#The first score below 50% happened XD

[fastfists]

💕 Saturn/Nathan and knuckles

✧ The Love Calculator | @sxturn-bxrs ✧

"Well, it is just ah silly machine, can't expect it t'be able t'predict somethin' like t'at correctly..."

Even if there was some truth to what was being said about relationships, they did need proper care and didn't just happen. It wouldn't hurt to see where this would go after all and who knew — they could work out way better than anyone thought.

[bloopitynoot]

Reading SVSSS: Chapter 1

For those who don't know, I am reading SVSSS for the first time and sharing my thoughts!

If you have not read it, there will be spoilers! Consider this a warning.

Also- if you want to follow along, I am aiming to post updates daily. You can find all the posts in the tag bloopitynoot reads SVSSS. You can also check out the intro post for context on my read.

Chapter 1: Scum

two seconds in an i'm already intrigued by the "anti-anti" dynamic. We have an anti-hero Luo Binghe and the "anti" fan Shen Yuan. p.9

honestly we live for a king like Shen Yuan though - bless those fans who make concise summaries in the epic fandoms. p.9

Fucking hell Luo Binghe :( p.10

Side note unrelated to the plot of this- the amount of page flips I have done to hit that guide at the back these first couple pages; outrageous.

in relation to point "Fucking hell luo binghe :(" even his teacher is Bullshit. p.10

ENDLESS ABYSS?! p 11

okay, but listen, is it truly the dark path if he's part demon? like isn't that the correct path for him? p.13

to clarify the previous point- I was rooting for him until he "began to eradicate each one of the human realm's great righteous sects" p.12

like okay, those who wronged him, totally fine- but everyone though?

crying at this authors name LOL p.12

I get it Shen Yuan- big same. I'd be pissed too (re: dying at the end of the shitty book) p.13

the RAGE of his dying breath oh no ahahahaha p.13

Shen Yuan has trained his entire life for this moment (re: transmigration) p.16

oh god "please ensure that no score falls below zero, or the system will automatically mete out punishment" p17

Well damn. I wouldn't want that either (re Shen Qingqiu's fate) p.19

this point system is WILD. Poor guy dies if he fails, jesus p.20

honestly same, if I was transmigrated into the body of a martial magic man, I would be checking out my new body too p. 23

YES. POINTS FOR PLOTHOLE RESOLITIONS!! p. 24

Shen Yuan/Shen Qingqiu: ERROR 404 p 26

okay thoughts: this is such a crazy role to navigate. he knows what's theoretically going to happen but he has to change the plot WITHOUT breaking character p.29

RE: ERROR 404. Super gross that he was having these thoughts about a CHILD. I did not know Luo Binghe IS FOURTEEN at this point. :( p.30

omg. he's (shen yuan/shen qingqiu) also over here talking about finding a girlfriend LOL p31.

i'm crying XD "Holy Shit" p.33

at least Shen Yuan is aware that Shen Qingqiu is NASTY. p.35

Ming Fan is vile too- SO rude. p.38

oh no, im nervous for Luo Binghe (re- his necklace and Ming Fan's squad) p. 40

okay but honestly he deserves it. He (shen yuan/shen qingqiu) just got points removed for the leaf thing and now he's over here doing it again. p.46

the SASS he (Shen yuan) is giving this system p.50

oh jeeze the fact that Shen Yuan/Shen Qingqiu is unlocking new content is STRESS. p55. Like he is barely surviving the plot, it's been like 10 minutes, and he's over here unlocking a side quest already

finding a loophole to help Luo Binghe- I love it! p59.

This concludes my first chapter!!! Hopefully I have a new chapter tomorrow

[snkpolls]

SnK Episode 62 Poll Results (for Anime Only Watchers)

The poll closed with 73 responses. Thank you to everyone who participated!

Please note that these are the results for the Anime Only Watchers’ poll. If you wish to see the results for the Manga Readers’ poll, click here.

Anime only watchers, beware of spoilers if you venture over to the manga readers’ poll results.

--

RATE THE EPISODE 68 Responses

Again, the response to last week’s episode was notably positive, with 98.5% of responses giving it a score of 3 or higher. Marley and Me is still going strong! 

Gave a 3 because while I don't give a rats ass about the Warriors or their "tragic" sob story, the animation and voice acting was on par

It was way better than the first two of the season I liked it a lot!!

I think it was one of the best episodes not only in this season, but in the entire show. It shows deepness of the characters in Attack on Titan and shows as the other side in such an amazing way. It was brilliant. 

I think the episode was pretty good

WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING MOMENTS WAS YOUR FAVORITE? 68 Responses

Eren’s formal reveal as the amputee soldier took the biggest piece of the pie, with 45.6% of respondents enjoying that scene the most. Trailing behind that is Reiner’s tragic suicide attempt with 10.3% of the vote, followed closely behind by RBA’s side of Shiganshina at 8.8%.

Flashbacks were important. And eren intro was epic

Reiner standing up looking like an undead zombie after getting clobbered by Annie and then stating "Reiner is dead...I will be Marcel" was just...Wow. Just loved seeing the wall breach from RBA's perspective. Reiner gains more dimensions and complexity with each episode and I'm here for it! Bless MAPPA :-)

WE GOT THE FULL ED LAST WEEK. AFTER SEEING IT IN ITS ENTIRETY, HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT IT NOW? 66 Responses

Although just over 59% of responses gave the ED a decidedly positive grade (with praise going towards both imagery and the song), almost 20% of responses simply thought it was “okay”. A relatively equal amount of responses alternated between liking the animation and disliking the song and vice versa. Only a few seemed to dislike both. 

Didn't watch/care

ON A SCALE OF 1 TO 5, HOW MUCH DID YOU ENJOY THE SEQUENCE INTRODUCING ALL OF MARLEY’S TITANS? 67 Responses

The sequence introducing all of Marley’s Titans has gotten rave reviews, with 97% of responses rating it positively. Truth be told, I’d given it a 5 myself, if I could… But I can’t, I’m just a mysterious voice, detailing the results of this poll.

OUT OF ALL THE TITANS THE MARLEY MILITARY HAD 9 YEARS AGO, WHICH ONE WOULD YOU WANT TO HAVE? 67 Responses

For the question regarding possible inheritance of the Titans, we’ve gotten a rather colorful pie chart! Annie’s Female Titan is clearly leading with just under a third of those who took the poll picking it out as their favorite option. Reiner’s Armored is taking second place with almost 21%, followed by Zeke’s Beast at almost 18%. Bertholdt’s Colossal and the Series Mascot is, surprisingly, at just under 12%, with Pieck, unsurprisingly, bringing up the rear.

WHICH OG WARRIOR CANDIDATE WOULD YOU WANT TO ADOPT? 64 Responses

When it comes to possibly adopting a warrior candidate, we’ve gotten even more pie flavors! Reiner is at number one with just over 20%, with Pieck and Annie going into second place, both with just under 19%. Bertholdt’s in third place, with a little over 14%. Marcel and Zeke bring up the rear and it seems like no one wants to adopt poor little Porco. Just over 20% seem to not want to participate in this little scheme for various reasons.

