#i do like having more to analyze

[jacquelinemerritt]

Dragon Ball Z: Abridged Episode 36 Review

Originally posted January 15th, 2016

Goku is benched, and Vegeta takes his place.

So far, Dragonball Z: Abridged has worked its way through two arcs of the original story, and in the new arc as well as the previous two, there have been plot contrivances designed to keep Goku out of the battlefield for as long as possible, given how powerful he is. I didn’t mind it in the Saiyan Saga, since he literally died and spent most of that time training, and I didn’t mind it in the Freeza Saga, because the “contrivance” was a mixed body situation that led to him experiencing some pretty severe injuries.

Now, however, “heart problems” being what takes Goku off the battlefield feels frustrating more than anything else, because as much as I understand that there isn’t a story if he’s just wailing on the bad guys until he wins, I feel like it should be something more significant than basic medical issues that prevent him from fighting (though a potential thematic significance might undercut that critique1).

None of that is to critique Team Four Star, oddly enough, even if the specifics of Goku’s illness are their invention (I think it is, but feel free to let me know). They handle Goku’s third “benching” pretty cleverly, with his heart attack coming right after (Yamcha lets him make) a mistake that give Android 19 a lot of his energy, and his reasoning for not taking his medicine being that “it was grape flavored.” Despite the bullshit that is exiling the main protagonist, they pull it off with humor and grace, making his departure feel mostly natural and driven entirely by his character.

The rest of the episode is all about Vegeta, and more importantly, all about making “Super Saiyan Swagger” the perfect title for the episode. Vegeta’s arrival and subsequent transformation into a Super Saiyan removes all of the tension surrounding Gero and 19, and what follows is one of the most satisfying beatdowns of a robot that I have ever seen

As Vegeta meticulously counts down from five the number of blows to deliver to 19, we’re left with the thrill of waiting to see just how Vegeta is going to destroy this machine as well as whether or not it will feel fear at its upcoming destruction. It’s one of the best scenes Team Four Star has made, and it’s ultimately sold by the confluence of music and editing with Lanipator’s unshakeable confidence as the Prince of all Saiyans.

Rating: 4/5

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Stray Observations

1To put it simply, it could be read as signifying the banal, ordinary things affecting us the most, with a Legendary Warrior’s greatest flaw being that he didn’t take his cholesterol medicine. But I don’t think that Toriyama or Team Four Star are interested in actually exploring this, which is unfortunate for Toriyama but probably a good call on Team Four Star’s part. (Yet again, I feel it’s necessary to mention that I haven’t read the manga or seen the original anime.)

Gero: “Why is dodging a subroutine!? It’s not that complex!” *Piccolo looks at Gohan*

Gero: “But enough about hypothetical erections. 19! Suck! Him! Dry!”

Gohan: “I thought you had to have a pure heart to become a Super Saiyan?” Vegeta: “My heart is pure. Pure, unadulterated, badass.”

Krillin: “Senzu bean!”

I always feel somewhat bad when I don’t include many plot details, but with this series, it’s kind of common, since episodes are short and often don’t consist of more plot than “Character A fights Character B.” Hopefully next episode is more conducive to detailed analysis.

[cozylittleartblog]

a little Postlet. . because i Miss them

[reksink]

Two Experiments of Color, Two Young Bugs

[civetfish]

Nerd-to-nerd communication

Something super pointless and self-indulgent I've had on the backburner for a while. I love trying to make the pieces they gave us fit together!

Al-AN and Robin would absolutely bond over learning about each other's biology. I could talk about this forever but I'll get into all of the headcanons I have for these two in another post eventually

Below the cut is another version with some extra bits and pieces and the transcription

Transcript :

Architect Anatomy A. Architect "Brain" - Doesn't "store" information so much as allow for easy communication with the network B. Brainstem - connects the information received to the central nervous/circulatory system C. "Heart" - Circulatory system pumps the bioluminescent fluid to other organ systems and surface veins. Each node connects to a vast vasculature network D. "Kidneys" - Organs that filter the bioluminescent "blood" and other bodily fluids, absorbing and distributing collected material E. Nerve Center - Receives raw sensory data and filters it. Filtering can be unconscious or intentional

F. "Respiratory" Tract - Intakes gases or liquids and filters out material for use. Disposes of waste on exhale. Provides cooling to internal systems

The respiratory tract functions less like a set of lungs and more akin to a computer's cooling system, with the ability to absorb material from the environment to use in other parts of the body. It also would likely help the architect's body analyze the environment it is currently exposed to on a molecular level. It is also truly unidirectional, with the intake vents near the "collarbone" and the exhaust vents on both sides of the abdomen

The architect organ cache in-game felt like it was definitely not a complete model of the internal organs, so I wanted to come up with something to fill some more space. I also just really liked the idea of Al-An being capable of something similar to breathing, without having a respiratory system in the traditional sense. Feel free to use any of this in your own headcanons if you would like :)

BONUS - a gif of all the layers!

