#god a great comparison for this season is avengers endgame

[purgeindeath]

it’s kind of amazing how vi had absolutely no character arc this season. like i don’t know if that even counts a character at all. feels like ai tried writing her. she became a cop, cried, served cunt, got an ugly haircut, cried and then fucked caitlyn. 10/10 writing 😍😍😍 so complex and thought provoking and definitely addresses all the interesting aspects about her identity and violence in s1

[amazingorangedangantrash]

The only ending everyone seems to ignore is v3 because it’s just... it’s just a mess.

How do feel about this game survivors? And do you think that everyone woke up from the simulator or tv show like sdr2 or only the survivors?

Hoo boy...

Honestly nonny, having only finished the dang thing yesterday I... don't know.

(I kinda went off into a spiel, so feel free to skip to the part where I talk about survivors and what I think happens next)

I understand the mixed response a LOT. I mean- I see what they were going for. The 4th wall break was cool, and the (sorta?) reappearance of past characters was pretty damn awesome. I like that the creators are definitely self aware- and there's a kind of 'learn to laugh at yourself' sort of thing.

On the other hand it can almost seem a little too mocking?

I get the whole yaknow. 'Fictional characters are aware they're fictional and rebel against their creators' thing but- like-?

As I mentioned before, thing is, Tsumugi is not us? We aren't exactly intentionally cruel? There's a BIG difference between the kind of fiction in our world and in their world.

What does Tsumugi call it? "Real fiction"?. Yeah- thing is- we don't have that. We don't have the technology for it, and I certainly hope we wouldn't abandon ethics for it either!!! We can't have 'real' fiction, because in our world, all fiction is fake! The closest you have is fiction about real people, perhaps, but- that's not even remotely the same thing?

So it does come across as a little... um- preachy.

We're supposed to represent the audience but... like- the audience fucking suck! What was that they said during the argument armament? "This guy should have died instead of Kaede!" Like- fucking hell. Imagine saying that to someone, who can HEAR you say it, and who's MURDER you could potentially watch unfold before your very eyes as a result of YOUR actions. I mean- look how empathetic some of us are to ACTUAL fictional characters. Could you imagine if we were in a similar situation to the outside world in V3???

Maybe it's because I keep imagining the v3 cast as like- sentient AI, instead of "just fiction". Because I can't imagine anyone being so sadistic or apathetic otherwise.

So uh- yeah. I don't... know how I feel about that. It's not- very satisfying?

With sdr2, the whole "none of this is real, the killing game is all a lie, you're in a fake world!" felt like a relief ! Whereas here it's more like- "what?? It's all fake? What the hell was the point then?!"

"Nothing matters!" vs "nothing matters..."

The whole HOPE VS DESPAIR, FUTURE VS PAST thing worked, because, well, it's something we can all understand. We have all felt hope and we have all felt despair. We've all, at some point in our lives, felt stuck in the past, unable to or scared to move on.

(Hey- some of us still feel like that now, even).

The first game was very simple- hope and despair. Still relatable, but fairly basic- effective to set up the foundation for the follow up.

The second game made things a little more complicated. Sometimes it's more complicated then just- choosing between Hope and Despair. We refuse to fall into Despair, but we can't just blindly have Hope.

So we choose the Future. We can't promise it'll be a good one OR a bad one. But whatever happens- we need to move on. The only way we can make things change is by making that choice, to create our OWN future.

V3 felt very... complex. It started to get kind of... uh... philosophical? And- don't get me wrong, I don't have a problem with that. It just... it kind of shifted from TRUTH VS LIE to FICTION VS REALITY. And whilst the latter definitely sounds interesting- I don't really know if I liked the direction they took with it-? I wish they'd kept the focus on TRUTH VS LIE a lot more.

(Fiction and Reality are like extensions of Lie and Truth but- only to a certain extent? Really?)

It's kind of harder to get into the final fight in V3 because... what are you fighting? The outside world? I mean- I can't speak for the rest of you, but as far as I'm aware I'm not a fictional character.

(If I am- then wow someone's a reallly bad writer huh?)

I can relate to Hope. I can relate to Future.

I can't relate to Fiction.

I THOUGHT maybe the message was a warning of the dangers of escapism ('please dont go as far as to erase your own personality just to be a part of a type of fiction you like' definitely seems fitting for this fandom)- but the message "fiction has the power to change the world!" kinda contradicts that. I mean- I do like that message, but- I don't like the idea of a series about killing games being heavily influential-!

The whole problem was that people grew so obsessed with the series that they threw away their lives! Is that not the point you should be focusing on-!!!!

The outside world in this universe fucking sucks. So they changed their mind, big DEAL! that's not comforting knowing they let this shit continue for 53 seasons-! I mean, maybe Makoto and Hajime were all 100% fictional, but at some point they started putting real people into these games, and everyone was ok with that!

I just-

I'm glad Shuichi got through to them at last but...

Someone said something which resonated with me- "in a vacuum, this is good". Like... on it's own, I thought the ending was great! It was entertaining, for sure. And the whole concept and stuff was unexpected and interesting. You gotta give em points for originality.

The problem comes with it being the 3rd game in a series. (Ignoring UDG I mean-). When a series becomes a Trilogy, you gotta make it good. This is presumably the last game in the (main) series too. And- after the UTTER NARRATIVE DISAPPOINTMENT of dr3- can you blame people for wanting more? People fell in love for THH and SDR2 (and UDG even if its not part of the main series) for a reason- and, for me at least, a biiiig part of that reason was the continued storyline. The last chapter of sdr2 was the hypest shit EVER. when you see glimpses of the previous game bleed into this one, only for it to turn into what's like- a full crossover???? The previous game isn't just mentioned, it's a straight up sequel!!!! I had absolutely no idea Makoto and co would return (i thought the games were separate) so when i saw that they'd be interacting with the new cast- yoooooooooooooooo-!

