#Anti-Tetsuya Nomura

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So basically three things just got confirmed:

1.) The "Lost Masters Saga" starting with KH4 is a soft reboot for the franchise.

2.) However, the "Lost Masters Saga" is also the last saga of the KH series for Nomura.

3.) Nomura will be retiring some time within the next decade.

Conclusion?

Call me when the "Lost Masters Saga" is over and Nomura is retired. If the KH franchise still continues past then under new management, then I might - might - just give it a look.

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This is so hilariously accurate it hurts. We had Chain of Memories as a nice little stump between KH and KH2. But then instead of growing into a similar stump, Birth by Sleep became this tall tree that caused all these other tall trees to shoot off from it and get in the way of KH3…which in its final form is shielded by the boulder that is the 2.8 HD Collection.

I speak for us all when I say: poor Daffy.

Trying to jump into Kingdom Hearts 3 like

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Joshscorcher analyzes Cyrus in his "Top 10 Video Game Psychopaths" video.

Bonus: the similar Xemnas as a runner-up, with an aptly angry reason as to why he didn't make the list when he really should have. Seriously, fuck Dream Drop Distance.

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I hate Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance. Everything about it.

However - there is one scene in particular that I absolutely despise above all others. Don't get me wrong, every other cutscene is bad, many of them even rage-inducing....but none of them quite measure up to this one in its wretchedness. Which one is it, you ask? THIS one.

So after Xigbar reiterates the bullshit Inception-esque "dream within a dream" plot twist that Sora is currently experiencing all because he happens to have an "X" on his clothes (yes, that is an actual thing that Nomura wrote), Sora just randomly declares that Nobodies have hearts after all. What does his base this on? The memories from 358/2 Days that he experienced.

"Axel and Roxas and Namine, and that other girl. I felt what Roxas felt and they laughed together, got mad, and they grieved. You have to have a heart to cry."

First off, "that other girl" shouldn't be here. In 358/2 Days, Namine specifically said "If you return your memories to him, you'll disappear. And since everything about you was built on those memories...no one will remember you when you're gone. There won't be any "you" to remember. I can't save you, Xion--even a memory of you." But this game, just like Coded before it and KH3 after it, is flagrantly ignoring that because the rabid fanbase that Days / Xion / the Seasalt Trio developed, particularly in Japan, demanded Xion back and because he's a clout-chasing coward Nomura complied, the story's internal logic be damned.

Secondly, all of the characters Sora mentioned are special cases. Roxas and Namine were special Nobodies built upon a literal heart-to-heart relationship (Sora and Kairi), allowing them to feel things at the cost of having no memory, when for normal Nobodies it's the other way around. Xion was not a Nobody, she was a replica with a heart constructed from memories. Of course she felt stuff. Lastly, this game continues to ignore that Axel's feelings were...off. Making a connection with a heart allowed him to start feeling things, but his Nobody nature was still technically heartless and self-centered, which meant that his feelings were purely based on himself and what his friends mean to him. He never cared about them the way someone is actually supposed to, as that depth of feeling was still foreign to him.

And finally, this seems to be in direct response to that stupid Tomoko Kanemaki-made scene from KH2:FM of Roxas talking with Axel's ghost and they wax poetic about what a heart is and what it means to have one, ending in a shot where Axel is seen shedding tears ("You have to have a heart to cry"). But even that scene, as bad as it was, was still written with Nojima's KH2 scenario in mind where the answer is a philosophical difference between a literal heart, which Nobodies can't have, and a metaphorical heart, which they can develop through bonding with someone with a heart and find a way to exist (as evidenced by Axel even having a ghost at all) within that someone's heart. But now, we get this from Xemnas:

"A heart is never lost for good. There may have been variances in our dispositions, but a number of us unquestionably showed signs of a burgeoning replacement. Once born, the heart can also be nurtured. Our experiments creating Heartless were attempts to control the mind, and convince it to renounce its sense of self. But understand, one can banish the heart from the body, but the body will try to replace it the first chance it gets, for as many times as it takes. And so I knew, even after we were divided into Heartless and Nobodies, it was just a temporary separation."

Where do I even begin?

"A number of us unquestionably showed signs of a burgeoning replacement"? Is this Nomura's way to "explain" why the Organization reacted emotionally on many occasions? Except that was already explained in KH2! As Yen Sid said, their behavior is a ruse to pretend that they have hearts and properly exist, and as Saix said, it's their memories of their human selves and the feelings they felt with hearts that allow them to do this. We literally SEE Demyx drop the facade and show his true unemotional colors right before fighting him!

"One can banish the heart from the body, but the body will try to replace it the first chance it gets". Um, HOW? The body shouldn't be able to recreate a heart because in this universe the body never created the heart to begin with! The literal title of the series, Kingdom Hearts, is where all hearts are born and where all hearts return to. We established that in Game 1!

There was talk earlier about puppets like Pinocchio "growing" a heart, but that's not even the case. As seen earlier in KH2's Space Paranoids and later in KH3's Toy Box, it's not that the non-living thing "grows" a heart, it's that Kingdom Hearts grants them a heart specifically based upon the feelings someone with a heart has toward them. Gepetto, Ansem the Wise, Andy, etc. The hearts didn't just come out of nowhere from nothing like this game suggests.

For that matter, the heart is established as holding the essence of a person; it's who they are. The whole reason Nobodies "don't exist" is because while they have the body and soul of a person plus the memories of said person, without a heart they are not actually that person, who is actually now a Heartless. So is Xemnas saying the body can grow a new freaking person? Then what will become of the original person once they're purified from being a Heartless? The same bullshit of "recompleting" that Lea and co. underwent? But doesn't that contradict the notion that Nobodies are their own individuals who supposedly deserve to live as such? Also, why does all of this only apply to the Organization? What about all of the lesser Nobodies, like the Dusks? Can they not also "regrow" their hearts? Did Nomura think any of this out at all before committing it to script form? And at this point, Sora yells out:

"Why, then? Why did you lie to them and tell them they had no hearts?"

Yep, that's right. Even though Yen Sid also said they had no hearts, Ansem the Wise's research turned up that they had no hearts, and they themselves largely behaved as though they had no hearts, apparently it was all just a lie Xemnas concocted, stripping away half the depth that he and the Organization in general had. Xemnas is now depicted as just a simplistic bad guy and the others save for Xigbar as total victims of brainwashing. Hilariously, the narrative tap-dances around how, if this is true, then Sora and the other heroes now look way more questionable for killing them. The bullshit train keeps chugging as Xigbar says:

"Xemnas and Xehanort formed the Organization for a specific reason - round up a bunch of empty husks, hook them up to Kingdom Hearts, then fill them all with the exact same heart and mind. Translation--they were gonna turn all the members into Xehanort."

