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firelxdykatara · 4 years ago

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I really like hearing your thoughts on ships, so I was just wondering what you thought about the episode 'Seeing Red' from Buffy as a Spuffy shipper. I love the ship too and remember being so uncomfortable watching that episode. It felt like it came out of no where while I was marathoning the show

Ok so, I’ve been sitting with this for a while (my inbox is telling me it’s been 10 days......time plz stop moving without me noticing), mostly because it’s... a really Touchy topic, for a lot of (very obvious, to anyone familiar with the episode or the arc) reasons.

CW for discussion of attempted sexual assault and rape ahead. (I’m gonna talk a bit about Willow too.)

First of all, I wanna state that I understand why Seeing Red was a ‘point of no return’ for many people. There are a lot of people for whom sexual assault/rape is The Thing they simply cannot get past and they could never see Spike or Spuffy the same again, and that’s valid and understandable. For me, personally, I don’t consider it any more or less reprehensible than murder or anything else vampires and demons get up to in the show because they’re monsters and very specifically Not Human, but at the same time it felt gratuitous and unnecessary (like the writers were trying to remind us Spike was really evil right before he went to get his soul back of his own accord, and I’ll talk a bit more about that later), and the episode itself is difficult to watch. (Also because it includes Tara’s death, which wrecks me to this day.)

It’s also been a very long time since I’ve seen the episode in question, mostly because I haven’t done a full rewatch in years, and when I do watch Buffy it’s either starting from the beginning and then losing track of where i was and starting over again, or else jumping to random episodes throughout the show which I enjoy and watching those by themselves (and Seeing Red is very much not on that list lol). So I rewatched it just to refresh my memory and....god there are a lot of other reasons I don’t care for this episode. (Xander was exceptionally horrific to Buffy re: finding out she was sleeping with Spike. Gods I dislike him more and more the older I get.)

In general, it’s just a really hard episode to watch. (And I’ll never forgive Joss for finally putting Amber Benson in the opening credits, only to kill her that same episode.) There’s a lot of ugliness, and the Trio are among the worst villains in the show--not in terms of how they’re written (they feel kind of terrifyingly realistic, although they also seem kind of exceptionally meta in light of how much has come out in the last decade about Joss Whedon’s own attitudes and behavior and treatment of women), but because every other big bad with very few exceptions has the excuse of being a soulless vampire or a demon or a hellgod or some other monster that can’t really help the fact that they were made that way. The Trio are just normal dudes who think they’re entitled to women and money and power and are willing to do absolutely anything to get all three, proving that maybe it isn’t really the presence or absence of a soul that actually makes humans, like, humane.

But that’s me side-tracking. As far as Spuffy goes, yeah, this episode is pretty brutal. There’s no mincing words here--Spike attempted to rape Buffy, and he only stopped and had his ‘oh my god, what have I done’ realization after she managed to kick him off. If she hadn’t, he probably wouldn’t have stopped. And I can almost understand it, from a writing perspective--how do you make a soulless vampire realize that he’s truly a monster and, further, how do you finally get him to want to change that? Make him cross a line he never had before. Except... that really wasn’t necessary. Not for his character arc, nor for his relationship with Buffy, and a part of me thinks that it was really intennded to just drive home the message that Spike was a monster, and that Buffy could never really love him, and the easiest way to communicate that was sexual violence, something that the show never really had its vampires engage in previously. So it would be a shock to the audience, it would throw Spike’s motives into question when he went to get his soul back, and it would make his presence in season 7 a constant question, plus provide a reason for Buffy not to trust him.

I think all of this could have been achieved without the sexual violence. I think the scene was largely done for shock value--again, to douse the audience with ice water and remind them that Spike, no matter how chummy he’d seemed with the Scoobies since getting chipped and eventually working with them, was still a monster. But we really didn’t need that reminder, and I think it would’ve made more sense for him to simply attempt to kill her--still a betrayal, still shocking, still something that could spur him into the actions he would take afterwards (going to get his soul restored), but without the exceedingly uncomfortable attempted rape scene in a season where there had already been serious issues with consent.

I’m talking, specifically, about Willow.

