#i love all the arcs and motives and views and stuff. it's genuinely awesome

[m-for-now]

Improving in your life is actually kinda hard and sucks, I'm gonna pretend I'm at the beginning of my anime arc now

[cavewolf]

chris' legitimate pokemon scarlet review broken down into categories for your viewing experience (spoilers duh)

CHARACTERS: love the guys in this game. all of team star are so delightful arven is great and nemona is a new fav rival. i wasn't expecting to like clavell as much as i did but he was super fun. gym leaders for what they are (they play very minor roles but thats just how pokemon is aside from bw1 where they show up at the team plasma castle) are super good i especially liked ryme she's awesome. i felt the character writing was a lot better than last gen and they balanced the 3 rivals a lot better tho this could partly just be because of the three split stories focusing on one each.

POKEMON DESIGNS: mixed bag. loved a lot of them like tinkaton the ancient paradox pokemon and tatsugiri. meowscarada quickly became one of my fav starters i love its design and personality. but some of them didn't really do it for me. especially the bugs

HUMAN DESIGNS: really nice. i'm glad pokemon is continuing to diversify the body types of its female cast. i love the women + girls in this game. mela, eri, geeta, sada, rika, katy (I LOVE HER!!!!) and ryme were especially standout designs for me. the guys have cool looks too. i like brassius' edgier take on a grass gym leader and atticus autism warrior!!!!!

STORY: really good. i'm not kidding like god damn. i loved it in this game. it's easily in the big leagues with sun/moon, the gen 5 arc and pla for me (though i just like pla because it's rehashed pmd lol). the starfall street plotline was cheesy but i loved it , i love to see autism friend groups. they're very sweet. path of legends has an excellent motivator in 'your buddy's dog is sick' and like FUCK dude i'm not letting this guys dogy die!!!! arven is a very sweet character so it's nice to help him out. victory road is more standard fare but i liked the new take on the elite 4 (the interview and there being multiple champions). but obviously the closing act really sells it for me. i've seen people say it makes less sense in scarlet because sada is caveman themed, but i honestly think this made it more interesting. if i was playing violet i wouldve been like ohh yeah of course the guy in the glowy robot space suit is an android but the juxtaposition between ancient and futuristic stuff in scarlet makes it more impactful imo. i like how a futuristic ai can only function with the power of ancient crystals, ties it into both games nicely. plus sada sacrificing herself is a little sadder since i doubt there's more chargers in dinosaur times than the far future (she's double DEAD dead). i'm also just a sucker for evil ai and glitch effects anyway

MUSIC: gooooooood!!! there's been some mixed reception on the gym leader theme but it grew on me. penny's theme is one of my favs but all of the team star related ones are good. the area zero theme is genuinely incredible

GAMEPLAY: it sure is a pokemon game. i had some performance issues mainly loading times before/after battles and after cutscenes. i crashed randomly once during the orthworm mission when i went into its tunnel but nothing to the extent i've seen online (not to say it didn't happen). for what it's worth, i was playing it in handheld. but the basic pokemon battle formula always entertains me. the new gimmick is pretty so i like it.

VISUALS: it absolutely could be better but it's not distractingly bad. it's more just servicable. the updated textures (and sometimes models!) of pokemon look good and the humans look good too. definitely improved some animations (but i missed gloria's unique little tiptoe animation downstairs from swsh). the environment flops a lot, especially when it's not in towns.

[beneaththetangles]

Light Novel Club Chapter 31: Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki, Vol. 2

Welcome to our Light Novel Club discussion of Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki, Vol. 2! We had a fun discussion of the first volume earlier, and with the anime adaptation giving this series some more attention, why not discuss the second volume? After all, this volume shakes up the story a bit and shows that there’s more to winning the game of life than just following along with a human player’s guide… Join TWWK, Jeskai Angel, and me as we challenge the next level of this light novel!

(Note: At the end of the post are the next light novels we will be discussing in the Light Novel Club. As a reminder, Light Novel Club discussions are held publicly on the Beneath the Tangles Discord, so anyone can join in on future discussions!)

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1. What are your overall impressions on the novel?

TWWK: I’ve watched the series but hadn’t read any of the light novels, so I took a leap by starting with volume two. The experience was quite different from the TV series, which made it feel almost new to me, despite the adaptation having followed the volume closely. I really enjoyed reading about the characters from Tomozaki’s point of view, as he himself is developed as a character with a pretty quick mind and more intelligent than I think he gives himself credit for. So it was a fun, brisk read for me.

stardf29: This was a really nice volume, mainly because it throws a wrench in the “Hinami teaches Tomozaki something about life, and he applies it” formula that the first volume had going. The whole student council election arc was great because not only does Tomozaki have to figure things out on his own, but his opponent is the very person that’s been teaching him the whole time! Using video game terms, it’s as if the first volume is the tutorial stage, and this is the first real level where the player is expected to play the game on his own. I’m also really liking how other characters are being developed, and in particular how Tomozaki and Mimimi associate with each other throughout all this. It expands what could have been a pretty one-note story concept into something more complex, and makes me all the more interested to keep going with it.

Jeskai Angel: It’s a strong continuation of the first volume. Coming back to read it again for this discussion, I also noticed that vol. 2 foreshadows good bit more than I realized during my first read. Finally, I know this is silly, but my inner historian just loved seeing JOHN ADAMS of all people come up in a Japanese novel. Kudos to the author for that historical reference.

TWWK: To be fair, I thought that was a tough question for a Japanese student. I mean…let’s be honest. How many Americans, even students at that age who might be taking U.S. History, would have answered “Jefferson” as the second president? But Mimimi’s point is still well taken.

Jeskai Angel: I mean, if we want to switch it around, maybe the equivalent question for Americans is “Who was the second shogun of the Tokugawa Period?” or something. LOL

2. What are your thoughts on the characters in this volume?

TWWK: As I mentioned earlier, the Tomozaki in this volume comes across very differently than in the anime. His voice is more humorous and sarcastic here. I once heard Jeskai say that he thinks better of him than my favorite, Hikigaya (Oregairu), because Tomozaki is trying to better himself, and I think that’s very clear from the reading, and together with the humor makes him a fun character. He does also come across as trying just as hard in the anime, but is more obviously awkward than in the book, I think—at least how I view him in my mind while reading. The gap between Tomozaki and a top-tier character feels far less surmountable in the TV series.

Likewise, I find Hinami more compelling in the book. I thought the author did a nice job of making her a character that I empathize with, even though she’s “perfect” in all ways except for her sometimes haughty attitude. That there’s some insecurity there and questioning, particularly when she asks Tomozaki if being so good at what she does is the proper approach, humanizes her.

Finally, Mimimi, who gets top girl treatment in this volume, presents a compelling case, too. It wasn’t at all enjoyable to see her struggle in this volume, particularly in the final chapter or two. It was painful, which I think speaks to an authenticity in the development of her character. It just be that, because I don’t think it’s painfully written (it’s quite well done, I think), not do I feel like I can closely relate to her, as I never worked terrifically hard to get ahead of those in front of me academically (though I was in a similar position as her). I think she’s just in a tough spot, one that can be understood, which made for interesting reading, particularly in light of her outside self.

Jeskai Angel: Kikuchi is awesome. My biggest complaint about pretty much every volume of Tomozaki is that Kikuchi doesn’t get enough screen time. And that’s not just because Tomozaki’s descriptions of her are so hilarious. She proves herself quite insightful this time around; even though she doesn’t personally hang out with Hinami and Mimimi all that much, she makes some incisive remarks about both. I thought Kikuchi’s question, “Why does she [Hinami] work so hard to be perfect?” was profound.

Speaking of Hinami, something is seriously off with her. With the benefit of hindsight, I realized this volume reveals or expands on a lot of troubling things about her. There’s a ton of ambiguity surrounding her. Why did she suddenly change so drastically in middle school? Why does she continue to be such a perfectionist? That kind of obsession isn’t healthy at all, and should raise questions about her mental health. Plus, how can she be so two-faced, is she training to become a Batman villain, and how real / sincere is she at any given moment? Then there’s the occasional downright creepy things she says, like that remark about persuading people as the path to become a cult leader. Some of her advice to Tomozaki is legit, but it takes an increasing amount of critical thinking to sift through her words.

