#but like that post was specifically about the like comedic type of twist hero. like oh they straight up are completely innocent

[goldensunset]

re: twist hero post

the person who said Shou is right

i opened up the comments of your post and was immediately blasted into the next dimension by the person who said severus snape. it killed me. my eyes are bleeding. Maria I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry that a ugly ass bitch like this would even say that. Oh my g*d.

that person was one of the first people to respond to that post actually, before it got too big… i have no clue where they came from…

[ordinaryschmuck]

What I Thought About the Climax of "Reunion" from Amphibia

Salutations, random people on the internet who are already scrolling right past this. I am an Ordinary Schmuck. I write stories and reviews and draw comics and cartoons.

So, Season Three of Amphibia is coming pretty soon. And I am...excited, but not as much as most people.

If you've seen my reviews, you'll know that while I do like Amphibia, I wouldn't go so far as to say it grabbed me as well as a series like The Owl House. With a show like that, it took me until Episode Five before I realized The Owl House was something special that was worth remembering. For Amphibia? It took me until the Season One finale before I had a similar reaction. But, to be fair, that's because this series is really good at making an ending. "Reunion," for example, takes a lot of the small things the first season has been building up, taking plots from episodes I considered filler and tying it all together in a pretty satisfying ending. I know people are still reeling over the epicness of "True Colors," and all for a good reason, but I want to start the new season on the right foot by discussing a moment that made me consider giving the series a chance.

But it also contains spoilers, so if you haven't seen Amphibia yet, now might be a good time to check it out. It may not have grabbed me and might not even grab you, but trust me when I say that it's worth it just to get to that final scene.

Now, let's review, shall we?

Grime Explaining Flipwart and Bogjump: One thing I will always defend about this series is its humor. More often than not, it succeeds in getting a chuckle out of me with perfect timing and solid comedic delivery. And stuff like this? Where Grime takes a break from his evilness to explain how two board games work to two teenagers? Only to then give up and stick with a simple answer? Yeah, I'm sorry, but that's funny to me. A good thing, too, given how this show relies more on humor than anything else. It may have an overarching plot and its fair share of grim moments (I give you Marcy's maybe death), but Amphibia knows when to keep things light amongst the darkness, which I always appreciate.

Anne Pleading with Sasha: Here, the scene showcases Anne's own personal struggle with Sasha. We know Sasha's a bad friend, primarily because we have eyes. But Anne still needs convincing. Because while she speaks up, she still doesn't assert herself. Anne doesn't yell at Sasha or tell her she's going too far. Instead, she just begs and pleads, hoping to seek the bit of humanity of this girl that Anne sees as a friend. Only for Grime to cut things short in demanding Hop Pop.

Anne Grabbing a Sword to Defend Hop Pop: This, on the other hand, was a defining moment for Anne. She spent so much time with the Plantars, risking life and limb for their own personal health and safety in multiple episodes before this one. So in desperation and due to being backed into a corner, she yanks out one of the guards' swords and orders people to back up, including her "best friend." This moment is when Anne is right on the edge of standing up against Sasha, ready to do all she can to help a person, er, frog that treats her right.

Sasha Talking Anne Down: But she isn't fully ready to fight back yet. Sasha sees the panic and desperation and uses that to her advantage and takes control. She speaks calmly, attracting Anne with talks of going home and pointing out the ridiculousness of standing up for Hop Pop. And my blood boils with how easily she does it. It was like a light switch, turning off her intensity just so Sasha appears to be empathetic. Even though she isn't. You can tell just how cold hearted she can be with the way she says the line "End of discussion." Does the way she say that really sound like a person who has Anne's best interests at heart. I wouldn't think so.

Sprig’s Reaction to Anne Lowering the Sword: And neither does Sprig. I mean, look at Sprig's expressions when he sees Anne lower the sword:

First, there's shock and empathy in seeing Anne crumble to Sasha's will. And unlike the fake empathy Sasha offered, you can see that it's real.

Almost as real as the look of pure disgust he gives Sasha afterward. Personally, I can't blame him. Sprig cares deeply for Anne, as the two of them have the most real friendship out of everyone else in the main cast, one built on mutual trust, respect, and willingness to have the other's best interests at heart.

Sprig Standing Up for Anne: This only proves my point. By slingshotting mud (was that mud?) into Sasha's face and praising how incredible Anne is, Sprig proved he really is the true friend that Sasha can only wish to be. And it's just the boost Anne needed to snap out of her stupor and do, in her words, "something that [she] should have done a long time ago."

Anne Standing Up to Sasha: If standing up for Hop Pop was a defining moment for Anne, defending Sprig from Sasha was a moment Anne could never go back on. It was one thing to fight for her found family against soldiers she's never met before. It's something else to do that against Sasha, Anne's best friend, who she pleaded with earlier and was so close to falling into submission for. But not anymore. At this moment, Anne decided to think for herself and do what needed to be done. Rather than let a bully tell her what to do instead.

Grime’s Words of Warning for Sasha: Grime’s little warning is similar to how a commander gives tips to a fellow commander in leading the troops. Because that's what Sasha really seems like. Not a friend, but someone who takes charge and orders what Anne and Marcy should do rather than listen to the opinions of the group. You see it more in "Battle of the Bands," and that's why I think she follows his advice to "stamp this out." Especially with how he finishes his warning: "Fail, and nothing will ever be the same."

There are two things to take away from that.

The fact that Grime was right. Sasha failed, and nothing was the same because of it. Anne now stood up to her and won't take her orders anymore. The thing is, that would have happened if Anne failed or not. Sasha winning may have stamped Anne's spirit a bit, but it still shows a dark side to her that wouldn't have been forgotten for long.

The fact that Sasha vocally admits that she won't let things change. It proves how twisted her mindset on friendship is that Sasha would willingly partake in a sword fight with her "best friend" because she refuses to have Anne standing up for herself. She likes being in charge and refuses to lose her power no matter what needs to be done to keep it.

If Anne defending Sprig is a moment where she crosses the line for the better, Sasha listening to Grime is a moment where she crosses the line for the worst.

“Anne, you don’t have to do this”: I love how Hop Pop tries to talk Anne out of the challenge. It's his life that's on the line, but he cares just as deeply for Anne as she does for him, that letting her duel Sasha, her supposed "best friend," is a choice he doesn't want her to make.

“Yes, I do.”: But Anne isn't about that. She now knows the type of person Sasha is, and letting her get away with more control is something no one should allow. And Anne won't. Not anymore.

The Fight: The fight isn't all that special compared to other action animation, and even to a certain fight scene we see in "True Colors." But as is, it is still pretty tense. I mean, for f**k's sake, it's two thirteen-year-olds fighting each other with swords! It's a miracle that only Sasha got a small scar at the end of it. Plus, while not the show's highest standard yet, there is a lot of effort and attention put into this battle. Anne is a lot more inexperienced and frantic with her attacks, where Sasha shows she was trained well in her time with the toads and is rotten given that she cheated by blinding Anne to force a victory. In a way, it illustrates the desperation the two of them have for winning, making Sasha's actions, in particular, easier to root for Anne.

Anne Wins: So when Anne is victorious, it's all the more satisfying. Primarily thanks to the look on Sasha's face. Look at it:

That is the definition of shock and anger, mostly shock. Sure, Sasha might be ticked that she lost, but it's Anne's words that I think really hit a specific soft spot: "You're not going to push me around anymore." That's probably the first time that Anne called Sasha out on her awful behavior. Saying that she's standing up to her huts, but pointing out how Sasha basically controlled Anne and how that's something she won't allow anymore, could be an eye-opening moment that Sasha needed.

Grime Goes Against the Deal: Ok, full disclosure, while this post is meant to shine a light on how great a scene is, there is one complaint I've got to get out of the way. You see, Grime going against his deal to let Hop Pop go free if Anne wins was way too predictable. Because why the f**k would he?!

I mean, does this seriously look like the face of a man you can trust? This scene may excel at everything else, but this one predictable moment is just a little off to forgive.

The Tower Blowing Up: This predictable moment, however, is done flawlessly. Because there's a difference between a twist and a payoff. Where a twist is meant to shock the audience, a payoff has to, well, pay off a setup brought up earlier in the story. And Wally's boom-shrooms going off at just the right time, transitioning to the most iconic moment of the series? Yeah, that's a payoff done right.