There’s something interesting I’ve noticed in fandom, and it’s that people really don’t seem to want to talk about or acknowledge the fact that Willow raped Tara. Maybe because it was via magic, rather than violence--or because it was never really called what it actually was in the narrative, or because they’re The Gay Ship of btvs, I don’t know. But she did--when she spelled Tara to forget about their serious fight which had been building for weeks, and then went to bed with her. And then explicitly had sex with her the next day. It’s part of why I’ve always had a complicated relationship with “Under Your Spell”--I love the song, but it’s also literally spelling out the fact that Tara’s mind had been violated by the woman she loved and she could not consent to sex while under the spell.

So that moment was already toeing the line in terms of consent and at least Tara was able to talk about how Willow violated her mind and how that made her feel (in song, at that), but Seeing Red was like a slap in the face. Where Willow’s magic addiction and willingness to cross those lines had been building for more than a year, Spike attempting to rape Buffy came out of nowhere. This isn’t a show that explored any really complicated relationship between vampires and consent (in The Vampire Diaries, for example, vampires have an ability called compulsion and compelling humans that they then have sex with is pretty normal and no one really blinks about it, human or vampire; it’s definitely still rape, but it’s not treated as anything particularly beyond the pale, because they’re vampires who can control the minds of their prey and don’t tend to consider the feelings of their food sources to be of any real importance), and while the vampires are hot and have sex, there’s never been any indication that they sexually assault humans in addition to feeding on them.

I think that specific scene in Seeing Red is the hardest to watch in the entire show. There’s really nothing like it in any other episode or with any other villain, and it has a tendency to sit in the back of the mind and sour feelings about Spike and Spuffy because it’s genuinely difficult to forget. I’m not sure if the intention was really to turn people off Spuffy (especially since he got his soul and came back in season 7 and Buffy forgave him and fell in love with him), but that was certainly the effect it had on a lot of people.

For me, personally, like I’ve said I don’t like the scene and I don’t think it was necessary, which is why I tend to ignore it as much as possible when I’m thinking about Spike and Buffy and their relationship. It’s a thing I know that happened, but I also know that I don’t think it was particularly fitting from a character perspective, and that makes it easy for me to file it away as sloppy writing and generally OOC, and move on. Again, I can definitely understand why some people can’t or don’t want to do that, but I also know that a lot of people continue to love Spike and Spuffy and I don’t think I’m alone in considering that moment to be OOC for him and generally try to ignore it in my meta and other analysis of the show.

#spuffy #buffy summers #spike #seeing red cw #btvs #btvs meta #spuffy meta #seeing red meta #asked #Anonymous

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milkypompon · 4 years ago

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𝕀 𝕄𝕚𝕤𝕤 𝕋𝕙𝕚𝕤 | Sokka x Reader

𝕀𝕞𝕒𝕘𝕚𝕟𝕖 | Y/N and Sokka have always been joined to the hip even before joining Team Avatar, but after the defeat of Ozai, there was much work to be done around the Four Nations and they haven’t seen one another for quite some time.

𝔸𝕦𝕥𝕙𝕠𝕣'𝕤 ℕ𝕠𝕥𝕖 | I’m rewatching ATLA, so expect more fanfic with the Gaang!

[Warnings: Fluff! Very suggestive at the end!]

Two weeks…

Four days…

Ten hours…

Three minutes…

“Y/N!” Katara’s voice rang through their ears, causing Y/N’s pencil to slip out of their hands

With a sigh, Y/N heaved themselves up from their uncomfortable position of lying flat on their stomach. Raking their hair as best they could from the fleeting wind that seemed to increase its speed by the minute was the second to worst thing of constantly being on the move.

What’s on top of the list?

Being unable to hold Sokka’s hand as they walked shoulder to shoulder down the winding paths of who knows where.

Y/N folded the corner of a page from their tattered travel journal, fraying at the edges with maps threatening to flutter down towards their feet. The breeze could carry it away for all Y/N cared, it was the letters from him that they only cherished.

It was another day spent on Appa’s saddle. There was peeling wood now, threatening to poke and scratch on unprotected skin due to harsh environments beating down on it. For the past few weeks of their endless journeys with Katara and Aang it felt as if the three of them were on a wild goose chase, running errands to rebuild the crumbling Nations.