Hinami plays a role in my favorite Tomozaki scene of this volume. Earlier, Tomozaki told Mimimi that being number one didn’t matter so much as continuing to improve and not losing to oneself. When he reports the situation to Hinami, she responds that there’s no way he could actually believe that. “…you’re the same as me in that respect, right? You must be, if you’ve gotten that far in Atafami.” And Tomozaki comes back “…What the hell? I genuinely think that. Atafami is a battle against myself.” His advice to Mimimi was good, but it gets even better when it turns out to reflect a fundamental difference between him and Hinami. Also, it’s not like he was trying trick her, but the fact remains that Hinami was WRONG about something: she misread Tomozaki’s motivation and project her own desire to be number one onto him. It’s an important moment in establishing how Tomozaki differs from Hinami.

Mimimi was the star of this volume. She turns out to be a lot more complex than the lovable goofball we met in the first volume. And we don’t just see this through her relationship with Tomozaki, but also her relationships with various other characters, like Hinami and Tama. I mentioned it earlier, but Mimimi in particular had some moments that I didn’t pay much attention to during my first read, but with the benefit of hindsight, seem like foreshadowing.

Something that struck me while reading this volume that I hadn’t really thought about before is how the five main girls in Tomozaki’s life contrast with each other. Izumi, Mimimi, and of course Hinami are outgoing normie girls, but Hinami is duplicitous, while Mimimi and Izumi seem far more genuine. And between Mimimi and Izumi, the former is more independent while the latter is more go-along-to-get-along (though she’s trying to change that). And then Kikuchi and Hanabi are both non-normie girls who don’t quite fit in, but where Tama is bold and outspoken, Kikuchi is quiet and introverted. I knew this stuff about these characters, but didn’t realize just how much each girls serves as mirror for one or more of the others.

stardf29: Tomozaki continues to grow in this volume, not just in how he “plays the game of life” but also how he works through some things on his own, particularly with when he was helping Mimimi with the student council election. And I really like the moment when he explained how his motivation for becoming the best in Atafami is more so he doesn’t lose to himself, and then how that creates a notable difference in his approach to gaming compared to Hinami.

And yes, I like how this volume makes us question the whole mentorship Hinami has over Tomozaki, particularly with how their approaches to “gaming” are ultimately different, but also how Hinami might have her own issues to deal with, as well as how there are things she can’t handle, like the whole situation with Mimimi. It’s part of what moves this story away from just being a “self-help” book and into a more complex story with various character motivations.

Mimimi is the “star” of the volume, and rightly so. She provides an interesting “Player 3” to the story, as her natural friendliness makes it easy for her to get along with Tomozaki, while also having her own history with Hinami and her own perspective towards competition. There’s a nice line of character development for her going through this volume, and I like how it’s neither Tomozaki or Hinami who ultimately helps her with her biggest insecurities; that would be “too easy” for either of them.

Overall, I really like how this series has been incorporating more of its side characters. Even the guys have a good presence here. I’m definitely looking forward to what role these other characters play in the story.

3. One of the themes of this volume is “losing”, and how different people feel about not being “first place”. What are your personal thoughts on how we should approach competition, particularly when we lose?

Jeskai Angel: I think we all take some competitions more seriously than others. The novel shows this with Hinami and Mimimi’s middle school teammates. Those girls just weren’t invested in basketball in the way that Hinami and MImimi were. That doesn’t necessarily mean those girls were all lazy losers who fail at everything in life because they never put forth effort. It just means that particular kind of competition wasn’t as much of a priority to them. A big factor in how seriously we take competition is the stakes. Is there a prize we care about? Alternatively, sometimes we feel our sense of self-worth is on the line in a competition. Of course, it’s not so much the case that our value as a person is on the line, but rather than our pride is what’s at stake.

This brings us to the Bible, with all its “The last shall be first,” and “The meek shall inherit the earth” messages. A consistent theme in the scriptures is that God’s idea of “winning” is different than ours, and God will overturn human expectations about who the “winners” are. The Bible promotes humility and discourages us from seeking the glory of men. Most of the winning we can do in this life just isn’t meaningful.

Now, that said, winning is a lot more fun than losing. It’s okay to wanna be the very best, like no one ever was. But “fun” and “the meaning of my existence” are very different kinds of stakes, and I think Hinami, and Mimimi to a lesser extent, have mixed them up. Mimimi felt kind of lost in this volume; she’s not competing for fun, but neither is she an ego-driven maniac on the level of Hinami. I think Hinami’s form of competitiveness is dangerous, while Tomozaki’s is more benign. Competing because it’s fun to win is much less serious that competing because we need to affirm our pride.

TWWK: Mimimi is a good example of how sport and competition can dictate your self-worth. And not just those, but anything in which we put forth energy and show talent and excellence. Jeskai points toward scripture, which is totally unique is showing that our self-worth is in the creator and his attributes, not in our own, which when lived out most fully can both help us excel in competition while lifting us up in our failures. I think that’s such an incredible and life-giving message, because my experience with some I’ve known in athletics mirrors Mimimi’s, and my own academic studies when I was younger mirrors hers, too—when we eventually fail, for we all will (look at Hinami in gaming), do we have a foundation to help us from bottoming out? If there was is a criticism I have for this excellent volume, it’s that Mimimi recovers almost unrealistically, or at least, without us being truly privy to what it is that leads to that change in her. I don’t think it’s so easy to step back up when you have such a reaction as hers to failure.

stardf29: Given how prevalent “competition” is in the world, there’s clearly something about wanting to beat others at something that is a part of human nature. One could argue it’s not inherently a bad thing, either, as there are plenty of stories where healthy competition encourages two people to both improve. This seems to be behind Tomozaki’s approach to games; he’s mainly focused on mastering the game he plays, and losing means he has more to learn and master. His statement that he mainly doesn’t want to lose to himself is a great statement: when he loses, it’s less about losing to the opponent and more about the realization that there’s still more to be done to master the game. This pursuit of getting better is the healthy side of competition, and if God designed us to seek competition as part of our nature, it would be for this reason.

Unfortunately, competition also has its ugly sides. With Mimimi, we see something more just misguided: the belief that she won’t mean anything unless she is in first place. It’s definitely an unhealthy attitude to have, but thankfully Tama snaps her out of it by making sure she knows she means something to her no matter what. It’s the kind of attitude that can easily come about if one grows up in an environment without unconditional love, and likewise one which God’s unconditional love can help a lot with.

And then with Hinami, we don’t know yet why exactly she’s so fixated on “winning”. Maybe she just likes the feeling of having asserted dominance over other people. That’s definitely a common source of unhealthy competition. She might also feel something similar to Mimimi, where she feels like her self-worth is based on successful competition. Whatever the case, it definitely seems like she’s unhealthily obsessed with winning.

4. Were there any particular bits of advice on life that you liked from this volume?

TWWK: The bit of advice that Aoi had given Mimimi when she wanted to help Tama become integrated in their class was simple but I think helpful in many real-life situations, too—it basically was to talk to her a little each day. I’ve been in Tama’s shoes before, and thanks to friendly and extroverted classmates, have been integrated better into classes and developed good friendships, something that was far from guaranteed due to my shy nature and the frequency with which I transferred between schools as a military brat. I’ve always been grateful for the Mimimi’s in my life, though thankfully, none have been so, uh, intimate with me.

5. If you watched the anime, what do you think about how the anime adapted this volume?

Jeskai Angel: I don’t recall any glaring oddities with the anime. As with many other anime adaptations of first-person-narrated light novels, the biggest difference is the lack of the protagonist’s inner monologue. This a journey-before-destination story. What Tomozaki ultimately says or does is less important that the thought process he uses to get there, and the anime just can’t convey that with the kind of depth we get in the book. More specifically, I think Tomozaki’s comments on the other characters are especially noteworthy. His impressions can reveal things (about himself, and about the other characters) that are much less obvious without that first-person narration.

