#because that entire setup was love interest introduction gold

[sonwabile-reads]

One thing I'll never stop shouting to the heavens: SamSteve has one of the cleanest meetcutes ever filmed and they'd 100% be in a serious relationship rn if Sam Wilson was a woman!

[crystalelemental]

Now for the other half: story stuff. Now that I've gotten all the venom of today's failure to find Tyrants out of my system, I can talk about the good stuff.

Nexomon Extinction has a legitimately good story. This was really strong. I left off last time after the Drake Isles, but we're now through the full story. I kinda backed out of talking spoilers the first time, but this time it's completely unavoidable.

Omnicron's Tomb is probably the best segment in the game. That whole segment is so funny, it's incredible. The introduction of your character actually using your elemental powers is also a nice bit, especially with the surprised "No one told me you could do that." It's gold. But there's also a lot of setup as far as what's going on there, too.

The real fun is right after. The entire plot has been about how the Nexomon are at war to find a new king, and that several Tyrants are vying for power. A while back, humans created dragons to fight Tyrants and protect humanity, and created an artificial Tyrant to serve as the king of monsters that the dragons would obey. That was Euros. Fifteen years ago, everything went berserk, and the catalyst to this was, it turns out, your birth. Your player character is the last descendant of Omnicron, and child of Nara. Turns out, Deena's been putting a whole plan in motion to set you up as the new Sovereign of Monsters, getting her siblings to help develop your powers so you're ready to ascend the throne as the Tyrant of Light. The whole setup of machinations is really good, but what we particularly love is that this means all of the other children of Omnicron are your aunts and uncles. And there is just something about the concept of wine aunt Nadine that tickles me. We were joking about the babysitting priority order, and we're pretty confident Luxa's at the bottom.

One complaint I did develop, and still hold, for this game, is that the Tyrant War is kinda just background noise. Like...we don't know anything about the Tyrants in play. We know their masters, but Mulcimer doesn't speak until you revive him, and says very little. Even the one that does give the most hints of personality, Tikala, has to have Deena fill in that no, he did care about becoming king, he just hid to try and wait out the war part. Comparatively, they lack for depth, and having reached the postgame where I can acquire all these legendary creatures, I find myself wondering...why would I run anyone but the children of Omnicron? Like no, really. I don't particularly like Luxa, but I at least know about him as a character. If they all were non-entities, I could run with what looks cool or functions well. But in what world am I going to swap out Ventra for Euros? There isn't one. It would never happen. Partially because I can't fucking find him, postgame Tyrant hunting sucks ass, but mostly because Ventra is super cool and has a lot of relevance and Euros is just kinda there.

Vados is the exception. Vados does start speaking, and is a fairly noble and pragmatic creature. When aiming to destroy the desert Tyrant, the Laterians refuse to not fight, and when Amelie talks about how they chose their course, Vados is the one to admonish "I won't hurt humans, Amelie." Vados and Amelie are both pretty interesting, believing that their course is correct. I do think the ultimate aim is a bit...well, extreme. As pointed out by your mentor, Vados cannot be the king of monsters, because it's not a Nexomon, therefore more Tyrants will be born and more will attempt to ascend. It will fight until the literal end of the world, caused by its own hand. Vados, and by extension, Amelie, seem to work on the same moral framework as Xanders: Nexomon are intrinsically evil, and if they're going to keep rising up, then yes, the solution is genocide. We will take them all out for humanity's sake.

The story is still overall very comedic, but I still feel like at times I wish they'd cut the fourth-wall-breaking jokes. This may be more personal preference than anything they're strictly doing wrong, but I do think I don't love it. It does have some absolutely immaculate jokes, though. I think on the whole this game is funnier than the first. While small, one of my favorite bits is Nadine, having use the last of her powers to throw Xanders off a cliff, saying she used all her powers and won't get to see your rise to glory...only to stop, then call to Atlas saying she can't hurt him and to come close, implying reconciliation. Then smacks his ass to the ground and starts to call him a little shit, fading before she can curse at him. That's great. I love Nadine. Though the absolute funniest is still the Yellow Ranger guy trying to jump you from on high, landing wrong and just screaming "MY BONES!" then vanishing. Absolutely hilarious.

As a whole experience, I liked this game a lot more than the first. Which is saying something considering the general vibe I have on being salty about postgame legend hunting. The story is just a lot stronger, reminiscent more of the underworld segment but sustained throughout. The new cast is generally excellent, though I do wish the Tyrants got a little more development. It's just a really good game. With a really unfortunate approach to the postgame legends. No, I will not shut up about this, I'm so mad.

[immaturityofthomasastruc]

IOTA Reviews: Optigami

For the first time this season, we're actually acknowledging what happened at the end of the last season. Of course, it's the thirteenth episode chronologically, so you can tell the writers really wanted to strike while the iron was hot.

Let's get into the ninth (chronologically the thirteenth) episode of Miraculous Ladybug's fourth season: Optigami.

We start off with Nathalie recounting the events of “Miracle Queen” to Gabriel, where Chloe exposed the identities of the temp heroes, which is kind of odd considering they were both there. Then again, it's entirely possible Gabriel forgot what happened given we're literally halfway through the season chronologically. According to Nathalie, she created a Sentimonster the very next day to spy on the heroes. After a lot of surveillance by the Sentimonster, named Optigami, all Nathalie and Gabriel really found out was that the heroes were just regular teenagers who occasionally got a Miraculous from Ladybug without even learning her identity, all while we learn she continued to give Miraculous out to the heroes despite the risk to their safety.

Okay, a few questions here. First, why the hell didn't Hawkmoth/Shadowmoth or Mayura try something like this from the beginning? It took you two lucking out in finding out the identities of seven heroes to think about spying on your enemies? Second, Mayura created Optigami the next day? Wasn't she in a lot of pain as a result of using the Peacock for a whole season? At least when she created a Sentimonster in the New York special, it was set a vague amount of time after “Miracle Queen”. Third, Ladybug is seriously recruiting the same heroes again after the rules that she imposed onto Chloe? You know, the person who couldn't use the Bee Miraculous again because of the risk to her safety, and ultimately betrayed Ladybug because she hated the rule? Seriously, the video footage shows Ladybug recruiting Ryuko, someone whose identity Shadowmoth already knew before “Miracle Queen”, so this makes even less sense. If Chloe doesn't get her Miraculous after exposing her identity to the whole world, the same should apply to the other heroes too. If they wanted to make Chloe an exception, all they had to do was have Ladybug bench Queen Bee because she didn't trust Chloe in her civilian life. This just makes Ladybug come off as a hypocrite who serves to justify Astruc's warped mentality that Chloe doesn't deserve a Miraculous even though she lost hers for the same reason as the others.

Nathalie calls Optigami a failure, but Gabriel actually uses his brain for once and comes up with a plan to take out all of the temp heroes at once by putting them in a situation where Ladybug is forced to recruit one of them in order to stop an Akuma. He calls Audrey Bourgeois, a major fashion magazine writer and praises her idea to give a monthly award to a fashion icon, and Gabriel says “there's no better introduction than giving it to his son”, so I'm not sure if he told Audrey to give the award to Adrien, or if he already got the award and Gabriel was just capitalizing on the chance.

So we cut to Marinette and Alya hanging out in the former's room, and surprise, surprise, Marinette is gushing over Adrien. It isn't a love story if there's a single scene not talking about the love interest according to Astruc.

Yeah, despite not being on the list of targets, Marinette got a ticket to the award show because the writers weren't sure how else they could work her into the plot. The Kwamis ask if they can come along, forgetting about the fact that they need to be a secret or be with an owner (guessing Marinette learned her lesson after “Furious Fu”). I'm starting to think I was a little too harsh on Master Fu considering he managed to put up with these godlike idiots for 176 years.

Alya and Trixx, the Fox Kwami, bring up a decent point that now that Alya knows she's Ladybug, she can take a more active role in helping her as Rena Rouge if she had the Fox Miraculous full-time, while Marinette points out the fact that it's too risky for anyone but her to hand out Miraculous. This is brief, but I like this little disagreement here. While I think Marinette could have brought up the fact that Shadowmoth knows Alya's identity in her argument, both sides still make a good point, and this will come into play later on, for better or for worse.

So Marinette and Alya head out to the award party where they meet up with Adrien, Kagami, Luka, Kim, Max, and Nino, with Alya doing a secret handshake with him that I'm sure won't be important later on. We also get a hilarious scene of Alya once again trying to force Marinette into an elevator with Adrien with the explicit intent to have her get closet to Adrien, while she unsurprisingly freaks out, leading to some brief Unfunny Marinette Slapstick.

So much for Marinette growing after the second umbrella scene.

Optigami is set up, and Shadowmoth creates a Sentimonster of the man hosting the award ceremony, and takes the opportunity to do what we've all wanted to do since Audrey's first appearance in late 2018.

I can't believe I'm saying this, but thank you, Gabriel Agreste. You're the real MVP of this episode.

So Shadowmoth sends out an Akuma to akumatize Audrey into his “magnum opus”, Style Queen, once again (Audrey is also implied to be willingly akumatized like Chloe in “Queen Banana”). And since the titular Sentimonster plays a big role in Shadowmoth's plan this episode, I think now's a good time to talk about Optigami.

Optigami has a simple design, a butterfly colored like Mayura, but I like the role it plays. It has the power to hide in any solid object and observe the environment like a camera Nathalie watches, all while Style Queen chases after the temp heroes and turns them into piles of gold dust. Whether that's because she's been powered up by Shadowmoth or because the animators can't afford to create new models of the characters as gold statues isn't clear. It still really shows the writers are taking advantage of the concept of Sentimonsters as support for Akumas outside of more muscle.