So now the claim is that Xemnas, who totally had Xehanort's heart inside him even when Ansem existing should render that impossible, was gonna use the power of Kingdom Hearts to copy-paste that heart into the other Organization members as part of Xehanort's plan to forge the X-Blade. Just like with the claim that Ansem's goal was the Seven Princesses rather than the Final Keyhole they unseal, this clashes with what we actually saw in the previous games. Why would Xemnas do anything he did if this was the plan? The event that got him his thirteenth "vessel" also set the Seven Princesses loose, then several of those "vessels" perished, and yet he carried on with the plan anyway? KH3 tries to do damage control by suggesting Xemnas was out to betray Xehanort, but that just creates more issues with this abominable retcon trying to force separate villainous plans as part of some convoluted whole.

Xigbar then follows all this up with:

"Me? I'm already half Xehanort!"

.....Moving on. Xemnas proceeds to give us this absolute howler:

"However -through weakness of body...weakness of will...or weakness of trust--most of the original members we had chosen for the Organization were inadequate. Thus, naturally, they never had a chance to attain their goal."

MOST of the original Organization members were inadequate!?

Um, yeah, let's flash forward to KH3 and see who made the cut:

Xemnas Xigbar Vexen Saix Demyx Luxord Marluxia Larxene Xion (as a replacement for Roxas)

So basically, 9 out of 13. Only 4 (Xaldin, Lexaeus, Zexion and Axel) "failed".

.....Xemnas, I don't think that the word "most" means what you think it means.

Then we get to the big, dramatic confrontation as Sora yells:

"Just stop it! You treat people's hearts like bottles on a shelf, but they're not! Hearts are made of the people we meet, and how we feel about them-- they're what ties us together even when we're apart! They're what...make me strong."

This is a good line, but Xigbar proceeds to ruin it with his comeback:

"Duh! You're strong because of the ties you have with other people. As if the Keyblade would choose a wimp like you. But no pouting. We see much bigger and better things in your future...once you side with us."

To which Sora replies:

"I know the Keyblade didn't choose me, and I don't care. I'm proud to be a small part of something bigger--the people it did choose! My friends. They are my power!

Beyond this callback to a famous line in the original game feeling cheap, Nomura doesn't even seem to actually remember the scene in which the line was used! Because the Keyblade DID choose Sora in that scene, precisely because of how he bonded his heart with others and took strength from them. In fact, he may be the ONLY person the Keyblade has "chosen" in this series - the allegedly worthier "other people" who appear in the above image have either had their Keyblade bequeathed to them by a prior wielder, transformed another weapon into a Keyblade, or wield a Keyblade specifically because Sora can wield it. (Also, why are Terra, Aqua, Ven and Xion even there? Calling them Sora's "friends" is a huge stretch, especially when people like Namine and HPO who fit the bill better aren't present! And if them not having Keyblades is the excuse given, I must point out that Donald and Goofy are also here! So are they part of "the people it did choose"!? Where is the consistency!?)

This combined with Xehanort's later "dull, ordinary boy" remark reeks of Nomura being touchy about criticism BBS got for making Sora out to be more special than he was supposed to be which led to him overcorrecting here....which doesn't even stick given Data!Ansem the Wise's later monologue about Sora and the events of KH3. Just terrible, contradictory writing.

I hate Dream Drop Distance. I hate the convoluted dream mechanics, I hate Yen Sid's whole Mark of Mastery test and the stupidity and hypocrisy he displays as it unfolds, I hate the literal TWEWY cast being present, I hate the Lea subplot, I hate Maleficent and Pete doing nothing, I hate the shafting of Kairi, I hate the Sora/Riku queer-baiting, I hate young Xehanort, and I hate all of the screwy, time travel-based retconning and twist reveals in the last act that essentially destroyed the whole series. But this fucking scene in particular, I hate above all.

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Clips from the videos I recently linked to.

Out of all the main characters, Nomura and Oka's writing in Kingdom Hearts III (and the preceding Dream Drop Distance + 0.2 Birth by Sleep for that matter) significantly derailed five of them, four of whom the video above discusses and the other whom I'll bring up myself.

Axel then: A deeply selfish guy whose pursuit of his own agenda above all else puts him into conflict with others, even his own friends. Has a fiery (heh) side but is usually cool and collected, with a dry, sarcastic sense of humor, and is very smart and calculating.

Axel now: Honestly still selfish but in a bratty petulant way rather than a mature interesting way, and the narrative pretends like this isn't the case and portrays him as this great guy and wonderful friend. He's also hot-headed dumbass whose style of humor is more "wacky", based in catchphrases and self-aware jokes. Yes, I'm aware he has a heart now, but that explaining the difference doesn't work when the series is now claiming he had a heart all along as a Nobody anyway! If Lea's gonna call himself "Axel", he oughta resemble him more!

Kairi then: Spunky and sassy. Prone to reckless actions due to following her heart without thinking. Will fight to the teeth against any enemy trying to chain her down and will always use her agency every chance she gets, even if it's simply sending a letter. While she obviously loves Sora, she cares deeply for others too and does all she can to help them.

Kairi now: Meek and polite, a "Yamato nadeshiko" type. Frantic and self-doubting, to the point of freezing up in combat. Greatest contribution is "believing really hard" rather than doing anything, and who will write a flowery love letter for the sake of it but never send it. Her care for others is de-emphasized in favor of her love for Sora, even though he barely if ever thinks or talks about her when she isn't right in front of him, making her look pathetic.

Riku then: Starts out as a rude, arrogant jerk who uses darkness and falls prey to it, ends up a still rude but humbled and considerate guy who overcomes his darkness and turns it into a unique power of twilight. At peace with following his heart more ("which is Sora-esque").

Riku now: Totally polite, nigh-infallible hero who just uses plain darkness, not twilight, without consequence. Acts like a dull stick in the mud who barely shows emotion from the heart.

Sora then: Just a regular kid/teenager. Could be kind of a dumbass but not to the point of chronic idiocy that's always being made fun of. Reacted proportionately to events around him and was prone to bouts of depression that he covers up with his usual cheerful attitude.

