#my detailed pros is pretty much me letting you know what episodes are worth watching

[ac-liveblogs]

The tl;dr on Trigun Stampede is that it’s a good show, but*

This is the show that I watched on a whim bc I thought Vash was cute and it consumed my brain for the next three months. I do not regret that decision. 

Heading into Trigun, I knew jackshit about it. I think the only character I could’ve recognised prior to this was 90s Vash (whose design I didn’t and still kind of don’t like!). I was too young for Adult Swim in the… very brief period of time that it was actually airing on Cartoon Network in Australia and I’m not sure if Trigun was even on it anyway, so I had absolutely no expectations walking in. 

Obviously, the most notable thing about this show to a newcomer is the animation. It’s been interesting watching RWBY vol 9 and Stampede back to back, let’s say that much. It’s stellar. I think this is one of the prettiest shows I’ve watched in a very long time, and the combat animation is fluid, energetic and full of so much personality. I was still deciding how I felt about the show right up until episode 3 - Millions Knives’ debut - and as soon as I saw the attack on Jeneora I was hitting up my WatchPal to recommend it. I think you can definitely see where Studio Orange cut corners - some locations can feel very empty - but for what they actually want you to focus on, the show looks great.

Episode 4’s reveal of Wolfwood’s Punisher (and what it can do) lives in my head rent-free to this day, and quite frankly episode 12 is one of my favourite fight scenes in pretty much anything. A lot of love and attention to detail goes into these fights, and the choreography is fresh and exciting. Vash shooting at Nai resembling a 3rd-person shooter was so much fun. WatchPal was very patient with me constantly asking to pause, rewind, watch that scene again, pick out this or that detail. Sorry dude. Worth it to see how terribad a fighter Nai actually is, though, shit’s hilarious. I think that even if you don’t care for the plot, this show is worth watching just for the fight scenes and set pieces. 

I think no one’s going to argue the plot is rushed, but what’s there is solid and interesting. This world is absolutely fascinating, and I had a lot of fun speculating on what was happening or what Nai’s goals were. The most fun I had was picking out the biblical themes (which I surprisingly know more of than I thought I did) and working out who was what was where and why, and I’ll be very curious to see where that all goes. I’m also an obnoxious Final Fantasy 7 purist, so I was obviously enjoying the heavy-handed pro-environmentalism themes and psychological horror elements. Nai was right until he was wrong. I’ll be… interested to see how this all resolves next season, because I’m not sure I’m meant to think Vash is right, exactly. 

Vash is an enjoyable MC, though he’s kind of a woobie, huh? I watched Badlands Rumble in the middle of all this and was shocked at the difference in characterisation (incidentally, not a good movie!) He was definitely a lot goofier in eps 1 and 2, but things took a real turn in episode 3 that he never quite cheered up from so I’m hoping to see him in his natural habitat once things chill out. “He’s both the hero and the heroine” is a phrase that’s stuck with me since I learnt the screenwriter apparently said it, and it’s certainly made the way he’s written incredibly interesting to dissect symbolically.

Picking apart symbolism in this show is one of my favourite things to do with it.

Surprisingly, I think William Conrad is one of the more interesting characters in the show. I’m so fascinated by the logic behind everything he’s done. I want more of this dude, I thought Meryl was gonna murk him and was pleasantly surprised when she didn’t.

I like Wolfwood. I like narrative foils and homoerotic subtext. I think Wolfwood is potentially really interesting and didn’t get to shine in Stampede, but he’s got at least one whole season ahead of him and I am already predicting that Trimax is going to make me exceptionally mentally unwell about him. I can pick ‘em. I can sense it. I can smell blood in the water. I am also saying, right now and for posterity, that Wolfwood is going to die. He’s gonna die in Stampede, he’s gonna die in Maximum, he probably died in the 90s. Sorry. It’s gonna happen.

If this weren’t a 12 episode series and it would’ve been unsatisfying for it to happen here, I would’ve expected him to die redeeming himself after betraying Vash in July. Now we’re past his Judas phase, I’m wondering what the New Biblical Imagery he’s going to pick up to replace it will be bc as is, uh... dude by all means should probably just power walk really fast in the other direction and never be seen or heard from again.

Nai is a really fun and sympathetic villain right up until he's fun and an absolute monster, and I respect his deranged manner and willingness to wrangle that twincest subtext as close to actual text as he could possibly get it. I am SO curious how much of that was in the original because jesus christ. I felt bad for the guy and agree with him to a certain extent, but my feelings about Nai’s handling are going to have to wait until I see how Vash’s arc continues and what happens to Plants going forward. Vash doesn’t seem particularly motivated to change the status quo at this stage which is... interesting. We’ll see what happens.

I was very lukewarm on Meryl until eps 10-12. Now it’s the Zazie-Meryl Power Hour. As soon as I realised they were parallels my brain woke up. While I’m really ??? unsure about Wolfwood’s trajectory going forward, I am very excited for Meryl’s. It also helps she turned into a chain-smoking disaster senpai in the timeskip. She’s Mary Magdalene also. That’s really cool. I felt really smart when I figured out that really obvious connection, finally, in episode 11. (I know some bible but not that much bible.)

I… I don’t get points for figuring out which two biblical figures Vash is representative of. No one does. I do get points for noticing he yanked Wolfwood’s entire colour scheme when he started trying to kill Nai, though. That was cool. That fight was so fucking cool. 

Trigun Stampede is a really fun show.

*But. 

It is a show absolutely hamstrung by its episode count. When you’re dealing with either 12 or 24 episode seasons you’re inevitably going to run into problems when you’re not working with original material, and Stampede was having serious problems fitting in all the plot points that it needed to before the finale. This show’s pace is absolutely breakneck with absolutely no room to breathe, and in the end that means the main cast’s relationships suffer for it. I was very disappointed to find that I really liked Roberto in the episode that he died, and that was episode 10. 

Episodes 10-12 leaves the implication of shenanigans and much stronger relationships than we got. That’s a real shame because the show roughly broke into Vash-Wolfwood, Vash-Nai and Meryl-Roberto with very little crossover - I know Vash/Meryl is a classic, but she ended up having more chemistry with Wolfwood, and any semblance of party dynamic evaporated once we got to Home. And speaking of Home, that lack of space between episodes and the necessity to explain Vash and Nai’s backstory ended up with us teleporting in and out, and the rest of the trip to July getting crammed off-screen. Integral scenes are missing - I had to consult a more knowledgeable coworker about the missing pieces of Wolfwood’s backstory so I could get his rough timeline (and age) actually explained to me, and I did find myself wanting to explore this world a lot more than we had time to do. 

Like. Seriously. What the hell is up with Legato. Who are you. How are you doing that. Why are you here. Why is your hair blue.

The photo of the group in episode 12 in particular really makes me feel like there’s a lot we missed out on without a couple of breather episodes here and there. I think with the exception of Vash and Nai, whose relationship is quite interesting and intense, I enjoyed the concepts of the characters more than the actual execution. However, I’m also 100% sure that Nai and Vash was the Absolute Main Focus of this season, so, I can let this go if season 2 delivers. 

Sorry Vashwood, you’re very fun in theory and I like you a lot, but we’re kind of pulling at threads here. Trimax is apparently gonna be an Experience though. 

I try to take the circumstances of a work’s creation into account when I talk about it, and between a 12 or 24 episode series I understand why Studio Orange chose 12, but Stampede really needed 15 or 16 to shine with the narrative it wanted to tell. I also understand why Stampede chose to seed future plot points that went absolutely nowhere this season - Wolfwood’s beef with Livio, Legato and Elendira being prime examples (christ this guy is gonna be busy in season 2), and the trip Home specifically after the Sand Steamer feels a bit pointless at this stage - but I can’t help but wonder if that time would have been better spent elsewhere. 

Although, a lot of fans couldn’t even deal with Milly’s absence even though it took about 5 seconds for me, someone who confused Trigun with Cowboy Bebop until quite recently, to work out what Meryl’s rough character arc was and why Milly was absent (but pretty clearly coming back later in very predictable way), so maybe Studio Orange was being wise by assuring, uh, certain fans they hadn’t forgotten or maliciously chosen to delete these characters. 

I’ve heard Trigun wasn’t as popular in Japan as it was in the West, so maybe that 12 episode pick was playing it safe, but since S2 has been greenlit and Stampede seems to have been a pretty big success, hopefully Orange can spring for 24 episodes this time and make this show really shine.

Anyway, I’m gonna read the manga now.

[wheres-sam]

I binge-watched the spn anime because of the brain rot

It’s bad except for the parts that are good, and it’s pretty to look at. Here’s a comprehensive list of pros and cons. Spoilers ahead!

Pros:

- more psychic kid backstories: Max (Nightmare), Lily (Darkness Calling), Jake (Loser)

- more psychic Sam

- more Azazel

- basically if you want more about the psychic/demon kids, watch the anime

- more young Winchesters

- the monsters, the superhuman abilities, the fight scenes, it all looks really cool animated. (But PSA it’s violent. It doesn’t shy away from blood and gore.)

- Sam and Jessica backstory

- more of the brothers being cute and funny together

- Missouri isn’t forgotten

- includes some Japanese legends/mythology

- the impala looks great in every scene. They did Baby good

- the “Supernatural” intro title

- the outro sketches of the boys hanging out with Baby

- Episodes adapted from the original show are different, but I like some of the changes? It’d be boring if it was an exact retelling and the visual medium wasn’t utilized. (I know I said spoilers before, but this is when they get detailed. If you wanna skip over, I’ll tell you where they STOP.)

Nightmare goes more into the abuse Max has suffered. Instead of locking Sam in a closet, Max sends Sam through the floor and covers the hole by breaking his bed in half, and it’s extremely sexy how Sam shoves the 2 halves apart with his mind. Later on Dean puts bandaids on Sam and they talk about demons loudly in front of a fast food intercom.

In My Time of Dying highlights the guilt Sam feels over Dean. In both the og and the anime John verbally blames Sam for not shooting Azazel, but where in the og Sam goes right on arguing, in the anime he reels back for a moment like he was slapped. Dean’s spirit touches Sam’s shoulder, and Sam knows immediately that it’s Dean. He doesn’t even question it. Instead of “Are you here?” it’s “I know you’re with me. I can feel it.” And I love that. Dean figures out right away he’s dealing with a reaper, and the reaper takes on the appearance of Mary to convince Dean to move on to the afterlife. Instead of a Ouija board, Sam uses a laptop to talk to Dean, and the first word Dean types is “Sammy!” Dean is so fond of his little brother and Sam is so baby.

Rising Son is an anime only episode, but it draws inspiration from John’s journal. Dean has a proper breakdown over his dad’s death and the possibility of having to kill Sam. Ms. Lyle, Sam’s favorite teacher who turns out to be possessed, is explored. John takes Dean hunting, and in the journal Dean hesitates to shoot a buck, and little Sam shoots it thinking it was endangering Dean. In the anime, Dean’s cornered by a moose and Sam makes it explode with his mind and it’s so !!! How little Sam’s first words are, “I’m glad you’re okay. It didn’t hurt you?” The boys are covered in blood and guts and Dean’s like 👁👄👁 “Why are you here? Did you do this?” And then Sam starts freaking out a little, the shock sets in. “I don’t know. I don’t know, honest.” And he’s staring at his hands, and I am a big fan of Sam showing superhuman signs as a kid. Like in the journal, Ms. Lyle tries to take Sam. She gives Sam the illusion of a choice to come with her or stay with Dean, and Sam chooses Dean. This ep is pretty much when John figures out Sam has demon blood. He kills another hunter that wants to kill Sam.

Crossroad is based on Crossroad Blues, and I love how the crossroads demon shows up. It’s hard to describe, but it’s so neat, like she’s walking underneath Dean in this mirror world, and then the mirror world takes over the regular world, so you really get this sense of otherworldly seclusion, existing outside of time.

What Is and Should Never Be shows Dean is a firefighter in his ‘Mary never died’ world, and Sam got to play soccer growing up like he wanted. The brothers hold each other after Dean is saved from the Djinn.

AHBL part 1. When Azazel shows Sam that he fed Sam his blood, Sam gags and slaps a hand over his mouth, and I like that reaction more than the live action. The psychic kids get to go more anime with their powers, and that’s a lot of fun. They don’t need weapons. Ava slams Sam into the brick side of a building and cuts him without touching him. Jake snaps Ava’s neck with one hand and then catches Sam in his arms. When Jake attacks Sam, there’s no gun or knife. He’s relying on his super strength, his fists. Sam throws his arms up to protect himself, and (accidentally?) pushes Jake back with his mind, and the collision creates a crater in the ground. Jake puts his fist through Sam’s chest to kill him. It’s brutal and it’s rad as fuck. These kids are terrifyingly powerful.

The Sam and Dean reunion before Sam is killed is not as emotional as the live action imo, but what the anime does intrigues me. Hurts in a different way. Because Sam is stunned after he uses telekinesis again, on Jake, and when he hears Dean behind him Sam freezes. He doesn’t look relieved to see Dean, but wary and weary. It’s Dean taking steps towards him, not the other way around, and it has to be because Sam doesn’t know if Dean saw him push Jake back. Sam doesn’t know how Dean’s going to respond to all this, to him, having powers that come from a demon, the demon, Azazel. Sam hasn’t had a chance to process anything. He’s scared. He’s tired. And the way the anime focuses on Sam’s eyes here. Gah. “Dean. Dean, I’m...” I’m sorry. I’m all right. I’m glad you’re okay. I’m a monster. There’s also this one shot between Sam and Azazel that sends me because of how anime it is.

AHBL part 2. I love how Sam brought back to life is animated, with all the color returning to his face and a light wind rustling his hair and his lips parting to indicate his soul returning to his body. Jake attacks Dean, and, a lot like how Sam activates telekinesis to save Dean from Max in Nightmare, Sam gets a burst of superhuman strength. He rips Jake’s arm off and tackles him to the ground and beats him to death, punches holes into his body, and it’s so savage and bloody and scary, and I love it. The Devil’s Gate opening looks so cool animated. Same goes for Dean shooting Azazel with the Colt.

Not to turn this into a meta post, but I also noticed how the last couple times Sam uses his powers they’re colored green-yellow, the same colors as Mary’s ghost when she reveals herself in the anime’s Home, and I don’t know if that’s intentional, but it’s neat how it draws a connection to Sam’s biological family instead of Azazel’s blood.

The Spirit of Vegas is like Bad Day at Black Rock, but Dean has all the bad luck instead, and it shows off the silly cartoony physics that make animation fun. The boys sleep outside and split a chunk of bread for dinner. Also this lil bit of Dean’s hair tied in a bow.

- (STOP) the brothers are pretty. I am not immune to animated Sam and Dean Winchester.

Cons:

- Jensen doesn’t voice Dean until the last 2 episodes

- The English dialogue is really bad sometimes. I wish I could’ve watched the sub, but I couldn’t figure out how to change the language

- Some character designs are really different from the live action, and maybe that’s petty, but if you’re gonna change the characters diversify them? Don’t just make them unrecognizable white people

- Missouri’s design as a stereotypical witch doctor is racist

- Gordon is replaced by some British guy named Jason?? Why

- There’s an LGBT character who is not accepted by her family and, while that bigotry is always shown to be negative and she dies the hero of the episode, she still dies ://

- In the English dub Lily’s gf is made into her roommate instead. Idk about the sub

- Bobby’s pretty much a totally different character

- Sam and Dean are OOC sometimes

- Dean’s hair usually looks darker than Sam’s and it drives me crazy

- The storytelling is, overall, not nearly as good as the live action

- The non-Japanese lore in some episodes makes no sense. Sometimes it’s just plain ridiculous?? Like there’s a giant robot made of cars and scrap metal controlled by a demon? ? I wish I was making this up

- Meg’s role is severely reduced

- No Harvelles or Roadhouse

- Shadows are overused, but maybe that’s because the og show is so dark?

- I don’t mind the art style. I like the aesthetic, but I wish it was a little more expressive. It doesn’t do Sam’s puppy eyes justice.

- AZAZEL’S SHADOW?? PROPORTIONS?? PEA SIZED HEAD

- Idk why they mashed season 1 and 2 together? The story feels rushed

- there’s not as much chemistry between Sam and Dean, but that’s a given without J2 on screen

- Nobody tells you!! That there’s scenes after the credits!! And some of them are important! Why are important scenes after the credits??

The anime would not be good on its own, without the heart and depth the live action brings, but it works as supplementary material you can cherry pick from. I would watch more if there were more episodes.

It hasn’t turned me off from wanting an spn anime. I’d like to see it continued or redone, with updated animation and better scripts. There’s a lot of potential in exploring more about the psychic kids and Sam’s powers, storylines that were cut short in the og show. Animation is a great medium for showing off the supernatural, getting creative and creepier with the designs, dramatic with the fight scenes, without having to worry about bad CGI. I don’t want a live action reboot, but I think a redone animated series could be a lot of fun! (As long as it’s not an excuse to make any romantic ships take over. SPN is a platonic love story, and I like it that way.)

If you made it to the end here and are interested in watching the spn anime, you can watch it for free on the CW Seed app! You can probably stream it elsewhere, but idk where!

[nellie-elizabeth]

The Legend of Vox Machina: The Feast of Realms (1x03)

Okay what the FUCK actually though this is so good I'm crying.

Cons:

Uhhh... I guess I'm going to say what a lot of people are saying, which is that a 22-ish minute runtime feels very short? I don't care that things are changed/shortened/removed, and I'm already getting a little peeved with seeing people criticize along the lines of "but Vex got two natural twenties in the stream, she should have had this epic moment yada yada..." this show wouldn't be sustainable as a story if they actually followed the role of the dice in every instance. Of course Delilah doesn't fall on her ass in her opening villain reveal fight, y'all. But even though that's not at all my gripe, I will say things happen so quickly that I do wonder how people new to the story will react! Percy has like two lines of dialogue about the Briarwoods. One, "they took everything from me", and two, "they killed my whole family". I mean, sure, that's the important information to impart, but it certainly doesn't leave a lot of room for these reveals to breathe.

Very minor clunky moment that felt like they had to cut something for time, when they realize Vax is in trouble and Pike says "ugh, we lost the ticket?" to get their weapons back from coat check... there should have been a beat where the Matt Mercer NPC refused to give them their stuff without the ticket, but it wasn't there so I kind of blinked at that moment. Super minor, but there you have it. I can't spend the whole review in utter adulation, that would just be embarrassing.

Pros:

This episode was perfect, holy shit! If after the two-part opener I was having a good time, pleased with what I was seeing, now I'm hyped. Now I think this show is worth recommending to those not in the know, now I think this might be a way to get people intrigued and wanting to go back and watch the stream. Now I'm in the place where I'll be pretty upset if they don't get to make as many seasons of this thing as they want, as many as will let them tell the whole fucking story. It's really good, y'all. It's really, really good.

There's so much to talk about, but let's start with some of my favorite small moments, things I only caught on my second or third watch-through (because yes, I've seen this episode in full three times already, and watched the fight scene at the end more than that). You've got the Easter eggs, particularly the tapestry in the keep that shows the legendary cow episode. You've got the shot of Sylas and Delilah walking by a mirror, and only Delilah's reflection is visible. You've got the broader Critter references, the way Scanlan's outfit is a reference to Sam's ridiculousness at live shows. You've got Simon the belt, with a little eyepatch, so adorable.

And I could probably list a hundred of these, but a few of my favorite smaller character beats, the little details that make these people seem like a real group of friends. Things like Vax and Grog's prank war, Vax calling Pike "Pickle", Scanlan asking Grog to pick the code word, Vex and Vax both immediately closing ranks with Percy and asking what they can do to help when they see him freaking out, Keyleth being worried about Percy during dinner, and Vex jumping in to smooth things over, moments during battle like Pike healing Vax, Pike making Grog's weapon super-charged, Grog saving Percy and taking on Sylas one-on-one, Keyleth's plant magic saving Pike, Keyleth helping Vax to walk after his injuries... I could go on, there's just so much going on here that makes the characters come alive. These tiny moments that would be hard to miss if you didn't know they could have been there, but that add so much life to the characters. I feel like I'm getting to know them again, that I truly have the sense of them as friends, and complex individuals with all their group dynamics and one-on-one dynamics within that group. Truly impressive how much of this they're able to include, even with the extremely short amount of time they have to tell the story. I think I was worried that we'd lose this flavor, that there would be so much plot to get through that the characters would feel like pieces on a chess board, just going where they needed to go to move things along. I'm delighted that this is not the case, and that everyone feels truly alive to me already.