So Kagami tries to distract Style Queen while Adrien runs, and she is the first to be taken out. Chloe then tells Style Queen where Ladybug went, but she gets targeted because she laughed at her mother earlier, and then tries to use Zoe as a human shield before getting blasted. Oh, thank God. I thought Chloe was going to appear in an episode where the writers didn't remind the audience how much of a terrible person she is and anyone who supports her is just as bad.

Marinette and Adrien both run off to transform, but get into the same elevator together, which then gets broken thanks to Style Queen's interference. This leads to an interesting setup where neither of them can transform and hope their partner will save them, leading to some real tension. There's also thankfully little to no stammering from Marinette in these scenes. It's almost like the writers only have her struggle to talk with Adrien so they don't actually have to write scenes like this. Alya briefly teases Marinette for saying she's stuck in an elevator with Adrien before realizing she's trapped in an elevator with a civilian and can't transform.

After Max and Luka get taken out, Marinette calls a phone she set up near the Miracle Ball to call the Kwamis, pretending to talk to the fire department and secretly tells them to send Kaalki to help her, but Adrien sees Optigami spying on them in the elevator, so Marinette is forced to hang up. Marinette and Adrien are about to transform and reveal themselves to each other, but because neither of them are on the list and because Shadowmoth felt like actually being a decent father today, Optigami retreats with Style Queen, who then takes out Kim, leaving only Alya and Nino left.

Marinette tells Alya to call the Kwamis, but while she does so, she gets a call from Nino, who is soon taken out by Style Queen and... is replaced... by an... evil... doppelganger... The eighth one in four seasons...

The only question I have is how did Shadowmoth create two Sentimonsters in the same day? Did he recharge offscreen? Either way, he sends “Sentinino” after Alya to lure her out, but Kaalki arrives and portals her to Marinette's room, leading to the funniest joke of the episode.

Alya takes the Fox Miraculous and transforms into Rena Rouge and creates an illusion of Ladybug to distract Style Queen while she meets up with Marinette with the Bee Miraculous, but she decides to take the Turtle Miraculous even though Marinette didn't tell her to just to be safe.

Rena Rouge meets up with Sentinino and gives him the Turtle, alerting Shadowmoth to the fact that Alya may have a bigger role than he anticipated. Sentinino transforms into Carapace (or would a more accurate term be Sentipace?) while Optigami hides in the Turtle Miraculous, leading to another interesting conflict. If Style Queen gets Ladybug's Miraculous, Shadowmoth wins, but even if Ladybug wins, Sentipace can swoop in and steal Ladybug's Miraculous when her guard is down. This is David Xanatos levels of planning here.

Rena Rouge escorts Adrien out of the elevator via one of Kaalki's portals, and Marinette transforms into Ladybug before unifying with the Bee Miraculous into Ladybee.

Ignoring the creepy look on her face, I think Ladybee has a pretty good design. I think the black and gold go well with her suit, and the ponytail with the gold streaks is a nice touch. I'm not sure if it's referencing Queen Bee's design, but I like it, as well as the slight antennae on her head. I still prefer Dragonbug's design, but I can see why so many fans love this one too.

Ladybee is surprised Sentipace is there, but accepts his help anyway. Ladybee summons her Lucky Charm, a compact mirror, but when looking around, she doesn't see how to use the Lucky Charm with Sentipace as he isn't highlighted in her vision like certain objects/heroes that play a part in stopping an Akuma. Ladybee uses Venom, and with Sentipace's Shelter, manages to tank Style Queen's blasts and stun her before de-evilizing her.

Cat Noir tries to cataclysm the golden shield Style Queen placed around the building, but shows up too late, being surprised at the presence of Rena Rouge and Sentipace. He jokes about it, but this will somewhat come into play in future episodes.

Ladybug prepares to throw the compact mirror to use Miraculous Ladybug and fix the damage, but through the mirror, sees Nino fail to do the secret handshake with Alya. Ladybug pulls a John McClane and swings off the top of the building and tells Cat Noir to use his Cataclysm to destroy the Turtle Miraculous, releasing Optigami, and giving Nathalie a major headache. Shadowmoth undoes the creations of Optigami and Sentinino and retreats.

Alya is naturally upset that she screwed up and almost let Shadowmoth find out Ladybug's identity, but then, well...

Like with “Gang of Secrets”, I'm very mixed on this ending. Both Alya and Marinette make good points here. Alya knows she almost let Shadowmoth win, but Marinette points out how invaluable Alya was today and realizes how helpless she was doing a lot of things on her own. Even if Alya didn't give the Turtle Miraculous to Sentinino, Marinette still had to face the possibility of revealing herself to Adrien. Like it or not, she needs someone to help her more, and Alya is the only one able to fill that position.

The problem I have is that because of how Marinette phrases that sentence, it comes off like Alya is being rewarded for what happened this episode. I get she helped, but I just find it weird that Marinette doesn't feel a little uncomfortable trusting Alya more after going behind her back and almost screwing up the entire mission in the process. I think the scene could have worked if Marinette was a little more stern towards Alya and realized she had no choice but to give her the Fox, creating a little tension between the two as a result.

So the episode ends with a post-credits scene where Gabriel and Nathalie realize they need to focus more attention onto Alya due to her connection to Ladybug.

But yeah, this was honestly a really good episode. It's become my favorite this season.

The plot has a fair amount of suspense and tension, most of it derived from the very clever plan Shadowmoth has this time, taking full advantage of the repaired Peacock in order to make what was already a very powerful Akuma even more of a threat. There were jokes, but unlike in other episodes that focus on humiliating Marinette or interrupting the tension, they're well-placed. The same goes for the elevator scene. The writers easily could have made Marinette stammer all of her words around Adrien, but for once, they realized that they needed to have her actually interact with him in order to maintain the tension of the episode.

Granted, there are still some flaws, like Marinette really had no reason to be invited to the award ceremony. All they really had to do was have Adrien invite her himself, which would justify her eager reaction at the beginning. It's also strange that nobody brings up the fact that all of Adrien's friends who were invited were temp heroes. I've already gone over the problem with timeline at the beginning as well as the ending and I plan to talk about Rena Rouge's partnership with Ladybug next time.

Overall, this was still a really good episode. Even the evil doppelganger plotline had an interesting twist to it. What's the next episode about again? What? Another evil doppelganger of Nino?

[that-shamrock-vibe]

Round-Up Review: WandaVision (Spoilers)

Spoiler Warning: I am posting this review the Monday after the finale of WandaVision drops on Disney+, so if you haven’t yet seen the entire series don’t read on until you have.

So I was going to do a fully fleshed out review of the entire series of WandaVision, but just as I’m about to finish…Tumblr decides to freeze on me and I lose a day of work so I have now decided to work this review a different way and rather than giving a general reaction and going into a character analysis, I will be breaking it down into what I loved, what wasn’t there for me fully and where I feel we are going next.

General Reaction:

So I could of very easily gone through this series episode by episode...but based on the fact that not only was this a play-by-play mystery with a lot more questions than answers each week, but also as the series progressed, particularly after Evan Peters arrived at the end of episode 5, the fan-theories and potential spoilers almost made me not want to know what was going to happen because the theories were becoming so grand that the series could surely never live up to expectations, which is why I feel the director of the finalé stated that fans may be disappointed...because ultimately I don’t think the finalé did live up to expectations. But these were expectations built up as an culmination of fan-theories, comic-book insight and also MCU baiting.

By MCU baiting, I mean that the creatives of WandaVision decided to be creative, and possibly playful, by including several red herrings that went absolutely nowhere but were the main conspiracy theories driving the fan-speculations and fake spoilers throughout the latter half of the series.

Dottie...who was she? Nobody important. Evan Peters...was he Quicksilver? No. Was he Mephisto/Nightmare? No. Was he important? Not really. Monica’s mysterious engineer contact, a fan-favourite character? Not even a character from the comics, I think.

Now that’s not to say this series asked questions that weren’t answered satisfactorily, but a lot of them seemed to build up to what is to come rather than giving us all the answers in this series. Is that a good thing? Yes because I feel this will make this series more rewatchable than I feel it already is. I for one of re-watched each episode at least twice sometimes three times each week leading up to the next episode and having just seen the entire series as a whole product I can safely say that characters and elements from this series going forward may have call-backs to the events of this series which will make for clicks, more views and more plays.

Speaking of watchability, can we talk about how interesting it has been to watch half-hour scheduled programming for 9 weeks like the olden days, and the fact we can call television life before streaming “the olden days”?.

But honestly sitting down, for me on a Friday morning at 9:30am without fail, to watch what began as a 25–30-minute MCU sitcom before turning into a 30–40-minute MCU mystery every week harkened back to my childhood and coming back from school to watch my shows which only aired once a week at that time. Feige’s and the creatives in the MCU brought back that feeling of nostalgia for me which I never really expected from a comic-book property.

Speaking of classic televisual viewing, I really enjoyed the standard sitcom setup of this series. I knew of all the referenced shows going in like The Dick Van Dyke Show, Bewitched, The Brady Bunch, Malcolm in the Middle and Modern Family, but it was also nice to see some standard sitcom tropes seen in the majority of sitcoms utilized throughout. From Agatha posing as the nosey neighbour to the fashions of each sitcom era and even the fourth wall breaks both from Billy in the Halloween episode in a Malcolm in the Middle spoof to the following episode literally titled “Breaking the Fourth Wall”.

Also, I will say here that all those MCU “stans” who are complaining they didn’t get the big grand beginning of Phase 4 that was promised to us by Feige as “something different”, the guy’s mantra is to keep it simple and the finalé was hardcore Feige. “Something different” was the set up and delivery of this slice of the MCU and some fans are still moaning about that so some people are just never satisfied.