Sora now: More childish than he should be at his age. Stereotypical shonen Idiot Hero, to the point of everyone making fun of him for it. Reacts over-the-top and excited to everything, is seldom if ever depressed about anything short of people dying. "Weak" yet OP all at once.

Ansem, Seeker of Darkness then: Profoundly arrogant in order to cover for his insecurities. Feels as though everything he does is justified. Cares for no-one but himself + darkness.

Ansem, Seeker of Darkness now: Will openly admit to his insecurities and stow his pride. Knows and acknowledges what he does as evil. Apparently cares for "Subject X", and Riku to a degree, plus chides Ansem the Wise for his cold treatment of others. Seems on board with Xehanort's plan which evidently is meant to safeguard the worlds against darkness.

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Nobody's mentioned this, but yeah, in the Kingdom Hearts series...

Tetsuya Nomura after several games with inexplicable mystery or intrigue beyond the scope of their borders: oh fuck I need to explain all the mystery and intrigue it was so rude of me to leave the story open like that and now I am going to provide lore explanations for everything and overexplain my narrative which is ironically half the reason my series will gain a reputation for being confusing (the other half being that it's just conceptually confusing).

fans when a story has some sense of inexplicable mystery or intrigue beyond the scope of its borders: oh fuck we need to explain all the mystery and intrigue immediately it was so rude of the author to leave the story open like that

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And now, I just feel compelled to sing the praises of one of Kingdom Hearts' greatest heroes:

SHIRO. MOTHERFUCKING. AMANO!

The more time passes, the more amazed I am by this man. He's had a hero's journey IRL when it comes to his place in the franchise: jumping at the call but being inexperienced and screwing up, reaching his lowest point before rising, dealing with great adversity only to come out of it stronger than ever, and becoming a beloved hero to many who continues to do good.

KH1 was his first manga adaptation, and for the most part it's your by-the-numbers comic book adaptation of a story from a non-comic book medium, not especially good or especially bad. But Amano showed three weaknesses: he mischaracterized the KH-original characters (Sora, Kairi, Riku and Ansem all start out on point, but once Destiny Islands is destroyed this changes drastically: Sora turns into a spastic moron, Kairi into a bland bystander, Riku into an emotionless tool, and Ansem into an over-the-top eeeevil lunatic who actually gets himself killed without any contribution from Sora, Donald and Goofy!), he sucked at action scenes leading to many iconic battles from the game being straight-up left out altogether, and his gag manga inclinations caused him to turn scenes that should be serious / emotional into jokes.

CoM was his aforementioned lowest point. All those flaws were not only still there, but worse, turning what was once a dark, mysterious and psychological story into an unfunny farce.

Disgraceful. For a good while, I actually disliked Shiro Amano due to this.

But then came the redemption: KH2. The Prologue section of this manga is masterfully done, possibly even better than the game's version. The pace is less sluggish, the events less irritatingly obtuse, and the humor actually works to the benefit of the story's seriousness - because so much of the goofy humor is between Roxas, Hayner, Pence and Olette, you build even more of an emotional connection to them and the tragedy of Roxas learning the truth about his life hits that much harder when it transpires. When Sora returns, Amano is briefly tempted by his old inclinations and kind of backslides, with the resulting trips to Hollow Bastion, Beast's Castle, Land of Dragons and Olympus Coliseum suffering as a result. They aren't quite as insulting as the CoM manga, but still bad. However, true to hero's journey form this period of temptation and backsliding passes and only reinforces Amano's commitment to improving and actually balancing his humor and adaptational changes with drama, emotional sincerity and faithfulness to the game. From Disney Castle on, he returns to quality output. There are still mistakes here and there, but on the whole the manga is an enjoyable one. From the characterization to the action scenes to the tonal balance, Amano had improved.

And then came the hiatus between its first half and second half, during which he worked on the 358/2 Days manga. Take what I said about KH2's Prologue, then apply it x10, and you get this manga, where the writing and pacing is improved from its game counterpart and the humor is rich, well-timed and actively feeds into the drama and tragedy of the story rather than detract from it. To make the contrast to how far he's come most apparent, remember how in the CoM manga where there's an omake short that makes a complete joke out of the Riku Replica, originally one of the story's most tragic characters? Well in this manga, we get an omake short about a Dusk, which starts out hilarious but then ends up being absolutely heart-breaking. It makes me legit sad over a goddman DUSK. Now that takes real talent!

What's also apparent with the Days and KH2 mangas is that Amano had come to shine in a way that Tetsuya Nomura absolutely does not: respect for his female leads. Kairi, Namine and Xion in these mangas aren't primarily sources of support for male characters or there to make male characters feel things above all else; they are their own distinct individuals with vivid personalities and clear character arcs. Even Olette shines brighter than in the games!

Once Amano made it back to the KH2 manga for its second half, he was firing on all cylinders. Again, not everything was perfect, but much like the game itself the narrative flaws were not enough to overshadow the many more narrative strengths. And when the manga finally concluded after so many years, Amano confirmed that it truly was the end. He would not be adapting other KH games. And given that the rest of the KH series never got better than where KH2 ended, this was absolutely for the best. I could very easily imagine the Olympian gods making a constellation in Amano's image, as he had become a true hero.

However, oh no! He got persuaded into adapting KH3 when it came out in 2019! This is going to ruin everything, right? WRONG! The KH3 manga has not only been a shining example of how far Shiro Amano has come, but also a masterclass in demonstrating how acutely aware of the game's problems he is and the lengths he is willing to go to fix them. For example...

- He opens the manga with a direct adaptation of the game's opening scene with the Boy in Black and Boy in White in front of the chess board followed by the FMV intro. By doing things in this strange way, Amano invites the possibility of this being an alternate, diverging timeline from the prior manga continuity so that its ending remains untouched should you desire it to be. Almost as if the Boy in Black and Boy in White reside in some higher plane of existence and the KH3 manga is the "game" that they're playing, so it's not to be taken too seriously.

- The whole opening that semi-recaps stuff leading into KH3 is played off as a joke, and given that the stuff in question was stupid (such as the Mark of Mastery exam through sleeping worlds and Sora failing his Mark of Mastery exam on bullshit grounds), this is appreciated.

- He actually makes Maleficent and Pete more competent; rather than have Maleficent dismiss Pete's idea to take Sora out while he's still weak, he has both of them agree that they needn't bother with Sora because his weakness will lead him to being destroyed by the Xehanorganization anyway. They can find the black box while their foes fight each other.