TWWK: I mentioned it earlier, but what’s most obvious to me is the difference in Tomozaki’s. No, they’re not really developed differently, but the anime is heavily focused on “what we see,” the outsider’s view of Tomozaki, which is appropriately awkward and especially voiced as such. The light novel is almost the opposite, as we mostly experience his inner voice which is witty, humorous, and just as engaging (and usually more so) than that of the people he’s trying to emulate. It’s a nice contrast, actually—I enjoyed this source material more than the anime episodes, but appreciate the anime a bit more now as well, now that I can see a fuller picture of this character.

Christina Kelly, who voices Mimimi in the English dub, chatted with us about the character among others she’s voice.

stardf29: I like the point about the anime allowing us to see Tomozaki more from an outsider’s perspective. I’ve heard others make comments about how “cringe” Tomozaki sounds when they actually got to hear him with proper voice acting, and usage of somewhat-overused buzzwords aside, I think it’s a good reflection of how the anime makes it clear how socially awkward Tomozaki really is, which helps me appreciate his growth more. I do still prefer all the internal monologue we get with Tomozaki in the light novels, but I do like this part of the anime, at least.

Also, while not technically part of this volume, I should say, the anime really went out of its way with the portrayal of Atafami, with a whole bunch of characters designed for the anime that don’t even appear in the story. I like it when animators go just that extra little bit further for these adaptations.

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If you read through our discussion, I hope you liked it! As a reminder, our next Light Novel Club discussion is on The Faraway Paladin, Vol. 1! The discussion starts on June 25th, and will run through much of July, so there’s still plenty of time to read it and join our discussion!

The following light novel is none other than Tearmoon Empire, Vol. 4! Tearmoon Empire is basically the flagship light novel of the Light Novel Club at this point, and there’s a pretty good chance we will be discussing every volume of this series, so if you haven’t yet, why not start catching up with this series so you can join our discussion? You have a little bit of extra time, too, as our discussion will start on August 1st. Also, starting from this point, all Light Novel Club discussions will start on the 1st of the month, which should make it easy to know when these discussions start.

And why not reveal yet another light novel we will be discussing? After all, on September 1st, we will be discussing one of the most iconic and popular light novel series as we finally discuss Sword Art Online! …or rather, we will be discussing Sword Art Online: Progressive, Vol. 1! This is a re-take on the story starting from the Aincrad arc, going into more detail and overall considered an improved version of the story, so this is definitely going to be a great discussion for SAO fans.

If you are interested in discussing any of these series with us, join the Beneath the Tangles Discord and look for the Light Novel Club section. Happy reading!

[charlierejouis]

Avengers Endgame Q & A Review (Spoiler Edition)

With a few days left until Spiderman: Far From Home, I think it's safe to talk about this movie in more spoiler-y terms. I think the spoiler ban has been up for a while, but I still know people who haven’t seen this movie yet. As usual, here’s an example of how this will go.

What do you think of the Endgame re-release?

It’s a hilariously transparent attempt to overtake Avatar as the highest-grossing movie that my only reason for not taking part in is scheduling conflicts and lack of money. I am pathetic and I don’t know for why.

Let’s go!

How has your view on Endgame changed in the months since seeing it?

Since seeing it, I’ve come to recognize more and more things about it I love and appreciate it. I genuinely can’t imagine another movie that’s been in the MCU topping it, nor do I expect a movie to have higher highs than it. However, I can appreciate people who would say that Infinity War or some other movie was better than it.

Are you willing to group this in with Infinity War, similar to how you see the Iron Man movies as equally good?

I can’t even say that Endgame stops being Infinity War until after the time skip. These two movies are different in both tone and motivation. I think they deserve to be seen as their own movies. Not to mention, much of the reason for my views on the Iron Man trilogy is because it is the trilogy of my favorite character in the MCU.

Which Avenger had the best run in Endgame?

This might upset some people, but I love how Thor was handled. Dude goes 0-2 against Thanos in the last movie and you don’t expect him to go depressed once he can’t get the revenge he wants? I said this before, but I love that this movie made me care about Thor: The Dark World, one of the worst movies in the MCU. I’ve been going through his movies again because I want to talk about how Thor has been throughout the MCU. What I will say is that Thor in the hands of James Gunn may result in an even better version of Thor than we’ve seen before.

Which Avenger had the worst run in Endgame?

I hinted at this before, but I don’t love the Hulk’s transformation being skipped. I get that it’s a long movie and we need to get to other points, but I do wish we got more of Professor Hulk’s development before he was plopped onto us after the time skip. Of course, the movie works as it is, but it would be better if we got more of that.

How does Captain America’s ending fall on that scale?

He had an awesome run in this movie. The events of the past few phases of the MCU, especially Infinity War, have given us a broken version of the once Star-Spangled Man with a Plan. That he decides to retire the way he does at the end of the movie is something I didn't allow myself to believe was possible but I should have expected nothing less from the directors responsible for his best movies and the writers behind his trilogy, especially once time travel was introduced as a plot point. For the consideration of some, I’ve seen the writers confirm the theory that Peggy’s husband in Winter Soldier was always meant to be Steve.

What did you think of the scene with Carol? You know, that scene?

When I originally planned to tackle this question in this post, I was planning on dealing with people who were mad at the scene for pandering. Now, we’ve gone the opposite way and people are arguing that Marvel Studios was wrong for having this scene exactly because of their less-than-stellar representation of women characters. At the time, I was caught up in the euphoria of the final battle that for like a half hour I lived in a world where political agendas didn’t exist. It took until I left the theater to realize I saw a tweet that hinted at this and days until I realized why people would have issues with it. I will say that Nando v Movies gave an improved version of this scene.

What are your thoughts on the Black Widow drama?

I find it all hilariously ironic. This time last year, people were mad at the concept of a solo Black Widow movie, making arguments for some other MCU heroine with a fraction of the screentime or relevance to get her spotlight. I even saw a post suggesting that they could recast Scarjo as Black Widow for the movie. Now that they killed her in Endgame, some of these exact same people want to act like they were her biggest fan and that the choice to have her die was motivated by some form of sexism. And the cherry on top of this whole situation? The Russos are being called sexist because one woman who helped work on the film thought it was a sacrifice needed for her to take over Clint. After Endgame and this drama, I’m even more motivated to see this movie and hope it does and is better than Captain Marvel, at the very least.

So, you think that Black Widow’s sacrifice was done well?

Kind of? I found it weirdly hilarious that the Soul Stone came down to the two characters argued to be the most useless within the Avengers, watching the scene play out in theaters. Frankly, I don’t know that there was a better choice between her and Hawkeye. They just decided to go with the one that allowed an actual family reunion to be possible. With the benefit of time, I’ve come to see how this works for her arc as she finally found a way to get the red out of her ledger. While I don’t think it’s bad to have this kind of thing happen, I wish we did get more of a proper memorial or funeral for her.

How do you feel about the information we’ve learned about this movie’s events in interviews?

I don’t exactly love it.  While it’s an unpopular view, I consider “canon” [what is presented in a work] and Word of God [what is revealed by series creators] to be on about the same level. Consider part of that comes from my more biblical background being applied to these terms and my work in fan writing relying on both. I love that we have so directors and writers who recognize that they are making a movie that millions of people are interested in their work and willing to add insight to their thought process months before we’ll get their commentaries on the film. However, I don’t love hearing them explain stuff that could and probably should have been made clear within the actual movie. I wish some of the things made clear by the writers or directors were already clear within the movies, even though I don’t think the movie is made worse by it. I don’t think a lot of it comes from a sense of “trying to cover their tracks” but it can feel like that when you do this and I don’t love that.  

With all the changes you wish happened, why would you still call this the best movie in the MCU?

I think that there are a lot of issues with this movie that could be addressed by some of the fixes others have suggested, including the ones I’ve brought up in this post. However, for every genuinely good and relevant change that I have seen made to this movie better, I’ve seen a heck of a lot of absolute zero takes on this movie and suggestions to fix this movie that make it worse than what we got. Around the time I posted my other review, I got to sit with some other people who saw the movie. When I told them some issues people I know had with the movie, they were shocked these could even be seen as issues. As low as this movie gets, I can’t say they’re issues that are bad enough to earn a lower spot in my ranking of the MCU movies than where it currently is and I can’t imagine one taking that spot soon.

So that’s been fun. It’ll be a while before I see Far From Home, but I have no reason to think it will be a bad film. See you!

