#absolutely adore both events dont take my “complaint” too seriously

[justanotherfanfolks]

Couple months ago I had Beanfest on the mind and remembered a little thing that happened early in the first Beanfest and it inspired me to draw:

Cater, how could you? The worst thing Cater has ever done is snub Deuce out of a Beans Camo, that other jacket should have been his!

Never forget what they took from us.

Oh and I also made Starsending Cater because I can.

[kagesdumpsterfire]

The Winchesters Season 1 Episode 2: Teach Your Children Well

I had to be a good friend last night which meant putting off The Winchesters until this morning, but seriously, everyone refusing to watch it, is MISSING OUT!

SPOILERS AHEAD

Characters

ADA

This is the character I didn't know I needed in the mothership and I'm so glad we have her now.I absolutely adore her. I love a mystic anyway, so she was already on good ground but damn. I love that she is able to get her point across without being agressive about it. Her talk with Millie was such a good moment. The Jasmine vine thing made my heart clench a little.The shadow writing was cool as hell.My only complaint is that there wasn't more of her. I need a whole Ada backstory plotline.

MILLIE

Millie is a hardass, but with good reason. To play devil's advocate, as a mom, I 100% get where she is coming from with John. It's not that she doesn't believe in him, she just doesn't want to lose her son. She already lost her husband ( and btw she's not gonna heal instantly now that she knows Henry didn't just walk out on them. Years of bitter resentment don't wash away over night). Parents make mistakes but a good parent knows when to apologize for them and explain themselves, and Millie is a damn good parent who loves her son(and knows how to tell him so[meaning the Winchester Emotional Constipation comes from John]) I REALLY wish she was around for Sam and DeanI and I am so not looking forward to whatever the hell is going to happen to her.

*also, fuck Abaddon for taking Henry away from them. I know the whole " if she hadn't AB&C wouldn't have happened but still.

LATA

She is so smart. I love that the group has an eager bookworm. I feel bad for her when it comes to her friends both having such...strong...personalities, while she is a pacifist. It seems to me that she often gets caught in the middle of their nonsense and that is never a fun place to be. But she remains loyal and patient and I think that brings such a nice balance to the group. Proud of her for sticking to her guns when Mary shut her down.

CARLOS

Carlos is love, Carlos is life and if they harm one glorious hair on that precious baby's head I will riot. I feel like it's too soon to call Carlos my favorite character, but he is definitely the most relatable to me, I don't know why (says the bisexual latina with a love of all things music) he just is. He has his fun goofy streak but knows when to keep it serious. I love a character who is not afraid to be 100% themselves despite time and environment. He says what is on his mind. He talks to each person in a different manner acording to their personality.He loves what he loves and will defend his beliefs (I also would have given Mary the silent treatment, Cabaret is a fucking masterpiece). And I really do love the free love hippie vibes. I know there was some discourse last week about making the Latin/Bisexual character a promiscuous stereotype, and look, I get it. I do. I think I have quite a good grasp on how both of those demographics have been presented in media and how disappointing it can be. HOWEVER, knowing what I know about the time setting AND how storytelling works, I'm not personally upset by it.

It's the 70s. If you have ever sat down with someone who was young around that time and talked to them about the culture, you will know there is no more explanation needed than that. If you dont have acces to a person then I suggest looking into any media or major events from that time to know what that means

One of them had to be a slutty character. If you look at television and movies (even books) where there is a core group of teens/adults ( young or old) there is always a character who is more promiscuous and/or wild than the others. It's just a basic archetype.

Now, does it suck that it had to be the Latin bisexual? Yeah. Yeah it does. But it wasn't going to be Mary or John, as that would have messed up the story and upset fans quite a bit. It sure as hell wasn't going to be Lata, that doesn't fit her character nor does it fit Ada. That leaves Carlos. I get why people are upset, I'm not going to sit here and say you shouldn't be, but again, me, personally, I'm okay with it. That's that.

MARY

She is definitely her sons' mother. I see all the Dean-coding for sure, but I appreciate the bits of her I see in Sam( which we know Sam learned from Dean so, still heavy Dean-coding.) I still very much get Mary Winchester from her. Stubborn, pushy, badass, acting without thinking, know it all, caring about others, but not to the point it gets in the way of her goal.. The works. I still have my mixed feeling on Mary. I like her, but I resent her. I love that.

JOHN

John JohnJohnnyJohn John. What to say about Sa....I mean John Winchester. Look, I'm not saying he's a bad guy yet. He's not. He's young and bullheaded, but he seems nice enough. I really do see a lot of him in Sam ( mostly the back and forth about the self conciousness and the desprate need for approval without admitting he wants it) , which isn't a bad thing it's just....I see it, okay? I see the John Winchester I know and loathe. And I don't think it's just because of previous bias. It could be but...it's the little things. The way he treated his mother in the beginning, running head first into danger without thinking about the consequences for the people around him, the cockiness. I just can't unsee it. I'm trying, but it's hard, okay?