- 0.2 BBS is adapted after the Olympus visit in a way that also recaps the most important points of BBS and includes stronger characterization for Aqua, Terra and Ventus. Stupid things like Mickey losing his shirt are avoided, and there is actually clarification on how Mickey could not have gone into the Realm of Darkness to save Aqua earlier and all the time between KH1 and KH2 he was building up his strength to obtain the Power of Waking so that he could as he promised to, making him come off so much better than he did in the games.

-Coded is not referenced, ever.

- The "Roxas and Namine ceased to exist when they merged with Sora and Kairi" retcon is completely avoided, with the manga instead saying they do exist within them as was originally the case in KH2. Giving Roxas his own body is less correcting some injustice or "hurt" and more part because he's needed for the battle against Xehanort and part because Sora's just a nice guy like that, wanting to provide his friends with all the basic comforts.

- Xehanort's master plan retcon is also discarded! Here it's said that Ansem and Xemnas' plans remained their own, as they should be, and that since Master Xehanort's return he's embarked on "a new plan" once joined by his time-traveling younger self, who never mentions needing Ansem for his time-traveling which keeps things consistent with how KH2 depicted time travel as simply a magical phenomenon that didn't need complicated rules.

- Not only are Riku and Kairi way more in-character than they were in the game, but most shockingly Axel is too! He actually feels like Axel, character flaws and all, not dumbass Lea!

- Toy Box, Corona and Arendelle, while still filler, are all adapted faithfully, which is nice.

- Various alterations are made for the better: the Riku Replica stuff is kept to an incredibly bare minimum, Ansem the Wise first appears in the scene where he returns to Radiant Garden meaning him still being alive is more of a legit twist plus he never meets Aqua only for there to be no pay-off and the dumbass plotline with him and Xehanort's Heartless is left out, the "secret Keyblade legacy" stuff with Demyx, Luxord, Marluxia and Larxene is cut, the second Kairi and Axel scene is no more, and the big reconvening at Yen Sid's Tower scene and the fallout montage is massively reworked into something far better written and paced.

All this plus maintaining his balance of humor and sincerity, including using the former to support the latter, and even correcting previous flaws (holy shit, Marluxia, Larxene, Vexen...they're all completely in-character now!) If Amano keeps this momentum going and actually manages to make something good out of the notoriously disappointing finale in the Keyblade Graveyard, then he will officially have given us the best version of KH3's story in existence.

Tl;dr: nothing but respect for Shiro Amano, who is a better writer than Nomura will ever be.

[themattress]

More KH-Critical Doof Memes!

Following up from this post.

"If I had a nickel for every time Tetsuya Nomura created some mysterious new protagonist character with an unclear connection to Sora that would feature heavily in a numbered title and then was given his own backstory spin-off game afterwards..."

"If I had a nickel for every time an aesthetically appealing spin-off title for mobile phones was released that was then totally ruined by being pivotally connected to the overarching series narrative and lore rather than just be allowed to be a spin-off..."

"If I had a nickel for every time in Kingdom Hearts III that two assholes in black coats, one on the side of good and one on the side of evil, dragged things to a halt by discussing a mysterious girl who isn't even a character in this game's story..."

"If I had a nickel for every time Kairi's professional Keyblade wielder training, in a space lacking the passage of time, somehow left her completely useless against an incarnation of Xehanort wearing Terra's face during Kingdom Hearts III's climax..."

"If I had a nickel for every time Kairi died in Kingdom Hearts III..."

"If I had a nickel for every time Riku was inserted into a narrative position that would make infinitely more sense for Kairi to be in, purely for the sake of fan pandering..."

"If I had a nickel for every time Kingdom Hearts III brought back a replica who already met a pretty definitive end in Twilight Town, then do almost nothing with them..."

"If I had a nickel for every time the entire premise of the story Kingdom Hearts was presenting us with is invalidated and rendered impossible by a basic fact check as to what actually happened in previous games vs. what is now being said happened..."

"If I had a nickel for every time Kingdom Hearts made most of the series' past events amount to nothing by having an omniscient mastermind be responsible for them..."

"If I had a nickel for every time Tetsuya Nomura killed the Kingdom Hearts series by suddenly dragging it in a radically different direction at the start of a decade..."

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So this one guy who blocked me because of a perfectly civil comment pointing out the flaw in something he was saying rather than actually respond and try to debate it then posted this.

Which may as well read:

It's the nostalgia strawman, the same one mentioned 5 and a half minutes into this video. It also comes up in this one and this one. And as the arguments posit in those videos, it's bullshit used as an easy way to avoid true critical engagement. However, I still want to say my piece on this post, even if the person who made it tried to stop me through blocking.

"All the writing problems in KH3 are present in KH2"

Hahahahahaha, no. Absolutely not.

Granted, I did make sure to bolden "all" since of course it's an objective fact that some of the writing problems in KH3 are indeed present in KH2 - both Tetsuya Nomura and Masaru Oka are writers on both, so it would be impossible for that not to be the case. However, let's see if this person's examples of such shared problems holds up.

Retcons

Nope. There was only one retcon in KH2, which is the retcon around Ansem's identity, which I've already discussed at length. That is literally the only time where something from a prior game got changed around, and it was already being set up in CoM. That is lightyears ahead of the retcons in KH3, several of which are retcons on a more fundamental level than just who someone really is (ex: Xigbar being Luxu is a retcon that I hate, but it's not affecting anything fundamental - it's the retcon of what he did in the past that is the true problem.)

A glut of characters with strange and poorly explained motivations

Nope. The motivations of DiZ and Organization XIII respectively were not remotely strange given their circumstances and were explained very clearly; some could argue they were overexplained. A world of difference from, say, Ansem and Saix's obsessions with Subject X, a character who isn't even a part of KH3's story.

New mechanics that don't get adequately explained

All right, I give them this one. Hell, that's been a thing since KH1.

Relying on you to play and understand side games to grasp the baseline plot.

Nope. There was only one side game at the time of KH2, which was CoM. And it was only needed to fully grasp KH2's prologue....and I say fully grasp because KH2, prologue included, was conceived before CoM was, so the prologue was always going to be intentionally confusing. Once we reach the actual baseline plot with Sora, Donald and Goofy, CoM is no longer an issue since they act like they're picking up fresh off the end of KH1.

