#(and particularly Epilogue!Nathan for some reason...)

[fairytalelagoon]

reblog with the little fictional guy youre daydreaming about today <3

[aki-chan2014]

And So It Begins playlist

imiSome of you might know that I started a new DanganRonpa fic called ‘And So It Begins’, which happens to be an SYOC. A lot of songs have inspired my writing of it so far, as well as some of my planning, so I figured I may as well begin a playlist of sort. It is a work in progress, so more songs will be added over time, and the links (put in the song name) to the videos will also only be put in as and when I can. But yeah, I hope you enjoy: (Quick note 11/11: I have also decided to add some quick notes next to certain songs to explain why they have been chosen for the playlist, where I did have specific things in mind for them. If anyone else has interpretations of how certain songs relate I’d be all for sticking those in here too-with credits, of course)

Mafumafu-Keep Out

Fantastic Youth- DAYBREAK FRONTLINE (rap arrange ver) (This song is for the happier moments in the story, particualrly those between the whole group/ larger parts of the group, and any moments that, in a different story, would have simply been carefree and youthful. Also check out this dance version, as I will be making an Ending Song chapter based on it)

Nuyuri ft flower-Proto Disco (This song is meant to be reflective of how the characters are descending down a dark path in the choices they make and the events that draw them closer to creating a killing game.)

HENSHIN ft GUMI- One Moment’s Crime (This song can relate somewhat to the system Hope’s Peak has in this story. It is also the ‘opening song’ for the story, as you may have noticed)

THE SIXTH LIE- HIBANA

Eve-Dramaturgy

Jonas Blue ft Jack and Jack-Rise (This one is about the rebellion aspects of the story)

Police Piccadilly ft Miku Hatsune-Separate (This song is meant to relate to certain pairs and possibly trios in this story, and the bittersweetness of the fact they have developed such closeness in such bad circumstances. I’d say I have Mizuki and Mokomichi in mind particularly here, but it could easily apply to others too. This is also the first ED song of the story)

Do As Infinity-Kenshin no Kemono

Foreground Eclipse-When Innocence is Just a Mask (This one is definitely also about the rebellion aspects of the story, but perhaps at a later stage of the story, where some characters may be more fatalistic about it. When they are further down the rabbit hole, so to speak.)

Natsushiro Takaaki-Endroll (also check out this chorus cover done by CATINABOX for round 2 of the Ascencion Chorus Battle 2019-my personal headcanon is that Reirei’s voice is like Emiko’s singing voice)

brave elements-Bakudan Ma (cover)

Zutto Mayonaka de ii no ni-Humanoid

Wowaka-Unknown Mother Goose

Luschka-Moratorium (This song is related to the remorse some people might feel from being involved, wondering if they’d ever be forgiven)

Sayuri x MY FIRST STORY-Reimei

Dima Lancaster ft BrokeN-Feed the Fire (cover) This one is definitely related to the point of the story where everything gets awful and there’s no turning back

ONE OK ROCK-We Are (This song can relate in some ways to how some characters see themselves as doing something good in the situation. Also a song for how they may have started off feeling when setting off on this endeavour, or the general feelings of Reserve Course oppression. )

AmaLee-Again (English Cover) (This song could link to some relationships within the story)

Cepheid ft Un3h-Chronos (this one is about feeling helpless about the situation, and how some characters are having regrets about it)

Minstrel-Fiction

AViVA-Blame it on the kids

Hanatan-Niwaka Ame

Misumi ft flower and Miku Hatsune-FAKE (see also this cover)

Dean Lewis-Waves

nameless-Toumei Elegy (cover)

HarryP- 泥中に咲く(blooming in the mud)

MurasagiYT-Little Parade (English Cover)

DECO*27 ft Miku Hatsune-Otome Dissection

Three Days Grace-Riot (Thanks to tobi-is-an-artist-too for this one. I am sure the reason for it’s inclusion is self explanatory lol)

Yunosuke ft Miku Hatsune-Spiral

2NE1-Come Back Home (Japanese unplugged ver)

Tears of Today-Corregret

Zutto Mayonake de ii no ni-mabushii DNA dake

Pizuya’s Cell X Barrage Am Ring ft Meramipop -my temperature is zero degrees

Rupert Pope and John Robertson ft Isla Meller-Coming Round

After the Rain (Soraru x Mafumafu)-yuudachi (evening rain) (this one could relate to some of the character dynamics between certain pairings, particularly between cast members and some side characters as the relationships become more distant/deteriorating. It can also relate to the feeling some characters might have at their youth slowly slipping away as the story continues)

ONE OK ROCK-Mighty Long Fall

Akiakane-FlashBack (I am planning to use this for a second OP song chapter at some point ^.^, and the actual PV of the song will inspire the sequence I write for that. Also, this is such a good song about falling apart and grief and betrayal so it fits really well with later events)

*Luna ft  來 -Epilogue (Also check out the chorus cover done by EncripT for round 1 of the Ascencion Chorus Battle 2019. Anyway, this one is about being able to make one’s own choices and how the idea of doing this has served as a motivation for some characters)

Fractured Light Music-These Final Words

Fractured Light Music-We Dream of Stars

Fractured Light Music-Goodbye

Ludovico Einaudi- I Giorni

Eve-Yamiyo

Tokyo Teddy Bear English Chorus Cover

YURRY-CANON ft GUMI-Humanly

Eve-This World To You (For the bittersweet moments and the bereavement)

CYPHER-Redmoon (another one for the rebellion themes, and also the theme of doing something that you cannot go back from)

Misumi ft Hatsune Miku-Weird Beast

chorus cover of ‘Bolero’

Zutto Mayonaka de ii no ni-Seigi (justice)

After the Rain (Soraru x Mafumafu)-The equation for the beginning of love (a particular couple relationship is what I have in mind with this song, because the song characters are sweet awkward dorks and so are the characters of the couple)

Fantastic Youth-Mairieux (acoustic arrange)

Nathan Wagner-Innocence (because well, they will end up losing it, won’t they?)

Fantastic Youth-I thought I was an angel (cover and rap arrange) (Kinda self explanatory-they started out trying to do the right thing, thinking they were the ‘angels’ in this. Of course, they aren’t really, are they?)

Jayn-With Love (for the slightly more supportive/positive aspects of various character relationships, both platonic and romantic) UVERworld-Touch Off Dasu x Ensou ft Len Kagamine-Jet Ammo

Memai Siren-Ajisai

Crusher-P ft Miku Hatsune-Propaganda! (both about the elitism of Hope’s Peak and how they’re trying to present this very particular image, and also how dangerously close-knit the cast get)

ALEXANDROS-Pray (There’s a lot of cases of characters wanting to help each other, and not knowing how. So this song is about that, and those particular relationships)

FELT-Until Tomorrow

MAN WITH A MISSION-Remember Me

Aron Wright-How You’ll Be Remembered

JubyPhonic- Häagen-Dazs Ika no Sappuukei (English Cover) (This inspired the scene with Keiko on the roof in Party Time, part 1. I guess this could be a song for the main event of Preparation/Party Time in general)

BRAVES ft Nikki Reed-World’s On Fire

Fantastic Youth-Totemo Suteki Na Rokugatsu Deshita (cover)

Wolpis Kater-1% (Melon soda no hoshizora wo)

Studio Yuraki-Mukanjyo(English cover) (this fits with the themes of the story so well in general)

Misumi ft Hatsune Miku -Alter Ego (there’s something about the darkness of Misumi songs that fit so well with ASIB aaaaa)

chorus cover of ‘0verf10w’

Raon Lee X KOBASOLO-Philosophy of Adversity

chorus over of ‘Yankee Boy Yankee Girl’ 

Eve x Rib-Lear

Pizuya’s Cell-Midnight Liberty

Studio Yuraki-MAYDAY (cover)

Mitei no Hanashi-Drown in the Night

YOASOBI-Racing into the Night (check out this group cover too)

Fantastic Youth cover of no title

chorus cover of Los!Los!Los!

Sou-Mr Fixer

Techniken ft Lollia and Sohly-Make Me, Hate Me

Eve - ‘Love & Destroy’ (cover ver-originally by Mi8k ft GUMI) There are a fair few good covers of this really, but I picked this one because Eve.

FUZI x Neru ft Luschka and Mas Kimura-Optimi2er

Chorus cover of ‘RENEGADE’ (come on, tell me this isn’t a Shino song. Or even an Emiko song, for that matter. I dare you.)

SYND!CATE-In The Elegy (a chorus cover mash-up of ‘In the End and ‘愛迷エレジー ‘. Yes, really.)

Nathan Wagner-New Horizon

Neru ft Len and Rin Kagamine-Becoming Potatoes

Wild Fire- Everybody Knows (cover)  (about the elitism, obvs)

Harry-P- 徒花の涙

Ivy Adara-Rebels

GRIMES- We Appreciate Power (feat Hana)

Opening song for ‘Get Even’ (BBC drama)

THE BINARY- 花に雨を、君に歌を

MILGRAM-Undercover

Mafumafu- 悔やむと書いてミライ

Sou’s cover of ‘Penguin’s Detour’

HANDEAD ANTHEM-Why Not?

MARETU- ドクハク  (The link leads to a dance cover because why not? But this one would link to the more violent events and mindsets that develop over the story)

Stray Kids-District 9

KIRA-RISE UP NATION (Quite a few of the cast could be seen as misfits in some way, and they are all for causing trouble and making changes)

*Luna ft GUMI-Black Out Stray Kids- SLUMP (English Ver) (Deteriorating relationships of all sorts, and the emotional conflict that some of the characters are going through especially as they realise that they are at the point of no return.)

Red-The War We Made (Well, it’s more or less a war anyway)

Citizen Soldier-Hope It Haunts You (I’ll let you all theorise over this one lol) Citizen Soldier-Would Anyone Care? (Suggested by PainX65, as fitting certain characters, moments and even Hope’s Peak’s actions over the story)

Eve-How to Eat Life

MYTH&ROID-Remembrance (Goes without saying that Remembrance is in a way one of the stronger motives behind what our cast are doing, in a macabre way)

No Resolve-What You Deserve

Nine Lashes-Guilty Hands (They all have them)

Nathan Wagner cover of ‘The Kill’

Mako Niina-Sensen no Realism (The implications/consequences of what they are all doing hitting them)

After the Rain-Kono Yubi Tomare

Mashiro cover of ‘That Summer Saturates’ (the heady fallout of being involved in a crime with friends, and the general intensity of adolesence, and how the two combine)

chorus cover of ‘Nocturnal Creatures’

Fumiko Uchimura-Dotte Koto Nai Sympathy

[yeonchi]

Doctor Who Series 12 Review: Epilogue

It’s time to wrap up another series of reviews. Thanks to the Series 12 finale, I’ve got quite a bit to talk about. I’m also going to cover a few topics related to the production of the series.

