#but i have a lot of complaints about seasons 9 through 11 | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

quartzroolz · 2 years ago

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Fuck it Rider runthrough rankings

welp, this is it. My magnus opus. Back in 2023, I decided it was a great idea to watch through every Heisei kamen rider season and keep this post as a little tribute to my journey. well, that fell appart, because I eventually decided that "oh, 25+ years of karate bugman isnt enough, let shoot for the full 50+". so this is it. my opinions on every season of kamen rider, ever, without exceptions, updated as I finish seasons. Original Description: Ok so, I have decided to go through kamen rider from start of heisei to end of heisei, in order. Kuuga to Zi-O. And I already Regret it but here goes a long form attempt at consolidating my feelings on this stupid fucking franchise. Currently Watching: Showa: 1971 (part 2: Nigo) Heisei: KIva Reiwa: Gavv

KAMEN RIDER (1971) EPISODE 1-13

Here it is. the one that started it all. so In part for digestibility (the original kamen rider series is 98 episodes long) and in part because of factors I will doubtless get into, I have made the decision to tackle 1971 as multiple parts. the main reason, aside from aforementioned digestibility, is that 1971 changes a lot over those nearly 100 episodes.

as it stands, episodes 1-13 are the bits of kamen rider which everyone who has watched the original series agree are great. this is because, put simply, its what the show was meant to be. those 13 episodes are the purest version of Shotaro Ishinomoris' vision for the character and the world.

And... yeah its really good. Like its shocking how good the series is off the bat, for something 50 years old at this point. The action is fun and mostly well filmed, and the sometimes herky-jerky techniques employed to sell the superheroics really work. Its also really violent. like its still a "kids show", I dont think I would be woried about younger people watching it even now, but like... people die pretty frequently and in a few cases quite gruesomely. the extent of how horrific it can be is undercut by the interesting and creative ways by how its chosen to be depicted but like... there are man-eating scorpions in this show that disintegrate people and its legitmatly pretty horrific, especially when put into the mindset and context of 1971 in japan.

thematically its on point too. so much of these episodes go to hongo dealing with the loss of humanity in his transformation into a cyborg. its genuinly effective and evocative. the tragedy of hurting a child when he goes to comfort them cannot be overstated.

maybe the one factor I think is potentially lacking is costume design on the kaijin, but I also acknowledge that we have been spoiled by modern techniques in that regard. for the time, most of them are pretty good and evocative with this designs. only really weak links are in the last couple episodes, especially Tokageron who is so clearly a case of "we need another episode to fill time, heres a half finished costume".

and... yeah, as to why they needed that extra episode and why I am only doing the first 13 episodes here and splitting 1971 into multiple parts. during these first 13 episodes, Hiroshi Fujioka, the actor playing takeshi hongo, was doing his own stunts, both in and out of the kamen rider suit. however, during filming for... probably episode 11 but I dont know if there is any conformation on that, a bad motorcycle accident took fujioka out of commission for an extended amount of time. episodes 11, 12 and 13 where completed using a combination of reused footage, and Takeshi Hongo doesnt even appear in person until the closing shots in 12 and 13. behind the scenes, this was taken as an oppertunity to heavily rework the show as well, as Kamen rider had been receiving complaints from parents on the content, which lead to changes in the next batch of episodes, 14-51, and overall the rest of the franchise moving forward.

overall... I mean its got to be a 9/10 on this doesn't it? its the purest, most unrefined version of an IP I love. its the bit that gets remade every time they decide to remake Ichigo. its the bit that The First and Shin draw on the most directly, and its probably the most foundational part of so much of the Henshin hero genre. and most importantly, ITS STILL GOOD. it is still worth watching, still worth checking out.

KUUGA (2000)

kuuga is the best season of Kamen Rider I have seen. Its not my favourite, but its basically as close to "Objectivly perfect" as this dumb bugman franchise gets.

the characters are likable, the plot is well structured, Godai and Ichijou are gay as hell and I love it, The Mystery works really well, the action is well choriagraphed and outright brutal on occasion (y'all who have seen this show know exactly the occasion I am talking about), and it is paced really well.

if I have to compalin about anything, and I probably do, yeah forms are spaced out a bit weird and if your watching in the modern age the gurongi are subtitled which might hurt your experience somewhat (It didnt for me but I can see an argument).

9/10, amazing show.

AGITO (2001)

I would like to give a solemn Appology to the agito stans: I dont like this show, and I honestly do not get why some people do. Yes, the suits are really cool with all of the mechanical stuff they can do, like agitos horns or Gills mouth, etc. but as for the actual Plot itself... its painfully slow, the mysery aspect is boring and poorly executed, and the show meanders around for the majority of its run.

Shoichi regains his memories breifly midway through the show, just to basically imediatly lose them again, delaying any actual story progression even further. Ryo Spends 4 episodes (a month IRL time) dead in a river, and once again it really goes no-where.

Now I do like G3. I think its hillarious that the G3 armour is litterally in the wrong show. I like Hikawa (even if hes just Diet coke Ichijo from kuuga) and I think that actually tying back the story of agito to Kuuga is cool and something I wish rider would do more.

I also think the show picks up significantly once another agito is introduced and the plot gets going. problem is at that point the majority of the season is already gone and potentially interesting character arcs and stories are speedran. whats there is good, I just wish it started earlier and lasted long.

3/10. sorry agito stans. glad you like this one, it aint for me.

Ryuki (2002)

Ryuki is the season of all time. its... kind of similar to agito, which is strange because I actually ended up liking this one. I think this works because its the first time Rider did a season where everyone, sans main Character Shinji Kide/Ryuki, is a massive prick, and that works because your going to see all of these characters die on screen so that helps soften the blow.

which is not to say that Ryuki suffers from unlikable characters, even the most detestable characters (exceptions of Gai and Ouja not withstanding) have moments which help humanise them.

pacing wise, yes, it kinda has the agito problem where the main plot happens all in one go right at the start and right at the end and the middle is mostly kinda filler, and I do think that if ryukis time had been used better we could have seen all 13 riders in the actual tv show, rather than relegating Femme, Ryuga and Verde to the Alternate ending movie, but its not a huge deal really.

also, the Mirror monsters almost certainly gave some japanese kids nightmares and I count that as a good thing. Mirror monsters, while their designs can be kinda so-so, are a wonderfully scary concept. Consider how often there are Mirrored or reflective surfaces in your day to day life. the extreme paranoia the concept conjures is wonderful

Final score, 7/10. Ryuki could do a lot better in some places (and was, in seasons like geats and also Dragon Knight or so I hear? IDK not watched dragon knight yet) but for what it is it is more than solid.

Faiz (555) (2003)

Faiz is one of the less talked about entries within the western sphere of the fandom... which is Fair. I think Faiz is an OK season but I did find myself tiring with it. the suits are rad but none of the characters ever really stuck, Powerups are often barely utilised which raises the question of why have them in the first place and like... Yeah IDK it just never really Gel for me.

the ending kind of comes out of no-where as well, plus I think (Spoilers) MURDERING A CHILD FOR SHOCK VALUE at the end is bad writing and was not very fun. Kiba becoming a major villain also felt forced as his fall from grace and redemption happen very quickly just do not feel congruent with his character up to that point.

I think my biggest Faiz Takeaway is the surprise that this is japans favourite season? this kind-of-just-ok entry into a franchise which has far better and more re-watchable entries? this?

(also this is not the fault of faiz but DO NOT FIND YOURSELF READING ORPHENOCHS AS A TRANS ALAGORY, WORST MISTAKE OF MY LIFE. I acknowledge that this is a me thing, it was almost certainly not what the writters where going for... but Damn Sweaty that aged.)

so its like a... 5/10? that feels right. am I maybe lowballing the ranking for the sake of a "haha kamen rider 555 is a 5 out of 10" joke? maybe but honestly I just did not feel this one.

Blade (2004)

Frankly all I can say is that blade sure is another Early Heisei series. I don't want that to come off as bad or negative, its not meant that way, but once you have watched from agito to here back to back you start to notice how repetitive things feel in terms of pacing and story.

not to say that anything about blade is actually that bad, however, I did end up quite liking this series even if the hostility between its main characters got really grating at times. like seriously guys, can we go 5 episodes without someone being labelled a traitor or evil?

also on negatives, Kenzaki is kind of a wet cloth of a protagonist. Hes not bad, I do like him, but Hes far from the most interesting MC the series has produced. luckily this is made up for with the supporting cast, all of whom are great characters. Tachibana and Hajime especially are compelling secondary Main characters and I did really want to see them happy.

on the subject of happy, the one thing that always has to come up in blade discussion is the ending, which while I pretty imediatly picked up on other ways the characters could have resolved it the second they found out about the whole "the joker cant be the last undead standing" thing (Mutsuki just mcfucking use remote on shima before you defeat the catagory King of diamonds, then you wouldnt have had to go through any of this shit) I do feel that, with how the series plays out, its ultimately the best ending the characters could have hopped for. its not perfect, but it means that everyone gets to live, and despite what I know about the post series novels, I do firmly beleive that, yes, one day Kenzaki would figure out a way to defy their fate.

oh and one other thing. I dont like Chalices design. or, rather, I guess, I do like it but it feels weird to find out that chalice is visually just the catagory ace of hearts undead despite looking nothing like any other Undead in the show. it kinda reaks of contrivance and I dont like it, but honestly its fine all things considered.

7/10. Good show, enjoyable, but god I want early heisei to stop repeating itself.

Hibiki (2005)

Oh Hibiki, I was so torn on how to talk about this fuckass seasons. Because, like... heres the thing. This should be easy. This should have been a 10/10. This season should have been the second coming of kuuga, and for 30 episodes it was... and then it happens.

Hibiki is infamous for its production history, with the entire creative team being fired and replaced around episode 30, with the new team being sent in by toei to make the show "more kamen rider". And thats the problem.

Hibikis first half is brilliant because it breaks so many series rules. Its different, its fresh, its so cool. The tone is so different from anything that came before. Being a rider in this season isn't a great thing, its a job. More than any other season Hibiki is a coming of age story, one where we watch the shows real main character, Tag-along kid Asumu, grow into an adult. The characters are charming and grounded. The world of Hibiki is steaped in a level of fantastical realism which sets it apart from anything else. Fights take place in the Forests and natural areas rather than cities and quarries. Its all just perfectly different enough to be unique

And its great. Its so good. Its near perfect. And then the writers change. and the show gets bad. its gets so bad that for me it tainted the first half of the show. gone is any of the creativity or freshness of the series. Now Hibiki feels like any other rider season. And thats what killed it for me. My response to Hibiki as a whole is driven purely by an emotional response to its last 18 episodes, but its a rough 18, and frankly and 18 I have no desire to ever experience again.