Awkwardly rehashing the plot of Disney movies for 90% of the game and then having the bulk of the plot in the last 5 hours

Nope. The linked videos already debunked this fallacy, but for elaboration: KH2 did actually have plot-relevant events occur in half of the Disney world visits and it had a midway point where a huge chunk of the plot transpired, meaning "the bulk of the plot in the last 5 hours" is a damned lie as far as KH2 is concerned. Meanwhile, "awkwardly rehashing the plot of Disney movies for 90% of the game" makes one question if this person played either KH2 or KH3, because it doesn't apply to either of them! Three visits in each of them rehash the movie's plot (KH2: Land of Dragons 1, Port Royal 1, and Pride Land 1; KH3: Kingdom of Corona, Arendelle, The Caribbean), with one visit also having many elements of the movie's plot (KH2: Atlantica, KH3: Olympus), but otherwise the Disney worlds did their own stories.

Shafting Kairi

Half-right. Both games did shaft Kairi, but comparing the way KH2 did it with the way KH3 did it is apples and oranges, since Kairi was still a civilian damsel in KH2 and despite the shafting got to participate in its conclusion and begin her own path as a combatant; Kairi in KH3 was a combatant who spent most of the game training for that combatant role and it ended up resulting in her not participating in the conclusion because she died, got restored, only to be kidnapped and then die again. And no, Re:Mind doesn't retroactively absolve KH3 of this, especially given that the positive treatment Kairi receives there doesn't even last into the Limitcut Episode and the following game, MoM.

Imo KH3 does a somewhat better job at threading its information into a smooth plot than KH2

Nope. The "information" you speak of, objectively, is all information about past games or even future games. The only information that is relevant to pushing forward the narrative of KH3 as was established at the start of the game ("gather these specific seven Keyblade wielders to go fight Xehanort and his organization at the Keyblade Graveyard") is the stuff with Vexen and the replicas....which not only had a huge chunk of it missing until Re:Mind, but also might not have even been needed since Nomura said he considered doing the story without resurrecting Roxas and Xion in the climax.

So in total, this post only had one thing completely correct (both KH2 and KH3, and all KH games for that matter, have new mechanics that don't get adequately explained because Nomura is just like that), and one thing partially correct (both KH2 and KH3 shaft Kairi, but pretending the shafting is in any way equivalent is a logical fallacy). Everything else listed isn't actually comparable to KH3 at all, proving once again that this isn't a nostalgia filter issue. It's a legitimate observation that KH3 suffered terribly from the decision to bog it down with connections to so many other games and from Nomura and Oka getting rid of all their co-contributors like Kazushige Nojima, Daisuke Watanabe and Harunori Sakemi.

[themattress]

Hot take: this looks like a really fun and unique kind of spin-off game, complete with a lot of Disney charm to it. In other words...exactly like X (Chi) started out like. And that, in addition to my personal Nomura boycott, is why I will most certainly not be playing it. Fool me once....

a city of light and darkness

[themattress]

As we draw ever closer to the 5th anniversary of Kingdom Hearts III, I can't help but reflect more and more upon the realization I've had as of late. For well over a decade, ever since Dream Drop Distance, I have mourned the degradation of the KH series' story and characters, which only intensified after KH3 and all the bullshit it brought to the table in regards to those aspects. But now I understand just as important as those, if not moreso, is the degradation of the KH series' universe. After all, normally in a well-established fictional universe, even if one story with one cast of characters doesn't go over well, you can still potentially look forward to a different story with a different cast of characters unconnected to that other one. And there lies the biggest problem - for all the expansion of this increasingly convoluted lore, the series' universe has shrunk in scope because nothing is unconnected.

The state of the KH universe is that in the beginning it was populated with Keyblade wielders who, due to the machinations of a certain Keyblade master, fought a war over ownership of Kingdom Hearts that plunged the universe into darkness. But then a select few Keyblade wielders restored the universe, which created many more Keyblade wielders who joined up with them, and they essentially ruled over the universe from the shadows in this super special secret world called Scala ad Caelum. Eventually, the machinations of that same Keyblade master from before corrupts a Keyblade wielder who spends his whole life - through several points in time and several different incarnations of himself - trying to take control of Kingdom Hearts so that he could destroy and remake the universe again because he isn't satisfied with how it is now. He is stopped by other Keyblade wielders assembled by a retired Keyblade master, but it caused that damn conflict-creating Keyblade master and his pupils to somehow return, and now the story is venturing into "the realm of unreality" which turns out to have been a big part of that Keyblade master's goal the whole time that he's been working toward since damn near the inception of the universe....OK, do you see what I mean? Everything, and I mean everything, that goes on in this universe that is treated as important by the narrative is directly tied to this one item (Keyblade) and one class of people (Keyblade wielders), and has been scripted by this one omnipotent douchebag (the Master of Masters). Nothing is unconnected, all events and concepts tie back into the Keyblade, the important players who shape the universe are all a part of this one, tightly-knit web of connections, and as a result the universe feels so. fucking. small. It feels so utterly limited in scope and range.

Think of all the Disney worlds in this series, which make up the majority of the universe. Worlds from classic Disney shorts, Alice in Wonderland, Hercules, Tarzan, Aladdin, Pinocchio, The Little Mermaid, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh, Fantasia, Mulan, Beauty and the Beast, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Lion King, Tron, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Lilo & Stitch, The Jun The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Tron LEGACY, Wreck-It Ralph, Toy Story, Tangled, Monsters Inc., Frozen, and Big Hero 6. And then afterwards, ask yourself this single, all-important question:

How many of these worlds matter to this universe's grand story?

The answer: THREE.

I shit you not. Disney Castle (classic Disney shorts), Yen Sid's Tower (Fantasia), and Enchanted Dominion (Sleeping Beauty) are the only worlds that hold any significance, all because of the characters who hail from there that interact with the universe's grand narrative: Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Jiminy Cricket, Chip and Dale, Pluto, Pete, Yen Sid and Maleficent. And yes, I know that Jiminy technically hails from the Pinocchio world, but nothing about his life there prior to winding up at Disney Castle and entering Mickey's service as a chronicler for Sora's adventures really matters. Every other world is visited by Keyblade wielders, but its inhabitants never gets to meaningfully contribute to the story those Keyblade wielders are caught up in.....in fact, they are mostly kept ignorant of its very existence.