Hell, even seeing alter ego again made me go WILD.

V3 plays upon these expectations, and subverts them, but... not necessarily in a good way? You- kind of feel cheated? (Idk if you're an avengers fan, but- it's like expecting *Endgame* and instead getting...

Well- Endgame).

The ending isn't bad persay it's just- not quite what one would expect? I can definitely understand why people are disappointed. The problem is, instead of standing alone, you can't help but consider it as part of the series. Individually, I don't think the ending was that weak or bad, but in comparison to the series as a whole?

Meh.

SURVIVORS

(Oh my- I really got off track, oh dear. I'll- get back to what you asked now.)

KEEBO

W H Y

They rllly gonna rub salt in the wound huh?

(Whilst i dont dislike the other survivors, there are a LOT of people i really really wanted to see make it to the end, and it's just the final god damn nail in the coffin to kill off the last of the few characters I came even close to liking the most-)

Killing keebo was dumb

Maki- I liked Maki quite a bit! She's a bit cold, yeah, but I warmed up to her after hearing her backstory.

I found it annoying (if understandable) that no one trusted her at first. I thought it was sweet that her, Kaito and Shuichi had this friendship trio. They really trusted each other- it was very refreshing. I also love me a strong girl. Her romance thing with Kaito was a little... forced. I'd have found it more meaningful if they kept it more subtle/ambiguous (though i suppose they needed smth to use against her in the final trial sooo-).

Himiko-

I-

*sigh*

Ok I'm going to say this once, and once only.

Someoneonthedrteamhasabigthingforlolis

OK! I SAID IT- AND IM NEVER SAYING IT AGAIN

No judgement here of course. Just. Uh. Y-yeah-

(I'm mainly kidding of course, idek if Himiko counts as a loli but-)

I mean... I'm not... the fondest of very small, childish girl characters (Saionji intensifies). I like a bit of childishness in a character but- i mean- it depends.

(I'll never recover from the "seductive whisper" thing from the love suite event

Never.

Never ever.)

Himiko comes across as like An Actual Child at times and at the start it was VERY annoying. Surprisingly, I warmed up to her eventually. I knew in advance she'd be a survivor so i kinda thought "well she's gonna stick around so might as well try to like her". I do appreciate that she underwent a character arc too, and it was sweet to see how she became a more active, determined person. I wish it hadn't taken Tenko's death for her to finally start changing but whatever. She is quite a cute character and after a while became more endearing then annoying.... (for the most part).

Was she in my top 3 picks for a survivor? No.

The top 10 even?

N-no-

I'm glad she's still alive though. SOMEONE damn well needs to be.

Tsumugi- ah. She's not a survivor, is she? I knew well in advance she was the mastermind so I didn't really warm up to her all that much during the final chapters, for obvious reasons.

Shuichi- if shuichi hadn't survived I think that would have been the breaking point for me, honestly.

Overall- uh... they aren't... the ideal picks. Shuichi is the only one I really wanted to see survive, I was neutral towards the others. Tbh I was just happy anyone was alive by the end of that.

Waking up- for the sake of my sanity, I like to think that after the survivors wake up, they threaten to sue and/or maim the shit out of the dr team if they don't start on reanimating their 'dead' friends right fucking now. Surely they gotta keep their consciousness' somewhere in those memories banks right? I mean- what if they ever wanted a "surprise return from the dead" plotline? Surely they gotta keep em somewhere? Right?

Whether or not they reawaken as their in-game or pre-game selves, who knows. Whichever you prefer, I guess. Maybe a mixture of both.

[hamliet]

Hello! Have you seen TROS yet? [Spoiler alert] I was really devastated by the ending - coming out the theater feeling upset and disappointed. Do you have any thoughts on it? Or maybe any plan to write fix-it fic? Thank you!

I am seeing it tomorrow. That said, I’ve read the plot summary, and no good execution can save that. So I was planning on posting this after I watched it with amendments made as I hope to enjoy it, but I’ll just post it now and amend this as necessary based on the film as I see it. (I still believe I will enjoy the film, even if I don’t think it’s a good film. I do think that. I really do... I hope.)

BASED ON THE PLOT SUMMARIES ALONE (grains of salt everywhere!): 

I think it’s technically… messy writing at best and downright bad writing in other parts.* 10/10 it’s a blockuster-y, JJ Abrams-esque, (hopefully) fun, messy narrative movie that will be forgotten in 0.3 seconds.

Disclaimer before everyone comes after me: if you like it, AWESOME. If you think it’s good writing, great! Good writing and bad writing are inherently subjective; that said, there are general consensuses among literary studies about what constitutes bad and good writing. Hence, I’m relying on those consensuses when I call it messily written.

Before we get into specifics, I’ll compare it to two other major pop culture endings: Game of Thrones and Avengers: Endgame.

TROS is similar to the GoT final season in that it attempts to incorporate every aspect of fan speculation ever. However, it’s more like Endgame in that it is still somewhat true to the themes and characters—but unfortunately also like Endgame, it is not transformative or particularly interesting as a story on its own. In fact, it’s rather boring and honestly… bad storytelling. It tries to rehash Return of the Jedi but it doesn’t succeed in any way because the world and the overall story has grown since the early 1980s, and so the same story doesn’t work anymore.

Showing a cyclical story remaining cyclical with no sign of that breaking–instead, the cycles are even reinforced–does not give optimism nor does it give hope.

Redemption=death needs to die already. If we really want to reach people and tell them that the message is that you can always make a better choice (as Daisy Ridley and JJ Abrams have said about Kylo’s arc), maybe don’t send the message in each and every story that you have to die to redeem yourself. Look outside of cultural secular Calvinism, for the love of God and the betterment of the world and stories as a whole.