[justanotherdumpingground]

Chapter Reviews: March 5-9, 2019 + Thoughts on Upcoming Books

High School Story: Class Act Chapter 4:

Okay, so the bake sale went mostly well, and it's fun to sway Michael to vote for the twin, even though he originally supported Morgan. There are better candidates to vote for, boy. Still miffed that there's no substance to Cliff and Graham's romance together besides cutesy side stuff.

From what I've seen with Ajay's parents arguing, I think there will be a subplot that shows how arguing couples damage their children. While I applaud Picelberry's attempt to tackle this issue, I'm worried that it will be mishandled. The child abuse subplot involving Skye still needs a satisfying conclusion because the progress I've seen so far is Skye having Brenda as a parental substitute. I need to delve more into her home life and see to it that her story gets a satisfying conclusion.

Disappointed but not surprised that I have to pay diamonds just to learn about Ajay's home life. Look, I get that he's polarizing, but that doesn't excuse vital elements of his character being paywalled. Honestly, it's extremely stupid to pay diamonds just to learn more about a character, especially a love interest. I get that Pixelberry's a company, but in a game titled Choices, all plot and character arcs are supposed to be free to view, with premium options hiding mature content and other trivial things. Not doing so reeks of dishonesty.

The Heist: Monaco Chapter 14:

Dang, this is it, huh? It's like time flies by despite the incredible journey. I'm stoked and anxious at the same time for the journey ahead, now that the crown jewels are in my possession. It's super satisfying to see my crew trusting me despite my lack of premium options for most of them. I love seeing them bond together and having one another's backs during the heist.

So glad I picked the premium options to free Whisper and steal Ulrich's tools. I knew they'll come in handy for Sybil as well as me. And it was a relief I checked the blueprints and found the RGB clue on what to do to entee the vault. It indicates the color of the text I have to pick, and I sometimes thought I picked the wrong option whenever Sybil looks agitated.

It's satisfying to see Ansel locked in the car with Fabien driving him away. Good riddance to that smug snake.

Handcuffed by Sonia? This is gonna be good, especially since I like her enough to consider her a main love interest for my MC. I just hope her trust in me is enough.

Desire & Decorum Chapter 11:

After seeing another part of Briar's indecisiveness over who she'll pursue, I just wish she would make up her mind, because the setting up a character with someone reeks of lack of free will on the side characters' part and a blatant cash grab.

It's great to see my friends following me to Bath and look out after me. I appreciate them jumping at the call, but I also want them to work with me on the investigation freely instead of paywalling them. Also miffed that there's not much political intrigue and no incorporation of industrialization.

Not a surprise Duke Richards and Gideon are plotting to overthrow the Prince Regent, but I don't want the showdown against them to be anticlimactic. After all, the clues I've gathered so far should've had an edge in piecing together his ultimate motives and even gain bonuses along the way.

America's Most Eligible Chapter 8:

I still don't trust Ivy and consider her as much of a snake as Vince and Slater. She and Slater may not be on the same team, but that doesn't mean I fully embrace her. I admit that her plan sounds like an opportunity to discredit Slater for cheating, allowing me to act devious.

Can I say that the athletic outfit suits my MC well? Because he's a flirt, he should have no problems wearing enticing clothing that turns people's heads towards him. I think it would suit him more if the outfit's more revealing.

It baffles me that I have to pay diamonds to set other couples up. I know this practice exists since Choices's founding, but it still reeks of characters having no free will. I like Eden and Kiana together, but paying diamonds to ensure that reeks of greed and lack of logic.

At first, I'm not sure whether to win or not, but I ended up losing just to see more of Ivy's plan. Apparently, the winner gets to go on a date together. That made me think my MC would seduce Slater a bit, only for me to watch on YouTube that they get discredited if they won, and Derek and Kiana won anyway. It seemed that I dodged a bullet by not getting involved with Slater.

Open Heart Chapter 4:

This is an emotional chapter, and I love it. I get to see Ethan putting his energy on his patients, whom he genuinely care for, and seeing him sad at Dolores's death was heartbreaking. Even more so when her baby's revealed to be named after him. Since Dolores has sisters, this means baby Ethan will be raised by his aunts. I get that there are players who want the baby raised by Ethan himself, but if there are other family members willing to raise the child, then I say let them. Nevertheless, I hope this means he'll be more like Professor Enrique Vasquez through the use of tough love and nothing like Nick Peralta, whom I despise for being an ungrateful, disrespectful guest as well as a horrible boss.

After seeing people wanting Rafael Aveiro to be a love interest along with Kyra Santana and Sienna Trinh, I'd say nah. I'm more interested to see how my MC grows as a doctor than lust over any other characters. I like those three, but I think Ethan, Bryce, and Jackie are enough for me. Regarding people wanting Sienna as love interest, what if her boyfriend is really one of the nicest characters in the story and eventually dies in the hospital regardless?

As for Aurora, man, I'm shocked and horrified at her dismissal of Dolores's condition as smoke inhalation just because she wants a more interesting patient. I get that she wants to prove her worth as a doctor in her own right, but because she's a doctor whose job is to ensure the wellbeing of all patients regardless of condition, she has no right to be picky at which patients to treat.

Moreover, I'm even more disappointed at the writers for writing this. They could've used this opportunity to explore her even more, especially since the first three chapters show her chafing at living under her aunt's shadow, caring for Annie, being unable to treat her because she was summoned to her aunt's office, and giving some diagnosis on a patient. Pixelberry should've picked up from this and build her as a character who yearns to prove her worth by doing her job properly, not make her into someone people might as well continue to hate like handing Dolores to MC for having an "uninteresting" condition. This reminds me of the situation with Xanthe, but with differences. Xanthe's a courtesan who fits best as a love to hate character like Madeleine from TRR, built as a conniving strategist who has her political agendas that go beyond being merely mean and catty. As for Aurora, her appearances at the first three chapters shows that she didn't do anything remotely wrong aside from being aloof. It was this chapter that shows a crack in Pixelberry, who assumes the audience must continue to hate her even though she started as a mere rival with complex motivations. If Pixelberry's intention to bring Aurora down is to merely cater to their target audience with no regard to the unfortunate implications they've created, then they've succeeded. Now they just have to face the consequences.

Ride or Die Chapter 8:

Well, that confrontation with the dad is as heated as I thought. I understand that he doesn't want her daughter hanging out with criminals, but I think he's too overprotective of her daughter, such as keeping her sheltered even though she's now eighteen. That doesn't mean she should hang out with the MPC, but she should be taught to act with discernment and wisdom. In fact, I hate that the narrative wants me

As for Jason, I told the dad that he recruited MC as an informant, so now they're at odds with each other. That complicates the case with the MPC and the Brotherhood. It could be possible Jason or one of the detectives (the one with Russell Thibbs's model, to be exact). I'm leaning towards the latter.

I swear, Teppei Kaneko is dumb. His last meeting with the Brotherhood ended with him getting injured, and now he's going back to confront them again. Bah. Anyway, I rejected a tattoo (my MC's most like going to wear that sweater for the rest of the story) and ended up staying put (I would've spent diamonds to go with Mona to learn about the Brotherhood if the story is remotely any good, which it isn't).

Across the Void's return:

While a part of me is glad this story will progress to the end, I'm not super excited. There's too much focus on Pax and Eos in the first 13 chapters despite how annoying they are and how little they contribute to the story. Doing so keeps the story from exploring the setting, the plot from capturing my interest, and other important characters from developing properly. So far, Kepler's the only character we get to know, and we get to explore part of the setting through her, but I still want more than that. Other characters have potential, namely Lyra (because she's Senator Tauri) and Sol (because of his vast knowledge of various cultures).

The Elememtalist's return:

I'm pumped for this, though I'm also concerned that the quality will be worse, since the time gap between the first and second book is relatively short. I love how badass Shreya looks (Conjuring fire with just one finger instead of two hands? Awesome!), and I wish this second book will shed more light on the characters, explore the dynamics between the different races, and make Discount Dorian Pavus an interesting villain. Raife Highmore's a forgettable villain. By the way, why does the cover depict Beckett as kinda ugly? Maybe because of how thick his eyebrows are and the way he frowns.

