#filler episodes are what make the world go round!

[rosehathawhey]

THE SOPRANOS | “Pine Barrens” (3x11) dir. Steve Buscemi

[tobiasdrake]

What are your opinions on Paikuhan/Pikkon, as well as the Other World Tournament arc more generally?

Could have stood to be longer. Five episodes doesn't seem like nearly enough to get an entire tournament arc over and done with, but it can be enough episodes when there are very few characters to be invested in.

The Anoyoichi Budokai or "Strongest in the Other World Martial Arts Tournament" is an interesting premise held back by a lack of substantively interesting characters to fill a tournament roster. What makes tournament arcs work is getting to see various members of the cast given their moment in the spotlight. However, in the Anoyoichi Budokai, there are only two characters of any interest: Goku and Paikuhan.

Having only two interesting characters creates a problem for a tournament arc. It means the final round is the only match of any interest. The rest of the time is spent waiting for the plot to reach the interesting stuff. At that point, you'd be better off having Goku and Paikuhan slug it out in an exhibition match.

For his part, Paikuhan's introduction is a little janky. They wanted to do the "Meet the new antagonist, he makes the old antagonist look like a joke," bit to puff him up. So we get this?

Every arc has its ups and its downs. This is the weakest point of the Anoyoichi Budokai by far. This is peak "Toei doesn't understand Dragon Ball".

So, despite the fact that you don't keep your body in the afterlife without special dispensation from a sponsoring god, Frieza, Cell, and the Ginyus all have their bodies and are able to use their tremendous power to take over Jigoku.

The Ginyus, at least, were excused in a previous filler episode. Kaio sponsored them, allowing them to keep their bodies so he could use them to train the Earthlings. That episode had its own issues, mind. But at least it's there. No such explanation has been offered for who gave Frieza, Cold, and Cell their bodies back.

Toei just. Really likes this premise of all the old villains still being tremendously powerful and being able to revolt from Hell, even though the metaphysics are designed with built-in explanation for why that can't happen. Toei did it here, they did it in the movie Fusion Reborn, and they did it in GT.

So, Goku and Paikuhan go to put down the Hell revolt and like.

Goku wipes out the Ginyus while powered up in Super Saiyan yellow battle aura and Super Saiyan hair colored black for some reason. Not sure if this is a coloring error or what. Is he supposed to be Super Saiyan here or not? Doesn't seem like he'd need to be.

But then we get this reaction shot from Frieza and Cold.

Staring in slack-jawed amazement. Goku defeated the Ginyus!? That's impossible! It staggers belief that Goku could be so powerful that he could do that to the Ginyu Force! How far must he have advanced since the last time Frieza saw him!?

Y'know. When Goku left Frieza in chunks on the turf of an exploding planet.

Toei.

What the fuck are we doing here. This bit in Jigoku is the absolute nadir of the arc.

Its main purpose is to set the stage for this moment.

Paikuhan works over Cell like he's nothing.

If we're to assume that this is Super Perfect Cell at his full strength, then this is an intimidating yardstick moment for Paikuhan. Goku couldn't even take regular Perfect Cell. He doesn't have a snowball's chance in Hell, pardon the pun, of measuring up to Paikuhan in the ring.

Goku, of course, is thrilled by the opportunity to try. Paikuhan here is presented as a new mountain for Goku to climb. The next peak he can ascend to. Today, he met the new Always Someone Stronger Around the Next Corner.

This, at least, Toei does get. This is classic Goku. He watches Paikuhan make short work of Cell and his takeaway is "Fuck yeah, I want a piece of that." Thankfully, Goku getting a piece of that is what the arc's actually about. Goku's in the afterlife for like an afternoon when the Kaios propose a tournament between their four galaxies.

Like I said before, most of the matches don't feel meaningful because we have no investment in any of the other competitors.

This guy's based on Hercules and he's the closest thing to a third important character, in that he and Goku got to exchange words for a bit in this episode. He's here so we can be sad when Paikuhan kicks his ass.

Oh no, Paikuhan defeated that one guy that was kinda nice and now he's out of the tournament. Sucks.

Goku, meanwhile, fights this caterpillar dude who tickles people.

Who he beats by just kinda blasting him 'cause Goku's tremendously powerful so this ain't shit. It ends on a killer joke, though, as Caterpi enters a chrysalis so he can power up and transform into his ultimate battle form!

Look, these things take a while, okay? Not everyone can just eat a spunky orphan and then POP, perfection. XD Ya got me, Toei, that was fucking gold. Caterpi is a nothing character but the punchline kills.

But other matches are stuff like this.

Cool power bro but. Like. I do not know who these people are. Toei, I don't know who these people are. I legit could not care less what the outcome of this match is. I don't know why you made this a tournament.

What makes a fight interesting is not that the guy punches very hard and his ki blast is super big. We care about the fight because we're invested in the characters participating.

Only once in the history of the Tenkaichi Budokai did Toriyama ever make us sit through a match between two randos: Namu vs. Ranfan in the 21st. That was because he was developing one of those randos to be an emotional core for the arc; That fight was meant to serve as our introduction to Namu for a story that would reach its height when he fought Goku in the semifinal.

This isn't that. Half of the arc's third episode is spent waiting for things that matter to start happening again.

Goku's opponent in the semifinals is really cool, though.

He's fighting a fish man with the power to summon water, forcing Goku into a bad position as he has to try and defend himself from Aqua while trying to avoid drowning. This is a really cool technique, setting up Aqua as an interesting and complicated opponent for Goku to have to navigate.

Who he beats by just kinda blasting him 'cause Goku's tremendously powerful so this ain't shit. Gotta admit, Aqua's fight left me disappointed 'cause that was a perfect setup for some classic Goku analysis and counter-fighting. But nope. Goku just Power Levels through every match.

Goku's third fight is barely worth mentioning. He fights the purple lizard guy from that earlier rando match. Malaiko is just a big strong guy who hits really hard. Goku hits harder. It's mainly notable for this one moment.

Where Goku momentarily loses track of Malaiko, and we see his eyes scanning back and forth as he tries to figure out where his opponent's gone.

Goku. Goku, you can sense ki. Goku, you are probably the universe's #1 master at ki sensing. You physically can't lose track of people like this. What are you doing?

He does find Malaiko and manage to sucker punch him before Malaiko can launch his attack. But I dunno. Goku needing to stop and try and figure out where his opponent vanished to for a couple seconds this late in the series feels wrong to me. This happens during the fight with Paikuhan too.

Paikuhan dodges an attack so fast that he vanishes from sight and Goku has to spend a couple seconds looking for him, before Paikuhan announces himself and surprises Goku. Again: Goku can sense ki. What is this?

In any case, rando hits hard, Goku hits harder, and we get this moment of acknowledgement from Paikuhan.

My dude, what are you talking about? We've been given no reason to believe that guy Goku just beat was supposed to be powerful beyond his abilities, nor has he had any opportunity to improve his skills since you met him like four hours ago. We have seen no meaningful improvement from Goku at any point in this tournament. Paikuhan's just saying words that sound like Dragon Ball things to say.

We move right along to the main event and what we're all actually here for: Goku finally steps into the ring with Paikuhan. From what we've seen of these two, Paikuhan should shitstomp Goku. What he did to Cell puts him leagues outside of Goku's capabilities.

Yep.

Yep.

That's about right. Paikuhan dominates this match, as well he should based on how they set him up. His Hyper Tornado is neat, trapping his opponent in a vortex of razor-sharp air currents that cut him up. Most of the fight is Goku facing some new thing or another that Paikuhan's doing. Goku struggles to even land a hit on Paikuhan, with every exchange either leading to Paikuhan wasting Goku or Goku managing to pull it out and fight evenly before the next exchange wastes him.

Paikuhan is never on the back foot, while Goku always feels like he's at the end of his rope desperately trying to pull this out.

There's also a bit of Playing the Hits to this fight, as Paikuhan pulls the "Goku suddenly reveals he's wearing weighted clothes" bit from the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai while Goku basically looks into the camera and calls him a knock-off Piccolo.

Goku, you're not supposed to point out when the anime's being uncreative. That's my job. There's also one of Toei's favorite bits of anime choreography here.

Toei really likes dramatic Super Saiyan transformations when a character's back is against the wall. In the movies, this gets really obnoxious and can feel like the characters are getting shitstomped on purpose. Like, we'll get prolonged sequences of Goku getting fucking shitstomped and we know he can just transform so it's like. Goku. Goku, why are you letting this happen to you?

This never happens in the manga. Saiyans go Super immediately as they step up to fight the bad guy. They only hold back when they have a reason to hold back, such as Trunks reserving his limit-breaker form because he's concealing it from Vegeta, or everyone agreeing at Gohan's behest to not go Super at the 25th Tenkaichi Budokai. Toei's action is all holding-back all the time, because it lets them drag fights out without having to come up with a valid reason for why the tide would suddenly turn at the critical moment.

But here, in this match, it works. For this first stage of the match, Goku and Paikuhan are both starting out small and testing each other's abilities. When Paikuhan decides to get serious, he takes off his weights. Goku repays him in kind by transforming. Goku was fighting Paikuhan at a level that matched what Paikuhan was giving him; now that Paikuhan is kicking things up a notch, Goku kicks things up to match.

This makes sense and feels true to character. Much moreso than, say, Vegeta letting Android 15 beat the shit out of him for several minutes because he loves the taste of fist in his mouth.

And then, of course, there's Goku's ultimate last resort unveiled here in this arc.

Goku uses the Kaio-ken as a Super Saiyan. As ways to remix old abilities for new and creative attacks go, this is a neat idea. Though it does raise a shitton of questions. Like, if Goku can do this, why didn't he use it against Cell?

Funnily enough, Toei forgot they wrote this in Dragon Ball Super. The Z anime and all of its filler is canon to the Super anime, with Captain Ginyu's continued existence being the most obvious example of their connections.