Final series rating and verdict

Episode 1: 8/10

Episode 2: 8/10

Episode 3: 5/10

Episode 4: 9/10

Episode 5: 8/10

Episode 6: 8/10

Episode 7: 8/10

Episode 8: 7/10

Episode 9: 9/10

Episode 10: 7/10

First half mid-series total: 38/50 (76%)

Second half mid-series total: 39/50 (78%)

Final series total: 77/100 (77%)

Compared to Series 11′s total of 73%, I can agree that Series 12 is better than Series 11 - but not by much. I can’t help but feel I’m giving this series too much credit given how it’s being handled under Chris Chibnall. I found less SJW red flags in this series, but they were major ones that reflected current affairs or absolutely broke the lore of the series.

In turn, there were more episodes where I was unable to find tokusatsu references - there was one such episode in Series 11, but in Series 12, there were three such episodes. It’s easier for me to count how many episodes don’t have tokusatsu references than those that do.

The elephant in the room that will never get solved

Unfortunately, before the premiere of the series finale, Sacha Dhawan and Steven Moffat have stated that the origin of O as the Master should be left to the fans and that it is unlikely that it will be answered in the series anytime soon. I mean, we almost saw that happen with John Simm as Harold Saxon, but then he came back for the Series 10 finale.

It's so amazing how this series started off with me denying that O was the Master to me begrudgingly accepting that O is the Master with contrived theories and opinions. Again, I wouldn't have had much of a problem with this if Missy wasn't (seemingly) killed off. If it weren’t for O admitting that he has no better nature, I could have locked in my theory, but I guess we’ll just leave it up in the air, shall we?

On one hand, if O's incarnation of the Master definitely came after Missy, then Saxon didn't give her the full blast because as I said in my review of the second episode, there is no reason why the Master would rob himself of opportunities to spite the Doctor, knowing that he would continue to live on. On the other hand, having O be set between Saxon and Missy, while it would fit him not having the character development of the latter, would be unnecessary because it would jumble the Master's timeline in relation to the Doctor's. I still think the Rani should have been brought back, though.

The Timeless Child and the Cartmel Masterplan

In case you haven’t seen the review of the Series 12 finale (which you should), I don’t have a very high opinion of the Timeless Child arc because it overcomplicates the Doctor’s past (and diversifies it in the form of pre-Hartnell incarnations) and puts the Doctor on a higher pedestal above the Time Lords, like a godly figure (as if the Time Lords weren’t “godly” enough). It also raises a lot of plot holes and issues that I can’t be bothered getting into because I’m so distraught about this episode; other people can probably sum them up better than I can (UPDATE - 13 March 2020: Screen Rant listed a few of them in this article).

In researching for this topic, I was reminded of this line in the Series 9 premiere, The Magician’s Apprentice, in which Missy states that she has cared about the Doctor “since always, since the Cloister Wars, since the night he stole the moon and the President’s wife and since he was a little girl” before saying that one of those was a lie. In Hell Bent, it was revealed that the third statement was a lie perpetuated by the Shobogans; the Doctor lost the moon and he actually stole the President’s daughter.

I would have been happy to leave this as a throwaway line and one of Missy’s lies (ala the honest and dishonest guards) if it weren’t for this episode. If that last statement is actually true, then there are only two possibilities: either the Timeless Child’s “friend” that she was seen playing with is actually a young Master or O’s incarnation is between the Saxon and Missy incarnations.

While doing the same research, I was also reminded of the Cartmel Masterplan. During the Seventh Doctor era, a group of writers led by Andrew Cartmel defined a vision that would reintroduce mystery into the Doctor’s character. It would reveal that the Doctor was a reincarnation of the Other, one of the Founding Fathers of Gallifrey. Due to producer John Nathan-Turner’s meddling with the scripts, only references to the Masterplan were kept in Seasons 25 and 26. The Masterplan would be explored in the Virgin New Adventures novels (of which Lungbarrow would be the final entry to feature the Seventh Doctor).

I wouldn’t have had such a problem with it if it was done before Series 7 (or the Moffat era) because Clara’s storyline basically locked in the definition of the Doctor and his lives as we knew him. And yet this was the storyline that Chris Chibnall wanted to write since he was young, essentially bringing a modified form of the Cartmel Masterplan to Doctor Who, which connects to my next bit.

Chris Chibnall, 1986

One of the well-known things about Chris Chibnall from before the revival was that in 1986, he (age 16) appeared on a BBC daytime show, Open Air, representing the Doctor Who Appreciation Society in Liverpool. Writers Pip and Jane Baker were also present. In that program, he criticised one of their stories, namely Terror of the Vervoids, stating that it was very clichéd and boring. Years later, in 2018, Chibnall would dismiss those words as nonsense, but in my opinion, to reflect those words on his time as showrunner so far would be an understatement. Maybe it’s why he couldn’t bring back the Rani in this series...

(in case you didn’t know, Pip and Jane Baker wrote The Mark of the Rani and Time and the Rani)

Expecting a full run every year

I covered this in the prelude of this series’ reviews, but I’ve learned a bit more about it since then.

Given how the first five series of the revived Doctor Who had a "full run", which I define to be exactly 13 episodes broadcast consistently at the same time each year without any splits, it's easy for people to assume at this point that the BBC aren't keeping to that standard. However, given the split seasons, the changing schedules and reducing episode numbers, the underlying causes are not as simple as we think.

I took a look at an overview of the Doctor Who series on Wikipedia and I found that the classic series has had more and less episodes per season when compared to the revived series. I know it may seem like that because the episodes are generally equivalent to half the length of a revived series episode, but things will be put to perspective when you halve those episode counts (with the exception of Season 22, which had 45-minute long episodes), so the numbers I quote will be taken with that in mind.

During the First and Second Doctor's eras, an equivalent average of 21 episodes were broadcast each season. In the Third, Fourth and Fifth Doctor's eras, that was reduced to 12.4 episodes. Finally, with the exception of Season 22, the Sixth and Seventh Doctor's eras had an average of 7 episodes per season. In a Radio Times interview, Chris Chibnall has stated that every episode is essentially a "big movie" with new guest casts, new sets and new monsters. In the same article, it stated that Russell T Davies was put under a lot of pressure during his time on Doctor Who, particularly given the fact that he was also overseeing Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures at the same time. Each Chibnall era series took 10 months to film, so that will presumably be the case when Series 13 starts pre-production in June 2020 with filming to start in September 2020.

As for Steven Moffat, the split of Series 6 was his idea, however the split of Series 7 wasn't necessarily his, but the BBC's idea to reduce the gap between the end of Series 7 and The Day of the Doctor. He also stated that he wanted to make Doctor Who an "event piece" by being open to "shaking up the transmission pattern", claiming that "the more Doctor Who becomes a perennial, the faster it starts to die". In short, if each new series of Doctor Who premiered at different times each year, then fans would be anticipating it for longer.

Following Series 11, there was only about a month to wait until the New Year’s special. Following that, there was a year until the start of Series 12. Now with Series 12 over, we have nine more months to wait until the festive special (whether it’ll be broadcast on Christmas or New Year’s Day is not confirmed yet) and then after that, we will potentially have another 9-10 months of waiting until Series 13 starts again in autumn 2021. This is one of the factors that are contributing to my decision to eventually move on from Doctor Who once I’m done with it.

About licence fees

I was going to do a bit about the ratings of the show, but the patterns are too erratic to infer anything specific. There are some general observations I can see; there was a downward trend in the average ratings during Steven Moffat’s time as showrunner while Series 11 had the biggest rate of viewer change by season (see the charts linked in this Reddit comment).

In the middle of February, it was suggested that Prime Minister Boris Johnson could order a reform of the BBC, scrapping the licence fee and changing it to a subscription model. This, combined with some of the fan reaction to Series 12, seems to be leading to a rise in calls for the licence fee to be scrapped.

In Britain, the TV licence increases with inflation each year. From April 2020, the cost of the TV licence will rise by £3 to £157.50 for colour licences, while the monochrome licence will stay at £52 (as if anyone still has monochrome TVs in the current year). Until the end of May 2020, TV licences are funded by the government and as such, are free for people over 75, but from June onwards, licences will be funded by the BBC and will only be free to anyone aged 75 or over who receives Pension Credit (which is apparently different from the State Pension, or so I’ve read), meaning that others will now have to pay the full licence fee (way to exploit old people, huh).

My other favourite country, Japan, also has a TV licence fee, which is used to fund the NHK. There are three types of licence, namely a satellite licence which also covers terrestrial broadcasts, a terrestrial licence which only covers said broadcasts and a special licence which covers satellite broadcasts for people who are having difficulty receiving terrestrial broadcasts due to trains or the terrain. As at October 2019, the annual (direct debit) cost of the three licences (which are cheaper than paying monthly or bi-monthly) are at 24,770 yen, 13,990 yen and 10,940 yen respectively. There are discounts if you live in Okinawa, near an airport or an air base, or if you are paying for multiple licences, through your cable company or as a family (with more than one licence).

Basically, you will need a TV licence if you watch any channel on free or pay TV (or any TV program on an online service if you’re in the UK) and the licence merely funds the national broadcaster. There have been calls for governments to stop funding public broadcasters with taxpayer money for various reasons. Some people also believe that the funding of those broadcasters are being jeopardised by their governments as well.

I consider myself to be lucky here in Australia as the licence fee was scrapped in 1974 and the ABC was funded by government grants ever since. Back in 1964, a TV licence would have cost £6 (A$12), which equates to A$171.08 in 2019 dollars.

The enforcement of the licence fee has made paying it in the first place a hassle for some people. If you do some searching on Google, then you might find stories from people, particularly in the UK and Japan, who have been harassed by these so-called licence fee collectors.

In my ideal world, I would prefer that public TV stations are funded like they do in the United States - partially from the government and partially through voluntary donations from the general public (and foundations and corporations as well). I can see how this would make them look like any ordinary charity, but it’s better than nothing and it makes everyone happy.

The fall of Western entertainment and everything I ever loved

Over the past two series of doing these reviews, I’ve been trying to convince myself that Doctor Who won’t take a big dive into the SJW agenda. Now having seen the Series 12 finale, I’m finally ready to take the red pill and fully accept that the show is no longer how I remembered it to be.