Now let’s talk Rey’s parentage.

We know Rey Palpatine wasn’t planned from the beginning (Trevorrow, the original write/director of IX, who was thankfully fired, said that he never planned for Palpatine to return), which means Rey’s parentage was most likely retconned from TLJ and there was no real plan for the sequel trilogy’s overall character arcs (save for Kylo’s, according to the actors and writers).

Listen to me. You don’t have to have everything planned when you start a three-film saga, but you gotta know the major beats.

This is like a sad game of movie telephone. 

Yes, I know the OT Star Wars didn’t have a plan either and it’s like one of the only examples I can think of where no plan worked out–albeit not without hiccups (Leia kissing Luke, anyone?) If you expect lightning to strike twice in the same place, I’m sorry, but you are hopelessly naive.

Having Rey decide she wants to carry on the name Skywalker at the end is lame as shit. It’s a way to appease fans while being like nah she still isn’t related. Trying to please every fan is a sure way to guarantee that you will please no one. It might make for a perfectly pleasant film experience (I really hope it does), but not good, lasting storytelling (though not like, horrific either). It’s meh. It’s like… giving someone who is starving oatmeal. It will get the job done but will it satisfy and enthrall people? Not quite.

And let’s switch gears for a minute to Finn and Rose, my first and third favorite characters in this trilogy (Kylo is second, Rey is fourth). The sidelining of Rose is nothing short of a terrible attempt to please the white-supremacist-aligned Fandom Menace. Let’s not pretend it’s anything else. JJ’s lipservice about how wonderful it was that Kelly was cast at SW Celebration is, in hindsight, absolutely nauseating.

Shame on JJ. Shame on Disney.

But the main problem I have with this film is this:

Why did it need to exist?

The answer is money. Obviously. I know, I know stories exist to make money. That doesn’t mean I can’t criticize the fact that the story was sacrificed on the unholy altar of capitalism and Disney’s desire to own our souls. (Disney–the reason I like your movies is that a lot of them are good stories. I’m not interested in pandering soooooo.)

The Rise of Skywalker does not enhance the Star Wars narrative. Nothing about this film satisfies the Skywalker Saga nor the sequel trilogy, and it kind of all comes down to Kylo Ren’s death being the nail that sunk the entire world of Star Wars.

Keep in mind Kylo is not my favorite character when I’m saying this. Finn is. But I never spoke about Finn as much because the story didn’t utilize him properly. I never had concerns about Finn getting a happy ending while I was worried for Rey and Kylo’s arcs. (Finn’s arc, however, did have a ton more potential than was capitalized on; in particular, he would have been better if he was more conflicted over say, shooting other stormtroopers. His whole character humanized the usual red shirts, which when paired with Rose’s everywoman character, had so much potential I could shriek about it all day. That he didn’t lead other brainwashed stormtroopers into rebellion and freedom saddens me. Also, his ending again seems to bring about a good victim/bad victim dichotomy when it is compared with Kylo’s. The reason these two are my faves is that they were brainwashed as kids which, well, I can kinda sorta heavily relate to.)

Kylo Ren and Rey’s relationship doesn’t really get much better than it did in The Last Jedi. It actually rehashes that arc significantly. We already knew Kylo would fight for Rey and the galaxy, so… how was this different? Now, if he had lived, it would have been different, because it was the after the fight that proved that Kylo wasn’t ready to redeem himself in The Last Jedi. It was Kylo’s choice to stay at the expense of Rey and the Resistance that was literally the set up for conflict in the next film. This… turned it into nothing? Their conflict is rehashed and then whoo-hoo! Easy way out! Kill him so that they don’t have to deal with the “after” this time! They never have to deal with the conflict literally set up in The Last Jedi.

That’s bad writing, fam.

Life is infinitely more interesting. Leaving the story open with a living Skywalker instead of killing literally everyone involved with the Skywalkers except Rey who now adopts that name is… so unsatisfying I can’t even. Even if later material shows him showing up as a Force Ghost, like: cool saw that with Vader so this… adds nothing to the existing films. It doesn’t really reconcile anything.

It also… does not help the Rey=Mary Sue argument. She is NOT a Mary Sue, and that is a sexist term itself, but in no way is it a satisfying ending to her arc, because it isn’t a well-written ending which means it isn’t a well-written arc. The problem with Rey’s ending is a mirror of my problem with Kylo’s ending: it’s the very much a combination of her ending in The Last Jedi and her life before The Force Awakens.

She and Kylo are now separated (permanently this time).

She’s has her Resistance friends.

She’s alone on a desert planet.

But wait! Now she’s now happy!

Uh, why? The only reason I can think of is that the narrative demands it. Because honestly, what changes? The family she chose–the Skywalkers–are just as dead as her Palpatine birth family, soooooo. I suppose she reconciled with her heritage and come to peace with it and so that’s why she’s happy now, but… I can’t lie. It’s not hopeful. It’s not optimistic. It’s not Star Wars and it isn’t consistent for the message (especially if this is supposed to be the ending to the saga!) to be both:

life sucks for the Skywalkers and then they die–seriously, look at Shmi, Anakin, Padmé, Leia, Luke, Han, Kylo–it is LITERALLY ALL OF THEM; and

deciding to be a Skywalker means you’re at peace.

I can only assume Rey’s life will suck and then she’ll die, tbh, unless of course she is better off because of her blood… which negates the point of her being a Skywalker and is a really gross idea.

YOU CAN’T HAVE BOTH IN YOUR ENDING. PICK ONE.

Rejecting the Skywalkers would be anti-Star Wars, for sure, but marrying into them as a way of bridging the unfinished pain between Anakin and Padmé and Leia and her father? Much better. Or just leave it open. Honestly, leave it open for Kylo and Rey to both be alive and see each other again.