Shout-out also to my favorite comedy moments of the episode. The first coming at the very beginning, where Keyleth does her Disney Princess routine with the plants and the animals, walking into a kitchen where everyone else is clearly exhausted/hung over. It pairs so well with how we saw Keyleth handling her drink in the opening episode, the fact that she's the only chipper morning person. My other favorite joke was thanks to Sam's line delivery, when Grog suggests "Chenga" as the safe word, and Scanlan says "Okay. My safe word's 'Mommy'". That cracked me up. I don't know what it is about Sam's delivery as Scanlan, but Scanlan is funny to me in a way specific to himself, that's slightly different from merely being Sam's brand of comedy on the screen. He really is playing a character, and to be honest I'm surprisingly enjoying Scanlan quite a lot overall!

Let's talk villains, babeyyyy. God, Sylas and Delilah are hot, and their voice actors are blowing it out of the water! Matt as Sylas is properly sinister and sexy, and Grey DeLisle-Griffin as Delilah can step on me. They're really relishing in the subtle torture of Percy in this episode, clearly knowing who he is and enjoying making him squirm. There's also this obvious affection and devotion between them from the jump. You know they're a team, and they're all the more scary for it. Sylas biting Vax was... a lot... in the best way, and Delilah's line where she calls Percy a "pup" was such a good version of what Matt did in the stream at that moment! I'm already so excited to see the story play out with them. It still feels like a dream come true that I'm even getting to watch this.

Let's take a moment to talk about Taliesin Jaffe. Dude deserves an award for his performance in this show, and we're only just getting fucking started. God, I couldn't believe how good he was with every line. The dream at the start, Vex asking him if he had a bad dream, and his delivery on "is there any other kind" was just so perfectly emo in that very Percy de Rolo way. His innocent and earnest excitement about attending the banquet, and then the moment of truth when the Briarwoods of Whitestone are announced... chilling. And then everything at the dinner table, the way he growls out the barest of explanations to his friends... his ferociousness during the fight, and then of course "you fool, now your soul is forfeit"... chills. Just. Chills to all of it. I think he's doing an incredible job. I'll repeat what I've said before: the Briarwood arc is such a strong part of campaign one, and that's in large part due to Matt, of course, and his crafting of the story. But I really think that in the hands of a less skilled performer playing Percy, we wouldn't have the extremely fond memories we have of it today. He is so, so good at playing the dark, brooding young man out for revenge. He is the platonic ideal of that trope and he is taking it to new levels here in the animated version. I'm dying of happiness over it all.

So after I watched the full episode three times, I went back and watched the courtyard fight and the No Mercy Percy part like... five times in a row. It's some of my favorite stuff that I've seen in any show ever; I can already tell it's going to be imprinted on my mind for a long time.

I think what impresses me is how intimidating the Briarwoods managed to be, and it's making me look back more favorably on some aspects of the first two episodes. Because we saw these guys get their asses kicked by a dragon, but then we saw them rally, strategize, and kill said dragon in the very next episode, once they had their shit together. But here? Grog goes one-on-one with Sylas, and while he briefly seems to be making an impact with Pike's help, ultimately he's no match for this single vampire. Delilah bats away Keyleth and Vex's attack like it's nothing. Even after Keyleth does the cool plant magic thing, easily the most intense magic of the fight, the Briarwoods only decide to run off because they realize their fight has been noticed and they don't want to blow their cover and position with the council. You get the sense that had they not been worried about being caught, they would have cut through those vines and taken their sweet time murdering every member of Vox Machina, if they'd felt like it.

And just like in the Brimscythe fight, the characters all have a chance to do the things they're best at. Only this time, none of it works, and not because they're unprepared or fucking up, but because Delilah and Sylas are just that powerful. Percy shoots Sylas in the chest, and it doesn't matter. Keyleth shape shifts, and throws powerful nature spells at them. Doesn't matter. Vex makes a perfect shot at Delilah. Grog is going ham on Sylas' ass, swinging his axe with everything he's got, and yeah, you've guessed it, doesn't matter. That's so scary, it ups the stakes in this very obvious, dramatic way, and then the Briarwoods drive off before we get any sort of real resolution. I love that we start off our relationship with these villains by getting a big fight scene, because we're building up to some even more intense stuff later down the road, and this gives me such high hopes for how it's going to go.

Along the same line, I love how hurt Vax was, how seriously imperiled he was. While I've heard some criticism that the gore in the show feels a bit gratuitous, and while I might even agree with that in some moments, one thing that it does do is make you understand the physical stakes in a very clear way. In a lot of animated shows, characters look weak, they're lying on the ground, but they don't appear to be bleeding, and it's just sort of through context/inference that we know how worried we're meant to be about them. Here, Vax gets bitten in the neck by a vampire, and then he jumps out a window, and then he stands and tries to fight and is immediately slashed through the chest. We see the blood clouding in the water when Grog is getting cut up by Craven Edge (shout out to the sword, the design is awesome and I'm so glad it got its moment to shine, in a one-on-one against Grog, which is significant for those of us in the know!). It's an immediate sense of peril, and while we can be sure that Vax isn't actually going to die here and now, it sets the stakes for how fucked up these characters might become in later episodes, how injured and weak and scared and in pain.

The fight was high octane and intensely animated and fun all the way through, and then there's Percy, turning and yelling at his friends, which is not in the streaming show but I love as an addition, showing that he's so off-kilter he can't be trusted to be reasonable with them. And then my favorite bit from all three episodes thus far: Percy reloading his Pepperbox, cocking the gun, kicking Desmond down flat onto his back. Pointing the gun at him. Putting on the mask. Black shadow curling up from around him, his shadow on the ground forming... something clearly inhuman. Shooting Desmond's hand. "Fool. Now your soul is forfeit."

Just... chilling. Everything about the way this was shot, animated, voice acted, the soundtrack, the script... absolutely brilliant and bad-ass and untouchable.

For me personally, this fight and the fallout with Percy was as near perfection as one could hope to get in an animated telling of this story. It doesn't bother me even a little bit that things have changed from the stream to now; it set the stakes, and it's telling its own version of the story so many of us already know in another form. If I could give some of my fellow viewers one piece of advice, it would be to try and let go of the stream just a little bit. I purposefully chose not to do a Briarwood re-watch as the animated series came up, and I think that was the right call. Is every single moment I loved going to be animated exactly the way I pictured it in my head? Nope! Not even close! But so far, especially with episode three, I'm finding it very easy to love what I've been given, and not stress so much about what's not there. The stream is always going to be there for you to go back and watch. That version of the story isn't dying, or being replaced. This is just a new version of that story, and I think it's pretty dang outstanding so far.

My rating for this third episode is pretty dang high. I can't remember the last time I felt so immediately sucked in and invested in a story.

9.5/10

[kbsd]

not sure if you’ve answered this before, but what’s your process look like when you make an amv? i’m just curious and in constant awe of ppl who can make videos like you do :)

hello all!!! i have answered this before and i have a vid help tag with other asks i’ve gotten about stuff like this! but i’ve gotten several more messages along these lines so i’m just going to answer a bunch of them together (under a cut since i love to ramble about editing lol). i do just wanna say i’m definitely not the authority on video editing and obv everyone has their own techniques!

edit: i just finished typing all this up and it’s SO long so sorry in advance LMAO god bless anyone who reads this entire thing

so i work in news tv and we have a very specific workflow for writing scripts, sourcing video, producing, and editing. i’ve just applied that to making amvs! for every video i make, i copy the song lyrics into a google doc and adjust them to match the song i’ve cut (i often will trim songs for time and/or content purposes). then i start planning! i’ll mark down what clip i want to use for each lyric next to that line, and any sound bites i want to use (with episode numbers!). i’ll color code between video and sound bites and lyrics, so my scripts end up looking something like this (for my honeybee amv):

doing the planning ahead of time makes everything much easier when it’s a video that spans the whole show or involves a lot of sourcing, like honeybee or sports analogies. that way when i get to the actual editing process, i already know what i’m going to do and have a game plan. for videos like happy ending or believe it or not, where i’m mainly just pulling from a few episodes, i can just plan it in my head as opposed to writing it all down, and produce as i edit. obviously i do make in-the-moment decisions while editing—sometimes a shot doesn’t work the way i thought it would, or i go where the video takes me—but planning ahead definitely helps. i know some people use spreadsheets as well, with columns for lyrics, video clips, and sound bites if applicable. once you find a system that works, it actually goes pretty quickly.

as for sourcing clips themselves/finding clips within episodes, i talked about that here and kind of here. the short version is that transcripts are a must, and the supernatural wiki is hugely helpful by cataloguing all the hugs, prayers, phone calls, etc. in the show. gifmakers that tag episode numbers on their posts are your friends. it gets easier the more video you make—that’s another huge reason i make the google docs for each video (even the ones i plan in my head, i end up going back and making a loose script with episode notes just for reference). if i can’t remember where something is but i know i used it in another video, i can easily reference past scripts!

i also cut all my videos in the same project in premiere pro, so i can flip between them easily. instead of checking a past script, i can just go to the video sequence itself and copy the clip i’m looking for! this was especially helpful when i match cut together the 5x18 and 4x22 wall slam shots for my bestie video, and then stole it from myself for honeybee hahaha. at any given time i have at least 8 sequences open:

because of the sheer volume of videos i make, it’s worth it for me to download the entire show—i have all 327 episodes in HD, plus deleted scenes. if you think you’re only going to make a few videos, i’d start with scene packs. you can usually just google “destiel [or whatever ship/character you’re looking for] scene packs” and there will be any number of ones you can download. if you need other specific scenes, you can always download/torrent individual episodes or screen record netflix (that’s what i did before i got HD download links). i’m happy to share my links if you DM, but be warned it’s a lot of disk space (about 500GB on my hard drive). someone also compiled every destiel scene, downloadable here.

having every episode already loaded in premiere for all my projects also makes it a lot easier to source clips. once i use a clip in a video, i’ll put a marker on the episode file, so that after a while i have most of the important scenes/lines marked to easily find them. to give you an idea, this is my episode file in premiere for 12x10 lily sunder has some regrets (markers at destiel scenes, the car fight, hot girl cas, etc.). markers are the green tabs along the bottom:

premiere also lets you color code and name markers, so ONE DAY i will go back and color code them all. the ones above are all the same color, but in a perfect world, i’d have a myraid—for destiel shots like hugs, touches, looks; for important pieces of dialogue; for action shots; etc. but for now this works ok for me, so that’s a project for another time!

between detailed scripts, one giant premiere project, markers, the wiki, and my own memory, i have so many points of reference that i can usually find any clip i need in about 2 minutes max. sound bites are often harder to start out, or tiny specific shots i haven’t used before, and that’s when i turn to tumblr gifsets or beloved mutuals to crowdsource. but if you’re as obsessive about marking/keeping neat scripts as i am, it gets easier and easier with every video you make. that’s part of why i’m able to cut videos together so quickly. (also i want to stress i do this for a living and have to produce/edit a new piece for my show every day so i’m used to it. and compared to constantly updating content/sources and news that changes every day, 327 highly documented episodes that never change are much easier to handle hahaha)

this is all great for me since i make so many videos and plan to continue doing so, but if you’re only making a few, this level of work isn’t worth it imo. really it’s all about developing a system that works for you. whatever you do with episodes/sourcing, though, i cannot recommend planning things out in a script ahead of time enough. 

everything i just mentioned is producing, though. for the editing process, i usually do it in this order:

music first. any parts i want to cut, i make sure it all sounds smooth

then soundbites. i usually try to weave them into the lyrics—i have characters talk in breaks between lines or instrumental sections as much as possible. i’ll sometimes go so far as looped/extending an intsrumental part to make room for the soundbite i want there lol. if i do have dialogue over a line, i do the sound mixing/levels at this point as well to make sure everything is audible/one doesn’t overpower the other. (also i always include the video that goes with these bites when i drop them in, and decide later if i want to show the character speaking or have other clips cover the dialogue)

once i have all the audio locked in, then i bring in all my other video clips. sometimes i edit completely chronologically, sometimes jumping from section to section—it depends on the song or how i’m feeling

double check sound mixing. i usually listen to my videos through a few times, with headphones and without to make sure it’ll sound good no matter how people watch it

once i have picture and audio lock, i go through and color correct my clips. i’m basic and just use lumetri color in premiere, and usually just play with brightness, saturation, temperature, and tint until i like it

render and export! :)

i always have several audio tracks, but i try to keep my video tracks condensed. i’ll drop clips on a V2 level, and edit a section there, and drop the whole chunk down to V1 so i know it’s finished. that way when i leave and come back i can know where i left off/what’s done/etc. to give you an idea, this is the timeline for my what the hell video:

i always render as H.264 with high bitrate, and make sure to check “render at maximum depth” and “use maximum render quality” for the best quality. i’m sorry, but i don’t know what the equivalent options are in final cut, imovie, kdenlive, etc. i post on youtube mostly so i don’t have to sacrifice quality, but usually just using a lower bitrate will get you under the tumblr file size limit and it’ll still look good.

as for the anon who asked about “polishing”: first of all, thank you!! second of all, it’s in the details. all of this is a matter of taste and my own insanity, but here are some little things i always try to do:

after i color correct, i blur out any credits from the starts of episodes. i use gaussian blur for this, but really any blur tool works

as much as possible, i avoid clips where we see a character’s mouth move but don’t hear the words. in tv/film we call it “lip flap” and i just think it looks messy. also i’m trained to avoid it at all costs at work hahaha. it’s more for serious videos that this matters a lot to me (e.g. i think i did a really good job eliminating lip flap in my happy ending amv)—for comedy videos i don’t sweat it as much

i put audio fades on the start and end of every single audio clip i use, even if i don’t think i need it, to make sure everything sounds smooth

i use markers for timing, especially in action-y videos like what the hell. i’ll put a marker on the clip i’m using at the exact moment a punch lands, and in the song on the beat. if i have the magnet/snap in timeline tool on i can just easily snap them together instead of having to spend time finagling it

this is such a small thing but i dip/cut to black for a tiny bit at the start and end of every video. this way if i post with tumblr video player, there’s black between the loops, and it gives you a beat before the video restarts. i do this even on videos i post on youtube, just because i think it looks nicer/more professional

this is 1,500 words so i’m going to stop myself before i pull something. if you have follow-up questions feel free to ask and i’ll continue to add them to the vid help tag, but any more questions about sourcing clips or my process in general i’ll just link this post going forward. anyone who made it this far, i am sending to a telepathic kiss. thank you for reading and happy editing!

[somegirlsnerdywords2]

Anime i’ve Watched

That begin with a B (Part 3)!

Yep this is how i’m going to bring over all the anime and manga i’ve watched and posted about on the old blog. It’s not so detailed but it will have to do. Anything new I watch or read from this point on will have their own posts.

Boku no Hero Academia (My Hero Academia):

Genres: action, comedy, school, shounen, super power

Synopsis: The appearance of "quirks," newly discovered super powers, has been steadily increasing over the years, with 80 percent of humanity possessing various abilities from manipulation of elements to shapeshifting. This leaves the remainder of the world completely powerless, and Izuku Midoriya is one such individual. Since he was a child, the ambitious middle schooler has wanted nothing more than to be a hero. Izuku's unfair fate leaves him admiring heroes and taking notes on them whenever he can. But it seems that his persistence has borne some fruit: Izuku meets the number one hero and his personal idol, All Might. All Might's quirk is a unique ability that can be inherited, and he has chosen Izuku to be his successor! Enduring many months of grueling training, Izuku enrolls in UA High, a prestigious high school famous for its excellent hero training program, and this year's freshmen look especially promising. With his bizarre but talented classmates and the looming threat of a villainous organization, Izuku will soon learn what it really means to be a hero. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

My Rating: 10/10

Finished airing in 2016 with a total of 13 episodes.

My Thoughts: Perfection delivered in 13 episodes. What a beginning to an amazing series and honestly who doesn’t love a good underdog story full of heroes and villains? I know this girl sure does! Amazing cast of characters, story, music and art/ animation. A must see for fans of the superhero genre and a great place for fans of Western comics to start their anime journey in my personal opinion.

Boku no Hero Academia 2nd Season (My Hero Academia 2):

Genres: action, comedy, superpower, school, shounen

Synopsis: At UA Academy, not even a violent attack can disrupt their most prestigious event: the school sports festival. Renowned across Japan, this festival is an opportunity for aspiring heroes to showcase their abilities, both to the public and potential recruiters.

However, the path to glory is never easy, especially for Izuku Midoriya—whose quirk possesses great raw power but is also cripplingly inefficient. Pitted against his talented classmates, such as the fire and ice wielding Shouto Todoroki, Izuku must utilize his sharp wits and master his surroundings to achieve victory and prove to the world his worth. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

My Rating: 10/10

Finished airing in 2017 with a total of 25 episodes.

My Thoughts: A second season that’s as good as its first?! Virtually unheard of but here you have it in the form of Boku no Hero Academia season 2! I just love this story and these characters even more with each passing season. A must watch for fans of the 1st season!

Boku no Hero Academia 3rd Season (My Hero Academia 3):

Genres: action, comedy, school, superpower, shounen

Synopsis:  As summer arrives for the students at UA Academy, each of these superheroes-in-training puts in their best efforts to become renowned heroes. They head off to a forest training camp run by UA's pro heroes, where the students face one another in battle and go through dangerous tests, improving their abilities and pushing past their limits. However, their school trip is suddenly turned upside down when the League of Villains arrives, invading the camp with a mission to capture one of the students. Boku no Hero Academia 3rd Season follows Izuku "Deku" Midoriya, an ambitious student training to achieve his dream of becoming a hero similar to his role model—All Might. Being one of the students caught up amidst the chaos of the villain attack, Deku must take a stand with his classmates and fight for their survival. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

My Rating: 9/10

Finished airing in 2018 with a total of 25 episodes.

My Thoughts: I have no idea why season 3 lost a point but a 9/10 from me is basically perfection and all the praise so don’t let the point lower rating deter you from checking out this installment of the series. Suppose it’s time to watch the 4th season, eh?

Bonjour♪Koiaji Pâtisserie (Bonjour♪Sweet Love Patisserie):

Genres: slice of life, comedy, reverse harem, romance, shoujo, ONA

Synopsis:  Sayuri Haruno dreams of becoming a pastry chef and enrolls in Fleurir Confectionary Academy, an elite school located in Tokyo's trendy Aoyama district. At Fleurir, she finds herself surrounded by charming boys, each one distinctly unique. Out of the entire class, Ryou Kouzuki's desire to become a pastry chef is the strongest. Blessed with unparalleled technique, instructor Mitsuki Aoi acts like a prince and is hugely popular at the school. Gilbert Hanafusa, the mood maker of the bunch, is a student from France. Yoshinosuke Suzumi is not very good at expressing his feelings, but underneath his stony exterior lies a wholehearted passion for wagashi (Japanese sweets).

As Sayuri pours her heart and soul into making her dream a reality, she encounters many happenings... (Source: NTV)

My Rating: 6/10

An ONA that finished airing in 2015 with a total of 24, 5 minute episodes. 

My Thoughts: A reverse harem style ONA featuring delicious looking treats... all brought to you in short 5 minute bites! As far as reverse harem animes go this really wasn’t all that bad but like most others in the genre (or look to fit the genre) there just wasn’t much deapth... though honestly what do you expect with 5 minute episodes?! Pretty male characters and lovely art. 

Brothers Conflict:

Genres: reverse harem, romance, shoujo

Synopsis:  Ema Hinata is a sweet girl with only her father to call family. One day, she learns that he will be remarrying Miwa Asahina, a wealthy fashion designer. Though she's glad she has a new place to call home, the family she gains is greater than she could ever imagine—Ema now has 13 step-brothers! Wishing to give her father space, she moves into the Sunrise Residence where her brothers live . As she settles in, Ema realizes she may not experience the loving kinship of a family that she has always longed for, as many of her new brothers exhibit feelings toward Ema that aren't just familial. With each brother desiring Ema's attention in his own way, will she be able to work toward a happy ending for all, or will she choose one brother that has stolen her heart? [Written by MAL Rewrite]

My Rating: 6/10

Finished airing in 2013 with a total of 12 episodes. 

My Thoughts: And here we have yet another reverse harem... also not the worst of the worst but really nothing to write home about. Definitely uncomfortable with the whole step siblings premise so if you’re like me and weirded out by that one i’d avoid this anime. Aside from that there isn't really much to say. The story and characters are lacking but there’s a male character sure to fit every persons tastes so there’s that... I suppose? 