Toei did this again with Blue Kaio-ken, while also offering a lore explanation that Super Saiyan Blue is the only Super Saiyan form that it's possible to use Kaio-ken with. Never before has Anime Goku ever been able to combine Kaio-ken with Super Saiyan, but he can now do it with Blue.

So I guess this never happened. XD That's just as well; It lasts for all of one punch and then he never does it again. I think it's just there for another Playing the Hits moment. Remember that time Goku hit Kaio-ken and then punched Vegeta really super hard? Good times, moving on.

The climax of this fight comes when Paikuhan unveils his inappropriately named Thunder Flash.

"Thunder" in an attack name can generally mean one of two things: A powerful sonic crash or a fancy word for lightning. That. Um. That's fire. It's fire, Paikuhan. Do you know what thunder is? Because I don't think you do.

This is the best part of the entire tournament. Goku says this because characters are just saying Dragon Ball sounding words in this arc.

Which is a funny thing to say when the climax of the fight is going to feature Goku capitalizing on the technique's clear and obvious vulnerabilities. That's right, Thunder Flash finally gives us a chance to see Counter-Fighter Goku in action again.

Obviously, the technique's vulnerability is a) a super-long chargeup time where he has to do about as much random bullshit with his limbs as Recoome's Ultra FIghting Miracle Attack, followed by b) holding him in place while he fires it. Goku seizes on that second one; If the technique doesn't land, Paikuhan's set himself up for a brutal counterattack.

Goku can teleport. So he makes a brutal counterattack. Honestly, not sure why he didn't teleport out of the way the second time Paikuhan hit him with this. I can understand the first; He didn't know what was coming. But I don't know why it took until the third for him to come up with this. Evasive teleportation is not a new thing he just came up with today; He was doing it in his fight with Cell.

He says it took until the third Thunder Flash for him to first see Paikuhan's movements clearly.

I believe that. What I have trouble with is that he stood there and let the attack hit him without even trying to evade it. Dodging's for suckers, I guess.

But, nitpicks aside, this is a fantastic triumph for Goku. The fight up to this point has clearly asserted Paikuhan's undeniable statblock superiority, which makes it all the more hype when Goku wins anyway by exploiting the holes in Paikuhan's technique. Paikuhan is stronger, but Goku outmaneuvers him at just the right moment, in just the right way to clinch a ring-out and claim victory.

A victory that speaks both to Goku's abilities as a counter-fighter and his general familiarity with the atmosphere of the tournament stage.

So, overall, the arc itself is janky as fuck but its centerpiece, the Paikuhan fight, is mostly solid. It takes too long to get to the good part and there's nagging bits of Toei Choreography here and there once the fight begins but most of the fight itself works.

And it ends in a place that leaves Paikuhan and Goku both with much to learn. It's clear by the end of the match that Paikuhan is a stronger fighter while Goku is a better fighter. There are still mountains for both men to climb. This resolution feels true to the spirit of Dragon Ball and lets the Anoyoichi Budokai go out on a high note.

[cocogum]

DO NOT skip the Wakfu ‘filler episodes’.

I don’t understand how some ppl can just skip the fillers in Wakfu like that???

Also, calling them ‘fillers’ doesn’t make much sense because even if you did skip a filler episode, you won’t know how they came to another filler episode lol.

The world is based on an MMORPG game that always has rows and rows of side quests and tasks. So….can’t we just say that it makes sense to watch ‘fillers’ when they’re actually just ‘side quests’??

Like my guy, what did you expect? When you’re watching Wakfu, a world that’s based on an MMORPG game, the side quests will obviously play a major role in the story.

Not only that, but these episodes are fun and good to watch. It’s not gonna hurt you to watch it. Watching them go through rounds of adventures after another just encourages the fact that they’re adventurers. Adding ‘fillers’ is more than just ‘fillers’. It’s showing progress in the dynamics between all of the brotherhood members and their powers. It’s also about showing how rich and different every location looks like. Because, again, Wakfu is only one piece of the full story so the ‘fillers’ greatly help extend the worldbuilding.

So why try to take all of them off?? The story would get smaller and straight to the point if Yugo wasn’t exploring the world. That’s like having an objective but just showing how the reward looks like instead of the travel that they had to make it there.

Besides, you do meet some important characters in the ‘fillers’ who will appear in the episodes you think matters most so it’s best to not skip them if u hate ‘fillers’ so much.

[episodeoftv]

Round 1 of 6, Group 2 of 4

propaganda is under the cut (424 words) - may contain spoilers

summaries (pulled from imdb or wikis)

propaganda

Doctor Who - 12.10 The Timeless Children

In the epic and emotional season finale, the Cybermen are on the march. As the last remaining humans are ruthlessly hunted down, Graham, Ryan and Yaz face a terrifying fight to survive. Civilisations fall. Others rise anew. Lies are exposed, truths are revealed, battles are fought, and for the Doctor - trapped and alone - nothing will ever be the same again.

this finale is shit!! absolute ass! nothing happens in it for it to justify having such a cool name. the master captures the doctor, shows her a slideshow that amounts to ‘‘you’re adopted!! :)" doctor breaks out of her matrix prison thing by overloading it with memories when the matrix is The Supercomputer and it’s used to hold all memories of all time lords ever? you know, the species whove been doing their thing for a billion years and live up to 10,000 years? the doctors new memories should either already be there or make nary a dent in it. the doctor’s like ‘‘why would they do that! why would they lie?’’ girl they have been lying to you since forever. they killed you once. theyve tried to kill you so many times. they turned you into a fucked up anti time monster that one time. one of the doctors past past selves even told her it doesnt really matter!! what was even the point

Our Flag Means Death - 2.08 Mermen

cw: vomit

Stede, Zheng, Spanish Jackie and the rest of the Revenge crew team up to take down a nefarious common enemy threatening the world of piracy.

1) paced like a runaway train, worst actor kiss i've seen in all my years, weird resolutions for two newly-introduced characters who started with lots of potential but ended up with no narrative payoff. (spoilers) removed a really strong actor/character from an overwhelmingly mediocre cast and caused a giant rift in the fandom with some (falsely) claiming that the major character death was bury-your-gays, homophobic, ableist, etc. and that they were done with the show (we'll see about that), and others claiming it made perfect sense to kill off this character because he was "ready to die"

2) Season 1 was so promising, and set up so much! Season 2 SEEMED like it was gonna fulfill some of that promise... That is, of course, until they squandered all of those loose plot threads, character moments, potential arcs, etc. in a half-assed episode that was basically all filler and ended with one of the most unsatisfying, pointless, and unemotional deaths of TV that gave us all 'Dean with the rusty nail' flashbacks. Even the *seagull* got a better death. Not even the canon ship felt satisfying!! Their kiss and ending was extremely rushed and they didn't actually go anywhere from the end of S1.

3) Least of all it was all very rushed. More importantly Izzy was absolutely fucked and his death didn’t make sense with the writing of the rest of the series. Ed en Stede’s character development throughout the season got thrown away for some ”happy” ending which would’ve been better if they just stayed with the crew.

[fndmrt]

Ghost Files Live Run-through

This is just going to be a run through of what the shows are going to be like going forward with a bit of commentary about it! As this was the first show, future shows might not follow this exact structure going forward.

Merch

With the exception of the tote bag (as a individual item) and a tour exclusive t-shirt design, all merch is currently available on watcherstuff dot com. Sizes range from S to XL, though unsure if there are smaller or bigger sizes. All prices are raised by $5 compared to online (probably to make up cost and such).

Hats for $35

Crop top sweater for $60

Hoodie for $80

Tote bag for $25

Shirts for $40 - two shirt designs available; tour exclusive is of the Ghost Files promotion poster in the front with your dates on the back, the other design is also available online.

There was another piece of merch available but was sold out before I could see was it was. I’m assuming it’s the key chain (available on watcherstuff for $10).

General Schedule

• Intro - short video skit

• Episode viewing

• Moderated conversation about episode

• Audience evidence

• Spirit Box Session

• Audience questions

Detailed Overview - Will include brief Ghost Files spoilers

• Still of the Ghost Files set is projected onto a screen with post-punk music serving as filler before the show started (think of music like Rock Lobster).

• Photography and videos are prohibited! Saw some people get scolded by staff for having their phones out as well. Unsure of it was from tour or venue staff.

• Show starts at 8pm on the dot. Begins with a small skit welcoming the audience and making references to the city’s known haunted areas.

• We are shown the first episode of Ghost Files Season 2, which is at Missouri State Penitentiary, one of the oldest prisons in the US.

There’s a 3D model of the prison shown in the beginning of the episode. Unsure if it’s a miniature model or one made with a computer program. Just wanted to point it out. Major props to the team!

The episode out of context:

• Once episode ends, Shane and Ryan come out to talk about the episode with Lizzie as the moderator for the rest of the show. Conversation between the three begins.

S2 of Ghost Files is the most evidence packed season yet!

Missouri State Penitentiary was filled with groundhogs! Shane and on-site staff though they were hedgehogs at first. Photos will be included in the episode’s debrief.

Someone who watches the show went to one of the locations they visited a week ago and asked the ghost questions about them and received responses! They will be featured as evidence in a future episode.

Second episode is currently being edited.

Ryan struggles to find his water bottle (under his seat), struggles to open it, then spills some on his shirt. Shane calls him out for doing an improper wet t-shirt contest. The audience cheers!

Another prison is featured in this season!

Another house call! Ryan doesn’t know why people want then to investigate their homes.

• Audience evidence is then shown. Only three were shown, not sure if that’s the definitive amount going forward.

A photo that looked like an Easter head behind a window/inside a building (IMO more like an elongated Batman face).

CCTV footage of a door opening and closing very fast! Shane still doesn’t buy it.

A selfie with a face in the background! Gets a round of applause for being a lovely portrait.

• Live Spirit Box session! Ryan asked the questions while Shane was plugged in (forgot what the type of session is specifically called, sorry!). Shane gets red lighting on him for this.