(Also, Wally cursing his one eye is hilarious)

“Lean On Me”: By the way, NOT joking when I say what follows is the most iconic moment of the series. All of which is aided by the inclusion of "Lean On Me" by Bill Withers. I'm not a music theory major and have no idea if the song itself is actually mildly appropriate to the scene, much like how "All Star" and "I Need a Hero" work perfectly for Shrek and Shrek 2, respectively. With that said, "Lean On Me" really does add an extra Umph! power to what follows. And as Matt Braley, series creator, describes, it is the coolest thing, but it will never happen again.

(Apparently, the song was too expensive).

Anne Goes to Save Sasha: Believe it or not, I actually do love this decision. Sasha may be a bad friend...Actually, no. Sasha is definitely a bad friend, but that doesn't mean Anne wants her to die. Not after all the good times that they had with each other. Anne might refuse to let Sasha push her around, but she's not ready to cut Sasha out of her life. Not yet.

Anne Holds Onto Sasha, the Plantars Hold Onto Anne: ...I mean...just f**king that! Through this moment, we get a perfect idea of how Anne's relationships work.

To put it simply, the Plantars raise Anne up and keep her safe, where Sasha just weighs her down and risks her safety. And the saddest part is that Sasha knows this.

“Anne. Maybe you’re better off without me…”: Some say that this could be Sasha trying to get in one last manipulation, using her own sacrifice to stick to Anne for choosing talking frogs over her. While I could see that perspective as a possibility, I personally take this moment as Sasha finally realizing the damage she causes for Anne and admits her faults. Sure, Sasha might have backpedaled in later episodes. What with refusing to change and even directing her anger towards Anne instead of towards herself. But that's because she had time to process these events and unfairly aim her negative feelings at Anne for wanting something better. So it doesn't seem implausible to me that Sasha admitting that Anne's better off without her is something she believed deep down and, for just a moment, allowed herself to accept this heavy truth. I won't deny the possibility that she's still trying to manipulate Anne, but to me, with the tone and expression Sasha has with her admission, you can't fake that. And you can't fake what she does next.

Sasha Lets Go: This...shocked me right down to my core.

I knew Grime would go back on his word, and I assumed the boom-shrooms would pay off somehow. But Sasha, willingly and unhesitantly, letting go of Anne's grip and falling to an expected demise? I...I couldn't have ever predicted that. Not with what we've seen from her before. When I hear how people see this as one last manipulation tactic, I just can't see it. Yes, there are monsters on this planet who would go this far, but I don't think Sasha is one of them. Later episodes like "Battle of the Bands" (despite a rough start) show signs of a person who could be better, and the Season Three trailer hints that she might actually learn from her mistakes. So her letting go, with no way of knowing her survival, could be the first sign that Sasha would one day make that first step. She might not be able to become Anne’s friend again, thanks to burning that bridge in "True Colors," but she'll at least try to become a better person. She just needs to do one good thing in her life first.

Plus, whenever I see this image:

I’m reminded why I could never say that I didn’t like this show.

Grime Saving Sasha: A lesser viewer would say this cheapens Sasha's sacrifice, but not to me. She had no way of knowing Grime would save her, so to her, so this is still a bid decision to go through with, even if she couldn't have gone all the way. In no way does it take away from the sacrifice, just as much as it doesn't strike a chord deep in Anne's heart.

Anne Breaks Down: Because what else would she do?

It's true, Sasha isn't a good friend, and Anne would likely be better off without her. But that's not what Anne's thinking at this moment.

She's thinking about the good fun she had with her best friend.

She was thinking about the person she could lean on.

And she was thinking about how she almost lost this person forever.

So when it all comes crashing down on Anne at once, there's nothing left to do but cry. It is such a real moment that proves one thing: There was effort put into this finale.

IN CONCLUSION

Would I say Amphibia draws me in as much as The Owl House does? No. But it still has my respect. A finale like this proves how hard the writers try to give a good experience. Even if a Schmuck like me thinks that all the pieces don't come together, they still do all they can to make a beloved series.

Season Three is on the way, and while I'm not as hyped as others, I still can't wait to see how it ends. Because if "Reunion" taught me anything, this series really nails an ending.

(And if you want me to do a scene breakdown of the finale in "True Colors," I'll tell you now: I won't...alright, maybe I'll do something for the mid-season premiere. But no promises!)

[lucianalight]

Thor Ragnarok Review-Part 4

I waited 4 years with patience and excitement for this movie. TR was entertaining, there is no argue with that. And Weirdly enough I enjoyed it. But it lacked what I care about most in a movie: depth, character development and consistency. After watching it, I was disappointed, angry and upset(I know it seems contradictory). I waited for months to calm down enough to be able to write from a logical point of view and not just emotionally. So in this series of posts I’m going to explain why this movie didn’t meet my expectations.

Part 1: Loki or How Thor Ragnarok Tried to Give us Agent of Asgard and How it Utterly Failed

Part 2: Heroes, Villains and Double Standards

Part 3: A Chance for a Good Villain is Gone to Waste

Part 4: The Sheer OOC-ness of the Characters and The Utter Disregard Towards the Previous Canon

In one of the really early posts(that got like 2 notes I guess, lol) on my blog, I mentioned how TR was more like a comedic fanfic with ooc characterizations. Since then I've seen similar opinions from people and this post may seem like a repetition of those ideas, but I need to write my version(otherwise the words may suffocate me, lol).

So, how did TR made the characters ooc? Let's take a look at 5 main characters that we've seen previously in other movies and come to know them:

Thor: A while age I was re-watching Thor (for the nth time) and I realized how much I loved that version of Thor. In fact I remembered how much I loved Thor before TR made me completely neutral toward his new twisted version. The Thor I knew was hot-headed, reckless, flawed, yes, but he was also kind, friendly, had a big heart and he wore his heart on his sleeve. He genuinely cared about people and his friends. He wouldn't have tried to use his friends or people just to achieve his goals, like what his attitude toward Bruce/Hulk and Valkyrie suggested. Before TR, I always thought Thor didn't/couldn't understand his brother because of their differences, but despite that he cared about him and if given the chance he would have tried to understand him. But what I saw in TR was that Thor didn't want to understand Loki, didn't care, he only cared about Loki as long as he acted as Thor wanted. The Thor I knew wouldn't be delighted by his brother's pain. This aspect of new Thor really broke my heart. This was the most important part of his characterization for me, but I'm not done yet. The other aspect is the writers’ indecisiveness toward Thor's intelligence. One moment he mistakes a piece of paper for Loki or try to disguise himself with a cloth on his head, the other he can out-smart Loki and go toe to toe with Banner about quantum physics! The thing is none of these make sense. Thor is not stupid, not at all, he is actually quite smart, so the first two stupid things don't add up because of that. But neither the two smart things. Because while Thor is smart his intelligence level in no way is the same as Loki and Banner. That was like seeing Cap out-smart Tony or understanding Bruce. And before you say it, it's not character development! Character development is when a character learns from their mistakes and tries to do better, it doesn't change core personality traits or the level of intelligence. The last but not the least is Thor's way of speaking and his type of humor. Tell me this please, why Thor is talking like someone from Earth? Why did they disregard the Asgardian type of speech? And Thor's specific kind of humor? He is not Chris Hemsworth for God's sake! So why for the most duration of TR, it felt like watching Chris tries to play Thor in a parody kind of way? I know the writers and TW tried to make Thor more interesting, but in doing so they made him ooc, to the point that he is unrecognizable. They tried to make us like him more than Loki by giving him some of Loki's traits. If I like Loki more, it isn't just because of his traits, it's because I IDENTIFIED with him and his pain. So no amount of changing Thor will change that for me. And you know what TW? You can't make Melanie of the "Gone with the Wind" more interesting than Scarlett, because she isn't. You can't give her Scarlett's traits because that's not who she is. Their core personalities are totally different and by doing so you just ruin a beautiful character with a kind heart. The same goes for Thor and Loki.

Bruce Banner: Did you see the Bruce of the previous movies? Because I didn't. Same as Thor, I mostly saw Mark Ruffalo tried to play Bruce Banner. His speech, humor, reactions were so different than the Bruce I knew and loved. I mean where was the shy, introvert, awkward and thoughtful Bruce? You think someone as intelligent as Bruce think about disguising himself as Tony on ANOTHER PLANET?