New books and gender options:

I'm surprised and glad Nightbound and Passport to Romance will have the option to pick the protagonist's gender. That sounds like a long time coming, especially for Nightbound, which is a spinoff of Bloodbound. I like Bloodbound in some ways, but I'll always be irked at the inability to pick the protagonist's gender and the flimsy reason behind it. I get that Pixelberry thinks it will be a failure because of how clichéd it looks, hence why there's no option, but they've also released light-hearted stories with gender options. The funny thing about Nightbound is that I thought we'll have a co-protagonists system like TC&TF and MW. The man and woman fighting side by side gave me that impression.

I'm not super excited for Passport to Romance, even though it involves traveling and I get to pick the protagonist's gender. It would've been better if it's mainly an adventure book with romance kept to the sidelines. That way, one love interest won't hog the spotlight while offering little to no substance along the way.

Wishful Thinking being genderlocked and a romcom sounds like a disappointment, especially since it reminds me too much of #LoveHacks, which I dislike. Maybe it will surprise me, though.

After seeing the Q&A on Choices's subreddit, I saw a mention of a dark take on fairy tales, which captures my interest because I'd take a dark, gritty, and thought-provoking story any day. I also love the idea of a book where I rise to the top as some sort of "mean girl" for the sake of playing a conniving character who manipulates her way to the top, but I also want the protagonist to be a 3-dimensional character in her own right, and it would be cool if a worse outside threat is used as an opportunity to gain good publicity. Please make them happen someday.

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

The Last Jedi: What I Disliked About One of the Most Fascinating Films Ever Made

The Last Jedi is probably one of the most controversial films ever made for a lot of reasons. This movie did a LOT of shit, a lot of shit that would piss people off. Hell, it even pissed ME off. But when I see people on the internet frothing at the mouth and calling this movie the worst shit pile to ever exist, the most offensive thing Star Wars has ever produced, and threatening the director with death and calling him a soulless piece of shit bastard… I’m pretty inclined to defend the movie. Frankly, anyone who reacts THIS negatively to TLJ is an utter braindead moron; you do realize you can dislike a film without being completely, insanely hyperbolic, yeah? Again, there’s a lot I hate in this movie too, and I’m gonna talk about it shortly, but in a franchise with Jar-Jar, the holiday special, and vast swaths of the Legends continuity, is this seriously the worst this franchise has had to offer? If you answer anything other than “No,” congratulations, I’d say you’re about the same mental capacity as people who think Watto is some sort of offensive Jewish caricature.

But as much as I would love to spend an entire post insulting all the whiny bastards in the Star Wars fandom, I have more pressing matters: criticizing stuff in The Last Jedi. And boy do I have a lot to criticize. I actually did review the movie a while back, and while I stand by my initial thoughts, I gotta go into more detail about what I didn’t like. However, before continuing, I want to make one thing  absolutely clear:

I think The Last Jedi is a genuinely good movie. Maybe not GREAT per se, as I have more criticisms for it than just about any other film in the series, but excellence is just so wholly ingrained into the DNA of Star Wars theatrical films that even at their most divisive they still have some level of charm. And at any rate, this movie is a hell of a lot more interesting than Rogue One. I’d say out of the newer films, this one sits behind Solo. Anyway, let’s get on to the main event… here are all my issues with The Last Jedi, presented alphabetically, and with lots of spoilers:

Canto Bright: This is probably the most annoying waste of time in the entire film, a blatant and obnoxious stretch of padding the runtime. Nothing that happens in the entirety of this subplot is truly important in the grand scheme of things; the only relevant bit of plot is that they find DJ, and this could have been done a lot quicker. This wouldn’t be so bad if they had made Canto Bright a bit more interesting, but it just feels like another attempt to rehash Mos Eisley’s cantina. It also doesn’t help this part of the film has blatant, unsubtle moralizing and cuts away from far more interesting plotlines that get much less development, particularly Rey training with Luke.

Ditching Kylo’s Motivation: In The Force Awakens, Kylo was motivated by a sort of misaimed admiration for his grandfather, where he viewed Vader as someone to emulate and who he looked to as he struggled between the light side and the dark side. All of this helped make him rather intriguing, as well as making him a very intentional Darth Vader clone character; his whole purpose was to emulate Vader, after all. All of this is ditched close to the start of The Last Jedi, and the Kylo in this film feels almost entirely different to the one seen previously. While I did like Kylo Ren  a lot more in this movie, I wish they didn’t completely rewrite his character and ditch everything established in favor of what they did. It could have easily been worked into how he acted in the film.

Finn’s Diminished Importance: After being something of the star of the last film, complete with a noticeable character arc and a lot of focus, Finn kinda gets shafted here, relegated to a shitty, unnecessary sideplot that leads the heroes nowhere. It just seems really weird, though I’m not unhappy Rey got more focus and was fleshed out better.

Holdo: While I tend to view people who write her off as “The purple-haired feminist bitch” or “Captain SJW” as inferior human beings – and they are, seriously, if you unrironically say shit like this you’re a drooling nincompoop – I really can’t deny in the slightest that Holdo was written rather poorly. She really is a poor excuse for a captain, openly lying to her underlings and keeping things secret when explaining the plan would have effected nothing except her entire crew’s compliance. It almost feels like this plot was written so we’d be on Poe’s side, but it works a bit too well by making Holdo far too arrogant, stupid, and haughty to really get behind. If not for her awesome heroic sacrifice  (one that might not have been needed in the first place if she’d been more honest but hey) I’d probably list her as one of the worst Star Wars characters ever… but a heroic sacrifice of this magnitude,  no matter how unearned it may seem, never fails to impress me.

Killing Snoke: I can kinda see what they were going for, seeing as Palpatine as well was killed with very little revealed about him in The Last Jedi… but we have now had several years worth of canonical prequel material to flesh him out, and it’s honestly pretty stupid to assume you can pull off the same trick in a franchise twice and expect it to go off as well. Snoke was unflinchingly cool, creepy, and badass, so his bisection comes across as a waste of a truly intriguing villain. That there may be prequels detailing who he was do little to ease the sting of Andy Serkis being built up as the big bad only to be cut down. At least in Black Panther he got more substantial screentime; here,  he’s s till cool, but it just feels like there is so much more he could have been.

Luke’s Attempted Murder: While overall I loved Luke’s characterization in this film and how it tied excellently into the theme of not deifying your heroes due to the trouble that can cause, it’s hard for me to rationalize Luke’s attempted murder of his own nephew, leading to Kylo Ren’s turn to the dark side. While Luke has always been a bit impulsive, this man believed he could redeem Darth Vader, AND DID SO. Need I remind you what Anakin did to those younglings? And yet his own nephew, he won’t give him the benefit of the doubt. Yes, he did stop himself, but the very fact he went in there lightsaber ready to cut down the child of his sister and his best friend just feels really jarring and out of place, even within his more cynical characterization.

Phasma: Phasma has come across as a forced Boba Fett replacement since The Force Awakens, to the point where in both films she has appeared in she has been completely and utterly outshined by mooks – Nines (AKA TR-8R) in TFA and the Praetorian Guard in this one. Despite her getting a ton of fascinating backstory and depth in  canonical supplementary material, literally none of that is ever showcased even slightly in this film, and after a short, underwhelming fight scene, she apparently falls to her death. Sure, she COULD have survived, but this still feels like a rather big waste of the character. For someone they hyped up so much, the way she is handled really feels undignified.

Rey’s Parents: I’m not gonna lie, this reveal is stupid in and of itself, but the stupider thing is that a lot of people seem to be taking it at face value. When was it collectively decided we should trust the creepy, evil Sith lord who has made it perfectly clear he wants control over Rey? Why are we taking Kylo’s word that Rey’s parents were drunks who sold their kids as FACT? Honestly it just seems like a further ploy to manipulate her more than anything.

Reylo: While it isn’t canon as of yet, this movie really hammers in a bunch of hints for the obnoxiously popular ship between heroine Rey and antagonist Kylo Ren. And, quite frankly, I absolutely fucking hate this ship, but probably for a lot different reasons than most people. Do I think it’s shipping abuse? No, I don’t think it’s that any more than I think any other hero-villain ship is. Do I think Kylo doesn’t deserve to be redeemed by Rey? That’s not it either; the entire premise of this franchise is that any person can be redeemed. Kylo Ren is really no exception, though considering he killed my favorite character I’d be happy to see his ass beat. No, I hate it because I just absolutely hate the trope, if it even is one, of the hero redeeming the villain through romantic love. I feel like it would cheapen Rey’s character, and just turn the entire new trilogy into an overly long romantic drama. All the heavy-handed hints towards this pairing is just gag worthy, and frankly I’m going to be annoyed if they ruin both of these characters by going through with it.