‘Number one’

‘World war’

Ghost name is ‘Al’ - unsure if Al is actually the name but will continue on

‘Scientist’ - Audience confused it as Desantis, Ryan gets a laugh out of it.

Shane burps and apologizes

‘Taco baby!’

• Floor is then opened to the audience! Two lines, one on each side of the stage. This is the last segment of the show which lasts for about 45 minutes. I advise to get merch at this time if you weren’t able to get merch before the show. The line after is quite long.

If forced to haunt one of the already visited locations, Ryan would haunt Queen Mary and Shane would haunt the lighthouse (the one in Florina as Ryan points out).

Someone in the audience who also works for the venue gave context for the name Al; the building was originally a high school that had burned down with people inside. They rebuilt the school on top of it which led to the building becoming haunted. Al is suspected name of one of the victims of the fire.

Ryan would like to visit paranormal sites in Japan, Mexico, and The Philippines if given the chance to investigate on an international level. Also, when planning the first investigations for BFU, Ryan wanted to go to The Black House in Mexico but there were not contacts for the house, so they settled with the island of the dolls.

Ryan thinks all places have the possibility of being haunted, but not all will be super active. Shane thinks it’s all shit.

Hospitals aren’t haunted to Ryan though! Shane argues that Ryan should believe they are haunted. Shane pretends to die.

During the pandemic, Shane would drink sleepy tea on his balcony at midnight, sometimes high, and then would pee for 6 minutes. That is the final response for a question on creative output.

• Show ends around 10:30pm

Overall, was a very enjoyable night! Super excited to see how the other shows turn out!

[666prophet]

Fallout S1:E5

This episode feels like a good balance between developing the main characters and how the see the world. But it felt like it focused more on the world, specifically Vault-Tec. Honestly the main plot was lost, or at least put on the back burner, in favor of the subplots. Its generally ok, but nothing great. Borderline filler feeling.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Spoilers and Deep Dive ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ummmm alright I guess Maximus and Thaddeus are besties now. Never mind, friendship over. Wait...what the fuck was that? Since when do fusion cores require a key?!?!?! Oh Todd, you and just making stuff up. That's the most radroaches we've seen this whole time. I am also surprise that no one seems to give a shit about ammo except for The Ghoul. So that radiation poison set on pretty fast from just a few handfuls of water. Usually it would take basically swimming in irradiated water or eating a shit ton of food to build up that kind of rad level. He saved you from getting shot in Filly, but suddenly now you cant trust him?

Chet is the definition of a Vault dweller. He's happy to not fuck with the status quo and doesn't want to know what's going on. I think his relationship with Norm is a good contrast. I wouldn't be surprised if Norm left the Vault next. Also Betty is obviously sus as shit.

Ah yes wishy washy Lucy. So a little bit ago you were nervous to trust him, now you wanna make a deal with not only him but the BoS. Whom you have never met or interacted with. Bold strategy cotton, lets see how that works out for you.

Another classic Fallout shtick. It's odd that Reg didn't vote for himself. Its weird that she would bring up flat vs round earth, like Vaults haven't been around for that long. That's not ominous or strange that everyone who has been overseer has been from a trade with Vault 31. Including Betty, twice now.

See this is what I mean about the portrayal of the BoS. Like that very basic blurb of a summary could also apply to the Enclave. The difference being that the closest game time-wise was Fallout 4. They were focused on controlling weapons technology and trying to keep scientific advancements in check lest they lead to disastrous consequences. Lucy once again showing her naivete. She shouldn't be shocked with Fiends, seeing as The Ghoul LITTERALLY carved ass jerky off another ghoul.

That saying, along with the info Norm found, feels very brainwashy. So I guess Stephanie and Chet are a couple now? That makes sense 🙃. So no one can say how Vault 31 was like, and no one outside of Vault 31 has been traded to them. Interesting.

Oh shit the NCR and Shady Sands. Sooooo then this happened after a lot of the games. Shady Sands was there all the way to New Vegas. Lucy is very gung-ho suddenly again, interesting to see. I'm not sure I would charge into a Vault-Tec medical R&D facility. Then again she still has the impression that Vault-Tec are the good guys. Called it.

So obviously Betty, with the possibly help from the other former Vault 31 inhabitants, is doing a MAJOR cover up. So with a broken terminal how is the yet unelected overseer of Vault 32 supposed to communicate with the other two Vaults? The emphasized and showed that they keep even the connecting Vault doors sealed. Two former inhabitants of Vault 31, how convenient.

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Well this one brings up a lot of lore questions. I'm not sure how they are gonna write there way out of this. Fingers crossed it doesn't just start tossing and adding cannon things for the sake of the show. I'm starting to get whiplash with Lucy. She jumps too much from naive Vault dweller to I can handle myself ok wastelander.

Final Score - 6/10

[raggydraws]

Alright y'all, I'm on a Demon Slayer/Kimetsu no Yaiba hyperfixation rn and you're gonna hear about it!

Demon Slayer Anime & Manga Spoilers beyond this point 👇

Ok so take this with a grain of salt, as I am a HUGE fan of Fullmetal Alchemist and Demon Slayer, but I can't help but compare the two a little bit.

KNY is very good, it tells a nice story and I love the characters a lot! But there's a lot of characters...and they don't really get a lot of time put into them because of Tanjiro. He's the main character of course but it felt like he had to be shoehorned into some arcs for anything to happen to anyone else. (Mainly the Entertainment District Arc) The pacing in KNY isn't great, a lot of the ending felt rushed and a lot of plotlines came up out of nowhere only to get dropped just as quickly too. A lot of this could've been sprinkled into the anime as foreshadowing or foundation for later full reveals. (Like that random prophecy or Shinobu and the Wisteria Poison! Like, literally give me crumbs I am BEGGING.)

Now take a look at Fullmetal Alchemist, it has a similar plotline (older sibling has something terrible happen to younger sibling and goes on a journey to fix it. Etc. Etc.) and FMA has a big cast of characters too. However, these characters are allowed to exist without Edward Elric having to hover around them all the time. They've got their own shit going on in the background and it makes them compelling and well rounded. Even the characters who only show up for two episodes (I'm looking at you Devil's Nest) are given time and care so we get invested into them! But there's also a lot of stuff we don't know about these characters as well, because they aren't the main character but it doesn't hurt their existence in the story. Imagine if we only saw things from Tanjiro's perspective, no other backstories, no one else's inner thoughts, nothing. You wouldn't care about those characters at all!

I feel like the Demon Slayer anime could've helped with this by adding more episodes and straying slightly from the Manga. The anime is incredibly faithful to its source material, but the source material also had a lot of stuff that couldn't get added that would've made good 'filler' episodes or scenes to help flesh out the characters more!

Tanjiro was in a coma for 4 months. You're telling me we couldn't get a Zenitsu centric episode while he was knocked out?? We can't get a more somber look at Inosuke waiting for his best friend to wake up? I CANT HAVE AOI AND KANAO ANGST?? (<- Aoi and Kanao have so much untapped potential that we don't get to see CAUSE THEY DONT INTERACT WITH EACH OTHER! AOI WANTED KANAO TO BE HER SISTER!!) The anime also already did this with that exclusive Kyojuro focused episode! We got a little sprinkled backstory for him AND his dad, plus what he was doing before he got on the train! (I didn't know I needed to know where all those bentos came from lmao but it was good! It made the world feel more alive.)

It would've also helped if characters, outside of Tanjiro, were allowed to interact with each other on screen! We're left to fill in gaps between characters who supposedly interact a lot with 0 examples of their relationship. Kanao is Shinobu's tsuguko but I can't think of a single time they spoke to each other that wasn't a flashback.

So, yeah. I love Demon Slayer, it's really good on its own but I feel like it needed to be refined and polished a little more, ya know?

[ss-hikaru]

2023 Anime Round-Up

Favourite Plot Anime

Favourite Comedy Anime

Best Adaptation of a Manga I've Already Read

Very lop-sided seasons this year 😅

Winter 2023 - 1

Spring 2023 - 10

Summer 2023 - 2

Autumn 2023 - 8

TOTAL: 20

In order of ranking - air date - alphabetical

Gold - AKA Excellent

Play It Cool, Guys - The comedic timing on this was excellent. And 10 minute run times! More series need to be shorter given the type of short chapter manga they are based on...

Hell's Paradise - Hotly anticipated by me since I read the first chapter of the manga and thought it was gonna totally be my kinda show. Beautifully animated as expected from MAPPA.

My Love Story with Yamada-kun at Lv999 - Kinda surprised I liked this given I'm not really into romance, but I suppose I do really like series that focus on online relationships.

Dr Stone New World (Part 1 & 2) - I've read the manga and this is a good adaptation

Oshi no Ko - I'm reading the manga and this is a good adaptation

Undead Girl Murder Farce - I wasn't sure what this was gonna be like but it was very fun! The chemistry between the two main leads was great and the mysteries were interesting.

Frieren: Beyond Journey's End - I was interested to see if it was worth buying the manga and the answer is yes.

Ron Kamonohashi's Forbidden Deductions (Season 1) - I'm reading the manga and I was not expecting Isshiki or Ron to sound as they do.

The Apothecary Diaries (Part 1) - I'm reading the manga and Mao Mao also doesn't sound like I expected. Looking forward more to Part 2 since it will cover story I haven't read yet.

Silver - AKA Good

Mashle: Magic and Muscles - This adaptation did what it could with its source material 😝 Mashle the manga has some pretty high comedic notes but the rest is pretty average

Jujutsu Kaisen (Season 2) - I didn't really like the Shibuya Arc much and some of the fights seemed really drawn out, even the animation couldn't really elevate it for me

16bit Sensation: Another Layer - Goddamn shut-up Konoha. Shrillness aside, this was a fun while also stupid show, although I would have liked to have learnt more about how games were made in the 90s.

Spy × Family (Season 2) - A lot of filler this time round? Disappointing.

Bronze - AKA Okay

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba (Swordsmith Village Arc) - I am a bit tired of how this one feels drawn out. I feel like it could be more concise.