Bungou Stray Dogs:

Genres: action, comedy, mystery, seinen, superpower, supernatural

Synopsis:  For weeks, Atsushi Nakajima's orphanage has been plagued by a mystical tiger that only he seems to be aware of. Suspected to be behind the strange incidents, the 18-year-old is abruptly kicked out of the orphanage and left hungry, homeless, and wandering through the city. While starving on a riverbank, Atsushi saves a rather eccentric man named Osamu Dazai from drowning. Whimsical suicide enthusiast and supernatural detective, Dazai has been investigating the same tiger that has been terrorizing the boy. Together with Dazai's partner Doppo Kunikida, they solve the mystery, but its resolution leaves Atsushi in a tight spot. As various odd events take place, Atsushi is coerced into joining their firm of supernatural investigators, taking on unusual cases the police cannot handle, alongside his numerous enigmatic co-workers. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

My Rating: 7/10

Finished airing in 2016 with a total of 12 episodes. 

My Thoughts: You know what? This is honestly one I truly wanted to love but for some reason it just wasn’t a fit. I know plenty of people that love this series and i’m afraid my own comments won’t do it much justice so if any of you guys have any thoughts or opinions to add be sure to send them my way! Love, love, love the art style.

Byousoku 5 Centimeter (5 Centimeters Per Second):

Genres: drama, romance, slice of life, film

Synopsis:  What happens when two people love each other but just aren't meant to be together? Takaki Toono and Akari Shinohara are childhood friends, but circumstances beyond their control tear them apart. They promise to stay in contact, and although the progression of time widens the distance between them, the chain of memories remains ever-present. Byousoku 5 Centimeter is a romantic drama that focuses on the mundane and harsh reality of long-distance relationships. Stuck in the past and unable to make any new memories, Takaki and Akari cling to the hope of seeing each other again. They live their everyday lives half-heartedly, both hurting themselves and the people around them. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

My Rating: 7/10

A film (or three part) series that aired in 2007.

My Thoughts: The artwork and sound are outstanding but this one was another miss from me. After rave reviews I expected more and was a bit disappointed with what I got. This is all the more true considering I recall very little about this title. 

[florrickandassociates]

TGF Thoughts: 4x07-- The Gang Discovers Who Killed Jeffrey Epstein

What a weird episode. 

This episode is something else. The writers REALLY overestimated how much the audience (or at least the fandom) liked the pee tape and Melania divorce episodes if they thought this was a good idea.

My recollection of those episodes is that because everything was fake-but-real, the stakes wound up feeling lower and I stopped caring, and when I’m not on board with the plot, the surreal shit and the whimsy feel more annoying than innovative. This episode might fare slightly better in my opinion than the other two because of its central device (more on that later) but it’s (somehow!!!) even more audacious and wild than the episodes that came before. Not my favorite look for the show. 

I DO like the tributes to musicians we’ve lost to COVID-19 that play over the credits.My one quibble is that they could’ve used a little card to inform viewers what’s going on and why. Last week I caught the artist in the captions but this week I missed it (or it wasn’t there), though I figured out pretty quickly it was John Prine.

Starting off an episode with Liz is always a good choice. 

Liz and Marissa are, for reasons we’ll discover later, in New York and investigating Jeffrey Epstein’s “suicide.” 

It drives me INSANE that Marissa consistently has the sound on her phone on. I think we’d know she was taking pictures without it. 

Liz’s old boss, Wilbur Dincon, has tasked Liz to independently investigate what happened. If this case goes well, RBL will get more business from the DOJ.

I’m sorry, did you just say “S-H-U” instead of pronouncing it like “shoe”? I mean, I’m an expert on prisons because I watched Orange is the New Black so I know it should be said like “shoe.” (tbh i have no idea if one is more correct than the other)

This case has lots of details but it’s really only the thematic points that matter, so I likely won’t discuss any plot points… just what they’re going for. 

Good to know Liz was ahead of the curve on knowing Epstein was a dangerous creep. 

Liz is promised she can investigate anyone she wants and think outside the box. Sure. I believe this as much as I believe Diane is in charge of pro-bono stuff because STR Laurie has great intentions.

“Synergy” is such a great bullshit word. Has everyone ever said it for a reason other than the following three: (1) To mock the word synergy (2) as a euphemism for cost-cutting measures that will fuck over employees (3) because they think it sounds professional and want to cover up the fact they don’t know what they’re talking about?

In this case, “synergy” means that RBL needs to cut their payroll by 20%. Fun times.

Diane and Adrian (Liz is downstairs) are not happy about this, even when Mr. Firth reminds them it’s more money for them. They’d rather have less money personally but happier employees since they’re not soulless.

Mr. Firth says they have to do the layoffs. But if it’s any consolation, they get to hand pick who to lay off!

The dogs are still being walked through RBL, in case it wasn’t clear enough that STRL sucks.

The whole firm gets to work on sorting through the Epstein evidence. Liz tries to keep things organized-- murder evidence on one side, suicide evidence on the other.

Associates, however, immediately begin interpreting the word “evidence” loosely. Is there a photo of Epstein with someone they’d like to suspect of murder? Then it’s “evidence of murder”. Ok, Leah. 

As expected, this immediately turns into bickering over politics. Sorry Liz-- it’s going to be tough to keep your staff on target with this one. 

“No! No conspiracy theories. No insane charges. Everything we do, we need evidence, so let’s start here.” Ah, if only everyone could think like Liz.

The room focuses on evidence for about two minutes. Then they find a way to make it about conspiracies again. Go team! 

Also everyone at RBL thinks they have better knowledge than professional medical examiners of the marks left on someone’s neck after they hang themselves. They also all believe that pretending to strangle themselves is the best way to prove their point. It’s a hilarious sight for Diane and Adrian to happen upon.

Adrian and Diane immediately start seeing their employees as numbers and imagining the cost savings of laying them off. Marissa is making $89,000 a year with three years of experience. Jay is making $89,000/year with eight years. Damn, that is so unfair to Jay. (I could see it if Marissa is more vocal about wanting higher pay or if they’re more concerned with losing her… but being vocal about money is probably closely related to Marissa’s privilege and there is zero evidence Marissa is any better, more efficient, or more hardworking than Jay!)  I can’t remember how this plot ended last year, but I thought Jay ended up making more than Marissa after he complained?

Adrian seems to see Jay as the more disposable of the investigators, which is quite sad, especially since from what we see, Marissa and Jay seem to be equally skilled. 

I wish we got to see the salaries, rather than just billable hours, of the other associates. But I’m glad they finally get last names! 

Kevin Walker has been at the firm 7 years and has 2643 billable hours.

Diane imagines the red X over Marissa. I can’t tell if the Xs are to demonstrate who they think they should cut or just to show deliberations. 

Lucca has been at the firm for 4 years and has 2788. Her title is “associate” but shouldn’t it be “Head of Family Law”? 

Leah Davis has been at the firm for 3 years and has 2657 billable hours.

Jancie Muncy has been at the firm 11 years with 2456 hours; Micah Carroll has been there 5 with 2582 hours. John Danzette with 6 years and 2074 hours; Rosalyn Brock with 4 years and 1991 hours (we learn later she was on medical leave for part of the year). Josh Withers with 11 years and 2162. Linda Keller with 2 years and 2389; Mike Roberts with 3 years and 2147. So what I’m getting is that Lucca has the most billable hours of everyone? 

I wish it told us their salaries. How much do the billable hours matter if we don’t know how much $ each hour is worth?

I really like this device. It’s a good way of showing how tough this decision is and how dehumanizing the process becomes. 

Adrian jumps into the conversation and tries to convince everyone Epstein’s suicide isn’t a conspiracy-- it’s just incompetence. Apparently he has a sink that breaks every week and no plumber can fix it because they are all incompetent. I understand this analogy-- no one does their job perfectly 100% of the time-- but I am really concerned about Adrian’s sink. This sounds like a bigger issue than incompetence.

“People do just enough work to get by,” is a very true statement though. I have often thought that it’s kind of incredible the world is as functional as it is. 

If you have 4 or 5 conveniently incompetent breakdowns at once, though, I’m not sure I believe it’s purely incompetence. Feels a bit convenient. 

Diane jumps in and makes a case for why the conspiracy is also likely. This strikes me as counterproductive since what REALLY needs to happen here is for the associates to dig through the evidence. Why not go back to Liz’s original system where they look through the evidence and see where it leads them? 

Lots of news footage and photographs in this one.

Diane’s larger point seems to tie back into Memo 618: “We all have to obey the law. I mean, if we’re told we have to check into with the police every 90 days, we do it. But certain people don’t have to. They’re given special treatment.” Diane claims this is America-- “a special fucking off-ramp for the well-connected.” 

Isn’t it possible both are true? That there’s a lot of incompetence and also systems in place that protect the rich and powerful? Also none of this is evidence!!! 

(I do like this scene for showing Adrian’s POV (cynical about human nature) vs Diane’s (fed up with the government and the treatment of the ultra wealthy). And the show can’t really dig into evidence they don’t actually possess. But evidence-free speeches don’t seem productive!)

Liz is like, okay then… and splits the room into three groups to look at evidence. I am glad Diane and Adrian helped her so much.

Liz is NOT happy about the layoffs when Diane and Adrian loop her in. She’s opposed to cutting anyone. Diane says she could lose Kevin, but Liz sees Kevin as someone newer employees look up to. Adrian suggests Lucy (who?) and Liz says that Lucy actually should get a raise. Diane points out this will look bad to the clients. All good points. This seems like an impossible decision.

Case stuff happens. Lucca knows a “hairdresser to the stars” through Bianca.

And now for some scenes where Diane and Julius try to report Memo 618 to the government and do the right thing! The Kings have said these were intended for episode 8, and while they don’t really feel that out of place since there’s clearly a thematic link between 618 and Epstein’s connections, this bit of info explains two things: (1) Why this ep is 53 minutes long when it feels like it could make its point in less time and (2) why the Julius stuff that happens later in the episode feels a bit anticlimactic because so much else is also happening. My guess is in an episode where it’s more of the focal point it would feel like a much bigger deal.

Do you ever just see a shot of Diane and think, “Damn, Taylor Swift does really look like a young Diane?” Because I do. All the time.

Lucca visits the famous hairdresser and he makes time for her right away. And he gives her a letter from Epstein that he (a) has in his possession and (b) has in an unlocked drawer in his salon. Whatever. 

Lucca convinces him to let her have it, and RBL makes a video to establish chain of custody. I’m shocked we’ve never seen them do this before.

“It is Thursday, May 21st, 2020” Liz says. Nah. You’re in an office. It is not. 

The envelope contains a key, a secret code, and a letter that says “If I’m dead, watch out for BUD”. Welp, there goes any hope of this not turning into RBL chasing conspiracies! 

Rumors about layoffs (40%! Just paralegals! Everyone!) have spread, in case there wasn’t enough chaos. 

The partners are indeed discussing who to fire, and they can’t decide on anyone. So they decide it’s time to get out from under STRL and buy themselves out. It’ll take 20 million, but they can pull that together. 

This would play better if we knew why they decided to sell to STRL in the first place. Who WOULDN’T have seen this coming? 

Liz tells Adrian not to make any promises he can’t keep and he is like, this is like our marriage. Diane is still in the room which is awkward and funny.

Marissa finds “BUD” on a blueprint. A clue! Meanwhile, Lucca and Jay (really, Jay) figure out the code. 

This is the portion of the episode where I can leave the show playing on my phone and go check Twitter instead of writing any commentary. 

Julius gets arrested for speaking out about Memo 618! It feels less impactful than it should when it’s sandwiched between a bunch of scenes following the conspiracy. (Also I am a little surprised they didn’t have Julius and Diane go to the press before the government.)

The conference room squabbles again and Liz asks, again, to tone down the conspiracy theories. They instead begin fighting about even more conspiracy theories.

Unless there’s another conference room scene later, I think this was the moment I understood what the Kings were doing and started to like the episode more. As soon as I realized “BUD” was a Citizen Kane reference, I burst out laughing. This episode plays way better when you know the point they’re trying to make is that this is a lot of fuss that will ultimately be futile (though Marissa and Jay DO come close to finding BUD) than when you’re supposed to be riveted by watching people debate fake evidence. 

Why does Eli Gold have a cheerleader friend? Who knows! Who cares! 

Adrian suggests that he, Diane, and Liz involve their own homes in the scheme to getting 20 million dollars. Liz objects since she’s a single mom-- very fair. Adrian argues that they’ve done well in the past so they’ll get it back. Liz and Diane attack that idea before I can-- if that were really true, they never would have sold to STRL. 

Liz mentions losing ChumHum and the fallout from her dad’s scandal and then says “let us not forget why we joined STRL in the first place.” I feel like that line would work better if the “let us not forget…” came before the “we lost ChumHum”. Because we don’t actually KNOW why they joined STRL. And, as I said in a previous recap, I can roll with it for the sake of plot, but I can’t take lines like “let us not forget why we joined STRL” seriously when there was LITERALLY NO ON SCREEN DELIBERATION about it. 

Adrian says STRL doesn’t value them, their employees, their history, or their culture. To which I say, DUH. Why would you think they did?  

The only important thing about this cheerleader is that she’s played by the amazing Donna Lynne Champlin. Kind of sad she’s in this silly, non-recurring role. She’s so good. (Also she was totally on TGW playing a different role, shhhh). (Go watch Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, everyone!)

CONSPIRACY THEORIES! It’s another conference room scene. Maybe this is where I realized it was a Citizen Kane reference? But I think it was the earlier one.

Hey, it’s another Julius scene. Watching these and knowing they were meant for a different episode, I can’t help but notice that they do feel like pieces of the A plot of a different episode. The whole system is rigged, Julius and Diane realize.

Adrian, Liz, and Diane tell Mr. Firth they want out. Mr. Firth tells them they need to cobble together an impossible 80 million, not 20 million, because not all of the partners have been bringing in more revenue more than they used to. You see, Diane hasn’t been bringing in any money because she’s been in charge of the pro bono department. Ah.There’s the catch. 

I’m shocked they went up to Mr. Firth without reading every inch of that contract. Aren’t you guys partners at a law firm? I’m shocked Diane went ahead with taking charge of pro bono without looking for a catch. This sucks for the character and all, but how are these name partners at a liberal firm that’s seen more than its fair share of drama this naive about big corporations!? This plot twist is devastating… until I start to think about all the things they had to believe to get to this point. 

Still, it’s satisfying to hear Diane hiss “you fucker!” at Mr. Firth. 

Mr. Firth turns into a villain quite nicely. I wonder if we’ll see more of him next year. My guess is the remaining three episodes were going to tie together the corporate overlords plot and Memo 618 and wrap everything up more or less with a bow so they could do a new concept next year. I feel like they’ll either move on completely and tell us what happened, or do an episode like 2x02 (the one that wraps up all the Maia/Rindell Fund stuff in one go so it doesn’t hang over s2).

Dincon drops by unexpectedly and isn’t impressed with what Liz and the team have done, since all they’ve done is collect conspiracy theories (and possibly travel all over the country? Jay and Marissa go to the Virgin Islands; it is unclear if the architect and key maker and lawyer and everyone else were in Chicago…

In Dincon’s defense these conspiracy theories sound like complete nonsense. 

Dincon shuts the RBL team down, but Marissa and Jay are still off adventuring.

Diane asks Dincon what Memo 618 is because Epstein’s life was built on it. “Then you have your answer,” Dincon replies. This scene is another tell that those Julius scenes weren’t meant for 4x07. 

Aaaaand now we get the direct parallels to Citizen Kane, with some shot-for-shot remakes and even a sled (ha!).

There’s a secret door! Marissa and Jay are excited to investigate! Marissa references Parasite, which I haven’t seen yet because I’m awful at watching movies.

Marissa and Jay find nothing and leave. “I think we lost track of the real story: the underage girls,” Marissa realizes. Yup. That is the takeaway. Looking at all these conspiracies is fun but useless, and the most important truth has already been uncovered. 

After Marissa and Jay leave, we get to see what was in the secret room… BUD is Epstein’s penis. And… that’s a wrap on season 4? What a fucking weird way to end a season. 

[kinetic-elaboration]

December 14: 1x28 The City on the Edge of Forever (Also I’m 32)

For my birthday, I watched an ep of Star Trek, because I can. It was very good and I enjoyed watching but now I’m starting to get some pretty bad evening anxiety, so!! I’m going to try to ignore that.

Here are some thoughts:

I love this wavy camera work. Space turbulence.

I recognize that this intro really doesn’t have anything to do with anything but it’s still really, like, sudden--weird time things are happening and the ship keeps shaking!

Sulu’s looking damn good today. (I say this in every ep with a closeup of Sulu.)

That was a real rookie mistake on McCoy’s part there, stabbing himself with the hypo. (Harlan Ellison voice lol.) (Still better than the original script.)

“They’ll never catch me!”

Sulu and Spock have been trading eye shadow secrets obviously. It’s a real shame that the AOS movies didn’t give people awesome makeup. I mean heck if you couldn’t force yourself to give men obvious makeup (the horror!) you could have at least done something cool with Token Girl Uhura.

Kirk sounds very formal today. Idk why, but his tone is just slightly different--calling Scotty “Engineer” and something about his log... Probably just me being weird or an effect of there being so many writers on this thing.

Damn, McCoy was almost as good as Spock, the way he knocked that guy out so efficiently.

I’m pretty sure this is Uhura’s first landing party. And she barely gets to do anything because this is the Kirk and Spock Show today.

“Unbelievable.” / “That’s funny.” Is it though?

Legit laughed out loud when Bones popped up from behind that rock, right after Uhura said he wasn’t there.

I don’t think Spock likes the Guardian. “Primitive science knowledge? Excuse you, Sir.”

The Guardian really is just like hand-wave-y sci fi lol. Uh it’s really old and really advanced so it can’t really explain itself, the point is, time travel!!!! I mean I don’t hate it but still.

Kirk is very quick to want to play with time. A little vacation away from his usual work. Getting to satisfy his curiosity and be his nerdy self and learn things. Can you even imagine TOS Kirk in AOS???

Love the dramatic moments: Kirk looking very suddenly when the Guardian says “Behold.” Jumping into the sand as he fails to catch McCoy.

Kirk’s biggest fantasy--a vacation that’s also exploration--turns into his greatest nightmare--loneliness.

“No star date” Can you even imagine Starfleet HQ getting this? “Whoops we just destroyed literally everything. Don’t worry, we’ve probably fixed it if you’re reading this.”

History nerd Kirk. Correctly identifying the Great Depression. If Spock thinks THIS is barbaric, what would he think about today?

“I’m going to be difficult to explain in any case.” Truly, only Kirk, and his love goggles, would choose the ONE alien in his crew to take with him on the first expedition into the past. This was completely foreseeable guys.

Spock’s like “That’s a cool car. Let me examine it now. In the middle of the street. While people yell at me.”

This ep starts out so dramatic and now all of a sudden it’s a comedy, right down to the music. (Again, a sign of how many writers had their hands in this.)

“I’m going to like this century. Simpler, easier to manage.” LOL.

“You’re a police officer. I recognize the traditional accoutrements.” Spock is having such a good time watching this.

Really relying on American racism to explain the alien, huh? “I know you don’t know what Asians look like so.... he’s Chinese.”

“I double dog dare you to put together a computer, Mr. Spock.” Effective.

Put on the hat, the hat!!!!

Starfleet’s greatest Captain couldn’t come up with a fast fake name for Spock.

Kirk looks good in this outfit. Actually the outfits in general are great.

Honestly what does Edith think of these weirdos?

Kirk hears trash talk: “Shut up. SHUT UP.” No talking badly about women in THIS house.

She should have been living in our time. I wonder if she always thought space was cool or if Kirk (and uh literal actual alien Spock) inspired her.

Spock’s eye roll at “I find her most uncommon.”

Kirk definitely did manual labor in high school.

Spock really is building a whole-ass computer.

“I’ve brought you vegetables? What else do you want??” Is this the first reference to him being a vegetarian?

And there was only one bed...

Edith’s reaction to Spock’s sass is hilarious. She’s really not confused by him at all.

When Spock’s straightforward, honest answers about why he stole the tools don’t work, Kirk steps in with the charm offensive.

“By his side, as if you’ve always been there and always will” is basically the toast at their wedding.

Favorite thing about Edith remains that she meets an actual alien and says eh, not so weird, and then looks at the Iowa Farm Boy and is like ????????? does not compute.

“Why don’t you want to talk about the war? Are you a war criminal?”

I feel like Kirk gets a weird kick out of saying he and Spock “served together.” And like it’s literally the truth? But he has this little smile like he’s getting away with a cool lie.

Only about 10 years until we get the cool alien book about love!

Spock bringing out the big guns with today’s requisite “Jim.”

Imagine meeting McCoy like this: weird-ass uniform, rambling and paranoid. Thinks he’s met a humanoid alien. Getting so upset about 20th century hospitals he starts crying and rolling on the ground. He’s so empathetic. I love him.

