#even though the time skip had multiple huge scary battles

[aceofwonders]

rhydian finally getting to have a proper vigil for his father 🥺😭

[dexi-green]

Rise of Skywalker was good. Rant/Appreciation, spoilers ahead. Super long and rambling. This is all personal opinion, if you disliked it, thats fine. If you disagree, great.

First some quick points, then the longer stuff.

I loved Babu Frik and D-O

We finally got to see the Knights of Ren in action!

Also all those Star Destroyers?? Like those things are gotdamn huge... and that many of them? Actually scary honestly.

LANDO LANDO LANDO! LANDO AND CHEWIE IN THE FALCON!!

WEDGE!!!

CHEWIE GETS HIS MEDAL!!!

Also not gonna lie.. I wanted to see a gungan. Put some respect on Jar Jar. Or confirm the Darth Jar Jar theory you cowards.

We got to see a proper version of Rey’s version of Luke’s Dark Side cave vision (The TLJ one just wasn’t it for me. The mirrors..okay...)

Storm Troopers fly now... Did they steal stuff from some Mandalorians. Mandalorians are like..the only ones ever to have jet packs like that (that I’m aware of). Maybe the Mandalorian show will see some leftover imperials stealing Mandalorian armor, which they will replicate (obviously badly, because there stuff is no beskar).

I was so happy to see the interactions between Leia and Connix, because I just loved to see Billie with her mom <3 I’m so glad they gave her a role and just kept expanding it.

Hux... I love the back and forth between him and General Pryde, (I was hoping Richard E Grant would’ve played Thrawn but alas...) wondering who the mole is, and OF COURSE ITS HUX! Because he just wants to see Kylo lose. We love it.. I’m kinda sad he was taken out so quick, but it was good while it lasted.

How they tried to push Poe into some kind of.. not relationship, but not too subtlety trying to tell the audience, no he’s not gay, in like...just a bad writing way, like okay gosh, he’s straight (Also Poe was a drug runner...). That LGBTQ “representation” was trash, but definitely better than Endgame’s so-called representation.

I also wished we woulda got more (legacy) cameos, especially in the final battle when all the ships arrive. Maybe the Ghost Crew (I think you can see the ship though), or a character from the Mandalorian show (I was hoping for more tie-in’s in general (baby yoda), but The Mandalorian did sorta set up the force healing ability). My foolish soul was hoping for a super old old clone or a super old and scarred up Mace Windu, or just super old Ahsoka, but this film 100% confirmed no going back that they are totally dead with their voices amongst the other dead jedi :/ I can’t have everything and thats alright. I’m just glad they were in there in some capacity.

JJ has said that the thing Finn was going to tell Rey was that he was force sensitive (none of the good ships flew sadly imo) but that is still...amazing to me. I love it so much. Especially with that exchange between him and Han in TFA “We’ll use the force.” “That’s not how the force works.”. Hopefully he got or gets the chance to tell Rey because then she could train him and <3 Also I think that now makes it go back to no non-force sensitive people have used a lightsaber in the films (aside from Grievous). I loved the inclusion of Jannah and the other storm trooper deserters. Not only because of the kinship with Finn, but also... They are on a moon of Endor... So moon of the Endor system inhabitants, with slightly primitive techniques and tools and things come to help in the final battle? I love it. Putting some respeck on the Ewoks (also we see Ewoks?!?! Specifically Wickett <3) (Also I noticed a Fire, Water, Earth theme. The final battle in the prequels was in fire/lava. The final battle in the original trilogy was on the forest moon of endor, and while not the final battle, Kef Bir is the ocean moon of endor)

Palpatine doing what we all knew he was, using bodies to live through. I mean thats why he always had apprentices, just so he could skip over to them when his body got gross and weak, or at the very least work through them. I definitely wanna know more about the whole Snoke operation. We knew it was insane for some rando to be that powerful to be whispering and seducing Ben to the dark side from birth. And the cloning? like please, tell me more. I loved Palpatine’s exclamation of “Return of the Sith!” as an obvious nod to the films Return of the Jedi and Revenge of the Sith, but also the fact Return was going to be Revenge of the Jedi.

I LOVE LOVEDDDD the small scene of Luke training Leia. Yeah the CGI on their faces wasn’t the best but just being able to see it and knowing that he did go forward and train her as well as other students was everything to me. I’ve always wanted Leia’s force abilities to be more acknowledged outside of the comics, so you know I went crazy in the scene from TLJ (for multiple reasons). Leia training Rey?! Rey referring to her (and Luke) as her jedi masters?! we love to see it <3 Rey going back to Tatooine, back to the moisture farm (I could just hear Aunt Beru calling out for Luke (but also him calling for her and uncle owen when they got disintegrated..oop)). Calling herself a Skywalker, AND SEEING LUKE AND LEIA’S FORCE GHOST!! WE LOVE TO SEE IT (but hate it because it’s the end). THE TWIN SUNS AS THE SAGA ENDS WHERE IT BEGAN!!