Dead Mount Death Play (Part 1) - The animation is mediocre but the story throws enough plot hooks to make me wonder what is going on.

The Yuzuki Family's Four Sons - I feel like I would enjoy this in manga format more. Felt like melodramatic padding to fill the 24 minute timeslot.

Nuh

Skip and Loafer - I would have liked this more if it focused on the unlikely friendship between the girls.

KonoSuba: An Explosion on This Wonderful World! - didn't make it to 3 episodes

The Marginal Service - such a stellar voice cast but the first episode looked like trash

Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead - it's meant to be a comedy but I found it too depressing (the work stuff not the zombie stuff)

Migi & Dali - the first episode was weird, would have watched more to see what the hell was going on but the season was too stacked with other shows to watch

Dead Mount Death Play (Part 2) - was deprioritised against other shows. Next season is looking pretty slim so will probably be able to catch up on this one.

Attack on Titan: The Final Season Parts 3 & 4 - I wasn't a huge fan of the series to begin with so I don't think any ending would have satisfied me.

[rametarin]

Ram watches more Naruto

So yeah I'm 39. I didn't bother watching Naruto in the 00s because it wasn't my jam. It still isn't, but eh, it never hurts to know some things.

I'd catch an episode here and there, but there are 220 and I figured given the monster of the week plot shows of the past, maybe I was missing a whole lot of content. But, upon an actual watch.. not really.

It has some environmental storytelling, but not too much for a children's show. It has a bold amount of violence and death. That's not a mark against it. I'm genuinely surprised this managed to clip passed the censors, as most studios would be told, "yeah we're not going to air this show about child bloodsport. it sets a bad precedent; think of the children!" But, it stands as a glowing example of the then difference between what you were allowed to produce for mainstream broadcasts in Japan vs. the no-fun police in the US.

But more than anything else, it focuses on a few specific events that drag over multiple episodes and are bookended by slice of life just to make the protagonists more rounded as people and not fighters in a fighting game.

I was expecting there to be more arcs and conflicts over the 100 someodd episodes I've watched, but honestly, given I've also watched Dragon Ball Z, and that can be summarized as, 'meet Raditz,' 'Meet Vegeta and Nappa', 'meet Frieza', 'Meet the Androids' 'Meet Cell', 'Meet Buu', that's surprisingly little over such a long period.

So far, Naruto has fought.... a dickhead nihilist in the leaf village, and was a one boy stompdown for it. Some bara dude wearing cowprint and his sad girl in the snow twink boyfriend. The Shinobi School System, that tries to educational murder him on a daily basis. Snaketwink von Hithhith. No-Sleep McSandvaginooki, and his gourd of fine granulated childhood trauma. His own ignorance and youthful inexperience with working ninja magic. And then Snaketwink von Hithhith and his nerdy pal Medschool Beetlejuice again.

And I'm up to episode 101. That's very close to halfway through the whole original run. If this were a J-RPG we would barely be out of the first two villages in Breath of Fire 2.

I'm pondering if it gets more intensely story twist and turn packed by episode 220, 'cause relatively speaking, it doesn't have much time left.

Oh. And also, I think I understand a little better what people are complaining about when they talk about Naruto Filler. From enjoying Akira Toriyama's silliness, I can appreciate slice of life and gags from my manga and anime. And uh, well... I think shonen fans are sometimes a humorless bunch. At the same time, some of these episodes feel more like they're extra long funny doodles in the ledgers of an old European monk's tomes. So, I can kind of get why they're seen as wasted episodes. That's a cruel way to think of them, but I guess when you're invested in the metaplot and characters, just using them as if bringing them out of a toybox to do stupid shit is seen as a waste of time.

I guess perhaps the creator wanted to create more content in the world using the world's rules to tell whimsical off-stories. The fanbase appears to've rejected this method of lateral and parallel worldbuilding, on account that these stories may as well not exist as anything but intermission. It's a subtle trick. To have the audience watch a slice-of-life thing that never gets referenced again, but you still accept is resolved and was part of their day-to-day life. These episodes and the narrative styes just make those bolts and seams extra visible and the fanbase can tell, on a fish and lizard brain level, reject them as superfluous. It's an interesting experience to witness. Maybe I'm just reading too much into it or picking it apart. I'unno.

[gyroshrike]

if there r no filler episodes in avatar then what about the great divide

Oooooh, I don't know if I want to go sticking my nose into potential Avatar Discourse, but I will just for this because I actually love this episode AND I have strong opinions over what people complain is "filler."

This probably isn’t going to be very organized or concise because if I try to make it too fancy, I’ll take forever to write it and never post it ahaha.

So, for starters, the only kind of episodes I refer to as "filler" is usually for when an anime series catches up to the manga chapters and the production team has to stall by making up new episodes to tide the audience over. To literally fill up empty space.

For example, Naruto episodes 143 through 219 are "filler" because they were never in the manga and they needed episodes while they waited before jumping into Naruto: Shippuden. Then they completely returned to the canon plot.

Filler is what I use to categorize new content written to act as a pause or spacer between canon plot arcs when they don't have enough canon content to work with. AND I usually tend to refer to episodes as filler when they are entire arcs, not just one episode or scene added for fun or to flesh out plot or characters. I'll elaborate on this later.

If a writer goes in, writes a script, and consciously makes the decision to have an episode as part of the story... that's not filler.

People seem so caught up on the Main Plot that they jump to label anything that doesn't technically contribute to moving it along as filler. These people aren't considering that it's not just Plot that makes up storytelling. Every episode of Avatar contributes to the overall experience in some way.

They flesh out the characters—either themselves as people or their dynamics with each other. We get to see motivations, how they think, how they handle different conflicts, who they are as people.

They contribute to world building—the world of Avatar is so rich and interesting, on it's own, but also in its current state of transition as a land shaped by war and refugees.

Immediately this episode visits 1.) the themes of Aang's role in solving conflict and 2.) Katara and Sokka's differing ways of doing things.

Aang is not above simple motivations. Custard tart. He's not some all knowing wise man, he's a person who gets hungry, gets driven by silly things. We also get to see something very important. Aang gets angry, but not very often, so it’s impactful to see what makes him angry. He's not above getting fed up with bullshit. He's realistic and rounded! He gets a chance to get angry at people selfishly putting lives at risk.

There's two rival clans who have the same goal and Aang agrees to protect them on their journey and help keep peace between them. The conflict between the two clans have origins so long ago neither of them can prove which origin story is true, but they are determined to cling to their hate for the other and refuse to work together to the point of endanger their own lives and the lives around them. And right when the fighting is about to come to a head, Aang steps in to say he knows the TRUE origin story and the conflict was actually just a big misunderstanding.

He... He LIES. Aang LIES to end this conflict that doesn't matter! And I think that's so cool. The first time I saw this episode, I thought to myself, "Ah, well that's really lucky that Aang knew those guys. I guess Being 100 Years Old plot point saves the day again. That doesn't bother me, but wow, it sure is a convenient thing." Then, out of earshot, AANG REVEALS THE TRUTH. He totally made up that story! There was no coincidence! That blew my mind as a kid! And that is so much more realistic and it gives us such cool, interesting insight to Aang's character. Aang's moral compass is very strong and he will fight for what he thinks is right. But he's also not unreasonable or stupid to get so hung up on what's "good" or "bad" on paper because, "Oh nooo, lying is baaaaad. We can't do thaaaaat it's wroooong." Which is something I feel like we expect out of characters like him. We see him lie, we see him steal, we see him cheat.

I really think this is a great example of how Aang believes in spreading joy and reducing suffering in the world above all else. Not black and white morality and rules of what a good person is or is not supposed to do.

I feel like shows that have morals to teach often rigidly set their "good" characters (especially characters like Aang) to Never Do Bad Things Ever (which is why Avatar is so good, because it challenges that.)

Lying was the right choice there! It was the smart choice! Aang's job is to keep peace and he made a choice to tell a lie that wouldn't hurt anyone in order to create peace. Between two rival clans! Who have been rivals for a century! And it having such a stupid solution really reflects how stupid the conflict was. It's also a good example on how history can get totally warped until no one knows the truth anymore, but these clans would rather cling to forgotten half-truths and hate each other than seek a solution for a better future.

This episode even lets us see a bit into Katara and Sokka as characters too. Katara sided with the Gan Jin because she believed they were the victims and had the moral high ground. Sokka admits to taking the Zhang’s side, "Because they fed [him]." That's still the show taking time to flesh out these characters for us and deal with a type of conflict they haven't before. We now understand the siblings better as characters!

This episode also gave us more inside into the lengths that people of the world have to go to in order to escape the war. It’s not just this one town or this one group of people. It’s everyone who is feeling the effects of the Fire Nation. We see examples of it over and over and over again and I feel like that is important.

The argument about fun, silly, or side plot episodes being "filler" makes me angry because if those episodes DIDN'T exist, people would complain about the reverse. I can't tell you how many times I've seen people critiquing shows or other media for having too many characters and not taking time to develop them all, for being all action and not taking time to breathe, for not showing us the characters domestic sides or letting them have fun.

Shows deserve to have down time, as do the characters, either literally or from the main plot. It lets us see fun new sides of them, see them dealing with situations we haven't before and in almost all episodes that I see people calling filler, but were written intentionally, we get so much fun character development or insight which is a GOOD THING.

Revisiting the anime thing, let me be clear, I don't think ALL extra episodes or scenes added that weren't in the original iteration is filler. In the Boku No Hero Academia anime, we see a whole pool scene added that wasn't in the manga, along with a scene of Bakugou and Kirishima walking together afterwards (I THINK that wasn’t in the manga, sorry if that’s wrong). These scenes give us just a bit more sense of the class's dynamic outside of school and the growing friendship between Kirishima and Bakugou, which becomes plot relevant later. These kinds of things help better establish the emotional ties between the characters and make it more believable and satisfying when high stakes emotional conflict happens.