To give the second half its due, the Movie is pretty decent and the final episode actually kinda sticks the series's thematic landing despite the majority of the second half fumbling most aspects. I can believe that it ends how it was always going to, even if characters like Kiriya would not and should not have been there.

If you only watch episodes 1-30 (and the movie fuck it) then Hibiki is an easy 9.5/10. Top Tier season. But that's not Hibiki. Hibiki is the full 48+movie run. and that full run is, to me, and I am sorry to say this, a 1/10. Maybe 1.25 due to sticking the landing on the ending.

Writing about Hibiki makes me sad. I hate this season because I loved this season, and I just hope what comes after can get me past this massive blemish.

Kabuto (2006)

god finding a gif for this one was hard, given I am reliant on the tumblr gifs feature and most people seem to have been simping for the hell twins which like... fair tbh.

Kabuto is a very good season, working pretty heavily on a pure "cool" factor because like... yeah the kabuto riders are kinda inherently cool. cast off, as an idea and an in universe mechanic are amazing and the clock up idea is brilliant. this show, from 2006, made on the budget of, well, a kamen rider season, achieves some stunning speedster action sequences that surpass some higher budget productions (I am looking at the CW flash here, to be clear).

kabutos story is a little slapdash, its kinda all just happens at the end and there's not a huge build up but it also really doesn't matter. the cast is excellent and that carries the show. again, operative word here is "cool" and thats really all that matters.

all of that about it being "cool" said though... I think it suffers in hindsight. I am gonna ignore the potentially problematic aspects of the depiction of the Worms and the Native, "aliens as allegory" being a well documented minefield and to be fair Kabuto never really goes there. no I think the real hindsight problem is Geats. Because frankly for as good as Kabuto is, and it is good, Geats is "Kabuto, But better, and cooler". Its not really fair to look at it that way but like... that is how it feels. then again when it takes 18 years to do better than this I guess that is acheivement.

8/10. Souji Tendo is a Mary Sue (complimentary) and gods Favourite child. and he deserves it.

Den-O (2007)

you know the most frustrating part of watching a highly popular and loved season of TV? when it really is that good.

Den-O is revolutionary. Its lighter, its funnier, its more actively episodic, it more or less sets the tone and style which would later be picked up by W. its defiantly a prototype for that style, and theres still some of the more infuriating aspects of early heisei present here, but overall den-O is the first time I saw aspects of what I like In later kamen rider manifest in early heisei.

and Thats great, because it gives Den-O an identity, unlike Blade or Faiz, because even if I liked those seasons they where so samey. Den-O is fresh, its new, and its all carried by an extended cast of fun side characters.

the taros (and also Seig and Deneb) are great. They are all very simple, almost archetypical characters, but they all bring something fun to the group dynamic. obviously Momotaros is the standout, probably having the most defined Characterisation out of the bunch, but all of them are very enjoyable characters to watch and follow.

RYOTARO IS A GIRLFALIURE. HES GREAT. we need more cringe fail rider protagonists to balance out the borderline Mary sues like Tendo and Ace. but hes also a compelling MC and fun to watch.

the story does bog itself down a little right at the end and I do kinda wonder what was going on with some parts. its not that they are not explained but the ending is maybe a little quick to wrap up. still, theres a decade and a half of postseries to clear that up, which I am eagerly awaiting to watch.

8/10. Ore Sanjou indeed

W (DOUBLE) (2009)

I have like 3 go to series which I use to introduce new people to Rider, and the one I think I personally am Happy re-watching the most is W. Yes, its very episodic. Yes, becaue of this the background plot ends up getting resolved in 2 episodes ultimatly. Yes, Akiko can be really annoying sometimes. Yes. I know its not perfect. I do not care.

W is pure fun. It is one of the funniest seasons the show has to offer, and also one of the most heartfelt. The show can go from sidesplitting comedy to actual serious moments in a heartbeat and it manages this without once experiencing tonal whiplash. the entire cast is likeable, the story is light and not super high stakes but fun, the individual clients that the cast encounter are great, the Music SLAPS (nobodys perfect is an under-rated rider banger IMO, love that song), and the suits are immaculate (even if most of the riders are just W retools).

speaking of other riders, the side content here is A+ too, with the WXDecade movies W portion being a really solid explaination of the backstory and giving us time with the best kamen rider who unfortunatly doesnt have more screen time, and Gaia memories of fate is also just a good time, with a good set of villains and some really cool action.

also Phillip and shotaro are just funny. I love Wikipedia and crap sherlock holmes, they are great.

8.5/10. cant give better because it is not perfect but I love it.

OOO (2010)

OOO is a mess. Like, the plot changed 5 times behind the scenes kind of mess. like I hear that during the seasons development and even airing who the final boss was going to be was constantly shifting between Ankh, Date, Maki and the eventually Cut-save-for-one-canonically-questionable-movie Giru. This, like many things, I blame on Decade... because its all Decades fault. However, despite all that... yeah OOO is kinda good innit?

OOO still stands as the, objectively, best execution of the Mix-and-match Rider gimmick. OOO does not have super forms in the traditional sense, everything is just a variation on the base form, and the closest to super forms that you do get, the combos, are not very reliable long term. also, what forms the character has access to change constantly through the series based on what Medal Eiji has, meaning that you never get OOO at their full power. hell the series ends with Eiji with almost no medals, making them (debatably) the weakest they are in the whole series. its a very interesting dynamic and its something I wish would be done more often in rider. (Geats does get close and I applaude that.)

Also... you know, its just well written. I love all of the characters, Ankh is an amazing foil to Eiji, Goto and Date make fun Secondary Riders, Mr Kogami is Amazing and I love that they keep bringing the character back in unrelated media, best part of super hero senkei fight me.

yeah. OOOs good. I wish I could be more analytical with this particular season but I cant. my brain does not allow it. 8/10. great season.

Fourze (2011)

how the fuck do I talk about Fourze? Its a great season, don't get me wrong, but I think its the most uncomplicatedly "good season" I have ever seen. like its just good. its not good in and interesting way, its not good in a way that is worth talking about in any depth, its just Good.

and theres my problem, because I dont like that, I really want to have thoughts on these seasons because otherwise... what am I doing here, wasting my time writing about funny Bugmen on the hellsite. but really, fourze is just good. its got good characters, its got a good story, its got good vibes, its just good in a very uncomplicated way.

my biggest criticism, which isnt even really that much of a criticism, is because the show has to get through 40 astroswitches, a good number either never re-occur during the show or are just kinda weird and pointless in their function outside of their specific focus period. But even then thats so minor because the 40 astroswitches are never really that much of a focus and also, once again, the weird and whacky ones are just fun.

9/10. I wish I could say more, but its fourze

Amazons (season 1) (2016)

it has occurred to me after finishing Geats I should probably include the oddities in this post/run-through because even if they are not "Main seasons" they are certainly worthy of discussion (and also I do intend to include showa here at some point, even if I am not watching it yet. who knows, by the time you are reading it maybe the showa shows are included). they give us a glimpse at ideas and characters which cant be explored normally in rider, and grant potentially interesting re-interpretations of age old characters.

with all that said... I don't really care for Amazons. season 1 specifically, I have not yet finished season 2 and it was removed from amazon prime so there goes one of the few ways to legally enjoy this franchise.

on its own its fine, like I dont think this is a particuarly bad attempt at "kamen rider but adult, violent and edgy" but I do feel that ultimatly thats all that Amazons really has. its unbearable dower and dark and features so few really likeable characters. I get why its so violent, the violence was the defining feature of original Amazon and so of course with an adult re-imagining you lean into that, but it still feels really tryhard, and more than anything, just miserable.

I might come back to this particular entry at some point because Honestly I think season 1 warrants a re-watch from me and maybe I will get it more or care more for what its doing. but all that said, 7/10. its fine. if you want Violent rider this is violent rider. I just dont feel like its that much more than that.

Zero-One (2019)

Zero One was my first season, and its a pretty well loved season by the wider community. its one of my 3 go-to "if you want to get into Kamen Rider, Start here" seasons, and its the one I point too most often when that question comes up because its the most recent, and therefore has the best VFX of any of my go-tos.

so when I say that I fucking hate this season, that might come as a surprise. if I hate it, why do I recomend it?

well its simple really. Zero-One has major, Ground up Writing and stakes issues which makes it, at best, a very frustrating watch.

Death is meaningless. most of the characters who die are AIs who are revived in the very next episode with no cost, and remembering everything that happened to them prior to their death. only 1 character death, in the whole show, Sticks, and thats Wazu (I will be using Izu, Azu and Wazu because Is, As and Was would get confusing), and that episode set is ultimatly kinda unimportant and Wazu's death is forgotten, never to be bought up again.

the ending is a mess, mostly due to covid causing constant changes to the series plans, but those final few episodes are rough and I wish that the series had ended with the Ark as the main Badguy, rather than having Aruto Heelturn and then making Horobi the final boss.

also, and I try not to bring up post-series in this because its broadly unimportant, but zero-ones post season content is utter dogshit. the movie is ok, although reviving Izu not only retroactivly makes the series ending dumber but also effectively means new Izu was murdered and her body was jacked by old izu (WHICH THIS IS NEVER EXPANDED UPON, IT JUST HAPPENS), but what the hell was zero-one Others? yeah, sure, just kill off all of the interesting characters who could have had really interesting post-series stories, Lets character assassinate everyone in this show, and then lets also kill off the secondary rider in the cruellest way possible because fuck you I guess. No I am not over Fuwa, I will never be over Fuwa, but even more so I am not over Ikazuchi and Naki. those two where Criminally underused in the show, but now we will never get a chance to get more time with them. Thanks toei.

with all that having been said... IDK, Zero one is fine. its far from the worst season I have seen, and I do still recomend it as a starting point for the franchise as a whole because its a good "onboarding" point if you will. its about as basic as a rider season can get.

Despite everything I have said: 5/10

Saber (2020)

Saber is also really bad, but kind of in the same way that fourze is really good. Its bad but I don't really have much to say about it. by all accounts, it would have worked much better as a sentai season rather than rider given the heavy team focus and a core Red-Yellow-Blue Main trio.