But you’re just upset your ship didn’t get a happy ending!

No, I’m upset about the storytelling, of which shipping is a part. A canonical part just as much as the lightsaber fights are. Anakin and Padmé. Leia and Han. Finn and Rose. Poe and Zorii. Rey and Ben.

The Force created Anakin, remember? All films–even the spin-offs–encourage our heroes to trust the force. “May the force be with us.” But the Force created an ENTIRE FAMILY THAT LIVED LIVES THAT SUCKED AND MADE LIFE SUCK FOR EVERYONE AROUND THEM AND THEN THEY DIED.

May the Force stay far the f*ck away from me, amen.

But seriously I can’t trust the world of a galaxy far far away or its narrative anymore. It’s a contradiction that causes all nine films to unravel. Why?

Again, let’s return to my earlier GoT comparison, because there is one thing TROS does that is more similar to GoT than to Endgame: Endgame drew together a bunch of unique distinctly separate stories into a crossover. TROS, just like GoT, relied on cliffhanger, incomplete endings to its films and therefore the ending matters a hell of a lot more than a stand-alone story.

I’m not dying to rewatch it like I am with stories where I realize I might learn more the second time. And by “rewatch it” I mean the entire nine-film saga. Knowing that canonically Leia, Luke, Han–they all die and their last descendent dies, the last descendent of Padmé and Anakin–for me, it’s personally gonna be hard to watch again. It’s gonna be hard to watch TROS going into it the first time.

And so the saga of bad endings continues.

Game of Thrones remains the worst at a -100 out of 10. It’s followed by Tokyo Ghoul:re which is still 2/10, and Star Wars is, on paper (meaning after I see it I am hoping it rises a few notches) now… 4/10. Endgame is a solid 6.5/10.

Banana Fish, sweetie, I’m sorry you were ranked down there. Your ending is a 7/10 but the rest of your story is like, 10/10 so you are sprung from this list.

Help me, Shingeki no Kyojin. You’re my only hope.

[ruffianbc]

Today I found myself thinking "Whoa, is this really the end of the decade?” A colossal journey has been made. Hell, 10 years ago I never imagined that I would be in the place and at the time where I am now. Can't remember everything, but I challenge myself and try to go through the most significant events. On the exact schedule, I do not remember everything, so catch porridge and discord:

First, the drawings. I started drawing in 2012, and I started with transformers. Before that, I sometimes drew horses, but seriously got carried away with all this with the beginning of the series Transformers Prime. Oh, those times, around the same time I started learning English through the series experience, every Thursday waiting for a new episode of the second season on the American YouTube channel. At the same time, my robo-collection was launched, and transformers turned out to be the second most important fandom for me after SRMTHFG at that time. I also started writing fanfiction in an immeasurable amount for several years, this is a charge of inspiration turned out to be! Well, where is it without a comparison before and after, I can't just leave it ~

Second, role-playing. ROLE-PLAYING ON FORUMS RULE. More precisely, they were rule. Role-playing were my all, I now resembles on decrepit old man, reading notation on type: "And here is in our time posts were on three Word’s pages!!1", however all same, thanks the huge experience, heap acquaintances and smartly conducted time in all role-playing in which I managed to visit and shake my iron bones. There were so many plots, actions, fantasy development, and huge wagons of inspiration for the rest of the work that I drew from there that it's hard to describe.

Third, guys. You are my suns, without you I can't imagine myself as I am now. There were a lot of rises and downs, difficulties, awesome time spent, all who are now with me – I love you with all my soul. This also applies to all subscribers and people who follow my work. You give me a lot of unforgettable emotions *: - ﾟ ✧ Also I congratulate my schoolmates, classmates, taglit-mates, masa-mates, artists from our community and role-players, guys I here all physically for 10 years will not list, but I am terribly grateful to all of you for this time together! You're the best damn thing that ever happened to me.

Fourth, fandoms. Ohhhh, this good was in bulk, I'm in this rummage guys. My dedication started with Transformers , continued, and will surely never end. I found myself in this fandom, my alter-ego was imprinted EVEN IN MY NAME, I think it's not just a coincidence) To hell with everything and all hail Megatron! Next in my life appeared Mass Effect , which became the story that I experienced as if in real life, so close to me were all the characters, all the chips and everything that happened. Thank you for the clear sky above our heads, Shepard! In The Witcher with Geralt, we went through no less adventures, wound up tens of thousands of kilometers on Velen, got drunk Regis’s tinctures and ate at the katakan’s autopsy. Well, a couple of dozen times we had to remove the Roach from the roofs, because the horses also want to fly. Among other things, I tried out a whole separate world of anime for myself and thanks to TATAKAE and CAPTAAAAAAIN for joined me to two of the most amazing fandoms - Attack on Titan and Seven Deadly Sins . I'll be honest, at that time I have not enjoyed so much and did not hang out on fantasy and action, and a kind of Game of thrones in the manga only added intrigue to what is happening. Overwatch and Destiny taught me to keep my anger in check, because when you try for the HUNDREDTH TIME TO KNOCK OUT A DAMN LOOTBOX OR TAKE DOWN THE BOSS, you lose a little self-control) and, God, what well-designed characters, locations, missions and community with a lot of content! And THANKS to Jeff for new Dutchman-grandfather, who brought me back to the game, respect from tankmainer. A small touch of sadness and simultaneous pride brought the end of the Grand stories with which we grew up together and went a long way. Supernatural and Winchesters are gradually approaching their finale, Game of Thrones ended on an unexpected note with hints of bitterness, and after Avengers Endgame and Dark Phoenix we said goodbye to a whole era of heroes that accompanied us for years on our way. Thank you, Stan Lee. What should be a great stealth action? One where you can run all over the map on the roofs, over the heads of hapless guards. Oh, my Dishonored, thank you for tons of steampunk, the atmosphere of hopelessness and hours spent in hiding to pass the level like ghost. Thank you for the complex moral issues and antagonists who suddenly become protagonists. But not thank you for Daud's insanity, not thank you. Damn Good Omens caught me in a trap last summer and won't let me go! I wish I had found this book before, such a great satire on religion, politics and society I have long lacked. Both the superbly played characters in the series, and the production itself with the story, this is an amazing source of inspiration! (shippers especially) Well, at the end of the year, the final chord, I met with Hazbin Hotel and damn it, this fandom managed to break my creative stagnation. I have been so lacking in good 2D animation and styling lately that Hazbin has become a breath of fresh air and a charge of activity, for which I am terribly grateful to the creators of this fandom and community. Guys, I won't get tired of saying that you're gorgeous! In summing up and re-reviewing my entire journey, I want to thank no less my grandmother, my parents and the animals that were and are with me, because without them I would not be myself. Thank you for your support, patience and care. And most importantly, for understanding.