The voices of the Jedi at the end?!? I cried. I mean there was Anakin, Obi-Wan (both old and young), Qui Gon, Mace Windu, Yoda, and Luke of course, but also Aaayla Secura, Luminara, Adi Gallia, KANAN JARRUS (who is voice by Freddie Prinze Jr. aka the best Fred Scooby Doo could ask for) , AHSOKA TANO!!! Nothing I want more than more Ahsoka <3 I would’ve loved to see them all show up as Force Ghosts at the end ala the ghosts of Harry’s family in Harry Potter Goblet of Fire/Deathly Hallows but I understand why they opted for voices only. Also no Ki-Adi-Mundi because while everyone was saying, “Rey, You can do it! We are with you!” he just woulda been like, “But...what about the droid attack on the wookiees?”

Han!! Han!! When he appeared to Kylo, after Leia pulled him back as much as she could, and Rey healed him and inched him further, and then of course, Han finished the job. Leia asked him to bring him back and he did in the end. The person he seemingly hated the most (maybe thats tied with Luke. I honestly would’ve liked to see some kinda of thing between Luke and Ben, some reconciliation). The famous Solo “I know” which we all know means I love you. like come onnnnn <3 AND Ben and Leia’s bodies becoming one with the force... but Leia only after Ben... like she was holding on, waiting for him <3 This really made me like Ben/Kylo a bit more, obviously the light side Ben more, because Kylo is actual trash imo.

I cried when Chewie cried for Leia. Her death was sad on it’s own, but Chewie just broke me. He had a happy family, then Ben went bad, Han and Leia split, and Luke left, then when he thinks everything is coming back together, He lost Han, then he lost Luke, now Leia? If you actually watch him he just collapses to the ground, throwing his arms, sobbing... AND HAVING TO SEE HIM IN SHACKLES!?!? And not like “oh we gotta trick these guards” but actually captured and shackled, After all the wookiees being captured and enslaved and he how he had to deal with that...come on man....

I cried when Luke pulled his X-wing out of the water. We all saw it submerged in TLJ, waiting for that moment when someone would do it. The fact that he does it, when he couldn’t back when it happened on Dagobah. It shows how much he’s grown, showed him stepping into Yoda’s role even more fully. He never got to leave that island in it, but Rey did. Plus Rey wearing his Rebel helmet like she wore the helmet in TFA?! Honestly... Two “nobodies” from nowhere sand planets who become the hope and saviors of the galaxy (you could include Anakin in that as well, but he just...kinda sparked the hope in Luke and was his savior so...indirectly the hope and savior).

The only thing I didn't like was the Ben and Rey kiss at the end but luckily it wasn't drawn out and he died right after. Cause you really expect me to believe that within the same movie of him pushing her to her limits and making her believe she killed a friend that she gone be like...oh but you still cute tho?  Also while re-watching everything and watching the prequels last month I remembered how Palpatine influenced the midichlorians/force to make Anakin in Shmi (it might not be canonized though, I’m not sure...). Obviously he’s not a biological father but...he is responsible...so that in a way makes him Kylo's grandfather in a sense. Rey is Sheev’s biological granddaughter so...big yikes. To me Kylo/Ben and Rey have a much better dynamic as brother and sister anyway.. I think a brother and sister bond suit them so much better. A rhyme of Luke and Leia, and the forged sibling bond between Obi-Wan and Anakin. It has pieces of both and would have been beautiful for it to play out that way. About Rey pulling her family in Ben Solo back to the light. I mean she even thought of Han, Leia, and Luke as parental figures... but luke and leia kissed so :/  guess just a family thing. 

Running themes in all of star wars is hope, family, and who you are. In this, the prequels were the darkest. They end in a family divided, hope seemingly lost, and giving into the worst parts of yourself. The original trilogy was about finding the hope in the darkest times, becoming more than you think of yourself, and that family can overcome anything together. This trilogy was about clinging onto hope that you can find and making it a beacon for others, becoming more than what you and others think of you, "subverting destiny", and the fact that family isn't blood, not always. Just because someone tells you you're a monster, just because you started to believe it, doesn't mean you are. Once you have hope you hold onto it with everything you have, no matter how many times you fail or slip.