What a way to go, killing yourself accidentally with a future weapon you steal from a 23rd century time traveler you mistake for a drunk.

Bones is so good at not being seen. That’s straight up comedy how he just passes by behind Spock. There are really weird, random comedy elements in this.

“She was right but at the wrong time.”

Kirk’s in love with Edith... I mean he’s not lol but that IS what a romantic such as him would say.

“I’m a surgeon, not a psychiatrist,” says the man who testified as a psychiatrist at a court martial in a previous episode.

How convenient that U.S.S. is an abbreviation she’d recognize.

“I don’t believe in YOU.”

I know this isn’t actually true, but it feels like Spock literally just came out of the room to be jealous while Kirk and Edith kiss.

Spock’s lesson “do[ing] as your heart tells you to do” is wrong.

So McCoy just got over it, I guess. Kirk was all ready to manipulate time to stop the accident but all they needed to do was find him, catch him, and sedate him a while I guess.

“My young man.” So cute.

The reunion hug with McCoy is adorable. I watched it 4 times.

Yet another Kirk vacation fantasy foiled.

No final talk on the bridge... Very dramatic and sad.

This IS a really good episode but I just still can’t get behind calling it the BEST Star Trek episode. To me, it doesn’t feel enough like Star Trek to be the best. It’s a really great story, and it’s entertaining to watch, but it’s not representative. Too few of the crew--not even really that sci-fi-ish at the end of the day. Like I said, the Guardian is really generic and ill-explained, just a prop for the main story. And while that main story is obviously all about time travel and the effects of time travel, even THAT is incidental to the real point, which is the moral question: save one or save many? But it’s not even a conundrum, like in TWOK/TSFS,because there is no real choice. Obviously Kirk is going to let Edith die. To do otherwise wouldn’t just damn many more people in the 20th century to death, it would damn his crew and his ship and, in a way, himself. So it’s more like, well, inevitably, she will die, and he will let her, but it will be really sad. So the point is just this tragic, doomed love story. Which is not a bad story in any sense, but it’s not what one generally primarily associates with TOS.

I’m not sure this is making sense because I’m just working out my thoughts as I type.

I do think there’s some interesting stuff here: I think one could do a lot with what this ep does for Spock’s development, since we don’t hear too much from him but he’s pretty intimately involved in all this. And the lessons it’s teaching him about feelings and vulnerability are...not great.

Also Uhura saying “at least be happy” in the beginning ties in interestingly to the rest of the narrative--he could have chosen his happiness, in a way, at least fleetingly. Perhaps it would have been more interesting if Kirk had ever really considered letting Edith live--but then, would he be Kirk if he ever considered it, seriously, out loud? Am I being dense by thinking the narrative should have said this in so many words, when it’s obvious enough as is?

I’m also not totally sure about the... message. I’d prefer to say there isn’t one, honestly, because of the way the conundrum is set up: as a non-conundrum. Because, obviously America should have entered WWII; if ever there was a war that was worth fighting, this would be it. Hence there’s no need to really interrogate whether or not Edith’s death was right. There’s no way it was not right. There’s no complication there, allowing the story to focus on the tragedy of Kirk’s inevitable decision instead. It could have been a different story, about weighing the pros and cons. And then possibly also a story with a moral lesson attached to the decision Kirk makes: about the many versus the few, for example, or about war specifically, since obviously this is airing with Vietnam as a background.

It could also have been a story about fate. Obviously, McCoy can and does change time. But you have all 3 of them ending up at the same place/time, right near this Big Event. You have the almost-fall on the stairs, implying death is out for Edith. You have the total set of circumstances around her death: as it actually plays out, she’s only there BECAUSE of Kirk and Spock. Were they always there? Does she get killed in a slightly different circumstance in timelines without them? The way the story plays out, all of these details seem so beside the point--again, the story uses time travel but isn’t really ABOUT time travel; it uses sci fi tools but is not telling a sci fi story--so it’s not even really worth interrogating.

(Other than just now, when I did.)

I think it’s pretty obvious that a lot of people had their hands in this story: Kirk’s very IC romantic nature is first and foremost and I like seeing this part of him, but the Command part is kind of hidden; there are moments of tragedy, in the traditional sense of the word, but also other parts that feel like Tomorrow Is Yesterday in terms of the style of comedy; the sci fi stuff is really random.

None of this is really criticism, just thoughts. It’s definitely a really interesting episode.

Next is the FINAL EPISODE of S1, which is RIDICULOUS imo. I’m fairly sure Operation Annihilate was one of the first TOS episodes I saw. I have a real soft spot for it so I’m looking forward to watching.

[alexswak]

Animator Hiroshi Watanabe’s Interview

This is an interview with one of Studio Live’s main animators, Hiroshi Watanabe. For more on Studio Live and Hiroshi Watanabe, I recommend reading my previous post on Minky Momo. 

This interview goes into his start in the industry, the hardships of being an animator in Japan, and some technical tidbits. Although conducted in mid 1980s, most of what is mentioned here still holds waters today, and it’s interesting to see what changed and what didn’t from that time. 

First published in スタジオライブの本・らでいっく (1)　(Studio Live’s Book Vol.1). Translation by me. I’m not the most experienced translator nor am I excellent in Japanese, and although I think I managed to properly translate this since it’s not that hard or complicated of an interview, I’ll provide the original interview in case someone wants to check my translation for errors, for which I’d be pretty thankful actually.

Sorry for the long intro, here’s the original interview in Japanese.

-Moderator: Today we will be hearing animator Hiroshi Watanabe’s story since joining Studio Live up to the present day.

-Ashida (Toyo, Live’s Predsident): My, aren’t you serious.

-Moderator: It’s just kinda an official thing isn’t it *laughs*. Anyway, let’s start. First, can you tell us something from the time you left Kumamoto to Tokyo to join Studio Live?

-Watanabe: I was making anime by myself beforehand, but I had no idea how to draw in-betweens. Joining the company and using the tap for the first time made me see how real work really is different. At that time, 1000 drawings was the normal output of an in-betweener, but after all my effort it took me around 3 months to draw that much.

-Moderator: 1000 drawings in 3 months, how good is that? 

-Ashida: Fairly fast I would say.

-Watanabe: Yet Matsushita (Hiromi) drew that much in one month and a half… so at that time my abilities weren’t really good enough, and there was the tough in-betweens check; no matter how many times I redraw it doesn’t get approved. Lines are a bit dirty, erasing remains are visible… really small stuff. I had my own thoughts of course, and with that happening I felt like the people on the other side just couldn’t understand. It’s really frustrating, but you still need the money to eat so you keep on drawing… such situations are pretty tough.

-Moderator: “I drew those in-betweens that way because it’s the way I do it” or something like that?

-Watanabe: Right. I didn’t want to admit that I lacked the skills at all. That was definitely the case, but the fact that I had the mentality of “it’s my way of doing things” was… frustrating. 

-Moderator: Back then, and even now...

-Watanabe: No, thinking about it now, I’d say that period was normal. Yet back then, all I had in mind was “I’ll make them accept what I’m making”. And then I looked at what the key animators made and thought how different it was, which made me wish even more to become a key animator myself.

-Moderator: The thought of wanting to make an anime with your own sense...

-Watanabe: Back then, all of Live’s projects were adult shows. That’s why they seemed to lack the power. Although such projects are actually harder, I wanted to swing the camera more and move things around. Thus I wanted to become a key animator as fast as possible, and worked hard to achieve the goal of 1000 drawings.

-Moderator: Is it the same for everyone?

-Ashida: Not really, but I’d love if all of Live’s staff were like that. It’s a matter of future prospectives. Do you want to do in-betweens forever? Or become an ordinary key animator? An excellent key animator? An animation director maybe? Everyone is different.

-Moderator: And Watanabe wanted to become a key animator quickly.

-Watanabe: Correct. That’s why I, although not directly related, was so motivated to draw the 1000 sheets and become a key animator quickly and make the company acknowledge me, which enabled me to do just that.

-Moderator: So how long did you do in-betweening for? 

-Watanabe: I joined the company in April and did in-betweening till October. “Cyborg 009”’s first episode was my first time drawing key frames.

-Moderator: Not too long, huh?

-Ashida: It was actually a little too fast? But then, he was our prodigy. It’s not about drawing nicely, it’s more about instinctively knowing what anime is.

-Watanabe: Why did I want to become a key animator back then? Ashida-san wanted to show youngling’s power, pent-up emotions and new strength and abilities in “Cyborg 009”. I was there anyway so it was more like “we will give you a chance then” type of thing. 

-Ashida: As I said, the longer you do it the harder it becomes. At first, doing what you want is fine, but in 3 years time a wall will come, overcoming that will give you another 3 years before the next wall, until you reach a point where the wall comes every year.

-Watanabe: At that time, maybe because of being young, but I had the power to do anything. Everything I did was fun. In “Cyborg 009” or “Blue Bird” I overdid even the simplest scenes. It was all pretty interesting back then, be it anime itself or key animating itself… Then came “Arale-chan”, and after that came a time when I started paying attention to character consistency (looking the same), but getting full of myself I always thought what I did was fine and didn’t put in the effort to make them look consistent.

-Moderator:  “I don’t mind if they don’t look alike. It looks fine the way it’s” type of mentality? 

-Watanabe: I mean, Ashida-san was going to correct them. But I wonder if “Blue Bird” was the last project I did with my youth power. A bit after that I started feeling as if my power was fading away. 

-Ashida: Well, it wasn’t about losing power, rather more about having to do the same thing for a long period of time. If you can’t overcome that, then… You just can’t stay a promising young animator forever. 

-Moderator: What are your thoughts when you watch “Blue Bird” now?

-Watanabe: Watching it now… Watching it now… *laughs*. I find the projects back from the period I had power pretty good. Some small details look rough, but really the things I did back then were impressive. 

-Ashida: It’s not knowing fear. Now that you know what to be afraid of, going about it the same way isn’t possible.

-Watanabe: Right. I can refine the small details now, but achieving the same furiousness wouldn’t be possible. To this day seeing the dragon fight from “Blue Bird” (This scene) gives me goosebumps *laughs*. Why was I able to do something like that, I ask myself. 

-Moderator: Oh no, this is turning into an old geezers’ conversation *laughs*.

-Watanabe: So, being completely helpless with character acting scenes, action sequences were my chance to go wild and forget about the storyboards. That’s why I did what I did. And that’s why I had that much fun. Then it became bitter, bit by bit, drawing key frames I mean, until one point in 198X where I just couldn't draw anymore. 

-Moderator: Not being able to draw… what kind of situation was that exactly?

-Watanabe: Not going to Toei anymore, spending all day on Pachinko machines, that kind of stuff.

-Ashida: Truancy, basically.

-Watanabe: Along the way I started gradually wanting to draw again, drawing became interesting again. Then I said to myself, why not do some animation director assisting jobs, and since I have been causing all sorts of problems and troubles for the animation directors, I was so happy to be in a position where I can repay them. Everyday started being fun again.

-Moderator: What is an animation director assistant actually? 

-Watanabe: Key frames, prior to the animation director’s corrections, are terrible. Although my frames don’t get approved, looking at the frames that do get approved I see only the middle of the frame being drawn while everything else is left to the animation director’s assistance to fill in. Also stuff like character faces being completely off, all these things have to be at least “prepared for correcting” in this process. It’s more of a 2nd key animation role than an animation director assistant. It was nonetheless fun, and correcting characters like that made me feel like I made some progress.

-Moderator: What about “Momo” (Minky Momo)?

-Watanabe: “Momo” was fun. Although in 198X I was kinda mentally depressed, none of the key animation I drew for “Momo” was turned down or returned for retakes. So I just kept pushing on.

-Ashida: This is the effect of the ultimate “Opening Strategy”. Let someone do the opening and have the fame at first, it was the same with the animation direction role. 

-Watanabe: That was again a fluke of luck. My first job as an animation director was an episode with Kaijus fighting. With such things you just have to make them move, make them flashy and catchy.

-Moderator: Your speciality, huh.

-Watanabe: It wasn’t something I excelled at as much as it was something I had fun doing. Also, when speaking with Yuyama (Kunihiko)-san, I see he has something he wants to create with which I can totally empathize. Doing the normal life scenes without any interest, for example. So it got to the level of being a hobby where I give all my effort, rather than a job I have to do.

-Moderator: That’s how much you as an animator can get into in the project, right? 

-Watanabe: Of course, being at Ashi Pro means that things like drawings numbers don’t matter. Such situations exist, but at stricter places cuts are made at the storyboards or screenplay stages. Deciding to tune down here a bit or focus here a bit from the start means that all this is planned through, something we can understand and makes us feel like the whole thing is indeed worth doing. 

-Moderator: “Momo” was your first project as an animation director, how was it? 

-Watanabe: Doing animation direction is annoying. Fixing the key animation of other people requires all my effort, animation direction isn’t a job you can slack off at even slightly. That’s why it made me want to draw key animation even more.  That being said, doing animation direction limits me, but whether I’d be able to draw key animation if I didn’t do animation direction… Also, character acting stuff was handled by Yuyama-san, and I handled things like character faces. Those being Live’s key animation, I’d say MatsuX (he means Matsushita Hiromi) drawings were completely off, while (Kazuko) Tadano-san’s drawings were even more on model than mine *laughs*. Man, no more talking about “Momo” please. 

-Moderator: *laughs* Well, that was the end of today’s interview. Thank you very much.

[wheremytwinwatches]

[Where My Twin Watches]: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Episode 7

*Finishes re-rewatching Treasure Planet* Ah, what a good movie. That and I,Robot and Terminator 2 and Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Star Wars and- Wait, why did I start watching all these movies again? I remember it had something to do with Transhumanism. Something about contracts and a Bunny-cat being a dick and girls who were actually lichs… Oh crap, the thread! That is a very big moon.

Sayaka’s slowly walking back to her apartment, her face shadowed and… what, seriously? Madoka isn’t there? What the heck, Madoka? You just let your friend leave on her own after that whammy? She’s entered her apartment now, not being very quiet about closing the door. Does she live on her own? If it turns out she’s an orphan too I’m going to snap. Lights on, Sayaka tosses her Soul Gem (which is actually herself, what the heck) onto the table KYUBEY. GET OUT. BACK TO THE LIST CORNER WITH YOU. “You tricked us, didn’t you?” She didn’t even have to turn around and see he was there, did she? It’s obvious that the little jerk would waltz in uninvited. Oh you are such an asshole! “I just didn’t explain exactly what form you’d be taking to do that”? Oh yeah, that’s such a minor detail, not worth mentioning, really! “Because you never asked.” Because they never asked?! Informed consent, Bunny-cat! Learn it! Aw HELL no. You don’t get to use “even Mami never noticed to the very end” as an excuse. Ever think that maybe if she knew the risks she wouldn’t have worn her literal soul as a hairpin?! The little jerk keep on listing the advantages of Soul Gems. He really doesn’t see anything wrong with what he’s done, does he? Kyubey? What are you doing with Sayaka’s Soul Gem? What the hell is wrong with you, Bunny-cat? You want to show how relatively fragile a human body is to pain? Fine, there are plenty of other ways to show that without inflicting Sayaka with enough pain to make her collapse! WHY ARE YOU STILL DOING IT?! We get it, Soul Gems dampen pain reception between the mind and body! Stop torturing Sayaka! Please, she’s crying! Friggen finally. Sayaka, you need to get up, grab that little demon, and chuck him out the window. And never let him get close to your Gem, alright? As Sayaka recovers, Kyubey is rambling about how Magical Girls can control the degree of pain reception on their own, but he doesn’t recommend it at it lowers reaction time. ...wow, ok. Even I can see that manipulation at work there. You inflict Sayaka with severe pain, and then ‘offhandedly mention’ that she can make it so she feels no pain at all? Real subtle, Bunny-cat. Because why worry about the well-being of these girls when you can make them that much more aggressive in getting you food? And then he uses the “I’ve granted the Wish that you (unintentionally) sold your soul for” card. Yep, I just saw the show’s familiar torture one of the main characters, manipulate her into unlocking a pain-free fighting style (who needs the warnings that a body part is damaged, anyway?) and claim that she owes him for services rendered. So of course, we go into the bright and poppy Intro of Lies! Ugh. Get out of Madoka’s room, you jerk. And get away from Mami, too! Episode 7: Can you face your true feelings? It’s school the next day, seems that Sayaka skipped out. Wonder if the attendance office would accept a “I was tricked out of my soul by a Bunny-cat” as an excused absence. Aw. Looks like she’s been curled up under her blankets since last night, she didn’t even change her clothes. But hey, why worry about what you meat-puppet is wearing, right? On Fancy Rooftop now, Madoka’s meeting with Homura. Hey, that’s right, she knew about the “MGs are actually inside the Soul Gem” thing, right? Why didn’t you say anything, Homura? Damn! Madoka’s actually calling Homura out on it, asking if she really did know… but she says she tried telling others in the past. And nobody ever believed her. Ouch. I mean… yeah, it’s a really farfetched story. And I guess the only way to prove it would be for her to purposefully get far away from her Soul Gem. And that’s way too big a risk to take. Now they’re talking about how Kyubey doesn’t think he’s done anything wrong. Interesting how Homura’s calling him an it now, saying it cannot comprehend human values. I’ll be using that for Bunny-cat from now on, matches the clinical detachment. Sure, it insists that “a (short) lifetime of fighting Witches to feed me” is equal to “granting a single Wish”. Yup, Madoka’s not agreeing to the exchange rate. Healing one person’s non-fatal injuries does not equal service as a Magical Lunch Lady. But Homura’s simply saying that it was a miracle, something impossible made possible. ...oh stop being so moody, Homura. You can’t know that medical science would never be able to heal his hands. The guy’s still in middle school, for crying out loud, he has his whole life ahead of him! Just because current science isn’t able to do it, doesn’t mean you should assume that it never will. I will concede that a miracle, a proper miracle, is a Big Deal. I’m a little more iffy on whether it is of greater value that an entire human life. But you will NOT convince me that healing one person’s hands is equal to the life of a Magical Girl. Ooh, good point Madoka! For all of Homura’s “give up on her” talk, if she hadn’t become a Magical Girl then Madoka, Hitomi, and all the other people in that factory would have died! (Urgh, I’m am so torn between my I WAS RIGHT from that episode and my understanding now of what becoming a Magical Girl does) Oh. “Don’t confuse gratitude with responsibility.” That’s… that’s pretty heavy. Homura’s hammering home the point that Madoka is just a human, who has no ability to save Sayaka Miki. She shouldn’t try to ‘repay’ Sayaka to alleviate her sense of guilt. ...wow. That is… wow. Somewhere the ghost of Thomas Hobbes is applauding Homura’s self-interest philosophy. Well, ok. I guess one’s sense of morality can be slightly affected by being an undead magic user. It’s a lot easier to justify self-interest when the Muggles you know die of old age and your associates keep getting killed by these monsters. Why stay constrained by human ethics when you see yourself as no longer human? So does that make Mami a Pro-Human Transhuman, then? Sayaka’s still in her bed… Oh. Oh DAMN. That’s… Um. I mean, it’s, uh, not really that bad? I mean, just because your soul now fits in your pocket that doesn’t mean you can’t still date and… Damn. That’s something I didn’t even consider. The basis of Sayaka making the Contract was to heal Kamijo, and we have to admit there was a degree of “I can get his affection” in that Wish. But with the realization of how she relates to her former body now? Not to mention the whole “eternally young” thing. Damn it, Bunny-cat. The hell? Who just spoke? Kyoko? She wants to talk? Sayaka’s dressed and following Kyoko through the park now, who’s busy chomping down apples. Huh, she says she’s ok with the whole zombie thing. Well, you can’t deny that the powers of a Magical Girl can be useful, I suppose if you focus enough on the benefits you can rationalize the whole lich thing. Sayaka calls her out on her “you get what you pay for” attitude. Although I’m suddenly wondering if she paid of all the food she’s been eating. Having MG powers probably makes it easier to get five-finger discounts. Kyoko cheerfully agrees. Huh. “And if you live only to benefit yourself, you’ve got to pay for your own mistakes too.” And suddenly you’ve made self-interest sound noble. If you don’t involve others, then you don’t- *Suddenly remembers that Kyoko has advocated letting Familiars kill bystanders in order to get more Grief Seeds* Nope, never mind, still hate you. The sun’s sinking lower as the two girls reach some sort of old building, which Kyoko kicks down the door of. Broken stained glass? So is this an old church or art gallery or something? Well, whatever this place is, it’s certainly seen better days.

We're at the dilapidated stained-glass building, I'm thinking it's a church of some sort as the camera's looking at an altar sort of thing in front of where the biggest window would be.