Friends, we are moving into a new decade, and I really hope that all your plans, undertakings and dreams will come true in the near future, thank you all for being here, thank you for the emotions, experience and support, for the feedback, God, it always brings me incredible joy when I see your likes and messages! Happy new decade and new achievements!

[falkenscreen]

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

Note: This review does not contain any discussion of plot points beyond that included in the trailers and is limited to general discussion of plot points

Fans will be pleased, they said, it’s for the fans, they said.

Well I’m a fan. I’m a Star Wars fan – and this didn’t do us any service.

Everything about The Rise of Skywalker is designed to register with the faithful; not necessarily appeal, or surprise, or inspire, just, register. As if this generation’s own carbon refit of the Star Wars mythos could have more resonance than that so many have internalised and set to re-watch sooner than Episode IX.

There’s very little new or hopeful about J.J. Abrams’ return. It’s old, safe, heedless of the first and even the prequel trilogy’s savouring of originality; as if disappointment from the devoted was better than revilement, as if over-familiarity didn’t breed contempt.

And yes, Abrams’ The Force Awakens did indeed trade on nostalgia very heavily, but this was when the last instalment was Revenge of the Sith over a decade before and we weren’t getting a new Star Wars flick once a year; fatigue does not beget wonder.

And this entry is overly familiar, as familiar as Emperor Palpatine. Having no presence in Episodes VII-VIII, he’s here; a god-like threat nay hinted at by Episode IX’s precursors nor necessary in the context of conflicts set up merely four and two years ago.

The Last Jedi heedlessly consigned key dramatic beats from The Force Awakens to irrelevance, a fair criticism of an otherwise roundly good film. The Rise of Skywalker does the same, but instead shamelessly reverts not to something new or exciting, or even it’s 2015 precursor, but to narrative arcs that have come and gone.  

There is nothing overly interesting about the Emperor either here nor in the first six films in which he appeared. He’s bad, we know it. What has made Kylo Ren the most interesting villain and indeed character in the whole saga is that he is petulant, conflicted, egotistical, self-assured and an overwhelmingly powerful raging hormonal cautionary tale of arrested development all at once.

Vader’s great, but multi-dimensional aspects to his terror are only really uncovered in Return of the Jedi and latently at that. It also helps that Adam Driver is working on a whole other level to anyone in this trilogy. Even tasked with reacquiring a helmet for no reason in what did turn out to be a blatant thematic reversion to the first movie, the only effect is to obscure his evidently excellent performance.

The Emperor, by comparison, is basically Voldemort. His presence by necessity detracting from the character focus on Ren that rendered these entries thus far compulsive, even less consideration is given to any explanation as to how he could return, with no attempt at all made to broach this gaping void. Consequentially, there’s no more central focus on those shades of grey amongst they who wield lightsabers; there’s light, dark and instead of being asked to contemplate these dimensions we’re just told to be on the nice wizard’s side.

For all this film’s faults, every sequence shared between Ren and Rey (Daisy Ridley in her best performance to date) is very involving; the only thing herein hinting at the sense of epic storytelling Lucas so revelled in those years ago. Rise of Skywalker too gradually develops our understanding of the force, it’s fascinating healing properties and what it can physically manage; too progressing Ren and Rey’s screen-crossing dynamic to exceptional new heights.

It’s visually grand, there’s a few decent action sequences (the best two being at the very beginning), long-time Abrams collaborator Keri Russell is well deployed and as much as endlessly-deployed nostalgia gets tired it is nice to spend some more time with characters we’ve come to know and love over now decades. The treatment and rendering of Leia (Carrie Fisher), amidst not unreasonable concerns from the faithful, is well managed and furthermore with dignity. There is one surprise cameo which works to great effect; the other, more predictable appearance emerging charming if lacking the sense of intended gravitas for the performer coming off noticeably detached from this whole affair.

Now; everything else. Story arcs aren’t the only dramatic aspect of the previous films those involved clearly reckoned wouldn’t benefit from even remote consistency or follow through. General Hux (Domnhall Gleeson), having progressed from a terrifying visage to being tossed about rooms for a cheap gag, is here for a third time playing a wholly different character. His arc, and a groan-inducing, nonsensical reveal, is comparable to Matt Damon’s quip regarding his character in the Ocean’s series; the actor assuring that he was tasked to play three different characters as the stories so required.

His presence is ineffective at any rate, what with the introduction of Richard E. Grant’s poorly-monikered General Pryde, a Moff Tarkin-lite intended to evoke and replace the ruthlessness akin to Hux’s own in The Force Awakens yet lacking any discernible personality traits beyond ambition. Rose Tico, one of the most interesting new characters from this trilogy, here gets but a few lines that could just as well have been spoken by a nameless Resistance fighter when the comparably boring Palpatine gets to go ahead and boost off proceedings.