And the infuriating part is that it didn't used to be this way! Before the Keyblade overtook everything and was just one important part of a larger universe, the Disney worlds and its inhabitants were able to contribute! In KH1, the story was about the Heartless and the worlds' hearts and a group of villains conspiring to capture a group of princesses to obtain ultimate power and Sora broadening his horizons and making his heart stronger through making friends, all of which were serviced through the Disney elements. In KH2, the story was about Organization XIII and the Nobodies seeking to use the Heartless and the Keyblade for their own ends of obtaining ultimate power, with doing so involving threatening worlds and friends that Sora held dear, as well as competing with Pete and a resurrected Maleficent over usage of the Heartless. So again, the Disney worlds and their inhabitants actually participated in what's going on! Even BBS could be forgiven for not having the Disney worlds connect much to the overall plot (beyond a bunch of Unversed running around and barely anyone reacting) because it was a prequel, and naturally the developers didn't want many world inhabitants getting an inkling of a larger universe before the Heartless invasion of KH1 transpired.

But then it all shifted so that everything that happened in those games were all a part of Master Xehanort's convoluted grand plan which hadn't been remotely thwarted yet, meaning that retroactively all of those aforementioned games and events the Disney worlds and characters interacted with meant jack shit...and a point is now even being made about keeping specific Disney characters (the "new Seven Lights") out of the main action and ignorant to their potential role in it! And then it shifted again so that it's all about the Keyblade wielders of the ancient past and the Master of Master's grand designs, which means that those previously important Disney worlds and characters feel even less important than they already did following the big Master Xehanort reveal! From what I can tell, the only Disney world and character that may be gaining prominence in the universe's grander narrative is Olympus and Hades respectively, and even then only because he lucked out since Nomura wants to recreate Final Fantasy Versus XIII which involved a god of the dead. Otherwise, it's still all about the OC worlds and OC characters - nearly all of them Keyblade wielders - plus those select few Disney characters from those three worlds that actually know what's up.

That's the sad state of affairs. A supposedly vast universe where the majority of its settings and population....don't actually matter. To the point where they all may as well not be part of the universe but a separate one altogether. Daybreak Town / Scala ad Caelum, the Keyblade Graveyard, the Land of Departure / Castle Oblivion, Radiant Garden / Hollow Bastion, Twilight Town, The World That Never Was, the Final World and Quadratum...those worlds and the characters who populate them are the ones that truly matter to the universe. Those worlds plus those three (soon to be four) Disney worlds mentioned before, as well as all the goddamn datascape recreations of such worlds. It's a small (and boring) universe after all.

[finallyfantasy7]

Crisis Core - Final Fantasy VII - Ultimania book

Part 1: The cover, Tetsuya Nomura's art, and Prologue translation

First page is Crisis Core art

Middle: Zack Fair

Anti-clockwise: Genesis Rhapsodos, Angeal Hewley, Sephiroth, Director Lazard, Cloud Strife, Tseng of the Turks, and Aerith Gainsborough.

Next,

(Left page)

Prologue:

This story is proof of a young man's life.

In a cruel world where injustice is rampant and human feelings are often trampled on to satisfy desires, how did Shinra's SOLDIER Zack persevere and live his life?

The episodes that are told bring to light the truth that has never before appeared on the main stage of history. The role Zack played for the Planet. The seeds of hope Zack planted will eventually save its future.

A young SOLDIER who fought spurred on by his dream of becoming a hero, dream too pure and innocent to be called ambition. Will he be able to resist the cruel destiny and fulfill his wish?...

Let's watch as it all unfolds.

Through many interconnected stories, we will discover the meaning of Zack's existence.

We will witness the shining trajectory of the life of a warrior who will be a character in this new epic...

Published: Square Enix

Edited: Studio BentStuff

Year: 2007

Language: Japanese

Dimensions: A5

Pages: 591

(Disclaimer: I own several Crisis Core and Compilation of Final Fantasy VII books that have never been officially translated from Japanese to English. I don't speak Japanese at all. I am doing this to satisfy my own curiosity, but since I already did all the work I figured someone else might be interested to see it too. I have used several automatic translators to cross-check the accuracy as much as possible, but if you speak Japanese and spot an error I would be very grateful if you would let me know.)

[saiko-shippai]

Psycho Pass 3 and Kingdom Hearts 3 similarities and differences

Similarities

Both were long awaited third sequels of beloved classics (Psycho Pass and Kingdom Hearts)

Both hyped the fanbases as more news dropped

Both had rushed and mediocre stories that feels empty because there was no conclusion in their stories’ end, opposed to the first Psycho Pass season and Kingdom Hearts II

Both nerfed the characters very badly wondering if the writers just lazy or don’t care anymore

Both divided the fanbases into tiny balkanized groups

The Pro 3 crowd (KH3 and S3) are very vocal and excuses bad writing and dismisses opposing opinions from fans who genuinely care about the two series

Even today, the Pro 3 cannot come to terms with this fact

Both fandoms are collectively waiting for the fourth installment, the pro 3 crowd are excited and the anti 3 crowd are worried

Differences

Fandom size, Kingdom Hearts fandom is big compared to Psycho Pass fandom

Kingdom Hearts fandom suffers from ship wars, Psycho Pass fandom did not until recently with Shinkane shippers

The second sequels: Psycho Pass 2 was bad (but not on the same level as season 3) while Kingdom Hearts 2 was a masterpiece in both story and gameplay

Different writers, Psycho Pass’s original writer Gen Urobuchi may not come back and Tow Ubukata is now the head writer who deteriorate Psycho Pass since season 2, Tetsuya Nomura has been writing Kingdom Hearts since the very beginning and it wouldn’t be same without him, it also wouldn’t be the same without Yoko Shimomura and Hikaru Utada either 

[themattress]

~in a better franchise, that treats us right.

Just to be girls~

[yuisdad]

NORN9 but better

(If Norn9 was written by Tetsuya Nomura or the developers of Haven, it would've been friggin BIS)

Norn9 ~Norn + Nonette~ is a 2013 otome and science fiction game created by Otomate, and...it honestly sucks. Outside of character interactions, most of the romance in the game was garbage and the plot and lore was pretty confusing to follow due to how they told the story through the routes. (It doesn't surprise me that this game was written by the same person who did Brothers Conflict: dad edition, aka, Home, Honey Home.) Very long post ahead.

In my revised version, I wouldn't have it be an otome game in the first place. If it were up to me personally, the only established romantic relationships would be Mikoto x Sakuya and Natsuhiko x Ron. The rest of the relationships would be found family becuase I'm a sucker for that trope.