Carefully, Y/N scraped off a loose wood chip from the saddle. With one eye closed, they gauged a target ahead of them.

Flick!

“Ow!” Aang squeaked and he rubbed the back of his head, then whipped it back. “Woah, Y/N did you see that? I think a bee-fly just stung me!”

Katara and Y/N quietly giggled at his cluelessness.

“Alright, alright. Let’s get this done and over with!” Katara clasped her hands together in confidence.

With a quick yelp of “Appa, yip yip!”, Aang brought the trio down at an unmatched speed.

Y/N stumbled down to their bum with a soft thud. “HOLD ON, I HAVEN’T SET THE TIMER!” Struggling to find the pocket-watch, Y/N shouted over the wind whistling in their ears, “GUESS WE’LL HAVE TO DO THIS THE OLD FASHION WAY, TEAM!”

“ONE MISSISSIPPI!”

“TWO MISSISSIPPI!”

“THREE MISSISSIPPI!”

Appa swung his legs back and flicked it forward to increase his speed. The stone pavement of Ba Sing Se met Aang’s eyes, growing incredibly closer to view.

Katara’s hair swung wildly around her face,

Without showing any signs of slowing down, Aang yelped worriedly, “UH APPA-”

SWOOSH!

Appa cocked his head forward, pulling the force up. Y/N groaned as their noggin was shaken from the uncontrollable directions it was taken.

“AHHHH!” Aang squeezed his eyes shut, feeling the burn of the wind drying it out.

“AANG! Aang!” Katara shook his shoulders.

“WHAT!” He shouted a little too loudly.

A familiar voice snickered, “While you were busy yelling, Appa gave all of you a safe landing, didn't you boy?”

Was that…

Y/N gripped their tunic in anticipation. They recalled the many times when they flushed in embarrassment of calling out to a figure that resembled his, but it was really a stranger.

What significant other wouldn’t recognize their second half?

After all this time spent away from each other’s sight, it wasn't that Y/N simply forgot, their mind tended to shift reality to soothe their heart, even if it was just for a little bit.

Even if it was a lie to Y/N.

Y/N hoped that their mind would play another one of its tricks, they’d be able to see through it eventually. Which will cause another night spent without the weight of his arm over their waist.

Y/N breathed in, peering over Appa’s thick fur.

A few feet below, irises with arcs of an iridescent blue met Y/N’s. He still had the same boyish sparkle of curiosity and interest in his eyes. A soft smile emerged on his face, a light dusting of blush on the cheeks to accompany it.

“SOKKA!” Y/N yelped. Without hesitation, they leapt off of Appa and jumped into his welcoming arms.

Aang twirled his fingers in Y/N’s direction, bending the air to give them a softer landing. “Woah, slow down! Don’t want ya splatting on the ground,” he giggled.

Delicately, Sokka’s tear-stained cheek brushed against Y/N’s, a cool sensation against their warm face. His nose digging into the crook of their neck, breathing in their scent he longed for.

Y/N’s arms wrapped around his waist, a grip that varied in strength. Their chest heaved in an unsteady beat, matching Sokka’s thumping heart.

Sokka pulled away, cupping Y/N’s cheeks and giving it a light squeeze.

“I miss this.”

[Making Up for the Lost Time]

Lots of gentle touches throughout the day!!

Sokka slipped his trembling fingers into Y/N’s as they sauntered down the streets of Ba Sing Se.

Y/N giggled, “You're holding my hand as if it's the first time!”

He raised their hands to his soft lips, giving Y/N’s knuckles a gentle kiss.

Gentle moments like these never failed to make both of their hearts flutter with content. Y/N didn’t need much to make them smile. They loved the aroma of homemade meals, tickling their nose and taste buds simultaneously. Listening to the melodies of street music made their heart beat to the rhythm. And digging their toes into warm sand was the highlight of any beach day.

But being the presence of Sokka, that was truly something else…

“I just missed you so much, that’s all.”

Despite not having any alone time with one another, Sokka and Y/N preferred to hang out with Aang and Katara

They’d totally visit Zuko and Uncle Iroh at the Jasmine Dragon

Katara grinned at the sight of her friends. “Oh, that reminds me! Who one the bet this time?”