I hear a lot of people saying about how some series and franchises used to be good, but then got worse and worse as time went on due to the SJW agenda takeover. I don’t follow those other franchises, so maybe that’s why I’ve been sceptical for so long.

In terms of my personal life, I’ve lost interest in many things I used to like over the past decade due to various factors. New animes became too sexist for me (in terms of marketing and gender ratios). Video games are more focused on money than entertainment. Koei Tecmo barely dubbed their Warriors games fully and recently, they recast the entire English cast for Dynasty Warriors 9. While I was too busy to keep following My Little Pony, the main highlight I got from reading comments about the Friendship is Magic finale was that among other things, some things in the epilogue were not left to audience interpretation. And of course, Doctor Who retconned its past in ways no other person would have even dared to think.

With the exception of the English dub thing, it would be easy to blame SJWs for ruining the things I used to love and appreciate. It would be too optimistic, however, to consider that there were other factors besides SJWs, considering the way the world seems to be thinking at the moment.

Over the past few years, I’ve been unable to find any new significant things to love and appreciate. It almost feels like I’m Stan Marsh in those two South Park episodes where he turns 10 and starts seeing the world as shit. Maybe it might be time for me to grow up and accept the truth. Oh well, for the time being, at least I still have Japanese tokusatsu - my last bastion of sanity in this turbulent world.

UPDATE - 13 March 2020: Speaking of which, Power Rangers Super Megaforce disrespected 21 years of continuity and barely anyone was complaining about or defending it because of SJW reasons, yet when Doctor Who disrespected over 56 years of extended continuity, everyone was complaining about or defending it because of SJW reasons. I honestly hate to see where these observations go from here.

Regarding the festive special

As I stated, the next episode, Revolution of the Daleks, will be broadcast at the end of 2020. Interestingly, the episode (or at least parts of it) were filmed together with Series 12 as there were reports that Daleks were involved in filming at the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol around the end of October last year. This means that the footage would be held for at least a year before it would premiere on our screens, leaving a bigger risk for leaks than normal.

There is a rumour that John Barrowman will reprise his role as Jack Harkness again in this special. If so, then I hope it complements his appearance in Episode 5.

Recently, it was reported that Tosin Cole and Bradley Walsh would be leaving the series as they were casted in US courtroom drama 61st Street and a remake of UK comedy drama The Darling Buds of May respectively. Funnily enough, it was also stated that they could continue to make occasional appearances, so we’ll have to see it to believe it.

Obviously, this means that out of Graham, Ryan and Yaz, Yaz will be staying with the Doctor after the festive special. Talk about Yaz favouritism, eh? Speaking of which, I don’t think I saw as much Yaz favouritism in Series 12 than I did in Series 11. At the same time, Ryan’s dyspraxia was touched on as frequently in Series 12 than it was in Series 11.

Hopefully, this change means that we’ll be seeing more Yaz character development, though with the mystery of the Timeless Child still looming, I somehow doubt it.

Negotiating DWexit

So now, having watched the Series 12 finale, I’ve decided to take the red pill on this series falling to the SJW agenda. If it weren’t for my obligation to write these reviews, I would have decided to stop following the series, but seeing that Series 13 would be Jodie Whittaker’s third and possibly final series (based on how many series previous Doctors have done), I’m going to take one final chance and review Series 13 when it premieres late-2021. Remember that the series finale would set up some new plot threads that would be answered in the next series, so I’m looking forward to seeing how the Timeless Child arc concludes.

I was hoping to maintain a casual interest in the show after this entire review series is done, but there may come a time when I have to put my foot down and move on. Even if we find out later that the Master was in fact lying about the Timeless Child being the Doctor or that the Doctor’s pre-Hartnell incarnations weren’t canon, it doesn’t excuse the fact that Chibnall tried to diversify the Doctor’s past or contradict established canon. If casting the Thirteenth Doctor as a woman was strike one (which I’m teetering on), then this would be strike two. What it would take for a strike three would be another female for the Fourteenth Doctor or something even worse than the Series 12 finale.

In the meantime

Regardless of whether I will be reviewing Series 13, the fact is that there is still a lot of time to kill, so I’m going to share some of what I am planning to post on Tumblr for the rest of 2020. Aside from the sporadic random and content introduction posts, I have a couple of posts sitting in my drafts (hoping to make another one or two as well) about some obscure memes I’ve been appreciating.

I low-key mentioned this in the review for Episode 6 and on the Sea Princesses Wiki, but I’m planning to buy Fabio Yabu’s Princesas do Mar books and translate them so I can do reviews on them and put info from them on the wiki as my final project for it. I aim to start this by the end of this year when I earn enough money from work to buy the books, but if there are any Brazillian fans out there who wouldn’t mind sharing scans, snapshots or transcripts of the books, then please feel free to contact me and maybe we can work something out.

I’ve never thought about pointing this out for the past few years, but the truth is that my Facebook and Tumblr pages (along with my anime pages on Facebook) haven’t grown much over the past few years (whereas the Yui Hirasawa Waifu Network is seeing new followers almost every few days). As for this Tumblr blog in particular (my main page), I suspect that I may have been shadowbanned since at least 2015 while I was writing the Koei Warriors Rant Series, which is why I barely see any new followers or activity on here. Only one user liked one of my reviews during Series 12 and only one user liked a couple of my reviews during Series 11.

So if you happen to see this, feel free to follow me and look forward to my future content. And if you happen to see my past posts and you have a problem with them, then maybe you should have thought twice about following me or making a scene about it.

Otherwise, thank you for reading this series of reviews again. I’ll be back at the end of the year to review the festive special, Revolution of the Daleks.

[gokinjeespot]

off the rack #1270

Monday, July 15, 2019

 I'm not much of a gardener even though I worked for two years at a garden centre. Penny does most of the work and I am around for the heavy lifting. I try to be a supportive spouse and I assisted with some of the weeding yesterday. I get the same feeling of satisfaction after cleaning up a flower bed as I do after reading a pile of comic books. The added hubby points are a bonus.

 Detective Comics #1007 - Peter J. Tomasi (writer) Kyle Hotz (art) David Baron (colours) Rob Leigh (letters). The team-up with the Spectre concludes with the rescue of Jim Corrigan. This was a nice 2-issue story and now the Spectre leaves Gotham City. Oh well. It was fun while it lasted.

 Black Hammer/Justice League: Hammer of Justice #1 - Jeff Lemire (writer) Michael Walsh (art) Nate Piekos (letters). I thought this was going to be a tam-up story but it's the old switcheroo where the two super hero teams wind up in each others' universes. I'm guessing the rest of this 5-issue mini will be each team trying to return home. This is good exposure for Jeff Lemire's Black Hammer characters which I liked, so you should check it out.

 Catwoman #13 - Joelle Jones (writer) Fernando Blanco (art pages 1-14, 19) Hugo Petrus (art pages 15-18) Joelle Jones (art pages 20-22) John Kalisz (colours pages 1-19) Laura Allred (colours pages 20-22) Saida Temofonte (letters). That crazy Creel woman finally gets her hands on the artefact but the rest of the story will have to wait until Selina gets through the "Year of the Villain" (YOTV) tie-in. Catwoman is made an offer that she can refuse, or not.

 Thor #15 - Jason Aaron (writer) Mike del Mundo (art) Mike del Mundo & Marco D'Alfonso (colours) VC's Joe Sabino (letters). Four Thors and seven realms ago this whole thing started. Now that it's over find out what happens to everybody in this epilogue to War of the Realms. I particularly liked the fate of Malekith. I am so looking forward to the next story arc with art  by Esad Ribic.

 Naomi #6 - Brian Michael Bendis & David F. Walker (writers) Jamal Campbell (art) Wes Abbott (letters). Origin story complete. From the looks of things on the cover, Naomi is going to meet up with Young Justice and that's okay with me. This book is every bit as good as Ironheart used to be.

 Ironheart #8 - Eve L. Ewing (writer) Luciano Vecchio (art) Geoffo (layouts) Matt Milla (colours) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). Riri goes to Doctor Strange for help in finding out what's been happening in her life for the last few issues. There's s portal of power that she needs to track down so she goes from Chicago to New York City to who knows where else. This is so exciting and I've got to say I like the slightly more mature Riri that Eve is presenting.

 Symbiote Spider-Man #4 - Peter David (writer) Greg Land (pencils) Jay Leisten (inks) Frank D'Armata (colours) VC's Joe Sabino (letters). A new and different element is added to make things fun and exciting in this Spider-Man versus Mysterio story. This reminds me a lot of the old Amazing Spider-Man plots where Peter gets ambushed by some super villain while on his way to see Aunt May. Will our boy make it to breakfast? Find out in next issue's thrilling conclusion.

 Young Justice #7 - Brian Michael Bendis (writer) John Timms & Dan Hipp (art pages 2-3) David Lafuente (art the other pages)  Dan Hipp (colours pages 2-3) Gabriel Eltaeb (colours the other pages) Wes Abbott (letters). Lost in the Multiverse part 1. This was a lot of fun. I really liked Doctor Fate.

 Second Coming #1 - Mark Russell (writer) Richard Pace (art) Leonard Kirk (finisher earth pages) Andy Troy (colours earth pages) Rob Steen (letters). Holy bible Batman, this is some weird super hero comic book. Here we have a wisecracking God and his hapless son Jesus trying to make sense of humanity. God sends Jesus back to earth to learn from a Superman-like super hero. I like this parody. It reminds me of Herbie and the Inferior Five. I will be getting s second helping of this book when #2 hits the racks.

 Invisible Woman #1 - Mark Waid (writer) Mattia De Iulis (art) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). Did you know that Sue Storm was a part time spy for S.H.I.E.L.D.? Me neither. That fact sets up her mission to find her former partner, fellow spy Aiden Tintreach. Y'know, I was thinking that this story would have been better suited to the Black Widow and I was right on when I got to the last page. Mattia De Iulis's art was the main reason I read the latest Jessica Jones graphic novel and he's why I will add the rest of this 5-issue mini to my "must read" list.

 Batman Universe #1 - Brian Michael Bendis (writer) Nick Derington (art) Dave Stewart (colours) Josh Reed (letters). There's another Batbook on the racks and this one's a 6-issue mini. I think Bendis is going to throw as many DC heroes and villains into this story as he can with the Riddler starting things off, leading to Jinny Hex. If you don't know who she is you should go read the most excellent Young Justice. The story goes international and this issue ends in Amsterdam with the appearance of Deathstroke and Green Arrow. I want to know why Oliver Queen is way over in Europe. Going to read the rest of this one too.