General revised plot:

Sorata Suzuhara is an intelligent 12 year old going on a feild trip with his class. He feels isolated from the rest of his peers due to his higher intellect, whereas other children might be concerned about their high scores on video games or if they'll miss the new episode of their favorite show, Sorata is concerened if his inventions are finallized enough to not cause an explosion and if he'll be accepted as a man of science due to his age. Despite this, he's still a cringe kid living in 2015, most likely playing Minecraft and FNAF lol. Sorata, feeling rather bored about correcting the tour guide on some wrong history, decides to venture on his own without anyone noticing. As he does, he hears a girl singing a song somewhere in the museum. Following the singing, he finds a rather odd looking girl floating in an abandoned part of the museum. Sorata and the girl, who's name is Aine, chat for a bit. Aine reveals that she is a robot from the future, and that Sorata is her creater. Sorata is shocked that his future self created artificial intelligence, and this causes him to want to show Aine off to his peers to show that A.I. and time travel are possible. However, when he takes Aine's hand, she suddenly takes him into the future.

When Sorata wakes up, not only can he not find Aine, but he finds himself in the future...yet it looks like the Taisho Era. When asking for help, he finds a teenage girl with pink hair and a modern school uniform walk up to him, asking if he needs any help. As Sorata explains his situation, he sees the girl carrying a book, as if she's looking for information about this situation. The book appears to be a journal of some sorts, and judging by how the girl is using it, it seems to be a journal with written social cues and situations. When aksed for her name, the girl looks through her journal and says it's Koharu. Sorata wonders if Koharu can even remember her age without looking at her journal, which Koharu proves this by stating she's 17, making Sorata even more confused. Koharu then states that she's heading to a ship called Norn that's taking her to something called Nonette, and believes that it could help Sorata's situation. As the two head towards the ship, Sorata says he's from the past and is the inventor of a robot named Aine. Koharu says that she's been looking foward to meeting other people like her, showing Sorata that she can control fire, making Sorata both amazed and confused about the future he's in. Sorata suddenly notices that he's being taken to a grassy field rather than the docks...Then the Norn ship suddenly comes down and it's revealled to be an orb that flies in the sky. 

Sorata and Koharu are taken into the ship and meet the other members: 

Masamune Toya, the pilot and leader of the ship with the ability of seeing other people's past memories.

Kakeru Yuiga, a nice yet mischevious guy who's ability is to grow and control greenery.

Senri Ichonose, a shy and anti-social boy with water abilities.

Akito Shukuri, the short-tempered older brother of Senri who's there for moral support.

Heishi Otomaru, an energetic and friendly guy who uses telepathy.

Nanami Shiranui, a stoic girl who's a ninja and can erase people's memories.

Mikoto Kuga, a refined and arrogant girl who creates barriers and force-fields.

Sakuya Nijou, Mikoto's gentle and wise boyfriend with an androgyness appearence who can see the future.

Itsuki Kagami, a playful and teasing guy with the ability to manipulate dreams.

And Ron...who's also there...He naps and eats a lot...but he's there to...protect the Norn ship? 

The poeple with abilities are reffered to as Espers, who's job is to give there powers to Nonette so it can protect the world from danger. As the Espers practice there powers and Sorata tries learning more about the future he's in, one day, there is a sudden attack on the ship from an inventor named Natsuhiko Azuma, who seems to know Sorata. Only Sorata and Mikoto know what Natsuhiko looks like after he leaves, leaving them to wonder why he invaded the Norn ship. 

The game then bracnches into different routes based on the protaginists; Koharu, Mikoto, Nanami, and Sorata, with Mikoto and Sorata being locked. Playing Koharu and Nanami reveals;

.The year of the future is 8075.

.Koharu grew up isolated due to her fire powers, causing her to not remember her name well because she was often referred to as a "monster."

.Koharu was told by a hooded man that at the age of 17, she will aboard the Norn ship and use her powers for good. He also gave her the uniform, which is why she had it before entering the Norn ship, who usually provides the uniforms.

.Mikoto and Sakuya are childhood friends to lovers.

.Ron has a boyfriend and won't shut up about how amazing he is.

.Kakeru is the adopted son of famous political figure and inventor Shiro Yuiga.

.Masamune and Shiro work for The World, an organization who built the Norn ship and Nonette.

.Akito, Senri and Nanami grew up in a drouted village, with Senri being forced to use his powers to provide water. Because of Senri's weak constituion, this caused a toll on his body, leaving Akito to tell everyone to leave him alone. Nanami's dad, the village chief, forces Nanami to erase Senri's memories of his brother so the village can kill Akito. After this, Nanami tells Akito everything that happened, and helps Akito leave before they could kill him, promising to protect Senri.

.Senri's memories of his brother slowly return to him during his pre-teen years, and him and Akito reunite when they enter the Norn ship. Akito changed his last name to dissociate himself from the village.

.Heishi was abandoned by his parents and was picked up by a group of traveling musicians, where he learned to play the flute.

.Masamune gets drunk on sugar and shows a more passionate and affectionate side to him (and is surprisingly good at flirting when drunk lol)

.Ron grew up poor and had to steal to survive. He also had poor eyesight, which only grew worse over time. Two years before the events of the game, he met Natsuhiko, who gave him sunglasses that could help him see for the time being as Natsuhiko was making Ron artificial eyes. Ron immediately fell in love with Natsuhiko, with the latter falling for him overtime when they became friends. Even after having both artificial eyes, Ron keeps the sunglasses on because he thinks they make him look cool and Natsuhiko made them.

.Ron later admits to being a traitor and was working with Natsuhiko to stop the Norn ship from reaching Nonette. 

After playing Koharu and Nanami, choosing Mikoto as the protagonist reveals;

.A young Sakuya had a future vision of him dying for Mikoto and other people. They both promise to always protect each other and to prevent that from happening.

.Itsuki had an older twin sister, but she died at the age of 14, which is why he presents himself as the cool older brother to the younger espers, especially Nanami and Heishi.

.In spite of Natsuhiko's cold first impression, he's actually a nerd who only knows how to invent things. He's also the desendant of Sorata.

.Future Sorata is dead.

.The World's plan is to bring the Espers to Nonette so it can reset the world to turn it into a utopia. It has reset the world three times, which cause the rest of the world to have techonology and architecture similar to that of the 1920s, despite it being the 8000s.

.Natsuhiko used to work for The World with Masamune, but after learning their ultimate plan to reset everything in the world, he decided to rebel against them. Ron joined Natsuhiko since the resets did nothing to make the world a better place.

.Natsuhiko and Ron want to stop the reset from happeneing so technological advancements won't disappear.

After Sorata is unlocked;

.Shiro is actually the head of The World and is mind-controlling Kakeru as a spy to make sure the reset happens. Kakeru is mind-controlled via the ear cuff he wears.