What I Loved

Scarlet Witch

Give Elizabeth Olsen awards for this season! Make gold rain down upon her! Honestly, I have loved Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff since her formal introduction in Avengers: Age of Ultron, but now we have formally been introduced to the Scarlet Witch she is not only the most powerful female if not character in the MCU but also the best character in the entire MCU to date.

Not only is this series personifying how an individual deals with their grief, but when you consider the fact that Wanda, who is by all accounts a 29 year old woman due to being blipped for 5 years, and has lost her parents at a young age, her twin brother at 25-26 so still a young age and then the first love of her life twice, first by her own hand and then by the Mad Titan so that initial sacrifice was for nothing, it’s just a lot to put on one individual with this level of raw power without expecting her to finally snap and create an alternate reality where everything is under her control.

The creation of her twins, who I will get into further down, was well done and, for want of a better word, organic for the series. But I did like how they showed the real-life struggle of not just having a new-born but having twins. Wanda is trying to maintain control of this world she has created as well as keep Vision in check, but also because the twins are seemingly not under her magical control, she must juggle maintaining the world and its people with being a new mother.

But the biggest crisis for Wanda comes in when Fietro shows up, I still do not believe she ever truly thought this was her dead brother resurrected. It wasn’t until he said “long lost brother” that he asked “Pietro?” and she spent the entire next episode interrogating him until the façade finally slipped and she decided he wasn’t.

After this, everything falls apart for her. Not only is her reality literally slipping with Vision at odds with her, the world constantly shifting between eras and her not understanding what is happening.

This is of course when she is confronted by Agatha Harkness who has not only taken her twins but also been fooling her by being “Nosy Neighbour Auntie Agnes” for this entire time when in reality she is a with from the days of the Salem Witch Trials who wants to understand Wanda’s true potential and then absorb all of her magic.

But when we got to see Wanda’s true potential as she went “Beast Mode” as the Scarlet Witch complete with stunning new outfit and crown, this levels the character up to that top spot in the MCU as the best and most powerful character.

I am excited to see where the Scarlet Witch’s potential will take her next.

WandaVision Love Story

I also really loved the fact that as well as a personification of dealing with Wanda’s grief, this series was truly a love story between Wanda and Vision.

From the first episode when we see them getting “married” and being that unusual suburban couple trying to fit in with seemingly everyday suburban life when the entire set-up is Wanda’s idyllic dream world.

As Darcy said to Vision, the love these two have is real. I did an entire post on why Scarlet Witch and Vision are the best MCU couple, and this series amplifies that. It becomes clear that these two are not actually married and in fact this Vision isn’t even the Vision we have seen developed through the movies, but he is a replication of Wanda’s true love and this is how she chooses to show it.

The fact they go through all of the typical newlywed couple goalposts of marriage, homemakers, kids, a dog, domestic disputes. It’s all there and feels so natural even though we are talking about the relationship a potential Nexus Being and a Synthezoid.

Their final goodbye in the series finale is honestly as heart-breaking as any love-lost in a tragic romance movie. Seriously how many more times is Wanda, and by extension the fans, supposed to say goodbye to Vision?

Agatha Harkness

I love Kathryn Hahn, this series has solidified that for me. Not only is this the first live-action appearance of Agatha Harkness but also the way in which she was modified from the comics is in a way that I would be annoyed with any other way if not for the fact that it was Kathryn Hahn playing her.

Now yes, fans of the comics knew “Agnes” was really Agatha Harkness from the casting announcement, but the actual reveal wasn’t epic because we already knew, it was epic because of the way it was revealed.

“Agatha All Along” has honestly become one of my new favourite songs, it is such a catchy tune, incorporates a couple of classic sitcom nods and is very memorable.

But also, even the fact that the final line of “…and I killed Sparky too” has become so memeable without overshadowing the overall song is such an impressive feat.

The Lopez’s not only capitalise on their Frozen success but also Kathryn Hahn gets to show her musical talents by singing the actual song…it was just incredible.

But yes, Agatha being a villain, as she has been in the comics but not on this scale, was a great decision for this series because Kathryn Hahn managed to inject her own brand of cynical dry comedy with echoes of Cate Blanchett’s Hela to create a fully rounded menacing villainous character.

Not only do we learn about her origins of how she can absorb magic by murdering her entire coven, mother included, but also that she elevates that by being able to steal any magic, even that of the powerful Scarlet Witch, truly makes this witch a threat within the magical realms of the MCU.

Even though she was defeated I am thrilled she didn’t die, she has simply been taken off the board for now but is still able to be put into play if and when she is needed again, maybe in Doctor Strange 2 maybe sooner, who knows?

Monica Rambeau

I have to say, I do not know much about Proton from the comics and genuinely though Maria Rambeau was a bigger character than she was, but considering they killed her off-screen during this series I don’t think she actually was.

I loved how the effects of the blip are still showing their repercussions as Monica returns after being victim to the blip and is immediately thrust into a chaotic post-blip world that echoes the real-world COVID-19 crisis I imagine.

From the start once outside of the Hex, Monica hits the ground running as both a SWORD operative and a self-assured hero trying to do the right thing by saving the town of Westview and Wanda while thwarting Hayward.

I really loved how her “Boss Lady” persona that Agent Woo grants her was very well realised because she did not take any nonsense from anyone. She got the Space Rover so she could attempt to re-enter the Hex, she attempted to reason with Wanda not once, not twice, but thrice.

And when the rover couldn’t penetrate the Hex, she decided to re-enter unprotected knowing what the barrier would potentially do to her physiology…and it did not disappoint.

Monica got powers, she got powers in a spectacular way. I loved how while she was physically struggling to break through the barrier, she could hear the voices of her nearest and dearest (archive footage from Captain Marvel) which spurred her on until she finally pulled herself together and became the superpowered individual she was always going to become.

But she didn’t stop there, not only did she try to once again confront Wanda who at this point was rather unhinged, but she didn’t take her threats lying down and instead tried to break into Agnes’ house before getting caught by Fietro.

However, once she worked out Fietro was really Ralph and was able to free him from Agatha’s control, she wasted no time in running off and making herself useful and just in time as she stopped Hayward from shooting the twins and assisted them in subduing the rogue SWORD agents.

As for Monica’s future, she has been drafted by that Skrull to join Nick Fury’s new team and may return to honour her late mother’s position as director of SWORD. All I know is her future is as bright and vibrant as the energy waves she can now see.

Twins

I love Wiccan and Speed so much, I love the Young Avengers so much, I love Wiccan and Hulkling’s relationship from the comics that is inevitably going to happen hopefully, but the fact this was the origins of all of that gave me everything.

Even before their birth, I loved how the pregnancy was making everything in the house go crazy. Some fans believe this was Wanda’s powers out of control due to pregnancy, I think this was actually Billy’s reality warping powers either acting from inside the womb or amplifying Wanda’s reality warping powers.

When the twins were in existence, I feel Wanda wasn’t prepared for what was going to happen. Billy and Tommy had their own minds and weren’t afraid to show them. Not only with finding Sparky but also with revealing their powers.

It’s fascinating as both these characters have the powers of either their mother or uncle, Billy has reality warping powers and Tommy has super speed. But while both got great chances to show them both in the Halloween episode and also in the series finale, I do believe we have only just scratched the surface of particularly Billy’s powers.

Of course they were always going to be lost at the end of the series, as they were in the comics when they were reabsorbed into Mephisto, in this instance they were seemingly deleted along with their father and the Hex…but then we hear them calling out to Wanda while she’s examining the Darkhold? Is this really them? Multiverse variants? What does all this mean? We need answers!

Darcy Lewis

I was thrilled when I heard Kat Dennings was not only returning to the MCU but being part of different characters’ stories rather than just Thor.

I loved how Darcy was on it from the start by firstly identifying that she and the other three scientists in recruitment didn’t share any common field so that meant SWORD had no idea what they were facing, but then being the one to identify the broadcast of WandaVision.

It did truly feel like we were watching Darcy be us while she was watching the series, seeing her get so invested in the hijinks and the plot twists was very relatable. Kat Dennings sold that relatability just as she does in every performance for me.

Then her fan-girling over the wider MCU, Kat Dennings is a fan of the MCU outside of her own appearances, so the fact she confirmed Vision did not get blipped but actually died and also had that moment in first meeting Monica was adorable.

Also, the fact that Darcy was the one who figured out not only that Monica’s cells were being re-written but also that Hayward had nefarious intentions with wanting to track down Vision, it just gave Darcy a purpose in the series and almost made her invaluable. Monica and Jimmy don’t have the backgrounds to be the “person in the chair” but Darcy does, and I was happy she finally got the chance to showcase it.

Even when she was taken into the Hex and temporarily became the Escape Artist, she was still Darcy in a way, then she became Vision’s source of information and road trip buddy before being left on the side-lines only to then return and help defeat Hayward.

What Didn’t Work:

Too Many Red Herrings

As I said this series and the series creatives had far too many red herrings planted to either fool us or tease us without any solid resolutions.

The biggest one is definitely “Fietro” who as it turns out isn’t Multiverse Quicksilver from the Fox X-Men movies but is instead an in-universe actor named Ralph Bohner who was enthralled by Agatha to play the part of her husband and be her spy and lackey.

Honestly not only am I annoyed that Evan Peters was used for what was ultimately a boner joke, but also it does throw dirt into the wound as to the fact we may not be getting Mutants or the X-Men for a while yet in the MCU.

Then there’s Dottie...similarly to Fietro this could have been a smart way to bring Mutants into the MCU. While yes Dottie was believed to be Mephisto or a witch of some description, I was actually onboard with the idea that this was the MCU Emma Frost. It would have been poetic for Agatha Harkness to be working with Emma Frost to not only maintain her manipulation but also with Emma’s telepathic abilities but also potentially have Emma working as a double agent for the Hellfire Club who also want to harness the powers of the Scarlet Witch similarly to how they wanted to control the Phoenix Force.