A LOT OF THE SHIGANSHINA BREACH HAS REUSED QIT ANIMATION FROM PAST EPISODE - THOUGHTS? 67 Responses

When it came to the fact that a lot of the Shiganshina Breach Animation was reused for the episode, most seemed to respond either positively or indifferently. Just over 58% thought just that the old animation flowed decently with MAPPA’s new style, while 16.4% didn’t really care. Almost 12% expressed nostalgia for WIT’s style of animation and 9% noted that while they weren’t fans of this move, they understood the reason for it. Whoever was left noted that they either really preferred MAPPA’s new style or really didn’t like this move from MAPPA, as a whole.

KAJI YUKI HAS LOWERED HIS VOICE A BIT TO DEPICT AN OLDER EREN. THOUGHTS? 67 Responses

A bit of a lopsided result for this one. 71.6% of all responses noted that they enjoyed Yuki Kaji’s move of lowering his voice to depict an older Eren. 16.4% states that they didn’t care and the rest either expressed further “enthusiasm” for this move with one person noting that they preferred younger Eren’s voice range. 

:c

I didn’t even notice

WE’VE LOST COUNT ON HOW MANY TIMES WE’VE SEEN MARCEL GET EATEN. BUT OF THE OPTIONS BELOW, WHO DID IT BEST? 67 Responses

When it came to seeing Marcel biting the dust numerous times, it turned out that we have plenty of options and styles to choose from. 37.3% said that they preferred MAPPA’s depiction of the event, with just under a third preferring Isayama’s newer depiction. Bringing up the rear with 22.4% were those who preferred WIT’s depiction and 7.5% who like Isayama’s older depiction the best.

DO YOU THINK THAT REINER WAS CORRECT, THAT MARLEY WOULD HAVE HAD ALL OF RBA EATEN IF THEY HAD FOUND YMIR AND RETURNED HOME IMMEDIATELY? 65 Responses

In what is perhaps the most divisive question of the poll, it would seem like those who thought Marley wouldn’t have had all of RBA eaten if they had found Ymir and returned home immediately came out on top, with almost 57% arguing they would have either threatened the kids before keeping them around or became understanding from the get-go. 43.1% dissented and thought Marley would have, in fact, done so. 

Don't think so because we only saw 1 other warrior candidate and when the warriors failed in the Shinganshina arc they didn't pass on Reiner or Zeke's powers.

Marley = maybe. Zeke = would have been understanding

Maybe just eat Ymir

WHAT’S THE FORECAST FOR TONIGHT? 66 Responses

For the question about tonight’s (or rather, the night when the fanbase took the poll) weather, we’ve received a multitude of responses. From the most popular to the least, we’ve had people predicting a cloudy night, a snowy night, clear skies, a rainy night and finally, a stormy night. On the other hand, just over 18% didn’t seem to care. 

Call if hail at you’ll be late for muster

freckled Jesus getting crucified, RIP Marco

Fuckkkkk Berttttt

Hangman

it's gonna rain titans

Meh, don't care about Bertolt

REINER GRADUATED 2ND FROM THE TOP IN THE 104TH, BUT DID YOU EXPECT HIM TO BE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE SELECTED WARRIOR CANDIDATES? 65 Responses

Reiner’s surprisingly poor performance during his years as a Warrior candidate surprised most of those who took our poll, with 40% expressing just that. Almost 37% thought this development made him more relatable as a character, with the rest either noting that they either didn’t care or that this portrayed the 104th in a somewhat poorer light (lol). 

I feel like his traumatic experience of watching someone he grew up with die and his resolve to become more reliable and strong pushed him to reach the point that he did considering he also outranked both Annie and Bertolt.

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE FACT THAT REINER IS HALF-MARLEYAN? 66 Responses

When it came to the fact that Reiner turned out to be half-Marleyan, almost 38% thought the said fact gave more depth to Reiner’s character. Just over 24% thought it made him even more tragic and 18.2% hope that said detail will have more significance in the future. The rest stated that they didn’t care. 

I think it's sad for Reiner, but a nice twist. I was wondering what happens to half Eldian/Marleyans so it was nice to see the result from a more cultural and political standpoint.

GALLIARD’S FIRST NAME IS ACTUALLY “PORCO.” THOUGHTS? 66 Responses

For the reveal of Galliard’s first name actually being “Porco”, we’ve had 45.5% of responses understanding why the big man himself decided to go by his last name instead. 13.6% asked what Isayama was thinking when giving him that name. The rest either expressed further sympathy for the boy or thought it was a decent name for character. 

I can't stop thinking of him as Porky Pig now. He had such a cool surname too xD

DO YOU THINK THAT THE RIFT BETWEEN REINER AND PORCO CAN BE RESOLVED? 66 Responses

When it came to deciphering the rift between Reiner and Porco, a bit over 40% thought that the rift would never be able to “go away”, with Porco disliking Reiner for various reasons. Almost a third dissented and thought that it would be possible, provided Porco either learned of Marcel’s actions or kept working with Reiner for longer periods of time. The rest weren’t sure exactly. 

It seemed like the rift wasn't really prominent in episode 2, so maybe it's already resolved.

IN THAT SAME VEIN, DO YOU BELIEVE PORCO’S COLD FEELINGS TOWARD REINER ARE UNDERSTANDABLE AND/OR JUSTIFIED? REMEMBER: HE DOESN’T KNOW ABOUT MARCEL’S ACTIONS. 65 Responses

When it came to a similar question, most (67.7%) thought Porco’s cold feelings towards Reiner were understandable, but not justified. 20% thought they were, in fact, both understandable and justifiable. 10.8% thought they were neither and there was one sole person who stated that they didn’t care.

REINER AND ANNIE WERE REALLY ROUGH ON EACH OTHER. WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THAT? 66 Responses

Reiner seems to have even poorer relations with Annie and this episode surely confirms it. Almost 50% were surprised to find out just how poor said relations were. A third stated that they believed the two still cared about each other, just well, “deep down”. A little over 15% predicted this hatred, on the other hand. 

Annie went full "Levi on Eren" on Reiner. I knew they had a tense relationship, this just confirmed my suspicions. I don't think they hate each other.

HOW DID YOU FEEL GETTING TO SEE MORE BERTOLT AFTER HIS UNTIMELY DEATH LAST SEASON? 66 Responses

Seeing Bertolt again in the story was generally treated positively by most, with almost 44% stating that they enjoyed his extra screen time. A bit over 20% stated that they really missed him and were sad to see him, knowing what happens in the future. On the other hand, a little over 21% openly expressed their dislike for the character. Just over 12% simply stated that they didn’t care. 

Dude had it rough, at least the suffering is over now.

i barely care about him... he's just there. he adds nothing to the show compared to other warriors. his personality is way too boring and bland. 

This doesn't make me sympathize with him in any way shape or form

I'm so glad to see Bertholdt... Mappa did him cute as a kid and hot all grown up.

ANNIE AND KENNY: WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THIS UNLIKELY ENCOUNTER? 66 Responses

When it came to seeing Kenny and Annie’s unlikely encounter, the responses were rather distinctive. A little under a third thought it was random, but enjoyable. Others stated that they were just happy to see more Kenny or Annie. Some noted that Annie’s survival rate when taking on the Ackermans is impressive. Finally, just under 11% noted that they didn’t care for it. 

I thought they did it as fan-service bc Kenny = popular

It was a bit too short to be impactful in my opinion.