Saber is largely forgettable. its plot meanders around, its characters exist, and its individual story arcs tend to just happen. its not a very interesting series, and I think that really its problem. if it was as bad as it is but in an interesting way, i would probably prefer it because at least I would get that it was trying something, but really the Series is just kind of bland.

However, its not completely pointless. The henshin jingles and standby loops are A+ tier, Special shoutouts going to Slash. Desast, while he does nothing most of the season and his existance is confusing, is a fun character and I am glad he is back in recent media (although I... haven't watched any of it yet, maybe it sucks). and, of course, the Crossover Movie with Zenkaiger is Excelent. you do not have to watch saber, but you owe it to yourself to watch that film. its a wonderful, heartfelt love letter to both franchises and I love it.

but in all... saber kinda bad. I think the biggest example of why is found in Durandal, who is introduced as this big problem... but then the moment Touma figures out his gimmick hes now nothing. while this is the biggest example, its kinda an inherent repeating problem for the whole show.

2/10. not 1 because it has some good aspects... but ultimatly I would rather be angry at a season than bored with it.

Revice (2021)

So its... kinda a catchphrase of mine to say "Revice is fine, y'all are just mean" but also like... I do Get why some people dont like it. the second half can feel strange as compared to the first, Vice is a very Abrasive character to have around for every episode, and a lot of its best aspects are in side content.

but like... man I like revice. I like its themes of Freedom VS saftey, I like how it handles the aspect that being a rider pretty universally sucks for all of its characters. I like how Morally ambiguous the majority of the cast are. I like how no-one is treated as irredeemable, even if some of them are.

and mostly I like Ikki and Vice. this season lives or dies for you based on if you like the two characters at the center of it. all of the awesome suits and interesting villains mean nothing if your main characters are not likeable. and I think these two work. they bounce off of each other well and I really like the sort of broadly unstated fact that vice is all of the parts of Ikki which Ikki rejects. Ikki is humble and selfless to a fault, mostly quite and reserved, while vice is loud and narcissistic and energetic. I think their dynamic works really well.

it also plays into a theme of the season which I really enjoy, the Idea that the characters inner demons are the parts of themselves that they reject and that they ultimately have to come to terms with those parts of themselves. by the end of the series, Ikki is a bit more like vice, and is much more comfortable with the "Vice" parts of himself (even if he doesnt know why because of tragedy and heartbreak). In comparison, the other igurashis have done the same. Sakura is much more comfortable with the parts of herself she considered weak, while not letting that over ride her kung-fu Girlboss attitude. Daiji has come to terms with his Middle-child angst and insecurities. and Genta has come to terms with the mistakes of his youth and is looking to grow past them.

revice is not perfect, its storytelling can be a mess sometimes, its barely a crossover/anniversary season, the last 4 episodes feel more like Vcines than actual episodes of the show... but Damn it Revice meant something to me. this was the first season I watched as it was airing, but even regardless it stands out to me on how well handled this was. I have yet to really dive in on post series and god I hope they dont fuck it up like they did with zero one... but For me, Revice is special.

8/10. Revice is Fine. Y'all are just mean

Geats (2022)

Kamen Rider Geats is... something else. I am writing this literal seconds after finishing the final episode, because I have known what I want to say about this season for a long time but after seeing its ending just... wow.

Put simply: Geats is the first time (as far as I have seen) since Kuuga that the show has reached this level of pure, technical "greatness". Not since Kuuga has the writing been this good, the suits this good, the fights this good. and remember, I consider Kuuga to be the best season this show has done. Geats is that good.

its rich, its deep, its beautifully shot and choreographed, Its characters are layered and interesting. Geats is a tour-de-force in terms of this franchise. I thought revice was going to be a hard act to follow but geats blew it out of the water.

I do want to stress that while I consider Geats to be up there in terms of quality, I don't necessarily enjoy it as much as other seasons. Reminder that Enjoyment and "objective" quality are frequently two different things, but I would be lying if I said that I did not also still love this season.

also Geats says eat the rich. I will not elaborate further but if you have seen the show you know what I mean.

9/10. only losing a point because the disaster arc kind of never went anywhere

Shin Kamen Rider (2023)

fuck it this counts. As of Writing this part, I have not actually seen the original 1971 Kamen Rider series. I wholly intend to some day, I just haven't gotten around to it. so please bare in mind that some stuff I have to say about this movie may just be accurate to what that show is like.

now I am going to leave the Pacing of the film alone as far as criticism goes. even though Shin deviates heavily from the source material, it is still trying to adapt the broad strokes and tone of a 90-odd episode TV show from the 70s into under 3 hours. Plus, this is nothing new for the Shin Japan Heros films, Shin Ultraman also suffered from this.

what I will criticize is the fight scenes. Hot take but like... Geats was better. a TV show with a fraction of the budget and half the development time has better fight scenes than the big budget movie. so much of the action, especially in the first half, is weirdly edited and lacks cohesion. this does pick up towards the end, and, yes, I cheered in delight when Takeshi and Ichimonji went sicko mode on the shocker riders. like audible yell of "YEAH!" chear, but again those first few fights are weird and not great to watch.

beyond that honestly pretty major criticism, the film is very good. its kind of melodramatic and dower a lot of the time but given its specifically aiming for the tone of those 14 episodes of 1971, from what I know that's fine, that's how those episodes went. Plus, I am not going to say it isnt effective. I cried, I cheered, a good time was had by all.

This is not my favourite piece of Kamen rider media. honestly I dont know If I will revisit it for a long time. it lacks a lot of what I enjoy in this franchise. that said, this is a phenomenal work. I respect if for what it attempts, and enjoy it regardless of my aversion to the style. 9/10. Kamen rider in its purest, most raw, most uncut form.

Gotchard (2023)

Geats was always going to be a tough act to follow, so when I say that Gotchard is kinda mid in comparison to its predecessors know that I still think its good. Gotchard is, for better and for worse, a lighter season. its not taking itself too seriously, its here for a good time and it knows that. its perfectly average as a rider season and thats Fine.

if there is one thing which gotchard does excel at, its suit designs. I love Evocative Kaijin and the Malgam are damn evocative. the additional arms, the look of being made out of strips of metal. this of course continues to the main antagonists, the Abyssal kings. this is not to deminish the riders designs, gotchards use of chrome is striking and valvarad and Majade are both very solid designs in their own right. I think the only real costume miss is the final big bads design with his fucking HUGE tits, like holy shit Glion calm down

oh yeah, and Majade. the first Girl secondary rider. I wish she did more tbf, Rinne is very important to the story and yet also feels sidelined alot, but she is a historically important character and a big step on the way to a Girl MC for the series.

Aside from that... yeah Gotchard sure is a kamen rider season. big up for its destinction of only introducing secondary riders at roughly the mid-point, it has been a long time since there wasnt 2 riders basically from day one. also uh... the ending is kinda underwhelming and they very much fridge all of the abyssal sisters with the half-hearted promise of "oh we will revive them in the post series its fine" which is super dumb. Did lachesis really go through all that just to die as part of Spanners character arc? Big cringe.

Gotchard gets a 6 out of 10. pure average, but average is fine and I think that if you want a fun season of kamen rider you cant go wrong with Gotchard.

Gavv Section Coming once Gavv is done and not a second sooner.

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naivesilver · 2 years ago

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Oh, and of course, the 'free space' ask. Pick out three questions (from either ask game) of your choosing and three ocs to answer them with 🥰 THAT or maybe number 38 for a handful of them?

I mean I can do BOTH, can't I ☺️☺️☺️💓💓💓

OC Ask Game

Picture OC Ask Meme

9.What is one universe/story an OC would fit in to besides the one they live in?

Grace would be the ideal protagonist for a story like The Haunting of Hill House/Bly Manor, because honestly? She wouldn't be so out of place in a mansion full of ghosts with a candelabra in hand, since it's already most of her life anyway.

11.What’s one canon character all of you OCs LOVE? One they all HATE?

The person they hate is so easy I shall only describe her - blue clothes, magic wand, terribly smug face - but the one they love...honestly, they all think that Emma is THE SHIT. Nova is good and Regina is super cool, but many kids have a sort of complicated relationship with either or both of them. Emma, though? Emma is a near-permanent fixture in some of their lives, she helped others, and a few got reunited with their families because she was out Savior-ing. She'd probably be all of their "one phonecall"s from the police station if she weren't already the sheriff.

33.Which OC has the most genre awareness? Which OC has the least?

It depends what one means with "genre awareness". The genre they think they are in? Plucky modern fantasy that alternates comedy and tragedy and the comfort of domesticity? Pierrot is the most aware of them all, because he notices the wacky rules their life follows, with Eugene as a close second because...he's Eugene. But the genre they're actually in? Well. Currently, none of them. Pinocchio during his stay in Camelot, on the other hand....

The least awareness belongs to Fabian, either way. He doesn't give a shit about the grand scheme of things, so long as he can keep playing Super Mario Maker.

AND, for a great final round, 38. Drop a fun fact about your OC!

(In no particular order):

Igor doesn't like showing up in photos a lot, but he has pictures of Twinkle everywhere - itty bitty girl with missing front teeth, elementary school graduation, birthday party with her friends, everything. He's the kind of parent who puts their kid's most recent school picture in a frame to see how much they've grown, honestly.

you know that thing Emma does in later seasons where she just. Barges into Archie's office and flops dramatically onto his couch? Pinocchio definitely does that, though he probably texts Archie a couple minutes beforehand, just in case - I mentioned it in an earlier reply, okay, but sometimes he does need to recharge. Archie doesn't mind, mostly because hey, after the absolute HELL both of his former charges put him through, a teenager quietly laying on the carpet and cuddling his dog? Piece of cake.

Coppelia does ice skating and her main complaint about the Dark Curse is that it put them all in a town with limited athletic prospects.

Mignon's family (both bio and adoptive) have roots in the Land Without Color, but she has no plans to ever return there.

Marco behaves around Tortilla the turtle just as any other dad who originally said they didn't want a pet does - he spoils her and addresses her very politely, to Leona's fond exasperation.

speaking of which, final one: the boys always treat Leona for Mother's Day, i.e. making her breakfast and getting her a gift, but they also usually deliver a little card to Nova, and she cries. Every. Time.