 War of the Realms Omega #1- If you're wondering about the spin-offs and changes wrought by the War of the Realms then this $4.99 US epilogue is the comic book for you.

 Daredevil played a significant role while wielding Heimdall's sword and his story continues in "God and the Devil Walk Into a Church" by Jason Aaron (writer), Ron Garney (art), Matt Milla (colours) and VC's Joe Sabino (letters).

 The double-page ads for "Jane Foster: Valkyrie" has me looking forward to the first issue hitting the racks so reading "The Job I Have to Do" by Al Ewing & Jason Aaron (writers), Cafu (art), Jesus Aburtov (colours) and VC's Joe Sabino (letters) was a nice prelude.

 The God of Mischief and now King of the Frost Giants has been a favourite character of mine for decades so I am also anticipating the release of Loki #1. Daniel Kibblesmith (writer), Oscar Bazaldua (art) David Curiel (colours) and VC's Clayton Cowles (letters) gives us a hint as to how Loki will rule in "Born Small".

 Finally, we can't forget Frank Castle the Punisher. His never ending war will continue in "Punisher Kill Krew" and the calm before the firestorm is chronicled in "War Orphans" by Gerry Duggan (writer), Juan Ferreyra (art) and VC's Cory Petit (letters).

 Marvel's mega crossover events may be predictable now but I like that this one makes some interesting changes to characters that I have followed for a long time. I loved when (spoiler alert) Jane Foster was Thor. Ditto when Loki was a good guy with the Young Avengers. I'm hoping that their new books are worthy of my time. I doubt that Daredevil having magic Asgardian billy clubs will change much in his book but it would be cool to see what they can do and how he uses them. And as always, the Punisher will continue to kill bad guys.

 Miles Morales: Spider-Man #8 - Saladin Ahmed (writer) Javier Garron (art) David Curiel (colours) VC's Travis Lanham (letters). When last we left Miles he had been captured by some unknown super villain. This issue details the extremely dangerous predicament that he's in. I know Miles will survive these tests and experiments but boy, they sure put him through the wringer this issue. The creative team did an excellent job of making me feel immersed in the story.

 Avengers #21 - Jason Aaron (writer) Jason Masters (art) Jason Keith (colours) VC's Joe "Jason" Caramagna (letters). It's practically an all Jason issue. The team relaxes in the aftermath of the War of the Realms. I don't like She-Hulk speaking monosyllabically but she thinks in proper sentences in her thought balloons so that assuages my annoyance. Black Panther didn't get the memo and confronts Phil Coulson and his Squadron Supreme of America. I think this is Jason Aaron's dig at the current administration in the White House. I'm waiting to see where the next global threat will come from. Will it be domestic or alien?

 Batman #74 - Tom King (writer) Mikel Janin (art) Jordie Bellaire (colours) Clayton Cowles (letters). "The Fall and the Fallen" concludes. I'm not a fan of Thomas Wayne being in this reality so I hope it's the last we see of him for a while. Comparing what Bruce and "his father" are doing with the story of the animals in the pit was very clever and the inconclusive ending heightens the suspense for the next issue.

 Black Cat #2 - Jed MacKay (writer) Travel Foreman (art) Brian Reber (colours) Ferran Delgado (letters). The Cat will burgle while the Sorcerer Supreme is away. Felicia and her crew break into 177A Bleecker Street in this weird heist. Getting in was easy. Getting out will be a problem. There was a double-page spread featuring an M.C. Escher staircase that could have had the word balloons and captions arranged better. I had to read the things a couple of times to get the flow right. Other than that minor annoyance this is another fine issue. The last page by Clay McLeod Chapman (writer), Alberto Alburquerque (art), Brian Reber (colours) and Ferran Delgado (letters) was a bit of a puzzler. Is it a teaser for the next story, or what?

 The Amazing Spider-Man #25 - Don't judge a comic book by it's cover. Case in point, this issue looked good so I saved it for last. We've got Spider-Man front and center with Mary Jane, Mysterio, Electro and Kindred in the background. This issue sets up a lot of stuff so let's have a look see.

 The main story is called "Opening Night" by Nick Spencer (writer), Ryan Ottley, Humberto Ramos, Patrick Gleason & Kev Walker (pencils), Cliff Rathburn, Victor Olazaba, Dexter Vines, Patrick Gleason & Kev Walker (inks) Nathan Fairbairn, Edgar Delgado, Dave Stewart & Laura Martin (colours) and VC's Joe Caramagna (letters) has a brief appearance by Kindred and Mysterio but it's mostly about Electro (the new female one) holding an actress for ransom at a theatre. Mary Jane is the one who comes to the rescue. The Spider-Man subplot has Peter rescuing Doctor Curt Connors from depression. A set up for future stories happens on the last page where a new team of super villains is introduced called the Syndicate. They want Electro to join. Then we have 5 pages that ends with the appearance of Spider-Man 2099. I wonder where Miguel has been? Then there's a 10 page story leading towards a team up with Doctor Strange. The issue wraps up with a 5-page cartoon for the kiddies by Keaton Patti (writer), Dan Hipp (art) and VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). Yes, it's 60 pages of Spider-Mania but even a Spider-Maniac like myself cringed after reading this.

[eddycurrents]

For the week of 9 July 2018

Quick Bits:

Aliens: Dust to Dust #2 continues the plight of a group of settlers on LV-871 as they try to flee an attack by xenomorphs. There’s more gorgeous artwork from Gabriel Hardman and Rain Beredo, very impressive storytelling through the action.

| Published by Dark Horse

Amazing Spider-Man #1 isn’t a bad start to the post-Dan Slott era, with Nick Spencer, Ryan Ottley, Cliff Rathburn, and Laura Martin setting up a new/old status quo for Peter. At times it does seem like the story veers towards unnecessarily being cruel to set him up, pushing him down further and further, but we’ll see where it goes. The art from Ottley, Rathburn, and Martin is wonderful. The narration in the epilogue (with art from Humberto Ramos, Victor Olazaba, and Edgar Delgado) from the villain in the main story, though, is damn good. The sequence itself is an amazing hook and gives me hope for wonderful things to come.

| Published by Marvel

Betrothed #5 is a brutal end to this series. Sean Lewis and Steve Uy give Tamara and Kieron a bloody coming of age, with a somewhat unexpected conclusion to their confrontation with their rivals. There are some interesting hints at more to come that has me hoping that we’ll see more of this story in the future.

| Published by AfterShock

Black Science #37 serves as kind of the connecting tissue for this arc, ostensibly bringing “our” Grant and Sara to the central hub with their alternate universe daughter, trying to solve the problem of the destruction of the Eververse. This is an important turning point in the story, as Rick Remender, Matteo Scalera, and Moreno Dinisio push us headlong towards this series’ conclusion. Again, the art from Scalera and Dinisio is just stunning.

| Published by Image / Giant Generator

Bloodshot Salvation #11 continues to bring this story back around full circle to the beginning, merging the timelines. It’s interesting to see this wholly play out, adding some wrinkles, and giving us some really nice art from Doug Braithwaite and Jordie Bellaire. I’m anxious to see how this ends.

| Published by Valiant

Champions #22 is kind of a second “fresh start” as this issue deals with the fallout from the various events around the Marvel universe and the kids’ solo books. Jim Zub is balancing all of the different moving pieces out of his control very well, making change and transition almost an essential theme to the title, which in itself makes a fair amount of sense with the kids growing up. Although I miss Sean Izaakse, I really love how Kevin Libranda (with colours from Marcio Menyz) presents Snowguard here. The wolf is adorable.

| Published by Marvel

Coda #3 has a really interesting rumination on the nature of good and evil from Si Spurrier as the underlying narration this issue. Raising the oft pondered question of what it means to do the wrong thing for the right reasons and what it means to be “good”.

| Published by BOOM! Studios

The Crow: Memento Mori #4 brings the series to a close. The continuing story from Roberto Recchioni, Werther Dell’Edera, and Giovanna Niro winds up much, much darker than just the religious intolerance presented in the first three issues.

| Published by IDW

Daredevil #605 brings to an end the “Mayor Murdock” story-arc that has featured some wonderful art from Mike Henderson and Matt Milla. Henderson is an incredible artist and his style has so perfectly meshed with Daredevil, the street level heroes, and the terror of the Beast and the Hand brought to New York City.

| Published by Marvel

The Dead Hand #4 throws a big monkey wrench into the works of the hidden Russian city in the form of a rebellious teenager. It’s interesting how Kyle Higgins and Stephen Mooney turn this thriller on a dime into incorporating elements of family drama.

| Published by Image

Die!Die!Die! #1 was a surprise, being announced and then released the same week. It was a pleasant surprise, though, because this first issue is pretty awesome. Robert Kirkman, Scott Gimple, Chris Burnham, and Nathan Fairbairn deliver an over-the-top action comic that reminds me a lot of the more humorous output of Garth Ennis.

| Published by Image / Skybound

Domino #4 is another winner, diving deep into Domino’s connection to her current arch-nemesis, with all of the humour and action that this series has shown us so far. Gail Simone, David Baldeón, and Jesus Aburtov have easily made this series a must read.

| Published by Marvel

Elsewhere #8 brings the series to a conclusion, tying up the one major loose plot thread in the process. This has been a fun adventure series from Jay Faerber, Sumeyye Kesgin, and Ron Riley and this issue captures the indomitable spirit exhibited by Amelia Earhart and DB Cooper throughout this story.

| Published by Image

Exiles #5 is gloriously insane as the first arc comes to a close. Saladin Ahmed, Javier Rodríguez, and Álvaro López have been outdoing themselves with each subsequent issue. The art alone is worth your attention, with some very inventive layouts and storytelling techniques, but the characters, dialogue, and plot are equally enthralling.

| Published by Marvel

Farmhand #1 is a new series from Chew’s Rob Guillory. It’s odd, blending family drama with weird science and body horror. It’s incredibly different and the idea of the body farms is very compelling. Also great, and at times horrifying, art from Guillory, with colours from Taylor Wells.

| Published by Image

Hunt for Wolverine: Adamantium Agenda #3 has some really nice art from RB Silva, Adriano di Benedetto, and Guru-eFX. Silva’s designs for alternate Iron Man armours this issue are particularly impressive.

| Published by Marvel

Isola #4 reveals how the Queen became a cat, maybe, because it’s told in a somewhat hallucinatory fever dream of Rook, possibly remembering what happened or possibly just having a bad dream. I love how Brenden Fletcher, Karl Kerschl, and Msassyk are telling this story, as a somewhat ephemeral fable.