Wanda in the MCU has already been compared to Jean Grey, so how about Scarlet Witch becoming the Black Queen of the Inner Circle?

Next, Ultron. A namedrop as many times as this deserves some sort of payoff. Ralph got his and it may have been disappointing but at least we got resolution. So why, when Ultron was named numerous times and we as fans even had Avengers: Age of Ultron being the next recommended watch for us at the end of every episode except the finale, did nothing come of it? If White Vision was voiced by James Spader I would have been happy.

Finally, there’s Monica’s engineer “guy”. We didn’t find out who this was because the contact Monica met with was an Air Force contact delivering the Space Rover, but who was the engineer who designed it? Why didn’t we meet him?

I personally feel this engineer is Reed Richards, there is obviously a rich history of space being connected to Reed’s origins as Mister Fantastic, we know the Fantastic Four are coming to the MCU, it would simply make sense to first introduce Reed as maybe a scientist for SWORD or Nick Fury’s team before bringing in the full team.

I know the other option is Hank Pym, but really if it was Pym then why couldn’t they just pay Michael Douglas for a cameo?

The Future of the MCU

So, what does WandaVision set up for the Marvel Cinematic Universe?

Well, we know that this is the start of the Multiverse Arc that will continue with Spider-Man: No Way Home later this year and conclude with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness next year. It is confirmed that Scarlet Witch will show up in the latter of those two movies, but we have no idea what role she’ll serve in Spider-Man.

The other story this series sets up is Secret Invasion which will happen during the series of the same name starring Nick Fury and the Skrulls and also Captain Marvel 2 which will not only feature Carol Danvers and Monica Rambeau but also the upcoming Kamala Khan aka Ms. Marvel. This puts three superpowered women in the same movie and possibly will be the nexus of the Secret Invasion storyline before the concluding movie being an Avengers level event.

Then there’s also Falcon and the Winter Soldier starting in a couple of weeks, that series will most likely connect to Black Widow due to including Yelena Belova but also because that was originally supposed to come out before WandaVision it is tough to see if it or any other upcoming series except for Secret Invasion will connect to this series.

And of course, there is the upcoming Young Avengers project, we have yet to get confirmation of if this will be a movie or a TV series but we know we are having the players put onto the board in Disney+ shows and MCU movies. We have Wiccan and Speed, we know we are getting Kate Bishop and America Chavez as well as already having Cassie Lang just recast for the upcoming Ant-Man 3 to hopefully finally become Stature, and while we have yet to get confirmation of Hulkling it is possible he will appear in Secret Invasion given the Kree-Skrull elements.

Overall, I rate this series a solid 9/10, this series gave me practically everything I wanted and there were many times particularly in the finale that I felt this was the best Marvel Television series. I still stand by the fact that I think it is but the red herrings of Fietro, Mephisto, Ultron and Monica’s “guy” meant I couldn’t call it a solid 10/10.

Regardless of that, I felt this series gave us something different in an MCU mystery, formally introducing witches into the MCU, the love story of Wanda and Vision was intoxicating, meeting Wiccan and Speed in the early years was glorious and honestly Wanda embracing her destiny and becoming the Scarlet Witch…if the entire series was at that level it would be a 10/10 across the board.

So that’s my Round-Up Review of WandaVision, what did you guys think? Post your comments and check out more Marvel Reviews as well as other TV Reviews and posts.

[ducktracy]

169. egghead rides again (1937)

release date: july 17th, 1937

series: merrie melodies

director: tex avery

starring: mel blanc (egghead), tex avery (red), billy bletcher (clerk, egghead), sons of the pioneers (singers), danny webb (egghead)

tex avery would debut a whopping 3 characters in 1937: daffy, egghead, and elmer. but, with tex, he’s gotta keep it interesting, and the confusion between the last two characters is certainly interesting history. out of confusion or just simplicity (because “egghead” is much less of a mouthful than “prototype elmer fudd”), many fans refer to the proto-fudd as egghead, believing that he later evolved into elmer fudd. that, however, is not true. egghead and elmer are entirely independent characters. egghead has open eyes and USUALLY has hair (here is an exception), and is voiced by danny webb (again, an exception is made here... mostly.) elmer has closed eyes, wears a derby hat, and is voiced by mel blanc for the most part (danny webb voices him in cinderella meets fella, further confusing matters). to save space, i made it so that you can read more about the difference between the two here. interesting history indeed! for even more interesting history, this is irv spence’s first animation credit, and paul smith’s first cartoon in the avery unit, moving over from the freleng unit. spence would depart for MGM in 1938, whereas smith would stay with avery until 1940, where he would head off to walter lantz.

egghead is eager to become a “rootin’, tootin’, shootin’, snootin’, high falutin’, tootin’, shootin’, rootin’, tootin’ cowboy”, much to the bewilderment of his peers. to prove himself worthy, he goes on a dangerous, treacherous quest only the most worthy could conquer: wrangling an innocent little calf.

mel blanc’s over-enthusiastic cries of “YIPEE! WAHOO! GET ALONG, LITTLE DOGGIE, GET ALONG!” paired with irv spence’s loony animation collide to open the cartoon. our hero, the eponymous egghead, bucks back and forth on his trusty (off-screen) steed against a western panorama. that is, until a pan out reveals that our cantankerous cowhand is actually hopping wildly back and forth on a pogo stick, cleverly situated in front of his comically enlarged calendar. a great, classic fake-out, enhanced by mel’s energetic shrieks and spence’s spastic animation.

egghead resides in a boarding house, a space unfit for maintaining his wildest cowboy dreams. all of the commotion reaches the lobby of the boarding house, disturbing the landlord, voiced by billy bletcher. the landlord isn’t at all keen on egghead’s racket and literally throws him to the street--bletcher’s monologue is nothing short of hilarious as he rambles on all the way through, from initially hearing egghead’s noise to throwing him out. “well, dadburn that dadburn noise, dadburnit! i’ll put a stop to that, dadburnit. dadburnit, the dadburn boardin’ house ain’t no dadburn place to play dadburn cowboy! now get out and stay out, dadburnit! ...burnit... n... burnit—i mean, dadburnit!”

as egghead collects himself, his daze is cut short by the book so conveniently sprawled out in front of him, among other belongings. a book of job offerings has conveniently flipped open--fortune seems to smile upon our hero:

some more fun irv spence animation as egghead rips the paper out of the book, his bulbous nose prodding the page as he scans the words, too good to be true. “buck egghead rides again!” our protagonist declares, waving his hat around in celebration.  we receive a brief little montage of egghead traipsing towards the post office, writing the fated address out on the envelope. we don’t see the contents inside the envelope, only animation of egghead walking into the post office and writing on the envelope off-screen--a great way to build suspense. 

what seems to be an original number is yodeled by a group of cowboys in conjunction with a well-executed multi-plane pan (tex has used this technique before--i love to singa comes to mind) of bar-none ranch in wahoo, wyoming. the shot exposing the singing cowboys is structured quite similarly to the shots of the barbershop quartet singing in tex’s directorial debut, gold diggers of ‘49, albeit the animation is slightly more exaggerated, with the necks of the cowboys extending on their held out note. the cowboy strumming the guitar appears to be a caricature of paul smith (though i’d also take this with a grain of salt.) many portions of this cartoon have avery-isms of both past and future shorts--certainly fun to dissect!

great gag setup as the “leader” of the ranch gazes out of his window from inside, traipsing out the door, which is comically fitted to match his wide gait. he alerts his band of singing cowboys to the approach of the pony express--sure enough, the words PONY EXPRESS are emblazoned on some sort of object concealed by an iris. iris in to a horse pulling a trailer, the self-titled pony express, with a triumphant fanfare to boot.

nonstop gags are to be expected in a tex avery cartoon, but that doesn’t make the constant amount of punches any less amusing. the leader declares “c’mon, boys! in ya saddles! let’s ride out and meet the man!” with that, all of the cowboys whoop and holler as they all jump on their horses. they take off... and move about 2 inches forward until they all halt and reach their destination. it’s a gag tried and true used in many cartoons (my favorite usage being in, of course, the great piggy bank robbery), but the execution is just as satisfying here as it is in the others.

the horse comes to a halt, a chipper pony express “rider” emerging from the trailer to hand the boys their envelope before heading off again. as to be expected, it’s none other than egghead’s letter. EXCELLENT gag payoff as we finally see the contents of the envelope after minutes of gut-wrenching suspense: egghead himself flops out of the letter and onto the ground. the matter of factness and sincerity of the entire gag sell the whole thing.

once again, irv spence is at the hand of egghead’s introduction, which can hardly be summed up in greatness: mel blanc, billy bletcher, and danny webb all contribute to his vocals. mel blanc gives the tongue tied, squeaky, daffy-esque voice of “i’m a rootin’, tootin’, shootin’, snootin’, high falutin’, tootin’, shootin’, rootin’, tootin’ cowboy, fella! and i saw your ad, so i came for the job.” billy bletcher’s booming baritone takes over, the juxtaposition absolutely bludgeoning as he belts out “because, because, because, because...!” finally, danny webb takes over for the finale, imitating the squeaky voice of a teenage boy going through puberty--”today, i am a maaaaan”, lampooning the traditional declaration given by young men at their bah mitzvah, marking their introduction to adulthood. this line would be reused in another avery entry, i wanna be a sailor, just a few months later. the gag is topped off by egghead proudly puffing out his chest and struggling to keep his pants on. three great voice actors, great lines, and super fun animation, it’s hard to go wrong! the mel blanc/danny webb elmer/egghead conundrum ensues.

