rei’s work anymore, so the Suwa organization no longer has a reason to kill anyone.

And this last option is the one Kyutaro decided to go with, since it “puts the family in the least amount of danger.”

To make a comparison, it’s like if a video game has mostly bad endings and one bittersweet ending; if that’s the case, the bittersweet ending is the one we’re mostly likely to go with, since at least everyone gets to “survive for certain” in that ending.

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I noticed an interesting detail in the “recap” episode of Buddy Daddies:

In episode 8, Rei is assigned to kill his mentor because his mentor married a woman and tried to leave the organization as a result. He’s joined on his mission by Ryo Ogino, a man who kills people so he can “collect their last words”.

When Rei’s mentor finally dies, we the audience get to hear his last words, “I’m on my way”, which he’s saying to his dead wife because he’s about to reunite with her.

But Rei doesn’t tell Ogino this; he instead lies that he couldn’t hear his mentor’s last words.

The interesting part is, in the “recap” episode, we see the part where Rei’s mentor dies, but his last words are not repeated in this episode.

So even the recap episode is “hiding the mentor’s last words from Ogino” like Rei did in episode 8.

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An intermission episode for Buddy Daddies?

Huh, that’s interesting. This is the second anime I’ve seen that’s needed a recap episode.

The first was Wonder Egg Priority; they ended up having to write episode 8 as a recap, while here with Buddy Daddies, it’s episode 9 instead.

So, it looks like Buddy Daddies is having production issues like Wonder Egg Priority did.

I feel bad for the animators and voice actors; I hope they’re doing all right.

I’d rather have a show be delayed in ending, and give the staff a break, than have it be rushed to finish quickly.

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So, regarding the latest episode of Buddy Daddies, at the end, Miri calls her new friends Kotori-chan and Hinata-chan.

Now which new friend has which name, I wonder, let’s see...

Going back to earlier in the episode, when the two girls refuse to play with Miri at first, the girl wearing pink tells the girl wearing glasses, “Let’s go, Hinata-chan.”

I see, so the girl wearing glasses is Hinata, and the girl wearing pink is Kotori.

So, now we know which of Miri’s new friends has which name.

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So, I’m hearing that Phineas and Ferb is getting 2 new seasons.

In that case, I should probably watch the original seasons in preparation, but there’s one thing I want to ask:

Do we have a “release date” for these new seasons yet? I want to finish the original 4 seasons before we get the new ones, but I don’t know how quickly I should try to finish watching since I don’t know when the new seasons are coming out.

Thanks in advance!