| Published by Image

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Tempest #1 begins the end for the League, with Alan Moore, Kevin O’Neill, Ben Dimagmaliw, and Todd Klein displaying all of the inventiveness and depth of storytelling that series has delivered without fail since its inception. The interplay between formats of newspaper comics, epistolary adventure novels, comic books, and more make this as much a delight of form as it is of story.

| Published by Top Shelf & Knockabout

Nancy Drew #2 kind of subverts the mystery with personal drama, only to set up another mystery. It’s an interesting approach, but it’s leading to some very interesting characters. The art from Jenn St.-Onge and Triona Farrell is wonderful.

| Published by Dynamite

New Mutants: Dead Souls #5 is another great issue, with the team trying to find something in Doctor Strange’s Sanctum Sanctorum. The page layouts from Adam Gorham this issue particularly stand out.

| Published by Marvel

Oblivion Song #5 makes a revelation that we’ve kind of been expecting for a few issues now, but is still interesting to see how it plays out. There are a few major events that definitely change how this series will operate, bringing truth to what Robert Kirkman wrote in the first issue of how this series wouldn’t remain static around a singular status quo. It’s really nice to see that kind of organic change in a story. It also helps that the art from Lorenzo De Felici and Annalisa Leoni is gorgeous.

| Published by Image / Skybound

Old Man Logan #43 is a thing of beauty, featuring Juan Ferreyra’s first Marvel work. His style is perfect for Logan and meshes well with the darker aspects of Ed Brisson’s writing.

| Published by Marvel

Optimus Prime #20 clues us in a bit on what’s been going on with Bumblebee as he and Optimus catch-up...somewhere. John Barber is playing with a lot, trying to keep all of the plates spinning as he weaves together years of Transformers stories here and it’s impressive.

| Published by IDW

Outpost Zero #1 focuses on a group of teens coming of age in a station on what looks like a frozen wasteland of a planet, possibly the last of humanity, since they don’t know if any other generational seed ships made it to any of their destinations either. While this is decidedly sci-fi, Sean McKeever leans in to his writing strengths, delivering some nuanced and developed interpersonal drama that is as compelling as the broader survival plot. I also love the aesthetic and style that Alexandre Tefenkgi and Jean-Francois Beaulieu bring to the art. It reminds me a bit of Takeshi Miyazawa’s work on Mech Cadet Yu and it works really well to blend teen drama and sci-fi.

| Published by Image / Skybound

The Punisher #227 reinforces my belief that Matthew Rosenberg should be writing a Black Widow & friends or SHIELD title. His characterizations and voices for Bucky and Natasha are so spot on, while providing some much needed humorous asides.

| Published by Marvel

Quicksilver: No Surrender #3 is a stunning meditation on Pietro’s relationship and history with his sister. Gorgeous art on the flashbacks from Paul Renaud. I also have to mention again on the main present sequences that Rico Renzi’s use of colour adds so much to the storytelling.

| Published by Marvel

Relay #1 is probably a bit stranger than the Free Comic Book Day zero issue, as Zac Thompson expands the story to the multiple worlds affected and changed by the Relay. It’s an odd mix of philosophy, theology, and police procedural and I’m still not quite sure what to make of it. It has some gorgeous art, though, from Andy Clark, Jos�� Villarrubia, and Dan Brown.

| Published by AfterShock

RuinWorld #1 is a fun all-ages fantasy by Derek Laufman, featuring some anthropomorphic animals getting into misadventures. It’s funny how just about every character is different degrees of inept and everything seems to be going wrong. I really like Laufman’s art style.

| Published by Boom Entertainment / kaboom!

She Could Fly #1 is incredibly strange. Starting with the normal, Martín Morazzo and Miroslav Mrva’s art is fabulous. I absolutely love Morazzo’s style, a mix of Frank Quitely and Marcos Martin, and he always makes the books he works on look visually interesting. And it really fits weird and strange stories, like this one. Christopher Cantwell, Morazzo, and Mrva are presenting the mental illness of our main protagonist, Luna, in a matter of fact way, without any visual clues (beyond Clem Robins’ change in font style for an intrusive, abusive inner voice at times) that this isn’t happening. That’s not a problem at all, in itself, but it also seems that this is taking place in an almost magical realist world, where absurd impossible things are possible. Like the fact that she could fly. That unreality of the world itself is what makes this strange, as though we as readers ourselves can’t trust the narrative. Because it might just be something made up in somebody’s head. I like this.

| Published by Dark Horse / Berger Books

Star Wars: Darth Vader #18 is an interesting single issue story pitting Tarkin against Vader. It’s a bit odd, but Charles Soule, Giuseppe Camuncoli, Daniele Orlandini, and David Curiel turn in a very compelling story of the hunt.

| Published by Marvel

Transformers: Lost Light #20 features the confrontation that we’ve been waiting for for a very long time, Rodimus and Getaway. After all that we’ve seen in this series, it underlines just how insane and depraved Getaway truly is.

| Published by IDW

Transformers: Unicron #1 is a very dark comic. Like with the Free Comic Book Day issue, the Cybertronians have almost completely lost, people are giving in to despair, Unicron has eaten most of the colonies, including planets like ROM’s homeworld that they didn’t even know were colonies, and the outlook for the universe is looking very grim. Still, there’s five more issues, and I want to see how John Barber, Alex Milne, and Sebastian Cheng end this.

| Published by IDW

X-23 #1 is a great beginning for Mariko Tamaki with Laura and Gabby. While it’s more immediately tied to the rest of the X-Men than much of All-New Wolverine, it captures the fun and humour of that title, while also presenting a new and deeply disturbing element that you really need to see. It’s nice to see Juann Cabal and Nolan Woodard continue with the characters. Cabal’s art was great on the “Orphans of X” arc and it looks like he’s pulled out all of the stops here. Some phenomenal panel transitions and visual gags.

| Published by Marvel

Xena: Warrior Princess #6 kicks off a new arc with Erica Schultz taking over as writer. It’s good, with Vicente Cifuentes providing a nice visual consistency, while the story takes on another dimension. Like the first arc, this is still rooted in Xena coming to terms with her past as she learns to work with Gabrielle, but we get an added external narrative here with the element of the oracles.

| Published by Dynamite

X-Men Blue #31 feels like the beginning of Cullen Bunn’s X-Men endgame that really started with his work on Magneto years ago, that everything has been building to this. It’s interesting to see the series from this perspective, with Magneto almost as an outside unstoppable force, and it adds a huge gravity to the story. Great art from Jorge Molina and Matt Milla.

| Published by Marvel

Other Highlights: Accell #12, Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows #21, Archie #32, Astonisher #9, Deadpool: Assassin #3, Dejah Thoris #6, DuckTales #10, GI Joe: A Real American Hero #253, Mech Cadet Yu #10, Monstress #18, Ms. Marvel #32, Port of Earth #7, Red Sonja #18, Resident Alien: An Alien in New York #4, Rick Veitch’s The One #6, Run Wild, Sheena: Queen of the Jungle #10, Star Wars: Thrawn #6, TMNT: Urban Legends #3, Tomb Raider: Inferno #2, The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #34, Wasted Space #3, World of Tanks: Citadel #3

Recommended Collections: All-New Wolverine - Volume 6: Old Woman Laura, Despicable Deadpool - Volume 3: The Marvel Universe Kills Deadpool, Go Go Power Rangers - Volume 1, Made Men - Volume 1: Getting the Gang Back Together, Old Man Logan - Volume 7: Scarlet Samurai, Star Wars: Doctor Aphra - Volume 3: Remastered, TMNT Universe - Volume 4: Home

d. emerson eddy sometimes likes to make himself believe that planet Earth turns slowly. But he’d definitely rather be asleep.

[breegullbeakreviews]

Summary: With over a year since I’ve last played the original and with the final farewell at my back, I’ve decided to take another look at one of my favorite games of all time and grab the platinum trophy on PS3 while I’m at it. Spoilers inbound obviously as this is going to be entirely thoughts and observations of the original with hindsight of the entire series up until this point. So Spoilers!

Overall: Even after what most consider to be one of the best years in gaming last year, this is my favorite game of the PS4/Xbox One console generation. Life is Strange has moved into my top five games of all time and I can’t see is slipping out of it. No matter where you play it, Life is Strange is something worth experiencing.

Episode 1: Chrysalis:

           I was lucky in when I first played this game. I, like Max at the time, had no idea who the blue haired girl in the bathroom was. When it’s revealed later that she’s Max’s friend she didn’t talk to for five years I was making that revelation with the characters. Max never even tried to contact her according to her journal entries which while inelegant are really important to getting into the mindset of Max early on. That being said I love Max. I’m a straight white dude and I’ve never related to any other videogame character like to do to Max. She is a socially awkward dork who isn’t good at saying goodbye and really isn’t good at keeping in contact with people. She is female, but not overtly feminine. While I’m not a Final Fantasy fan like she is, by the way the Square Enix self-promotion in this episode is cringe worthy, I do love how unapologetically dorky she is. She’s also pretty socially awkward and oblivious to a lot of social things, particularly with Warren who is clearly into her. I don’t think Max isn’t interested as much as she’s unaware, but that does come down to player choice. I think this game leaves Max’s sexual orientation much more open ended than Before the Storm did with Chloe, at least for this first episode. At most I think she’s still exploring her sexuality and is open to either sex, but again it’s all open to interpretation which is part of why this game shines so much.

           Especially in a post Before the Storm world it is interesting to see just how bad an idea ever showing Rachel was. I’m not saying it couldn’t be done, I just don’t think it should have been done. Outside of pictures, all Max and the player know about Rachel is what she and the player are told about her by those who knew her. This paints her as an idealized perfect school girl. She was so popular she was above the schools popular kids club, did all of the after school activities, and everyone loved her. It’s an unrealistic standard which you can doubt is all true, but it’s all you have to go on. Showing Rachel turns the character into concrete fact as opposed to whatever you pictured in your head. Maybe what you know is being romanticized by those who miss her in this game, but Before the Storm says that it wasn’t. If Before the Strom did two things right with this it’s that it painted a much clearer picture as to why Victoria Chase hates Rachel Amber. While she was around she was the second most popular girl in school and was always coming in second to her. Rachel having serious parental issues that Chloe doesn’t bring up when Max asks how her parents are handling it at first seems like an oversight of the prequel, but this actually shows Chloe’s denial in this situation. These two details aren’t enough to warrant the prequels existence though.