Rose: Rose is without a doubt in my mind the worst character in the entire franchise. This seems like a rather tall order considering her competition, but consider this: her biggest contributions to the plot are the Canto Bright plotline, the absolute worst part of the film… and stopping Finn from performing a badass heroic sacrifice that might have saved the heroes a lot of trouble, delivering the stupidest line  in Star Wars history, kissing Finn, and fainting. She’s just utterly pointless to the point she feels like someone’s OC from a fanfic where they get with Finn was slipped into the script.

Wasting DJ: So you get Benicio Del Toro,  and you put him in your movie. Great so far, good. He does some weird accent and makes the character have a quirky personality, still good. You give him a very morally ambiguous personality and show the shades of grey in this idealistic universe that leans towards black vs. white most of the time, excellent, awesome! AND THEN… he betrays the heroes and vanishes from the film. What. DJ didn’t die, and he could come back… but he just feels shoehorned in and just doesn’t really reach his full potential whatsoever. He was such an interesting idea, and they just did the bare minimum with him.

Despite all of this crap, though… The Last Jedi still manages to be awesome. Holdo’s final sacrifice, the Kylo Ren and Rey fight against the Praetorian Guards, Yoda’s surprise appearance, Luke’s final battle… Hell, I even liked seeing Leia finally use the Force by flying through space with it; as cheesy as it is, it left me floored when I saw it in theaters. Then, of course, there’s that epic opening space battle… there’s just a lot to love here. In particular, my favorite moment is probably Luke becoming one with the Force. Maybe it’s not my MOST favorite moment, but it just feels so poignant and important, with his final moments mirroring the start of his journey, as he gazes into twin suns one last time before joining his teachers and father. It just… it gets to you, you know? I may have a LOT of issues with this movie, and a lot of stuff I didn’t really like in it, but more than any other movie I have so many issues with, I like and even RESPECT this film. You can say a lot of things about this movie, but one thing you can’t say is that it’s dull. It sparks discussion, and debate, and obnoxiously hyperbolic worst-everism. At the end of the day, whether it’s good or bad doesn’t really matter. The only thing that matters is that this film just… IS. And one way or another people will have something to say about it. Just don’t be a hyperbolic douche about it and try and enjoy things, you know?

[epicocityfic]

Fairy Tail Arcs: Worst to Best

For those who don’t know me that well, I’m a big fan of Fairy Tail. It’s really not that much of a surprise given some of the stories I’ve written.

However, over the last two months I’ve been diligently re-watching the series in preparation for the final season coming later this year. And it came into my mind to rank all of the arcs in order, as far as my own opinion goes. In fact, I figured I’d probably do one for the Openings and Endings, too.

So, without further ado, let’s rank them from the worst to the best. (NOTE: Filler arcs and ZERO will be included).

19) Daphne Arc

I really feel like, as far as arcs go, this is pretty much a no-brainer. Daphne arc is the single worst filler arc idea in all of Fairy Tail.

While, of course, I understand that this was intended to be the original ending for the series before it got popular in the anime, that doesn’t excuse how bad it was. And for four episodes, that’s saying something.

Genuinely, the arc has little going for it outside of Gray and Juvia’s Unison Raid. The arc is riddled with a plot hole given later revelations and the whole contrived conflict between Natsu and Gray was terribad. I mean, Natsu didn’t complete a job? Really, Gray?

I have no qualms putting this in last place.

18) Edolas Arc

If Daphne is horror for the anime, Edolas was horror as far as canon went.

Edolas was a weird arc, no denying, that felt more like a field trip than an actual arc. It has almost no impact on the rest of the series (save for Nichiya and the later reveal of Porlyusica) and squanders to interesting potential it had. What could have been an arc with the main characters using magical weapons was tossed aside in favor of the usual.

But that’s not the biggest issue for me. No, the biggest is that it’s slow as hell. It takes half the arc before any action even starts kicking in. And while getting backstory on Happy and Carla was...nice...I question the necessity of it.

The only things saving the arc from being a literal cesspool for me was the fight with the Dorma Anim and the godly Erza vs. Erza. Those were good, at least.

17/16/15/14) Lullaby Arc/Daybreak Arc/Macao Arc/Loke Arc

Yes, a four-way tie. It’s just too hard to decide if any one of these is worse than the others.

Not that I think any of these arcs are bad. Not at all. They’re just...very short. And very early.

These were the three arcs that occurred right at the beginning, with Fairy Tail in its formative stages, so to speak. While they introduced all the concepts in a good way (Zeref, guilds, the dragons, the strongest team, etc.) it was still when the series was finding its legs, and so it’s not as captivating as others.

As for the Loke Arc. Well, for one I hesitate to call it an arc, but it just wasn’t all that interesting to me in its brevity and served more as setup for the road to come. That was all.

13) Eclipse Celestial Spirits Arc

Oh, boy...where to begin with this one?

To note, I don’t consider the arc bad on mere principal. I think it’s one of those arcs that had potential and a lot of potentially good ideas that veered into a very weird territory that I wasn’t particularly comfortable with.

In fact, some of the stuff such as Hisui being a Celestial Spirit Wizard and the final battle against the Beast were pretty decent stuff, if not spectacular. Plus, Ophiuchus and Yukino’s spirits got a role, which is more than we could ask of the rest of the series. It even helps to lend this weight to the next major arc of the series.

But the rest of it drops the ball. Admittedly, some things are hilarious, like Wendy and Aquarius, Gray’s Dance Battle and the infinitely enjoyable card battle between Cana and Scorpio. But some of the handling when it came to characters like Lucy and Elfman’s battle were so disappointing and almost regressive in nature, it was bad.

This is really an arc I have no problem skipping, though I can see how others might not, and may like it instead.

12) Oracion Seis Arc

When I first read the Oracion Seis arc, I thought it was pretty good, since it started involving more than Fairy Tail and had some pretty good fights. But hindsight’s a bitch.

I don’t think the arc is bad. It’s just uneven. There’s a lot of start and stop within the arc that makes it feel longer than it actually is. It makes me bored before my adrenaline can go up with it before making me bored again. That’s why it’s so low on my list. I simply don’t enjoy it as much as I do other arcs.

However, it’s higher than those below for introducing some of the best concepts in the series: Jura, the enemies themselves and Wendy. These three were great and helped keep the arc afloat.

Oh, and Jellal’s return which made for one of my favorite Natsu solo fights in the series.

11) Avatar Arc

Avatar gets a lot of flak. I, personally, don’t see why.

“Then why is it so low on your list?!”

The answer to that is the same as the arc below it: uneven pacing with interesting concepts. It’s very jerky in a sense because the arc gives off the impression it’ll be a collection quest for the Fairy Tail members before it becomes this big battle thing. Gray’s “evil or not” starts off interesting before devolving to standard fare.

But the battle at the end is awesome. Meant to be a battle that showcases how strong the main team is, it does its job in the best of ways, and I can’t be mad at it. It’s awesome seeing the Fairy Tail crew back together again and kicking ass for the first time since Hades.

10) Galuna Island Arc

Galuna is weird for me. I think it’s good, especially Gray’s backstory. At the same time it was still in that sea legs phase of the series.

What I feel makes Galuna shine is that it’s Gray, not Natsu, who gets the big fight of the arc, even if Natsu does most of the work. It worked to not only develop Gray, but also Lyon and his crew.

Overall, I guess I could say Galuna is average. It’s an arc I can sit down and go “I can watch this arc on its own”. That’s a compliment, far as I’m concerned. It’s a good time. It just doesn’t particularly excel at anything that other arcs didn’t do better. Average.

9) Phantom Lord Arc

Everyone loves Phantom Lord. It’s typically cited as the arc that was the first time the series was “good”. And while I can definitely agree that it’s good, it’s simply blown out of the water by later arcs.