Sayaka's asking why Kyoko had her come out here, Kyoko says it's a long story and tosses her an apple. Huh, is this like when she offered Homura pocky, a sign of trust?

Ooh, but Sayaka just tossed it to the ground. I don’t mean to nitpick, Sayaka, but it looks like Kyoko’s extending an olive branch here. You don’t have to like the hard-line MG, but maybe a truce could

WHOA ok Kyoko did not like that, she rushed forward and his lifting Sayaka off the ground. And that is a gruesome crackling sound, I really hope that’s just her uniform.

“Don’t ever waste food. I’ll kill you if you do.” Don’t waste food around Kyoko, got it.

Yup, Kyoko is bodily lifting Sayaka by the collar, until she calms down and lets her drop. Then she picks up the apple, dusts it off and puts it back in the bag.

Ooh, new music? Backstory for Kyoko? I still hate her for the whole “letting Familiars go” thing, but after my Homura rage was shown to be a little excessive and Kyubey proved to be a dick I’m willing to hear this story out.

“See… this was my dad’s church.” Aha, it is a church! Wait, ‘was’?

Aw, paper-cutout stick puppets! That’s adorable. We see Kyoko’s pastor dad get passed by two smaller cutouts… little sister? Aw dammit, this is another “How a MG became an orphan” story, isn’t it?

“He thought that in order to save a new generation, we needed to have a new religion.” Well, hopefully without sparking any religious debate, that sounds pretty good to me. Not quite sure about the “preaching stuff that wasn’t in the Bible” part, but he seems earnest at least.

So people stopped attending the church, and he got excommunicated by the overall Church? Harsh.

“From the outside, he probably looked like some raving cultist.” Good to see that Kyoko recognizes that while she believes (believed?) in what he taught she understands it could be seen as radical. Although was it really necessary to dump water on the guy, random person? Yes he’s preaching at your house, but that doesn’t mean you should treat him like that.

Side note: dumping water out a window? Do people still do that, now? Or is this Backstory set in a time when it was more common? After all, with the whole meat puppet thing, I don’t think it’s that much of a stretch to place this way back when.

“It got to the point where our entire family didn’t even have food to eat.” Oh, explanation for why she always has food! Nice touch, show!

...damn it, this show’s making my sympathize with the character who argued for Muggles as Monster Chow by showing how her family was starving… ok, fine, Kyoko. You can have a cushion for your chair.

Nice art style here! Showing Kyoko playing with these paper stick puppets while the girls’ art style stands out against the background.

Little Girl Kyoko just couldn't understand why all this was happening. Why people couldn’t just hear her father out and see that he was right.

And then she met Kyubey.

“And so I asked Kyubey to make everyone listen seriously to what my dad said.”

Oh. Oh no.

The very next day the church was packed full of people again. And each of their paper cutouts has red eyes and an image of Kyoko’s Soul Gem on their chest.

Damn it, Kyubey. She asked for people to listen to her dad, not get mind-controlled by him.

Bunny-Cat Jerk: “What’s the difference? They’re hearing the same words either way.”

It must have seemed so perfect. Her dad’s church is doing well, and she’s got cool new superpowers and monsters to fight. Her dad got to preach to the world, and she took care of the Witches. So she threw herself into Witch-hunting. Because between the two of them, they could save the world.

Hey, cutout of a taller woman holding hands with them! Wasn’t sure there was a mom in the picture until now.

But then her dad found out. And when he found out that the people were compelled to come by magic rather than belief, he “flipped out”. He called Kyoko “a witch who tainted people’s hearts”. WOW. Ok, in any magical setting that would be some harsh words, but when the demons are called Witches…when she hunted real Witches every night...

Oh no.

Yup. Orphan story.

Damn it. This doesn’t excuse her letting innocents die, but when it resulted in her father killing the rest of the family and then committing suicide…

I’ll be right back, going to get Kyoko some pocky to snack on.

“My wish destroyed my whole family.” Kyoko says that because she went and made a wish for someone else, without really knowing what he wanted, it brought everyone misfortune.

“Right then, I vowed in my heart never to use magic to help anyone else again.” Ouch. So Kyoko’s self-interest stems from the results of her Wish. If helping others only ends up in misfortune, then it is best to use if for your sake and yours alone.

This show seems to really be stressing a philosophy of ‘equal and opposite reaction’. Is karma the right term? “If you wish for hope, an equal amount of despair will be rained down upon you, too”. Seems that’s what Kyoko believes now, seeing it as preserving the world’s balance.

Sayaka asks Kyoko why she told her all of this. Huh, Kyoko really is trying to teach Sayaka, isn’t she? Like Homura’s trying to keep Madoka from making a contract and losing her soul, Kyoko’s trying to get Sayaka to, from her perspective, stop wasting her energy on helping others when whatever good she does will be countered by despair… I don’t think that Sayaka’s going to really approve of this philosophy.

Sayaka questions where “teaching others about how the world sucks” falls in a self-interest philosophy, Kyoko says that she’s trying to stop Sayaka from a life that will bring more regrets. You’ve already “paid your dues”, time to get your money’s worth! (Unintentionally) sold your soul? Then live it up on earth!

“I was really wrong about you.” Sayaka?

Oh! She’s apologizing for her initial opinion of Kyoko. But she still doesn’t regret making her wish for someone else’s sake. Go Sayaka!

“I’ve decided that I’ll never regret anything. Ever.” Um. Go Sayaka? I mean, good words, but I’m not sure that anyone could live up to that.

Huh. You don’t think you paid too high a price? We are still talking about your soul here, right?

“Because, depending on how we use it, this magic can be used for wonderful things.” Alright! Ally of Justice, everyone! Screw how dark this show’s gotten, we can still turn this around! Right?

Right?

Oh dear. She wants to know where Kyoko got her apples from.

Aw crap. Just when I get all excited about Sayaka not getting turned away from being a Hero, she goes full-on Paladin. And not the Paladin that you want in your party, either, but the “Almighty Babysitter” type a DM would use to keep the players in check. Yes, you want the rogue to exercise some self-control, but nobody likes partying with a Lawful Stupid character.

Sayaka. Kyoko just told you her Tragic Backstory in the ruins of her father’s church. Are you really going to chastise her about where she stole a bag of apples? Yes, yes you are. *sigh*

Kyoko is not happy about her advice getting so totally rejected, angrily eats an apple while Sayaka walks away.

Well this is just great. I can admire Sayaka not regretting her choice, but you do remember your last ‘fight’ with the more-experienced MG? It did not end well. What makes you think you could do better next time?

Sayaka’s walking to school now, I assume the next day. Hey, Madoka and NPC, I mean Hitomi! All three are walking along, Sayaka claims she was feeling sick the day before-

Hey, Kamijo! Oh. Kamijo. And Sayaka didn’t know he was going back to school

In class Kamijo’s the center of attention, chatting about he’s aiming to set aside the crutches next week. Madoka suggests that Sayaka go talk with him, but she says that she’s fine.

Closeup of Hitomi?

Wait, why are they at Fancy Food Court again? And it’s just Sayaka and Hitomi.

“About love.” Wait. Wait, no. No no no NO.

Hitomi has a crush on Kamijo.

Hitomi, please stop. This is…

Hitomi. You have no idea what damage you are causing right now. I understand from your perspective you are just expressing your intent to a friend of yours in an attempt to prevent any bad feelings. That’s commendable, really, a proper thing to do. Good manners.

But this is the boy that Sayaka, while unintentionally, sold her soul to heal.

I am begging you, do not do this.

Great, a deadline. Hitomi’s waiting until after school the next day to confess her feelings to Kamijo, so Sayaka has a chance to.

Well, great.

Later that night, at Sayaka’s apartment complex…

KYUBEY. SCREW YOU.

Bunny-Cat Jerk: “Ah, whatever. Time for my magical lunch ladies to get me more food!”

Madoka’s waiting for Sayaka again. What a good friend. And after the wtfery of the last few days, from listening to Kyoko’s Tragic Backstory to Hitomi’s deadline, Sayaka starts crying. She had a moment that day where she almost regretted something…

Sayaka, it’s ok to regret things. Nobody is perfect-

WOW OK. That’s a little different, thinking “If only I hadn’t saved Hitomi that time…”

Let me try that again. Sayaka, there are things that it is ok to regret, but succeeding in saving a life is not one of them. By all means, never regret that. And stop trying to hold yourself up to Mami’s level, you are at most a few weeks into the job, if not days. You’ll become a worthy Magical Girl in your own time, there’s no shame in that.

And I’m sorry about the Hitomi situation, that you feel that it’s inevitable and there’s nothing you can do because you’re “already dead”. Please, Sayaka. It sucks that your life is now this because of Bunny-Cat’s dick move, and I can’t see a painless way to get out of this. But please, talk with Madoka. Be a good example to Kyoko and Homura. Don’t let the problems of today weigh you down. You are Sayaka Miki, student of Mami Tomoe. You will be a glorious Magical Girl, a hero. Just stay strong.

Sayaka’s doing a little better after Madoka give a shoulder to cry on. Keep being a good friend, Madoka. Now, let’s go save the Muggles!

In what looks like an old construction site…

Kyoko’s there, chomping on a popsicle as she looks at a labyrinth. Are the others in there already?

Oh hey, Homura! She questions why Kyoko is on the sidelines right now, Kyoko says that Sayaka’s fighting a full-fledged Witch tonight. So since it’s sure to drop a Grief Seed, no reason to let the Familiar go to eat more people. As for why she’s letting someone else fight the ‘prey’? She doesn’t answer. Hmm, did Sayaka’s response leave an impact?

Inside the labyrinth, the art style seems to be black silhouettes against a white background.

Hey, this is Sayaka’s theme, isn’t it?

Sayaka’s charging the Witch, but keeps getting blocked by these dragon-head things. She almost reaches the… bonsai tree? But a branch grows and traps her. Madoka runs forward- oh hey, Kyoko’s here and cut her loose! She scoffs about Sayaka’s performance and gets ready to atta- nope, Sayaka tells her to get out of the way, that she’ll do this alone. Are you sure about that, Sayaka? This is a Witch, after all.

Ouch, that’s got to hurt. Good thing she can heal, though.

Wait. Is she laughing?

Um. She’s not dodging anymore, just charging. And now she’s slashing wildly at the Witch while still laughing.

“It’s really true! If I just detach myself…”

Oh no.

Ranubis said:As Sayaka recovers, Kyubey is rambling about how Magical Girls can control the degree of pain reception on their own, but he doesn’t recommend it at it lowers reaction time. ...wow, ok. Even I can see that manipulation at work there. You inflict Sayaka with severe pain, and then ‘offhandedly mention’ that she can make it so she feels no pain at all? Real subtle, Bunny-cat. Because why worry about the well-being of these girls when you can make them that much more aggressive in getting you food?

Well, this is just GREAT. Sayaka’s gone and turned into a Berserker Paladin, hasn’t she?

“...I really don’t feel any pain! *crazed laughter*”

Sayaka. Sayaka, please. Don’t do this. Going into a Berserker Rage never helps.

Can’t you hear Madoka begging you to stop?!

Well. That was certainly a cheery point to end the episode. Last time we discovered that the girls were lichs. Now Sayaka’s gone and started fighting in Berserker Mode. What’ll happen next, Madoka’s Mom gets killed by a Witch?!

Ugh. This show, you guys.

After Credits Picture! And adorable image of Kyoko, Sayaka and Madoka snacking on fish treats, while Sayaka yanks Kyubey away from the bag. If only this was the show that we had…

“I’m going to be a different kind of magical girl from all of you...That’s what I’ve decided...I don’t need thanks or recompense. I’ll be the one magical girl who won’t use her magic for herself.”

Well, that’s a good Hero Statement. Good for you Saya-

Episode 8: I Was Stupid… So Stupid

...what. No. NO. THAT IS A HORRIBLE EPISODE TITLE, WHY WOULD YOU-

[calliecat93]

Top 5 Things That I Disliked ABout RvB: Singularity

(Top 5 Likes Post Link)

Well, it’s been about four months since RvB17 concluded. The shortest season in the series thus far, RvB17 has had overall very positive reception with good humor, compelling drama, and nice character development. I enjoyed it… but I would be lying if I said I loved it unconditionally. And I’d be lying even more if I said that it was better than the sadly often derided S16. The season has its pros and it has its cons, as every season of the show does. The cons this time probably annoy me more than some due to what I like and dislike, so that’s important to know before going further into this post.

So, it’s time for another Top 5 Likes/Dislikes about the recent RvB season! Now normally I do this shortly before the upcoming season, so why am I doing this now and not when RvB18 starts? Well, I’ve had a lot of these on my mind for a while, and after completing a recent rewatch, I want to go ahead and get it all out. To compensate, when RvB18 does roll around I’ll likely do a post about the past three seasons, and maybe some other stuff like what I’d like to see. And of course, as always, this is just my opinion and I will be as fair as possible, so take everything that I say with a grain of salt.

Anyways, let's get the part that I always hate doing done first: the Top 5 Dislikes.

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I hate being negative. I really, really do. Overall, S17 was a very enjoyable season and I liked it in spite of its flaws, as I do with most media that I get into. But I do have issues, more so than I did 15 and 16, and I do want to talk about them. Most of you who’s followed my blog probably already know them, but I’m gonna try to be more detailed about why I disliked it. So we’ll start with something nit-picky, and work our way up. So let's get started with...

#5. Execution of the time travel/The Everwhen

This one is probably the most minor, but the whole thing just… confuses me. So for those unaware, the Everwhen is essentially a giant time portal that allows you to possess your past self at any point in time. This is… not a bad concept at all. It’s a really cool one and they use it to great effect by going to various points in the show’s history. Then using the past variations of Halo also makes us more invested since we recognize those periods. And while I wish we got to see more moments in those periods that we didn’t see, the few that we got in Episode 5 with Wash and Carolina was very well done. I only have two real issues with the Everwhen. First being an excuse for the mass amount of nostalgia banking, but at least it served a purpose… well, the Freelancers did. The Mercs were totally unnecessary. But that can easily just be a me thing and I get that it made a lot of fans happy, so I won’t harp on it. The other reason though is the reason why it made this list.

The execution is confusing as Hell when you really think about it.

First, how does this exist? I guess we’re supposed to believe that Chrovos made it, which I guess that I can buy. But aside from a line in Episode 1 about how the Reds and Blues time period was the backswing that caused the paradox, there isn’t really anything about how this gateway suddenly exists. Which presents another problem, the Reds and Blues inside it. Okay, so the paradox happened and it messed their memories up. That I understand… but why are they having deja vu in the past?! Shouldn’t they have been like Wash was? In some period where they did and didn’t break time? I get that they were in the middle of the paradox while Wash had been in the present, but in that case, how did they get knocked back to the past? At first, I assumed that Chrovos put them there, which would have made sense in order to keep them out of the way. But that’s never said. The implication is that they just got put there randomly, but because of Wash’s state, it really doesn't make any sense for them to be there.

But I think I get why it was like this. On The SHizno Podcast, Jason explained how the original pitch was that the Reds and Blues were going to be in a simulation of Blood Gulch that Chrovos put them in. Think S9 when Epsilon was in the Memory Unit… which it being too similar is one of the reasons why that plan got rejected. It probably explains why they used Halo 2 Anniversary in the S16 finale if the simulation plan was still in effect when Joe wrote it. But that would explain why they were in the past and having memory issues while Wash wasn’t. And it being a simulation is what I thought it was... until Huggins was able to move through it without going through the portal, which made everything even more confusing. As much as I get being too similar to S9, I can’t but feel that it would have been the better move and not given me a headache over how this stupid Everwhen worked. Because it being a simulation and not the actual timeline made a heck of a lot more sense.

Ultimately, this is Number 5 because as I said, it’s nitpicky. Time travel is a mess no matter how it’s utilized, so I’m pretty lenient on it because thinking about it too hard is painful and not worth it. Plus it may just be my own stupidity confusing me. Still, it DID bother me and it made Episodes 7 and 8 especially a pain in the ass to watch through. But since again it’s overall more nitpicky, I’ll leave it at Number 5.

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#4: The Simmons Labyrinth

Yeah, we all knew that this was going to be on here.  What’s left to be said that I haven’t talked about already? I think we all know why this was hated. First, it isn’t funny. I mean don’t get me wrong, the delivery of the joke was fine, but the joke itself sucked and made no sense for Simmons’ character. Say what you want about Grif’s Labyrinth, whether you saw it as good or terrible, but at least it made sense for his character. Simmons… is afraid of aliens cutting off his private parts. I’m…. fairly sure that RvB has done a joke like that before, and it was likely better there. Plus it didn't fit the tone. All the Labyrinths, even Grif’s, were portrayed as either serious or at least uncomfortable for the victim. I guess they wanted something to lighten the mood, but… it failed. Badly. It just took me out of it until we got back to Carolina’s. Even knowing Jason’s original plan of the alien being Simmons dad, while that would have been more impactful, still would have been treated as the final cut was and still would have taken me out of it.

What could have been done instead? IDK. Could have had Simmons relive one of his many embarrassments in high school. Could have been focused on the test anxiety that made him fail and get shipped off to Red Boot Camp. It could have been one of the many traumas that his dad inflicted on him, like being forced on the women’s volleyball team or something. All of those are still lighter than some of the other Labyrinths and could have had a comedic edge, but it still tells us something about Simmons and would make sense for him. I… am still trying to figure out how what we got fits Simmons at all or tells us anything about him. If anyone has any ideas, please let me know. 

The reason that this is Number 4 is because the scene was ultimately brief and Simmons didn’t exactly have a major role up to that point. It was incredibly stupid and not funny, but IDT it ruined his character or anything. Plus at this point, I and many others have gone on about it and there is really nothing left to say until we see what happens in the future. Jason seems to be aware of the critiques, and I imagine that others behind the show would also be aware by now. Maybe it'll be taken into account in future seasons and they’ll finally give Simmons the attention that he deserves.

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#3. Huggins

Ho boy, I’ve been waiting to let this out since the season ended. So for those who were reading my blog when S16 was airing, you know that Huggins was one of my favorite parts of said season. She was likable and fun, her friendship with Grif was adorable and helped his character massively, and she was just a bundle of joy who made me smile every time that we saw her. Her death, while I knew even then it was likely a fakeout, was a huge shock and had me praying that it being a fakeout was correct. Which it was! I was so happy… until we saw how she was actually handled this season.

Personality-wise, Huggins was fine. Her being able to go through time made sense and was even referenced in S16. But… well, she’s used to discovering that Black Holes lead to the beginning of time, goes through time to find the paradoxes that Genkins made, and… that’s it. In other words, Huggins was nothing but a damn plot device. I have a problem with character shafting, but this one was just unfair. Maybe Jason couldn’t think of anything else to do with her? Maybe her VA wasn't available for much? Maybe they didn’t have the budget to animate since Miles did say that they had a slightly smaller budget at RTX? IDK. There’s any number of reasons why, but it was annoying nevertheless. I mean Huggins only appeared in THREE EPISODES, and the first was only at the very end. After Episode 8, she just… disappeared.

There’s a lot of reasons why I hated this. First, just dropping a character like that despite her clearly being important and prominent is an insult to the character. I have issues with how the Reds and Blues were shafted aside from Donut, Wash, and Carolina, but at least they were still around. Huggins leaves to go find paradoxes in Episode 8 and then is gone. Last we hear of her is in the finale from Donut. But the bigger issue is that, if you remember, she was understandably angry at Grif for deciding to go with the plan to save Wash, even though he knew what would happen. It happened and… there’s zero reconciliation. None. Yes, Grif was happy to see her. Yes, he clearly felt remorseful. Yes, he did apologize. But Huggins never really forgave him, saying that she can't be mad at him at the moment because of the larger picture. But it was pretty clear that, while not enraged, she was still unhappy with him… and they don’t allow the two to talk? At all?! After everything in S16, we couldn’t get closure on that?! Really?!

That was what pissed me off. It pissed me off for Grif’s character, but trust me I’ll be going more into that shortly. But for Huggins, it pretty much just says ‘yeah, we are only bringing this character back for exposition and nothing more’. I know many hated S16, but Huggins was easily one of the factors that people enjoyed. I enjoyed it. As I said, her and Grif’s relationship was easily my favorite part of it and I still enjoy rewatching all of their interactions. IDK if she’ll be back in later seasons. I really hope so because, at the very least, she and Grif should reconcile. But even so, she deserved better than what she got. She was a good character, and she deserved better than what she got. I shouldn't be wondering if her remaining dead would have been a better alternative afterwards. I really shouldn’t. So… hopefully future seasons can maybe fix things, but for now, this remains a major problem for me.