In Spy x Family, the anime made a much bigger event out of Anya's school acceptance celebration, a whole episode. Just because they close to drag it out and give it fanfare it didn't get before doesn't mean it's filler. It was just fun! It was just breathing more life into what was there! And that scene gave us an exciting way to see the lengths Loid, Yor, and Franky are willing to go to make Anya happy, (even if Loid frames it as being part of the mission) while giving us the audience a darned good time.

The Owl House production got cut down and basically all the "filler" episodes had to be ditched. Luz pretty much says in the show that we lost out on a beach episode! And we were pissed about that! Everyone would have loved a beach episode! That's what happens when you cut "filler" stuff. We lose out on fun shenanigans and seeing our heroes and how the operate in domestic settings, because people can be very different people in the "battlefield" verses in a home. Or in a dangerous situation verses a fun or safe one. Hunter basically didn't know what to do at first in a safe environment. That's an important thing to learn about characters!

Characters just doing things has meaning. It has use. It has weight. Your story is as much your characters and world as it is your plot. Fleshing out any of those is worth taking the time to do so.

[Aang hate is not welcome on this post]

[melymigo]

We are going to enter the final round of Bad Batch season two, and I think the next episodes are going to be the darkest of the series, with an amazing and exciting performance but a devastating impact. I think the series is going to start to put the pieces together for the season finale. For those who said the previous episodes were filler, I do not agree with you. I think, besides character development, they had a purpose for the main plot.

These are my theories and thoughts. I don't think any of my mind's ramblings will come true, but be warned.

Metamorphosis:

I think this is going to be the episode with the clone commandos (I believe this because they are the ones we have not seen yet from the trailer). I see the concept of "metamorphosis" as a type of change or transformation. The empire is going to "re-shape and transform the clones that are no longer useful for the empire into something that fulfills their goal to oppress the galaxy." This is going to be related to the Assassin's clones, like clone X. I am scared of what they could do to our beloved clones. I said it before in another post: I think this is going to be the early attempts to create the Purge troopers or Death Troopers, or in my wildest theories, a kind of retcon of Rezi Soresh's Project Omega with the X-assassins like (X-7). I also believe the chips are going to play a major role in this.

The missions of Echo with Rex and why he hasn't contacted with the batch are mainly because of this. They are the closest to the plot related to the clones and their futures. The fact that Echo has been away on those missions and decided to go with Rex to help the other clones wasn't just to give character development to Omega, Tech, Wrecker, and Hunter; it was meant to put one of the main characters (Echo) in the plot of the season.

And talking about change and transformation I think this goes for the Bad Batch as well; they will have to rethink their alliances with Cid and how they're going to "survive" without her. Maybe they're going to ask Phee for advice? Idk.  I wouldn't trust her either, but I want to believe that the producers didn't waste the opportunity to work more with Wanda Sykes.

The Outpost:

Crosshair-centered episode, ugly stuff about the empire and the replacement of the Clones with their new kind of troopers, heavily connected to the previous episode. Crosshair is going to suffer :'c

Crosshair knows the truth about the assassins' program, like the clone X, and how the chips are implicated. He is going to have to make a big decision here. He will be at a crossroads with the empire. Let's remember that Rampart is gone, and we don't know how that is going to influence Crosshair; he will have to reevaluate his place in the empire and choose if he wants to stay and be part of that, or if this is going to be the last straw for him. And if it is actually related to the chips, I want to believe that this is going to shake off Crosshair's world and make him realize that he was just a tool for the empire. 

This episode is making me so nervous.

Pabu:

I just can't help but think about a red panda and the one from Avatar: The Legend of Korra. Something to calm our nerves after the Outpost episode But at the same time, I don't think they're just going to let it be like a light episode; they're going to continue the plot from the previous episodes. If they didn't cut ties with Cid in a previous episode, this has to be the one where they do it. We know the Batch doesn't have a lot of friends to trust, but like Ezra back then in Rebels, he made quite a few unconventional friends along the way, like Vizago, Hondo, and the others. Omega has been doing the same in her own way. I don't think this is going to be like a blind trust, but they could use the help from Phee, Benni, and the others that they've helped along the way.

Tipping point:

Echo is coming back, and he is going to tell the batch what he found out about what the empire is doing to the clones.

We might get to see Crosshair again, either running from the empire or working for them. Tbh, I doubt the last one. It would be repetitive and pointless, and they would have to use a better explanation this time. 

Omega is happy to be reunited with her brother(s)?. Something really bad is going to happen, and they have to seek out for Rex or Cody (I want to see Cody again 😭😔) in order to get to see them in the next episodes.

The Summit and Plan 99:

We may get to see Crosshair. (I am begging, please; I need him.) Cody, Rex, and the rest of the clone force 99 work together.

They are going to need the help of some allies, clones who have deflected, and the friends they have made all along. I don't know. Maybe we're finally going to see what happened to Cody and why Rex had the PSTD episode in Rebels. It would be too soon. But I think, like the season 2 finale of Rebels, we are going to get a strong and devastating season 2 finale for The Bad Batch. It's tradition. 

Don't take me too seriously; I was waiting for my render to complete, and I had a lot of spare time to think nonsense.

😂😂😂

[demonslayedher]

Hi! As you know I really love all the ideas and thoughts you put into demon slayer even after it’s completion, I deeply admire how much flesh you add to the skeleton of some of the concepts the story didn’t really dig into. Sorry I’m rambling, what I wondered was that since the manga is complete the anime is just following the canon story but if that wouldn’t have been the case what kind of filler arcs do you think the anime could have explored or added in?

Hey there and thank you for waiting so long! I shall happily return a ramble for ramble, and we'll see where this takes me. I'm of two minds about filler, on the one hand: 1. We could have benefited from extra time just hanging out with the majority of the cast 2. I love this cast and want more of them in the first place 3. The upcoming arc may need a little padding to satisfying anime-only fans who may get impatient without their favorites around On the other hand: 1. There is already so much plot to get through and I am anxious and ready to see them animate those final battles 2. The manga doesn't waste a single fight, each one has a purpose in Tanjiro's or the Corps' wider journey (though some battles had weaker contributions than others) 3. I don't trust Ufotable to write compelling filler

I mean, like, sure, I will happily watch Rengoku-san slide his sword back in his sheath if they're going to make it so--actually, no, I haven't watched that filler at all since then, the plot didn't grab me and I'm embarrassed to watch that excessively beautifully animated sequence again, for I am much too excited by, uh, swords. But as far as exploring characters is concerned in a way that won't detract from the plot too much, I think about this in terms of both added scenes and filler arcs, with more of a preference for added scenes to keep it character-focused and not any plot they need to write stakes into.

If we need a filler arc that going to serve the anime fanbase well (the fanbase that keeps buying merch and paying for this amazing production quality), then what I want most is to see what Zenitsu and Inosuke were up to while Tanjiro was fighting Upper Moon 4. They were all the same rank by the time they entered the Infinity Fortress, so what in the world were those two up against while there were no other 12 Moon Demons around? I know I've said this elsewhere on this blog, but showing what they were up to here--be it on solo missions or on a glorious mission of chaos together--would give us the opportunity to show flashbacks in context, specifically, Zenitsu punching the Corp members who talked smack about Kaigaku, and Inosuke having a pinky-promise with Shinobu and feeling something familiar about it. I'm a big fan of set-up and pay off, can you tell? But, if a filler arc is too much to ask for (and for the sake of moving the plot, I think it is), then we can still build that into extra scenes, as well as animated more and more and more Taisho Secrets. You know why I write so much fanfic? Because there is so much freaking canon content to work with in the first place. I mean, if Ufotable is going to bother animating Tanjiro slowly enjoying a cup of Tamayo's favorite tea and stating his thoughts on it, then they can totally animate more Pillar interactions too, right? I think their delivery on original content has been hit and miss, sometimes beating the audience over the head too much with stressing the characters' attributes, but the little stuff like Tengen having to the round up the boys from the busy Yoshiwara streets is gold and I want more little interactions like this. Hell, if they started "season two" with a whole episode of nothing but Rengoku-san being his most Rengoku-self interacting with common folk, then I would accept a whole episode at the beginning of the next season with content like: --Setting the scene through dialogue. Shinazugawa and Iguro shooting the breeze, talking about how that twerp Kamado Tanjiro somehow survived fighting Upper Moon 6, but is still in a coma. Nezuko's existence is still frustrating. Maybe some gossip about the other freaks in their Final Selection batch, even including how strong of a Tsuguko Kanao is already turning out to be. As, Iguro starts to point out, there's that one other boy who passed with them--at which point, Shinazugawa gets that crazed look in his eyes again and aggressively dismisses whatever Iguro was about to say.

--Tamayo composing a letter to Tanjiro here, thanking him for the Upper Moon blood and giving him a positive update on the Asakusa demon, but maybe leaving us still wondering what she'd say about Nezuko's changes. Instead of giving away that she's about to do what no demon ever has, painfully remind us of the fact that Nezuko is a demon at all, and a very unusually powerful one. --Shinobu checking in on Tanjiro, saying something about how she was out with Mitsuri at the time he finally woke up. A chance to reveal their friendship and introduce Mitsuri a little, from Shinobu's warm perspective. --Oyakata-sama meeting with Muichiro as he is about to go to the Swordsmith Village in search of the battle doll to train with. Some exposition here about Muichiro from Oyakata-sama's concerned but encouraging perspective. --Himejima seeing Genya off, leaving him with stern advice to take care in battle. After all, he can't use Breath technique. Suspense! Besides these character interactions being used to set up the arc in a way that hopefully makes we really come to care about its stars, whom the anime has given us very little reason so far to care about, this is also a chance for Ufotable to lean hard into the Nichirin lore. To really get the most out of this arc, we're going to have to feel its importance, and why this village in particular getting attacked is such a serious blow to the Corp, as opposed to any random village of non-main characters. And, frankly, Rengoku-san was a tough act to follow. Uzui Tengen was the only character capable of it, and he did a fantastic, flamboyant job. That means we are really, really, really counting on Haganezuka to have hugely marketable appeal, if you know what I mean. ............and frankly, Haganezuka doesn't care. So like... how about a little Haganezuka flashback? His childhood fascination with swords, despite all the loneliness he might had endured for being *too much* for other people, including his parents who gave him up (and then did what? It wasn't like they'd leave the village, right?). This arc is going to have more impact if we can care about Nichirin blades as much as Haganezuka does. On that note, to drum up excitement for this season, I think Ufotable needs to do collab campaigns in swordsmith villages throughout Japan, to highlight the finer points of sword appreciation. As two specific suggestions: 1. Okuizumo, Shimane Prefecture Besides this being the holy site of tatara for producing the iron ore used in making swords (baby swords! Look at this beautiful baby I got to hold!!), they also make black swords, and the village has its own local demon lore and demon related sites.