[lunar-wandering]

do y'all think Macaque is falling back into the role that Azure and the others put on him by remaining on the outskirts of the group because he thinks his input/presence is unwanted (and yeah his presence isn't really wanted by MK and the others BUT. something about the fact Macaque is placing himself at the edge of the group, the edge that Azure and the others pushed him to, doesn't really sit well)

[alexkablob]

not to wade into discourse about shows online which I swore to stop doing but I think some of you need to recognize that not every piece of media is about you, and that focusing only on the themes that you personally identify with while erasing the ones you don't is Not Great

[bridge-demon]

thinking about certain aspects of death the kid's character that i wish were talked abt more. like... he's a crybaby. he's a showoff. he's sassy. he's really not that bad w/ people for the most part, as long as he isn't freaking over them being too asymmetrical or something. he cares deeply for his friends. he's smart but in a dumb way. do y'all get me.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

I love Jiang Cheng and I hope you agree. The most tragic thing about yunmeng siblings is that JC and WWX really love each other the whole time… I like to think they can fix it someday

Someday perhaps....in the meantime, I bet he's loving having dogs run around lotus pier. As a WWX deterrent of course. No therapeutic reasons at all.

[ananxiousgenz]

okay now that I've had a night to sleep on it I just wanna take a minute and go absolutely buckwild over john doe in part 26 bc like. I was expecting the "I will not let you drown" line. I've seen the fanarts of it floating around, I knew that was coming. what actually fucking killed me was the second I realized john was reciting a robert frost poem to calm arthur down. and not just any robert frost poem, one that has been quoted over and over again, usually by arthur. that made me start SOBBING bc like.

this inhuman entity, who around 4-5 months prior, wanted arthur and the rest of humanity dead just because he had power and could kill them. learned so much from this broken mess of a man. learned about stories and poetry and music and mysteries and compassion and love and fell in love with all of it so deeply that it permanently changed who he is and how he sees humans and the world they live in. changed him so much that when he saw his friend crumbling under the weight of his own grief and guilt, chose to not only comfort him, but chose to comfort him with a poem. a fucking poem. when john has been so deeply invested in the stories and poems he's heard from arthur. he heard one that he liked enough to memorize and to keep close to his heart. and he chose to give it back again when his friend needed it most. to reach a hand out to arthur with a thing he loved and tell him he's heard. he's not alone. but he needs to keep going. most human action imaginable. do you think arthur ever recited that poem to john? to keep him calm when he got scared and lashed out? and that's how john learned it? and it brought him enough peace and comfort that he figured it would help arthur too??

literally the only equivalent I can come up with for this moment is something I saw once a long time ago. so my mom was sick. like really sick. normally she's a power-through-a-cold kind of person and she was laid out on the couch, so she wasn't doing great. and our dog, who was a lot younger then, knew something was wrong, and clearly wanted to make her feel better but didn't know how. so, she got her favorite toy, and gently shoved it into my mom's mouth. a kind of "I don't know how to make you feel better, so here's something I love and I hope it helps." it was one of the sweetest things I've ever seen. and it wasn't that the bone itself helped, it was the act of giving it that made everyone feel a little bit better. and that is what happened here. it's not the thing that john gave, even though it is significant, it's the fact that he chose to give it.

nobody talk to me for the next 5 business days, I'm going absolutely insane

[transmascutena]

thinking about how akio sees his younger self in utena and wondering if there's any fondness there. doesn't change the horror of what he does to her obviously but i do wonder

[rohirric-hunter]

There is no reading of a text that is so boring as the overtechnical sort that leads to completely serious conclusions like, "Morgoth created rot and decay and hobbits love mushrooms, so hobbits ought to be dedicated to Morgoth." Like I hated reading comprehension tests in school same as everyone but some people really needed more.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

Based on the author and characters' attitude towards what he describes as "rot and decay" and the author and characters' attitude towards mushrooms, do you think they classify mushrooms under the broader category of "rot and decay?" Why or why not?

(Research question) Mycology (the study of mushrooms) was considered a branch of botany until 1969. When was the book published? When was the author in school? When did he die?

Based on your answers to the previous two questions, do you believe that, in the fictional universe the story is set in, Morgoth is responsible for the existence of mushrooms?

(Bonus question) Do you hate fun?

[13eyond13]

I think the moment Light's crush on L first smacked him in the manga (like when it finally rooted and started blooming in his guts) was when L was like "you're my first ever friend" whilst smirking into his teacup. And not because Light fully believed he was being sincere about being friends, but because he KNEW L was slyly teasing him and speaking to him on more than one level at once. Nothing more unexpected funny flattering and intriguing than that for him right then

[suddencolds]

~

[thaliajoy-blog]

And Rhaena Targaryen 🩷 my baby 🥰

I like to think this is her with the council of regents being like "yeah sure you can marry me off I won't be difficult I want to help and I need to deal with the grief and guilt of seeing basically my whole family dying while I was safe in the vale and also being the last dragonrider while my twin sister lost her own dragon and my traumatized brother too and he hates dragons now please help me I can't sleep at night anymore 😫"

"Lady Rhaena proved to be as tractable as her sister had been willful. She would of course wed whomever the king and council wished, she allowed, though “it would please me if he was not so old he could not give me children, nor so fat that he would crush me when we are abed. So long as he is kind and gentle and noble, I know that I shall love him.”

[volivolition]

suggestion do you have... any wants? like obviously you do but like? suggestion my guy my ourple boy. both the easiest and hardest to write. you need a skill to say something to move conversation along but it doesn't fit any skill in particular? about 80% of the time you can have suggestion say it and it will make sense. but like actually characterizing him... how do i define you dude... what makes your character tick... urgh. i dont get you yet. im trying to understand but you are difficult.

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

not to out myself on main but Katsuki Bakugo continues to make me fucking insane