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#2. Grif Character Shafting

In general, Season 17 had a BAD case of character shafting. Now it’s a huge ensemble cast, so not everyone is going to be able to get attention. I wasn’t that upset that characters like Sarge, Caboose, and Simmons (even if that doesn’t excuse his Labyrinth) not getting much attention because they had already been more lowkey in this story arc. I didn’t mind it with Tucker wither since he got PLENTY of attention with Chorus. Hell, I honestly wish that they kept Wash and Carolina more lowkey because they ALWAYS get the majority of the focus, but for S17’s story it’s understandable why they would so I can forgive it. But you should probably NOT shaft a character who has been one of the central focuses in an ongoing story arc and still had a ton of character development that had to be wrapped up.

You know… like Grif.

Yeah, I won’t lie. While I thought that Grif acted IC and everything… they really dropped the ball with him. I wouldn’t mind that much had S15 and 16 not happened. Those are two seasons that gave Grif a ton of character development. He was essentially the main protagonist in S16, the one most involved in the plot despite how much he tried not to, and began resolving his issues. He went from doing everything in his power to avoid the plot, to openly confronting it and even rejecting the pizza that he had wanted so bad. He was the only one who knew what was about to happen after openly being mocked by Genkins, and despite his best efforts, he failed to stop it…

...and this got aBSOLUTELY NO FOLLOW UP? WHAT THE HELL?! THat’s like if, after Season 11, Tucker acted like none of the events during S11 affected him and didn’t grow as a leader and a soldier. It would come off as super weird since 12 followed the aftermath of S11 and would have been a huge disservice to the character and his development. That’s how it felt here with Grif. At first, it looked like they may show stuff since Grif DID believe Donut at first. But he had to ignore it since Donut isn’t allowed to be listened to. When he got his memory back, everything should have been hitting him then and there. There should have been more anger and probably some guilt about how even when he tried, he still failed and now they have even more bullshit to deal with. But they just… bizarrely ignore it.

I wouldn’t say that Grif regressed, but the fact that there is NO follow-up to his development in a storyline that allowed said development to begin with is a disservice. I get it, they only had 12 episodes and Donut and Wash were the more important. I understand that. And hey, S18 could follow up on it. But there still should have been something. Maybe the reveal about him lying about the enlistment was supposed to be that. Which I did like that… but that was not enough imo. He didn’t reconcile with Huggins. There’s no follow-up about how he failed to stop the paradox. Even for someone as lazy as Grif, we should still be seeing some emotions there. His Labyrinth, while I ultimately don’t hate it and I do see how it can apply to his character, probably should have been something stronger like being stuck back on Iris with the volleyballs mocking him or something.

Character shafting does have to happen in an ensemble cast. But Grif should NOT have been one of them. IDK how they could have incorporated him better while still keeping everything intact, but it’s still frustrating. Again, maybe S18 can provide something. I hope that at least Grif is allowed to reconcile with Huggins and realize that he should actually talk about his issues because I do think that his scene with Kai was an important moment for him. Whether you like to hate the retcon, it makes sense for his character to run away and he’s actually offering to talk about it. Okay, it’s more for Kai’s sake than his own, but he’s still willing to talk about his feelings, which is not something that I could have seen him done without his S15 and 16 development. Hence why I think that is S18 has him be more willing to talk to say Kai or Simmons and about how much S15 and 16 really did affect him instead of trying to brush it aside by calling himself hateglue, he can have a complete character arc. But as far as S17 goes, there’s no excuse for it and was a big problem for me.

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Honorable Mentions

 Aka, the things that annoyed me, but not by much or I didn’t feel were bad enough to add onto the list.

Tucker not taking responsibility/talking to Wash: It was his idea to go and save Wash despite knowing the consequences, so he’s as guilty as Carolina imo. There should have been more focus on that, and about him reconciling with Wash and accepting what had to happen. The fact that they had zero interaction was bizarre tbh. But it isn’t as big of a deal as other things, so I kept it off. Consider this Number 6.

Character shafting: I hated it, and everyone outside Donut, Wash, and Carolina felt wasted. But it’s already a huge cast, so it was bound to happen and Grif’s was the one that manly pissed me off. So I spared it.

Nostalgia banking: That’s a me thing, so I didn’t feel it was fair to add it, especially since it overall did serve a purpose.

Carolina guilt trips need to die: I forgive it here because it worked for the story and was well executed. But... writers, you’ve done Carolina guilt trips since at least S10. It’s lazy and boring now. Come up with something new for her. Let it die.

Donut being ignored: Mainly, I think they played it up too much. DOnut displayed no noteworthy flaws in this season, and pretty much everything revolved around him. On rewatch, this was annoying and made him seem better and more important than everyone else. That’s unfair. But after all the years where he got shit treatment, he earned it honestly, so I forgave it.

And that’s it! So onto Number One!

                          _______________________________

I thought long and hard about what Number One could be. Grif Shafting almost made it, but again the finale scene did actually make me happy. As such, I had only one real option left…

#1. The 12 Episode Count

Imo, this is I think the cause of many of the problems with S17 that I have. This should not have been a 12 episode season. 15 maybe, like last time. But not 12. Now there’s any number of reasons that they decided to go with that. Miles did say at RTX that they had a slightly smaller budget, so maybe they just simply couldn’t afford to do more than what they were able to do. Maybe they just thought that 12 episodes wrapped up the story and that there was no need to exceed that number or try to avoid stressing themselves and others out more. Production is hard and not cheap and you’re not going to be able to do everything that you want or even need to be able to do. As such, I’m not angry at them for deciding this since most likely, they had to work with what they had available.

That being said, it is still a problem. A 12 episode season has both its pros and its cons. With the pros, they were able to keep an overall steady pace and focus on what needed to be focused on without having to extend it or cram in filler. But the cons are you have to cram in as much as possible with limited time and put aside the things that aren’t as important. Grif wasn't as important as the other things. Huggins wasn't as important as the other things. They didn’t have time to elaborate on all the time travel, so they did as much as they could and then focus on the story. And Simmons Labyrinth was just a bad idea and would have still sucked even with a longer episode total, so nothing to say there.

My point is, while I do think that 12 episode seasons could work for RvB, they probably shouldn't have done it in the middle of a story arc. Again, they might not have had a choice, but it’s still an annoyance. The first half was fine and the best of the season. But the second half felt much more rushed and overstuffed. Episodes 7 and 8 shoved in exposition and it came across as more confusing than informing. Donut forgave everyone FAR too easily and it didn’t feel like they genuinely felt sorry after being called out. Which made the moment where he did call them out feel slightly less impactful. Only slightly, Then we rush through fixing the paradoxes and The Labyrinth within like four episodes, which when watching all the episodes together really makes it and the ending feel really anti-climactic. It’s like they shoved a ton of character stuff within like ten minutes, but we don’t get to explore it naturally. A problem that I think 15 episodes would have helped solve, but 12… it just… was not enough.

If they do go with 12 episodes again, I think it’ll work better since they’ll have a new story arc that they cal plan properly for. They didn’t have that luxury here. That, on top of Joe having to leave and Jason having to take over writing duties. Which is another annoyance. IDK the circumstances obviously and not to diminish Jason, but Joe should have been allowed to finish his own damn story, the fans' opinion on if he was good or not be damned. But again for all I know he chose to walk out, so I’m not going to go any further than that. Considering what they did have, the fact that they did make a good product is to be admired. But there’s still a lot of problems imo. Ones that I think that the episode count ultimately caused most of. As such, it is the thing that I dislike about RvB17 the most.

                            ______________________________

Again, this is only my opinion. There was a lot that I did like about RvB17, and when I write the Likes post I’ll gladly talk about them. That being said, I do think that this wasn't as good as 16 and IDC how many people think I’m insane for saying that. It had story issues, character issues, and the second half was ultimately just a mess. A fun mess, but still a mess. No, IDK how any of these could have been done better and IDT it’s so bad that it can’t be amended in later seasons. But overall, these issues did damper my enjoyment and things that I hope to see improved in the future.

Okay! Dislikes are done! Thank God! Now I can do the happy stuff! Hopefully, the Likes post will be ready in a few days. But thank you all for reading, and I hope that you enjoyed~

[neverwatchedonepiece]

625: "Tension! Aokiji vs Doflamingo!"

One a scale of one to Kuzan, how bad is Doflamingo’s day going?

Only have time for one episode today but luckily it was a good one. 625 was crammed with intrigue and plot acceleration - not to mention adorable slice of life moments.

I know the next three episodes are filler (the thumbnail at the top corner of each video gave it away). Are they worth watching? I think I spied the Kung Fu Dugongs in the preview to 626. Those little guys were brilliant. xD

Mmmm... Dat Delicious Peril

Must confess I was hyped for this episode. The action continued were 624 left off: Doflamingo astride Smoker with Kuzan at his back.

“I need you to get off my friend.”

The way Doflamingo reacted to the imminent danger was interesting. The slow creep of ice towards him was a warning. He didn’t move. Slasher smile fixed to his face, he glanced about, considered: am I calm enough to retreat and let this slide?

Doflamingo served a large helping of Hell No.

He decided, “Screw it,” and went for the kill. Smoker almost went to the Big Cigar Shop in the sky. Luckily, his awesome friend had his back and froze Doflamingo’s feathery ass.

I knew Doflamingo wasn’t beaten because the cheeky little glint of his frozen shades told me so. He broke out of Kuzan’s ice casing and just stood there, staring at Kuzan, chuckling like a madman. (Also I love how Kuzan’s Devil Fruit lets opponents escape with all their clothing and accessories intact. He’s a good guy, really.)

For a second, I thought there might be a fight. Dramatic music kicked in. Kuzan and Doflamingo stared each other down. Then Doflamingo sauntered straight past Kuzan like it was nothing.

“I don’t want to fight you,” he said. “But if I can’t keep Smoker’s mouth shut, I will have to change my approach.”

Straight up threat there. Smoker now knows he can’t go blabbing about what Vergo has done. It’s probably in Smoker’s best interest, to be honest. If Vergo infiltrated the Marines, there might be more of Doflamingo’s agents crawling about the woodwork. Then again, Akainu is now in charge, and I’ll bet he’d love nothing more than to detect and crush any hidden pirates in the Marine ranks.

Doflamingo’s next dig was more interesting.

“But could you tell me one thing? Just what are you now, Kuzan? The things I’ve heard about you aren’t cool. The face of a vagabond is different from one who has a purpose.”

Now I’ve watched Film Z, Doflamingo’s comment “What are you now?” echoes what Kuzan said about himself. At that point, Kuzan wasn’t sure and even asked himself, “Just what am I now?” He sort of answered his own question, referring to himself as “an ally of justice.” Maybe. 

I still don’t know the full significance of Doflamingo’s pointed dig at Kuzan, but from the way Kuzan reacted once Doflamingo, Baby 5 and Buffalo flew off and Smoker said, “You’re not connected with the underworld, are you?”.... well, it got me wondering.

Kuzan sent the nosey G5 guys away while he had a quiet word with Smoker.

“I’m still the same person, Smoker.”

“That’s good then.”

I wonder if this means Kuzan *is* operating in the underworld, but that he told Smoker he was “the same person” means Smoker is no longer above dodgy dealings as long as Kuzan is still on the right side.

“At any rate, don’t take your eyes off Doflamingo. He is both a Shichibukai and a king of Dressrosa. He is an extremely dangerous pirate.”

Well, the king status explains why he has a massive house and a ton of servants. But this further complicates matters. Is Doflamingo an actual king, like one of the World Nobles? Or is this something lost in translation, like a kingpin, drug lord type of a banana republic?

“Tell Sakazuki to get the admirals moving. In the worst case scenario, the cogs will be destroyed and this will become the biggest threat that Sakazuki’s new Marines will have to face. I’ve warned you.”

Laying aside the whole aura of menace and the existence of important (metaphorical?) cogs, the fact that Kuzan is still willing to work with Akainu (Sakazuki is his real name, right?) speaks volumes about his character. I’m still not certain if Akainu knows Kuzan is still supporting them or whether this is a voluntary thing on Kuzan’s part and he continues to help from the shadows because he feels he must.

Either way, I like it.

Also laughed a lot when he forgot he was going to ask G5 to keep what had happened a secret. Lol, he’s still absent-minded. 

Still, the escalating sense of imminent conflict is great. Glad the plot is building towards something again. I wonder if the Marines know about Doflamingo, Kaidou and SMILE? Maybe Kuzan knows and that’s why he’s secretly warning Akainu to mobilise?

Maybe it’s something completely different.

Either way, I place some of the blame on this guy.

Hi, Caesar!

Aww, look. He’s thrilled to be the cause of it all. xD

On board Sunny, Law explained the trade relationship between Doflamingo and Kaidou. For some reason, he was cool explaining the plan to Foxfire and Momonosuke, who were hanging around listening in for no real reason. Still not sure why Law was cool with the alliance’s secret plan being heard by a pair of randoms from Wano, but I’m sure there is a reason.

I loved that even Foxfire and Momonosuke were shocked at the Alliance going after Kaidou.

Law also explained the plan in greater detail, which is great for us fans.

“To defeat Kaidou,” he said, “we must whittle down his fighting force. Kaidou has been buying many Zoan SMILEs from Doflamingo. There are many risk to SMILEs, but despite that, Kaidou now has over five hundred Devil Fruit users in his crew.”

First off, holy crap. Five hundred Devil Fruit users in his crew? That is a number, it really is.

Secondly, I was wrong about Kaidou wanting to use the SMILEs to boost his own beastly strength. He’s creating stronger crew. That’s definitely better. Much more of a threat if you have strong crew as well as being an absolute unit yourself.

Thirdly, there are risks to SMILEs. I wonder if these risks will give the StrawHearts (my new name for the Alliance) an in with Kaidou’s crew? As in, the ones SMILE didn’t work on will be injured or bitter and willing to betray Kaidou? Hmm...

“But Kaidou won’t be making any more,” Law added, and looked straight at Caesar.

Caesar was like, “Who me? Ehehehehe.”  I loved that moment when Chopper was like, “Omg, you create the ingredients for SMILE? That’s really impressive!” and when Law said, “Nah, he just improved Vegapunk’s work,” Chopper was like, “Oh.”

Totally don’t get why no one is impressed by that, to be honest. Science is all about improving and refining others’ work, even things that seem to be completely new. If Caesar adapted and improved SMILE, that’s still a legit achievement, I think. (I can’t believe I’m sticking up for Caesar. xD)

At any rate, Law also revealed there is another SMILE factory on Dressrosa. Their mission: find and destroy. Once that’s done, Kaidou won’t he able to increase his forces. The only caution (and a significant one at that) is that Doflamingo is a total pro and will not sit idly by while the StrawHearts mess up his business.

Luckily, Dressrosa is also where Foxfire and Momonosuke need to go. Apparently, they’re off to rescue a comrade who is imprisoned there. (Maybe that’s why Law was okay for Foxfire and Momo sticking around. It seems like Oda is going to include them in next arc’s plotline too. I think this is the first time this has happened in One Piece. And not only to them, but a villain too!)

This Was Just Great

Once Law was done explaining the plan, clouds gathered overhead. It was slice of life time. I know I love plot and intrigue but I also cherish those little peaceful moments between arcs, when the Strawhats are just hanging out on Sunny, enjoying the freedom of the sea.

There was a hair-raising moment when Sunny was almost crushed by a single giant hailstone (thanks Nami, Usopp, Chopper and Franky for timely avoidance tactics.) Momonosuke was super impressed by the Coup de Burst and Nami offered him a tour of Sunny.

I was like, “Yes! Give him a tour so I can see it too!” xD

Nami spent hours taking little Momonosuke round Sunny. He saw the fish tank, the library, got some lunch from Sanji, was examined by Dr Chopper - complete with hilarous tache - and sort of spoiled it with that moment in the bath with Robin but... meh, it’s Oda’s humour so whatever. :)

The nighttime scene was nice too. Usopp and Chopper dressing up in samurai armour and messing about on deck. Luffy fishing in armour (lol). Foxfire and Zoro sparring because Foxfire thought Zoro was the zombie swordsman from Thriller Bark because he had Shunsui (lol). Foxfire’s fiery sword slashes waking up and almost frying Caesar (double lol).

Brook said some pretty smart things about Doflamingo right at the end, which I am eighty-five percent certain no one will have heard because he was half talking to himself.

“Between losing his place as a Shichibukai and fighting a Yonko. I rather expect him to do neither and come after us.”

Me too, Brook. Me too.

And there was a rabbit turtle thing plus a guy with flowing cape, top hat and scary, shiny monocle. I’m guessing he is the filler bad guy?

Listen to Broooook. He knoooooows.

[lgcxking]

━━━  ♚  FUTURE DREAMS SEASON 001 SOLO PERFORMANCE bermuda triangle by zico ft. crush & dean ( choregraphy inspiration )

So cute, when you’re feeling down, This is perfect, aight What makes you upset? My success is first There was no evil intent but I’m sure of my success Many stages, many cams, many fans

he chooses a solo with minimal singing that's in his comfortable range. since he'll be dancing at the same time, he doesn't want to push the level of vocals too much and shoot himself in the foot by cracking his voice. his rapping is pretty damn solid. king gets better every single day and is a performer to watch out for.

there's a fine line between confidence and arrogance and for a long time king has struggled to find a healthy balance between the two. he's a cocky performer, coming on stage to conquer and not to make friends. but he's also learned a lot since coming to legacy. how to be in a team, how to let others shine while not erasing himself in the background. he still gets scolded for wanting to snatch the spotlight when it isn't his turn, despite his growth for the past four years. but can anyone blame him? they're all here to debut and get famous. he won't turn down an opportunity to be seen, so the others just have to bring the same amount of charisma and energy. that's how the game is. he's willing to play fair out of necessity, but not give any passes either.

he hasn't really looked at comments after the first two episodes aired. they're about three weeks ahead into the competition and the stakes are too high with the solo performances coming up to get distracted by internet trolls. sure, positive comments could boost his ego but it's not worth seeing hate. he's sure there is. he came in first place, so he's bound to have left an impression on all viewers. good or bad. he didn't hide his confidence with his rank either, claiming he deserves it and intends to keep it. so no matter what, he has something to prove.

he's often more laid back during regular training. hard working, no doubt, or else his skills would remain stagnant. but he's not a fool. cameras are on them at all times and he can't look like he's above the competition. that would be destroying his image before he's even had a chance to build it up. he spends an insane amount of time in the practice room, going over the choreography for hours, perfecting it down to the smallest detail until he's satisfied. and he tries to do the same with the vocals, be it singing or rapping. korean isn't his native language. in fact, there's no language that king masters perfectly. his pronunciation has really improved but he still wants to make sure they can understand the lyrics and can't hold that part against him.

"hey, i'm tsai king and i'll be performing bermuda triangle by zico." he says, standing close to the camera and bowing. once his greeting is done, he walks back to his designated spot in the center of the frame, allowing viewers to see his full body.

the dance starts rather slow, with king grooving to the music rather than doing a full blown choreography. it allows him to really focus on the first few lines of the song, gaze not leaving the camera as it burns through the lens. and when the rap starts, so does the dance, showing off sharp, intricate movements. he can of course do more complicated than this, but he thinks it fits the style of bermuda triangle. it's no place for big and dramatic movements, nor anything that's too flashy. he wants to impress through his ability to perform live in every aspect and not just his dance. that's usually where he shines the most but there are other skills he's good at. hopefully the coaches see that.

he greets the camera again once he's done, leaving his fate in the hands of the coaches. he's not stupid. unless the solo is all about rapping, his vocal abilities might not be strong enough. his stage presence is undeniable but he's clearly not the best singer. it all comes down to the chosen song but no matter what, he's at least proven that he's nothing else than center material. he belongs in the front and isn't here to be a mere prop.

INTERVIEW

do you think you did enough to be awarded the solo?

"i showed what i can do." king says confidently. "may the best one win, but i do think i've got enough skill. of course, if they're looking for a really strong vocalist then there's nothing i can do about it." it's not up to him. he thinks that after more than four years in this company he deserves a solo, but if she song sucks he wouldn't want to be associated with it forever. it has its pros and its cons. if he can get a neat position in hit and movie star it should be enough to garner attention.

what was the most difficult part of this performance?

"i'd say it was coming up with the song itself. we don't really know what they're looking for, so in the end i decided to put their expectations aside and just focus on what i want them to see of me. all four group songs have pretty distinct sounds so i didn't want to just copy their style. i went with something a little bit different. once i made my choice, putting the performance together went pretty smoothly. i'm satisfied."