2. Seki, Gifu Prefecture Home to the Hamono Matsuri (Cutlery Festival), proud smiths parade around with open blades they produced. Also, this is LiSA's hometown.

Speaking of lore, though, we really get to dive into "originator of Sun Breath" lore in this arc, and I really hope they play up the tension, especially the "don't tell me he's Upper Moon 1!?" tension, and drive home just what a BIG DEAL it is for Muichiro to be of the same gene pool as that freaking genius. In a slightly different direction, I focused a lot of this on filler I'd like to see worked into the next season, as I think it's one of the best opportunities for it, but here's something else I'd like: expansion on the ObaMitsu .vs. Nakime fight. Specifically, I want us to worry about them as much as we worry about everyone else in their respective fights, I want us to find out that Nakime callously killed her own husband, I want this to enrage Mitsuri, and to make Iguro disgusted, and ultimately, I want Iguro's background story moved here, not smack into the fight with Muzan when no one has the leeway to lend any brain cells to it. But also, when and where is Pillar Training coming??? Will it be tacked on after Nezuko's mastery of the sun, like how the Functional Recovery arc was tacked on after the climactic Episode 19? Will it take up only a couple episodes at the beginning of the following season, before plunging us into despair? Will it be a three part special between heavy plot arcs, a television event they'll make a huge deal out of, and then pad it with online shorts, Kimetsu Gakuen style, to show all the Pillar Training shenanigans we don't get to witness? Like the light novel content of Zenitsu and Inosuke training under Tengen, or my own fanfic material of Inosuke in Mitsuri's Flexibility Hell? Or, if we extend Pillar Training to have more weight than just Giyuu's back story, conflict between the Shinazugawa brothers, and Himejima's approval, then hell, let's go for it. Don't be scared of consequences like you were with the happy Rengoku episode, Ufotable, let's go there, let's get ominous. The brighter that happy time with no demons attacking and everyone getting to spend time with each other, the worse the shadows should lurk. Shinobu up to something... and with who? Peach Boy hearing of Zenitsu's continued success, and choosing to go up against a demon that'll show everyone just how talented he is. Oyakata-sama calling a family meeting. The happier Tanjiro gets to be in this arc, the more these scenes will hurt and whet our appetites for the heart-wringer of an arc to follow. Mwehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehhhhh......... Please, Ufotable, please let me write the filler for you. This grabby hands can only be appeased with angst or swords.

[whentheynameyoujoy]

Yup, Sure Was a Finale

I had an epiphany. The reason why I never re-watched the final two parts of Sozin’s Comet even though I’ve popped in episodes at random many times over the years isn’t that I can’t bear the sadness of seeing one of the best, most engaging narratives out there come to an end.

It’s simply that the finale isn’t all that good.

Some honorable mentions of what was enjoyable.

(+) This

Just this.

(+) The Church of Zutara has another convert

“Are you sure they don’t get together?” Hubster, 2020

(+) The tragedy of Azula

And the fact that it’s acknowledged as such. I hope Zuko will do his best to get her help and have a relationship with her…

(+) Sokka being a big bro

And the whole airship sequence in general. It’s wonderfully paced and plotted, with moments of humor, real stakes, Toph being both badass and a scared crying kid, Sokka strategizing and protecting, Suki saving the day, and non-benders being instrumental in thwarting the bad guy firebender’s plans. Would be shame if Bryke never portrayed them this capable ever again…

And now for the main course.

(-) Blink and its over

The wrap-up feels too quick (hashtag Needs More ROtK-style False Endings). A part of this is due to how fast the story goes from the thick of the action to hastily tying up a bunch of loose ends, but the larger issue is how Book 3’s uneven pacing comes home to roost. After spending half a season on filler episodes that at best subtly flesh out established characters while dancing around a huge lionturtle-shaped hole, and at worst contradict the theme of “no one is born bad” with “you’re a hot mess because your great-grandfathers didn’t get along too well”, the frantic “go go go” rush of the second half screeches to a halt with “they won and everyone was happy because now the right people have power and it will be all good from now on yup nothing more to deal with baiiiii”.

Yes, I know, it’s a kids’ show. But goddamn, this particular kids’ show has proven so many times it can do better than the expected tropiness. Showing the characters in their roles as builders of a new world was the least that could have been done.

Oh well!

(-) Ursa

We’ll never know. There will never be a story that delves into this. Yup. Shall forever remain but an intriguing mystery. Is good, though. Mystery is better than a story where Ursa shares her son’s penchant for forgetfulness. Imagine how embarrassing that would be. Speaking of which…

(-) What does Mai see in this jerkbender?

Look, I like to harp a lot on the mess of inconsistent writing that’s Mai but let’s unpack this scene from her perspective, shall we?

Zuko forgot about her! It totally slipped his mind that the one person who prioritized the safety of his dumb ass was rotting in the worst prison in the Fire Nation—because of him! And she was rotting there long enough after the final Agni Kai for the news of Zuko’s upcoming coronation to spread and her uncle to feel sufficiently secure to release her. But then the coronation scene is attended by every single member of Gaang & Friends that was imprisoned?

So what this tells me is that either a) the invasion force had the ability to break themselves out the whole time and for some reason decided not to exercise it until after the war was over, b) Zuko forgot about them as well and no one thought to remind him there were prisons full of POWs until Mai arrived, or, and that’s even better, c) Zuko took care to free every single resistance fighter while making sure Mai would be the one to stay behind bars.

Never thought I’d say this but Mai? Honey? You deserve so much better.

(-) “What does Katara want?”

Asked no one in the writers’ room ever, apparently.

This is not so much anti Cataang as anti romance stories that pay attention to the needs, opinions, and wants of only one partner in general. Over the previous 60 episodes, Katara actively expressed romantic interest in Aang exactly, wait for it,

Once.

And it got retconned out of relevance by the following two interactions where the possibility of a romantic relationship came up, making the Headband dance pretty easy to reclassify as just one of those examples where Aang “teaches” Katara to have fun (as if one of the main obstacles to her having fun wasn’t him constantly fooling around and offloading his duties). And because the writers not only didn’t succeed in portraying Katara’s internal state of mind, but also failed to root her reluctance to pursue a relationship in outside circumstances that could change, her sudden state of unconfused once Aang steps into the spotlight has a single canonical explanation that as much as approaches coherency.

The fact is, though, that trying to interpret canon Cataang from a Watsonian perspective is an exercise in foolishness. Because there is no Watsonian justification for the ship and never has been. Bryke simply conceived of Katara as nothing but a tropey prize for Aang, never saw her as anything beyond that, and were perfectly happy to go on and immortalize her as a passive broodmare for the rest of her life.

And I fully intend to die mad about it.

(-) Iroh dips

OK, it’s been long apparent that the show doesn’t intend to do anything about Iroh’s complicity in AzulOzai’s regime in any meaningful way, and that his sole motivation for doing anything whatsoever is Zuko whom he views as a replacement son which is supposed to be good for some reason. But the finale has him abandon even that, and instead turns him full-on YOLO, idgaf anymore. It really throws Iroh’s supposed love for Zuko into doubt when his last act in the entire show is to take a half-educated 16-year old with no political savvy or an heir to secure a dynastic continuity and plomp him on the throne of a war-mongering imperialist regime where the entirety of the militarist and ruling class is guaranteed to fight him tooth and nail for power.

(I sure hope Mai’s ready to start popping out babies by tea-time otherwise the whole country is fukd in about a week)

Christ, how hard would it be to have Iroh keep the throne warm for a few years while Zuko is getting ready to succeed him? Not only would it make the whole FN reformation bit quite likelier to occur, it would require Iroh’s hedonistic ass to actually sacrifice something for once. And not having Zuko ascend to power, instead spending some time bettering and educating himself first, would be a wonderful message that no matter what you endured and overcame, you never stop growing. A kids’ show, remember?

(-) The conquering of Ba Sing Se

Gee, I feel so blessed to have my attention diverted from battlefields which actually matter to an old dude vanity project I would have been perfectly happy to assume resolved itself off-screen.

The White Lotus in general just bugs me. I was fine with the individual characters and their overall passivity when they were portrayed as lone dissenters living under circumstances where it wasn’t really possible for any single person to mount a meaningful resistance. But as members of a far-reaching shadowy organization that’s left the real fight to a bunch of kids for 59 episodes straight and didn’t turn up until a perfect opportunity presented itself to take control of the largest city in the world and bask in the spotlight?

Yeah, no.

Similarly to the lionturtle-ex-machina, the White Lotus represents a huge missed opportunity for a season-long storytelling. Here’s just a brief list of what they could have been doing throughout Book 3:

orchestrating a Fire Nation uprising;

gathering those directly persecuted by AzulOzai’s regime to help Zuko keep his hold on power once he’s crowned;

establishing themselves as a viable alternative to Ozai;

sabotaging Fire Nation’s war efforts from the inside;

countering Fire Nation propaganda (Asha Greyjoy’s pinecones, anyone?);

running a supply network to alleviate the suffering of Earth Kingdom citizens.

