Random opinion #7 :
I can explain.
Ngl, the match ended up being .... bizarre. Actually, i am living for how weird it ended up to be !
Ares itself is a season who is, more or less, a copycat of season 1 but with other protagonists (thanks god, the new kid aren't ersatz of Endou, Gouenji and Kidou, and it is more an aftertaste than a fact). It was a normal Football Frontier.
Spoiler alert : the new main team, Inakuni Raimon, wins the tournament, what a shocking plotwist...
My point is that Ares is predictable and not very original, and some of the most interesting ideas have been mishandled. It is the most normal IE can get. (Wtf, IE being "normal", the same IE where you sakka with dinosaurs against aliens and communists to save the Earth by time-travelling ?)
And then, comes the match against Hakuren.
Where to even begin ?
Both teams have similar situations : they are both participating for the first time, and very surprisigly got far (very powerful opponents from last year were also here), both are from the country, both are supposedly underdogs, both have a " unsufferable ace striker" and "sponsor" problem, both uses weird tactics, and in the 2 cases, only 1/3 of the team pull their weight. I can go on, but it will be long.
The development during the match : this match has its moments, its "plotwists". It begins with Hakuren having the upper hand, Atsuya dominating Inakuni physically and psychologically (he insults your dad). Then, Asuto makes Inakuni to gather their shit together in the 2nd half, but it actually makes Shirou and Atsuya playing even more serious. Someoka (hey he's here!) makes Nae the new recruit come on the field. Turns out she sucks at sakka. But also is supersonic. And she befriends with Norika the Inakuni goalie because why not. The hakuren coach makes his team to do weird tactics to accomodate Nae, communicating with weird hand sign with the public and the team, and it works, Inakuni is confused. Hattori, a Inakuni defender, is a ninja wannabe so he can understand weird hand sign, and makes Inakuni have the upper hand for once. But, after a father-daughter drama (Nae is the coach's daughter, who is also the sponsor), they stop using hand sign but the Hakuren tactic still works, so Hattori is confused but there is little time left. Shirou, Atsuya and Nae goes to execute Triple Blizzard but it is countered by Counter Drive, by Asuto and Kozomarou (it comes from nowhere), and they goal and win. This is so wtf, i love it. Literally what is going on in this match lmao
The element of surprise : refer to the previous point (and i haven't told everything). This match is the absolute chaos no one saw coming. Everything was unexpected. Even the fraud Counter Drive that comes from nowhere is actually brilliant : Hakuren dominated this match because their main assets were unpredicable (and powerful), but it backfired at them. I used to hate it, but now i know it is chief's kiss.
The team co-op : the actual theme of the episodes. When you think in outer code 1, it was established Hakuren had co-op problems because of Atsuya, and then the match comes and it's perfect, makes me think that we, the audience, has been gaslighted to think they was a problem lol. And let's enjoy the coordination between Shirou and Atsuya + at the end of the match, with all hakuren
Shirou and Atsuya, my babies, my blorbos, my fave. If they are in the episode, you know it will be a good time. It was more focused on Atsuya than Shirou, but i don't hate it since he was goated in this match.
I actually like Nae, their new recruit. Yes, she can be annoying but idk, she's funny. I like the sibling relationship she has with Atsuya and the friendship with Norika. Not the most meaningful things Ares had to offer, but it was nice ! :)
The fact that, upon witnessing this match, Haizaki "has seen the light" where he was at this worst. Like, his team is disqualified, he got beat up by thugs without reason, but then he sees Asuto playing in this match, and suddenly things seems to improve. Truly a Haizaki x Asuto moment. Asuto is Jesus to Haizaki lmao
The Atsuya meme : look at this beauty (unfortunatly, this is also here areorion goes downhill visually but fucking worth it)
Conclusion :
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Adventuring Party just dropped news about the next Dimension 20 season, titled "Public Domain"!
Cast:
Ally Beardsley as Winnie the Pooh
Siobhan Thompson as Mr Darcy
Zac Oyama as Sherlock Holmes
Lou Wilson as God
Emily Axford as Jessica Rabbit, Jesus and Brennan Lee Mulligan
Brian Murphy as Gopher
And Brennan Lee Mulligan as the Dungeon Master!
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II 16 SPOILERS BELOW THE CUT!!!
don't get me wrong, I am so so so so SO excited for more lightbrush in ii17, along with the emotional damage that comes with the highly probable angst that we're all probably going to be beaten to death with BUT nothing compares to how excited I am for the marshbrush reunion!!! I think we as a fandom all collectively forgot and or glossed over the fact that those two are supposed to be FRIENDS!!! And I can just TELL (hope) that tensions are gonna be HIGH because like, marshmallow left them without a WORD not a goodbye, not a see you later, NOTHING, and that really upset them!!! they were HEARTBROKEN!!!(/exg(probably)) Nobody even knew where she or apple were, and nobody would've guessed the weird creepy manor they visited once for a challenge! I'm just so excited to see what ii has whipped up for us on that one!!! I've been waiting for SO LONG to get this reunion!!! (Fyi I'm gonna be so embarrassed if inanimate insanity forgot paintbrush and marshmallow had a whole unresolved arc too)
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This scene is so well done, mother looking at her daughter and not recognizing her:
While a son looks at his father without recognizing him:
And the fact that Lady Jin is looking at her real daughter (with an extra soul) and embracing her fake daughter. So perfect!
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