#bewilderedmoth #ask meme #thousand problems verse #court of misfits #the outfielders #thank you for all of this these kids are important to me but I'd have never dared to imagine them being so important for you too

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anosci · 11 months ago

Text

Media Thread 2024

im making a list of media ive watched/played/etc this year with brief thoughts. its going to be far less featured than my music list, but still a bit long.

list below the cut

January

1/ Portal Revolution (2024) i went in expecting a very polished set of portal 2 styled test chambers. i was NOT expecting a story that captured my imagination very good experience

2/ The Ancient Magus' Bride (2017) every review i saw for this said it's bad. huh??. sure it's not perfect but i quite enjoyed it. a bit soft, a bit atmospheric, a bit girly. amazing job actually drawing me into a british fantasy setting.

3/ Violet Evergarden (2018) at worst, it feels a bit like its on rails, maybe eager to lose focus. but overall i rather enjoyed the story of the most traumatized girl in the world slowly learn to be human. idk if its "65th best anime ever" good, but… a lovely ride!

February

4/ Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit (2010) i heard this was somewhere between nfsmw 2005 (which i love) and burnout paradise (which i just Couldn't get into). i heard correctly. i fell in love with this. with the semi-open world. the daynight cycle and weather. and with drifting somehow! (but mostly weaving through traffic.) captivated. also worth mentioning: the cop mode was an interesting variation in gameplay. not my fav, but good.

March

5/ Titanfall 2 (2016) finally playing this and.. yeah I see why ppl were comparing it to HL2. I'm more "nodding along with this assessment" than feeling it, tho… idk. it's good but it doesn't resonate with me. the movement, though! that slaps! is this… schmoovement?

6/ Need for Speed: Heat (2019)

this was hard to get into, specifically because the pacing was just kinda... wack(?) for me anyway. plus a lot of other small little spots of friction. but it was never enough to turn me away (mw2012, burnout paradise)

by the end of the "storyline" races, i found myself having a good time. maybe a mixed bag, but well worth the 3 dollars or w/e it was.

April

May

7/ Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai (2018)

a damn good bait and switch. i feel the focus got a bit wobbly in the middle, but i found myself enjoying the overarching exploration of Puberty Syndrome nonetheless. i do not like tsundere but this was played honestly enough that i evaded cringing. the show is an interesting web of relationships centered around a bit of a straight shooter. i think it worked nicely, though i fear it wasn't focused enough to truly stick with me. i cant help but imagine a heavily trimmed version with just the first and final arc. that would've blown some socks.

8/ Rascal Does Not Dream of a Dreaming Girl (2019)

yeah the show was good enough that i watched the movie immediately after. (im not as interested in the 2nd movie tho.) i feel like i chugged a pint of stupid juice before watching this but i still followed the key plot points i think. is madoka genre? there's something satisfying about this explanation of the loose anime thread, though i think this might've worked better as The Anime (RE: trimming etc). a bit of kudos for giving some weight to "it was all just a dream"

9/ Kaguya-sama: Love is War (2019) this show is at its best when it's needlessly dramatic and convoluted. sometimes, it's brilliant. but, sadly, it also wants to stay in the episodic high school romcom genre, complete with serious pining. maybe that part's ok but it's surely not for me. i do not trust this to stay fresh for 3(?????) seasons.

June

10/ Dungeon Meshi (2024) i have the opposite of a soft spot for high fantasy stuff. hate it. this reeks of it. and yet, whenever im watching it, i am FULLY drawn into the world with a sense of wonder and anticipation. there were so many characters and all of them were delightful. my only real complaints were that, especially towards the end, the pacing was wack. feels like they chopped it to bits for the anime... and for what? a つづく? man... ill probably actually grab the manga.

July

11/ Hitoribocchi no OO Seikatsu (2019) it's cute before it's anything else. i was drawn in by a very relatable protagonist that literally has a panic attack first episode, but… that didn't last. I got 3 episodes in before deciding that the show isn't for me. the person that this show is for, though, i think is in for a treat. nako is alright.

12/ Ride Your Wave (2019)

very…. summer. maybe a little too bright for me (not literally but. vibe. ily.) i somehow missed the "supernatural" tag and wasn't sure how grounded to be, which was fun lol everything is connected in a satisfying way, but something didn't quite click for me. not sure what it was. or wasn't. i'd still call it a good watch

13/ Weathering with You (2019)

I saw a review of this that went as follows: "discout kimi no na wa". that's… almost right, but really reductive. it didn't hit as hard for me, but carried an atmosphere all of its own. i think its biggest weakness was deploying the damsel in distress trope for the climax. absolutely throwing away a lot of character development... second weakness was not leaning into the supernatural angle, but I also think that's 100% a matter of taste. I think the two could have been solved in one stone, but meh... aside from that: vibes were off the charts, and the art direction wall to wall great. every frame a painting etc

August

14/ Mother 3 (2006)

for the first time since November 2008 (apparently), I decided to revisit Mother 3.... via Lauren the Flute's Let's Play. I remember way back then that I thought M3 was a little weaker than EB for me. Revisiting it has solidified that opinion for me: It's super strong at some parts and really weak at others, to my taste at least. For the most part, everything I remembered as "my fav bits" from 16 years ago are my favorite bits today. To comment on Lauren's playthrough specifically: at glance, she seemed to be the most emotionally invested. and. yeah! It wasn't the best stream setup, but it was the most resonant. another LP of hers may appear here lol

September

October

15/ Beastars (2019)

Furry anime? "Yes", but the nontherian kind. Zootopia ass. This immediately had me suspicious from episode 1. But then, I kept trying to see if I was wrong. and the show kept delivering some fascinating symbols! the hype was back! and then it threw all of that away. "you were reading it backwards the whole time dumbass". augh. if I hadn't done that, I think it'd be an ok watch. what kills me is that some of the plot threads here would make an INCREDIBLE anime. but they withered away from a lack of focus as some really annoying threads were added instead. also the icky biological essentialism. what a terrible aftertaste. :(

props for having (half of) a really good sex scene though i guess? I was kinda impressed.

16/ Keep Your Hands off Eizouken! (2020)

what a delightful nod to not just the art of animation, but the practice of it. the shitty parts. the deadlines. the overworking. said with reverance!

each of the characters were interesting foils for each other, though to varying degrees. Kanamori became my favorite. she took the role of manager, a role thats somewhat antagonistic usually. yet in here she looked like a badass mob boss, fighting for the creatives, brandishing huge clever strength.

lovely show!

November

17/ BNA (2020)

it is ASTOUNDING how much more I enjoyed this than Beastars. I can't help but make the comparison since they're kind of companion shows: 2020 furry anime. but. god damn.

treating beastmen (furries) as a separate class, like humans with "superpowers", did wonders for the plot.

I think both BNA and Beastars tried to show a rigid system of thinking and say "it doesn't have to be this way. tear down the barriers.", but BNA actually pulled it off. the bad guy became a Big Bad obsessed with racial (species-ial?) purity, whos downfall was literally in mixing blood.

what im saying is BNA is the pro-choice + antifa version of Beastars.

watching this was fun because it was well structured. i picked up plot elements from their foreshadowing. fun! animation great. idk. all around good time, even if i dont think itll stick with me. fun watch!

18/ Haibane Renmei (2002)

I had an itch to revisit this again. it's a flawed masterpiece. and the flaws are all petty things. budgetary stuff. i wish the soundtrack were longer and the shots larger and the folly higher quality. as-is it feels like peering through a foggy window into a beautiful garden.

but MAN it's a good damn garden.

the finale is a bit too "hardcore action" than it needs to be but every other aspect is just. a delight.

i realized this time that my initial reaction to the show was probably heavily influenced by these surface level complaints. "i wish the soundtrack were less orchestral" i probably said at the time. but now i think it should've been more. i can't imagine it veering too far away from what it has. mushishi has its sound and haibane has this sound. iykyk

19/ Charge!! Cromartie High School (The Movie) (2005)

the live action adaptation of the manga, on kenny lauderdale's rec. it's very...... low budget and 2005-core. but despite that, it does a great job at being CLEAR with its delivery of jokes and information. clear hilights for me: the hijacker scene (until the ***ism) and the "getting the team back together by walking towards the camera" scene. also the drugs scene lmao.

there were quite a few jokes and gags that misfired or just didnt work at all, but that might be to-be-expected for a film like this. a fun watch as a fan of the source material, but only just.

20/

#media thread2

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justsalpals · 3 years ago

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I should be sleeping, but the post-special MisMag thoughts wanna come out NOW. So forgive my late night incoherency as I type out my thoughts in whatever order they come to me.

1. I would pay money to see art of K's legendary Tad Party outfit. They are gorgeous.

2. Any pronoun K my beloved, I will continue to project my entire gender on you

3. I can't remember the exact context, but there was a moment where someone called Evan a man and he said something like "not for long!" Which I'm sure was just an offhand joke in context that meant something else but also: trans!femme Evan my beloved. (Edit post rewatch: this was when Evan made the wild decision to magically track Tad by scent, to which Aabria argued "You're a man!" and his response was "For now!" Clearly a joke but I stand by what I said.)

4. Axelby screentime!!!!!

5. Dr. Boodle is NOT the headmaster after all, which I do like (even if it's a retcon) if this is going to be a continuing story. If things ended season 1 it would've be a nice setting detail for the ending, but this feels more appropriate for both the world that's been established and also for interesting plot moving forward.

6. Mismag timeline my beloathed

7. Evil things suddenly pausing to go "Hey Sam" is now my favorite running bit

8. Pleased and relived that they're actually calling Khan her preferred name now. I'm sure last season it was a mix of forgetfulness and trying to lean into Jammer's nickname angle, but it always set really wrong that they had that whole touching scene and then called her Cleo the rest of the season

9. I ended season 1 completely loving Jammer and Khan's entire dynamic, and mildly distasteful of Sam and Fergus (in that fun "oh they're Not Lasting way" rather than an actual story complaint). The special Immediately made both their relationships feel Doomed in a hilarious, believable, and bittersweet way.

10. In season 1 K was goth and edgy at first, and then overcorrected into Pink Princess territory, and then evened out into a more true to herself middle ground. I adore that Evan went through a kinda similar, though not as obvious, journey. At first he was overly awkward and constantly backpedaling, desperate to fit in and not be weird about his background or literal demons. Then after having his friends for a few months, he kinda absorbed in their personalities and actively seemed to reflect back and match the energy of the others. Now he's more evened out: more confident in himself and outspoken, not shying away from his shitty background especially when he believes that he has helpful knowledge to bring to the table.