Loki: Let me list all the things that were wrong about Loki's characterization. He is one the most intelligent and resourceful characters of Marvel. You think he wouldn't have played Odin in character? You think he couldn't come up with a plan that notify him the moment Thor appeared on Asgard? As addressed in Thor, he is a master of magic. You are telling me he can defeat Odin and put spells on him that took Odin time and effort to break, that Loki learnt and practiced magic for a millennium, but Dr. Strange with a mere year of practice can surprise him and manage to trap him? How is it logical, pray tell?  Remember the cool and defiant Loki after his defeat in Avengers, or how he fought Dark Elves and tried to save Thor from Kursed? Do you think the same Loki would be scared so much in seeing the Hulk that he tries to escape from the planet! And leave Thor behind?! Honestly??? You think it's not obvious if someone put a metal device on your back and Loki wouldn't feel it? Loki is the definition of change and adaptability. You think he would be predictable? And Don't get me start on him laughing about the pain he went through(I wrote about it in part 1). I think it’s obvious how bitter and mad I still am about what TR did to Loki.

Odin: So, Odin is Dumbledore now? How can TR expect us to accept this kind, good-humored and lovely version of Odin that is so different with the cold, cruel, manipulative asshole of the other movies? Because I can't. I still remember every single detail of his terrible behavior and parenting and this nice version doesn't change anything. The only in character part about him was the revelation of yet another lie and his convenient unavailability.

Heimdall: The only character that I think they actually made him better and more human is Heimdall. So congratulations I guess? This time he did things for the good of Asgard, not just because of Thor, or because he couldn't accept Loki as the king.

Finally I want to address the disregard for the other characters of Thor franchise. I didn't like Jane and Thor romance because it was so Twilight-y. But couldn't we at least get to see them as friends? They are still good friends in the comics. No we just got one line in regard to this brave and intelligent scientist an Erik and Darcy didn't even got that much. I didn't exactly like or really care about W3 and Lady Sif. But they were Thor's friends for a thousand years. They were important in other movies. Couldn't they get more recognition? The way TR treated these characters were so disrespectful.

Part 5: Plot Holes and Unanswered Questions

[kirain]

Top Ten Favourite Anime Games

For this list, I will only be including games that are specifically considered part of the anime genre, NOT games that were created by Japan Studio or other Japanese companies/creators. So games like shadow of the colossus,  Bloodborne, Metal Gear, Resident Evil, etc., won’t be mentioned. While it is arguable that such games could fit the anime genre, it’s never been clarified. So here’s a list of my top 10 anime games.

1. Gravity Rush

There’s no real order for this list EXCEPT for Gravity Rush. It is easily my number one favourite pick. I bought it for next to nothing thinking it would be a cute little experience, but it ended up gripping my interest for four days straight; which is rare for me. While at work, all I could think about was getting back to it, and it’s one of the few games with trophies that didn’t annoy me. Seriously-- not one trophy pissed me off. In every game there’s at least two or three that really grind my gears, but Gravity Rush had nada.

There are several challenges in the game that are tough but fair, and they never become boring because they’re designed in such a way that the more you play them, the better you get. You begin to learn the controls, the landscape, the shortcuts, etc., which makes for some excellent gameplay. At no point in the game do you feel like a failure, which is nice once in a while. On top of that the story is fun, the characters are lovable, and the art is breathtaking. During each new chapter, we’re given information in the form of a hand-drawn manga, which only adds to the uniqueness. The language in the game is also made up, so anyone can relate to it. And the music? Oh, don’t even get me started:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxIC6Vu1ee0&t=43s

And just when I thought it couldn’t get any better, they went ahead and created a sequel, Gravity Rush 2! It’s pretty rare, in my opinion anyway, that video games have sequels that measure up to their predecessor, but Gravity Rush 2 might be even better! It lets us revisit old friends, make new friends, explore more areas, it gives us grater challenges and a newly implemented difficulty setting, and additional online adventures that have nothing to do with achievements! What really hits me about these games, though, is the freedom. You get to fly wherever you want, anytime you want, at ridiculous speeds. The world is vast, beautiful, and so fun to navigate.

After playing and falling in love with these games, I can only assume they’re called “Gravity Rush” because they’re an absolute rush to play.

2. Devil May Cry

Specifically the first game, Devil May Cry will always have a special place in my heart. I played the game a lot when I was in grade school and kept replaying it well into my high school years. All the way up until my PS2 broke. :’)

Now, I do know that this game was created by Capcom and that it was supposed to be related to the Resident Evil franchise, but director Hideki Kamiya openly stated that the game is an anime-style hack and slash action-adventure game, and even gave the anime T.V. show, Devil May Cry: The Animated Series by Shin Itagaki, his professional seal of approval.

That said, Devil May Cry is addictive with its brutal but charming character Dante, and its dark and twisted plot/gameplay. If you’re into cool characters, blood and guts, and kick-ass combat, this is the game for you!

3. Catherine

Another nostalgic game for me, Catherine was something I played constantly when I was in high school. The animation is enticing, the story is a giant mind f*ck, and the English voice acting is stupendous. Like many story-related anime games, it has multiple endings, as well as a karma metre that wraps into your choices. The story revolves around a man named Vincent  Brooks, who is beset by supernatural nightmares while torn between his feelings for longtime girlfriend Katherine and the similarly-named beauty Catherine.

While the game is mostly a platformer, the challenges are unreal, especially in Babel (an extra area not related to the story) and the arcade game, Rapunzel. If you want your brain to turn to mush, I’d suggest setting this baby to the hardest difficulty. Naturally there’s a trophy for beating everything with a gold time, so if you get that you’ll be able to gloat to all your friends about how smart you are. XD

Jokes aside, though, there are other aspects to the game that keep you going. You won’t get bored of the platforming because between each level is the story, given to us in two distinct anime styles, and a trip to the bar, where you can get drunk and interact with other characters. Depending on the dialogue you choose, you could be responsible for their dreams coming true ... or their untimely death. A remake of the game will be coming out for PS4 next year and I can’t wait to play it!

4. No More Heroes

No More Heroes is another action-adventure hack and slash video game that follows a man named Travis Touchdown ... who is a hardcore otaku. Literally all he cares about is killing and anime, which makes for a hilarious story. Travis is also a top-class assassin in a world where assassins constantly compete. Think John Wick: The Anime. This game is full of comedy and combat, as well as cool characters, crude challenges, and a cuddly kitty cat. I played this game religiously when I was in high school, and enjoyed it even up to it’s weird mind f*ck of an ending. The only downside being that it’s only available on Wii, which made for an interesting and unique experience, but a sad realisation that it will never be available for any other platform.

5. Trauma Center: Second Opinion

Just like No More Heroes, Trauma Center: Second Opinion is only available on Wii; but that in no way affected my love for it. Second Opinion is the second game in a long line of Trauma Centers, but for some reason it’s the only one I enjoy. Perhaps it’s because playing it on the Wii gave it a sense of realism. The game is a surgery simulator, and like an actual surgeon, you have to concentrate and keep your hands steady to succeed. If you move too quickly or throw yourself off balance, the patient will die. The art and music are also incredible and, believe it or not, there’s actually a pretty interesting story that goes along with each chapter. As you work your way to more advanced operations, you really take a liking to the characters and feel a strong sense of duty to your patients. To anyone who owns a Wii, this is definitely a game I’d recommend.

6. Chibi-Robo!

Chibi-Robo! This game takes me back! I spent hours upon hours playing this game, and I still would today if my copy hadn’t been stolen. This little treat is only available on the Wii and GameCube, and was created by Nintendo. It’s one of the most adorable platform-adventure games I’ve ever played to date. The Wiki explains the plot perfectly, so I’ll just post it here:

“Chibi-Robo! takes place in a 1960s-style American home and revolves around a tiny, highly advanced robot of the same name. He is given as a birthday gift to a socially withdrawn eight-year-old named Jenny Sanderson by her father. This is much to the dismay of Jenny's mother, a homemaker who is constantly stressed over how much money her husband spends on toys despite his unemployment.”