I wish we saw more Kenny

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS AFTER LEARNING THAT REINER IS THE ONE WHO PUSHED FOR THE ASSAULT ON WALL ROSE AFTER TRAINING WITH THE 104TH FOR 3 YEARS? 66 Responses

Upon learning about Reiner’s push for attacking Wall Rose after 3 years of living with the 104th, the fanbase came out to be rather divided. Whereas a bit over a half expressed at least some sympathy for him, the rest were sharp in their critique. A few stated that they didn’t care, however.

HOW DID YOU FEEL SEEING REINER ON THE EDGE OF SUICIDE? 66 Responses

Seeing Reiner on the verge of suicide brought out a lot of sympathy for the man himself, with people expressing degrees of sympathy for him. A little under a third simply noted that this is a dark story. However, a few also stated that they didn’t feel much sympathy for him due to his previous actions. 

besides the fact that this whole episode was dark, this particular scene made the episode more and more uncomfortable and depressing :( can someone please hug him and tell him that everything is gonna be fine?

WHAT WAS YOUR REACTION TO THE REVEAL THAT EREN WAS THE AMPUTEE SOLDIER FROM THE LAST EPISODE? 66 Responses

The reveal that Eren was the amputee soldier from the previous episode is another one of this series’ twists and turns. Sadly, a third of the responses had already been spoiled about it. On the other hand, another third or so seemed to have an inkling and were happy to see a confirmation in this one. Just over 21% were simply in shock. 

I knew from his voice 

He's learnt to control his regeneration o.0 I wonder what else he has learnt. Also guessed last episode.

EREN OBSERVES THAT FALCO MAY BE TRYING TO PROTECT “A GIRL” FROM INHERITING THE ARMOR - IMPLYING FALCO MAY HAVE FEELINGS FOR GABI. WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF THAT? 66 Responses

When it came to Love Doctor Eren Yeager, more than 50% thought that this development showed his maturation over the course of the story (and 4 years, specifically). Some thought that it didn’t really mean anything, while others looked to a bit more romantic answer. Finally, some thought he was being influenced by the memories of his father or his father’s Attack Titan predecessor.

Don't know if Eren was implying that or if he was trying to gain intel.

BE HONEST - DOES EREN WORK THE HOBO LOOK? 66 Responses

When it came down to seeing Eren’s new design, the majority actually seemed to be more interested in seeing his “manbun” one, as seen in the trailer. Almost 20% thought it was his coolest design to date! The rest either seemed to prefer one of his earlier designs or thought that he looked kinda gross. And some people were just thirsty. 

Cool change. Doesn't look "better", but does make him look more serious/battle-scarred.

ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS ON THE EPISODE?

i was super confused at first, but after a lot more research im completely caught up w the story and very excited for whats to come!

Would've enjoyed even more REINER

Definitely ready for more. I always assumed our old team has been lurking on this side of the wall ever since ep 1 (call me crazy, but was that my mans Jean who bought the newspaper??) anywaY, I can’t wait for the reveal/ambush WhatevEr it is they got planned. You know Armin’s behind this shit. Let’s get ittttt

I need to see Levi already!! I feel like I’m going through withdrawal

The artwork was really nice, same with the animation. I thought the bit with Annie and Reiner was too intense though I felt kinda sick watching it. Also, they showed the scene in the trailer where Reiner is talking to Eren when they were in training and also when he was trying to commit suicide but the audio was different from the visual so I'm curious now if Reiner like tries to have Eren kill him but Eren and co want to interrogate him??? So he's like "why won't you let me die?". Also, I like Falco even more now, seems like a great and important character.

Seeing the Titans normally animated makes the cgi hurt more :(

it gave a lot of clarity cant lie

Reiner's backstory with his dad broke my heart. I thought he took it well. For Marcel to die afterwards and the warriors to be pushed down that path was terrible. I also love how Annie was really against attacking the Eldians, and voiced her disgust, and it felt organic. It didn't feel like it was forced in to show viewer thoughts. The episode made me appreciate Annie's maturity from a young age and emotional depth, and the fact that this was achieved with Reiner as the main focus makes it amore impressive.

mappa > wit. no doubt. the cinematography was a m a z i n g. it was very aesthetically pleasing to watch. 

Why did the smiling titan ignore Bertholt?

WHERE DO YOU PRIMARILY DISCUSS THE SERIES? 65 Responses

Thank you again to everyone who participated! We’ll see you again after next episode. 

[theonceoverthinker]

OUAT Rewatch 4X13 - Unforgiven

Will this be the QUEEN-tesentail episode of the series or not?

Shut up! That was funny!

In any event, you can find my thoughts below the cut!

Main Takeaways

Past

I feel like this episode should’ve had more featured about bad things that the Queens of Darkness, namely Ursula and Cruella have done in the past. Snow and David are about as untrusting of them as they ever were to Regina (Snow literally says “they’re almost worse than Regina”), but the audience, even upon seeing this episode for the second time, don’t have a ton of context because so few of their misdeeds are depicted. While one can assume that more was known about Maleficent from her conflicts with Briar Rose and Aurora, Cruella (Whose misdeeds were done mostly in another realm) and Ursula don’t have that benefit. Even within the confines of this episode, it’s Maleficent who kills the guards and while our other queens agree with the decision, they play no direct part in it. It’s just “ooh badness -- how evil!” I feel like even a reference to past deeds would’ve done so much (Ex. “You destroyed the docks.” or “You had a set of beavers tear apart their dam and flood a town.”). This by no means destroys the flashback in my eyes, but it does fail when later episodes don’t provide a ton of villainy (Or any in Ursula’s case) to either woman.

“No.” Never has a singular word pissed me off so much. This singular word said to Maleficent as she begs to work together as mothers is DISGUSTING. Snow places her piety above her child as well as Mal’s and it is ABHORRENT. Jeez, even before the reveal of what happened, Snow was already coming off as so vile from this moment.

Present

It’s very interesting rewatching this episode with the full knowledge of what Snow and David did to Maleficent. It’s frustrating because Snow tries to stop Mal’s first reaction to seeing them, but because of the need for a twist in this episode, she’s not able to give her an actual apology like I’m pretty sure Snow would have under other circumstances.

”They remind of a time in my life I’d rather forget, time when I was a true villain.” I LOVE this line. I think a line like this is one of Regina’s best in regards to a reflection on her own past. She’s not falsely playing a victim, but shows that she wants to forget this time in her life because it was a time period where she did horrible things. This is a self aware Regina, not pitying herself but still trying to move on. It’s sympathetic enough as a line while not ignoring how bad Regina was. It doesn’t blame anyone for remembering these things -- Regina’s angry at being embarrassed in front of Henry.

I liked Emma and Killian’s conflict in this episode. Like with the Regina line that I mentioned earlier, it’s a good reflection on Killian’s shame over his past villainy and shows a large amount of self awareness. Killian is definitely framed as in the wrong for lying -- as he should -- and the conversations throughout this episode effectively show facets of his and Emma’s characters. Killian is someone who despite his quips and praise over his appearance and abilities does experience self loathing and Emma understands this and wants to help, provided he be honest with her. She doesn’t need the whole truth per-se, accepting his desire for the matter to stay private, but wants him to at least be truthful about that desire and not hide behind denial. And once he apologizes and tells her basically that, she’s supportive of him and assures him. I will say that I wish that at least some suggestion from Emma that Killian confront how he wronged Ursula with her was thrown out in the conversation (Ex. “And you can come back from it”), but it does make Killian’s decision to do it on his own a few episodes later much stronger for his character.