11. Similar note: hyper vigilant Evan, ready to commit atrocities at a moments notice for his friends, is so damn important to me

12. I am once again back on my poly pilot program bullshit. Sir I'm love them.

13. If Brennan doesn't tell me what Evan got for the rest of the pilot kids I'm going to Scream. Directly in his ear. For an extended period of time.

14. The little details implying Evan and the nurse meet a lot <3 Evan has a stash of tiny cokes and an adult he can trust

15. Jammer's echo location. Just. That whole bit.

16. Sam wearing a slutty Mrs. Claus outfit, stabbing a horrible cryptid with a broken whiskey bottle, streamed live to thousands (if not millions) of watchers. Icon. Queen shit. I am free on Thursday please call me if you are available on Thursday when I am free.

17. I got you Fortnite coins

#misfits and magic #dimension 20 #mismag spoilers

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anarchyforcanon · 3 years ago

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I have a lot of deeply opinionated issues with Gabriel's characterization and arc throughout season 13 so I thought I would create a post compiling them:

I was never happy about how he was captured. The explanation of Loki's children selling him out because they blamed Gabriel for the death of their grandfather was such a reach. I know in mythology, the Norse gods were never the most rational, but Lucifer wasn't present in Hammer of the Gods because he was after Gabriel, so I'm not sure how you can blame him. The second part of this I don't like, is how was Asmodeus able to capture him? We saw in season 13 that Gabriel was able to kill Asmodeus without even being fully powered, so how was Asmodeus able to get the drop on him as only a Prince of Hell? Another issue with the whole capture, what made Asmodeus believe he could survive pumping Archangel grace through his veins? It felt like another reach of just trying to "underpower" Gabriel to then show how powerful he truly was except they didn't...

I'm not a fan of how they made Gabriel almost satirical to the plot. I've made a post about how Lucifer's characterization for seasons 11+ was canon to his Hallucifer personality instead of his actual season 5 personality but this same character mistake can be drawn for Gabriel as well. Gabriel's personality seemed more reminiscent of Castiel's hallucination in season 9? created by Metatron instead of his personality from season 2-5. Maybe this is because he didn't have much screen time in the early seasons to fully flesh out his character compared to season 13, but a lot of Gabriel's actions he made in s13 just rubbed me the wrong way, almost as if the writers had written a more fan favorited personality for him.

This is my biggest complaint; his trashed character arc. There was numerous references to Gabriel's growing importance to the balance of Supernatural that would've surpassed his presence from just season 13. It started with him killing Loki and stating that he was giving up his title as the Trickster. Then we had a scene of Naomi telling Castiel about the lights going out in Heaven as there wasn't any angels powering it and this lead to Castiel alerting her of Gabriel being alive - that he could possibly help. And we had another conversation between Castiel and Gabriel in the AU about the same topic, with Castiel convincing him to return to Heaven after they leave the AU. All this should've lead to Gabriel reclaiming his title as an Archangel and him becoming the new ruler of Heaven, as Lucifer, Raphael and Michael had done before him. Instead we got Gabriel being killed in a piss poor fight to AU Michael. It seems the writers of Supernatural could never understand that dying as a "hero" isn't actually an interesting way to go.

I love Gabriel, he was one of the highlights of season 13 in my opinion but the way every aspect of him was written for it will always be one of the reasons it's my least favorite season.

#this isnt a good post but i need somewhere to be upset #can you tell this wasnt proof read #gabriel spn #supernatural #you revolve around me

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parachutingkitten · 4 years ago

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Y'all suck at dissecting Kai's character, so I guess I have to do it.

And I'm not even a Kai stan. He's a bottom tier ninja for me, which I guess means you can trust me, cuz I'm not biased, but also why am I the one doing this? I don't know about y'all, but recently on my dash, the method by which Kai fans try to make him sound good is... saying the writers hate him, ignore him, and that he isn't written well? Which... I mean there is a little bit of truth to, but like yikes guys, is this the best you got? Kai is a wonderful character with plenty of attention from the writers, a meaningful piece of the cast when put in secondary rolls, fairly consistent character writing with actual progression and valuable qualities that help the team without having to be the smart one- despite what some posts might tell you.

Let's get one thing cleared up: Ninjago isn't the best written show. By high level Hollywood standards, most the character arcs are kinda weak or too heavy handed, character consistency can be iffy, and most things serve the plot rather than the characters. There is no character you can point to and say "wow, this character is written so well! No complaints!" Nya and Jay were butchered by their weird love plot, Cole's one season doesn't actually give him an arc, Zane's been nothing but the robot numbers guy for like 10 seasons now, and Lloyd seems to be incapable of doing anything but relive the same one piece of dad angst for depth. Sorry, it's true. All the characters suck when you look at it from a large scale writing perspective. So when I say Kai is well written, I mean by ninjago kids show standards- cuz that's the scale we're working on. No, you couldn't drop Kai into a well written drama, but as far as ninjago goes... he's got a lot going for him, and by no means is he the biggest victim of poor writing.

(fair warning, wall of text below)

The title is a bit disingenuous. There are plenty of good Kai character break downs. What I am presenting here is a more positive perspective. On the whole, I will tend to give the writers the benefit of the doubt, and credit for what they do right writing is hard guys. That's what I'm doing here. I don't see much sense in getting mad the writers on behalf of Kai, or any other character. Ninjago is a simplistic ensemble show that works because of the identifiable simplicity of its main characters with some deeper layers hidden underneath if you keep watching. They've given us a damn good show with some damn enjoyable characters, so here are some criticisms I feel are a little flawed:

First, let's get the 'focus' thing out of the way. Apparently there are people saying Kai doesn't have a season yet? Which... what? I mean, I get that the pilots aren't a full season, the first two seasons, though he is the central protagonist, aren't "Kai seasons" as we've come to define ninja focus seasons, season 7, though he gets majority focus, he shares with his sister. But like... did y'all just forget about season 4? You know, the season where he had the title card, was on the box sets, got the love interest, and the majority of the A-plot? not to mention it's the best season don't @ me Like... if season 4 isn't a Kai season, I can make a damn good argument that season 3 isn't a Zane season, and I doubt anyone wants to go down that rabbit hole. I really can't wrap my head around this one. And I get that the fandom hates season 11 for some reason, but like you can't just pretend it doesn't exist. Kai has a consistent arc across 30 episodes in which he takes his powers for granted, loses them, and learns that, not only does he have value within the team without them, but that his element is intrinsically a part of him that he reclaims, bringing them back more powerful than ever, and with new respect for them. That's one of the most solid arcs in the whole series- the location is even thematically connected to his element. That's some good stuff right there! (Quick plug for season 11 if you haven't watched it in a while. Give it a rewatch, you might be pleasantly surprised)

Not to mention the writers give him fun side stuff all the time. Lots of fears of tech and water to overcome, a deep protective streak with Lloyd, becoming a chancellor, having a true potential actually relevant to the plot as a whole, blacksmith responsibilities, befriending dragons, hanging out with his dad. Not to mention actual focus stuff we haven't talked about yet, like his whole "my dad is evil" phase, and his "I might be evil" phase with him and Skylor. And on top of that, even when he doesn't have an explicit side plot, he's always just a fun and dynamic side character to make jokes or give exposition.

Now, into character stuff. Let's start with Kai's hot headed-ness. Some people say he's been loosing this quality, and I will admit, that's true! But those that claim this makes him inconsistent... I strongly disagree. In early seasons, Kai's temper would lead him to snap at his friends or make stupid decisions that set the team back (see episode 2 Zane freak out)- these are bad things. These are character flaws, yes? Now, in newer seasons, people say that he's inconsistent, cuz sometimes he'll be hot headed, and sometimes he won't. I'd say, this is exactly how being hot headed... works? It flares up without warning, and as an individual gets control of it, it'll pop up less and less often because they're channeling it into productive things - like say directing the anger towards an enemy (see season 11 end freak out). Kai has gained control of a character flaw, and though it still pops up on occasion, the fact that it's a once in a while kind of thing speaks to his growth. I have a little brother who has this exact personality, and watching him grow up, I can tell you, this is how it is. He used to snap all the time, and he still does sometimes, but much less frequently, because he's a more mature person with better control of his emotions. This is a good thing. This is overcoming personal flaws. This is progression we're seeing.

And while you're hyper focused on this one aspect of him, things like his cocky confidence haven't changed a bit. I mean, that season 3 bit between him and Pixal, and his season 11 "fire maker" streak have the exact same energy. You can not convince me otherwise.

Another adjacent quality that hasn't been dampened is Kai's impulsiveness. This can be a good quality of his, he'll get into a fight without thinking, getting the jump on the enemy. Good stuff. But, this has become such a well defined trait of Kai's that it has been used in a comedic capacity. This is what happens when a character is extremely consistent to the extent that both the audience and the characters in universe would be able to predict their actions. Kai's impulsivity used to be a more serious quality that put himself and others at risk, and was a big power move whenever he did something rash, but it's become such a staple of the show that it's now being used for comedy. That isn't Kai's impulsivity going away, that's Kai's impulsivity being recontextualized for the sake of the show. The season 9 "Who's stupid enough to jump on that thing" isn't a joke at the expense of Kai just for being dumb, it's a joke at Kai's being so predictably impulsive that everyone already knows he'll be the one to put himself in an insane amount of danger without thinking twice (you know, something stupid that might get him killed). But because in this instance, the danger is warranted, this is bravery. It's a complement to his character- it's what ends up defeating the colossus. Why are some people so bothered by this joke?