Story

I really enjoyed this episode. It had both MOW feels while also moving the story along. Those were always some of the best episodes of SPN. I wasn't always of a fan of plain ol' MOWs that had nothing to really move the plot forward, but when they balanced plot and monsters it was always a good time. La Tunda was a good monster (story wise). It gave Latika a chance to flex her contributions to the group with knowledge and I like that the whole "not a shapeshifter" point was there to humble Mary a bit. And the abusive parent story. *chef's kiss*. The show has so far been about two characters finding missing parents and healing from childhood trauma put on them because of those parents. I could go into more detail but it would inevitably lead down a personal patb I don't want to take, but I got a "Face that trauma head on and kill it before it kills you so that you can move on with you journey" vibe. You know? I liked that they used Ada as someone who knew Henry for a catalyst for Millie to start her healing process. Her subtle way of telling Millie that Henry put that vine there to protect them while he was gone was a nice moment. I feel like Ada knows more about the MOL than she lets on, mostly by the way she seems to feel incredibly comfortable with the workings of the chapter house (where they keep their shit for spell casting and such). Seriously cannot wait to know more about her. The moment in the hotel before the core group goes to the comune is great. It added a nice free moment for this group of troubled young folk. The zombie scene was fun and it showed where everyones strengths lie and I'm glad it gave a bit more insight to the dynamic between Carlos and Lata. (Lata trying to put the Zombies it the box was kind a funny to me idk why) Not much on the Akrida but there's still a whole season. That end though! I'm in Camp Rowena with everyone else. It's possible that it's another witch, but I don't think so. The hell hounds were a bit concerning (unless its it's a time traveling Rowena who is already queen of Hell even though it doesn't need to be because she centuries old) because the Gates are still closed but like I said, whole season ahead.

Production

It was great. The monster effects were miles above episode one with the Loup-garou ( a rugaru varient apparently) and honestly I saw no major issuse. The only thing I saw was a slight inconsistency with Mary's hair style shot to shot but that's just being nitpicky. ( Spn had whole ass filming equipment and crew members in shot before so...)

Acting

Already noticing improvements in chemistry. The cast is doing a great job.

Final thoughts

It's safe to say I'm already hooked. This felt like an episode of SPN just with different characters. With the improvements I've seen already from the pilot to episode two, I have hopes that it will only get better from here. It feels so good to have this universe back. Solid 8/10

Will we learn more about the Akrida?

Will Ada get the screen time she deserves?

Who the hell was the hooded figure?

For the love of Chuck and all that is unholy, will someone please address the RDP ( random diner patron) from In The Beginning that I know is most likely just a continuity error but I desperately don't want it to be and its been bothering me for almost an entire DECADE?!?!?!?!

Find out next week on: Kage Rants about The Winchesters To Almost Nobody But Themselves

[drink-n-watch]

Hello one and all, it’s once again time for my seasonal dose of adorable underdressed anime fun with Matt! My collaborations with him are my chance to see some shows on the more moe ecchi side of things that I wouldn’t necessarily get around to otherwise so it’s a good way to broaden my horizons. So naturally this season Matt suggested Psycho Pass! I had no objections….

Some more astute readers may know that I (much like a whole lot of anime fans) have a very soft spot for the series. I talk about it a lot and to this day this messy fever dream of a post remains one of my favourites!

But enough about me, Matt what are your thoughts/feelings about the franchise?

Hello Irina, everyone, it’s me. My thoughts on Psycho Pass’s first season? Absolutely excellent, one of my Top 20 anime of all time. Thoughts on the second season? A rushed mess that does a disservice to the events of the previous season.

So season 3… Whenever a beloved series gets a new entry, there’s always a sort of backlash from fans. A weird fear that somehow it can go back in time and change what the original was. It’s counterproductive. Which is probably why Matt warned us on Twitter not to immediately compare it to the original…But Boy did this first episode make that hard! 

There were parallels to the first season Everywhere you looked. The art style is instantly recognizable, and the environments remain almost untouched (aside from the CG but we’ll get back to it). The colour palette is very close, only slightly warmer and the framing and angles are perfectly consistent. The OP was purposefully similar which made the inclusion of that demon-like creature really stand out.

Beyond that though, we saw glimpses of the iconic Syble control room, the dominators in action, Shion back in force (oh hecks yeah) and even just a hint of Akane.  And one of the first scenes was of inspectors Arata and Kei arriving on their very first day at the job, at a rainy crime scene in an opener that directly mirrored season 1’s first episode.

I know you don’t want us to compare the two, Matt, but it certainly seems the show isn’t about to let us forget its roots.