           The student body at Blackwell I like a lot to. Well you know besides Nathan Prescott obviously, he’s an ass. They make Blackwell feel more like a real school than Before the Storm did which didn’t show a lot of students unless they were tied to the main narrative in some way. The small side stories each character has never overwhelm the main narrative, but they are there to explore and all have enough depth to make that exploration worth it. This episode has Dana’s teen pregnancy and abortion plot line along with Juliet’s cheating boyfriend. While more tied to the main narrative, dealing with Victoria to get into the girls dorm gives depth to Victoria. Sadly her posy needs to wait for future episodes to get depth.

           Back on Max and Chloe, it is funny how Max talks shit about Chloe’s car that’s double parked in the handicap spots when she doesn’t know it is Chloe’s. As soon as she does know it’s hers she doesn’t bring it up. It does take until after Chloe realizes that Max saved her life for Chloe to be cool with Max again. She’s very pissed that Max not only didn’t talk to her for five years, but also didn’t try and get in contact once she was back in Arcadia Bay. Chloe however didn’t hesitate to save Max’s ass which is why I still feel like she was super open to welcoming her back into her life with open arms. Both Max and Chloe are in desperate need of a friend and are willing to overlook the missing time in their relationship to have the comfort they once had with each other. While Max talks about not leaving Arcadia Bay with the goal of fucking Chloe over, they also don’t mention “the day”. Chloe’s dad is dead and her mother is remarried to an abusive controlling prick named David. Replaying the entire game again I’m also now aware that at no point, at least as far as I saw, was it mentioned that Max leaving was as close to William dying as we now know it to be. Obviously it was relatively close, but the fact that it was all in the same week makes you understand why Chloe was so hurt.

           Also back on Warren, he isn’t a creep like a lot of people claim. He’s clearly interested and Max is oblivious but he’s never forceful with her. She is comfortable with him, enough that she was going to tell him about her time travel powers first, and eventually does. I’d be curious how differently things would have played out if Nathan didn’t show up to stop their talk. Straight white guy talking again here, but I feel like Warren isn’t the type of guy who would suddenly lash out like the rapey guy in Before the Storm if Max said flat out she wasn’t interested.

           Another little observation I made is that the bird swarms can be seen outside of Chloe’s house in the backyard. Not sure if this is a bug or intentional but there are two swarms, one on either side of the house in the distance. Having this episode end and start with the lighthouse was a nice touch. While it obviously works to set up the ticking clock element to the story, it also gives you a taste of what’s to come. It gives you a little bit of action which will be component of every future episode. Max telling Chloe the truth about her powers is a great way to end the episode. I think leaving Chloe seriously doubting it would have been more effective in the next episode, but the snow is more powerful as it makes certain that that vision is indeed of what is to come. Also the fact that Chloe was almost a victim of the dark room is horrifying.

           The episodes epilogue shows Chloe’s Mom which so far has only been mentioned in passing and seen in pictures. Luckily the teaser for the next episode doesn’t spoil anything major about the next episode. If it ruined the ending I’d be pissed. We also get the first tease of the dark room with the row or red binders.

           One last thing in regards to this episode is how it talks about the supernatural. This town, Blackwell in particular has ties to the supernatural it seems. While I don’t want to see Chloe or Max in Life is Strange 2, I wouldn’t mind seeing the school again. Its ties to Native American culture are something that can explain the supernatural powers being a reoccurring thing. Obviously you’d need to set this in the past or far future to not have to deal with the aftermath of this game, at the very least tying these powers to something like this could be a cool uniting theme for the games.

Episode 2: Out of Time:

           This episode is in my opinion the weakest in the season, perhaps maybe even in the franchise, but its ending is worth it and after this it’s all high quality. Now why is this episode the weakest? Well I guess that might not be the best word for it, but it comes down to the puzzle segments. They all suck. Memorizing what is in Chloe’s pockets and what happens in the diner in the next 30 seconds isn’t fun. Finding bottles and shooting them isn’t fun. The reason they aren’t fun is deeper than just the gameplay not working though. It’s mostly that all of this kills the pacing of the story. The first episode is introducing Max to her powers and the cast while establishing the mystery of Rachel Amber. This episode is just Max and Chloe fucking around up until Kate Marsh tries to jump off the roof of the girl’s dorm. If this episode was Max and Chloe looking into things for Kate and in the process hitting some of these same beats I think this episode could have been a lot better.

           Kate Marsh is the star of this episode as even when you aren’t with her, she is the focus and if you don’t give her your full attention you will lose her. Even once you go hang out with Chloe, she is still calling and texting you, and nothing outside of her scenes leaves any lasting impact in my opinion. If anything this all makes the memorizing Chloe’s pockets work, if in the wrong order. If you weren’t doing that with Kate and her room earlier, then you probably aren’t going to be able to prevent her from jumping. The thing that set Kate off is a video of her, drugged, making out with a bunch of boys at a party going viral. She’s the good little Christian girl so several people find it funny, but it turns out that Nathan Prescott was involved and she was taken to what will later be revealed as the dark room. I’ve never been a girl with depression, nor have I had a viral video of me shared like this, but I have had thoughts of suicide in the past and Dontnod did a fantastic job of treating this subject with care. It lets you see all of the little cuts. Her aunt disowning her, her mother concerned, all of the tissues from the tears. While there were obviously hints at all of this in the previous episode, here it’s the focus and it’s handled with care and respect. Pulling Max’s powers away from her for this part of the game makes it all feel less gamey which is important to portraying this topic seriously. Max in the shower still feels creepy to me, especially since she’s barely legal. It doesn’t take away from the conversation she overhears, but it makes me feel dirty nonetheless.

           I still love all of these side characters so much and it really does set this game apart from its prequel. This whole series takes place in early October and while some Halloween decorations were up previously, this is when the spooky atheistic takes hold. There is a Halloween party in the works and I’m not sure if it’s always an option, but Max and Warren get an invite from Dana. It’s interesting that you get the choice to decline or accept the invitation considering the series wraps before then. Victoria’s posy starts to fall apart here as she tells of Taylor for not being fast enough yesterday. Once you talk with Taylor though you get to find out that she hangs out and puts up with Victoria because Victoria is supporting her emotionally while her mom is sick. Samuel the custodian is a werido, but I love talking with him. Even once you reach the diner all of the characters there are worth talking with. The Dana subplot continues with two of the boys, Trevor and Justin having both been interested in her be cool with each other when Trevor finally hooks up with her. The cast is just so much larger here and while it’s all optional, it’s all interesting enough to be worth looking into.

           Max apparently went home after the previous episode and worked with Warren to research time travel to the fullest extent possible. Max not knowing how she got her powers or how long they’ll last gives this episode a little something extra for that first play through. This is especially the case when Max’s powers seem to be fading when Kate prepares to jump off the roof. I turned down Warren’s date proposal this time around seeing as how I’d end up missing it anyway, but I still think Warren is the one true pairing in this game.

           I guess I should talk about Max and Chloe outside of the context of just the bad puzzle stuff. This episode cements why I’ve never seen Max and Chloe as a potential couple. Chloe is a massive bitch in this episode in a lot of ways. She gets mad at Max if she answers her phone for Kate, holds grudges over Max when she doesn’t take the blame for Chloe, and god forbid I don’t try and shoot some guy I just met. I understood Chloe to some extent in Before the Storm, but here she’s still a bitch who I only put up with because Max is willing to because of their past. A lot of Chloe’s issues in these major choice segments don’t work because of the time travel aspect along with other little things. If Chloe didn’t want to wait inside the diner while Max answered the phone she didn’t have to. Max could have rewound to before Frank showed up and she and Chloe could have made a run for it. Hell even in the last episode you aren’t able to toss the blunt out the window to try and avoid that whole drama. I know they want to make hard choices, but these ones don’t work and Chloe is always a bitch if you don’t do everything in your power to please her.

           Despite not liking the gameplay or story direction at the Junkyard, I understand the importance of the setting. This is where Rachel was buried and with Before the Storm to add context, this junkyard was where Chloe built her car and also where her dad’s car ended up. Sadly that car isn’t here and quite a lot has been added to Rachel and Chloe’s home away from home. I wish Before the Storm’s montage would have shown the passage of time in that strange cement structure instead of what it did. The Doe over top of where Rachel is buried is rather ominous as is the torn shirt nearby. Frank having Rachel’s bracelet is another thing I wish Before the Storm covered in some form. I know it’s eventually covered here, but I’d have loved to have seen it from Rachel’s perspective in that games closing montage.

           This episode closes with possibly the games strangest decision, and I don’t think any other choice in the game has this many outcomes. You blame either Nathan, Jefferson, or David for what happened with Kate, but there are more than three outcomes. If you pick Jefferson you’re safe, but if you blame David or Nathan, depending on previous choices Max could get suspended. I’ve never gotten suspended in the game though as it requires making what I’d argue are some of the dumber choices in the game. What makes this whole thing work is that while in hindsight you know Jefferson is the mastermind and Nathan is his pawn, the final moments before you makes this choice do everything they can to make you think it’s David that caused this despite actually being innocent. While none of these choices really impact the progress of the story, it is a clever piece of misdirection that will likely make you regret your choices later.

           The episode wraps with a musical montage set to Mt. Washington, which might be my favorite song on the soundtrack. The episode wraps with Max believing that Rachel and Kate’s situations are tied together, and the episode closes with a confirmation in the form of another look at the dark room where on a table not far from the red binder marked Rachel is one being made for Kate. Of course prior to that is an unscheduled eclipse.

Episode 3: Chaos Theory:

           This episode finally kicks off the actual detective work of Max and Chloe trying to find out what happened to Rachel and Kate. The episode wastes no time diving right into it. Max is woken by a text from Chloe Tuesday night and Max heads out to meet her in front of the school. The focus of this episode is the mystery and Max and Chloe’s relationship.

           The school doesn’t get seen much today, at least not while the sun is out. Regardless the student body is still present. Max is now taking care of Kate’s pet rabbit. All of the slates outside the rooms haves condolences written on the, Two girls are still up at this hour and both will let you know Victoria has snuck out. Dana was apparently good friends with Kate and you can talk about Kate’s fate with her, whatever it was. Taylor I didn’t chat with much, you can use the fact that Victoria is out to snoop in her room, but you won’t find anything of value which is a good thing. Before you can reach the main campus Principal Wells is getting wasted on the path between there and the dorms, but that’s it for the student body.

           Out front of campus Max is still shaken up by the events of the day and isn’t a fan of Chloe joking around. Both are concerned about Rachel and Kate, but Chloe is the first to bring up the coming storm. Before the two can use David’s keys to enter the main building, they catch Victoria and Jefferson coming out and Victoria is trying to bribe and blackmail Jefferson into winning the Everyday Heroes contest. It does not go well for her.