I find it interesting how Snow and David’s lie about their change in morality ends up having a positive effect for Emma. I don’t think it undercuts the truth of the moral, as it does accurately fit Emma and Killian’s dynamic at its conclusion in this episode (And that theme resonates especially well with Emma), but it is weird how it originates from a lie. That having been said, within the confines of the lie, to give no consequences at all to people who stole from a store is kind of...well, dumb, but given that it’s Storybrooke and there are bigger matters to worry about, it’s fine.

“Because they’re villains and we’re heroes.” While I HATED the interpretation of Snow’s possession in “Bleeding Through,” I did like how it was clear about how this black-and-white morality between heroes and villains was utter BS. Because of that, I find it really annoying to see this line. While I know that it’s a lie, the fact that it goes straight-up believed and unchallenged by Emma and Killian (Especially Killian, the more I think about it) makes it feel like no one learned that. And I know it’s a theme of the series, but by now, the lessons been learned a few times over so a line like that going unchallenged is really out of place.

Stream of Consciousness

-Wow! Neal sleeps in the kitchen! These guys REALLY need more space!

-Awww! I love how David is sitting on the steps right by Neal so he can simultaneously protect Emma!

-”Hello, mum.” This is Will Scarlet’s best line. Granny is everyone’s mum!

-Day-um, son! Regina’s getting one hell of a brag up (Because for them, it’s not a takedown) from Cruella and Ursula! XD

-”Chocolate frosted donuts.” I feel like if Regina wasn’t about to deal with the two Queens, she’d be lecturing Henry about not eating like crap. XD

-”I’ve been dying for a grilled cheese all day.” I appreciate that Emma has a legit appetite, especially for someone who runs around town all day!

-I love how word travels so fucking quickly in Storybrooke. What must their text chains look like?! XD

-So, you have to wonder where Mal went while she was “dead.” Thoughts? If she was in the Underworld, i bet Hades pitched a fit so big that Liam was roasting marshmallows from his bar when it happened.

-”You’re getting crumbs all over the book.” Not to be a nitpicker, but a donut with that consistency would not have crumbs! XD

-”If only your wits matched your looks.” Looks like James/Cruella had a bit of foreshadowing! XD

-Cruella’s remarks still crack me up!

-Wait, the station has security footage from Gold’s? Like, I like that that exists because it’s GOLD, but it’s just surprising is all! When was this installed?

-You guys really think two villains will just leave town with your secret after being screwed over and not reveal that secret out of pure spite?! I would PAY to see an alternate cut of this scene with Regina there to point that out with a sassy one-liner.

-I have to wonder what would’ve happened had Snow and David admitted their lie to Emma earlier. Thoughts?

-Can you imagine the Queens of Darkness sleeping in those crazy costumes?! XD

-I really like the set of the Tree of Knowledge and wish we saw it again! It’s really cool!

-Ummmm, Snow, David, shouldn’t you be concerned with why Mal’s ashes are in a convenient little pile?

-Damn, Marco’s got jokes! XD

-”I’d say she’s moved on.” I LOVE how the villains, despite working together, are still underhanded in shit like this! XD

-”You’re positively radiant, my dear.” Was I the only one thinking that Snow was wondering if Mal was hitting on her? XD

-Damn, even finding out about her pregnancy sucked for Snow! I feel really bad for her!

-Mal, if you want to torture Snow and David, why wouldn’t you reveal their secret before they have the chance to? That way, their family and the town at large would trust them less, isolating them and making your further revenge easier.

-Snow and David are so freakin’ awkward! XD

-Robert Carlyle’s acting as he sees Belle and Will Scarlet kiss was fantastic! Look at how he looks like he’s about to cry and how he basically crawls into the darkness because of how torn up he is. That is AMAZING!

-Mal rattling her little rattle breaks my fucking heart!

Favorite Dynamic

Regina and Marco. This really comes down to a singular, effective line: “After ruining everyone else’s happy ending, what makes you think you deserve one of your own?” I am so happy this line and the ensuing conversation was put in. One aspect of Regina’s redemption that I take issue with is that Regina’s smaller victims are often denied a chance to voice their oppositions to said redemption. While Snow and David do get chances to voice their frustrations, smaller victims like Leroy, Granny, Ruby, and Marco don’t get that chance beyond the occasional quip. Because of that, a moment like this really means something. And I like that while the camera pans to show Regina’s reaction to this, it doesn’t linger on her, showing that this isn’t a sympathetic moment for Regina. I also found Regina’s apology to be pretty decent. While I wish it had less excuses within it and Marco was a little too easy to forgive, it did feel authentic to Regina’s character as well as genuine.

Writer

Andrew Chambliss and Kalinda Vazquez are large and in charge today! I don’t have a ton to say. Apart from a few issues that I mentioned above, I feel like they did a decent job here. The story just needed a… ONCE OVER (AND OMG I’M THE ONCE OVER THINKER! I THINK ON WHAT THEY SHOULD’VE DONE A ONCE OVER ON! XD )! The stories are appropriately framed, tell themselves well enough, and setup the future conflicts decently.

Rating

8/10.

-----

Sorry for how late this one came out, but thank you for reading!!!

Shoutouts also to @watchingfairytales and @daensarah! See you all next time!

Season 4 Total (113/230)

Writer Scores: Adam and Eddy: (34/60) Jane Espenson: (20/40) David Goodman and Jerome Schwartz: (30/50) Andrew Chambliss: (22/50) Dana Horgan: (6/30) Kalinda Vazquez: (22/40) Scott Nimerfro: (14/30) Tze Chun (8/20)

Operation Rewatch Archives

[eurosong]

Closing thoughts on ESC ‘17

◆  What a year, folks! In February, my closest circle of friends and I were quite despondent about the year’s offerings - it seemed like there was plenty of quality in the national finals, but little of it filtering through to Eurovision itself. I would never have dreamt of the firestorm that was about to come: Portugal winning its first Eurovision after almost fifty failed and often criminally underrated attempts is just the crowning surprise as we have a top 3 that, in its entirety, are countries getting their best results ever. 

The last time that all three “medallists” were also countries getting their best result ever at that point was in 2006, where Finland won for the first time, Russia got their best ever second place (Dima besting Alsou a few years before going for gold) and Bosnia & Herzegovina grabbing third. This trinity of victors is even more impressive, consisting of three countries who tend not to qualify, two of which (Portugal and Moldova) having not ever even reached the top 5 before. This was two fingers to those banging the drum about political voting being the be all and end all of Eurovision: here are three nations with few friends amongst juries or televoters, who won big through the strength of their song or stage show. Bravi to all three. Bulgaria has emerged as a powerhouse in the making having beaten their personal record twice on the trot with Poli and now Kristian. It’ll be interesting to see if it’ll be third time lucky to bring the contest to Sofia - and if the other two countries can build on their success last year.

◆ While we are mentioning political voting, however, that ugly beast did raise its head a number of times this year. Audible boos were heard when Cyprus and Greece embarked upon their annual exchange of douzes, but I wonder if that is more cultural than political. What I found lamentable was the overtly political voting of Azerbaijan and Armenia, who put each other last once again - and the former even put Cyprus second last thanks in no small part to the Cypriot being ethnic Armenian and pals with Artsvik. 