I think part of it is how much the fights aren’t really...fights. They’re more character pieces. Gray vs. Juvia is used to introduce Juvia. Elfman vs. Sol brings Lisanna into the equation. Totomaru was bland, as was Aria. So, naturally, Natsu vs. Gajeel makes up the slack.

However, the arc excelled at the sense of doom. There wasn’t a moment you truly felt like Fairy Tail could cut themselves some slack, and it’s what made this arc good. Combine that with the final battle and it is a very solid arc that’s good. Later arcs just do it all better.

8) Key of the Starry Heavens Arc

What’s this? A filler? So high?

Yes, indeed. In fact, I view this particular filler arc as an example of how to do filler arcs. No joke. Not only does it exist in canon and flesh out an event offhandedly mentioned, but it also serves to give Lucy character development by showing her dealing with this loss of family that the manga brushed over.

I’d go so far as to say it’s an arc that I think Mashima wanted to write but was told to move on from in order to make the plot clip along.

Indeed, what makes this arc a good arc is how it tackles character development, even in a filler. From Doranbolt getting over his survivor’s guilt (kinda) to Lucy dealing with her father’s death to the Oracion Seis having the seeds planted for their eventual reform. It’s just good. And the final segment is highly emotional and engaging with a mystery and reveal that, while not surprising, makes the arc more than it had any right being.

The only thing that drags it down on this list, sadly, is that the front half can be a bit slow at times; more of an adventure before the threat becomes palpable.

7/6) Fighting Festival Arc/Fairy Tail ZERO

I really can’t choose between these two arcs at all.

Fighting Festival has the stronger action core to it, but ZERO has the indisputably better story.

But both excel at their cores. While they lack in those detriment areas, the ones they choose to focus on, they do well. Natsu and Gajeel vs. Laxus is one of the best fights in the anime. Mira going batshit on Fried is amazing. Meanwhile, the darker storyline of ZERO is great and shows the guild built from the ground up with a twist that, while obvious, is no less emotional.

They do well at what they choose, while leaving the other parts in the dust. I’d watch them both again and enjoy them. But that they eschew one part in favor of the other is what keeps them below the top 5 arcs on my list.

And, indeed, it’s time for my top 5 arcs, which I don’t really feel are all that surprising.

5) Alvarez Arc

The Alvarez arc, or the final arc, I guess, is probably one of the most widely loathed arcs of the series. My personal belief is that it stems from people wanting Fairy Tail to be something it isn’t or just not paying attention (as Mashima has never been a spoon-feeder when it comes to the things he does).

I hold a different opinion, which is the reason it sits at number 5.

After a recent re-read of the arc, I can easily say it’s one of the better arcs. It’s fast-moving except for when it needs to deal with some myth arc stuff, but the myth arc chapters are so huge that you don’t feel like the story is slow at all. In fact, this arc ends up answering just about every single lingering question in the series and wraps it up with a neat little bow. From Zeref and Natsu’s relationship to the origin of the Dragon Slayers.

The only thing really missing from it was Acnologia having a decently fleshed out motive, which I hope the anime has the chance to expand upon like they did with the Oracion Seis.

The fights are also among my favorite in the manga. Yes, even the Irene fight which with official translations and a bit of fridge logic is probably one of my favorite fights in the series.

In general, I suppose I feel that Alvarez best espouses what Fairy Tail is all about, since out of the 14 major fights, only two of them are fought by solo characters and the rest are done in teams or groups. For a series that preaches friendship, it really sells it.

I could probably ramble on in defense of the arc, but I feel like I shouldn’t. It’s just a good ride, and if the anime adapts it well, I could even see it moving up on my list.

4) Grand Magic Games Arc

The GMGs are where I fell in love with Fairy Tail. I know, halfway through seems kind of a weird place, but I’m serious.

I think a large part of it was that we got to have other guilds again and expanded the world beyond the Fairy Tail sphere of influence. But the other part is just that Mashima structured the arc that well.

From the crushing loss at the beginning to growing into the number one guild, it made me laugh and cry and cheer Fairy Tail on, knowing they had what it took. I got angry at Sabertooth and Raven Tail, I pumped a fist when Natsu laid a beatdown on Sting and Rogue because he was just that much better.

It’s a credit to Mashima that he was able to build up this feeling if you let him. You felt like you were riding a high with all the characters.

And then the dragon invasion came.

If this part was its own separate arc, I’d argue it would be number 2 as an arc because it was easily the most captivating moment of the arc in an arc full of captivating moments. It was intense, emotional and never let up until the moment the Eclipse Gate was destroyed. After the major sacrifice and Natsu’s speech that it’s about living today, all I could do was let a breath out. It was 60 chapters of build-up, but it was worth the weight.

I almost find it hard to put it at number 4 given how much I loved the arc, but I just think the top 3 were quite a bit tighter.

3) Tower of Heaven Arc

Now that we’re sort of in the home stretch on arcs, Tower of Heaven was the first time the series felt like it had some real stakes. Not only did it begin to dip into the larger mythos, but behind the scenes it changed the structure of the magical world with the Council, something that would come into play many arcs later.

While the arc is short, it’s just well-structured. It develops Gray. It massively develops Erza. It develops Lucy and Juvia’s relationship. It offers good fights, and has arguably one of the most intense in Natsu vs. Jellal.

And all of it is paced well. Objectively, I could argue it’s the best arc in the series, but for me, it’s just missing that extra something. Something that the final two on my list have: all of the Fairy Tail members working together.

2) Tenrou Island Arc

I adore Tenrou.

I adore it for a different reason than the other arcs. Maybe it’s because it starts off with action but of the lighter variety before shifting to a darker kind. Maybe it’s the myth arc affect.

In the end, I think it’s because Mashima had a clear vision for this arc and its consequences. And there are consequences, especially as it wraps up the plot for the first half of the series.

It’s hard for me to find the words to say why I think Tenrou is so good, but the easiest one: Team Natsu vs. Hades.

Barring the fact that just about every other fight in the arc is really good (particularly Natsu vs. Zancrow, Gray vs. Ultear and Erza vs. Azuma), this fight to this day holds the title of the best. It’s a consistent back and forth that required at least 6 people to take Hades down and even then. It’s easily one of the most intense and serves as the strong crux of the arc that it needed to be.

Yet even with that, what pushes Tenrou up to number 2 is the ending with Acnologia. It’s unexpected, gives major consequences to Fairy Tail as a whole and is quite honestly a shock when you first experience it because it’s the first enemy they can’t overcome.

The only reason this remains below the top arc is because individually, most of the characters don’t get development. Only Cana and Juvia really do, I feel.

So, with all that out of the way, the obvious #1 arc.

1) Tartaros Arc

Could it have been anything other than Tartaros?

To give a caveat, Sun Village is an arc I consider to be part and parcel of Tartaros since it’s more a prologue. It’s a little slow on its own to be honest, but that doesn’t affect my opinions on the main arc itself.

That said, Tartaros is easily the best arc in the series.

From the word go it never lets up on its pacing. The Council gets slaughtered, the battle against the demons, Jellal vs. the Oracion Seis, the guild getting blown up. It’s a constant ride on the pacing. Part of that can probably be attributed to how Mashima broke the arcs down into mini-arcs.

But more than that, the arc has major consequences and development.

While pacing keeps an arc going strong, it’s all those other things that strengthen it. Every character of the main group gets development in spades, and so much of it ties back into the myth arc with the absolutely stunning reveal of where Igneel and the dragons were, coupled with Igneel vs. Acnologia.

Indeed, all of the fights were intense and solid, even the Jiemma fight that provided closure to both Minerva’s character and Sabertooth as a whole. All of it really played into that pacing where you never felt the guild was out of danger until that final tear-inducing scene.

It’s an intense ride. An emotional ride. A ride I would gladly take again and again.

That’s why it’s more than worthy of being my number one pick.

So, I hope you enjoyed this list and if you have a different opinion, feel free to share!

Dare to Be Silly, Epicocity

[fadedtoblue]

so what are your thoughts on elektra's arc in defenders

Wow, no way to give a short answer here, so I guess I’ll just jump in haha. Spoilers abound, obviously!