“I did!” Aang and Y/N yelped with a hand raised up high.

Y/N stared at him with wide eyes, “No, you didn’t! “I COUNTED THIRTY MISSISSIPPIS!” ”

“Did too! That’s not even a numerical system!”

“Did not!”

The bickering continued as the two couples trotted to the Jasmine Dragon.

Familiar voices caught the Fire Lord’s attention, who today was taking a break from his usual royal responsibility and now serving tea with an apron wrapped around his figure.

Zuko sighed contently, twisting his head to the double doors, greeted with the sight of Sokka’s arm around Y/N who ran his mouth at the Avatar.

He placed his hands on his hips, “Alright, you’re on my territory now!”

Toph, who sat at a table for five, matched Zuko’s tone, “No more fighting or none you’ll get free tea!”

Sokka twirled Y/N around, a light laugh sang in his ears, “She got my attention at ‘free’!” He caught Y/N on the shoulders, giving them a stern stare and a dopey grin, “But your face got me stopping to look at you.”

Y/N playfully shoved him back with an upturned nose, “Oh, such a romantic!”

uH, ThinGs do get a bit spicy when they turn in for the night...

“Sokka! That tickles!” Y/N squealed as Sokka blew raspberries onto their soft tummy, the bed bouncing under their shifting weight. Y/N’s legs attempted to push him away, but it was to no avail because he was wedged right between them.

He gripped their shirt, lifting it up to expose more skin, kissing higher up, almost reaching the valley of their breasts.

Y/N’s breathing picked up as Sokka glided his calloused hands, a result from years of sparring and training, along their side. Y/N could feel his rough palms, a stark contrast against their supple skin. Gripping and pinching, he continued to massage them, earning him soft moans.

Sokka heaved himself onto his forearms, hoving right above Y/N’s flushed face.

“If this is a dream,” He placed a gentle peck on the corner of Y/N’s eye. “Don’t let me wake up,” he whispered with a sultry voice. Sokka dipped his lips down between the curve of where their neck and shoulder met, Y/N’s prime weakness. He felt him squirm forcing him to pin their hands up above their head.

Y/N bit their lip, craning their chin up to give him more access. They left the lingering kisses on their neck, an electrifying sensation.

𝔼𝕟𝕕 ℕ𝕠𝕥𝕖 | Mmm yes! Giving you more Sokka content aka stuff we need to consume everyday.

#sokka #sokka x reader #sokka imagines #atla #atla imagines #avatar #avatar imagines #sokka self inserts #sokka smut

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bisexualmikisayaka · 3 years ago

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disclaimer: i haven’t watched the most recent episode yet (as of 6/19) buuut ive seen a couple spoilery gifs and i’m thinking about what i wanted out of the show. sorry if this makes no sense with the newest material 😭 but you know, and this is just my opinion, if filoni hadn’t defaulted to his standard “competent yet traumatized grizzled man with sweet mystical child” trope and made half the show a circlejerk of his tv ‘verse, i think the bad batch could have been really interesting as the only media to be set during the empire building itself.

what comes to mind is the narrative structure set up by another show he’s been involved with - ATLA. something i noticed during my summer rewatch of it that i didn’t as a younger viewer was the really excellent way that so many steps of aang’s journey were made to parallel or foil zuko’s in some way, or vice versa. the show was structured to play both of the characters off each other narratively until they ultimately came together and didn’t need to show their separate stories. if we had gotten that with hunter and crosshair, or even the bad batch overall and crosshair, i think it could have been much better. we would have been able to see more of the empire’s internal mechanisms, while being able to keep an eye on characters we knew previously (tarkin, lama su and taun we, crosshair - hell, i’d even take one-off characters like shaak ti’s clone team from the fives arc in tcw, since they seem to be the military presence on kamino) while also taking steps into a new era. we could have explored what happens when clones are under long-term influence of the chip, something we’re sorely lacking in canon. would crosshair have been able to resist at all due to his (sigh) mutations? so far the only trooper we’ve seen be able to resist for even a little bit when directly given the order is rex, and i personally like the theory that it’s because his faith in his duty was challenged so much during the clone wars, but there’s never been any real explanation or evidence to prove why others could or could not do that. how do people treat clone troopers when they start getting phased out? do clones under the influence of the chip care that they’re going to die? for god’s sake, the first death trooper is a clone! that kills me and i wish we could have seen more of crosshair’s time as an arm of the empire constructing itself from the existing structures of the republic!