My particular award for “how unprofessional can you get?” goes to the Bulgarian jury, which tried to sink their closest rivals - giving no points to the much-vaunted Italians, placing Portugal’s Salvador just a few places below last and giving extremely lowball scores to Belgium, the latter countries that did very well in the televote. Juries on the whole made some very curious choices and seem to be less scrupulous than the televoters in many ways. 

◆ They seem to have favourites year in, year out - Sweden may never slip from the top 5 thanks to jurors’ lip service, and the most curious thing is their continued obsession with Australia, who would have not qualified from the semis were it up to the televoters alone - and received a humiliating two points from them in the final. More conspiracy-prone individuals may wonder if jurors are being encouraged to award Oz so that it has decent enough results to keep in the competition. On the other hand, their lowball scores to very musically meritorious entries like that of Hungary, who entered the top 10 mostly on the strength of its televotes. It feels like the juries do not know on what criteria they are judging. 

◆ At least this year should be controversy free as there was a convergence on the top 2 candidates, with both televoters and jurors agreeing that the best song was Portugal’s and the second best Bulgaria’s. It’s the first time that the jury hasn’t overriden the public vote for 3 years, and the first time ever since the introduction of this 50/50 system that they agree on both winner and runner-up. After two years of scandals and angry televoters, that can only be good for the contest. Unfortunately, there are some “fans” living in a world of alternative facts who claim it was a hoax. I feel sorry for them not being able to acknowledge the win of a country who’s waited so long to dispel their bad luck.

◆ Portugal’s win was the ultimate revindication of using your own language at the Eurovision, but not the only one. Italy did not soar to its expected heights, but got into the combined top 10, as did the tour de force from Joci Pápai, which showed that bilingual songs in which neither language is English can work! (My boss and some of my students ended up singing jáloma loma for the rest of the week xD.) The televoters, once again, show themselves much more open to other languages than many jurors: they would also have elevated the bilingual and bipolar entry from Croatia into the top 10 alongside France, making half the songs in the top 10 featuring another language than English partially or entirely - not a bad figure when that means 5 of the 7 songs featuring another language got into the televoters’ top 10, with Belarus not far behind. Will the qualification and relative success of all the non-English songs finally dispel the myth that one must sing in English to do well? I truly hope so.

◆ A less positive thing to remember the year for was the numerous fiascos at national final level. Spain screwed over its televoters by having the jury pick the winner rather than the public in the event of a tie - the opposite of what happened when Brequette and Ruth Lorenzo were tied some years prior. There were only 5 national finals this year where the public had 100% of the say at all stages - dwarved by the 9 national finals where jurors overrode the televoters’ top choice. It was a bad year for democracy at the national finals, and resulted in a number of “unloved” candidates who could not count on their country’s support.

◆  At the end of each year, I take a look at some geographic trends in the contest and calculate the geographical midpoint between qualifiers and non-qualifiers (not counting Australia as its outlying location is enough to strongly alter the results) to find the contest’s “centre of gravity.”

2014 was the most geographically equal Eurovision, with only one degree of latitude and two degrees of longitude separating the average qualifier from the average non-qualifier. In 2015, we had the most disparate Eurovision in a decade, with the equidistant point between qualifiers being way south-east in Romania whilst the equidistant point between non-qualifiers was as far west as Germany. 2016 saw a more notable distribution of qualifiers between west and east - but with the failure to qualify of all the Nordic states except the hosts, the average qualifier midpoint dropped further south than it had ever been since 2007. 2017 is a more geographically balanced contest than the prior two, with the difference between the number of western and eastern qualifiers shrinking considerably - the distance from the qualifiers’ midpoint to that of the non-qualifiers is only 600km, compared to 1300km last year and 1750km the year before that. For the third year in a row, however, southern qualifiers outnumbered northern qualifiers, but by less extreme a degree as in 2016.

◆ I thought that the ‘16 season would be hard to beat, and whilst I do miss a lot of things from that year, this has been the best year of the Eurosong blog to date. The analyses here have been liked and shared tens of thousands and we’ve received more (on the whole, very positive) requests, queries and comments than ever before. It has been an absolute pleasure and so motivating. Thank you all for taking part. I cannot wait until next year!

[furederiko]

Never let the darkness take away your light! Shine on it... Shine Bright! Don't believe me? Just ask Garu and Balance...