the lead cowboy decides to test egghead and see if he’s a worthy addition, enlisting in his buddy red for help. red (voiced by tex avery himself) squeals “OKAY, BOSS!” in a super high, grating, squeaky voice, a jab at famous western star andy devine, lampooned more than once for his raspy vocals--tedd pierce would also harp on devine with his portrayal of a squeaky voiced pig in friz freleng’s my little buckeroo just a year later.

per the leader’s request, red rolls a cigarette with just his mouth (with a lot of fun, eye-crossing animation provided by irv spence yet again), proudly sticking the cigarette out of his maw, lit and all, giving a self-satisfied grin towards the audience. the lead cowboy demonstrates his love of safety and concern for his friends’ well being as he whips out a pistol, giving it a good twirl before shooting right at the cigarette.

red is unscathed, his cigarette now split in half as a result. “now here, you try, pardner,” the cowboy urges on egghead. egghead gives a polite nod and tip of the hat before reaching for the gun, the weight of the gun bringing egghead falling to the ground beneath its weight. once more, red prepares to roll another cigarette, this time a corn cob pipe (and a button nose) poking out of his mouth in a last minute switcharoo.

morbidly (yet hilariously so), egghead struggles with the gun but manages to fire. predictably, he misses--shooting straight at red. wonderful setup as a floating hat and boots are all we see after the cloud of smoke dissipates. red assures he’s okay by waving a white flag from the recesses of his hat, his whole body dropping out of the hat and running away. his cowboy hat is still suspended in mid-air, and for the cherry on top, he darts on screen for a mere second more to retrieve his hat, a gag borrowed from picador porky. simultaneously predictable yet not, with some wonderfully fluid animation and great timing.

egghead is now the laughing stock of bar-none ranch. the leader, however, is a bit more forgiving, ordering his guffawing cronies to wrangle a calf and see what egghead can “do with it.” next act of redemption is a cruel one: the leader hands egghead a branding iron and instructs the novice to brand the poor little calf. despite the cruel nature of the gag, the audience is already alerted that egghead’s attempts to redeem himself will be laughable and in vain. 

the shot of egghead galloping along with the hot iron is strikingly similar in comparison to porky trotting along with a red-hot horse shoe in the village smithy, both shots awfully foreboding in the “this isn’t going to go well” sense. egghead’s victim, a terrified little calf, attempts to escape the clutches of the cowboys wrangling it, but it seems the calf has been defeated. egghead dives into the crowd, and a puff of smoke obscures the action going on...

once the smoke clears, we see that egghead has branded his fellow cowboys instead, the calf unharmed, trotting away with its tail proudly in the air (in a very similar manner to the bull(s) in picador porky.) the whole concept of attempting to cause harm to an innocent little calf (by someone with a rather squeaky voice) would also be rather prominently featured in the bob clampett classic porky’s last stand, with daffy off on an unsuccessful mission to kill a calf as a last-minute resort for a hamburger.

now, the leader orders egghead to go after the calf. if he gets it, he gets the job. thus launches another tex avery staple gag--egghead hops into a crowd of horses, emerging out of the gaggle on a diminutive little pony instead (with a score of “the merry go round broke down” to boot--carl stalling must have been quite eager to use the composition now that he could.) the same gag would be used in a number of other cartoons, the 1946 tex avery droopy cartoon northwest hounded police coming to mind.

we’re treated with some refreshingly dimensional, rather tashlin-esque dynamics and angles as the calf leaps and bounds over a number of fences, with egghead hot on its trail, screeching another victorious call of “egghead rides again... and again... and again! and another time!” the animation is very well executed and tastefully dynamic. 

momentum of the chase is purposefully broken as both the calf and egghead begrudgingly screech to a halt, obeying the rules of the road as they wait at a stop sign before resuming the chase again. another avery-ism--purposefully stopping in the middle of a chase for a “breather” gag. 

in an attempt to fake-out the clueless cowboy, the calf enlists in the aid of cartoon physics to save its hide (literally) as it crawls beneath a cliff and stands upside down, right on the edge. egghead saunters on past, much to the glee of the little calf. yet, egghead realizes he’s been foiled, and we get some more wonderfully dynamic and cartoony animation as the horse whips around, sending egghead slingshotting around from the background to the foreground, positioned on the horse the entire time. treg brown’s electric guitar twang/slide effect (my favorite!) enhances the gag nicely. 

realizing its pursuers are still coming in hot, the calf slides to the edge of another cliff (this time accompanied by a less suitable violin slide sound effect) before scampering down the edge in a last minute effort to escape. egghead and his trusty steed screech to a halt, peering down over the edge of the cliff. the gags just keep on coming--in more tex avery greatness, the horse takes a rather conveniently situated set of stairs carved into the side of the cliff, its complacent grin and dainty little descent topping off the gag. 

a carl stalling favorite, “in the stirrups”, accompanies the wild goose chase between the calf and egghead as the two run over hill and dale through the beautifully painted landscape. yet another avery-ism—a wide, distance shot of mayhem unfolding on screen. against all odds, egghead manages to herd the terrified, exhausted calf back in its own. it seems egghead actually DOES ride again! he approaches the cornered calf (the same high pitched daffy croon a stark parallel to porky’s last stand), and, once more, a ball of smoke obscures the action unfolding.

instead of a terrified calf wrangled up in a ball, we’re greeted with a cow-tied egghead, with the calf shaking its little fists in the glory. once more, this causes the cowboy cronies to erupt in a uproarious fit of laughter.

with great effort, a heartbroken, dejected egghead manages to produce exactly one (1) tear, reflecting his tremendous heartache. once more, irv spence is responsible for the close-up, a very funny one indeed. those wrinkles are almost scribner-ian.

a dejected egghead trudges past the cowboys, their mocking laughter definitely stinging, even if it’s directed towards someone who is hardly endearing such as egghead himself. thankfully, the all too forgiving leader consoles egghead (offhandedly mocking his diminutive stature in the process), saying that he’s finally in.

to egghead, it’s too good to be true—and a happy ending in an avery cartoon is definitely too good to be true indeed. wonderful animation as the leader swaps egghead’s cowboy hat out for a pith helmet, thrusting a trashcan in his grip. egghead now gets the honors of being the street sweeper (to put it politely), an ending reminiscent of the classic drip-along daffy. the egghead/daffy parallels keep on coming!

tex closes with a final bang: as egghead cries “buck egghead...!”, the whinnying of a horse grounds the chipper street sweeper into reality, reminded of his duties. his exuberance melts into disdain, the triumphant backing score backing down in favor of a mournful violin as our hero grumbles “...sweeps again.” iris out.

this review is full of praises for the gags and the animation in the cartoon, which are both very good. however, with that said, is this the best tex avery entry? not at all. is this a bad entry? not at all. for someone like me who’s endured the bosko, buddy, and even beans eras, this cartoon is like heaven sent—for the average viewer who is more acquainted with tex’s future masterpieces at WB and later MGM, this is definitely a step down from his greatest.

irv spence’s animation shines bright in this cartoon and is certainly the highlight, which is both good and bad. it highlights his work and allows him to make a name for himself, but he also puts the other animators at the avery unit to shame. bob clampett and chuck jones’ absence is certainly felt—virgil ross is another star of the avery unit (though i don’t have the best luck picking him out, at least not in this cartoon), sid sutherland can be difficult to discern, and paul smith’s animation is seldom exciting, and at some points the animation looks rather poor when it isn’t a spence scene. nevertheless, his work is definitely something to look out for.

the gags are amusing, some more predictable than others, but definitely amusing. egghead isn’t a very endearing character—they did a great job of making him obnoxious—but mel’s vocals (and technically billy bletcher’s and danny webb’s) breathe lots of life and vivacity into the character. really, his voice is just daffy duck’s voice of the 30s (though a bit less spitty.) that whole “i am a man” sequence is nothing short of hilarious.

in short, not one of tex’s best, and one that you could both skip or watch. i lean more towards the “give it a watch” side, for the historical significance of egghead’s debut, but also for shining moments such as irv spence’s wild character animation and some of the gags. this cartoon doesn’t have the same energy that previous entries such as porky’s duck hunt (and even uncle tom’s bungalow, all things considered) uphold, but if you’re tex avery, that is one difficult flame to maintain, one that would sometimes burn out. this era of avery cartoons, the flame has certainly calmed down, but it’ll reignite for the 1938-1939 season at least. so, in all, amusing short with bits of greatness to it (and historical significance) that leads me to give it a recommendation.

link!

[tenchiforum]

For the first time ever, the Toonami versions of OVA1/2, Universe, and Tokyo are available online! On their respective archive.org pages you can access each episode easily.

Watch now: OVA1/2, Tenchi Universe, Tenchi in Tokyo.

For users who keep up with contemporary anime communities, we also have an upload for the entire run available on Nyaa.

It’s been quite a journey in getting these episodes from analog to digital. If you’re interested in reading about the process of how these almost lost-to-time edits came into our hands and how we’ve gone about preserving them before the tapes rot, then sit back and enjoy the story below!

Part 1: Toonami – A Love Story.

Tenchi Muyo! and Toonami are tied together like the red thread of fate often times referenced in many East Asian myths. For those who aren’t aware, Toonami was a programming block on the Cartoon Network channel. Starting in 1997, it did one thing for anime that no other channel in the English-speaking world had ever done: showcased anime during “PrimeTime” (In North America at least, this was 4pm to 7pm Eastern Standard time). Before the internet, having this block of time meant having the most eyes on your product, meaning exposure was huge. Oftentimes whoever got on this block, regardless of the channel, was “made.”

However, it wouldn’t be until mid 1999, with a soft-rebranding, a new host, and an almost entirely anime-focused block, that Toonami would take over the world.

And on July 3rd, 2000, an entire generation was introduced to Tenchi Muyo! for the first time.