More foreboding still, Abrams has again returned to his mystery box-treasure hunt style of storytelling; this time around even more ludicrous than the map pointing the way to Luke. It takes our heroes on a trip around the galaxy meant to check off bits of fan-service, including a return to a key setting in Episode VI and the reintroduction of Lando (Billy Dee Williams). The slightest digging beneath the surface reveals the cracks; yes it’s a kids film but that doesn’t mean we need to treat children as if they are absent basic logic.

Most disconcerting of all, there’s a second act reveal that flies in the face and ethos laid out by a key turning point in The Last Jedi. It’s not possible to discuss this without spoilers, as soon as you see the film you’ll know it – look for the seasoned performer who can’t near emphatically enough sell this dialogue.

Episodes VII and VIII affirmed the idea, hearkened to in the original Star Wars, that anyone, anywhere, regardless of their level of force capability or connection to some dynasty can make a difference. Episode IX seems ill-concerned with what was a refreshingly sincere arc, introducing a revelation that will make even the most casual fans of The Last Jedi groan and it’s most ardent detractors at best smirk in mild appreciation. It’s an advent of misguided fan-appeasement wreaking of fan-fiction extinguishing the life-blood of a series which could otherwise have expanded and explored new thematic plains with the promise The Last Jedi offered. That opportunity, at least in the context this entry and it’s revelations suggest as the intended thematic trajectory for the saga, is now gone – replaced by a black and white good versus evil dichotomy we’ve seen time and time again and didn’t need following two noticeably different offerings.  

Borrowing from it’s Marvel counterparts and concluding with a confusing battle, a disposable, ill-explained CGI cavalcade and indeed a sky beam, as if there weren’t enough of those, The Rise of Skywalker plays it as safe as possible. The best anyone will get from this film is middling satisfaction rather than inspiration or a sense of grandeur had something memorable been attempted, not unlike the finales for Game of Thrones and to an extent Avengers: Endgame.

We don’t deserve anything from Star Wars or any film, and we certainly don’t deserve the resolution we think we do. We just ask to be entertained for two hours and in two hours and twenty minutes that’s not what you get when it’s one step forwards and nine steps back.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is in cinemas now

on Film Fight Club

[makeyourownmyth]

best seen in 2019.

This is way overdue, nor is it important, but I’d like to clear out my cache on the notes app, so that I can track things more accurately in this hellstorm of a year. Usual caveats apply: I don’t watch many current things, and my tastes skew away from typical award fare, but that’s why this is MY list.

Anti

Tag - Wanted to love it, it wasn’t good.

Welcome to Marwen - Spaghetti approach means that it was too much of all things. It should have been more heavily edited and would have been better for it.

Midsommer - I know everyone went gaga for it, but it wasn’t for me. I mean, I got it. And it was well made. But it was neither pleasing nor entertaining to me.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker - I’m honestly not even interested in re-litigating this, and maybe this movie is why I never wrote this list, so let’s just leave it alone, eh?

Marvelous Ms. Maisel - Again, I know this is a popular pick for some of the best TV “now” but it doesn’t hit for me. I want more from her, or from him, but the story just wants to meander. Hell, I’d love a focus on just the manager. 

Titans - I wanted to love it. It’s terrible.

Legion Season 2 - This was too much. They saw how well they did with S1 and were like, fuck it, we’re going to 11. Well, that was too much.

American Gods Season 2 - Singlehandedly turned me off the show. I can take the deviations from the book (and some of them were GREAT!) but when you’re being gratuitous JUST for the sake of gratuity, there’s not much point to me tuning in. 

Black Mirror Season 5 - There might not have been a single good episode in this season? It’s a bad sign when the Miley Cyrus one MIGHT have been the best? 

Runaways Season 2 - Less Spike = less good. 

Honorable Mentions

Bird Box - Remember when this was a thing? Yeah, it was fine.

The Farewell - It wasn’t as funny as I thought it was gonna be, and that’s probably more on me than on the adverts, but I thought it was quite good. 

The Edge of Seventeen - This was quite funny, but the most hilarious parts are the ones we already saw in the preview. Still very good.

Daredevil Season 3 - It took me a looooonnng time to get to it, but it was still good. I’m not sad it’s over.

Bohemian Rhapsody - I appreciate the movie and the respect it’ll put on Queen’s name for a whole new generation. But. It wasn’t as good as it could have been, IMO.

Jessica Jones Season 3 - The last one not to make the cut to the Best Of list. Just too much ridiculousness in it, especially compared to the tightness of S1. This was the best of the Netflix MCU shows, and it’s sad that it kinda petered out this way. I’d probably watch JJ over any season of any of the other shows, though, even this S3. It’s just head and shoulders above the rest of the nonsense.  

Best of the Year

American Gods Season 1 - Like I said above, while it eventually went off the rails, I loved the boldness of most of the changes, and Anansi was dope. 

Black Mirror: Bandersnatch - A worthwhile experiment. I think it’ll grow in esteem as time passes, even though it’s not a FANTASTIC “show” - there’s just a lot more going on than its mere existence.

Rocketman - The bolder of the music movies of 2019. I’d rather have my actors actually sing the whole parts, and hell, if it was gonna be crazy, let’s go full crazy, not just have this half-hearted attempt to hedge our bets. 

The Mandalorian Season 1 - It was fun. It felt simultaneously like someone FINALLY realizing that Star Wars isn’t actually that GOOD, and it can just be a spaghetti western fun shoot-em-up time, while also indulging in the good parts of nostalgia. Baby Yoda, obviously, is cute. 

The Magicians Season 4 - Not as good as Season 3. No doubt. I’ll never try to convince anyone of that. But when it’s hitting on all cylinders, this is pretty much better than anything else on TV.