           The following chunk is a fun puzzle that pushes the plot forward. Max and Chloe need to get into the Wells’s office, so Max contacts Warren on how to build a pipe bomb, not exactly what she asked, but it’ll do. It’s pretty much just an object hunt, but it’s fun to see the school at night. Once inside we get the first hint at the Dark Room in Nathan’s actual file. Apparently Nathan and David were onto Rachel selling drugs. Before leaving you can choose to steal the money from the handicap fund. The issue with this choice is not only is it tied to Chloe and Max falling in love, but unless you try stealing the money, no compelling reason is given to do so. The reason to steal it is paying off Frank.

           After this Max and Chloe go take a swim in the pool. Snooping around the Boys locker room you can find Zach’s phone along with his dirty texting with Victoria. Max’s is also super clueless about Warren’s crush on her when she finds a picture of the two of them in Warren’s locker. The graffiti in both restrooms is hilarious. They are all super immature like beaver eating jokes and to more direct knocks at students like Max, Kate, Rachel, and Victoria. The two swim around for a bit, but Chloe misses Rachel so the conversation drifts to her and Kate again. As soon as the two get dressed security shows up for a little light stealth. The two head back to Chloe’s house for the night since sneaking back to the dorm would be impossible. The Pool is a nice break from the mystery for both the player and the characters.

           When Max wakes up she puts on some of Rachel’s old clothes since Max’s stink of chlorine. This outfit of course is also the one she is seen wearing in Before the Storm because why not. Max also is dared to kiss Chloe, the only real significance to this choice is that it decides if Chloe and Max kiss at the end of the game, of course that’s already determined by Chloe’s phone background which is based on how often you stuck up for her earlier. These choices being the pot in episode 1, the phone call in episode 2, trying to shoot Frank in episode 2, and the money in episode 3. I always go with the kiss because why not.

           Downstairs Max helps Joyce make breakfast and Joyce gets some needed development. She doesn’t believe anything good has happened to Rachel but is holding out hope. She also says that Chloe wanted to be more like Max which I really find odd. While Max is eating she brings out the photo album and stumbles upon the last photo William ever took. This is also when it’s finally brought up that William died in a car accident. Max is given this photo of the last time either of them remember Chloe being happy. Chloe comes down and distracts Joyce so you can break into David’s laptop. In it you discover he has files on Rachel, Kate, and even Max. Rachel was totally hooking up with Frank, he was convinced Kate was on drugs, and he’s got his eye on Max to the point where he knows her online aliases. Before Max can relay the info to Chloe, David comes home and the two get in a fight and you must pick a side. I don’t have a hard time siding with Chloe here. Even in hindsight it’s clear David is overstepping quite a lot. I forgot Max brings up the files she just uncovered though.

           The duo heads to the diner to break into Frank’s RV. Getting the keys is where the famous “beans” joke comes from. The same colorful cast is here at the diner this trip. You’re able to warn the homeless woman about the storm. The puzzle to get the keys is a fun one. It also establishes Rachel and Frank’s history among other juicy details. This challenge puts your ability to use new information to start dialogue with a leg up to its fullest. There are at least two paths through this puzzle and both are interesting in terms of what you learn about Frank. The choice to throw the bone towards the road or the parking lot is a stupid ass decision. One the dog dies, the other he doesn’t. Anyone who killed the dog is a monster.

           Hidden away in the RV’s vents is proof that not only was Rachel hanging out with Frank, but they were involved and she was using drugs. You can also steal back the gun here if Frank took it. While you explore Chloe searches Frank’s computer and makes all sorts of porn jokes. Rachel has a meltdown when you show her the pictures though and goes off about everyone in her life betrays her. She drops Max off at school in a rage after refusing to accept blame for anything that has gone wrong in her life or even accept that there is no one to blame.

           And this is where shit gets good. Max goes up to her dorm room and discovers that she can jump back in time by focusing on photos, and uses this power to jump back in time to William’s last photo. This scene is hard to play now. Knowing that not only is this three days before Max moves, but it’s also the day of the accident, I’m prepared to cry when I get to episode 4 when Max undoes what she does here. In the episodes final puzzle, you need to hide the car keys so William takes the bus and therefore doesn’t die in a car accident. On the way back to the present as this moment in time ends, the timeline is shown to have been altered. Before you solve the puzzle you can leave a few other marks on the past.

           Max arrives in the present as a member of the Vortex club, Warren is hooked up with another girl, and David is the bus driver. Max races over to Chloe’s to find William still alive. Only issue is that Chloe is now wheelchair bound with plenty of heavy duty machinery and pipes on her. Max’s face when she sees the wheelchair bound Chloe had me worked up. I guess there is one other problem, the end is still nigh as dead whales start washing up on the shore.

Episode 4: Dark Room:

           This is my favorite episode of the season, and that might be unfair to the finale, because what makes this episode work is how damn well it works as the penultimate episode. The puzzles are at there peak, the story picks up the pace, and the opening is exceptional, and it ends just in time for the finale to be non-stop suspense and action.

           This episode kicks off in the alternate timeline with Max and the Wheelchair bound Chloe down on the beach. Chloe is in this chair because of a car accident she was in on her 16th birthday. Without a step father to rebel against, this Chloe never smoked, swore, or dyed her hair. She still loves punk music, but this is a very different Chloe. Max kept in contact in this timeline, though considering Chloe was wheelchair bound that whole time it comes off as ill advised to some extent seeing as he pictures Max sent were her off seeing the world.

           Rachel still went missing in this timeline, though Chloe never met her. I think this is the biggest knock against Before the Storm’s main three episodes. At the end of the day whatever Chloe does back then doesn’t matter. Rachel still ends up with Frank and later a shallow grave. Prequels are hard to do well and ones in a series based around narrative choice are harder. That being said this introduces a very interesting opportunity when piled on with two other facts. One being that Max is part of the Vortex club in this timeline and two being Max is good enough friends with Nathan that she’s been to the Dark Room. I’d love to see a prequel set in this alternate timeline or at the very least more details on it. Max isn’t a good person in this timeline and with Chloe pretty much irrelevant, what happens with Rachel could be interesting to see. This at the very least is prime fan fiction material.

           Max spends the night in this alternate timeline and the entire time everything is designed to show you exactly how awful this reality is. Chloe has no friends and spends all of her days in constant pain. The insane medical bills are threating to have the Price family lose their house. Chloe wasn’t expelled from Blackwell in this timeline, instead she was no longer able to attend because the school wasn’t equipped to handle Chloe’s medical needs. Basically everything is awful. Once Max wakes up and goes to get Chloe’s Morphine injector, she finds out that Chloe’s respiratory system is failing as a result of the spinal injury. Max and Chloe look through an old Photo Album and come across the picture that sent Max back to create this alternate timeline. Chloe apparently already knows that she doesn’t have long and asks Max to overdose her on Morphine so that her last day will have been the happy one she spent with Max and her family won’t have to worry about her medical bills anymore. This is your choice, but whichever way you go about it, Max’s next choice is to fix the timeline by going back to that day once more. Personally I’ve always agreed to do it for Chloe.

           Back in the past this time is not something you get to play. Max goes back and does one thing: she burns the photo so she can’t come back here again. When William walks out the door Max collapses against the wall in tears and Chloe goes to comfort her in concern. Max is apologizing but can’t say what for without messing with the timeline. Max just keeps telling Chloe that no matter what happens she’ll always be with Chloe. This entire scene right here is truly powerful. I didn’t cry the first time, but this last time I was closer to crying this second time around. I don’t know if it’s because of the Farewell episode, or maybe it’s because I know for certain how this ends. Either way, it’s a scene that exemplifies the tragedy of this series.

           Back in the normal reality, Max is in Chloe’s room and the two are putting together the clues they’ve uncovered. Apparently last night Max and Chloe did more digging. The duo has a lot of information, but they need a few more things before they can put together the puzzle. First up is David’s photos and coordinate listings. Apparently he was tracking a whole bunch of vehicles.

           If Kate lived you get a bonus scene before you head back to school to dig up more on Nathan. Kate in the hospital if she didn’t die and Max goes to visit her. This entirely miss able scene redeems Chloe for bitching at you for answering Kate’s call. She admits to not knowing what Kate was going through. What makes this scene even more interesting in hindsight is that it wasn’t part of the original script. Apparently as the season was coming out fans really wanted more Kate so this scene was worked in here. Kate has turned around in a big way and will text you Nathan’s room number later on if you talk with her about it. This scene obviously isn’t heavy on story, but it is on character.

           Next stop is the dorms where you’ll bump into Jefferson on the way in. Here is your first does of the student body this episode. Depending on if you said yes to Warren’s date proposal, Brooke might not talk to you here. She’s super into Warren but Warren is far more into Max. You need to snoop round to figure out if Nathan is on Campus, but even once you find out you can still talk to everybody first. Daniel will let you know he saw Jefferson and Nathan talking earlier. Samuel believes the strange weather is supernatural in nature while Ms. Grant believes its climate changes. Once you get in the boys dorm room you can hear Dana in Trevor’s room.

           In Nathan’s room I found a graphical bug among other things. The projector was shooting out a black cone. Nathan’s room reveals quite a lot. One is that Chloe’s conversation in the bathroom at the games start is over the time Nathan drugged her in his room. There are also some pictures in Nathan’s drawers. Max manages to find Nathan’s phone, but before they can escape Nathan shows up and Warren once again steps in to protect Max. You can choose to call Warren off after he’s got Nathan down or let him keep going. This can give Chloe a gun if she lost it in episode 2 and never picked it up in episode 3.

           Max and Chloe ask Warren to look into Nathan’s father while they head off to talk with Frank. Max is now totally aware Warren has a crush on her, but doesn’t say anything to him about it. Getting Frank to talk is a conversation puzzle. If you’ve got a gun you can’t lose. Worst case Chloe kills Frank and his dog. Best case no one gets hurt. There is a middle ground where Frank gets wounded, but which way you go is up to you. This is a rather time consuming puzzle, but that is mostly because it’s replaying the same conversation a lot.

           Now it’s time for the complicated puzzle. You need to figure out when Frank sold Nathan drugs by matching the code names to the sales papers. You need to match license plates from David’s pictures to the coordinates he’s been keeping. You need to break into Nathan’s phone to get his texts with Frank. Once you’ve done all of that you need to match up the texts, coordinates, and the drugs dealings to figure out where Nathan went that night with Kate. It’s a tough puzzle, but it’s satisfying to put this all together. You can cheat Nathan’s phone, but everything else you need to figure out on your own.