[acertaincritic]

Various Donghua Reviews

I watched or tried to watch a whole bunch of donghua in the past few weeks, and since I see little discourse on this type of animation, I decided to compile them into a list with my short opinions attached. If you are toying with the idea of watching this or that Chinese animation, check out below for both recommendations and a couple of no-no series ^.^”

First things first, some notes. “Wuxia” is a popular genre in Chinese media, based off martial arts, and most often it strays into fantasy territory (from what I’ve seen, at least). It comes with a set of already established tropes and world building details. Think about Western fantasy - when you see elves in it, you don’t have to be told what they are. There are variations, but generally elves = pointed ears + beautiful + magical, and everybody knows that. Wuxia has similar things that do not get explained in every story, so it might feel overwhelming at first, though many translators do try to explain them in the notes. Just for the sake of those who want to know before starting watching, here’s what might make your life easier:

Cultivators - people a little like mages, except they have flying swords and generally are well-versed in martial arts. Usually their purpose is to battle evil supernatural beings. In some stories they are ageless (as in, they don’t grow old) and very hard to kill, in others it’s toned down. Above a certain level, they often train by remote meditation.

Golden Core/Core Formation - sth like the source of their power?... Not exactly, but they have to form it through training if they want to use advanced techniques. It’s situated somewhere between chest and belly, I suck at anatomy, don’t kill me.

Paper talismans  - rectangular pieces of paper that are amazingly easy to toss at your enemies. Used for casting spells, easy to understand just by watching. Also if they seem to be glued to sth, then they usually serve as a seal of some kind.

Various demons/spirits/other magical beings - gosh, there’s a ton. TBH I don’t even know if some aren’t completely made-up by the authors for the sake of their stories. Generally be ready that a new demon/beast/something can jump out from every corner, and the characters are going to know what it is, while you don’t. Resentful energy seems to often be tied to them, as in, it’s what often fuels them.

All right, without further ado, here’s what I’ve tried already. The list is more or less in the order of recommendation, aka from those I liked best to those that I didn’t like at all.

Title: Mo Dao Zu Shi / The Grandmanster of Demonic Cultivation

Throughline: The supposed villain of the cultivators’ world gets reincarnated into an adult’s body 13 years after his death. Things escalate from there.

My take: 

+ my entry point into donghua.

+ I was hesitant to watch because of the BL tag, but there really is no need to get scared by it. There’s plot proper, well-developed characters, both main and side, and overall this clearly is a fantasy series with a romance rather than a romance with fantasy setting.

+ beautiful art and great animation with only sparse moments when CGI looks kinda clanky.

+ wonderful music, too.

+ honestly though, I’ve been on a low when I came across it and was brought back to life. It’s been a long, long time since I fangirled over a series so much.

+ if you follow my blog you must’ve already seen about it.

+ Just give it a try, OK?

- some things in the beginning are not clearly explained and many names get tossed in at once; especially if you don’t know any Chinese, they might all sound the same. The characters also all have long black hair and bishe faces. I recommend first checking them online and memorizing at least the main casts, it really makes watching it much easier - focus on the bangs and clothes, and try to remember their names. Or you can always rewatch the beginning after you get better at recognizing who is who.

- the cut to flashbacks is confusing, as it happens at the very end of episode 2. Then episodes 3 to 14.5 take place in the past - another thing that’s not super clear and worth keeping in mind.

Title: Di Wang Gong Lue / The Emperor’s Strategy

Throughline: The Emperor and his loyal noble ally take on many problems that befall the country.

My take:

+ This is the closest series to “Mo Dao Zu Shi” I found so far, though there aren’t that many specific similarities. Only the overall ‘feel’ is similar.

+ Also tagged BL, but TBH, if I didn’t know about it before watching, I still wouldn’t know it.

+ The relationship between the two main characters is like, funny and cute at the same time.

+ Politics and fantasy intertwined.

+ Also a lot of interesting side characters, though maybe they could’ve been given more screen time.

+ great character designs and music.

- animation. It looks like anime from around the year 2000, even though the series came out in 2018.

- some flashback stuff seems really cheesy. There’s not a lot of it, thankfully.

- the first three or four episodes aren’t very engaging. I got invested around episode 5, though as you see, the beginning isn’t so terrible that you can’t wade through it.

Title: Mi Yu Xing Zhe / Uncharted Walker

Throughline: A group of people are put on a tropical island, forced to play an escape game under extreme circumstances.

My take:

+ an interesting set of characters with various backgrounds, most of them likable or at least understandable.

+ despite the setup, it’s not as bloody as many similar series. Characters can die, but they don’t die that often, which really builds tension and keeps you on the edge of the seat, because when there’s a close-to-death moment, you never know if it’s one when the character will really die or when they get rescued last-minute.

+ there is a very strong “game” feeling to this, where characters generally have to figure out how to use their resources to overcome various obstacles.

+ some psychological stuff here and there.

+ very good animation and designs.

-/+ there are borderline supernatural elements, though generally playing pretend at scientific. I personally don’t mind it, but some people might be put off or disappointed.

- it turns much more creepy in the last 3 or so episodes, to the point that it becomes more of a horror than a survival and mystery story. Even worse, the horror stuff comes in a setup that’s pretty realistic, so I have flashback ‘till this day (I don’t like horrors, and being realistic makes it much worse). TBH if I knew, I’d probably resign from watching, because as much as I enjoyed everything up until that part, the creeps aren’t worth it... However, perhaps you like horrors better than I do.

- a HUGE cliffhanger at the end. But like, HUUUUUGE HUGE.

Title: Shuangsheng Lingtan /  Twin Spirit Detectives

Throughline: Twin brothers take on cases of supposed supernatural phenomena, bent on proving that they are not real - only that one of them appears to be a ghost himself...

My take:

+ interesting setup.

+ detective stuff - I have a soft spot for mysteries.

+ likable main characters and a few well-developed side characters, too.

+ animation is overall quite good.

+ has a solid arc, though with an open ending and kinda a cliffhanger about a side character at the end.

-/+ bordering on the supernatural territory again.

- horror elements, but thankfully, this time they aren’t that realistic.

- some things in the first few episodes feel rushed or not properly developed (apparently the issue is with the donghua adaptation, and the original manhua had a slower beginning).

Title: Quan Zhi Gao Shou /  The King’s Avatar

Throughline: The top player of “Glory” is forced to give up his account and retire for a year. What will he do now?

My take:

+ a decent setup, though it gets old quickly.

+ a large cast of interesting character with various strengths and weaknesses and strongly-defined personalities.

+ great art style and characters’ design.

+ great animation during fights.

- the main character. Just. I’ve rarely encountered such a Gary Stue, I really wish I could see him lose for real. Like, I’m OK with him beating noobs, that’s realistic, but he doesn’t stop even after other pros come into play.

- the plot seems generally directionless so far, and gets tiring easily.

- originally I was supposed to binge-watch it with friends as a series none of us knew beforehand, but we gave up after 6 episodes and I switched it to MDZS instead. I finished it alone later, and mostly for the sake of the side characters and animation.

- it is generally watchable, but like, far from best.

This point marks the end of series I watched whole. The following are series I dropped after 5-6 episodes (which I consider a fair amount).

Title: Ling Qi / Spritpact

Throughline: A guy dies and is given an ultimatum - to pass away or become a spirit companion of a demon-battling, Korean priest.

My take:

+ setup and world building. This seems just like the kind of fantasy that fits my taste.

+ ...character design is not terrible, I guess?

+ apparently the animation gets better in season 2.

+ the demon-battling priest seems like a character archetype I might like.

+/- TBH this series wasn’t tragic, I may still go back to it one day, if I really feel like it. The idea has potential and the plot probably gets better later, I just wasn’t able to prevail until then.

- animation in the first season is kinda meh. Could be worse, but it still doesn’t please. Don’t let the marvelous poster above deceive you!

- the main character. He’s so whiny, I was unable to stand him. He’s the main reason I dropped this, and I honestly have no idea if he gets any better later.

Title: Quanzhi Fashi / Full-Time Magister

Throughline: Three months after a guy gets transported into a magic-filled alternative reality, he struggles to get into magic school to become the best mage and get a lot of money for his family.

My take:

+ setup/world building again hit a soft spot in my fantasy-loving heart.

+ ...I’ve seen some fragments from season 2, apparently animation is good there.

- I hated the MC of QZGS, but he at least had half a reason to be so unrealistically OP. This guy here... he’s a new low... Basically “How to Write a Gary Stu?” example. Like. C’mon. You can have an OP cool protagonist without making them a GS.

- despite the potentially interesting premise, this is as simplistic as it could be. The MC is ridiculed, but he turns out to be super powerful with talent for not just one, but two most rare elemental magics. He gets bullied - then he shows off how much better he is than the bully during magic exams, stunning everybody. One of the Big Bad Rich Guys tries to recruit him - he flat-out refuses in a infuriatingly arrogant manner. Etc. etc.

- Characters are as deep as a puddle during drought.

- Look, there’s a set of tropes that are generally laughed at in this type of premise, like the MC having an OP secret power, getting put down by everybody to an unrealistic degree etc. Here they are played painfully straight, and there’s nothing more to the story. Absolutely nothing, not a single interesting character or plot thread. I kept watching for so long hoping that something would turn up, but it didn’t.

- animation in season 1 is pretty bad.

That would be all for my donghua experience so far. I had many ups, though I guess some salt pits were unavoidable +_+

[magicplanetanime]

Let’s Watch Heartcatch Pretty Cure! Episodes 4 & 5

I’ve got a twofer for y’all today. My first, in fact! Two episodes that introduce new villains and go for some solid morals about growing up, let’s dive right in.

Episode 4 - The Precure partnership is already dissolved?!

This episode actually starts with a cold open, which is not something I really knew this franchise did. Still, it’s a neat way to really get the narrative moving at the jump, which is useful here, because this episode moves along at a pretty steady clip.

The cold open details the girls--well, mostly just Marine, we’ll get to that in a second--taking out a Desertrian. This one created not by Sasorina, but by new arrival Kurojacky, who kind of looks like he’s just stepped out of Captain Harlock.

This guy is the token “honorable” villain, which the episode makes clear at several points a bit later on. The girls go at the Desertrian but Blossom kind of bungles her half of the super awesome combination attack and Marine ends up beating the thing basically by herself. If you’re looking for a sum-up of the intro, it’s basically these two pictures:

This episode’s core makes itself apparent pretty quickly. Tsubomi feels that both as Cure Blossom and in general, she’s just not as good at things as Erika is. Erika, being her usual somewhat blockheaded self, does not really pick up on this insecurity, setting up the episode’s central conflict.

Despite what the title might imply, the two don’t actually fight per se. Tsubomi seems about as taken with Erika’s can-do attitude as anyone else.

It is more of an insecurity thing, something that’s by now establishing itself as a running theme of her character.

This is something that repeats throughout the episode. And not just repeats, but is mirrored in the relationship between the two characters-of-the-week, a pair of tennis players. The parallel is pretty clear; as Tsubomi runs her overactive imagination in circles, envisioning Erika leaving her

The taller of the tennis player girls stresses that her partner is going to leave her because she’s the weaker member of their team.

Sidebar here: the term “partner” is used a lot in this episode, and while it’s probably not intended to be read with any romantic undertones, it’s certainly easy to read that way if you want to.

After Erika gives some poorly-worded advice to the tennis girl, Tsubomi misinterprets, and thinks Erika wants to break off their partnership. This leads to her running home in tears and seeking comfort in um, the bosom of the big furry thing, Coupe.

I think I’m just going to accept that this guy is cuter if you’re like, 12, and move on.

Meanwhile Erika is having an issue of her own. Tsubomi ran off, and she understands that it’s her fault *somehow* but she isn’t really sure how. Her older sister also appears--fairylike--to offer her some advice of her own, which she also doesn’t really get. Plainly; both girls have flaws. Tsubomi’s is her low self-esteem, and Erika’s is her tendency to speak without thinking.

But it’s worth pausing to note here that the show doesn’t really seem to place any blame on either of them for this. They are, after all, young girls navigating the confusing world of social relationships. Tsubomi has anxiety to deal with, and Erika has a lack of social graces. As another, potentially controversial sidebar, Erika rather seems autistic to me. I don’t expect the show to ever address this directly (it’s a children’s program after all and those tend toward the broad as opposed to the specific. See also Star Twinkle Precure’s most recent episode, which is not directly about cultural diversity but also, is super about cultural diversity), but as someone with ADHD, a lot of this just seems rather, well, familiar. But perhaps I’m projecting.

And we get the capper on that with the fight in this episode. Which is fairly short. Kurojacky transforms the tennis girl into a Desertrian that uses a rollbar to mow down the tennis fence and menace several nearby students--appropriately, it’s deemed Roller. Tsubomi and Erika work out their misunderstanding, and Erika actually says this after learning why Tsubomi was upset, which I feel like lends credence to my aforementioned headcanon (do people still say that? Eh, whatever. I do)

The misunderstanding cleared up, Marine reassures Blossom that yes, of course she does want to be her partner. Again, maybe it’s just me, but the implications at least on the part of whoever wrote the script really seem to border on romantic here.

I mean jeez she even winks and a heart comes out.

They destroy the Desertrian, recapturing the heart flower and healing the tennis girl (who also makes up with her partner) and, well, basically roll credits.

Yeah, that’d be the moral summed up nice and neatly at the episode’s end. Pleasant ain’t it?

This was a cute episode, and the message is one that a lot of little girls probably need to hear. Friendship is important, and knowing how to maintain friendships (and relationships in general really, whether they’re platonic, romantic, or whatever else) is one of the most important life skills a person can learn full stop. So it’s nice to see it addressed here. Plus, we’ve got a new villain. I should also mention that there’s a vague mention of the Desert folkz wanting to make people despair so they can conquer the world which I think is the first direct mention we get of their motives, but it’s been pretty obvious so I didn’t bring it up. All of this is cool, and that’s another solid episode in the show’s bag.

Episode 5 - Rejected Ramen! Heal the Father-Son bond!

This episode’s title cuts right to the chase. Immediately it tells you three things. There’s a father, a son, and a bond between them that needs to be healed. Also, ramen. We’re introduced to the ramen shop owner’s son, Akira, in the episode’s opening minute.

There’s no real beating around the bush this time around either. The episode quickly establishes that the core conflict is between Akira, who was initially supportive of his father’s ramen business but is now finding it cutting into his time to play baseball, and his aforementioned father.

There’s some nice fluff in the first part of the episode unrelated to this though. Firstly, we get Tsubomi showing off a knack for flower arrangements. She suggests adding a splash of the (unfortunately named, but it is what they’re really called) rapeseed blossom flower to a bouquet to give it some more “Spring-ness”, which she is promptly praised for. It’s nice to see the show have someone directly praise Tsubomi, since it’s been made clear she’s kind of insecure. It shows her parents understand their daughter pretty well.

Next, the fairies come to Erika and Tsubomi, expressing that they’re hungry. What follows is an honestly kind of bizarre scene where Erika roots around in Coupe’s....heart patch....thing to pull out some kind of magical sippy cup for the fairies.

I imagine said cup was the hot new toy (or maybe it was just an actual thermos? Who knows) product the show had to shill. Still, it’s a pretty ungraceful piece of product placement. It did give us this absolutely amazing Erika expression though, so it’s certainly not all bad.

There’s a short scene further reinforcing the conflict between Akira and his father, but before we get much else, there’s a cut to the Desert Apostles’ fortress, where we’re introduced to a third bad guy, and hoo boy.

This is Kobraja. Fabulous, isn’t he? This show seems to really enjoy drawing adults as though they’ve stepped out of some heavily-stylized 90s series. I really dig it, though I feel like Kobraja’s overtly-femme appearance might land on just the wrong side of stereotypical. I’d say I’m reaching, but I was apparently not the only person with this thought.

Never change, NIHON TV. Anyway he vows to succeed where the other two villains failed. Sure he will.

We see another short scene where Akira is offered a bowl of ramen by his dad, which he promptly rebuffs.

He doesn’t actually *do* much here other than grit his teeth and look generally angry (the life of a young teen boy can be a stressful one indeed), which I found a little surprising. Kids’ shows tend to lend themselves well to explosive outbursts of emotion, which this is too restrained to really be that, although probably more realistic. He does yell a bit later but it’s still more restrained than is the norm with this sort of thing. An interesting writing / directorial choice to be certain.

MEANWHILE OUTSIDE

Good lord.

But, y’all know the drill by this point. Kobraja finds Akira angsting outside, and we promptly advance from Soccer Golems to Ramen Monsters.

Hilariously, after making his introduction, Kobraja tosses the girls some pocket-sized model shots of himself. The dude is a *fun* villain, if nothing else.

There’s two interesting things about the fight scene that follows. One is that it’s incredibly quality, with the ramen monster using His Noodly Appendages as whips and Cure Marine at one point skating along them like she’s going for a high score in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2.

The second is that this is the first indication we get that the Desertrians can actually resist their “programming” to some extent, since shortly after the ramen monster accidentally hits Blossom it starts actually crying.

We’re told that this is because both the anger and not wanting to hurt his father are part of Akira’s true feelings, which makes some sense. Also, the kid’s voice actor deserves some serious credit for managing to put *genuine emotional pull* into the wailings of what I must reiterate, is a monster whose head is a giant bowl of ramen.

It doesn’t take much beyond some taunting from the villain to get Blossom to pull out her “I’m not going to stand for this!!” catchphrase (have I brought that up? It took me a while to even realize it was supposed to *be* a catchphrase) and before long we’re back in flower crucifixion territory.

I’m never going to get over this.

After defeating the ramen monster, it doesn’t take much for Akira and his dad to reconcile. Interestingly, it’s actually left ambiguous as to whether Akira’s parents remember the Desertrian attack or not, though I’d guess not.

I quite liked this episode. While the last one was solid I think I prefer this one. The interesting thing to me here is that the show seems to recognize that it’s not really Akira who’s messed up here, it’s his dad, and it’s accordingly his father who does most of the apologizing here.

That parents can also screw up--even just through inattention--is something I wish more kids’ shows acknowledged. Still, everything that ends with a hearty meal ends well, and the episode ends more or less on that exact note.

See y’all next time!

[cienie-isengardu]

Satine Kryze and Pre Vizsla: political & social position

Puttings aside for now morality of characters, I would like to talk about similarities and difference between Satine Kryze and Pre Vizsla and how they could be seen by New Mandalorian society at the climax of their respective arcs.

First thing though: I want to clarify something: as much as TCW may never outright said anything about  Dral'Han (Annihilation) / Mandalorian Excision that happened ~700 years prior to Clone Wars era, this event played a major role in shaping current mandalorian society - or more precisely: two societies: the pacifist and warlike. The Republic occupation and influence still held power over Mandalore, to the point that when Duchess cemented neutrality for her people, soon after that trade routes were closed around Mandalore system - even though the war did not come there yet(?) - what was mentioned in “Corruption” [s03e05]: “Desperate times on Mandalore! Having won neutrality for the Mandalorian system, Duchess Satine now finds herself an outsider with little aid to her people. Supplies are impossible to come by, except on the black market. As a result, the Duchess faces a world consumed by greed.” So, TCW may not discuss in direct way how Republic screwed up Mandalore in the past nor how it mixed into matters of “independent” government now, but it doesn’t make  Republic occupation and its effect on characters any less real.

Saying that, there is the first detail about Satine and Pre I want to talk: political & social position.

The Legends Mandalorian had visible social groups including: Mandalore(s), veterans, warriors, blacksmiths, farmers [and in the case of ancient Taungs, shamans], yet the division between “classes” was not rigid. Mandalorian could be both farmer and great warrior. The title Mandalore was reserved for the best, most skilled, most charismatic and/or the most supported by society person. The status of Mandalorian was either given by birth or by adoption, person could be disavow and/or became dar’manda (no longer Mandalorian) and reclaim the right to mandalorian culture later. People could belong to one of the oldest clans (Vizsla, Ordo, Fett) or be not associated with any family and there wasn’t social class difference between them because all have the same rights (f.e. challenging Mandalore/leader if they did not agree with their decisions) & duties (Resol’nare). In reality, how great of Mandalorian someone was never depended on birth rights or personal connection, but what kind of person he/she/them are.

In other words, Legends Mandalorian did not have aristocracy similar to the ones of Core Worlds (as in: the highest class in society, especially those holding hereditary titles or offices).

The New Mandalorians apparently are closer to Core Worlders / Republic than to the old traditions since Satine is titled the Duchess, Tal Merrik is called Prince [s02e13] and both were born on Kalevala (according to TCW Character Encyclopedia). The animated series made it pretty clear that Satine’s power is similar to the king/queen-like:

on Sundari - the capital city of Mandalore - Duchess has palace that was presented to some extent on the screen and mentioned in the show (“I told senator Amidala that Mandalore was not part of the War, yet here I find a battle in my own palace” [s03e05])

in said palace there is Throne Room where she occupies a central place (throne) even in the present of close allies & friends

she is constantly called “Lady”, “your Grace” and “your Highness” which emphasizes her aristocratic connection/roots and

has power over Ruling Council (“Corruption” episode showed Satine on her throne above seats of Ministers, including Almec, silencing them for good and calling the meeting adjourned.)