- The now legendary two minute Toonami promo.

Thanks to the efforts of Jason DeMarco, Sean Akins, Gill Austin, Sean Polinski, and the rest of the Toonami crew, the “Toonami generation,” still to this day, is the largest block of Tenchi Muyo! fans. Whether it was Toonami US, UK, or Australia. Tenchiforum is a testament to this fact. I personally would not be here were it not for Toonami, so to say that fans of Tenchi Muyo! hold Toonami in a high regard is an understatement.

I had always wanted to somehow, some way, get the Toonami version of Tenchi up for everyone to see again, but my old Toonami VHS recordings were long gone, and I figured trying to piece together the Toonami version from other people’s tapes would just be too hard with how many episodes were broadcast, that was until… 2012

In mid-to-late 2012, I found out that Pioneer actually released a home video version of what was shown on Toonami. It was simply released as “Tenchi Muyo!” in those big, white, clam shell VHS cases (that most people probably remember for old Disney movies). I felt as though I had struck gold! I was able to get a hold of the first two OVA, and was able to rip them to my computer.

- Vol. 1 & Vol. 5 of “Tenchi Muyo!” – No distinction was made that they were separate series.

Though I was high on my endorphin-induced nostalgia, I ran into a couple of unforeseen problems.

First and foremost, the equipment I was using was not great. I used an old StarTech composite to USB dongle and the software that came with it. While this isn’t necessarily bad at first glance (it doesn’t support Windows 10), I had no experience whatsoever in the field of digital transfer. While I think my rips were okay for the time, I knew even then that they were too low of bit-rate and the quality of the rips suffered for it.

Because I also had no VCR at the time that had S-Video output, I was only able to output from composite, which meant the whopping 240p equivalent VHS tapes look fuzzier than they probably should. (I realize that VHS is technically an analog format, meaning that a 1:1 equivalent digital representation is hard to pin down or that someone might argue that it did technically output 480i over composite, but basically it was 240p.)

Another problem was the software itself, I had no idea about Virtualdub, AmaRecTV, or other helpful capture software, so I only recorded at a lower bit-rate, again producing an inferior quality rip.

I also ran into the problem of showcasing the videos. Funimation (who now owns the vast majority of the Tenchi Muyo! franchise in North America) had finally started really cracking down on people uploading videos to Youtube. Even though my videos were not completely the same, the algorithm immediately flagged and blocked them. This led me to uploading the videos to Facebook. I had to cut them in half because of Facebook’s restriction to roughly only 12 minutes of video. Somehow in the process, some of the videos had audio drop out for a minute or two, and for some the audio dropped out completely.

Arguably the biggest blow though, was when I learned that this set of Toonami tapes was incomplete. Pioneer stopped producing the Toonami version for home video after they finished releasing Universe. Meaning, the only way to get the Toonami version of Tenchi in Tokyo, was hope that someone, somewhere,  had taped it 11 years earlier.

While Tenchi in Tokyo has been getting more appreciation from fans as of late – thanks in part to most newer entries in the Tenchi OVA sucking harder than a vacuum – in the year 2000, it was the black sheep of the Tenchi Muyo! franchise. So expecting fans to have recorded any of it, let alone the entire series, was the long shot of all long shots. But even still, I made a post on the forum in 2013 asking if anyone knew anyone that might have anything.

Naturally, no one had any leads, and all of these previous problems meant that this project would, frustratingly, have to be shelved indefinitely.

Or at least, that’s what I thought.

Part 2: Deferred Dreams Don’t Die.

On April 5th, 2019, a person by the name of Talos dropped into our Discord server, and posted an introduction. Like so many, they had gotten into Tenchi through Toonami, but what would change everything, was this.

I couldn’t believe what I was reading, someone actually had it!

Instinctively, I reached out to Talos via PM to ascertain how to go about acquiring these tapes, and admittedly, to see how legit this claim actually was. Because the fact of the matter is, when you’ve been around Tenchi fandom as long as I have, you’ll quickly realize the best bullshitters in the world come from this fandom.

But Talos was more than the genuine article! They sent over pictures and an incredibly detailed analysis of the quality of their tapes, watching through them all again to prove to me that their claim was valid.

It can’t be said enough that this all would not be possible without Talos, their willingness to work with me and send me their own personal tapes that they’ve kept for almost two decades just goes to show how awesome they are and how much they care about the fandom.

So the deal was struck, and the dream that laid deferred for almost six years lived again.

- A time capsule from another era.

But with dreams from the past, come the demons that plagued them way back when. I still only had the setup I once had, and at this time I was really trying to be tight with my finances for a number of different reasons, but this opportunity was too good to pass up, I wasn’t going to let this dream go, even if it wasn’t perfect.

Talos’ tapes showed up, and I rolled up my sleeves.

So I put in the first tape, the first seven episodes of Tokyo, into the old VCR I used to originally rip the Pioneer tapes, a JVC HR-VP650U….

And static…

Or rather, a tape that would play for 3 seconds, then immediately drop to static.

This wouldn’t work.

I then tried my other VCR, a Sony SLV-N50 from the mid-to-late 90’s that I was able to “fix” by removing the old Android Kikaider tape that got stuck in there many years prior.

It worked!…..but…..not all that well.

While it did actually play the tape relatively smoothly, the colors were completely washed out in comparison to the JVC, and it had this weird color flickering that was particularly noticeable when black backgrounds were on screen. (This was not unique to this tape, it did it with everything I put in there.)

As much as it pained me, there was no way I was going to rip it with this setup.

So the hunt began for not just a replacement VCR, but one that was high quality and recommended among enthusiasts for digital transfer. Which meant research and long winding rabbit holes of non-answers and vagueness, and unfortunately, money.

Without a doubt, the de facto list of best VCRs for transferring comes from digitalFAQ.com. This list is not only informative but gives you a broad range of ones to look for in the event you can’t find an “elite” one. However, this list has also become the de facto list used by people who are hawking their sets on eBay to try and get every penny from enthusiasts and new-comers as possible.

After three frustrating weeks of losing bid wars on eBay, someone finally put up one of the good sets, the JVC SR-V10U. I quickly sent them what I thought was a reasonable but not bank-breaking offer….

And they accepted! The beast was finally mine.

Immediately upon unwrapping and testing it, the quality difference between what I had then and what I was looking at now was staggering. The SR-V10U had beautiful color, while having the incredible ability to stabilize the old tapes with its TBC (Time Base Corrector), as well as onboard Video Stabilization option. Combined with the ability to output video via the superior S-Video cable, I now had something that, despite its age and typical old VHS wear, was way better than I could have imagined.

Part 3: No Need for Nostalgia.

You’re probably thinking to yourself “Dagon, why go through the trouble? The OVA has a beautiful Blu-ray release, and Universe and Tokyo have pretty decent DVD releases. Why would you ever want to rip old VHS tapes of an inferior quality release that was in some cases censored?”

- The now famous Toonami “bikinis”.

Because this version of Tenchi Muyo! is a piece of history. Not only is it a piece of Tenchi history, but a piece of Toonami history as well. Being able to preserve this in the best quality possible is being able to point to future generations and say “This is why I’m here.”

For a lot of us it’s about taking us back to a simpler time, grade school, high school, university. Taking us back to a time before the internet was what it is today.

So now we can, after almost 20 years, re-watch the version of Tenchi Muyo! that brought so many of us joy and wonder.

[inikavulpixelreviews]

Let’s Talk About Pokemon - The Turtwig Family

Welcome to the Fourth Generation, Diamond and Pearl! (And Platinum (And Heart Gold Soul Silver)) and to give a brief introduction, this is a Generation often referred to when people want to call out their least favorite.

This Generation may also take longer to review than you’d think. While it is on the smaller side; only composed of 107 Pokemon, the last third or so of the Pokedex is entirely made up of DP’s (too many) Legendaries and the Pokemon that evolves from ones we’re already familiar with. They’re calling those Legacy Evolutions now, I guess?

Or at least the TCG is. So that’s what I’ve been calling them ever since.

We'll have to see how Gen 4 fairs here. I'm kinda curious how my overall opinion is gonna end up being, because even now I'm still not sure how to feel about Gen 4. I could end up thinking of it worse than Gen 2, I could turn out liking it about as much as Gen 1.

387: Turtwig

But enough of the introductions. How about Turtwig, the first of our starters this generation? Well, it's way nicer looking than our previous turtle starter. It's loads cuter, and in ways that make turtles lovable. Or, more accurately, this line is a land-dwelling tortoise. But its still got their beakiness and nubby little legs, and the sprout on top too. Turtwig's just too precious.

Personal Score: 7.5/10

Off to a good start here!

388: Grotle

Though, as per what seems like tradition for Grass Starters at this point, Turtwig takes on a much more dinosaur-like appearance as it evolves into Grotle. Grotle's shell looks less like a tortoise shell and more like the back of an ankylosaurus. The only thing it's missing is a bush in place of the big, blunt wrecking ball at the end of their tails. In place of the spiny hide though, are two bushes, and something down its back appearing to be something like crop lines. It's evolution set-up a lot like Ivysaur, but where it leads into is even more interesting.

I do have a soft spot for Grotle though. It's often forgotten, probably by proxy of being a starter's teenager stage, but it's actually a nice design despite what that connoation might imply.

Personal Score: 7.5/10

Really nice for a starter's “awkward” phase.

389: Torterra

And yes, I haven't said it yet, but the Grass Starter done did it again. Torterra is my favorite starter of this generation. It's always the Grass Starter! Is that just a weird coincidence or do I just have Venusaur and Sceptile bias?