Rey being a Palpatine isn't "the bad guys bloodline living while the good guys die out". It isn't about bloodlines. Sure Kylo and Vader's terrible deeds will live on in infamy, but so will the entire rebellion's. Instead of being like, "oh well by blood I'm a Palpatine so I gotta use that last name" she made a conscious choice to go by Skywalker, because of what the Skywalker family meant to her and the galaxy, so that their deeds live on and not Palpatine. He will become a bad memory, a scar on history, while Skywalker’s, the positive idea of them, will continue to live and spark hope year and years into the future. Her blood isn't tainted and her grandfathers nature isn't hers, if it was she really would be the empress on the sith throne after Palpatine's death. She would've took Kylo's hand and offers before. Its the same with Kylo. He succumbed to what Rey was actively fighting against. Its the idea its harder to be good than bad.

Palpatine's bloodline living on means nothing unless Rey decided to make it mean something. But she didn't. As far as I'm concerned the only thing the bloodline might've impacted is her connection to the force and how strong it was naturally (like Kylo because of Leia (maybe Han..debatable, i like to believe he’s a little force sensitive) and her and Luke's connection to it because of Anakin). Her parents also actively fought against Palpatine as far as we know, Luke and Leia fought against Vader like... To say oh your parent was like this so you are gonna turn out the same? Yikes. Also Finn and the other stormtrooper deserters? Literally brainwashed from such a young age to be killers but they said no? It seems like the theme was you can fight against your destiny or like Yoda said about the future being hard to see because its constantly moving so "destiny" is kinda just a trash idea, be who you are or the person you want to be, not what others tell you.

Also I see some people saying it destroyed Anakin's legacy, and I have to disagree. To the fan's Anakin's legacy was never killing Palpatine. Sure that was the action, but the act was saving Luke. It was coming back from the dark to the light to save his son and in a way, the rest of the galaxy, at least for a time, it was betraying his master. It was the why he did it, not the how. Not only did he save Luke's life, but he fueled Luke to go forward and continue down the path of hope and light as long as he could. Anakin's true legacy lives on in Luke and Leia and the Rebellion. Palpatine's return doesn't diminish Anakin's sacrifice. Because it wasn’t about just destroying Palpatine. Anakin/Vader's thoughts went to Padme and Luke, and the prophecy of bringing balance, he knew he had to do something. When Luke takes off his helmet when Anakin is dying he thinks, “The boy was good, and the boy had come from him–so there must have been good in him, too. He smiled up again at his son, and for the first time, loved him. And for the first time in many long years, loved himself again, as well.” (coming from the novelization of Return). As long as Luke lived, and Luke's legacy lives on, so does Anakin's and so does Anakin’s return to the light. Anakin's legacy and impact, the good and the bad, will continue. Maybe the people of that galaxy won't know of the person named Anakin compared to sith lord Darth Vader, but his impact will always be there.

Yeah they aren’t always the most perfectly written stories with the best effects and yadda yadda, I know there are some missteps and less then stellar things in this films, but they are here to entertain, and I’m entertained. There is probably so much I’m missing, and I really want to go see it again, and can’t wait till it’s out on DVD or streaming services... 

It was a beautiful film that did the best it could to end a saga thats bigger than anything ever, thats been going on for years, something that is unheard of and never been done. I just want to honor the history, the memory, and the work it all took. I just love these films so much. <3 Also, always remembering Carrie, Peter M. and Peter C., Christoper, and Kenny, and all other actors and crew who have passed who lent their time and effort to all of these films and this entire franchise <3 

[dimensionslip]

Tales of the Stage -Last Score- Event Report [September 5, 2017]

Went to yesterday’s show at Nakano Sun Plaza! The whole event ran for approximately two hours and was very much enjoyable! My friends and I were seated pretty close to the stage and that definitely added to my enjoyment factor, I would say. More details under the cut!

For the most part, the stage play's contents up to the Absorption Gate were more or less the same as whatever it is was performed during Day 1 of TOF2017. I wrote about that one sometime back. Some differences I remember from the TOF2017 airing would be the Van hypnotizing Luke dance number getting cut short, the Sync and Legretta battle getting shortened. Also, no more Jade vs Van dance battle. At least Jade still got to do his acrobatics, and man, did Van have a lot of dance numbers. I counted three, possibly more. He also gets his human chairs during the Absorption Gate scene.

As for more specific differences between the game and the stage play, they definitely cut a lot of the scenes and edited some bits to make it flow better in a 2-hour adaptation. They also limited the number of cast members, like, only Legretta, Sync, and Asch were around in terms of the Six-God Generals, so Arietta, Largo, and Dist's parts had to be either cut out or relegated--but mostly cut out.