There’s nothing wrong with calling back to things that happened in previous seasons, in-fact they were some of my favourite parts of the episode. The problem is when people dont give a show a fair chance to stand on its own because their too busy holding it up to its predecessors shadow.

There’s something of a deft balancing act done here by making this part sequel and part soft reboot (at least that’s my impression) and I think it pulls off both very well.

To me though, this was an homage, not a rip-off. Tonally, visually and atmospherically it was very reminiscent of Psycho Pass but the character dynamics, faster and grimier corruption storyline set up and quick-fire dialogue are fresh. Not to mention the completely new mind trace gimmick. So far, I like it, but it has the potential of just turning into plot destroying “sci-fi magic”, what do you think?

It’s funny you mention the mind trace “gimmick” because (aside from the visuals) that was my favourite thing about this episode. I don’t know if you’ve seen Bryan Fuller’s ‘Hannibal’ tv series from a few years back but our protagonist in that show has complete empathy which allows him to become other characters which is almost exactly what Arata has (down to the wording) of his trait. So not only was I immediately on board with this but I was excited to see where it would take his character. Oh I vaguely remember it. I was actually thinking of Sherlock myself.

Arata is a light-hearted happy go lucky protagonist. For someone like me, whose favourite character was Kagari, it’s a thrill, but what do you think Matt? And ho do you think audiences will react. It’s a pretty big departure from previous protagonists.

I think a lot of his light-hearted disposition is a coping measure for having to deal with having complete empathy. I enjoyed this kind of protagonist compared to brooding and dour but I still think it’s a bit of a front.

O.k., I’ve avoided it so far but let’s just mention the CG for a bit. I didn’t like it. It wasn’t horrible but the integration was hardly seamless and honestly, it took me out of the moment on several occasions.

Hmm, I have to disagree, I thought it looked wonderful and very dynamic and interesting. I’ve heard streaming things with a lot of small details can look ugly so maybe that was the problem for you? I ~acquired~ a 1080p copy of the episode so maybe that’s why I thought it looked so good? No for me the issue was more that the light and shadow physics where calculated at a very slightly different angle that made the CG pieces sort of stand out in one frame and not the next. Once I noticed I kept on noticing. Also, I disliked the textures but that personal taste. Actually, I got to give it to prime, the quality if their streams are really good!

Overall, here is what I got from the first episode of season 3 of Psycho Pass. The narrative seems to be more action-oriented with hints of humour, rather than dramatic noir. There is a lot more emphasis on tech which leads me to believe we’re going to stray into cyberpunk territory. Political machinations are afoot.

I think it was a necessary change, this felt more like a US crime procedural along the lines of ‘Person of Interest’ so arguably not world’s away from what it was but different enough to feel like it’s carving out its own identity and not resting on everything that it’s previous seasons set up.

There were some red flags. The addition of what seems to amount to incredible psychic powers in Arata is a very tricky narrative element and unless used carefully and sparingly could either render stakes inconsequential or completely undercut and tension in the story. Moreover, the little we saw of the villains did seem a tad too goofball to be taken seriously and, in my experience, this universe really benefits from a strong antagonist.

In the closing scenes, there is a line seemingly spoken by Akane: “We must protect justice even at the cost of a peaceful society”… This was meant as a sort of handoff to a new cast and although a bit heavy-handed still cute. Except that to me, it sort of goes against what Akane stands for and negates some of her most important and powerful character moments (by the way, I’ve seen season 1, the old movie,

Seeing Akane at all was kind of unexpected–the opening monologue and the sort of revelation that she’s still imprisoned (I think that’s what they were going for–its been a while since I watched season 2) hit me harder than I expected.

On the other hand, I pretty much fell head over heels for Mika. Every scene she was in made me smile and glued my eyes to the screen. I always wanted to know more about the tech of Psycho Pass and that seems to be the direction the season is heading in and although we don’t know much about Kei and Arata, I like them both so far.

I like all the characters (both new and returning ones) so far, I quite liked the banter between our two inspectors and their chief–she seems like a pretty understanding woman–hope she doesn’t end up working for the bad guys!

From what I can remember of my very first impressions of the franchise at all, this is pretty much on par. I mean I’m way more excited but I’m bringing that down because a lot is due to fuzzy nostalgia feelings. I didn’t really have any expectations for this episode, all I wanted was a strong narrative and characters set in the familiar future fictional Tokyo of the Psycho Pass universe that I’ve got a lot of fondness for and on that front it absolutely delivered. If I have one complaint it’s that it introduced a lot of characters that didn’t do much (specifically those three mysterious characters who are either politicians or something I’m not quite sure) but there’s still plenty of time to find out what their deal is. All in all, I thought this was an excellent continuation and new beginning for the series.

Psycho Pass s3 ep1 – A New Start Hello one and all, it’s once again time for my seasonal dose of adorable underdressed anime fun with…