and to counterbalance that - the violence, the order, the suppression and subjugation - we could have had the bad batch’s journey. omega could still be an important character in their newfound literal and emotional freedom, and whatever purpose she serves could likely be incorporated as a plot point. we could also get the other side of the equation, as the bad batch are now persecuted by the empire - we got a good taste of that with the cut lawquane episode and the chain code stuff but personally i think there could be more. crosshair as an agent of the state empire vs the bad batch as subjects actively being marginalized by the empire - it’s a really interesting parallel to draw. because everybody involved is dehumanized (and has been since the republic days) but crosshair and the chipped clones still serve a purpose and are granted sort of a modicum of citizenship (again, implications from the chain code episode), whereas the bad batch are rogue entities who need to be eliminated, on top of their status as clones. and yet ironically, despite the way they are now forced to exist on the margins of Star Wars society, they’re freer than the rest of their brothers. there are so many avenues to take with a group of clones having to adjust to citizen life while still working in active combat situations to survive - funny scenes, emotional scenes, kickass scenes, you name it. i just really wish that more clear parallel storylines had been drawn that we could follow so what when they converged once again, it would be that much sweeter.

#this on top of you know. fixing all the problems in that last post i reblogged #but if i got into the whitewashing in-universe and weird mutual prejudice the clones and tbb seem to have for each other #and what that says about clone standards and society and how i wish we could dig into that #this post would be even fucking longer #star wars #the bad batch #tbb critical #the bad batch critical #sw critical #star wars critical #tbb meta #the bad batch meta #crosshair #hunter

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bedlamsbard · 4 years ago

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@comentter asked about the TCW series finale

Sorry if I don't remember, but did you ever talk about the last 2 episodes of TCW? I only remember the motion capture thing from the first 2 of the arc. I was annoyed at the changes to the story they previously established in the novel and Rebels (which included Rex and Ahsoka splitting up) and for some reason I can't figure out, it didn't feel like a real ending to me...

I don’t think I’ve talked about it past expressing my annoyance about using Sam Jackson!Mace and Hayden Christensen!Anakin during Ahsoka’s vision. (WHICH I AM VERY ANNOYED ABOUT.)

I don’t have particularly strong feelings about Shattered/Victory & Death -- I think they’re two of the better episodes of S7, but I think S7 is honestly the weakest of all TCW as far as theme and story arc go. They are also, unfortunately, probably the most aggravating case in S7 of throwing out previously established canon from Johnston’s Ahsoka novel and from Rebels. And like, there’s not really all that much to throw out! So you mostly have to work to do it!

(Under a cut because this got long and honestly I probably forgot stuff since I haven’t rewatched in a while.)

The big difference is, obviously, the change in location from Mandalore (I believe the novel either strongly implies or outright states it’s in the middle of the battle?) to the ship. Putting aside Filoni’s comments from SWCE a few years ago about Ahsoka teaming up with giant wolves (I think it’s extremely likely that that was wistful thinking and concept art on his part, rather than George Lucas’s actual plan), the advantage of putting Order 66 on a star destroyer in hyperspace is that it’s about as confined a space as you can get with no escape. And that works pretty well in the actual episodes -- it’s a nice callback to “Brain Invaders,” as well, though I’m not sure it was done deliberately. It also limits the number of moving parts available, so rather than having to worry about Mandalorians on both sides (and civilians...would have liked to see those in the Siege eps...that’s a different rant), all that the audience has to worry about are Ahsoka (and Rex, later on), the clones, and the wild card, Maul. Which admittedly is done very well -- like, the way the clones turn on Ahsoka? Terrifying! I don’t think they really played into the claustrophobic atmosphere of being trapped on a ship in hyperspace with no way out enough; I actually do think Brain Invaders and A Test of Strength, and even the flashback scenes in Jedi Fallen Order, did it better. (Not even ONE scene of crawling through the vents? are you even Star Wars?) On the one hand, it’s been done before, do you really have to do it again? On the other...y’all made the decision to do this.