- Thanks to that tearful incident with Scorpio, the team is down to 8 members once more. Which is... as I've said before, the maximum number to form Ryutei Kyuren-Oh. Oh, by the way, since I got really emotional on my previous recap-view (and also almost a week late), I forgot to mention that Kyuranger has officially entered its 1/3 point! NOTE: Optimistically assuming that this season is going to have at least 50 episodes, that means we still have around 33-34 episodes to go! 50 is a rather rare case though, since the past seasons have all ended below that number. Zyuohger ended at 48, Ninninger only had 47. Gokaiger was the last title to end with a heaping 51 episodes, and that was probably due to the Anniversary season's insane popularity. Rightfully so... *grins* - Garu narrates the intro, and he doesn't sound happy. He wants to locate Carina Kyu Globe right away, for Champ's sake. Balance on the other hand, thinks that rushing things up isn't good. Suffice to say, a conflict is at play between them, which is good, because Pyxis Kyu Globe hasn't finished recharging. Meaning? Side mission time! - One that involves... a 'Dome of Darkness'. Yeouch! That sounds ominous, though a bit Megaranger-esque somehow. But the theme of this liberation mission is about 'Dark versus Light', and clearly a parallel to gloomy Garu and bright bubbly Balance. Oh hey, surprise surprise, it's also about the #SUN/MOON Shining Kyu Globe. Putting the neat two-in-one design, it's a Kyu Globe with an ability that... even Commander Xiao isn't particularly sure about. LOL. - Since the untested gadget has yet to arrive from Rebellion HQ, the away team is sent out to scout the area first. The team members are Kyulette-ed, and it's a two females team again... Yaaay!!! How can they enter the pitch-black dome? By using Hammy's ninjutsu ability to enter the location from underground (I wonder what would happen if she wasn't picked by Kyulette then?). Not long after they arrive, suddenly the dome turns reaaaally bright! Bright as day. What is happening? And then... zombie workers?! - Apparently, day and night are being manipulated freely inside this dome, so day-time takes around 22 hours while night-time is only 2 hours. That's the reason why the workers haven't gotten proper rest and looking like... zombies. But how come nobody is complaining? Because they fear for the... invisible Malistrate Shaidows. Lucky can't hold back his badmouthings for Shaidows, so he experiences first hand (and actually, several times more... later on) getting strike down by the Malistrate's unseen force. - Unable to see their enemy, our away team is easily scattered away. Obviously, Garu gets stuck with Balance again (it's their focus episode, right?)... as they land on a garbage dump. Ouch! This bickering duo doesn't waste time and gets into a spat due to their polarizing personalities. Garu loses his patience and walks away because he thinks Balance is wasting time. Balance might seem laid-back, but secretly he's already devising a plan... by hacking through the surveillance camera. That's definitely Libra all right! LOL. - Meanwhile, the gang back on Orion is unable to contact the away team and starts to get worried. That's when a familiar face appears... on the monitor. Kotarou!!! Aaah, it's been 4 episodes since the last time we saw this boy. Is it just me though, or he's looking slightly... older? Perhaps the haircut? Darn, kids nowadays grow up so fast, eh? Kotarou's role is to report that the Shining Kyu Globe has been delivered to the Orion. He also offers an update about Champ and Stinger's condition... and it's NOT encouraging. The former hasn't been reassembled yet, while the latter is down and depressed about it. Aaaaww... *wipes tears away*, even Kotarou feels bad. - The problem in hand now, is HOW to deliver the Shining Kyu Globe to the away team. And well, Xiao has an... 'idea'. Gotta admire that whimsical confidence... as ridiculous as it may be *sigh*. Back on Earth, the team is reunited, and Balance surprises Garu by revealing what he's been up to. Garu's opinion about him starts to change. The team then immediately observes the footage that he has acquired. Turns out, Shaidows attacks from below, but... once again, how? Is he a speedster? This is where Garu offers his own plan. - LOL, that must be the silliest roll call (and mock-fight) I've ever witnessed so far in Super Sentai! Like seeing the kids of "Crayon Shin-chan" taking over the show with their... juvenile attitudes. Exaggeration mode aside (...;p), the point is to lure Shaidows out, so that Balance can analyze his attack pattern. And it works! Shaidows isn't a speedster, because... he moves around between shadows! Wait a sec, I wonder why nobody (including yours truly) realized this much earlier, when the answer is already hinted all along... by the Malistrate's very own NAME?! Aaarrggggh... - As to be expected, the solution to this, is the Shining Kyu Globe. Which has arrived through Draco Voyager Delivery! Leo Red uses the new produc... I mean item's Solar Mode, and transforms into The Shining Star, Sun Leo Red. The one with... 'bed-hair', according to Aquila Pink. That Spanish-sounding BGM though... *grins* SWEEET!!! Using the "Shine Bright!" ability, Shaidows (whose shadow lurking skill is rather creepy, if you ask me) can no longer hide in the darkness. And I don't know why, but Libra Gold gets powered up as well. If we count glowing and being nut... er, I mean hyperactive, as one, that is. Hmmm... perhaps because Balance is powered by solar energy? - The Darkness Dome is destroyed alongside Shaidows' Consumarz. And it is revealed that the actual time of day is NIGHT. That means... yep, time for Lunar Mode now. Thus, The Moody Star, Leo Red Moon debuts. Seriously, Spanish accoustic before this, and now Middle-Eastern-sounding BGM? While I fail to see how this Kyu Globe will be useful in future episodes, I'm TOTALLY loving its sound effects. Also, this mode affects Lupus Blue by giving him... a serene power up. As in, turning him into a sophisticated, classy-French-talking, and elegant version that makes the others jawdrop in awe. Werewolf Lupus Blue is definitely what we can call as... COOL!!! Hold on, Leo Red is acting all calm and gentle as well. And that's something. God, I think I'm in love with this Moon effect... XD - "Solar! Lunar! Total Eclipse!" is the Shining finisher, and my oh my, how it looks so darn stylish! But enough praising, time for mecha fight. Since Draco Commander has succeeded in... crawling out of that small hole, the honor is given to him and his Ryutei-Oh. This time, he's having Libra and Lupus Voyager as its arms! I don't know about you, but I appreciate the fact that this show isn't abusing/overusing Ryutei Kyuren-Oh on a weekly basis. It feels nice to have shake-ups like this every now and then. - Spada's Space Pizza! Thanks to understanding one another through this mission, Garu and Balance are buddies now. They are getting along really fine, so fine that their chit-chat suddenly feels a little... yaoi-ish somehow (nope, not talking about sharing the ending dance spotlight). And Pyxis is all recharged! That means, it's high-time to track Carina. But hold on, apparently the Kyurangers aren't the only one targetting that object. Because Scorpio is also commanding Madako to obtain it...

Overall: Every now and then, a Tokusatsu show needs to sell merchandise to keep it running. This was easily one of those occasion. In general, it's an okay-to-good episode, can even be categorized as filler. Unlike Pegasus Kyu Globe that expanded the world a bit, the Shining Kyu Globe was rather... pointless. Sure, you could say that it boosted the power of two other Kyurangers, but the limitation to that number was also a glaring question. Why not have the effect on the other Kyurangers as well? On the other hand, this SUN/MOON power up was still quite impressive on its own, especially as a spectacle. It exceeded my expectation, and helped made the second half of this episode really interesting and fun to watch. What I also really love about it, is despite being another power up for Lucky, the episode itself was (once again) NOT about him. In fact, it's a funtastic bonding episode for Garu and Balance instead, and I totally don't mind getting more of those... Next week: Police. Sheriff. Rebellion. An Ultra-Rare Intergalactic Gathering!

Episode 17 Score: 7,6 out of 10

Visit THIS LINK to view a continuously updated listing of the Kyutama / Kyu Globes. Last Updated: June 5th, 2017 - Version 2.03. (WARNING: It might contain spoilers for future episodes)

All images are screencaptured from the series, provided by the FanSubber Over-Time. "Uchu Sentai Kyuranger" is produced by TOEI, and airs every Sunday on TV-Asahi. Credits and copyrights belong to their respective owners.

[hdawg1995]

DnD Antics: “mistakes were made” says the bard. cause she died.

today we took a trip to Elizander’s witcher school and Nazul gets 3 nat 20s in a row!

we start with everyone on the air ship. were going to make the legendary 99 cheese pizza as thanks/payment to master splinter and the turtles for helping out (and so Zack can level up to 20).

before we can however, we got a little distracted XD Spine went below deck to get working on...something. anything. he wants to distract himself from back story feels. Zack, Envoy, and Alicaria head down to the city to do some performances for money. a 300+ performance resulted is a parade and a holiday being made! NOT TO MENTION-

Coolie: its early spring? guess that means it’s Elizander’s birthday. me: THE PARADE IS IN HONOR OF HIS BIRTHDAY! Coolie: ALL witchers celebrate their birthday today- me: THE PARADE. IS IN HONOR. OF HIS BIRTHDAY.

Zack makes some dresses to prove hes a good tailor. after which we all accidentally leave the assassin alone in a town with a lot of assassin jobs for a few hours...

Envoy: wheres Nazul? *rolls low perception* hes not on deck so hes probably in the pokeball. Nazul: *makes a big display inorder to get the whole town’s attention for a public assassination* Envoy: *rolls low again* yup. in the pokeball. mmhmm. (i’ll get to Nazul’s HELLA AWESOME AND EXTRA EVIL ADVENTURE OF AWESOME at the end since no one was really there to see and he never regrouped with the party)

once everyone is settled in its time to make the legendary 99 cheese pizza!

we don’t get there quit yet however, so Envoy plays a cooking song to get us in the cooking mood. the DM said to just add the perform to our cooking scores as a 285 result created The LegenDAIRY 99 Cheese Pizza! lindsay: i have 99 cheese and yak aint one :D DM: roll will not to eat the pizza. everyone: *rolls* Sam: i got a 50, can i just smack people away from eating the pizza? DM: sure. you too coolie, roll will you’re in the pokeball. coolie: *passes* Tim: does sylvia have to roll too? DM: yes. she has to roll twice because shes having cravings. slyvia: *gets a 2 and a 3* DM: you all hear a crash. its as if someone kicked down a door. theres a Draconic Roar. Envoy:....the pregnant dragon monk smells the pizza you guys...

we had to use a sleep spell on her to keep her from 1. attacking everyone trying to get to the pizza and 2. eating the pizza. (don’t worry the baby was safe)

after delivering the pizza to master splinter and the turtles Zack stays and trains.

the Ranger took her pack and went hunting, killing a 6 legged horse and a saber tooth puma that tried to take the kill. Vale’s winged serpent friend constricted her because of a low bonding roll and fell asleep. Spine is entertained greatly.