Differences that I can recall off the top of my head are as follows:

Luke and Tear land in Cheagle Woods instead of Tataroo Valley

Instead of Largo, Legretta is the one that uses the fonslot seal on Jade, not that it stops him much because for some reason Jade spends a lot more time doing hand-to-hand combat over here compared to using his spear or artes

The "bring along Natalia or not" scene pre-Akzeriuth goes down slightly differently, with a lot more friction between the girls. Anise was especially extra, it's pretty great ahaha. Poor Guy also got terrorized by the ladies after he made an untimely side comment about them being scary (iirc).

Since the Tartarus isn't really introduced here and there's no core shenanigans, Sync doesn't do the falling into the core thing and commits suicide with what I think to be Guy's sword after it's revealed he's a replica of the original Ion. He doesn't come back after that.

Tear and Ion are the ones that do something about the Sephiroth instead of Luke and his hyperresonance.

Ion and Asch are the ones that realize something is off when Van falls during the Absorption Gate scene

The party is split up during the post-Absorption Gate scene. Luke, Tear, Anise are the ones present for Ion's death, which is super dramatic and a huge tear-jearker. The Anise stage actor was sooooo good in this. Also Mohs goes crazy after the score reading instead (when he learns of the destruction of Auldrant) and seems to explode (and die?) offscreen, because we don't see him again after that. In the meantime though, Jade, Guy, Natalia get a scene discussing stuff regarding the Malkuth soldiers that got attacked, etc. (since the Frings stage actor wasnt here, he got replaced by a generic soldier)

There was no Tower of Rem scene at all and they skipped to Eldrant pretty quickly. They stuck the whole "Luke getting sentenced to death" part before Eldrant, and also stuck Jade's backstory around that part. There's no Nephry to info-dump Luke though, so it's Jade of his own volition that gave it. Just to Luke.

 Also there's this new (?) scene and/or maybe Jade was given the lines of someone else, but yeah as I recall, Luke asks Jade a question after he reveals his connection to replicas, and he replies with something like "Anata wa anata desu" (you're you), and Luke thanks him.

Stuff at Eldrant were spiced up a bit, i.e. the party did get split before fighting Van. We got to see them use their mystic artes at various points, it's pretty great. Jade's Indignation chant was very awesome.

While Asch was getting stabbed like, multiple times by the Oracle Knight soldiers, he got the opportunity to pull off a Rending Saber before dying. It was a sad kind of awesome. ALSO they had Natalia find Asch's body, and boy, was that an interesting and dramatic twist. My heart ached at that part.

Luke actually got to fight Van first one-on-one before getting owned by a Mystic Arte, and that's when the rest of the party comes along and tries to defeat Van. But of course it's all up to the shounen protag to do it so yeah Luke eventually gets to do the honors after he rises up.

Even if there was no Tower of Rem though, they really did the "please come back" post-Van defeat scenes really well. As far as I remember it's faithful to how I remember the lines to be, and heck, even Jade's handshake with Luke was kept. Though speaking of things that weren't kept, I don't think I heard Tear's "I love you" as they were leaving. I COULD BE WRONG THOUGH.

They kept Mr. Ending in the dark a lot, but Luke's armband's pretty noticeable under the coat as with bits of Luke's costume and what not so. Yeah, it’s the Luke stage actor under the coat.

Impressions and some thoughts:

This play is a love letter to fans of the game, I would say. In the sense that it's so worth it to watch for the nostalgia trip over getting a coherent story, I feel. I mean, the story does work, but at the same time they don't really do a good job of making you feel connected to the characters and their plight, so you're gonna need some sort of background like having played the game or watched the anime in order to be able to appreciate the stage play and feel invested in the dramatic scenes, etc.

As for the actors, I'd say people are on point! Anise among the ladies really stole the show though, I feel. I already touched in my old post regarding my impressions of the cast and it more or less stands.

I'm personally a little sad they cut out half the Six-God Generals since that also means cutting plot material and backstory shit in half, but I do understand it's something that can't be helped given their time frame and budget constraints, I'd say. But they made it work, and what they had out there was great and I'm really entertained by it.

And if I were to compare this to the one they performed last TalesFes, I'd say I actually enjoyed the one they did last TalesFes more than the one I watched today. But I think that's mostly due to the surprise factor since I wasn't expecting stuff like dancing Van and acrobatic Jade. In terms of completeness, this one's definitely a lot more "complete" than the one they did last TalesFes.

Still, despite my gripes about the stage play, overall I really did enjoy it! It's something I definitely don't mind seeing a second or even a third or fourth time around. I could only hope that we eventually get this on DVD or BluRay--it's a treat for any Tales of the Abyss fan and I feel really blessed for the opportunity to see this live and up close.