Torterra though is definitely cool for any merit it has on its own. It's still looking like an ankylosaurus like Grotle did, but it got its tortoise shell back this time. And the bushes and crop lines Grotle had? It turned into this Pokemon having an entire landscape on its back. A big field with a tree, and three spikes on its back looking like a mountain range with a mossy “forest” along the base. It's a Pokemon you can have a picnic on.

But in all seriousness, Torterra is among the stronger end of starters in general, let alone grass starters. It's just subtly genius, and I love it.

And I'm sure a good chunk of people have heard of this myth before; the world-bearing turtle. One of the religious world-creation theories (most commonly known from Hinduism) is that the world lies on top of the back of a giant, cosmic turtle. (There's some giant elephants there too but that's tragically not relevant to Torterra.) And Torterra is such a cool tortoise version of that bit of mythology. It's just plain awesome that we have a big tortoise Pokemon with a micro-world on its back. And I'm still crossing my fingers for a Mega or Alternate Form or something to take Torterra to the next level. The advent of Alolan forms has omitted to have a Water/Grass, Island-turtle-flavored Torterra, but I’ll live. For now.

And I know this series isn't exactly about metagame or anything, but you'd think a tortoise Pokemon would be pretty boring to use, but no, this thing actually holds its own super well. Getting moves like Crunch and Earthquake naturally. This thing wrecked house even more than any other starter I've used before it. Just keep it the hell away from Ice types. That Grass/Ground type doesn't do it any favors there.

Personal Score: 9/10

Just an absolute beast and I love it.

Overall:

If nothing else, we're off to a great start here. Torterra's just plain awesome, and those prevos of its have a pretty nice setup going on for them too.

[Archive]

[2700fstreet]

OPERA / 2017-2018

The Barber of Seville

APR 24 OPEN REHEARSAL

Washington National Opera

Music by Gioachino Rossini Libretto by Cesare Sterbini Based on the play by Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais

Who’s Who

Figaro: a barber, surgeon, matchmaker, etc. (baritone—a middle-range male voice) Count Almaviva: later disguised as “Lindoro” and “Don Alonso” (tenor—the highest male voice) Dr. Bartolo: a doctor (bass—the lowest male voice) Rosina: his ward (mezzo-soprano—a middle-range female voice) Berta: his servant (soprano—the highest female voice) Don Basilio: Rosina’s music teacher (bass)

Take a listen… So…first things first. It’s not too often an overture is almost as famous as the opera itself, but thanks to a cover by Bugs Bunny and numerous other references in pop culture, this opening music has become a standalone hit. Even Rossini knew it was super catchy—he used musical material heard in this introduction in a total of three operas.

So, What’s Going On?

Spain, the seventeenth century.

Almaviva (pronounced ahl-mah-VEE-vah), a young, handsome, and ridiculously wealthy count from Madrid, has a problem: He’s caught feelings for a girl who lives miles away in sunny Seville.

Almaviva’s packed up all his things, adopted a humble disguise (just in case his girl turns out to be a heartless gold digger), and moved to the lovely lady’s hometown. He’s also managed to track her down in the house of Dr. Bartolo (BAHR-toh-loh), who’s a well-known physician in the area. Sadly, though, that’s as far as Almaviva has thought his plan through. Now, he just sits beneath her balcony and sings cheesy love songs in the hope of getting her attention.

But the count’s luck is about to change.

By an unbelievable coincidence (just go with it), Figaro (FEE-gah-roh), an old friend and servant to the count, has set up shop in Seville as a barber, surgeon, pharmacist, gardener, matchmaker, and all-around Mr. Fixit. Amazingly, he has an “in” with Dr. Bartolo: Figaro is the doctor’s favorite factotum, or handyman. Happily reunited with Almaviva, Figaro explains the count’s beloved is actually the doctor’s adopted ward.

Take a listen…

You may not know The Barber of Seville, but we’re willing to bet you’ve heard this song before. In Figaro’s introduction aria, “Largo al factotum” (“Make way for the factotum!”), he boasts about his local celebrity status while simultaneously complaining about his needy clients. This piece requires the breath support of an athlete and the crisp pronunciation skills of a world-class rapper—an operatic performance practice called “patter.”

Turns out Bartolo’s ward is just as interested in Almaviva as he is in her. His serenades have caught her eye (and ear) and, despite being kept under lock and key by the paranoid doctor, she boldly introduces herself by dropping a note out of her window: Her name is Rosina (roh-ZEE-nah). And she wants to know about her singing suitor’s intentions.

Caption: The count’s romantic tunes have a positive effect on Rosina.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves here. There’s someone else with an interest in Rosina: Dr. Bartolo. Out on the street, Figaro and Almaviva overhear the old man as he lets slip he has plans to marry his ward.

Shocked, Almaviva decides to up his game. With Figaro’s help, the count answers Rosina’s note by presenting himself to her as “Lindoro” (leen-DOH-roh), a poor pretty boy with nothing to offer but his heart.

Rosina thinks he’s dreamy and flirts back. Convinced he’s won her affection, the count conspires with Figaro to use the barber’s connections in order to shake things up in the Bartolo household. If anyone’s going to marry Rosina, it will be “Lindoro.”

Take a listen… In her aria, “Una voce poco fà” (“A voice (from) a short time ago”), Rosina entertains herself by thinking about all the traps she’ll set for her tyrannical guardian so she can eventually have her own way and run off with her new crush. Listen for the series of flashy passages of fast notes in the soloist’s vocal part (a skill known as coloratura). Some of these notes were written by the composer, but some have been improvised by the singer—a type of vocal display that’s become tradition over the years. Rossini probably wouldn’t have minded the changes; in his day, when a melody was repeated, it was common for the singer to give the repetition her own unique and beautiful spin without altering the basic structure of the song. (Press the “CC” button for an English translation.)

Sadly, though, Dr. Bartolo’s not entirely as stupid as he looks. Thanks to Don Basilio (bah-ZEEL-ee-oh), Rosina’s music teacher and one of Bartolo’s cronies, the doctor learns that Count Almaviva is in town. Bartolo has heard through the grapevine that the count has designs on Rosina (but has yet to discover Almaviva’s been making moves on Rosina in disguise). As a result, Basilio suggests they hatch a plot to discredit Almaviva with some slanderous fake news.

Take a listen… Meanwhile, elsewhere in the doctor’s house: Figaro visits Rosina to warn her about Bartolo’s marriage plot and suggests she write “Lindoro” a love letter as proof of her affection. Rosina’s one step ahead of Figaro, however—she’s already written a note behind Bartolo’s back. Check out the vocal pyrotechnics here:

Caption: Rosina surprises Figaro with a pre-written letter for “Lindoro.”

Later, the ever-suspicious Bartolo discovers how Rosina’s been communicating with her unknown Romeo. Yet before the doctor can punish her, a drunken soldier stumbles into Bartolo’s home asking for room and board. (Guess what? It’s actually the count...disguised as “Lindoro”…disguised as a local military man. Again, just go with it.) The prank spins out of control, however, when the ruckus he makes disturbs the neighbors and the police come knocking at the doctor’s door. Not to worry, though: The count privately explains he’s actually a nobleman, and the police back off. Still, almost everyone is severely confused.

Take a listen… Chaos abounds in Bartolo’s home as Figaro, the count, Rosina, Bartolo, his servant Berta, Don Basilio, and the police try to figure out exactly what’s going on (we’re guessing you can feel their pain). Listen for the metallic ringing of the sistrum, a rare instrument used to symbolize the banging sounds reverberating in the characters’ bewildered heads.

Are you still with us?

Okay, moving on…

Let’s recap: Rosina and the count (posing as “Lindoro”) still dig each other. Figaro’s still trying to get them together for good. Bartolo knows a nobleman named Almaviva is interested in Rosina but has no idea the guy who keeps popping up at his doorstep is actually Almaviva in costume.

Smash-cut to…

Take two. Almaviva puts on a disguise… again.

This time, the count tries to get closer to Rosina by posing as a substitute music teacher—“Don Alonso” (ah-LOHN-soh)—sent by an ailing Don Basilio (except Basilio knows nothing about it, of course). In an effort to get into the doctor’s good graces, “Alonso” produces Rosina’s love letter, claiming he stole it from Count Almaviva, who everyone knows is after the doctor’s ward. “Alonso” suggests he can use this letter to turn Rosina’s affections away from her beloved by telling her the count has given her correspondence to another woman as a cruel joke. Bartolo loves the idea. (Remember, though: Rosina really doesn’t know of any “count” at this point. This is all in Bartolo’s head, and Almaviva is taking advantage.)

Rosina enters and instantly recognizes “Don Alonso” as her secret love. Figaro then arrives and distracts the doctor so the count and Rosina can make some serious eye contact. The barber also manages to secure a key to Rosina’s window so the lovers can elope that very night. Things are going pretty well until Basilio bursts in, clearly not sick and clearly very confused. To make matters worse, Bartolo overhears the count chitchatting with Rosina, realizes the whole “music lesson” has been a setup, and goes absolutely crazy. Figaro and Almaviva scurry away, but the count never has a chance to tell Rosina why he’s given Bartolo her love letter.

Furious, Bartolo decides to try out “Alonso’s” letter plan—with one important twist. He tells Rosina that her disguised admirer is actually a secret agent for the wicked Count Almaviva, that her false suitor has given her love note over to the count, and that both Figaro and her mysterious lover plan to hand her over into Almaviva’s clutches. (Remember: Rosina has no idea that “Lindoro” and the count are the same person.)

And the gamble pays off. Feeling bitter and betrayed that her letter has been trifled with and worried that “Lindoro” is a spy for a random creepster count, Rosina agrees to marry her guardian.

But will the story end there? Can Figaro help undo this mother of all mix-ups? Will Rosina uncover “Lindoro’s” true identity and be able to forgive him for his deception? (Hint: It’s a comedy, so there’ll probably be some sort of wedding…but who will be our bride and groom?)