."Nonette" refers to Aine, who was then renamed Aion by Shiro for copyright purposes.

.Shiro's goal is to find his dead wife, Haruka, via reincarnation and to mold the world into his own image. After finding Haruka's reincarnation, he intends to cause a World War 3 so humanity can bend to his will.

.Shiro was the hooded man who gave Koharu the uniform and told her to find the Norn ship at 17.

.Koharu is the reincarnation of Haruka, and Shiro wants to use Koharu's soul and memories to transfer them into a robot version of Haruka.

.The only thing that remains the same after the reset is Aine. Because of this, Shiro transfers his memories into a robot version of himself made from parts of Aine so he can survive each reset. Robot Haruka is also made of Aine's parts.

.Masamune and the rest of The World's team were all victims to Shiro's doings since they were never told the true intentions of how Nonette was used.

.Future Sorata made Aine with the purpose of helping humanity when he worked for The World. When he hears about how The World intends to reset everything, he takes Aine and tries to leave, but was killed.

.Aine went back into the past with the intention of telling Sorata about the future so he can change it. However, her time was limited, and when Sorata took Aine's hand, she accidentally brought him to the future instead.

.Aine is deteriorating because of Shiro using her to make robot clones of himself, Haruka, and a robot army to set his World War 3 plan into motion. 

Sorata/the player will then have to choices to make: Reset the world or destroy Aine.

If Sorata chooses to reset the world, he hesitates, leaving a controlled Kakeru to use Aine to take the Espers' powers. Aine becomes Shiro's weapon. When Shiro tries shooting the other Espers dead, Sakuya takes all of the bullets as they run away, turning his vision into reality. The exception was Koharu, who was taken by Shiro. After a timeskip of ten years, Shiro is the ruler of the world, with an uncomfortable looking Haruka by his side. The only survivors left are Natsuhiko, Ron, and Sorata, who are trying to find a way to take Sorata back to the past. 

If Sorata chooses to destroy Aine, the Espers use there powers to protect the citizens from Shiro's army, with the help of Akito, Ron, and Natsuhiko. During the battle, Koharu burns Kakeru's ear cuff of, freeing him from Shiro's control.

Aine takes Sorata to the island where she was created to protect him. Sorata then tells Aine to sing a song loud enough that it will destroy her from the inside, which in turn will destroy Shiro. Sorata promises to make Aine when he gets back to the present. Aine sings the lullaby that future Sorata used to sing to her, loudly enough for the entire world to here. This results in her breaking down, causing Shiro's body to not only deteriorate, but his soul is finally destroyed from the Espers using their powers as one, essentially "reseting" Shiro's soul into oblivion.

Everyone then heads to the island to find a way to return Sorata back to the present. They reuse Aine's main power source and some of their powers to create a device that allows Sorata to return home. Everyone gives there goodbyes before Sorata returns to the present.

In the future, the Espers travel around the world to save humanity using there powers. Masamune becomes Koharu and Kakeru's legal guardian, Heishi and Itsuki look after of Nanami while Akito looks after Senri, Mikoto and Sakuya are living their best life as a loving and cringe couple (affectionate), and Natsuhiko and Ron recreate The World organization into their own business. Meanwhile, in Sorata's time, ten years pass as a 22 year old Sorata finishes making Aine. When she wakes up, Sorata welcomes Aine to the world she'll soon experience.

[sparrowsabre7]

I posted 761 times in 2022

137 posts created (18%)

624 posts reblogged (82%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@unseeliefaerie

@gotta-have-faye

@cryptobotanical

@tokidokifish

@gffa

I tagged 486 of my posts in 2022

Only 36% of my posts had no tags

#star wars - 92 posts

#films - 60 posts

#tv - 45 posts

#games - 38 posts

#memes - 21 posts

#puns - 21 posts

#art - 19 posts

#obi wan kenobi - 17 posts

#tiktok - 16 posts

#books - 15 posts

Longest Tag: 138 characters

#but also i have bought at least 10 whole games over the past 3 years thanks to microsoft rewards and all i do is a little search every day

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

I've seen a few comments that Mon Mothma's plotline doesn't seem to be progressing very far and she does not seem to have achieved anything whilst other characters have.

I believe that stagnation is the point. Of the three main threads, Cassian is actively working against the system from the outside, Luthen is playing on both sides, and Mon Mothma is trying to work within the system to bring the Empire down/champion rebel causes. We see both Cassian and Luthen achieve success to varying degrees, largely due to willingness to compromise and sacrifice.

Thus far Mon Mothma has been unwilling to do so and thus her attempts to progress have been stymied. I suspect in the final two episodes we will see her come to the inevitable realisation that it is not possible to bring down a broken and a corrupt system by working within its boundaries. A price must be paid.

52 notes - Posted November 13, 2022

#4

Can't wait to see Jodie Whittaker follow David Tennant and Matt Smith's post-Doctor Who career and head into her creepy pervert/serial killer phase.

57 notes - Posted March 29, 2022

#3

"House of the Dragon" has actually been pretty good but guys, we need to talk about Aemond.

Just fucking look at him. Look at this anime villain, Sephiroth-looking motherfucker. This dude is a fucking cartoon it's amazing. I cannot picture this guy doing anything but sitting in a castle smugly drinking wine whilst his enemies are tortured in his dungeons. I don't believe this actor is even wearing a wig, he just showed up to set one day, cheekbones designed by Tetsuya Nomura himself and the directors said "we gotta get this weirdo on our show."

81 notes - Posted October 20, 2022

#2

I know Tumblr has largely become anti-MCU because Disney bad, Marvel bad, corporations churning out cookie cutter movies bad etc etc but please, PLEASE watch Ms. Marvel.

I say this as a 30-something cishet white man who has no real reference point for its authenticity but it is just such a wonderful family story. It's a rare comic book property where not only do the powers take a backseat to the civilian lives of the characters, but it is better for it. Yes, they diverge from Kamala's Inhuman origins in the comics but they trade it in for something imo much more personal. It touches on how damaging partition was and the generational trauma it left behind as well as the experiences of modern Muslims living in America.

Even besides that it just feels so fresh and entertaining and has a great cast of characters and the first few episodes exude Edgar Wright/Scott Pilgrim energy in the best way.

It's a great show and deserves your time.

126 notes - Posted July 9, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Dad joke moment of the day:

Colleague: "Just going to pop out for a haircut, shouldn't be too long."

Me: "I would hope not after a cut."

198 notes - Posted April 21, 2022

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