           At the barn the two discover the hidden bunker beneath. This is the notorious Dark Room. A few light puzzles make up the process of getting into the barn, getting to the bunker door and finally opening that door. In the Bunker is binders for Victoria, Kate, and Rachel, along with plenty more. Kate’s binder is full of pictures of her drugged out of her mind on the nearby set. Rachel’s on the other hand show her in a hole in the junkyard. Victoria’s binder is empty hinting that she is next up. The two races to the Junkyard where Chloe and Max start digging with their hands to find Rachel dead and buried where that photo was taken. As Chloe cries and Max comforts her, the spirt of the Doe looks on. For whatever reason this scene never hit me that hard. I always assumed the worst for Rachel and sure as shit it’s what happened.

           Onto the end of the world party. Max wants to go to the Police, but Chloe wants true justice by her own hands so the two head to the Vortex clubs party. To continue with the unexplainable phenomena there are two moons in the sky tonight. Warren is wasted and Chloe is on a war path, but Chloe stops while Max and Warren take a Selfie together, and later this picture is important. The party itself is at the pool and pretty much every student is there. Chloe marched on ahead so Max looks for Nathan alone. The search continues until Max talks with Victoria. If you weren’t nice to Victoria in episode 1 you can’t successfully warn her here since she won’t believe. It’s all for naught though, because Nathan isn’t the mastermind, Jefferson is. In fact warning Victoria successfully will get her killed. Before you can leave the party with Chloe, Jefferson announces Victoria as the winner.

           Chloe and Max head out to find Nathan when he texts them implying he’s destroying Rachel’s body. At the Junkyard Max is drugged and Chloe is shot in the head killing her instantly. Before Max blacks out she sees that it was Jefferson who did this and he stands over her menacingly. No musical wrap up, just cut to black and credits. The tease for next week has a meek voice saying no in the Dark Room while a gloved hand gets more drugs, and outside the Storm has arrived.

Episode 5: Polarized:

           The final episode of Life is Strange has a polarizing reception. Personally I love it but I understand the complaints. What makes this ending work is exactly what must people don’t like. There are some dialogue choices here, but only one matters, and that’s the final choice before control is ripped away from the player. The entire episode is mostly fast paced action paired with psychological horror, and I’m going to try and explain why this works by comparing it to one of my other favorite games, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. Metal Gear Solid 3 is a stealth game, but the final hour is anything but. It goes from boss fight to over the top chase scene to boss fight to somewhat slow segment to boss fight to finale cut scene. Polarized has a similar style it upends the normal gameplay style and goes bat shit insane for the majority of the episode before it hard stops. The sudden dramatic shift in tone helps land that punch. You’re already thrown off by the different tone, but switching back to the original tone is still jarring, and before you can readjust they nail the final blow. Now to be fair I don’t think it works as well in Life is Strange since this isn’t a game built around action sequences, but I do think it works.

           The first chunk of the episode is Max trying to escape the Dark Room. This involves Max, who is tied to a chair on set using her ability to jump back in time to when photos were taken to go back and relieve the photo shoot with Jefferson in order to work a way out. During these jump backs Max learns that Jefferson befriends Nathan in order to use his money to fund this little side project and that he killed him last night. He also plans on killing Max. After enough little changes Max jumps back in time to the selfie she took in Jefferson’s class on Monday. She texts David everything she knows about the Dark Room and turns in her photo for the “Everyday Heroes” contest. When Max jumps back she’s on her way to San Francisco having won, but with Wells since Jefferson was arrested. Everything is wrapped up to nicely though. Max gets another vision of the storm and sure as shit it’s hitting Arcadia Bay right now. Desperate to get back to Arcadia Bay, Max jumps into her submission and destroys it in the past. The only reason this fake out doesn’t work is because of the collectibles and how early into the episode it happens. Of course it’s not over yet.

           Back in the new present Max is back where she started this episode, but this time Max’s journal has been destroyed by Jefferson so she has no pictures to jump to. Before Jefferson can kill Max suddenly someone enters the bunker. It’s David and you guide him through a fight with Jefferson. With Jefferson down and out you’ve got the chance to make up with David and tell him what happened to Chloe. If you do the latter he kills Jefferson in rage. This is set up as a major choice, but as I said earlier, there is only one in this episode. Max still needs to save Chloe and luckily Warren took that picture last night so she can change the past and save Chloe, but she needs to get to Warren first. He’s at the Two Whales diner in town and Max steals Jefferson’s car to get there. I love this little action scene here. Max fighting anyone wouldn’t be fitting of the character. Having Max fight through someone else however works. It’s a boss fight in a roundabout way.

           Nathan sent Max an apology for everything last night before Jefferson killed him along with a warning which she listens to on the drive into town. He’s sobbing as he records this and it feels genuine. Max has to get out of the car before her destination because of wreckage on the road. On the last stretch of road before the diner there are four reoccurring characters Max can save along with several people who are already dead. Even when Max gets to the diner she needs to stop it from blowing up before she can go in the back. Inside is Joyce and Warren along with Frank and Pompidou if they didn’t die. You can convince Joyce on whether or not to forgive David and if Frank is alive tell him how his dealings killed Rachel. Max tells Warren exactly shy she needs the photo by explaining her powers, and that she believes that her powers started this storm. He believes her. Before you jump into the phot you get the option hug Warren, kiss him, or just leave. I always give him the smooch since why not. The timeline is fucked anyway. The actions stuff here works, though the exploding diner is a bit much. I also wish the dead bodies were of some of the students or something. The grieving woman over her dead lover towards the end could have been Dana and Trevor and that would have carried a lot more weight than two no names.

           Back before the party Max tells Chloe everything that is going to happen. Nathan is already dead, Jefferson killed him and drugged and kidnaped Max. Max also reveals he alternate realties here including the one where she saved William and fucked up Chloe’s life to the point where she wanted to die. Max knows when this moment ends she’ll forget all of this and come back in the present. The plan is to tell David everything and hide somewhere safe. Yes this saves Chloe, but the Storm is still heading towards town while Max and Chloe flee to the lighthouse which is out of the storm’s path. Before Max can get there though she passes out. Queue the insanity.

           What follows is Max’s nightmare. A twisted and fantastical series of scenes remixed and in some cases wholly original in order to convey Max’s internal conflict. Things start with a recreation of the opening class room scene where birds crash against the window leaving splatters of blood until the bell rings and everyone disappears. When Max goes to leave, Jefferson reappears and all Max can say in regards to his offer for her to stay in the Dark Room forever is either acceptance or demeaning herself. I think this scene is a representation of Max’s lack of confidence in herself, particularly in her photos.

           If the latter is true, than this next scene is Max’s fear that she just ruins everyone’s lives. This twist on the girl’s dorm requires you to find the right door to exit in each loop. Kate either blames you for letting her die or for making sure no one will ever leave her alone again for fear she’ll try and kill herself again. Most of this isn’t reacted to by Max, but the scene with Kate is and it shows.

           I don’t know what the next scene is supposed to convey, but it’s the opening title scene from episode 1. What’s changed is that everyone but Max is going backwards. This includes a backwards version of “American Girls”. The optional photo in here is even taken in reverse by opening your journal. Entering the Bathroom enters Max into the final real gameplay segment.

           What follows is a hellish otherworldly maze where Jefferson is looking for Max. The walks are decorated with his photos of Kate, Rachel, and Max in walls decked out like the art gallery from earlier. The second part of the maze is just sneaking past a spot light shaped like the statue out front of the main building. The next part of the maze is all lockers and a bunch of guys from the school are looking for Max. The final part is inspired by the junkyard and even has bottles to find for the final picture. Max comments about them being hard to find which is funny and Frank also references the beans thing here, that one kind of kills the creepy atmosphere.

           Sitting on the bench at the lighthouse puts Max inside a snow globe on the mantle back on the day William died. The view is right over the fireplace where Max burns the picture. Max also gets a text from William about letting him die. In fact there are a lot of texts. The scene fades to Max strapped in a chair in the dark room and Jefferson shooting Chloe while they both insult her. Then Chloe kissing Warren, then Nathan hanging out with Chloe. Then her in Victoria. Then Chloe in the wheel chair, then Chloe photographing Max. This scene is obviously Max feeling like she isn’t good enough for Chloe.

           Suddenly Max is locked in the diner bathroom with a key lock on her side. Once she escapes everyone is in the diner but perfectly still and blaming Max for ruining their lives and killing them. Max is sitting at the same seat where she showed her powers to Chloe, but that’s not the Max you’re playing as. This Max is a remnant left behind by Max’s time manipulation. This remnant believes Max has used her powers for selfish reasons and tries to guilt trip her. Then Chloe walks in and says that this remnant Max is talking crap. Cut to another hellish landscape with models of all of your time spent with Chloe. It ends with Max walking back into the present and consciousness atop the hill with the lighthouse.

           Max changed enough to cause the storm and realizing this Chloe gives Max the photo from the Bathroom to go back and not save her. This is the final choice. Sacrifice the bay and Max and Chloe ride off leaving the town in ruins. Sacrifice Bae and every choice you made this week is undone leaving Max with just the memories of a week that never was. This is the final choice. It’s important to note that Chloe is willing to sacrifice herself to save the town considering she brings it up, but she realizes it’s Max’s choice as only she can do it.

           I always will sacrifice Chloe, I got the kiss this time without getting the Max and Chloe phone background in episode 3. Max goes back in time and doesn’t save Chloe and instead just cries in the corner. No more words after Chloe’s last. Just Spanish Sahara. The moment in time ends and Max is returned to the present. Nathan is arrested. Jefferson is arrested, I assume turned in by Nathan. Max meets with the Price family to morn Chloe. When Max arrives in the present she’s at the lighthouse dressed in black. The funeral is the next day after Max returns to the present. Kate is still alive in this timeline, regardless of what choices you made because none of the situations in that episodes came to pass. The blue butterfly lands on Chloe’s casket and Max smiles. The end.

           So why do I not save Chloe? Well to be honest I didn’t even think it’d be a choice. As far back as the ending of episode 3 when I first played this game I knew where this was going. Chloe would need to die. When the choice came up and Chloe accepted it was long past her time I went along with her because I value the lives of many over the life of one. When someone pointed out that this ending invalidates all of your choices it cemented my choice as what I believe as the right one. I believe Max got her powers so she could have that last adventure with Chloe and spend some time with her before she died. Without that power Chloe and Max wouldn’t have seen each other in the final five years of Chloe’s life. As soon as Nathan was arrested the truth about everything would have come out as it does. It was about creating memories.