Oh right, cuz for some reason people want to peg Kai as the smart one? Look, Kai isn't stupid, none of the ninja are. All of them have smart moments (all of them have dumb ones too) and Kai can certainly handle himself, but "smart" is definitely not one of his defining characteristics- I think some people are confusing smart for his actual strength. Connected to his impulsivity, Kai has very good simplistic instincts. He sees the big picture and looks at the most surface level solution- which when the situation calls for it, that does indeed make him smart. But the same logic that led him to think "This snake has a glowing target on its head, lets hit it" also led him to think "I'm in a video game, therefore I am immortal." Are you really going to look at me and say he figured out Lloyd was the green ninja through logical deduction and a careful consideration of the facts? No. He had a gut feeling, and he trusted it. Instincts- instincts paired with his impulsive following of said instincts is what leads him to solve problems- and sometimes, that can be extremely effective. This goes for other ninja too. Jay isn't the smartest ninja- I would really only classify Zane and Nya as having intelligence define them (hence their ship name). But Jay is extremely creative and crafty. He also knows his was around mechanics, and as such, this will lead him to come up with creative tech based solutions which are smart. But, idk about you, if I had to point to another ninja as being 'dumb' it would 100% be Jay. Kai is a lot of things. He's passionate and determined and confident and persistent. He's a good improvisor, he's powerful and he's charming! These are all wonderful qualities, he doesn't also have to be the smart one. I am the worlds biggest Pixal stan, and she's a smart, sassy, powerful character, but I'm not gonna sit here and tell you she's also hilarious and adaptable and strong willed. She's a straight man to all the ninja's antics, extremely tied to her samurai x suit, and lets people push her around all the time. That doesn't mean she can't be funny, or self interested, but when she does act these ways, it stems from her other more prominent qualities. That make sense?

And while we're clearing up what Kai isn't, please stop characterizing Kai as an overly protective brother - especially romantically. The only two times he's been romantically protective to Nya are in Wu's Teas which I mean, come on and in the pilots when Jay is literally a stranger. For crying out loud, by the end of the pilot, he's smiling when Jay and Nya hug. That's not overly protective, that's just normal, any reasonable person would react this way, protective. And it's such a great stereotype break for a kids show like ninjago, having an older brother who actually trusts his younger sister to be her own independent person who can make her own decisions. I mean, I guess it's fine if you HC differently but like... idk, I don't buy it.

Now, is there still room to criticize the writers? Yes. Hell yes. But not to an extent greater than any other character. Could he have had more of a defined reaction to events of the most recent season that I won't name for the sake of spoilers? Yes. But could Zane have reacted for more than .5 seconds at being an evil war lord for apparently 60 years? Yeah. Has Kai taken a back seat in the past 4 seasons? Yeah. But so has Lloyd- and he's literally the main character of the show. Not to mention two of those seasons have gone to people who had to wait over ten seasons to get one to themselves, and one of them is a 40 minute special. Kai's doing just fine.

Anyway. Kai is great. He's a fun, stereotype breaking, impulsively driven, ball of energy and confidence who gets a good amount of screen time and some fun side plots.

One last thing to clear up: no hate to anyone. This isn't targeted at anyone specific, this post has been a long time coming, I've just seen some weird overblown claims on various platforms over the past few months and I finally sat down to write about it.

I like the Kai content we have. After all, if the writers were really that bad at writing him, then no one would like him.

Wow this was so much longer than I thought it would be. Um... if you have other long winded rants you'd like to see from me... let me know I guess?

#ninjago #kai ninjago #kai smith #parachuterants #analysis #lets add this tag:#/lh

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pair-annoyed · 4 years ago

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Anime I Watched This Summer

Summer 2020 has officially come to a close. It’s fall in Animal Crossing and the trees are beginning to turn. Much like quarantine, I spent a lot of my free time watching anime when I wasn’t stressing over starting college. Now that the school year has begun, I thought it would be nice to reflect on everything I’ve watched!

These Anime were seen between 6/14 - 8/31 (my Birthday!) and are listed in chronological order.

They will be rated on a 1-10 scale; 1 meaning complete garbage, 10 meaning masterpiece. I will offer my thoughts on what I did/didn't like about each show!

1. Bakemono no Ko - 8/10

This was such a great way to start out the summer! I love the dynamic between Kumatetsu and Ren. Overall its a little cliche, but it’s also very wholesome. It’s by the same studio that made Wolf Children (which I loved!). so I knew it was going to be good. My favorite aspect of this movie was its backgrounds and world building!

2. Wan Sheng Jie - 9/10

Oh my gosh! I know that this is technically a donghua, but its on MAL, so it counts. This show quickly became my favorite slice of life of all time. I adore the art style and all of the characters. The comedy, plot, and design blends so well together. Everything in Wan Sheng Jie feels warm and comfy. It’s also confirmed for a second season! After seeing its cliff hanger ending, I’m so anxious for what comes next!

3. Dororo - 7/10

I’ll be honest, I’m a sucker for studio MAPPA. I really liked the historical aspects of Dororo. From the outfits to the ways characters behave, its grounded in the constraints of feudal Japan. I would have given this show a higher score if it was a little more grounded in science. I feel like more time should’ve been given to the demons and antagonists of the show. Our MC was so over powered, which made the final fights of the series more lack-luster. I think its less of the anime’s fault and more because the original source material is from the 60s. That being said, I loved this show! It was cute and action packed. Though it isn’t perfect, it holds its own.

4. Bungou Stray Dogs - 5/10

The concepts and action are misconstrued in Bungou Stary Dogs. This is one of those shows that I chose to watch because it was all over Tumblr. The powers themselves are cool, but I can’t understand why this series is so praised. At it’s core its predictable and basic. The fights seemed low stakes and low energy. None of the humor really felt like it belonged. It tried too hard to be something it isn’t. I don’t think I’ll watch beyond this first season.

5. Kami no Tou - 4.5/10

First off, fuck Rachel, me and my homies hate Rachel. I really really had high hopes for Tower of God. It paves the way for Webtoon adaptations in the future. Its such a shame that this adaptation SUCKED. I have not read the source material, I’m going solely based on the anime. It wasn’t good? It was horrible. I hate Bam, I hate Rachel. I think all the characters expect Rak were awful. Please don’t make a season 2. Please. If you’re interesting in Tower of God, just read the webtoon.

6. Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun - 7/10

Shoujo anime is my guilty pleasure. I especially liked the way Gekkan Shoujo tackled Sakura and Nozaki’s relationship. Besides just the main characters, even the side characters were enjoyable! It was a fun and creative show. My only complaint is how dense Nozaki is, but I also absolutely love that part of him.

7. Jojo no Kimyou no Bouken (Parts 1-2) - 6.5/10

Jojo is not the saving grace of shounen anime. It isn’t something super revolutionary and it certainly will never be a 10/10. Part 1 was so slow and boring. Jonathan was just mediocre at best. I definitely liked Joseph a LOT more than Jonathan. Part 2 overall was much easier to watch than part 1. The fights are good, but there’s just something about Jojo that I can’t get behind. Although I’m completely bashing this series, I’m going to keep watching it. At this point, I wanna know what a stand is.

8. Clannad - 5.5/10

I was expecting Clannad to be sad, but instead I got a cute, slice of life, romance. It wasn’t unenjoyable, but it was also a pretty slow-burning show. I loved watching Nagisa and Okazaki slowly fall in love with each other. It was funny at times and sad at other points. I am currently watching Clannad: After Story (which I’ve heard is heartbreaking), so I’m hoping to get some catharsis out of that.

9. Otome Game no Hametsu Flag shika Nai... - 6/10

This show is only 12 episodes, and yet it still has filler episodes for some reason? I’m a person who doesn’t typically watch isekai because the genre is so over done. However, when it’s done in a very specific way it’s really fun to watch! This show was definitely a lot of fun, it’s also cute and has so many interesting character-character interactions. The ending is painfully cliche, but I think it adds to this shows charm.

10. Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai: Tensai-tachi no Renai Zunousen - 8/10

I loved Love is War so much! I love their weird romantic dynamic. I love the characters, and I love the animation. It’s over the top and executes it humor masterfully. The entire show fills you with anticipation for the two main characters. Kaguya is my favorite character. Although I haven’t seen season two yet, I most certainly will! I’m so upset I hadn’t seen this show sooner.

11. Great Pretender - 8.5/10

This show is so colorful and bubbly. The animation is so smooth and they are able to tackle so many different kinds of things given its plot. The whole show itself just feels like summertime. It came out not to long ago, so some people may not be familiar with it. On top of the show itself, the music is great, with a Jazzy OP and and ED that features Freddie Mercury

12. Steins;Gate 0 - 8/10

I loved the original Stein;Gate so much! So it’s no surprise how much I liked the second season. It builds significantly off the first season in a sort of “off shot” OVA kind of way. The events of Steins;Gate 0 don’t actually happen, but that doesn’t stop it from being meaningful. The big “twist” was predictable and a bit of a let down, but I still enjoyed this. Granted, I’m bias.

13. Seishun Buta Yarou wa Yumemiru Shoujo no Yume wo Minai - 9.5/10

I sobbed. So much. This movie was phenomenal, it was such a trip. Having watched the original series, this tore my heart apart. It gets a high score for being able to take the characters I love and creating a wonderfully emotional experience. If you haven’t seen Bunny Girl Senpai, please watch it, and then watch this movie. You won’t regret it!

14. Hotaru no Haka - 6/10

Grave of the Fireflies made me stop watching anime for a while. Studio Ghibli created something grim, something that leaves the viewers feeling hollow. Its a movie about WWII from Japan’s perspective. As an American, all I could feel while watching this was immense guilt. I will say though, that some of the movies main plot could have easily been prevented if the main character had swallowed his pride. His younger sister was also my least favorite character. I get that she’s a kid and that kids are fussy, but you would think that during wartime, she’d be more understanding and at least try to eat the things she dislikes.

15. Yagate Kimi ni Naru - 9/10

This was a great way to end the summer. This is more that just GL romance, its a love story. Its about growing up and learning to understand your feelings. I related to Yuu so much, which made this more emotional than I expected. It’s really unlike another romance anime I’ve seen. I hope it gets confirmed for a second season. If not, I’ll be reading the manga.

Seasonal Shows: (Things that are still airing as of 9/5/2020)

1. The God of High School 7.5/10

Another thing done by studio MAPPA. Are you surprised? I absolutely love the action in GoH. The plot however, is all over the place. The story seems fragmented and hard to follow. Like Tower of God, it was poorly adapted. I’m giving it such a high score, because it’s SO much more enjoyable then Tower of God.

2. Enen no Shouboutai: Ni no Shou - 4/10

My thoughts on season 2 are about the same as my thoughts on season 1. The only difference is that this season has more Jojo references. I’ve rated it lower because its so repetitive. I’m so sick of watching it, but I’ve got to see it through the bitter end.

3. Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu 2nd Season - 8.5/10

All I’m going to say about Re:Zero is that I love it. I can’t give an accurate review of it because I’ve been hyping this season since it was announced. If you’re into non-typical isekai, watch Re:Zero, its so enjoyable!

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liliaeth · 4 years ago

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Fix it’s for Teen Wolf

I can think of a few things that would have made Teen Wolf better.