Instead, they sit on their asses until the time comes to claim personal glory.

You know what, good on Bryke for making me conclude that in comparison, the Freedom Fighters were perfectly unproblematic, actually.

(-) Fire Lord Dead-by-Dawn

Yes, a kids’ show, I know! But ffs, this is the same kids’ show that came up with Long Feng and portrayed courtly intrigue, kingly puppets, secret police, spy networks, and information wars. Was it really too much of me to expect something other than “enlightened despot solves everything”? Especially if said enlightened despot has persisting anger issues, no personal support system, no base of followers, and no political experience whatsoever?

If Zuko’s actually serious about regaining the Fire Nation’s honor (i.e. by dismantling the country’s military machine, decolonizing the Earth Kingdom, paying reparations to everyone and their lemur, and funding any and all cultural restoration projects Aang and the SWT come up with), then there is no way, no way in the universe that he doesn’t face a civil war, deposing, and execution within a month.

One reason why his future as a Fire Lord seems rather bleak is that little’s been shown about the actual subjects of AzulOzai’s regime. While we get a vague reassurance that “no Toph, they’re not born bad” (le shockings), they largely remain a voiceless uniform mass of brainwashed clapping seals. What is their view on the Fire Nation’s crimes? Do they associate their condition with their country’s war-mongering? How will they react when Zuko starts dismantling the country piece by piece to rebuild it, bringing it to economic ruin? What will they do when noble Ozai loyalists come out of the woodwork and begin rounding them up under the banner of “Make the Fire Nation Great Again?”

I have no idea, and Zuko doesn’t either because he’s unironically more qualified to rule the Earth Kingdom than his own people.

You know what would have been better? Fire Lord Iroh, White Lotus pulling the strings to maintain the regime, and Crown Prince/People’s Champion Zuko travelling the Fire Nation with Aang and an army of tutors to promote the new boss, only to realize that absolute monarchy is kinda crap for the people he’s one day supposed to rule and gaining their support by ceding some power to them.

I’d laser holes into my TV due to how much I’d enjoy watching that.

(-) All hail Avatar Rock

Literally and metaphorically. Aang doesn’t sacrifice anything, gets everything, and the clever solution of going about getting said everything is handed to him on a silver platter, requiring no active participation on his part whatsoever.

He doesn’t work to unblock his chakras, spiritually or physically.

He only speaks to his past lives to get a pat on the back and a bow-tied solution he could mindlessly follow.

Energy-bending doesn’t require any sacrifice from him, leaves no lasting marks, and only serves for the narrative to praise him as the rare individual that’s unbendable and thus so very very special.

The most infuriating thing is, however, that Aang is clearly shown as being able to beat Ozai without either the Avatar state, or energy-bending.

And he chooses not to. From this moment on, Aang no longer fights to save the world. He fights to preserve his beliefs, going directly against the instructions of his past lives and effectively reneging on his duties as the Avatar.

Again.

It’s not like you can’t portray Aang’s faithfulness to his spiritual beliefs as the key to beating Ozai and saving the world. But that’s not what the show did. There is no link between Aang sparing Ozai and securing a better future, quite to the contrary—Ozai’s survival ends up being a massive problem for the continuation of Zuko’s rule, and consequently a threat to the world at large. His survival benefits Aang and no one else.

Aang’s spiritual purity and his status as a savior of the world are allowed to coexist only due to a deliberate stroke of a writer’s pen.

And I hate it.

Welp, nothing to do about it now except to bury myself up to my tits in fix-it fics I guess.

[immaturityofthomasastruc]

Finished Fresh Precure??

I just finished the final episode, and I thought overall, the series was really good... though it had some flaws too.

The status quo shook up when it was revealed that surprise, surprise, the toddler with god-like powers is actually Infinity, the thing Labyrinth has been looking for the whole time. It wasn’t really explained how harvesting enough sorrow would bring it out, but now that the “Sorrow Gauge” is full, now the battles revolve around capturing Chiffon and keeping her under control with the Clover Box, a music box and a new power-up that the team uses for their new finisher.

In addition, another general, and easily one of the coolest villains in any season I’ve seen so far, Northa, shows up to lead the charge. She’s basically this franchise’s answer to Poison Ivy in a way.

I like how the conflict clearly intensifies as both sides can benefit from Chiffon’s god-baby powers. While Labyrinth needs Infinity to expand their influence across the multiverse, Chiffon can also use her powers to power up the Cures as well, as in Northa’s debut episode, the Cures barely win thanks to Chiffon tapping into her Infinity powers. It shows how valuable Chiffon is, though the heroes clearly value her more as an individual.

Admittedly, the problem I had with this show as a whole was how poor some of the filler episodes were. There were some good ones like the ones I mentioned in my previous parts, but a lot of episodes in general were just plain forgettable. There’s this forgettable “will they or won’t they?” plotline Love has with this classmate, and it makes the Love Square look interesting by comparison.

In general, it feels like there are a lot of filler episodes sandwiched inbetween some really good plot-centric episodes and story arcs. I don’t think this is a mark against the show, but compared to Go Princess or Healin’ Good, the filler episodes here honestly aren’t as memorable.

I also felt like the parallel world concept was severely underutilized. We see a lot of them briefly in the final arc, but they don’t really do much with them.

Thankfully, the final arc more than makes up for it in many ways. Basically, Chiffon is kidnapped by Labyrinth, and using Infinity, they manage to take over the multiverse, forcing the team to storm their civilization and stop them.

It sounds basic, but there are a lot of interesting takes on this. For one thing, the Cures decide to reveal their identities to their friends and families before they go, heavily implying it’s in case they don’t make it, and there’s some compelling drama during the episode, as the parents talk about how dangerous this and discuss the idea of letting them go or not. It’s a nice breather for right before the final battle really commences.

We also see more of the Labyrinth civilization, which is basically 1984 if it was written by Temple Fugate. It’s cool to see the heroes gradually influence the people there to turn against Mobius and give the Cures enough support to unlock some last-minute forms. Yeah, they came out of nowhere, but at least they do more than the Partner Forms.

There’s also what happens to Westar and Soular. It seems like they both die via hi-tech trash compactor, but then Chiffon revives them, and then they join the team for the last two episodes after a change of heart, even getting new outfits and new monsters to help the Cures. Sure, it was cool when Lock and Shut turned against Dyspear, but Soular and Westar, they don’t just fight off some mooks. They actually help out in the final battle and feel like honorary Cures in a way.

There’s also the revelation of who Mobius really is, which I won’t give away, but it’s a plot twist that makes a lot of sense.

So while I had some problems with the show, I thought this was a really good season, and I can see why it’s looked upon so fondly. It had well-rounded characters, interesting villains, good action, and a lot of themes that might seem weird out of context, but go together very well. It’s a really good season overall.

Sorry this took so long. I was working on some other projects, and real life stuff got in the way at times. I’m also not sure which season to watch next, Yes! Precure 5 or Smile Precure, since both of them have the same Pink-Orange-Yellow-Green-Blue lineup, but I’ll pick one of them soon.

[dragonclaw29]

Top Ten Anime( Yet Again)

It’s that time of year again. Top ten Anime! YAY! I know everyone is super excited. In order to prevent repeats from years prior I have removed any duplicates in my lists. If you want to know what my other top tens are like search my blog for top ten and you’ll get them, like my thoughts on Full Metal Alchemist, Evangelion and my Absolute favorite Haibane Renmei. But without further ado this years list. 

10 Bleach

Everyone has their big shonnen anime that they spend way too many hours watching and for me it’s Bleach. Of the original big three Bleach is the one that hasn’t seen as much love in recent years, however a new season of it is supposed to come out soon, I hope. Does this show follow almost every trope of a big shonnen anime? Yes. Does it have too much filler that you can just skip over? Yep. Does the main character get weird powerups from out of nowhere? Definitely. Is is fun? It’s a blast!

9 Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita (Humanity has Declined)

Look I am going to be honest this show is a wild trip from start to finish and I don’t really know what the hell is going on but, it is a good time. Set in a world after an unknown apocalypses we follow the protagonist, who remains unnamed the entire show, as she works for the new U.N. or at least what they think is the U.N. 

8 Dorohedoro

From one acid trip to another Dorohedoro is one of my favorites just because of how bizarre and wacky it its. You never know what is going to happen ever. The show follows a man who has been turned into a lizard monster by magicians on his quest to turn back to normal. It’s weird, it’s violent, it’s hilarious. 

7 Gangsta 

Gansta is interesting for it’s character designs. One of the main characters is a deaf body guard, the other is a gigolo and they both work for the mob. It’s a world full of cruelty but also incredible acts of kindness. The show has a weird power system that is unique and has it stand out amongst the crowd. I will warn you however the manga is not done and so the show doesn’t have a ending. 

6 Fate Unlimited Blade Works

Fate has a lot of problems I’ll be the first to admit it. It can be confusing were to start and all the timelines kind of go out of control if you watch every show connected to this series. However, Fate Unlimited Blade Works has some of the best animation in anime and some of the coolest fight scenes all with a compelling story backing it up. If you want to get into Fate I recommend that you start here.

5 Hunter X Hunter

Look at these cute kids having fun what trauma could they get into haha...ha..ha.... It’s a fun shonnen with great character development and a flushed out world design it’s fun. 

4 Amagi Brilliant Park 

A teenage boy is given an option. Save the amusement park from being closed down, or get shot in the face, comedy insues. Also magic is real and mascots don’t have people inside of them. 

3 Katanagatari

This show, this show is strange. Each episode is about 45 minutes long and has a very different art style but it is so good. The tale follows a girl and a swords men who doesn't have a sword as they try to round up all the greatest swords in Japan. This show will have you laughing then in tears moments later. A good show for people more accustomed to anime. 

2 Little Witch Academia

I didn’t think I would like this show as much but here it is number 2. God I love this dorky show it’s the anime version of Harry Potter with an ensemble cast of loveable characters. It’s a show about dreams and wonders and it fulfills both. 