There is of course Prime Minister (that according to “The Academy” episode is one of “two people in charge” of Mandalore albeit I’m not sure if we saw Almec making any important political decision without Duchess’ contest - beside the whole illegal business & coup, of course and ignoring Satine’s angry rant about corruption) and mentioned Ruling Council to support Duchess with their advices. Unfortunately, during the Clone Wars, there is little use of Council due to corruption, apathy and bickering between Ministers / leaders of Mandalore. The only real decision / action that Ruling Council did worth to mention was asking Obi-Wan Kenobi (Republic) to provide protection for Duchess during “Voyage of Temptation”.

The Death Watch Manifesto (from Bounty Hunter Code ) - a pro-DW propaganda source, mind you - claims that Mandalorian clans became divided after Mandalorian Excision to the point that even the oldest clans had their members on both sides of cultural conflict. That concerns Kryze family as well Vizsla clan.

The politically / culturally conflict overlaps with clan rivalry that has been going on for a long time. In short, the situation of Mandalorians is complicated and far from reconciliation, even in the face of threat from the Republic & Jedi.

The source did not explain in much details how the power was passed down through the generations but since the “Faithless” rulers of New Mandalorians are accused of being a puppet government headed by Republic, there is a chance that those families who are now treated as nobility may got the aristocratic titles (and wealth) from Republic itself - as a reward for joining “the right” political system. Then again, the same source claims that Satine’s father was a warlord who actually sent her off-world:

According to TCW Character Encyclopedia, Satine was born on Kalevala, a planet known for expensive wines, ships and rich cloth and so far a place the most related to New Mandalorian’s nobility. We may only guess if the union (possible marriage) between warlord and Satine’s mother was a political move to connect two influential and wealthy clans or was that dictated by purely romantic motives. Nevertheless, only Satine’s father is described as mighty mandalorian warrior - and that rises some questions. We aren’t told why he sent his child offword… or what offword we are talking here, really. Satine’s homeworld was Kalevala, but she was on Mandalore while being protected by Jedi, does that means her father sent her there? Was he somehow forced to do so? And if yes, by whom? Satine’s mother? Republic? Other mandalorian warlords who wanted more power for themselves? And if Satine’s father, as one of Faithful Mandalorian maybe, wanted independence for Mandalore system - thus became a threat to Republic - Jedi arrival on Mandalore to protect (take away) Satine may not be motivated by her own safety but to secure A) the submission of the current ruler (with daughter as “hostage” in Game of Thrones style, similar to how Eddard Stark took young Theon Greyjoy as his ward) and B)  loyalty of the successor to the throne. I know that sound awful but to be fair, Jedi rarely integrate into internal government matters if there is no profit for the Republic.

I’m not sure if Satine talked in more detailed way about the year on the run under Jedi protection (beside mention of venom-mites on Draboon that seems to be a whole different planet in Mandalore sector). So let’s see what Obi-Wan told us about their time together:

An extended mission when i was younger. Master Qui-Gon and I spent a year on Mandalore protecting the Duchess from insurgents who had threatened her world. They sent Bounty Hunters after us. We were always on the run, living hand-to-mouth, never sure what the next day would bring [...] A civil war killed most of Satine's people, hence her aversion to violence. When she returned, she took rebuilding her world alone.

Satine was born on Kalevala, so…by “her world” does Obi-Wan meant a whole Mandalore system or Kalevala or Mandalore on which they were at that time? Also, since BHC confirmed that there was Civil War in which Faithful warriors (DW) wanted to take control over Mandalore, I don’t really understand why insurgents - the warriors - would hire bounty hunters? I mean, I know they were outnumbered and all, but frankly, we aren’t even told if the bounty hunters were to kill Satine or just to take her away from Jedi (the oppressors).

Nevertheless, we learn that Civil War killed most of Satine's people - what once again is pretty ambiguous, because did Obi-Wan mean Satine’s family and/or people from homeworld or did he mean Mandalorians as a whole? Because if the letter, that presents Satine as a hereditary ruler. Especially with the line “When she returned, she took rebuilding her world alone”. BHC mentioned that her father died during Civil War and if she was the oldest child, should inherit the throne. Since there is no info if she needed to fight for the title of Duchess of Mandalore (she returned and started rebuilding her world without asking anyone about opinion apparently), for me it seems Satine was born not only in aristocratic (wealthy) family but was designed to rule Mandalore sometime in future. Frankly, the same can be said for her nephew, Korkie, who is already in Royal Academy that is to educate future government leaders.

We may not know much about Satine Kryze’s past, but The Clone Wars animated series and tie-in sources present her as wealthy nobility with royal-like power over Mandalore (and maybe Kalevala). She wears rich clothes that emphasize her high status, has own palace with Throne Room and uses luxury spaceliner. She is the person that made decision to turn New Mandalorians into extreme(?) pacifists due to her personal childhood trauma & aversion to violence. Maybe it’s just me, but I can’t see her as someone who was democratically elected leader.

In short, Satine Kryze had a high social rank and political position for majority of TCW storyline.

Pre Vizsla’s history is no less covered by mystery.

We know he held the office of governor on Concordia while some members of the Vizsla clan were known to be part of Death Watch. Including Tor Vizsla, a previous leader of said group who spent some years fighting against Mereel’s (and later, Jango Fett’s) True Mandalorians. For all we know, Tor and Pre may actively working at the same time for a few years (albeit not for too long, since Tor died two years after Battle of Galidraan / Mandalore Civil War and +/- two decades before Clone Wars)

Satine have seen Pre as a close ally and maybe even a friend, who the same as her choose pacifistic ideology over violent past. Who was supposed to help her hunt down the remnants of Death Watch / the opposition of her reign. We know it never was a case.

But there is more questionable matters to talk. The Mandalore’s Moon was described as “Province with its own governor” and starwars.com added that Concordia is independent of Mandalore’s government:

In other words, Pre as governor of Concordia was NOT under the authority of the Duchess. What makes them more or less equal on political ground. BUT! TCW Character Encyclopedia and Visual Guide: New Battlefronts both stated that Pre was born on Mandalore. Which raises a question, how he ended as a leader of independent from Mandalore province? Duchess Satine couldn’t nominate him as her representative nor force Concordian people to vote for / accept Pre, could she? I’m not be specialist of such matters, but shouldn’t governor actually have a citizenship to be even elected to office?

Of course, Pre may simple moved to Concordia at some point, but frankly, wouldn’t be that a bit suspicious? Almec said once “All of our warriors were exiled to our moon, Concordia. They died out years ago”  and with that statement it’s easy to imagine that from the perspective of the pacifist society, the Mandalore’s Moon is marked as a bad place (natural prison and/or graveyard full of angry, bitter “barbarians”) and with Pre’s family connection to Tor & Death Watch, I think a sudden desire to move there could arouse unwanted interest in him and thus undermine the whole infiltration mission.

There is a different option:

BHC too mentioned that “some of [DW] warriors were exiled to the moon Concordia”. Some slipped away, but I don’t think that happened to Pre, per se. Basing on Legends sources, Mandalore Civil War started in the same year as Battle of Galidraan (44 BBY). From my calculation  it seems Obi-Wan would be 13 years old at that time. There is no information about age of Satine & Pre, but we know Duchess couldn’t be that older than Kenobi. Similar, Pre as the successor of Tor most likely is around the same age as Satine & Obi-Wan. Maybe a bit older, maybe a bit younger, but enough close to be seen as ‘innocent” in the conflict.

If young Pre took part in the fight and were imprisoned, it’s easy to blame Vizsla clan for forcing a child into war zone. If Pre was exiled on Concordia, he could pass later as converted man who after years understood the error of his youth & madness of Death Watch’s ideology.

If Pre did not participate in war (due to young age), but his family did and get caught, he most likely was exiled to Concordia with them. Because what else New Mandalorians could do in such situation? Keep a child from parents (clan) and try reeducated him into pacifist society? Put in orphanage for difficult youth? How many of other kids could be in similar situation? How much more Death Watch / exiled warriors would fight harder to get back their children, to tear them out of New Mandalorian hands? The society under Satine’s new rule may not mean any harm to the children forcibly taken away from their family, but if there is one thing that mandalorian warriors hate, really hate, is when someone dare to threaten their kids. This is like asking for absolute war like nothing else.

There is also one more major factor why I think this scenario is plausible, regardless of whether Pre was exiled for a fight or not. It gives him a good “tragic story” that create a common ground between him and Satine and explain why a man born on Mandalore ended as governor of independent province (though I still not sure how New Mandalorians could exile warriors from Mandalore to Concordia, if they seem to not have jurisdiction over the Moon. Unless Concordia is a really new province, built by exiled there people?)

The “tragic story” most likely include things that Satine can relate to, like childhood trauma, growing up in dangerous times (uncertainty of tomorrow), the loss of family & the pressure to rebuild things anew. The similar experiences of how senseless violence destroyed life, how much one suffered because of war for sure could bring Satine & Pre closer to each other. Or more precisely: makes Satine to trust a “converted man” like Pre Vizsla whose ambition was to clean the name of his clan - just not in the way Satine’s imagined.

There is also one more aspect to think about exiled Mandalorians. If only warriors were sent there, I think Satine’s government could have worse relationship with Concordia. The anger at taking away their children would last for long. But if after Civil War the population sent there also included children (and disabled and elderly people), for their own sake alone some family members would be forced to change their lifestyle. After all, children need to be fed, provide with medical care, access to education and safety to grown up. Maybe at some point exiled people managed to either build their own city and establish commercial and political relations with Mandalore or get involved with indigenous people (farmers and miners?) and adopted to their (less violent) customs.

Of course, this is just one of possible explanations. We aren’t told how and when Satine met Pre or why she had him in so high esteem for so long - beside that he was helping her in catching remnants of Death Watch (the opposition of her rule). We only know that both were leaders of their respectively governments that worked independently, albeit thanks to their (supposed) friendship, Mandalore and Concordia seemed to cooperate with each other over the years.

At the same time, only Satine holds aristocratic title and most likely inherited the right to rule of Mandalore either from father or mother; what may explain why Jedi were sent to protect her in the first place. While according to TCW Visual Guide: New Battlefronts, Pre somehow earned his position.

Frankly, as a member of Vizsla clan, Pre probably met with some resistance or suspicion from both sides. From pacifists due to what Tor Vizsla did over the years and from Mandalorians adhering to the old rules (who at the earliest stages of rebuilding DW could not know what Pre’s true intention really is) for betraying them. Thinking about it, one of Jango Fett’s (in-universe) commentary written on DW Manifesto actually makes clear that Jango not only was aware of Pre Vizsla’s existence but also knew or maybe even heard some of his (political?) speeches:

From picture: I wonder if Vizsla really wrote this. He was a thug. Sounds more like Priest or Reau. Maybe the younger Vizsla. That one likes speeches. [Jango]

(In all fairness, I agree with Jango, the Death Watch Manifesto doesn’t sound like something Tor Vizsla would write. It fits more Pre, really. But it is interesting that Jango had access at some point of time to DW secret book yet did not act against Pre as far as we know. And Jango had a long list of reasons to hate Death Watch. Then again, Priest and Reau were recruited by Fett to train clone troopers yet they share similar ideology to DW… so maybe Jango just get to the point he didn’t care anymore about Mandalore and its politics?)

Sorry, I digress.

Backing to the main topic, Satine and Pre both have high position in Mandalorian society. Both are burdened with responsibilities for their people (and ideology). The main difference is that, Pre most likely was forced to earn his leader position - the political and in Death Watch while Satine presumably was meant from the birth to be either ruler of Mandalore (or Kalevala) or one of its influential leaders (similar like Korkie is destined to grow up as one of future leaders by Royal Academy teaching program). The other more visible difference is that Duchess’ politics affect hundreds of worlds that also want to remain neutral in current military conflict while Pre’s political activities are focused primarily on internal affairs of Mandalore system (“hunting down Satine’s opposition / DW”, bringing Mandalorian back to their warrior roots). Also, I dare to say Satine’s political position was more certain due to having powerful allies & friends in Republic Senate (Padme Amidala, most likely Bail Organa)  and Jedi Order (Obi-Wan Kenobi who actually is one of Council members), while the current leader of Death Watch by long time couldn’t openly act, and later his cooperation with Dooku/Separatist turned out to be one big fiasco.

And yet, the more time passed, Satine’s political & social position was undermined by widespread corruption on Mandalore while society’s perception of Pre and his Death Watch changed for better at the same time.

[tjkiahgb]

Episode Recap: 2.15, “Perfect Day 2.0″

The episode starts with the GHC thinking about how to spend their last week together. Cyrus says, “It’s the world’s saddest countdown,” which isn’t true.

This is the world’s saddest countdown:

(This is a joke about someone doing a poor cover version of the song “The Final Countdown” by the band Europe. They were big in the 1980s. Ask your parents what the 1980s were.)

They decide they’ll recreate their perfect day, which, in my opinion, is a mistake. Perfect is a crazy bar to clear. You shouldn’t aim that high. I say aim to recreate a fairly good to decent day, like the time I spent a whole day eating Bagel Bites and watching a marathon of “House Hunters International.” Or the day I had three meals that were just fine and saw a cool cloud. Or the day I slept through.

The GHC commits to the plan, though, and get their bikes fixed up to take off on adventure.

They begin by doing some of the shakiest bike riding I’ve ever seen and Andi says this:

Which feels like a personal shot at me, because that’s all I’m doing here. I’m reading into everything. Including this line of dialogue. Which is a personal attack.

The GHC bikes through the countryside into the woods in search of pumpkin donuts, which seems like an Autumn-based seasonal product? Is this Autumn still? I thought last episode they were trying to get Buffy to stay until the end of the school year, so I assume it’s Spring-ish? I’ve lost all control of the timeline. I want to assume it’s Spring, but I have a tough time believing this store would do something so stupid as to sell pumpkin donuts out-of-season when there’s so much good, fresh fruit available! Who runs a small business out in the middle of the woods like this?!

Also, this seems way off the beaten path. They did this same trip years ago? Like when they were small children? That’s a lot of rope to give 8 year olds. Celia let Andi bicycle into the woods and buy sugary treats, huh? Ok.

Anyway, the GHC get cider and pumpkin donuts.

Back in town, Jonah gets an anxiety-induced attack.

Jonah appears to just be going everywhere now in a constant state of panic. He bursts into the music store where Bowie’s hanging out, panting and pacing. 

He’s also wearing half of a Def Leppard shirt and half of another shirt that’s also maybe a different Def Leppard shirt? I can’t make heads or tails of it. It just says “Def Le” and becomes another shirt. Like Jonah’s having so many panic attacks, he’s ripping his shirts in half and piecing them back together at random.

Bowie tries to calm him down and teach him some guitar chords. Jonah plays the chords with body language of someone defusing a bomb.

Bowie asks if he wants to play more. Jonah asks if the store manager will mind, which, of course not. If you don’t want hippy-looking dudes and teenagers just hanging around your store, playing music and not buying things, then you don’t open a guitar shop! It comes with the territory! Bowie invites Jonah to come watch him play a show sometime. Jonah agrees.

The GHC get ready to leave the food shack in the woods when they discover 2/3 of their bikes have been stolen, which is horrible. Used to be you could go out into the middle of the woods and not have to worry about crime. Nowadays? The world’s going to heck in a hand basket, I tell ya.

I wonder where TJ is.

Buffy says they should call Bex. Andi doesn’t want to because they need to recreate their perfect day down to the smallest detail. She thinks they can all ride on her old bike, which they can’t, so they start walking.

A bee, possibly the one that came near him earlier in the episode, comes after Cyrus. Cyrus takes off running.

I don’t know if it’s Josh the person bleeding through or Josh the actor is doing an amazing job pretending to be a very uncoordinated character, but every physical thing Cyrus does, from bike riding to running, looks incredibly laborious.

Cyrus ends up with his foot in a hole. He loses his shoe to nature. They try to figure out how they’re going to continue when, dear God a county sheriff officer is right up on top of them in her SUV. She came up really quick and out of nowhere like some kind of spirit guide of the forest that drives a very quiet Ford Explorer and rescues lost children.

The sheriff offers them a ride and they start getting into the car.

Meanwhile, Jonah and Bowie are having themselves a little jam session.

Bowie figures out there’s more going on with Jonah and that he’s having panic attacks. Jonah admits he’s not seeing a doctor about it, and though he doesn’t want to keep having them, it seems his plan is to just tough it out, ducking into random places to wait out his constant attacks until he either finds himself back in a relationship or... dies of old age? I’m not here to judge anyone’s choices regarding their mental health, but I got to say, I feel like that’s not going to work.

Jonah asks Bowie not to tell Andi. He says he won’t, but adds that he thinks she’d understand, which, yeah, probably. She’s been friends with Cyrus for this long and he’s like a walking panic attack. I’m sure she’s figured out some stuff by now.

Bowie says Jonah has talent and offers to give him lessons. I guess it’s a pretty lucky thing Jonah came into the music store where Bowie was and didn’t run into the bakery or something. Although, he could also have a talent for making pastries. The world will never know now.

Back in the woods, the GHC finally finish getting into the sheriff’s car. It took them a very long time. At least two static scenery transition shots worth. They see their stolen bikes being ridden away and ask the sheriff to stop the thieves, but the sheriff gets a call about a grand theft auto, so she’s got to go to that. Used to be you could park your car in town and not have to worry about it getting stolen. Nowadays? Heck in a hand basket. Heck in a hand basket.

What do you think TJ’s up to at this very moment?

The sheriff drops them back off at the donut place. They realize too late that they left almost all of their stuff in the back of the cop car. The sheriff is gone before they can get her attention. (Life pro tip: if you want a police officer to come to you, all you need to do is commit a crime, like violating a noise ordinance, or getting publicly intoxicated, or armed robbery. There’s almost literally no place you can’t commit a crime. Get creative. The GHC, for example, could’ve burned down the closed donut shop. Arson would’ve brought the sheriff back with all of their stuff in a hurry.)

Cyrus’ phone has 2% life in it. Buffy wants to call Bex to come get them, but Andi doesn’t want to give Bex the satisfaction of knowing she was right. Andi goes to tell Bex, but then bails as Cyrus and Buffy scream and the phone dies. Bold move on Andi’s part. I, too, would rather die in the woods than let my parents know they were right about something trivial.

Andi admits this craziness is all because she wants Buffy to leave with a good memory. The bee returns and stings Cyrus.

Look, off-topic maybe a little here, but I’m with Cyrus in his hatred of bees. I know, I know, everyone now is all like, “Bees are important. The bees are dying and we don’t know why. It could ruin the planet! Save the bees! Save the bees!” I’m like, nah, kill ‘em all. Do it. And while we’re at it: wasps, yellow jackets, any bug that can sting or bite. Dead. All of them. Also, cockroaches. They don’t sting or bite, but I hate them, too. Let’s just do it and see what happens. I bet we’ll be fine. And if not, the human race can go extinct knowing that at least we took the bees with us. That’s enough of a victory in my book.

Anyway, the GHC march through a field and are saved by a Deus Bex Machina (this is a really good joke, trust me). Bex takes them all back to town and to The Spoon where they joke about their misadventure. It won’t be remembered as their worst day, but possibly their craziest.

They then see two boys wearing shirts from the Alpine slide they never made it to and jump to the wild conclusion that those are the bike thieves. With rage in their eyes, and madness in their hearts, the GHC vows to get revenge.

They run out of the restaurant and steal the two boys’ bikes. They get 30 feet away before realizing the bikes they’re on aren’t theirs. Then they laugh wildly about their larceny.

Used to be a time you could park your bike outside the local diner and not have to worry about it being stolen by a group of maniacs. Heck, hand basket, and all that.

They suddenly remember they only have a week together again and the mood sours. They hug and say they’ll see each other tomorrow. Andi and Cyrus go to return the bikes and Buffy does this:

She turned around! Which, as anyone who’s paid attention to the show understands, means she:

a. likes Andi

b. likes Cyrus

c. likes stolen bikes

We’ll have to wait to find out, though, because that’s where the episode ends.

Unrelated, but I bet whatever TJ was up to during this episode was good. Like, I bet he was off practicing free throw shooting, or helping the elderly eat food or something. Whatever he was doing, I bet it wasn’t thievery, which is more than I can say for some of the characters on this show.