For a game that seems so basic, there are a plethora of areas to explore and they are huge. Ironically so, I’m sure, but it makes for some amazing gameplay nonetheless. As you wander, you help other creatures around the house, including the family, solve their problems and complete challenging and often comedic tasks; such as flipping burgers, cleaning up puddles, and-- you know-- helping the egg general save his fellow egg soldiers from the household dog. Yeah, stuff like that. XD

Honestly, it’s super fun and I recommend it to anyone, no matter what their age. It’s clearly geared towards children, but I can’t think of a single reason why an adult wouldn’t enjoy it just as much. It’s relaxing, freeing, and puts a genuine smile on your face. :)

7. Pokemon X and Y

Okay, I know I probably shouldn’t add Pokemon to this list, but I can’t help it! I’ve always loved the Pokemon games, but they just get better and better every time! Pokemon X and Y quickly became favourites of mine, and they consumed my life for a good two months as I captured every single Pokemon, bred the perfect IVs, and worked my ass off to get every shiny I desired. On top of that, I loved the story and, for once, how my character design turned out. What’s more, I fell absolutely in love with the Looker side quest, which is possibly the best and most emotional side quest I’ve ever played in a Pokemon game. X and Y will always be special to me, because in was with these two games that I caught ‘em all!

8. Pokemon Sun and Moon

Visually, Pokemon Sun and Moon are the best of the Pokemon games, in my opinion. They were also the first to really shake things up and give fans new and improved methods of breeding, capture, travel, communication, and more. We were also introduced to a new type of pokemon called “ultra beasts”, along with a fun and alluring story with several new characters and legendaries. Throughout the game, I found myself laughing hard at some of the experiences, and I spent countless hours capturing, trading, breeding, spoiling, and loving all of the new pokemon the games had to offer. I even transferred my pokemon from X and Y over so I could give them the same love and affection. ^_^

I have to thank @cassafra5 and @george-nordington, because they’re the ones who bought me this masterpiece! Thanks, guys! <3

9. .hack//OUTBREAK

This is a game that will always be near and dear to my heart. Back before guides were widely available, I was playing a game called .Hack//OUTBREAK. It came out in 2002, when I was only 12 years old. Back then, my dad was still alive. He never really understood my taste in anime, but he wanted to try and relate, so he bought this game for me on a whim. Little did he know I knew absolutely nothing about the .Hack series, and little did either of us know that OUTBREAK was actually the third part to two other .Hack games. Still, I didn’t want to hurt his feelings, so I played the game-- and I fell in love.

Visually, OUTBREAK was one of the best games I owned on PS2, and although parts of the story were difficult to follow, I was hooked. I dedicated entire days to this game, and because there weren’t any guides, I had to write down every code and location so I wouldn’t get lost/forget them. Today, I still have pages folded safely in the case. The amount of exploration and character interaction opened me up to a whole new genre of video games. In fact, it basically introduced me to anime-style games. I could actually buy gifts for my friends and build relationships. That seems common now, but back then it wasn’t for a typical PS2 game.

Unfortunately, tragedy struck when the save cartridge was accidentally kicked by my brother and all of my data was lost. I wasn’t too concerned, since I figured I could just replay the game and get everything back ... but the disk was also severely, irreparably scratched. It no longer plays. As such, it is now merely a keepsake from my father. I miss you, dad.

But 16 years later and my sister and I are still quoting this game! XD @alannahkiwi https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0I-7hwgwqa4

10. Persona 5

I only recently started playing Persona 5, but it’s quickly made its way to my top ten. I can’t say too much about it just yet, aside from the fact that the animation is crisp, the story is gripping, and I’m ready to sink hours of my life into platinuming this gorgeous feet of human achievement! So much heart and sole was poured into this game and it shows with every in-game step I take. This is the only game on this list that I haven’t yet finished, but I have a sense that I don’t really need to. Thus far, every mission has been a gem and I don’t want the party to end!

[dlamp-dictator]

Who’s the Bad Guy Now?

While I haven’t finished the last episode yet, My Next life as a Villianess has been quite the fun ride. It’s funny, thoughtful, and probably has one of the best protagonist of a harem anime since The Fruit of Grisaia’s Yuuji Kazami. This is definitely definitely an anime I can recommend to anyone, which is a refreshing thing to say since the majority of anime I like tends to be either absolute fanservice garbage like Cross Ange, extremely genres like MagiPro and Granbelm, or something offensively generic and uninspired like Assassin’s Pride. 

Along with that, I can say that this anime is a refreshing take on both harem and otome tropes. Making our protagonist's obliviousness to her harem’s affection more comedic than frustrating while still giving her the charisma needed to actually get that affection in the first place. I could honestly do a whole Rambling on how well this all works together. 

But I’m not going to do that.

See, the whole ‘Villainess’ trend has been going on in Japanese manga, Korean Manhwa, and Chinese Webcomics for some time now, at least a year from my memory. I’ve been meaning to talk about some of these manga and this genre as a whole for a while now, but I’ve never really found the drive until now. So I wanted to take a bit of time to discuss a few of these stories and series in a way similar to my old Anime Updates, a general summary of the story and my overall views of each while hitting a point or two in a few paragraphs.

However, before I talk about the other manga and manhua... 

Disclaimer 

All of series I’m going to be talking about are, to my knowledge, not released or translated in the west officially. Most of these are fan translations by folks wanting to spread the respective series. However, with that said these are still technically pirated media. A lot of the translation groups have even asked to not post pictures of their translations on social media sites, specifically Instagram, as they could possibly face some form of legal action from the author. As such, I won’t be post too many pictures of what’s available save for official, untranslated art if I can.

With that said...

Let’s start with the big one. This is the main thing I wanted to talk about. What it Takes to be a Villainess or The Justice of Villainous Woman is a pretty interesting take on both Villain and Isekai tropes. The story focuses on Yu(?) Hwayoeng, a typical 23-year-old Korean woman who enjoys soap operas, racy novels, and being with her boyfriend. Well, at least until her boyfriend cheated on her with her best friend and she accidentally slipped into a river and died, only to be reborn in the body of a Satiana(?) Altizer Cailon(?), a noblewoman with the reputation of a bratty villainess. Through several events, she learns she’s a Regina, a canidate for the next empress of the empire. However, Satiana’s awful reputation as a villainess competing with the saintly reputation of her opponent Irene, who is already the lover of the current prince and next emperor. With enemies at every corner and a prince she knows nothing about save for his cold demeanor toward her, Satiana, or commonly called Satie, must find away to become Empress despite her foul reputation and hostile political environment.

Now, despite Satie being a ‘villainess’, the story sets it so that she’s already condemned and somewhat hated among noble society. This isn’t a tale of how a villainess avoids a bad end, but how someone goes from an underdog brat to a proper member of high society and cares for the people she rules under. Despite the premise, this isn’t much of a romance of Satie winning over the cold prince, but Satie working both with and against the system to make policies and arrangement work in her favor with the little tools she has. Her first obstacle isn’t softening the cold prince, it’s figuring out how to get maids and secretaries to help her run affairs despite her superiors hindering her from the most basic of rights as a noblewoman. She has to use both the memories borrowed from the original Satie and her memories from her past life to help her get through the tangled web of political intrigue. 

Speaking of which.

Satie Never Forgets

Like I said, the main interest for me in this is the twist on several Villain and Isekai tropes. One of which is that Satie never forgets her time as Yu or her certain circumstance. She never forgets that she died after soon being the victim of an affair, or that she, as Yu, was a controversial figure in her university as someone that spoke out against injustice and problems despite decorum saying otherwise. The former keeps her from pursuing the prince despite his advances, the latter keeps her from letting people’s wrongdoings go unannounced, much to her own detriment at times. She never forgets that she more or less stole the body she’s in, so tries her best as Regina to do her new family right. And after about 30-ish chapters she breaks from her Villainess reputation and persona and can start handling things properly. It becomes less of an Isekai or romance story and more of a political drama with Isekai and Romance elements in it. The best parts of this series is when Satie is planning her next move through all the political wrangling, or when she uses knowledge from her previous life to improve the lives of others. Not just that she’s from a modern era, but that she was also a former babysitter for her family, or had a natural knack for flirting and acting to begin with. She smart and can think on her feet. 

However... that said, I have one glaring issue with this series.

Romance and Morality

As of me writing this we’re at about chapter 92. Within the more recent chapters they’ve finally explained things from the Prince’s prospective as to why he’s so cold and why he chose Irene as a lover. And while I find that side interesting and the story takes advantage of us seeing his side of things for future plot events, I feel like the story wants us to question who is in the right. 

This... bugs me a little.

While I don’t mind moral ambiguity in my media this series has been trying very hard to get us to root for Satie for over 90 chapters, successfully might I add. She’s used her villainess reputation when she needed to, she’s punished wrongdoers, treated well those who have deserved it, and while the prince has slowly softened his stance on her she’s still hesitant to approach him, as he already has a lover. Through the Prince’s chapters we learn his and Irene’s relationship is more political than romantic and that Irene isn’t the kind saint she makes herself out to be. However, I feel like this moral fracturing is more annoying than interesting. Granted, this is to set up some bigger drama in later chapters and the chance to see other perspectives is nice, but... eh, your mileage may very. For what it’s worth, it’s building up to some interesting twists in the next arc or two, but the mystery of who is in the right by what means feels annoying when Satie’s been walking that tightrope for the last fifty-ish chapters.