I actually hate that Ahsoka has the ~vision of Anakin’s fall -- it’s very jarring, it makes no continuity sense (in all honesty, it’s the sort of thing I’d expect from the ST, so maybe in that context it does make continuity sense, lol), and I think to some extent that it weakens her later reaction to Vader/Anakin? Also, as I’ve said before I’m very, very aural and pretty sensitive to character voices: the decision to use Jackson!Mace and Christensen!Anakin, even with Hayden transitioning into Matt Lanter, threw me out so badly that the scene lost all emotional impact. This is a me problem. Most people I know were just happy that Hayden was getting acknowledged. Which is honestly not a great storytelling method, we want to tell the story and not acknowledge other actors. But again: this is a me problem.

I really do love the rising sense of tension from the beginning of the episode to the actual Order 66 moment. It’s just genuinely terrifying, since the audience knows what’s coming all along.

Maul -- *flips hand* I love Maul. I think these two eps did a really good job at showing how terrifying Maul can be, even without a lightsaber -- especially without a lightsaber, rather. I was a little hesitant initially about Maul being able to destroy the hyperdrive with the Force alone, but after thinking about it for a day or so (back when the ep aired, last May) I was fine with it. I think Maul’s the one character for whom that kind of sheer power is believable, going back to his TCW debut -- if you ever look at spider-Maul closely (and Sam and Dave talk about this in the commentary to that arc), you’ll notice that some of the pieces of metal on his spider body aren’t actually attached, they’re hovering nearby; he’s holding his spider body together with the Force itself.

Rex. The other big departure from canon, because of his “we all had a choice / I didn’t betray my Jedi” comments in Rebels. From a storytelling POV, this is the most dramatic possible route to go, and it makes sense that they did it. I think it was either @alexkablob or @mylordshesacactus who said back when that it works well that Rex can’t shake off the command from the chip, that none of the clones are immune to it, because otherwise it looks like none of the other clones cared as much about their Jedi as Rex did about Ahsoka. I do genuinely wonder if back in the original plan for the remaining two seasons of TCW, there was a scene where Rex had his chip removed, given that comment from Rebels. (And I’ve talked before about changes made from the ~original TCW scripts used for the Rebels backstory to the actual S7 and Mando, though admittedly in that context it was about Ahsoka.) If originally the plan was for the Order 66 sequence to take place on Mandalore, then that suggests the unlikelihood (though not impossiblity) of Rex and Ahsoka removing his chip. Given the arcs that we actually got in S7 there was no place to do it...I really do wonder what was in some of the scripts that have been talked about elsewhere but didn’t make the cut for S7.

(God, the one I actually really wanted was the Rex and Artoo’s Excellent Adventure one, I’ll be bitter about this forever.)

I assume Ahsoka and Rex split up afterwards -- the fake grave from Ahsoka was kind of weird to me, tbh, so I’m fine with them not going that way, but. *shrug* It is what it is.

The end is...fine. Like, emotional! I had an emotion! They wanted me to have an emotion! My TCW and Ahsoka feelings have been broken for a while now so my emotions definitely were not what they would have been even two or three years ago. (And I mean this by when the ep actually aired, not what my emotions are now; they haven’t really changed that much. Well, my resentment grew, but it is what it is.)

I think...I just recently saw again the comment from Filoni about this, so it’s on my mind -- one of the major problems with S7 across the board, and honestly highlighted in the finale (which, again, is great), is that according to Filoni, TCW was always about Rex and Ahsoka, so S7 had to be about Rex, then about Ahsoka, then about Rex and Ahsoka, together.

TCW is not about Rex and Ahsoka.