Envoy, Elizander, and Alicaria go to the witcher school. its so bad that theres plant life and vines inside the building. the three head to the library where Elizander makes 3. nat. 20s. trying. to. read. a book.

me: Elixander is a GREAT student! he only gets nat20s when hes reading! Coolie: and yet im remembered more for breaking things....

after reading about some apocalyptic things (and Envoy casting bending on ALL THE BOOKS because HOW CAN YOU LEARN FROM A BOOK IF ITS FALLING APART! TAKE CARE OF YOUR BOOKS YOU LAZY WITCHERS!) Envoy and Alicaria go to the kitchen... its horribly gross so alicaria cleans it up DRUID STYLE! she creates water and floods it, whips it up with a storm, then gets rid of the water. sparkling clean now! and then they make a legendary cake that envoy cuts with Battle cry and gets a nat 20.

DM: you *laughs* you cut the cake and then throw it into the air, dancing around and slicing as if its a performance. the cake is cut into 6 perfect slices. eating it increases your crit range by 4. coolie: so if i eat it *laughing* my crit range is 6-20. me: WHAT THE FUDGE??? XD envoy: hows the birthday cake Eli? elizander: im going to save it for later.

being the only people on the ship at the moment, the ranger and necromancer fly off (cause Spine has wings. he has a breath weapon, wings, and is a lizard. hes a dragon. fight me.) and go to the kageet village.

Spine and Vale: *sees a pet ‘wildling’ on a leash* Spine: is... is that a pet??? do they have places to buy those???  Vale: keep moving Spine. Spine: but i WANT one!

Vale’s family is great. imagine a cat person holding another cat person by the scruff. thats how kajeet dad says hello to kajeet daughter.

vale’s mom: is your friend hungry? vale: Spine are you- Spine: food. Vale’s dad: *gets a live wildling and tosses it at Spine* Spine: *steven universe star eyes. he then eats it*

Alicaria goes off to hunt with her wolf while elizander gives a over stimulated Envoy a tour of the school.

Envoy: did you have classes? where are the class rooms? Elizander: dodge this class was out side. read class was in the library, and slice this class was also out side. Envoy: do you have a trophy hall? elizander: yeah. Envoy: do you have a trophy there? elizander: no- WAIT! *gets hydra scale* i CAN have a trophy there. Envoy: THEN LETS GO! *rides off* Elizander: envoy- envoy and yak: *falls through the floor* Elizander: oh...

could have flown but a nat1 resulted in the yak falling on envoy. there both dead.

“friend” of eli’s: what HAPPENED? Elizander: friend fell. “friend”: you KNOW the floor on that floor is dangerous! why did you let this happen? Elizander: i didn’t expect her to run off. the friend tries to atsy Eli, so Eli tries to counter sign him. failed. “friend”: you’re going to explain EVERYTHING to fltecher when he comes back! Elizander: okay. “friend”: and you’re gonna give me all your gold! Elizander: *wins roll* hey, heres a new sign for you to learn! FUCK YOU! *flips him off*

and now... the best effing moment of pure evil and death ever. WARNING. GRAPHIC.

Nazul gets a contract to publicly murder the heir of some wealth. the target is a half elf boy guarded by his caretaker, his uncle, and a templar. the two uncles are in on this (first uncle made the contract, second is currently a guard) and when Nazul sends his shadow double to tell him to run he doesn’t hesitate. the caretaker and templar guard the boy well, but it is not enough. the templar falls to a well placed dagger and the caretaker is reapped. not only that, but Nazul commits one of the True Evil acts and moprhs her soul into face paint. every attack he does is X10 for 24 hours. the boy is knocked out and taken to the middle of the town. a low roll results in a burtle killing, the daggers not going though all the way so Nazul has to saw the head off in the end.  Ghost boy goes and gets his pay but finds a note. “Kill his farther and you’ll get double the pay.” shadow melding back into the town he appears in the farther’s shadow, stabbing him in the kindeys and then ripping up, caising his organs to pour out. he is dead before his guards notice and his sword is taken as Nazul shadow melds away. he completed the deed so fast he catches his employer- the son’s uncle. turns out he was disowned and dethroned and wanted revenge. he is told to kill his wife “with my brother’s sword. make it painful.” and so Nazul does. a nat1 causes him to announce that hes here to kill the lady of the house and so Nazul goes in swinging! he is killed but revived when a guard spears him in the side, but a low will check results in the guard getting spectral branded and sent to attack the others. a second guard is sent into darkness as Nazul spider mans his way up to the top floor, killing guards and servants as he spins. once at the top floor he explodes one guy’s head and finds the lady gone. he figures out its a hidden door and follows after her. seeing that the stairs were made in a way to trip up pursuers he just shadow melds his way down. he finds her and a man servant in a boat. spectral chaining the boat he pulls them back to shore but the servant breaks the dagger breaking the spell. he dives in, swiming as graceful as- okay i was gonna make a joke but anything would be more graceful than Nazul swiming. he swims up, makes a low strength check so he tips the boat. he gets his target under him in the water and stabs her in the chest. shes bleeding and drowning (she got a reflex save that ment she was alive but if the sword moved at all she you die) so he yanks the sword out, gets out the water and kills the servant then falls down, thumbs up in the air and shouts “THAT WAS AWESOME!”

will Envoy and Shiba be brought back to life? what will Alicaria think when she realizes she left the bard and witcher alone for 5 minutes and one died? why is spine following cat lady? will nazul get back to the party or just get caught?

FIND OUT NEXT TIME ON DRAGON BALL Z!

[furederiko]

We'll be heralding the arrival of the Space Rebellions tomorrow morning. But before we do that, here's a quick review of Doubutsu Sentai Zyuohger as whole...

Yeah, this was supposed to go up not long after the final episode's weekly review, but well... I got a little sidetracked by my health *sigh*. It's basically under the weather (which has been unexplainably REALLY cold recently), that's why it took me a while to finish one. Don't worry though, because this post will be brief. Okay it's not.... Ahahaha. XD

Let's just get one thing out of the way: Zyuohger is just another good example, of the flaws of a long running show. The downside of having a whole-year worth of air time. The need to explore stories in around 50 episodes is indeed a challenge on its own. And frankly, I don't think the writers of this show succeeded in their task. There were great stories that focused on wonderful morale messages, but there were also episodes that felt like merely repeating the annual tropes, and even went below average standards. To put it simple, it's an uneven show. The beginning of the episode wasn't as memorable and a little on-the-nose. Which was the reason why I only gave it a 7,2. That's a stark difference to the 8,4 score of the finale. But the contrast also proved something! The show gradually built itself to become something interesting. Offering a vast amount of potentials, especially due to the cultural, and racial differences of its members. The main reason why I've decided to continue watching, despite my initial reluctance.