Legion Season 3 - One of the rare exceptions to the above praise. While S2 felt like a misstep, S3 was the correction to that overreach. Clearly, they knew where they were going, and they did it so well. Was it perfect? Obviously not. But I’m so happy that something this far afield exists in the MCU, even if only tangentially. 

Vice - Well, this was just a tour de force for Christian Bale, and the party didn’t stop there. Jesus. I thought I didn’t need to see it because I’d lived through it, and I wasn’t sure I’d learn anything, but damn. It was brutal. 

Zombieland 2 - The exact opposite. It was a totally fun time. Unexpected that it even exists, but it wrings out all that it can from a pretty gnarly premise in the first place, and then goes even further, both in making us laugh and actually trying to tell a story. 

Russian Doll - Obviously the best TV that I saw this year. From concept to execution, all the parts were exquisite. Even though I ended the series with some big time looming questions, I never hold that against a show. It did exactly what it wanted to do, I was never bored, and I was always entertained. What more could I ask for?

Avengers: Endgame - I mean, honestly, there’s nothing to say about this movie that hasn’t already been said to death, by people way smarter than me. The only shocking thing to me is that it’s so relatively low on my list. But there’s reasons, as you’ll see, that have nothing to do with this movie being bad, but rather the other movies being incredible. 

Mid 90s - The best “real” movie I saw last year? I mean, it was great. I know the comparisons to KIDS were abundant when it was coming out, and sure, I can see some part of that, but it was actually pretty radically different. I mean, they’re just coming from different places. It felt very...searching. Like, we could feel the kids trying to find their place. And who hasn’t been there?

Spider-Man: Far From Home - Fantastic. I mean, it’s Spidey, it’s Tom Holland, they’re in Europe, what’s not to like? Mysterio played out exactly like we knew he would, and yet I don’t know anyone who was disappointed by that. One of my friends said it was too much a Tony Stark movie, which I kinda get, but if you’re not cognizant of the universe in which this is taking place - both ours and his - I don’t get why you even see comic book movies. This was it for me. 

Captain Marvel - The only way to beat Spider-Man in my geek heart? Put a powerful woman face front to tell the fucking nerd boys who call anyone who can do anything they don’t like a Mary Sue, and have her LITERALLY save the day. The story being in the past worked perfectly for her intro to the larger MCU, and paid huge dividends in Endgame, but this is a way better movie than that one, because it CAN stand all on its own. She’s the truth.

[furederiko]

The penultimate episode of Zyuohger is here! And obviously, it's also "The Last Game"...