Good to Know

If you feel like you’ve heard the name “Figaro” before, that might be because you’re thinking of The Marriage of Figaro, which is a completely different opera by a completely different composer (Mozart), but about the same guy. The Barber of Seville (or Il barbiere di Siviglia, in Italian) is actually one of several operas based on a trilogy of plays written by a French author named Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais (1732–1799), which follows the ups and downs in the life of Figaro, a talented working-class jack-of-all-trades, and also sheds light on the less-than-exemplary behavior of Figaro’s wealthy employers. All of the three plays (The Barber of Seville, The Marriage of Figaro, and The Guilty Mother) were ultimately turned into operas—and The Barber of Seville was actually transformed into an opera more than once.

In fact, when his version first burst on the scene, Rossini’s Barber wasn’t even the most popular setting of the story. That honor went instead to an alternate adaptation by then-operatic rock star Giovanni Paisiello, whose supporters were reportedly so loyal that they mercilessly heckled Rossini and his singers on the night of the new Barber’s premiere in 1816. Yet though Rossini’s version wasn’t an instant success, it soon made its way to London, Paris, Berlin, and, eventually, New York. Today, Rossini’s Barber of Seville is among the most frequently performed operas in the world.

Side note: If you were to read the Beaumarchais plays in chronological order, The Barber of Seville comes first and The Marriage of Figaro comes second. This makes Mozart’s opera a sequel to Rossini’s, even though Mozart, whom Rossini idolized, wrote his piece earlier (weird, we know).

Check This Out…

The Barber of Seville was written in a nineteenth-century Italian style known as bel canto (literally, “beautiful singing”), which featured songs designed to demonstrate the beauty, speed, and agility of the human voice. Listen up for arias featuring Olympic vocal feats such as rapid-fire melodies or long, extended phrases where each syllable takes up several notes and the singer has to stretch their vocal range from the highest to the lowest extreme…and then back again. (Keep in mind: Lots of bel canto arias were written in two parts, so when a soloist starts singing a lovely, lilting tune, you can bet a cabaletta—a galloping melody with occasional freewheeling improvisation—will follow.)

Notice how Almaviva’s voice and gestures change with each new disguise. Even though it’s the same man in every scene, do you think it’s believable he’d be able to fool so many people? Is he able to fool you at any point during the show?

How the set, costume, and lighting designs help recreate seventeenth-century Seville and give you hints about the story and its characters. Do the sets and costumes give you any clues about the differences in social class between someone like Figaro and someone like Bartolo? Does the lighting provide you with a sense of how hot it must be in sunny Spain? Does Rosina’s simple white dress seem to represent or foreshadow anything specific about who she is or who she might become?

The moments of speech-like singing that occur between songs. These are usually accompanied by a keyboard instrument, the harpsichord, and are collectively known as “recitative.”

How Rossini uses instrumental effects to depict a rainstorm. Would you know a storm was brewing even if you didn’t have the lighting or stage directions to tell you? How? (Hint: Think plucked strings and swirling winds.)

Think About This…

Who exactly is the hero of The Barber of Seville? Does the story have more than one protagonist? Based on the melodies given to each of the characters, whom you do believe Rossini intended the hero (or heroine) to be? Who do you feel makes the biggest impact on stage and within the music? Why?

It’s common for lead female singers in opera to be cast as sopranos (the highest female voice available), and yet Rossini wrote Rosina as a lower-voiced mezzo-soprano with a darker sound. As such, he often takes tremendous advantage of the character’s lower range (like when she sings about behaving like a “viper” if she’s been pushed too far). Do you feel this voice type suits Rosina? Do the lower notes give you any added insight into her character?

Take Action:

In the aria “Largo al factotum” (see above; it’s the “Figaro! Figaro! Figaro!” one), Figaro describes himself as a resourceful Renaissance man who gets things done—a quick-thinking, highly sought after, frightfully-fabulous factotum.

Care to rise to the Figaro challenge?

Try adding one or two extra skills to your list of talents so you can adopt the title of “factotum” for yourself. Investigate some digital tutorials or local classes in fields you’ve always wanted to try and start exercising some new brain cells. Think you’d make a great illustrator? See if there’s an art teacher who offers training sessions online. Have a feeling you’d make a wonderful chef? Sign up for a weekend cooking class at your neighborhood college or adult education program.

Now here’s the important part.

Take your newfound skill and use it to spread some love across your community (kinda like Figaro). Got some violin lessons under your belt? Show off your musical prowess at a nursing home or shelter. Spent your free time learning all you can about soccer on YouTube? Volunteer your services and help coach a little league. If you’re comfortable with social media, post pictures and stories about how you’ve used your new abilities for the greater good with the hashtag #imthefactotumofmytown.

Explore More

Go even deeper with the Barber of Seville Extras.

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All photos by Cory Weaver.

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Major support for WNO is provided by Jacqueline Badger Mars.

David M. Rubenstein is the Presenting Underwriter of WNO.

WNO acknowledges the longstanding generosity of Life Chairman Mrs. Eugene B. Casey.

WNO's Presenting Sponsor

Generous support for WNO Italian Opera is provided by Daniel and Gayle D’Aniello.

© 2018 The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

[crystalelemental]

I have obtained Olberic, and with that, all character introductions are complete.  Now it’s just time to do some customary opinion having.

Cyrus is...okay.  He’s very focused on his studies, and is very not aware of others’ motivations.  He’s alright.  Truth be told, this is a situation where they try to present him as this super smart genius man, but the solution to who stole the book is made so transparent and easy I found myself wanting it to be a fakeout and a more complex answer, so he didn’t look like a goon.  But no, that was the answer.  Okay.  Anyway, shoutouts to Therese, who went from super cute to super fucked up real fast.  His specific quest is to find some book that went missing ages ago, something about hell, and it’s...fine?  I dunno.  Out of all the quests, find this old tome is far from the most interesting thing.

Tressa is my favorite.  She’s a plucky merchant girl with a knack for discerning value, and is taken with the call to adventure.  She is literally just out here for the hell of it, and I love her.  It really is just how much her quest seems like it’s her own.  A lot of the others are kinda just thrown into something, and are all about it, but not as like...gung-ho about it? But predictably, her story is very low-stakes.  She has no real goal beyond seeing the world and self-improvement, and honestly I can dig it.  There are more interesting setups, but she feels like she’d be an Atelier protagonist.  Maybe that’s why I like her so much...

H’aanit’s dialect is stupid, but otherwise she’s fine.  She’s just a pretty standard hunter.  We’re all part of nature, natural balance dialogue, etc.  I don’t have very strong feelings about H’aanit.  She’s on this quest to find her mentor, who is lost, and is also a bit of a putz, but there’s just not much investment in it for me.

I love Alfyn.  He’s this super nice apothecary who wants to help people and build his craft, following in the footsteps of a traveler who saved him during a plague years back.  He’s super chill, an absolute bro, and I love him.  Yes, apparently my favorites are the people on this quest just for the sake of personal fulfillment rather than a specific quest.  Similarly low stakes, but I like it.

Therion...is probably my least favorite?  I dunno, I never like the snarky thief type.  He’s not bad, necessarily, and his story is one of the more interesting start-ups as far as narrative hooks go.  There’s a whole thing about this noble family having some amazing treasure locked away, to bait in thieves from the lower class section of town.  The end goal is to have them work for the family, to hunt down these old dragon stones, which are named after early-gen Pokemon games (Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, Gold), which are important but we don’t know why.  Therion’s story is super engaging, but I also feel like he’s the least interesting part of it.  He’s a piece for the characters pulling the strings, and I’m honestly way more invested in this lady of the house and her battle butler than Therion and his dead partner in crime or whatever’s going on there.

Primrose’s story is the absolute worst.  Look, I’m going to cut straight to the point: she’s a prostitute.  They can call it a dancer, but it’s made very apparent what her situation is.  She is sold out to people for the guy who runs this whorehouse to make money, and it is not subtle about it.  It’s incredibly uncomfortable how real it gets.  Which is part of what I don’t like, not just because of my own dislike of that kind of content, but because...it serves no purpose.  Primrose’s true story is the death of her father and the destruction of the noble house from which she hails.  Her motivation to track down and kill the people responsible is strong, but this whole situation is background noise to showcase that she’s “willing to do anything” to see it through.  And it’s like...man, you could’ve done anything to showcase that, why’d you go straight to this?  It’s just like...maybe I’m just being uptight, but you have Olberic also in the whole revenge quest thing, and his “going through hell” is losing the will to really do anything and having no purpose in life.  Very philosophical.  Primrose’s is being raped and beaten a lot.  I just...feel like there’s a very uncomfortable dynamic going on here, in terms of how the writers decided to structure her narrative.  And weirder still is that I don’t feel like I have any particular character to speak of.  That’s really the worst part.  If I felt like she were super dynamic and interesting I’d maybe be more okay with this, but she’s super boring right now.

Which is extra bad because Olberic is the other revenge dude.  His kingdom fell years ago, and an old friend was responsible for the betrayal that saw his sovereign slain.  He now lives in some quiet village teaching the locals how to fight, but is notably dead inside.  Philosophically, he’s got this whole issue of losing his place in the world, wondering what the value of his sword arm is without a king to serve, and going through the motions while not really moving on from his kingdom’s dissolution.  There’s plenty to talk about here!  And it’s super jarring after the last one.  It just bugs me.  A lot.  Anyway, he’s alright, just a pretty standard knight guy who’s lost his purpose and is finding it again.  Nothing exceptional.

Overall, Therion’s definitely the most interesting start, but I’m most invested in Tressa and Alfyn as people.  I have to get leveling up a bit before we decide where to go next, but I’ll probably stick to my initial choice and do Ophelia’s Chapter 2 first.