Other Critiques

Just my general critique all of the series you’ll see here, but translations have slowed down as of me typing this essay. The last one was about 2-ish months ago, at least on the site I use for this specific story. The translations can’t really get a good read on how to properly spell Satie’s name either, if the (?) didn’t clue you in. Nothing deal breaking, but an annoy tick nonetheless. 

Anyway, only the next story!

The Villainess Reverses the Hourglass takes a different, if still common turn for these Villainess stories. Aria Roscente is the daughter of a prostitute that soon became a noble due to her mother marrying into nobility. She lived a lavish life and was quite arrogant as she grew up, but was slowly manipulated in her ignorance by several parties, the most egregious being her sister Mielle who pushed Aria into the role of villainess while making herself seem like a saint. And due to those machinations she was executed. With her last dying wish being for a second chance she’s granted that chance by traveling back in time to around her childhood through a magical hourglass, giving her the perfect change to lay the seeds of her revenge against all those who conned her. 

Now, time travel in these Villainess stories isn’t new, but I like this one’s take on it. Aria has a semi-manipulate time in the more recent chapters as of my writing this, and she uses them to her advantage in other to get revenge on those who wronged her. With her knowledge of future events she can make relationships of lower class individuals who will have higher stature in years to come. She can have almost prophetic knowledge of future disasters to come so she can be seen as a hero for preventing or preparing for them. And she can curb an future opponent’s advancements into high society. However... she’s stunted by thae fact that her child self won’t be taken too seriously and that Aria herself only has a passing idea of events to come, as her past arrogance made her rather flippant toward important court events.

But there’s one more issue I have with this story...

Aria is an Asshole

This might be a frequent criticism I have for a lot of future stories and series I want to cover, but to focus this on Aria for this, she is an almost cartoonishly evil character at times no real reason. Unlike like Satie who uses her bad reputation and evil persona strategically to sway opinions and weave the political landscape of the empire, Aria is an outright bastard out to tear down those that stand in her way as she manipulates things to her advantage and slowly ruins the lives of those who wronged her in the past. While we’re told this revenge is for deeds done in her past life, the people she targets are currently blameless in the new timeline. And the one that supposed ruined her life, her sister, may in fact be manipulated by other parties to see Aria’s undoing. However, Aria doesn’t care about this and proceeds to emotionally torture her younger sister throughout the story, relishing in her agony. Again, we’re told Mielle has done evil and manipulated Aria in her past life, but since we don’t see those moments it just feels like someone picking on the weak, like we’re just watching a bastard be a bastard and suppose to enjoy it. And unlike Light Yagami or Lelouch vi Britannia, her schemes and mannerisms don’t have much flamboyance or flair to them. This is just a scheming bastard ruining peoples lives, and I can’t really root for her. I’m currently at chapter 18 and so far there are translations going up to chapter 20 as of me typing this, but I’m loosing my taste for this series fast if Aria is going to just keep being an asshole without having an real opponent out to get her for it. There’s been moments of some actual opposition, but nothing concrete to say she has an opponent yet, not a tangible one at least. 

I also hear the original novel version of this story is a lot better, likely due to it taking time to explain a lot of her targets past deeds and making Aria’s evil acts seem a little more justified. It’s a lot easier to explain that in a book rather than a comic. 

It’s a little early for recommendations, but a Chinese comic The Bloody Merchant Empress and the Cold Husband's Forceful Doting is a much better version of this premise. When the wronged Empress is returned to the past as the daughter of a wealthy merchant she uses her knowledge of the future and family’s resources to better the country while also humiliating her cold, manipulative, and obsessive former husband. I’m only about 60-ish chapters in that one out the currently 90-ish that are translated as of me typing this, but it’s pretty entertaining so far and has a protagonist I can root for.

Aria... just isn’t an appealing protagonist to me, at least not yet, but I’m willing to at least get though another 5 chapters before calling judgement on it.

The last thing I wanted to cover was I'm Not a Villainess!! Just Because I Can Control Darkness Doesn't Mean I'm a Bad Person! This manga is about a girl named Sakura that was reincarnated as the dark magic user Claudia Letsya, the villainess of a popular novel she read. Realizing the plot and her death at the hands of the series protagonist, she works from her childhood onward to prevent her death by sowing seeds of kindness and generosity. It isn’t as simple as that however, as the world of Lacia is deeply prejudice toward those using dark magic, as well as Claudia’s own appearance since dark skin and hair are foreign to the country. Along with that, her powers are prophesied to bring ruin to the country as well. So with the cards stacked against her, Claudia must fight back every prejudice against her to prove she’s not the villain the world claims her to be, and to not die in battle as an enemy.

One it’s own this manga is pretty interesting. Claudia is already hated due to prejudice and prophecy, so she has to somehow fight against the system that already condemned her. And unlike Satie, who already had years of experience as an adult living in the adult modern world, Sakura died as a child and only has a child’s prospective on things. She’s a rather smart child, but she still doesn’t have the intelligence or status to have pull over the world. She can only do so much with the cards against in her current body and status. She has to make friends and allies fast. She eventually does this and gains a slightly better reputation than the original novel gave her, however...

The Big Twist

Spoils for chapter 6 onward, but later we large that the protagonist of this world, Amelia Logan, is also reincarnated like Claudia and knows the story and world she’s in as well. However, unlike Claudia who’s trying to prevent her death, the owner of Amelia’s body is a haughty, arrogant, and snobby person who is ignorant of our villainess’s plight and is currently trying to set Claudia’s path to follow the ‘script’ so she can kill her. 

This part I find interesting, as it give a lot more depth and a more interesting dynamic. While Claudia is trying to change her fate she has to deal with this awful, arrogant heroine that’s honestly doing more to ruin her own reputation than Claudia’s by being so pushy. And while the side cast can’t stand this arrogant light user, the society of Lacia wants Claudia as dead as Amelia does, so conspires against her. This adds another challenge onto Claudia, as the usually kind and trusting heroine is now her biggest adversary. And while that’s funny in a way, it also makes for a small problem I have with the series. That being... 

Amelia is an Asshole 

I didn’t think I’d use this criticism twice in the same Rambling, but okay. Like with Aria, Amelia is cartoonishly malicious toward Claudia. And while she’s always called out on it, she comes across more as annoying than comedic or imposing. This is probably intentional and updates are only up to chapter 9, but sometimes makes me wonder how Amelia can be so awful as a person and still keep her standing as a heroine. She tends backpedals the plot a little by being so inept of her status and assumes the fact that she’s ‘destined’ to kill Claudia means she’s free from criticism despite constantly being called out by the main cast. It’s less funny at times and more irritating that she can’t understand the story is moving in a much different direction than originally written and should act accordingly. 

This is a personal gripe however. Like I said, there’s only 9 chapters of this manga currently translated so there’s plenty of time for things to get better. This might not even be a line crossed with most readers, but it’s crossed it for me so I’m going to mention it. That’s not a deal breaker, but it is annoying to read through. 

Sadly, this manga only has 9 chapters out as of me typing this, and translations has moved to a crawl. The original novel seems have slowed as well in terms of translation speed, so this might just be a pointless inclusion on the list. Nonetheless, it’s definitely an interesting short read, if only for that 

Fuck it, I’ll make a thumbnail myself.

I’ve been meaning to find an excuse to talk about Villainess Ventures for a while, months really, and with this giant review/impressions/overview of villainess stories now’s as good a time as any.

So, if you’ve been following me for awhile you might occasionally hear me mention the youtube channel SugarPunch Design Works, a channel ran by Majikura and A Bad Idea (ABI for short). These two do a mix of parody recall episodes, animation critiques and discussions, podcasts, and anime harem reviews. The latter was something ran by Majikura with some animated bits by ABI. However, due to difficult copyright and fair use issues, Majikura has gone on record saying the harem reviews are more or less in hiatus until mentioned otherwise. In the meantime, he’s made a Webcomic on Tapas called Villainess Ventures, a comedic webcomic that treats villainy as a business and deconstructs/parodies common villain tropes. The premise is simple, protagonist Veronica Nightingale is a consultant for villains, advising them on schemes, giving them new business avenues, and so on. Like I said, there are a lot of tropes being played with here. That’s the basic synopsis, I’ve nothing more to say aside from that I’ve enjoyed reading it and I recommend you all give a look.