1 Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-Kun (Monthly Girl’s Nozaki)

Look this show is a romantic comedy making fun of romantic comedy's by making the hot guys/woman side characters and making the main character to quote the show, “a slab of meat”. When Chiyo tries to confess her love she learns that Nozaki the boy she has been crushing on has a few secrets up his sleeve relating to shoujo manga. Seyo is the best character I will fight you if you say otherwise. 

Well that's this year done. I hope you enjoyed the list please feel free to recommend me more shows ,please do im running low, or tell me if you watched any of the ones on my list. Again if you want to have more recommendations my blog has a few more all under the tag top ten. 

[you-cant-spell-subtext-without]

I’m back on my bullshit and we have GOT TO TALK about 13x08 The Scorpion and the Frog; which serves as a good example of why you should not ONLY watch spn episodes with Cas (partially because of that scene I shamefully blogged about earlier - no I will not link that cursed post here).  The episode title comes from a fable in which the villain is the scorpion.  Interpretations of this fable note its uniqueness lies in the concept that “the scorpion is irrationally self destructive and fully aware of it.”

To quote the scorpion, buddies -  “it’s in my nature.”

Anyway, this episode is subtextually predicated on exploring Dean Winchester’s nature and specifically - his bisexuality, and I’m not only saying that because it opens with Dean in his Bi Colors Plaid (that also he wore on his burger date with Cas).

Let’s get started, after the cut!

Season 13 on its face gives me absolute whiplash because it starts widow arc-reunion-TOMBSTONE and then Jack yeets himself off to Chuck knows where so Cas can go out Looking For Him Because Otherwise He Will Definitely Kiss Dean there is no other option for the writers at this point.  Sigh.  Here, have another shot of Dean anxiously cleaning his gun as he always does when Cas has Gone Off For Reasons -

Anyway, this feels like a filler episode at first, but as always they bury the ENTIRE damn world in it and I am here with my dossier to Unearth It.

Lets start with Bart (demon of terrible nicknames and microagressions) meeting the brothers at Smile Diner to talk about some spell or whatever. 

(I am not thinking about the Cherry Pie meta I AM NOT)

THEY HAVE THE AUDACITY to start with these lines immediately introducing the theme of duality, a thread throughout this episode.

BARTHAMUS

Everything. I've been following your careers a long time. You're a real pain in the pitchfork. And the halo. Natural disrupters. We have that in common, you and I. DEAN

Mm. Yeah, we're twinsies.

***MORE DUALITY!  But as we know, Dean does not like Bart because He Is A Freakin’ Demon

DEAN

Well, see, here's the thing. When a demon tells us to jump, we don't ask how high. We just ice their ass.

UMMM excuse me Barting Bacting Boices?  What is that sexual gaze?  

Then we find out that Bart has 1/2 of the spell.  They need the other 1/2.  Oh, a spell with two parts, you say? [ I am going to scream :) ]

***Also, Dean eats the pie Bart ordered.  I cannot begin to explain to you the state of unwellness that I am in regarding how important this is. DEAN NEVER GETS TO EAT THE PIE, remember?  But in This Filler Episode, Dean eats the pie. While Sam looks at him with a very quizzical expression.  Pie -> what Dean wants but never actually gets -> Dean actively eating this pie.  Dean is coming to terms that maybe he can have what he wants.

***I am reminding you again that this is post widower-arc, post-reunion, and especially post-Tombstone.  Anyway-

Now we get to Smash and Grab.  Not literally even though I want to Commit Such Conduct at this point.  We are introduced to two one off characters named 

Smash (human/female presenting) -  can crack any safe built by man 

and Grab (demon/male presenting)-  expert in bypassing supernatural security.

Reaching or no, you can’t disagree that when spn introduces one off characters - it is almost always a Narrative Parallel or Mirror.

So we have a human and a demon (and Dean Winchester, a human who has been a demon)

who are experts in cracking open/bypassing something that has been secured and guarded (breaking down walls, if you will).  

They also use fake names identifying them as Tools to be Used ( Dean Winchester, the Michael Sword/daddys blunt little instrument)

BONUS:

Dean himself is literally used as a tool in this episode.

So yeah.  Smash and Grab are physical representations of Dean’s duality.  Human/Demon.  Femininity/Masculinity.  Dare we say something else, too?

Anyway, Dean is paired with Smash and Grab; Sam is off to idk negotiate weird artifact purchases lawboy style with Luther Shrike, a man who cannot die so long as he never leaves his house (I cannot even begin to unpack this shit; please just sit there and think about it.  I’m not even going there here.  I CANNOT DISCUSS Luther Shrike RN).

Speaking of things I cannot discuss without halgdhsag;lsa - Smash has very Specific boots (a look overall, really).

DEAN

Hey, Winona. The '90s called. They'd like their shoes back. SMASH

Shh.

***That’s right girl - do not take his shit; he actually LOVES them and is therefore Overcompensating for it with this little jab.

***Dean’s pop culture references and particular attention to the details here Should Not Be Overlooked.  90s! Winona! Ryder!

ANYWAY, then Dean and Smash bond over a caffeinated beverage -

[While Dean is doing a spell, Smash opens a can of drink, takes a mouthful and burps loudly. ] SMASH

Ahh. DEAN

You're weird.

***This scene makes me literally insane. (even aside from Dean living on something named NERVE DAMAGE as a KID.  They could have called it anything. You’re saying this wasn’t a Choice)  

She chugs a swallow of the drink and burps.  Something stereotypically associated with masculinity.  Not feminine.  Dean’s reaction is that she is “weird” - because she is not acting in a way stereotypically, J*hn Winchester brain-rot patriarchy bullshit-tily associated with Being Female.  But also, says the stupid show, they like the same soda.  They are The Same.  She shares the soda with Dean.  HIS FACE WHEN SHE DOES -

Other similarities are addressed throughout the episode (they are working for demons because they have no choice; they don’t discuss feelings/emotions, they both sold their soul, they both This Thing - 

DEAN

You know, we could help you. SMASH

No, you can't. I gotta take care of me.

etc. etc.) Smash is absolutely dean-coded.

****Also it’s textually established that Smash thinks Dean is attractive -

GRAB

[looking at Smash] Oh. You said he was just a pretty face. SMASH 

Shh.

***But Grab flirts with him too.

DEAN

I will kill you. GRAB

I bet you say that to all the girls.

***sorry, Grab - you won’t get far with Dean, but only because as he mentioned in the beginning of this episode - 

Drowley rights.

Now Dean has to put his hand in the mouth of this stone lion thing and all of a sudden he is acting....very-not-like-Dean.

[Dean looks again and takes a deep breath.] DEAN

I… how about this? What if I cut myself, put it on, like, a little piece of paper? We'll just wad it up and throw it in the mouth, okay? Okay. 

***Dean Winchester, who has been to Literal HELL, who has been torn apart by hellhounds, who has battled the devil and angels and God’s sister - all at the expense of his own life is now - afraid of spiders.  Well, technically he has always been afraid of spiders, but why isn’t ‘he being performative about it At This Time??

***Come to think of it, this sends me right back to how Jackles was playing Dean in 12x11 Regarding Dean THE episode dissecting Dean’s performative masculinity [one day I will clean up and post that analysis sitting in my drafts like a sad hamster]. That makes sense actually, because -> -> ->

that episode and this one are both written by Meredith Glynn.  Girl get in I want to torture you affectionately with a barrage of questions.

So here we have Dean and he’s not performing for Reasons, and he’s scared he’s genuinely scared of putting his hand in this stone lion-gargoyle-pig-creature’s mouth and then -

Smash gives him a push.

She gives him a push.  I cannot stop thinking about how she gives him a push.  A push to go do this thing that he is scared of; his fear being something he was hiding under his performative masculinity. Smash - dean coded dean mirror who does not perform femininity and is ‘weird’ -  she   gives   him   a     p u s h.

***linking here for the jackting joices that follow.

Now, let’s circle back to Smash’s story; why she is working for Bart in the first place -

SMASH

You think I wanna be here? Like I have a choice? SAM

You made a deal. SMASH

Wow! You think? SAM

You sold your soul. SMASH

And if I could take it back, I would. 

there is no reason for this picture here other than I needed you to see the jackting again

***How does the story end for Smash?

DEAN

Take care of you. [Dean glances down at the box, and then at Smash. She sees that Dean has put a lighter on top of the bones.]  BARTHAMUS

Alice, chop chop! 

[Bart indicates she should get his bones]. SMASH

Yeah. [She grabs the lighter and sets Bart's bones alight. Bart screams as he bursts into flames. ] 

***She accepts help and breaks free from the narrative, literally burning it down. The female presenting but not female-performing “weird” ooc representing a side of Dean breaks FREE because she makes a choice.  The lighter Dean drops? It’s a push.  And she goes with it.

Alice reclaims her story.

(Also, Grab gets ganked.  The male presenting ooc; the performative masculinity side; the demon; the darkness; the not-humanity - gets ganked).

Guess what Dean says to Alice when they say goodbye?

DEAN

Hey, Alice. Stay weird.

[I know the peace sign is probably just a Charlie throwback but I’d still like to say duality.  Two. ]

Dean’s not just talking to Alice.  He’s talking to himself; because the walls have been breached and for once Dean isn’t as scared of being different.  Maybe, just maybe, he’s going along with the push.  That’s exactly how the episode ends - with Dean feeling a little more hopeful, a little more at peace; a little more Considering he is capable of not only loving Cas but also not hating himself for it. 

[until the knowledge that Mary is still alive and the guilt of allowing himself ANY happy thoughts instead of looking for her miserably rears its ugly head in 13x09 and round and round we go but for NOW at least -> ]

DEAN

I'll drink to that.

(oh look Dean is just wearing his henley.  It’s almost as if a layer has been peeled back).

tagging @im-shaking-like-milk​ and @deanwasalwaysbi​ for letting me ramble on to them while writing this; and @lilac-void​ because you are always so kind about my stuff :)