Overall, and there’s really no way for me to be truly objective about this gut response, but Elektra’s arc kicked all sorts of ass for me and I was thrilled to see her be given this level of focus in the storyline. I have to admit it’s not something I ever expected from the series. 

That being said, I think there were some definite mistakes made and things I wish they had done better…so let me run through a quick list of those, and then follow up with my list of highlights :).

Things that could have been better:

No significant Black Sky payoff. This was one of my biggest personal disappointments with the storyline. The limitations of the way they set up the Netflix universe leading up to this team up show really showed in this one…I have a feeling whatever they were planning for the Black Sky and the Hand in DD S1 got totally derailed by the time they got to Defenders, what with all the retconning of the Hand mythology to fit the K’un-Lun storyline. I’m not sure if this is because the individual shows had too much leeway with how they set up their individual character origins and storylines or how much input they get from high up to keep the plotting consistent…my impression was the former, and as a result, it seems like the Defenders’ writers were tasked to pick up all of the disparate pieces and just try to fit it into one semi-coherent storyline, with mixed results. Given how much they leaned into the Iron Fist stuff as a huge part of the Hand stuff, I’m not sure why they didn’t just retcon the concept of the Black Sky into one where it’s the Hand’s own Immortal Weapon…that would have been pretty easy and at least lends consistency if you’re going down that route in the story. Ultimately though, if I could have done it, I would have done a flashback scene (or I mean, even just someone monologuing about it, whatever) to Alexandra’s past where she actually has the prophecy / vision of the Black Sky. Like, that tidbit in the conversation between Gao and Alexandra was SO intriguing and it’s like, what does that even mean??? It would have been a cool way to better establish both Alexandra – show us why she became the leader of the Fingers, let her do some cool fighting / getting her hands dirty, AND provide some context on why she’s obsessed with the Black Sky and what she intended to do with one once she got it – as well as Elektra’s role in the context of being a Black Sky – give us some clarity on what it means to be one, define her powers / abilities better, and maybe even shed some light on why she was able to break out of her brainwashing (like maybe the Black Sky was never meant to be a weapon, but was meant to be something else, I don’t know). But I don’t write for the show so whatever, lol.

Elektra’s motivations after she kills Alexandra were way too opaque. I think a lot of people were rightfully confused at where her arc was supposed to go, which is totally fair given how it unfolded. I feel like we could have used one more episode to flesh out what was going on but ultimately, I think there were two issues: the progression on the slow but steady turnaround on her character may have been too subtle, and second, there just wasn’t enough time in the last two episodes to properly map out a way to sensibly show what her real endgame was since they basically needed her to stand-in for the face of the other side and help get the story rolling on into the final act. 

Here’s my general interpretation of what happened…

We know she was brought back as an empty vessel to become the ultimate weapon / killing machine for the Hand…I read a great description of this that compares Elektra’s resurrection as the Black Sky as the same as if you were to erase and reboot a phone, except this time you’ve unlocked EVERYTHING…this is the same for Elektra…she has these latent abilities that allow her to be an incredible weapon, but it took a very purposeful reboot to bring it out. Anyway, all is well and good until Elektra encounters a glitch in the programming…this glitch, of course, is Matt, and this tiny little crack in her system throws open the door to uncovering a side to herself that she had thought was lost…basically, her humanity. As she’s remembering / recovering, she’s also remembering what happened in her past life – and that was also used and trained to be someone’s weapon. That back then, just like now, she had no control and no say over her own life. And what she ultimately wants is to wrest back control from people who never viewed her as anything more than just an empty vessel for their desires, and to finally be able to control her own destiny. 

So this is why it’s significant that she kills BOTH Stick and Alexandra – they may have both felt genuinely toward Elektra and treated her as a surrogate daughter, but they also made her do terrible things for their own ends. Killing them symbolizes her wresting back her agency and I think, to me, clearly shows that she is on no side but her own. Taking control of the Hand was really not supposed to be the main point or anything permanent aka ‘look I’m a bad guy!!’, imo…but I think it was both a self-preservation move (you’re not gonna kill the head of the ancient ninja cult and then try to take them ALL down without securing an out for yourself first and working with them guarantees you some more time to do that) as well as a bit of a lazy storytelling way to slot someone in as the leading antagonist heading into the final fight. I think her conversations with Danny clarifies that to some degree, but not as much as I would have liked. 

The jump from here to the last fight is exactly why I think we needed one more episode of screen time to bridge the gap, but as to why she’d suddenly go from ‘I need to get more substance’ to ‘Let’s die here together’ – well, the whole last episode is setting up an impossible scenario for everyone involved. So we know the stakes are high and people gonna die. A newly independent Elektra without her humanity would have gotten everyone neutralized as quickly as possible and hauled ass out of that pit with some dragon bones and called it day. And that was probably her goal. But once the Defenders take the fight to the Hand in the bottom of the pit, and Elektra is face to face with Matt again…well, things get a little more muddled.

At some point, it seems that everyone left in that pit knows that they’re running out of time – Gao herself is so pragmatic about the damn thing that she doesn’t even attempt to bother getting out. I imagine Elektra has this knowledge too, and we know that she the one thing she doesn’t want is to go back to that dark place, to death…but the one thing that is perhaps a saving grace for her is that Matt is there too. Someone who can face the darkness with her. She probably thinks the only way to keep him there is to fight him, antagonize him, lie to him, but what she doesn’t realize is that he’s been ready this whole time to stay down there with her…and GAH, okay I gotta stop there. 

SOOO yeah, basically, I think there was a plan there, but the writers didn’t do a super job connecting the dots at the end, mostly b/c of the limited time to get the last act rolling…this is my interpretation and I’m sticking to it :).

Okay, now things that were AWESOME:

All of Elektra’s fights!!! Omg so one of my major annoyances in DD S2 was that it really felt like they nerfed Elektra’s skill level on the show. On the one hand I understood that she’s a much younger, impetuous presence on the show than she is in the comics, but still, she should have been able to handle Yazuka goons with no issues. If it took becoming the Black Sky to activate OP Elektra mode then well, I’M HERE FOR IT!! She was such a badass and I loved every single moment she was fighting someone on screen. Of course there were inconsistencies with her level of Black Sky amplified abilities, but then again, that was an issue with all of the heroes. But ughhh she truly became the fighter I wanted to see on screen. And all of her fights with Daredevil / Matt were particular delights. I spar best with you!!!

Elektra regaining her agency!! As I mentioned above, I don’t think the writers did the best job they could in executing this storyline but all I wanted from this show was for Elektra to really take control of her life again and SHE DID IT. Just like I had predicted in this post here. It literally went down exactly as I had hoped it would hahah. 

MCU Elektra inching closer to becoming comics Elektra. Okay so I had a lot of theories on how things were going to turn out for Elektra by the end of the show, my prevailing theories being based on what I thought I could expect from Marvel TV – either get the trite but not entirely unexpected ‘Elektra rediscovers her goodness and switches sides’ direction OR you get the ‘Matt angsting over Elektra but realizing she’s a lost cause and tries to kill her’ direction. My personal hope was that Elektra would wrest back her agency, ultimately survive the show (b/c killing her again would have been so dumb) and become a free agent, true neutral type of presence in the background of the Netflix Marvel universe, coming in to help bail out Matt’s ass from time to time on DD, but not necessarily having to operate in any romantic capacity, just a super skilled and reliable ally of Matt / Daredevil when he faces bigger antagonists. Given the unexpected level of Mattelektra in the show overall, I’m an optimistic fool and wondering if there may be more in the cards for them…but I’m not going to dwell too much on that now.

Elodie Yung!! The most awesome thing about Elektra’s arc was that we were blessed enough to have Elodie Yung cast as Elektra in the first place and the fact that she’s the head of the Mattelektra Protection Squad. I’ve always believed the role of Elektra could have become real hot garbage in a lesser actress’ hands but Elodie brings such thoughtfulness and presence to material that can sometimes be a little weak and potentially one dimensional. Her transformation over the course of the Defenders was such a treat to watch and I will love her forever. So yeah, I love Elodie as Elektra and I will love her as Elektra til the end of time.

AND THAT’S IT! Thanks for asking and making me write all of this out. This is a great way for me to continue emotionally processing everything that’s happened on the show lol.