...

...

...

...

Look, I know I kind of railed on the last three series there for at least a paragraph each, but... well, this is a bit different. I don’t exactly feel comfortable critiquing a webcomic in the same vain I do other series, as this is a free comic that is available on a website at no cost. Technically the last three are in that same vein of being free to read, but that’s through piracy and are technically official works for purchase, just not on English sites/stores. I view webcomics in the same way I do things on fanfiction.net and fictionpress.net, I only review and critique things on request and on my own time (and yes, people on both these sites have requested reviews/critiques from me at points). At the moment I’d say the only strike I have against this series is that the artist/writer could announce their hiatuses more accurately, but that’s it. Overall this webcomic is updated weekly, one page per week, with a month or two of hiatus after every two-ish arcs. If you wanted my personal recommendations Professional Henchman and Join my Team are my favorites at the moment. The character designs are pretty good, you’ll find your favorite among the cast rather quickly, and it’s starting to get updated again as of me typing.

Like I said, this is a webcomic that’s free to read on a site that’s, as far as I’m aware, free to use and sign up to comment and subscribe to your favorite comics on the site. And feel free to subscribe to this comic and tell ‘em Allen X sent you.

And that is it for this Rambling. I still have to wrap up the Arknights essays... so there’s that. I’ll see you all a bit later. 

[samdukewieland]

Stuck Inside Media Diary Week 3

People ask me (no one asks me) all the time why I don’t include the music or podcasts I listen to or books I read when I put this list together once a week. It’s pretty simple: I’m a huge dumbass.

Sunday, April 5

Better Call Saul, [Season 4] “Wiedersehen”, “Winner”, [Season 5] “Magic Man”

This was a real milestone for me, made me feel real good in a very inconsequential way. I got caught up to a show that is currently airing on TV;it’s true what they say: it’s a sprint not a marathon. It feels silly to say or compare BTS to Breaking Bad, and acting as if you can only like one by saying X is better than Y. The closest comparison that I feel “comfortable” with making is that this is just a real Cheers vs. Frasier debacle. Both are close to, if not, model examples of their type and no one is gonna look down on you if you like them. Though there is a certain type of snobbishness to being a bigger Frasier/Better Call Saul fan-very white collar attribute.

Lady Macbeth, Oldroyd 2016 [as of now this is available on Hulu]

So I really only watched this because Florence Pugh is in this and I saw somewhere on twitter (what a source!) that it was essential viewing for Pugh-heads. Or something like that;I’m probably paraphrasing. Full disclosure: I have an enormous crush on Florence Pugh. Did this influence how much I liked this movie? I liked it fine, at a certain point you kinda go “I get it” and that’s about as much substance as it has, but man oh man, Florence Pugh is really good in this. Curious how much of this played a part in Ari Aster wanting her in Midsommar which she.....might just be too good for? I dunno man, there’s a lot of other things I’d rather do than talk about that movie. It reminded me of Revolutionary Road. How so? My senior year of college I borrowed it from a friend and when we had lunch like three weeks later and I gave it back to her she asked how I liked it and my honest to God reaction was “heh, man, how about that ending” which is 100% not the answer you want to give to a woman you have an innocent crush on who lent you her copy of Revolutionary Road.

Monday, April 6

After Hours, Scorsese 1985

I’ve owned this for a little over a year saving it for a special occasion or like when I feel like I’ve owed myself a little treat (that’s how much I believe in Martin Scorsese) so I watched it on my birthday. And because I am one of those assholes who posts what they’re watching or listening to on Instagram I had done that with this and one of my buddies who I just don’t text back because I’m busy with nothing and am bad at it (Cole and Max amongst others, this is for you!) said “the Safdies owe their whole shit to this and that’s okay.” Couldn’t’ve said it better myself. (Not since Uncut Gems have I felt a very specific kind of *wired* after a movie; granted it hasn’t been very long since I saw Uncut Gems, but let’s consider this one of those if you know you know things)

Tuesday, April 7

Killing Them Softly, Dominik 2012 [as of now this is available on Netflix]

Subtle is not a word I would use with some of the themes of this movie, but that just doesn’t really matter. This movie’s rad as hell and it doesn’t make a ton of sense that I hadn’t seen it until last week. Like, what a tense goldmine of character actors and this might be the first time I’ve heard Mendelsohn speak in his natural speaking voice (the episode of Girls that he’s in where he plays Jessa’s dad might actually be the first, but he’s supposed to be British in that and it’s been a while since I’ve seen that episode, so I’m just guess off the top of my head that he put a twist on his voice). Like Sam Shepard is the 8th guy in this movie! What a great audition tape to submit to Fincher.

The Plot Against America, “Part 1”

David Simon is my favorite dramatist in Television and it takes a lot of effort for me to keep with his shows. I don’t know why. The first time I watched The Wire I watched like 5 or 6 episodes and took maybe a month long break and picked it back up. He makes ear-worms, stuff that get’s lodged in my brain as responding very positively to what he makes (the same thing happened with Treme [never finished], Show Me A Hero [never finished] and The Deuce [never finished]) and I really don’t want it to happen again. He just tends to make stuff you have to be very dialed in for and my brain, for the most part, is mush a lot of the time. I will finish this though. Also I’ve never read the book (but I definitely own it!) so I don’t know how it holds up to source material blah, blah, blah.

Wednesday, April 8

The Running Man, Glaser 1987

I just wanted to watch Total Recall. This was the next best thing available on my DVR. It is not Total Recall (I’m sure it’s a very well known story and I just don’t know it, but is there a story about why Ventura doesn’t fight Arnold at the end? Seemed weird). Also Mick Fleetwood is in this and plays an interracial part to the resistance and his “character’s” name is “Mic.”

Thursday, April 9

Better Call Saul “50% Off”

Brooklyn Nine-Nine “Valloweaster”

For the record, I’ve been watching B99 all season and I just haven’t thought to add this. Same deal with Top Chef (see below). Have loved this season so far, but they’ve hit their stride (which they always do) in the last three weeks. Love that they still incorporate the Halloween heist in different capacities even though they don’t have episodes in the Fall anymore.

Top Chef Season 17, Ep. 4

Great episode. Sometimes it takes Top Chef about 3 or 4 episodes to really get going and the lower tiered competitors are starting to get on the nerves of higher tier chefs and the sense of urgency, re: competition finally has a fire lit under it. I also love that when this show first started whenever they had to do a vegetarian challenge the general consensus was “ah fuck this, I don’t know how to do that.” 

Onward, Scanlon 2020 [as of now this is available on Disney+]

I started watching this at like 1 in the morning, because I needed to watch something for the day, because I’m trying to keep this streak going. Whatever, it sucks that Pixar has to meet a quota or something now-a-days (have I mentioned that I had to travel in the snow when I went to school and that it was up-hill both ways). I guess if there was one for them that they could kind of just shoo off to the Ploos early they got lucky that it was this one. Again, whatever.

Friday, April 10

Best Friends, Jewison 1982

Man, Goldie Hawn was great. Man, Burt Reynolds was an underrated comedic actor and also very hot.

Better Call Saul, “The Guy For This”

Saturday, April 11

Better Call Saul, “Namaste”, “Dedicado A Max”, “Wexler V. Goodman”, “Jmm”, “Bagman”

I’m gonna miss my binge days of BTS, but again, this feels like a real accomplishment that I got here. Love this damn show.

The Untouchables, De Palma 1987

Kevin Costner has such cop-face in this movie and it’s almost like Andrew Garfield in Silence: I don’t know if I particularly like it and this is such a punchable face that I have to stare at for so long, but maybe that’s the point?

I made a DeNiro Top 5 and I might have regrets now for making it before seeing this, because you rarely get to see unhinged Bobby D and it is fun. As fun as the “another coat of glaze” performance Connery has in this movie (that beat out Albert Brooks in Broadcast News, something 1987 Sam would’ve come unglued at). Fun movie that is so bizarrely lauded-maybe a perfect time capsule movie for when it came out. It also made me realize that De Palma is like a better Tim Burton, because he has better friends.