1. I wanted more focus on Scott’s emotional response to what happened to him. I don’t mind that Scott isn’t the type who complains about getting hurt. The problem for me was that the show rarely dealt with the consequences of Scott’s pain, and thus to the casual viewer often made it look like he simply didn’t mind, that being hurt didn’t bother him at all. Or worse, that nothing all that bad had happened in the first place.

Doing this undermined many of the hallucination scenes. For example, in Season 2’s Party Guessed, we get hallucinations for Stiles, Jackson, and Allison which give us a view into psychology, letting us know their issues without spelling them out. For Scott, we got Allison making out with kanima Jackson. Compared to the others, it felt shallow and confusing. The writers couldn’t even bother to give us dialog. He received the same treatment in Season 5, when they read the book designed to trigger their memories about the Dread Doctors. Stiles gets yet another scene about his dead mother who has been crucial to his story since Season 1. Lydia sees her grandmother and her connection to both Lydia’s powers and Eichen House, as well as foreshadowing her treatment at the hands of Valack. Malia about her Mom and sister’s death at the hands of the Desert Wolf, which is her entire arc. And Scott? He gets a nightmare about a dog that was never mentioned before and would not be mentioned after.

2. I wanted more focus on Scott’s trauma in general. In Season 1, Scott was repeatedly mentally and physically violated by Peter, terrorized and abused by Derek, and hunted by the Argents, and it was taken as a given. Even the recaps at the beginning episodes in other seasons barely show any of that. For example, Gerard attacking Scott in clear view at the hospital, stabbing him, and threatening his mother, never appeared in any of the recaps, even in episodes where it would have been important to remind the viewers about it.

While the show had no issue showing us over and over again how Stiles or Derek or Isaac or Allison or any white character really was hurt, they did not focus on the pain Scott was put through, and thus let the viewers conclude that those events didn’t matter.

The show literally had Scott try and kill himself, twice in less than two days, first in Frayed, by refusing to let himself heal, and then again in Motel California, yet neither of those suicide attempts are mentioned even once afterwards. And this while it would have been a good call back in s5b, when Scott is once again not letting himself heal after Theo killed him. and yet again, no mention whatsoever.

3. I wanted more consequences for certain characters. I liked that Scott and to a lesser extent Derek were confronted with the consequences of their actions. When they screwed up, they got called out on it. When they did something wrong, it wasn’t excused. Then they made up for it.

In contrast, certain characters, especially Stiles, got to do whatever they wanted and it was either dismissed as funny or used to make them look sympathetic. Stiles got to be mean and cruel, and the narrative still treated him as if he were the best friend ever. He got to assault people, hurt them, and it was treated as if somehow he was the victim.

For example, I would have liked Stiles a lot better, if when he tortured Scott with lacrosse balls, punishing him for who-knows-what, if someone else had called him out on it or if Scott had got to defend himself, instead of just taking it because Stiles was angry. Scott allowing Stiles to hurt him to maintain their friendship was a pattern between them, just as much as Scott taking responsibility for things that aren’t his fault. He keeps on doing it over the course of the show, but it would have been nice if the show at the very least had made it clear that that didn’t make Stiles behavior acceptable.

Just like I wish that Peter had actually faced consequences for his actions – and/or shown some kind of true remorse for his misdeeds--instead of the others just letting him hang around after all the horrible things he’d done or reduce it pettiness.

4. I would have liked more time spent on Melissa and the McCall family in general, especially on Melissa’s initial reaction to Scott being a werewolf. In the show, they barely spent two minutes total on Melissa’s reaction to finding out her son has been turned into a werewolf. By the end of s6b, she was barely even behaving like a mother anymore. Even to the point where we don’t even get a conversation between her and Chris about his attacks on her son before the two of them start dating. Now don’t get me wrong, I liked Chris and Melissa in a relationship, but it was missed opportunity to humanize both her and Scott that they didn’t bother to show her finding out about that and her reaction to it.

Instead we got the whole horror reaction, of her being horrified at seeing her son’s other face, the reaction that any LGBT kid fears when they come out to their parent. Which could have been a great metaphor, especially if they had then made it clear that Scott was bisexual.

5. I would have liked more focus on Boyd. The production time spent on Isaac and Erica, while Boyd’s arc was treated as almost an afterthought. We barely even got any hint on his past, in the episode before they killed him off. They started out with Boyd as the one who wanted to be like Scott, and then never explained it. Why not focus more on that, and their relationship?

(similar complaints go about Mason, and how little we knew about Mason, outside of him being Liam’s friend. Like... what was his relationship like with his parents? What is Mason interested in, what does he want to do with his life... how did he deal with the after effects of the Beast...

6. I would have liked more focus on Alan Deaton. The show had such huge potential with this character’s backstory, not just with the Hales but as an emissary in general. There was this whole mythology about druids that they barely even delved into.

To not even start on how little we knew about his personal life? Why did he and his sister have different last names? What was their relationship like?

Does he have any romantic relationships? Friendships, relationships in general?

Or how about more time spent on his role as a father figure to Scott, we got so few crumbs of their relationship when we should have gotten so much more

7. I would have liked more focus on Scott and Theo’s interaction in Season 6. I get that in 6a, they had Scott primarily focused on getting Stiles back, but I’ll never understand why they then didn’t use 6b, to deal with the fact that Theo had tried to murder Scott and was trying to make it up to him and the pack for what he’d done to Scott and the others.

I don’t mind Theo interacting with Liam. Those scenes were great, but they should have at least one scene with Scott and Theo dealing with the issues between them. For Theo’s sake, as much as Scott’s.

8. I would have liked a complete rework of Season 6A in its entirety. If you’re going to focus a season on an actor who isn’t available, then you have to make it about his impact on the others. Show us what difference this character made, by showing us the effects of his absence, rather than just try and make it about a romantic ship. (I’ve written a post about this already in greater detail, so limiting it to that, but seriously, that season was such a huge wasted opportunity.)

9. Actual character growth for Stiles. For a character who had as much screentime as Stiles did, it’s shocking just how little character growth Stiles had over the course of the entire show. This contrasts in a really bad way, when you look at how much every single other character grew and changed over the course of the show.

Just look at the last four episodes of 5b, to give an example. After almost an entire season of watching Stiles at his worst, focusing on emotional scene after emotional scene with him, he suddenly got relegated to comic relief. Why? Because they didn’t want Stiles to grow, because unless he grew, there was no way for him to go but down. If Stiles had taken responsibility for his actions, then they’d have had to admit that he did wrong in the first place. And they couldn’t have that happen.

10. And last but not least. More moments of the kids being kids. Even if it’s just proms and beach parties. Moments where we see the characters spend time together, when they aren’t trying to stop some bad guy. Where we can see them be friends, hang out with kids their own age. Even just to remind the audience just how young these children are. And where the viewers along with the characters can rest in between the horror, because doing so makes the horror hit far more strongly in contrast to the light.

11. Also, a better lighting budget, pretty please Davies, were a few more light bulbs that much to ask for?

#teen wolf #scott mccall #anti stiles #teen wolf fandom problems #alan deaton #vernon boyd #mason hewitt #theo raeken #melissa mccall #anti peter hale

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quickspinner · 4 years ago

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Month of Miracles - Change

Find the prompt list here!

She was crisp and professional, her makeup perfect, and she stood easily, if not comfortably, in the heels she had spent years trying to master. She’d done her hair up in a professional, competent style, and she looked every inch the businesswoman she was, and the fashion mogul she one day hoped to be.

The only thing out of place on her was her jacket, and Marinette took it off and folded it over her arms before she opened the heavy wooden door.

“Much better,” Audrey sniffed as Marinette walked into the atelier, on time to the minute despite the obscenely early hour. “I’m glad to see the country rube look was just a temporary affliction.”

“I was on vacation,” Marinette reminded her, laying her jacket over a chair. Her fingers lingered on it a moment before she took off her purse and set it down in the seat of the chair.

“What was on vacation was your taste, clearly. Sabrina!” Audrey’s assistant jumped up, hurrying to remove the dust covers from the row of mannequins standing there. “Look at this disaster,” Audrey snapped, and Marinette winced as the garments emerged. “If I put this on the runway, the audience will be asleep in minutes!”

“This is fixable,” Marinette said thoughtfully, circling the mannequin. “It’s not ideal, but, there’s parts of this we can work with. This is an opportunity, really.”

Audrey snorted. “Do tell.”

Marinette turned to her. “Audrey, all the complaints on the last line were that it was too commercial, too—well, too safe. We can have these remade, but it would be a waste. They’ll still come out boring and unoriginal, because they are. But if we can get creative and think outside of the box, we can turn this whole thing around. Look—Sabrina, hand me those scissors—” She moved towards one of the dresses, and reached for the fabric. “If we just—”

“What do you think you are doing?” Audrey snarled, grabbing her wrist with a perfectly manicured hand. “You won’t touch anything here without my approval first!”

“Audrey,” Marinette sighed, facing her again, aware that her exasperation was showing in her face and not particularly caring to hide it. “I can’t do this. You hired me for my vision. Let me use it! This, this process you’re trying to force me through, it’s crushing me. I understand, you want some control over the final product, and I’m fine with that, but there comes a point where I need you to trust me. I’ll make mistakes, sure, but Audrey—” She turned and held her hands up as she gestured to the line laid out in front of her. “This whole season is a mistake right now! We tried it your way and we got this.” She turned back to Audrey. “Let me be the designer you hired,” she pleaded, eyes alight. “This is what I’m good at. Let me turn this around for you! Just...trust me.”

Audrey’s eyes narrowed. “Are you finished?” she said coldly.

Marinette’s mouth dropped open a little, and her back straightened.

“Apparently,” she murmured, as Audrey stalked past her.

“Trusting you is what got me into this mess,” Audrey fumed. “I brought you under my wing, and you made me a laughing stock—”

“That’s not true, Audrey, I know I still have a lot to learn but I’m not—”

“I put my name in your hands—”

“I was inexperienced, I made some mistakes, but that line was not a—”

“Despite your multiple failures, I keep giving you more chances. And now you ask me to trust you? Don’t make me laugh.” Audrey whirled and bent down so that her eyes were level with the petite designer. “And if you can’t handle the pressure,” Audrey sneered, “then maybe you’re not cut out for this business.”

“Maybe I’m not cut out for your business,” Marinette said softly.