It's quite unfortunate, that this positive progression began to falter again halfway through. I believe this show lost its momentum when the writers decided to axe Bunglay, who was easily the most interesting and challenging antagonist the show had. If it's up to me, I think this character should've stayed to the end. I've said that I appreciate the surprise they wrote to Dethgaliens Master Genis in the end, but in many ways, Bunglay was indeed a much worthy and better 'scumbag' than Genis to be called a final boss. His obsession to Yamato Kazakiri would've worked better to explore our Red's damaged relationship with his father. Not to mention, his quest for Cube Whale, could've been linked nicely to the reveal of Immortal Azald. Instead, the show ditched him, and went even south when they gave Kubar a demise that was too early and underwhelming. Yes, the cunning and treachearous antagonist who initially rose up to be an excellent replacement to Bunglay. A villain that hid his own agenda, and never hesitated to use sleazy tricks to meet his goal, wo went off in a very unceremonious way. Thus all the build-ups, those numerous episodes spent to explore him, suddenly became pointless. No matter how praiseworthy her devotion for Genis, Naria suffered from weak writing as well. She's a character who showed promise, the potential to be deliver the 'surprise' that audience needed. But the show just treated her poorly and made her a one dimensional blank character instead. As for why Genis failed as a strong big boss? That's due to the show's habit to tell, and not show. Many times we only heard how scary Genis was, particularly from the Team Players. But it wasn't until the finale that we saw first hand how evil he could be. Something that should've been done much early on, and even better, throughout the whole run. Yeah, I get that everything was meant to lead to that big surprise in the end. But at least, audience needed actual proof that he's a sinister being instead of the overly optimistic boss depicted all the time.

The core storyline about connection between people, particularly those who are different, was admirable. It touched upon issues of discrimination, equality, and many sensitive ones that resonated strongly to the real life current condition of the world. I also appreciated how pieces of the puzzle that were seeded from very early on, became connected, and (mostly) paid off in the third arc. Problem is, even if it's a strong and delicate one, this main plot was considerably thin. And worse, the show loved to drag audience from one plot point to another, without utilizing it to explore minor subplots. The result? The Zyumans practically didn't have any significant character developments. At least, not that I could remember. This mirrored the similar negative trait of "Shuriken Sentai Ninninger", because the writings never fully explored these character's potentials. Which was too bad, since each one of them were completely different races that easily shouted 'blank canvas'. Each species could've played out more distinctly with one another, and that weren't even touched. In general, their presence felt like nothing but supporting characters for Yamato, because from start to finish, they remained who they were. And speaking of Yamato, while he did have one, it was somewhat rushed as the show's approaching the end game. A fact that annoyed me, because of how ill-timed it was. The only one who had clear character growth, was none other than Misao Mondo. This additional character grew from an awkward and meek guy, to a more confident, mature, and stronger in the end. Even moreso than Yamato, and he's not even the core cast!

This was quite disappointing, because if there's one thing that the season definitely shine, it's in the cast. Eventhough they were NOT perfect, everyone's easily likeable. Despite his 'blandness', Yamato was one of the better Reds we have in the recent years. Sure, many people were calling him the 'Jesus of the Group'. But when compared to the lousy and gratingly annoying Takaharu of previous season, the mature and nurturing Yamato obviously came on top. The other members in Ninninger were better than its Red, but I'd gladly choose the other Zyuohgers in their place. Amu was a character with the strongest and most interesting personality. Her presence was important because she's crucial to drive Yamato's plot. With that reason, I think she was the best character we got in the show. Even when he seemed standoff-ish, Tusk was the likeable smart one. His story with Misao was a great touch, and a pairing I didn't expect would be a gem. Sela was the tough girl of the group, but she's also the one who was sensitive and caring. If there's one member that I found to be annoying, it's Leo. But even I have to admit that he used to be my favorite character early on. Right until the writers dumped some bad traits on him. Seriously, he morphed from super fun, to super annoying, so it was nice that he got a little redemption near the end. These characters were not only easy on the eyes, they were fun to be with. That includes Yamato's uncle Mario Mori, Bard who became the seventh member albeit too briefly, and also the wise gorilla zyuman Larry. All three who were severely underused. My point is, what a waste of potentials indeed.

In general, it became obvious and clear that the show just didn't reach nor exercise its full potential. This somehow felt like a deliberate decision from the writers too, as many of the episodes felt more like... intended fillers. It's a good proof that the number of episodes was simply too long for the core plot. I honestly can't help but wonder, if this show would've been much stronger as a 25 episodes series? I mean, this flaw was even more apparent during the third arc. Aside from Yamato, whose substory came out way too late, the show suddenly pushed aside other character's development and focused more on action, and became a by-the-number trope showcase. If it's up to me, the whole plot from episode 1-48 that involved Genis would've been concised into the first half, while the second half would fully focus on repairing the rift between Earth and Zyuland. Dealing with discrimination and injustice that's happening in both world, while introducing a whole new enemy. A stronger and more powerful threat that threatened both worlds!

Of course, that doesn't mean that I dislike the ending that we got. I wouldn't give it a high score if I do, right? Yes, I know I did whine a lot during the final 5 episodes. But I don't regret that, because it made me appreciate the ending even more. Albeit somehow feeling like a cheat, it was still a brilliant conclusion. It caught me off guard, because I was completely ready to see a 'bad ending'. What kind? One that ended with goodbyes. Where the show's dream to create a unity between Earth and Zyuland, remained just the way it was. A dream. That the 'happy' ending would still be miles away from happening, since our heroes never actually accomplished this goal. Thankfully, we all know that's not the case, as we get a truly sweet, joyful, and satisfying closure instead. In fact, I personally think that the epilogue accomplished much more than what the entire 3rd arc offered! For real.

In the end, despite leaning to 'good', my response to Zyuohger is mixed at best. There's a massive potential and promise the show could've explored, but opted not to. The show is plagued by occasional weak writing, weird decisions, and more importantly, bad timings. There's a shadow of a much better and stronger show that could've been, but in the end, that's not the case. Not saying that it's a bad season, because many times it was plain fun and entertaining. Particularly that 2-episodes crossover with "Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger" that helped established both teams to exist in the same continuity. Zyuohger just didn't feel as 'complete' as it could've been, unlike several previous seasons that managed to successfully nailed their story elements with wonders. Interestingly, at the same time, thanks to being somewhat underdeveloped, I certainly want to see these guys again. You know why? Because the way the show ended just opened up an entire possibility for a whole new season! Where humans and zyumans struggle to coexist in the same universe. One which unfortunately, we won't be seeing. At least not until these character 'return'...

Yep, of course we haven't seen the last of this team. Customary to their tradition, TOEI has already announced a special V-Cinema that will be released on June 28. Jugding from the official plot of "Kaettekita Doubutsu Sentai Zyuohger O-inochi Choudai! Chikyuu Ouja Ketteisen", I'm crossing my fingers that this IS the continuity I want to see. The show wasted the chance to explore the barriers between different races, and moreso, skipped the actual daily lives of the four Zyuman Zyuohgers in Zyuland with their family. So I hope this special sequel will deal with that unused plot. It won't be their Swan Song though. Some, if not all members would undoubtedly participate in the upcoming "Kamen Rider x Super Sentai: Chou Super Hero Taisen" movie. And just like last month, they most definitely will have a crossover movie too early next year. That Versus movie will be their final official (as in, not in guest-star capacity) foray in the Super Sentai franchise. And it might be an interesting one, since the next season takes place in a distant future. That's like, a completely different world and timeline, right? Here's hoping that means we'll be getting bigger and better adventures for the Zyuohgers soon!

Overall Score: 7,84 out of 10 NOTE: Overall score was accumulated from my Weekly Review scores. You can view a graph of those reviews to find out which episodes were the highlights and also the series lows.