- "The Zyuohgers defeated the Immortal Azald, an ancient enemy of the Zyuman race.", that's how the intro narration begins. While it sounds awesome, it also undermines the threat of the finale greatly. If the team can deal with a powerful ancient enemy that easily, one who almost obliterated Earth in the past and forced the Zyumans to build their own civilization, then surely Genis should NOT a problem, right? That's the logic pretty much anyone can draw from it. But let's laug... I mean worry about that later, because the team is talking about something else. - Yes, Yamato and his daddy issue. It seems Amu has decided to share about what happened to the others. Not surprisingly, this time the scene also confirms who I claimed to be the second best character yesterday. MISAO! After Amu, Misao and his desperation to please others is clearly the most empathic member who can notice small details from his newfound friends. To read and figure out what's going on inside their head. In this case, what's behind Yamato's facade. - Sadly... interruption! Of course there would be one. And this time it's Genis announcing his Final Game: shooting the arrow part of his Sagittariark (NOW we all get it why it is shaped like a bow and arrow!) to infuse his cells on Earth. That does sound... ominous. But what exactly, is the side effects to all this? Earth turning into Dethgaliens? Nope, explosions everywhere. So... okay, I guess? Though I'm not sure if it's... effective. You'll see why. - Oh hey, the Zyuohger vs Ninninger Versus movie scenes have been dropped from the opening. It has reverted to the 2nd version (with Misao's inclusion). That makes sense, since we only have two more times to see it. Enjoy it while it lasts then... ahahaha. - Who would've thought that Genis has an army of G.I.F.T.? I thought that thing was supposed to be his secret weapon! Oh well, as that lousy 4th Transformers movie has proven, mass-produced ones usually aren't as strong as the original. And don't forget, the original was easily defeated by Wild Zyuoh King (episode 11), while the stronger custom made G.I.F.T. 2.0 was thwarted like bugs by DodekaiOh (episode 31). So once again, shouldn't be much of a problem. - Wow... I thought for sure that Bard would bite the dust during the finale. Like sacrificing himself and all. I mean, that's the deathflag he's been waving around (since episode 45), right? Turns out it's merely a cop-out. Instead, Larry makes a very conscious action to actually prevent that from happening. He prefers them to use their heads and think of another way to protect Earth. NICE!!! As in, not as predictable as it might seem. Bard totally dodged a bullet right there! Then again, no need to kill him off when it's doubtful that audience nor the other characters are deeply emotionally invested in him. On the down side, looks like we're never going to see that 7-members roll call again though. A one-time-only (episode 45), one-hit-wonder! LOL. - While Larry and Bard are doing something with the Link Cube, and the other Zyuohgers are desperately fighting G.I.F.T.s, Yamato is... finally having a private personal talk with his father. Yes, finally! After 15 years of being at odds with each other. Turns out, it's a classic case of parent-child problem. Parents are too busy that they don't have time to care and listen for kids, while the children are feeling abandoned and too heartbroken to be able to tell them how they feel about it. Classic lack of understanding, miscommunication, and false assumptions in both parts. The good old "I just wanted to be loved" scenario. Unsurprisingly, it's a very common issue in a workaholic country like Japan (and Dr. Kazakiri's occupation doesn't help). It might seem like a SMALL problem, but of course it's NOT. Because more often than not, it's usually all these little things that snowballs into something major. - Hmmm... after giving it some thoughts, this sidestory DOES send a good message to our audience. Problem is, to who? Will the child-aged audience understand the morale? Perhaps in a 'respect your parents' way, and that "You're never alone" bit. But if you ask me, I think this works A LOT better as reminder for parents. The question is, are they watching this show together with their kids? It IS a Sunday show, so that's a possibility. Here's hoping that's the case. Nevertheless, I still have issues with it, and particularly concerning the 'timing'. This feels like a plot that should've been cleared out several episodes ago, not during the three final episodes. Seeing Yamato off doing his own separate and unrelated story, while the others are united to deal with the endgame, is frankly quite annoying. Somehow it feels like lately, Misao has taken over Yamato's position as the core of the team (though that's not necessarily a bad thing, since he's better written. Beside, their combo attacks look amazing!). - Anyways, the father and son bond is... somewhat fixed. A little too easy and too quick, I'd argue, but the point is, that's one lingering plot solved. The main root of the problem here, is that both are too stubborn to just tell how they feel nor apologize to one another. Even waited 15 god-darn years to properly talk with one another. Ghost-Mom says it best, "You two are so alike". That's a good morale too... that sometimes you desperately need an outspoken Zyuman to knock some sense into your stubborn head! LOL. All's well ends well for them, so... yaaay for Yamato. - Wait a sec. I see what the writers are doing here. Larry's plan apparently correlates to Yamato's story. His very risky idea to use the Link Cube to protect Earth, with the cost of severing ties to the Zyuland completely, rhymes well with the whole 'connection' theme. Should you selfishly return home, while cutting off your ties with Earth in order to save it? Or stay behind and remains connected, and defend this world by thinking of another way? Considering 'connection' IS the theme of the show, the Zyumans' reactions are more than obvious. When simpleton Leo even hesitates on his answer, that basically gives it away. I mean, of course they would REFUSE to do Larry's plan! Not when their noble mission to unite the two worlds has NOT even started. As Tusk boldly sums it up, "From now on, we intend on creating a new status quo for relations between humans and Zyumans". Something the show should've focused through its 2nd half, IMHO. - There's one interesting bit I have to point out here too. Yamato says something intriguing, in response to Tusk's words. No, not the "We'll create a world where they can come and go.". Nor the "There's bound to be disagreements... and even injustice! But... as long as we're connected, we can always start over! That's why... I don't want our worlds to be further apart." bit that feels a little too coincidental with the immigration issue that's currently happening in the US. It's the part where he says "For the sake of our world and others'...". OTHERS? Considering the follow-up season will bring a team of heroes from 9 different planets/worlds, is this speech a conscious referral to them? Hmmm... that would be a great twist! - In the end, Larry's grand idea remains the way it is. A passing few-minutes conversation soon to be forgotten. Turns out, there's a MUCH easier solution to the problem. Something that the Zyuohgers even figure out on the fly (so, nothing more than on whim!). Yep, by pulling the wired-arrow down, so that the Sagittariark will instead crash on Earth to its doom. Ignoring the fact that the ship's impact might go all "Avengers: Age of Ultron" on Earth, bringing countless of innocent casualties along the way (do they even know how BIG that ship is? nope!), our heroes decide to go ahead with this act. And obviously, they succeed. I meant, what do you expect? - And... See? Despite his threatening effort, Genis just doesn't work as the big bad. He himself basically allows his own ship to become vulnerable. Told you that was not an effective move, right? This pales in comparison to the Zangyack in the finale of "Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger", with a threat that felt real and dire. And to think that they were NOT a great antagonist too! What should've been a devastating and apocalyptic Final Game is thwarted just like that. Plus, with both Naria and the entire Sagittariark as the price. How DUMB is that, right? - Speaking of Naria, that minor plot of her with Leo (episode 42) turns out to be just another unnecessary ruse. A non-clever one too. Which is another good case of a great potential being thrown away to thin air. Not to mention, the quick-thinking Dethgalien suffers through the worst curtain call in the show's history. Being blasted to death while only trying to prevent the Sagittariark from being dragged down? Ouch!!! At least sends her off with a memorable bang, but nooope. The Zyuohgers practically ignore her on land by directly launching Wild Tousai Dodekai King to deal with the arrow, and worse, Genis doesn't even show compassion or at least remarks for his loyal secretary's demise. Her death's practically his own fault! VERY disappointing. She and Azald are clearly victims of the writers' clean-house attempt, so my condolences for them. - Since we still has one episode left, of course Genis survives the crash. Anyone want to bet that the final battle with him next week, will only take half of the running time? I hope so. I believe the show's in dire need of a proper epilogue to at least end it in a good note...

Overall: This COULD have been a better penultimate episode. Had someone else and NOT Genis be the final boss. Not only his supposed-to-be-apocalyptic 'Final Game' felt... underwhelming, it failed miserably and backfired in a massive way too. If that doesn't count as stupid, I don't know what does. It all came down to the weak writing, of course, as Genis' threat was almost always mentioned and rarely shown. We've seen what Bunglay, Kubar, Naria, and even Azald could pull off, but not Genis. When his Team Leaders posed bigger tensions both psychologically and physically, that's a fatal error, right? The only memorable bit I could think of him, is how he's always been this sweet-talker super-optimistic big boss... who rarely did anything significant aside from sitting comfortably on his throne. And up to this episode, it stayed that way. The build up for him to be the most threatening Dethgalien just never hit the ground running, thus this 'Last Game' emitted a stake that was more than just minimum, it felt... EASY. I still haven't recovered from the 'odd timing' criticism I've mentioned above, so to be honest, I'm no longer expecting much for the finale. I can only hope that it'll offer a hopeful and sweet epilogue to the story's main theme. That's all. Next week: FINALE!!! And it's a private game session with Genis...

Episode 47 Score: 7,2 out of 10

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