[sonic-nyoom]

My Definitive Opinion on Sonic Boom

I noticed that most of my Sonic Boom opinions were spread out amongst multiple posts, so I thought it would be best to have one big post to direct everyone to for all my thoughts. I’ve had plenty of time for all of them to sink in and, while they’re mostly negative (precautionary warning there), it’s not likely to change anytime soon. If you disagree, that’s fine, but this is just how I feel.

To keep things nice and organized, I’ve separated everything into very broad categories so I can go into each one without getting sidetracked and lingering on multiple topics forever.

Starting with...

The Plots

An obvious place to start, the plots in Sonic Boom are very basic. That’s not a bad thing, but it becomes a problem when the show goes on for, say, more than one season, because it means either sticking to very cliche plots, or trying to be creative and failing due to having to force it.

Even sadder is when the plots are predictable. In all the times I’ve talked about Sonic Boom episodes that I haven’t liked or have downright hated, the word ‘’predictable’’ came up a lot, because it’s a killer of storytelling for me unless I’m excitedly anticipating that thing happening, which was very rare in this show.

As an example for killing any and all expectations I had for an episode, Designated Heroes. The very second that Sonic laughs at his friends (whether he has a reason to or not), I could anticipate the entire rest of the episode. Obviously Eggman isn’t going to show up, obviously Sonic is going to fall asleep, and obviously the rest of the disloyal crew are going to come by and rub it in his face despite the fact that they were so sure they could beat Eggman before too. Even if I had believed with 100% certainty that Sonic deserved punishment for what he did, that is ruined when such an obvious plot point is thrown my way. To make a simpler comparison, I go on rollercoasters for the excitement of the twists and turns, not to ride for eleven minutes in a straight line because the person who made it got lazy and decided that it was passable enough to be called a rollercoaster. Sure, it functions, but it’s not stimulating in any way.

On another note, while I would like to say that the best plots to come out of Sonic Boom were the interesting ones, honestly, it was almost completely random which ones I found fun. I even tried to calculate if it was the writers or maybe the characters used by the writers, but it really just came down to the episode itself. The only consistent thing I noticed was that episodes that tried to inject some heart (The Sidekick and New Year’s Retribution) while still being funny had the best chance of sticking with me. Unfortunately, Sonic Boom has very few of these. Most episodes center around the comedy alone, and while that’s enough for some people, it’s not enough for me because it just leaves the show as very one note. The only episodes I can think of that I find very memorable while still being one note are Battle of the Boy Bands, The Meteor, and Eggheads, but all of those did fairly crazy things and had a fun time with it.

And if you just want to talk about canon? Look, I get that the show shouldn’t have to explain everything. I understand that. But, when I see Sticks suddenly having a crossbow or Sonic riding in his fancy new vehicle with no introduction and no explanation, I just have to roll my eyes. If the writers don’t care about what they introduce into their world and if it makes sense or not, then why should I?

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; Sonic Boom is not meant for someone like me. While I do indeed watch comedies, I prefer to have at least some substance there, and doing anything less than that makes me turn away because it means that the show is doing the bare minimum. Essentially, I’m saying that Sonic Boom only does what it has to, sometimes goes the extra mile, but mostly just sticks to the one thing. And, if that one thing fails in my eyes, then there’s no reason for me to keep watching the episode because I know there won’t be anything else to look forward to. To give an example, even if The Sidekick had failed completely at making me laugh, I would at least still watch it for the dynamic between Sonic and Tails. There’s something else there even if one element failed.

The Comedy

Probably the most divisive thing I’ve noticed being talked about when referring to specific episodes, the comedy in Sonic Boom is extremely hit-or-miss for me, and part of the reason is that most of the characters cover a very short range of comedic angles. Because most of them are widely stereotypes with few new things, it often means that they only cover one type of joke. That’s not always bad, but after a while, it can start feeling boring.

The characters who avert the trope of being one note for me are Sonic, Eggman, and Amy. Though, on the flip side of only covering one kind of joke, I think Amy covers too many, and it becomes cluttered.

Eggman is a mixed bag, either making me laugh a lot or not making me laugh at all. I’ll talk more on it later, but sometimes, he was just too much and it ruined the jokes for me.

Sonic is the only one in the show who could make me laugh consistently, and it only partly has to do with how much I enjoy his character. He just covers a range of comedy without being too much (typically the straight man, pun boy, and general fun guy) while also playing off the other characters in varying ways depending on the situation.

The Characters

What you see is what you get. The characters in Sonic Boom are basically all stereotypes, barring a few exceptions.

The characters I enjoy watching in Sonic Boom out of the main cast are Sonic, Eggman (sometimes), Orbot, and Cubot. Orbot and Cubot mix up their personalities enough to keep me invested in their characters. They occasionally seem to care about Eggman, but aren’t against making fun of him, which makes sense because he orders them around like they’re nothing. And, when he’s doing that, I can’t really get invested in his character. The moments where he’s relatable/awkward are more my thing.

I’d talk about the rest of Sonic’s crew here individually, but there’s really no point, because they all cater to one stereotype, as opposed to Amy who caters to multiple (doesn’t help, by the way, in my opinion).

Let me make it clear; there were moments where I liked these characters. There were times where I laughed at one of their jokes or gave them some slack for something they did. On a few occasions, they actually stepped out of their boundaries and did something slightly different.

The problem, however, is that these characters are still stereotypes. They exist to follow their small range of humor and fit into exactly what you expect them to. It is not to pleasant degrees.

To delve into just one of them, I’ll pick Knuckles, because he’s my least favorite out of the entire bunch.

I have no problem with Knuckles being stupid. It was a sensible leap from the original character. My problem is when he’s forgetful, because that is not stupidity. Even stupid people can remember things that are important to them. If Knuckles was commonly forgetful - as in, that was one of his character traits - I wouldn’t complain, but it makes him very irritating. Why should I care when he’s trying to be good friends with Sonic if I know that he could turn at any time and forget Sonic’s name or even who Sonic is?

No matter how the characters change - no matter how they try to be developed - it will not carry over into other episodes unless the episode is a sequel to the episode where the development took place. Now, that’s not entirely a bad thing, but only if the characters are interesting from the get-go. Unfortunately, these four are not.

Now for the big question: what makes Sonic so different from the other characters that I actually like him?

Firstly, keep in mind that while, yes, I’ve typically favored Sonic in the past, there have also been Sonic that I don’t like. Satam!Sonic and Adventures!Sonic have both been Sonic I haven’t enjoyed watching.

And, there have been things with Boom!Sonic that I haven’t been 100% okay with. However, I could only count these moments on one hand and I don’t expect Sonic to be perfect.

One reason I enjoy Boom!Sonic is that he doesn’t completely follow a stereotype. The closest stereotype for him is the ego stereotype, but he mixes it up with his love of puns, his straight man routine, and his rare silly antics. Also, he’s not a jerk, as most ego characters are. He’s usually a pretty good guy.

Now, what about the times where he isn’t, however rare they are? Well, that brings me into my next reason.

Depending on how a character is treated by the other characters, I tend to give them slack on things they do. If Sonic is being treated poorly by everyone around him, I’ll naturally be more understanding if he’s acting in a way that isn’t perfect, because he’s not being treated fairly anyway. Or, if the writing is being unfair to him or shifting things against his favor, I’ll be more forgiving if he does anything ‘’wrong’’. Using Late Fees this time as my example, I don’t care that Sonic is procrastinating on getting Amy’s book back to the library because one, obstacles are put in his way before he’s even done anything wrong, and two, Amy has forced this task upon him without warning instead of returning the book herself like she should.

And, I also can excuse Sonic because he clearly isn’t used to friendship. He’s been a loner and not open to having friends; of course he’s not going to have social interaction with them correctly. He also doesn’t know the cores of friendship (though he has many good traits of being a great friend), so if he’s being treated wrongly, he doesn’t really know that he is and, during the few times he does something wrong, he might not even know that it’s wrong in the first place (I’m sure sometimes he does, but on occasion, he’ll give a look or response that seems to suggest that he doesn’t understand), because he was alone before. He hasn’t had any experience and obviously can’t improve if no one tells him what he’s doing wrong.

Which brings me to my final point...

The Treatment

Throughout most of my time watching Sonic Boom, regardless of how much of a fan I could say I was, there was a lingering feeling that started at around Episode 15 (Aim Low) and then continued as I kept watching the series.

A feeling of unpleasantness.

Looking at it purely from Sonic’s perspective, this is not a group of friends that I want to have. This is not a friendship that I want. They change sides on him without warning, simply to follow the narrative. He deserves better.