They stood, eye to eye for a moment, and then Audrey’s eyes narrowed. “You know how to find the door any time you’re ready,” she bit out, and for another, completely silent moment, neither of them moved. Apparently feeling her point had been made, Audrey straightened and turned around. “Now,” she said crisply. “Here’s what we’re going to do—”

Marinette took a deep breath, and while Audrey prattled on, she turned on the point of her heel and started walking. Sabrina stared at her with wide eyes as Marinette picked up her coat—Luka’s coat—and walked calmly out of the office, sliding it on and pulling it tight around her.

She heard the scream just as the elevator doors were closing, and began to giggle, putting one hand across her mouth and feeling her eyes crinkle up with her mirth.

Several heads turned to her when she arrived at the lobby, and she smiled brightly at all of them. More than one smiled back, but Marinette didn’t slow or speak, just turned towards the tall glass doors.

She was only halfway across the lobby before Audrey burst out of the other elevator.

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng,” Audrey roared. “Get back here or you’re fired.”

Marinette choked on another slightly hysterical laugh, and her step only quickened, her heels slamming into the marble tile of the lobby, the clacking loud enough to make the guard at the desk turn and stare. She flashed him a quick smile as she passed, and he grinned at her, sitting back in his chair. Out of the corner of her eye, Marinette thought she saw him mouth, about time, but then she was walking through the doors and the winter sun was blinding her. She stood for a moment in front of the doors, blinking, and then took a couple of quick steps forward and threw up her arm to hail a cab. One veered out of the traffic and pulled up at the curb.

Marinette jerked the door open and nearly threw herself inside. She picked both feet up off the pavement and swung them inside, and then pulled the door closed after her.

“The 6th street bus station, please,” she said breathlessly, buckling herself in. As the cab pulled out, she fell back into her seat, and brought shaking hands to her cheeks.

#quickspins #monthofmiracles2020 #hallmark au #lukanette #endgame lukanette #lukanette endgame #luka couffaine #marinette dupain-cheng #miraculousladybug #miraculous ladybug

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shadlad24 · 4 years ago

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More Funny Little Moments #1: Season 1, Episodes 1-12

So, I decided to do this post after all. Halp. LOL Because I apparently LOVE giving myself a bunch of unnecessary work, I decided to choose two to three extra moments, per episode! SUPER halp! X’D Anyway, these are moments that didn’t make the cut for my FFLM series because: my sense of humor is a little weird, they were gonna be too much work (LOL/Siiigh), I like to highlight patterns, and I don’t like a lot of repetition. [Links to each FFLM along the bottom of the post. :)]

Let’s start with something I originally agreed with other fans on but have since changed my mind. A lot of people didn’t like this part of “Chariots of War” because it seems so ludicrous that Xena would forget her chakram anywhere. Well, let me tell you! This lady has left her weapons behind most episodes thus far. I didn’t note it every time here (and especially didn’t bother with her whip) because that’d really overrun the post buuuuut… You’ll see. XD

1.01 Sins of the Past

Xena’s shift being so much dirtier than the little boy’s clothes though she’s high up off the ground, and he lives in smoked-out rubble.

Yup. Xena forgot her sword (and later, her main saddlebag) at her mother’s tavern. Pft.

Sorry these were kinda lame, but I didn’t want to re-use any more of the original fifteen points I made about this episode... Ah well. Moving on! (heh)

1.02 Chariots of War

Xena loses her sword after the chariot crash, taking up and discarding Sphaerus’s but walking off without her own. (See her front and back and both of Argo’s sides.)

Gabrielle chewing Xena out, Xena being bummed about it, and Argo being surprised. X’D

1.03 Dreamworker

This got me good. Gabrielle does Xena’s war cry so well here that I really thought it was Xena for a few seconds. Realizing it was GabbyWabs only made me chuckle more because she apparently can’t do it when it really counts in “The Greater Good.”

Argo NOT being on Team Gabrielle. XD (Their feud is a little funny to me.)

1.04 Cradle of Hope

Xena tossing aside her sword after killing Nemos. Extras even dance and celebrate right on top of it! Wut thuh?

I decided to avoid mentioning Hope in the FFLM because Xena’s quote here is more ironic than comedic, and Gabrielle’s little face is just so sad, but I didn’t want to let it pass by entirely unremarked upon. At least GW gets to show off her oracle skills again? :’)

1.05 The Path Not Taken

So, Xena and Gabrielle walk into a bar… Heh. No, but really, they enter this tavern for the first time ever, yet the bartender not only knows what they want, he knows that they’re coming and has their drinks waiting for them too. All Xena has to do is knock on the counter and nod to get her fire-breath alcohol/oil, and Gabrielle barely has the word “cider” out of her mouth before the guy hands it to her. Xena, like me, is duly amazed.

Lucy, through Xena, making another timely anti-peanut statement. I just didn’t want to do the same thing twice back-to-back in the FFLM. X)

1.06 The Reckoning

Gabrielle thinking along the same lines Xena and I did about this poor excuse for a judge.

Me not being well-versed in ancient Greek heroes and picturing the fool who Draco killed so handily in the first episode. heh

1.07 The Titans

I’ll let Xena explain this one. …Mostly. I can’t believe Gabrielle not only sassed the Titans such that she unashamedly put Xena and Phyleus in danger too, but also kinda got this (admittedly awful) town demolished and didn’t lift a finger to actually help anyone in the temple. Tsk tsk. XP

So… Hyperion here can smash homes and businesses that were probably well-built and reinforced and all, but he can’t get his hand out of a stocks-cuff that was made in a single evening with scraps from those destroyed buildings. He also, inexplicably, has no use of his left hand or the power-breath that he used to knock Gabrielle over. Okie. XD

1.08 Prometheus

Is this really a thing? I was giggling quite a bit in disbelief that severed windpipes can heal. Like, perforated is one thing; completely bisected? Yeah, I don’t think so.

Gabrielle being incredulous upon learning that Xena has other friends, realizing what the warrior princess means, and then wondering if that could be her one day.

1.09 Death in Chains

Gabrielle enjoying watching Xena kill someone for the first time, then quickly realizing that fact. Whoops.

I found this moment really odd and then kind of hilarious. This poor dying old woman begs for water and goes ignored not only by the hospice workers, but also Talus and Gabrielle. Then Talus decides to be helpful. Gabrielle goes to the woman and lets her talk a lot (undoubtedly drying her mouth and throat even more), hears that Xena might be in danger, and then just… leaves. Talus goes with her, not having gotten water from the well after all. What a couple of jerks! XD

1.10 Hooves & Harlots

I really don’t know why Gabrielle kept making this face as Terreis died, but it tickled my funny bone too. So, I provided alternate subs to go with it. [Did you notice how she kind of cringes when Terreis tries to hold her hand and then just lets the Amazon flop once she’s died, flinging her hand aside like, “Ew, get it off me!”? What was that all about? X”) Hm… maybe she has an aversion to dying people, and that’s why she abandoned the old lady last episode?]

Gabrielle being a smart aleck, just like me, because Phantes’s complaint here is so ludicrous. But then you see the close-up of little hoofies in cuffs too, and, if you’re anything like me too, kinda just topple over laughing. The poor actual horse they did this to, though, man! What even?

Gosh, this episode was chockfull of hilarity, eh? Why did this happen? Gabby, take it away!

1.11 The Black Wolf

I laughed at this too. But now I wonder. Is Xerxes related to Caesar and/or connected to Rome or something? Because Xena does this twice around them too. In “When in Rome,” she jokes that the two guards lost playing tag with her, and in “A Good Day” she informs Pompey that if there were more guards hiding around their meeting space, then she would have had more helmets. heh Oh, Xenie. I think I know why Gabrielle’s turning out to be such a little punk ...or vice versa? Is Gabrielle actually a bit of a bad influence on Xena? XP

So, this fight just struck me as really odd. Xena passes her sword to Flora though she (Xena) needs to battle the big boss of the episode, and… actually, is totally right. The king throws a single wide-ass punch, waits while Xena kicks the guy behind her a few times, lets himself get kicked in the face a couple of times, and then comes at her with a little piece of chain, presumably from the restraints that were intended to keep Flora in place during her execution. Sir, you have a sword! A giant sword, right there on your hip! What are you doing? Then, when Xena kicks him a final time and sends him flying, his (supposed-to-be) metal armor is no match for the splintered wood of the axe she broke earlier. …Okie. XD XD XD *gif below*

Xena once again leaves her chakram somewhere. …And I am now imagining this being part of Gabrielle’s maid duties: the poor kid has to go find Xena’s weapons each night and bring them back to her. I’m especially imaging the fluffball hilariously, adorably struggling to get the chakram out of things like this wall, as she did with Xena’s sword in the tree stump in “Dreamworker,” but more parallel to the floor. Cuuuute! XD

This plus this

*pic + GIF below*:

1.12 Beware Greeks Bearing Gifts

This scene too really made me wonder, though amused as well. Why is Gabrielle so surprised that the only city nearby, that they were headed to, is the one they find? Is she really being that loud? Is Xena goofing around with the bootlaces question? Why startle Gabrielle and then yank her into enemy territory screaming, when what you want is quiet? What’s with the trapdoor-spider soldiers? Xena’s pose throwing the chakram. XD Gabrielle mostly featherlight dance-y moves through the battlefield. XD XD XD Why is it that when Xena tells Gabrielle to stick right behind her, Gabrielle disappears? And what was with the bucket-sitting soldier? Gabrielle is like, “Oh; no, thank you!” when she sees him and turns tail. Then Xena ...follows her. “We’re goin’ this way! Now we’re goin’ that way!” But they still end up dead-ahead from where they burst out of the bushes. XD That was ridiculous and nonsensical, and I’m very confused but had lots of fun. heheheh *gif below* [ETA: Darn! The original file was too big, so I had to remake the GIF and cut quite a few things out. :( Sorry]

Xena’s outta-nowhere crusade to emasculate Deiphobus coming full-circle. What was that all about?

Welp, I hope you had as much fun as I originally and then later did. Not so much in the middle with the collage-and-GIF-making and editing and redoing, but; y’know. XD Wouldn’t trade it for …Hm… Nevermind. LOL

If you missed any of the FFLMs, then please click on the corresponding number-links below. :D

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#xwp #xena #xena warrior princess #gabrielle #xena and gabrielle #fflm #funny #comedy #season 1 #forgetful #magic #shenanigans #argo #chakram #sword

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