I’d like to shrug my shoulders and just pass episodes off when they do such things, but I can’t. I can’t settle with the knowledge that Sonic could have a good relationship with his ‘’friends’’ in one episode, but have it change with no warning in another.

Characters should not have to work around the story. The story should have to work around the characters. If that can’t be accomplished, then the story means nothing and is only a fruitless attempt to make a plot with characters who don’t fit.

And I know that there are episodes that are not meant to be taken seriously. Technically speaking, none of the episodes are meant to be taken seriously.

What does that really mean? From that standpoint, all of the characters mean nothing. They’re there only to serve the comedy, and I’m sorry, but I think that’s a really lousy way to treat characters. It’s also a huge factor on why I tend to laugh less than the average person does at this show. If I’m not attached to a character, I’m a lot less likely to find them funny, and most of the characters in this show change whims in the blink of an eye.

See, I can’t let go of these episodes because they are canon. Unless stated otherwise, every episode is canon to the character’s personality and story.

Take ‘’Alone Again, Unnaturally’’ as an example. In this episode, Sonic’s crew are trying to help him go faster and come up with crazy schemes that Sonic is understandably unsure about. They don’t put his safety first, opting for their own and blatantly ignoring him when he tells them to wait.

Now, obviously, this was done for comedy. You’re supposed to laugh at Sonic’s screaming and pain.

I don’t, so let’s take that into consideration. What changes in this story if I did find it funny?

Nothing. Whether I laughed or not, the plot remains the same. What the characters do to each other remains the same. These pieces of the story are incapable of magically disappearing. They happened, no matter how much you laughed or didn’t laugh and regardless of if it was intended for comedy or not.

And moments like that impact my view of the characters as a whole. Even if they acted like saints in a future episode, that doesn’t change the fact that they did what they did and weren’t even sorry.

When they made Sonic feel so bad that he went to Eggman for help? Not sorry.

When he nearly drowned because they forced him to go into the water? Not one apology.

When he finally got so upset at everyone’s lack of respect for him that he quit, only returning because of a twisted strategy concocted by someone who was supposed to be his friend, meaning they knew he’d be too nice to not help? Not. One. Bit.

Of course it bothers me when the villagers are rude and saying bad things towards Sonic when he does nothing wrong, but I can usually pass it off because the villagers are supposed to be a mob. They’re meant to be wild cards, capable of doing whatever the writer needs at that moment.

The actual main characters should not be that. They should never be that, at least for me.

Whenever there’s a hint of sympathy between the characters, it can all be thrown to the wayside immediately for another scene or another piece of dialogue that really makes it seem like no one cares what happens to Sonic. Any potential with these characters that I would legitimately love to see get developed is left and forgotten just to revel in how stupid one is or how crazy another is, or even to have a subjectively tasteless Sonamy joke that honestly means nothing and only exists to pander to fans and bring in more viewers. The double standard that one character can do something without judgment but Sonic cannot do the same without someone judging him will never go away. Nothing matters.

The villagers, and even Sonic’s crew, don’t want him because they like his personality or enjoy having him around. It’s because he’s useful, and anything that he does that goes against that is either irrelevant or annoying to them.

There is a way to give a character an ego and not make it seem like everyone constantly wants to strangle them. In fact, the Archie comic series already did it.

But the stuff going on in Boom? It won’t change. It’ll never change. It’s honestly not even limited to just Sonic, but he is the prime example. If anything ever happens down the line that changes that, I will gladly take my words back, but I just don’t see it happening.

Unless you’re not supposed to feel anything for the characters (as in, they’re all meant to be complete jerks with no redeeming value), I don’t think any show should ever have to stoop to singling a character out and neglecting them when they don’t deserve it. In my opinion, doing so is a disservice to both the characters and the world created around them.

And that is how I feel about Sonic Boom.

[millwooney]

Lo26 Me And Me Movies

One of the most important parts of a film is its audience. As part of an audience, you interact with the film. A film’s audience can determine its popularity and status in culture. It is almost impossible to create a film for everyone due to the difference between the individuals who make up the audience and the way each single person reads the film and is affected by it.

Spectatorship of a film can be seen in two different ways. Active Spectatorship suggests that audiences are made up of individual active spectators who each are different and will have different reactions to a film. These active spectators are independent in choosing what films to watch and do not just watch what they are told to. Passive Spectatorship suggests that a film audience’s knowledge or life experience has no effect on their reaction or reception to the film they view. Often, film directors actually prefer their audience to be passive. They will put very obvious preferred readings in their films so the audience will react in the way they want. These preferred readings can be conveyed to the audience through choice of music, lighting and cinematography in hope that this would cause a specific emotional response. Some film makers do like the audience to have a more personal response and be active spectators. They sometimes encourage their audience to interpret the film in their own way. However, in bigger Hollywood blockbusters, a preferred reading is usually put forward to the audience and a Director has a specific idea of the plot and characters that they want the audience to understand. A common use of active spectatorship is leaving an open ending to a film. Open endings leave a sense of ambiguity for the audience and allow them to use their imagination rather than being told exactly what happened. An example of an ambiguous ending is Memento. The film finishes by totally changing what the audience thought they knew and leaving them unsure what to think.

Audiences can gain four main types of pleasure from watching a film; personal relationships, personal identity, diversion and surveillance. The most common of these four is probably Diversion, this is because it is the most common reason a person wants to watch a film. Films allow a person to divert from their own lives and escape into another reality. Many films offer huge amounts of escapism to an audience such as, Lord Of The Rings or Star Wars, which take place in other worlds we aren't familiar with. Personal Relationships or Personal Identities are when an audience feel a personal attachment to characters in a film or can relate to the characters. For example, The Inbetweeners movie is very relatable to groups of young 'lads', especially in the UK, as they will have experienced very similar situations. Older men can also relate to it as they can remember being in similar situations when they were younger. Other examples could be 'stoner' movies as 'stoners' will likely relate to the characters and topics in the films due to their lifestyle. Some films fall into the Surveillance type. In these kind of films the audience are often educated because they are watching a film which explores a subject, idea or even culture, for example, that the viewer isn't aware of or familiar with. A lot of foreign films are surveillance because of the look at a different culture. For example, 'Sin Nombre' is a Spanish film which explores gang culture. Anybody from a different country and totally unfamiliar with any kind of gang culture would be educated by this film.

A viewer's response to a film can differ depending on their Media Literacy. Depending on an audience's knowledge of the media and how film works, they can have a different interpretation. For example, some one like me who is a film student will view films very differently to a casual viewer due to the fact that a film student knows more about how a film is put together and how stories work whereas a normal film goer would have more a simple idea and not look into those kind things. An example of the responses differing could be seen with 'Memento'. The film has a non-linear timeline and the audience have to think about how the story pieces together rather than it all just happening chronologically. While someone with better media literacy than others might find that very interesting and enjoy the challenge of piecing it together, someone with less media literacy/a casual film goer might just find the story confusing and boring and they might prefer to see a film which happens chronologically.

Intertextuality is where a film references another piece of media. This includes parodies, spoofs and homages. In parodies/spoofs a film is deliberately referencing another piece of media, usually in a comedic way, sometimes even mocking it. In 'Hot Fuzz' the entire Hollywood action genre is parodied throughout the movie with characters acting in similar ways to popular 'action heroes'. Specific moments from films such as 'Point Break' are also parodied however could also be classed as a homage to the film. In homages, a director purposely references a piece if media in some way in their own film but, unlike parodies, homages tend not to be comedic and are usually meant to show an appreciation for the thing they are referencing.

Pre & Post-viewing experiences and a persons opinion on a film can be affected by different aspects. For example, a person who watched all the trailers a promotion for the film they are seeing might have high expectations and be let down however someone who saw nothing beforehand would have no expectations. Trailers can have a large effect on people experiences with films. Often, in comedy trailers the best jokes are shown to get the best laughs and gain audience however this leads to all the best jokes being heard before the film and the audience being let down. Similarly a trailer can give away too much plot, a problem many people believe to be in today's cinema. A recent example would be the trailer for 'Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice'. With people an audience already gathered from simply the announcement of Superman and Batman being in a film together, you would think there would be no need to give away too much plot. However, the trailers released before the film came out revealed what many considered to be far too many plot points and even giving away twists which, had they not been mentioned in the trailer, would have been very entertaining to an audience when watching the film in the cinema. This, among many other reasons, contributed to overwhelmingly bad reviews from critics and fans alike.