That’s not to say that Rex and Ahsoka aren’t main characters, because manifestly they are, but the previous six seasons of TCW are not about Rex and Ahsoka. At its core, TCW is about Anakin Skywalker, in the same way that the PT is about Anakin Skywalker (and the OT, to a different extent); TCW’s big strength compared to the films, however, has always been that it has the space to go beyond Anakin’s immediate story and deal with everything else going on in the galaxy, some of which overlaps with Anakin and some of which doesn’t. The choice to make S7 three four-episode arcs has the side effect of narrowing the universe and limiting the stories told -- S6 is, I think, only one ep longer but feels like it’s a full season, because it’s a mixed bag of arcs of varying lengths, with a number of different foci. Some of the claustrophobic feel of the focus on Rex and Ahsoka works for the finale because of the actual setting of the episodes, on the very claustrophobic ship, but on the other hand...thematically the whole season feels off because Filoni’s interests are very different from Lucas’s (and while we all love to give Filoni credit for everything in TCW, Lucas was showrunning it and all the really weird and controversial stuff in TCW, including Ahsoka, Satine, Mortis, and Maul, all came straight from George Lucas). The finale feels aggressively narrow as a result -- which on the one hand, works, because yeah, it’s kind of neat and makes sense that Rex and Ahsoka don’t know anything else about what’s going on in the larger galaxy or if anyone else is alive. On the other hand, it...doesn’t work. (For me, obvs! Your mileage will vary!)

#comentter #bedlam replies #bedlam watches tcw #tcw shattered #tcw victory and death

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omegawizardposting · 4 years ago

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Ok, another stream of consciousness, gut reaction type post re: Lotor’s trans-reality gate and how his story could have been rewritten.

From what I recall, and after a little research, Lotor’s endgame is to harvest pure quintessence from the rift on Daibazaal. That part of his storyline, I take no issue with. In fact, I think that it would have been a very good point of contention between he and the Paladins, ensuring that there was still a confrontation to be had, but room for Lotor to be redeemed. The mere desire to harvest quintessence from the rift is forgivable, and could have been used as an important stepping stone during Lotor’s redemption arc.

Where the issue arises is the Altean colony, the residents of which he is using as a source of pure quintessence for his experiments and until he can enter the rift. Although he believed he was doing it for a good reason, cool motive, still murder. This is, uh, putting it lightly, a lot less forgivable.

I haven’t gotten to this point in my rewatch yet, but I do know that his generals, who ultimately betrayed him and who are looking for any way to save their own skins after his escape, are aware of the trans-reality gate. Take this information to Haggar and Zarkon, receive your pardon, and go about your lives. This solves their problem, and is a solid segue into the next part of the arc.

Haggar is the one who harvests pure quintessence from other Altaeans.

Now, I’m not certain if the generals know about the Altaean colony, but again, from what I recall, Lotor isn’t working entirely alone. I would assume he’d need help establishing the colony, and with his generals, at that time, being entirely loyal to him, they would be at his side during its establishment. It makes narrative sense for them to know about the survival of the Altaen race.

Once Lotor kills Narti, seemingly without remorse, this loyalty is broken, and so they spill the beans to Haggar. Alongside their knowledge of the trans-reality gate, this is a huge bargaining chip--and as they already have the trust of the Altaens on the colony, Haggar could very easily send them in to begin harvesting pure quintessence in preparation for a proper go at the trans-reality gate. Haggar is Zarkon’s witch, and a talented Altaen alchemist; she would be able to learn what Canon!Lotor did about the Altaens and quintessence in a fraction of the time he did, I’d wager.

Lotor, meanwhile, has been so busy trying to establish himself as Emperor in order to better aid Voltron in the destruction of his father’s corrupt empire that this has all flown completely under his radar. The colony is safe, he believes; he’s hidden it well, and when the time is right, when he’s certain they won’t be followed or tracked, he can bring Allura back to her people.

His fatal mistake is assuming that his generals are either in hiding or dead...

...and that mistake is an excellent character-building moment.

Imagine his horror when he finally reunites Allura with her people, only to learn from them that his generals are alive, and that they have been “doing his bidding” by “establishing a second colony”.

Imagine the explosive friction between he and Team Voltron as he scrambles to prove his innocence, again, and after all they’ve been through together, they still don’t fully trust him.

Imagine his heartache at watching the woman he’s developed feelings for side with Team Voltron.

But then imagine his determination to exonerate himself. Imagine his success in doing so, the blow it would strike to the Galra Empire, and the quiet, tender moments after when everyone comes together and realizes, “He’s on our side, he’s one of us,” and a new, unshakable bond is forged.

Imagine Lotor feeling, for the first time in his life, that he is a part of a family.

Voltron is huge on found family, and Lotor--neglected, abused, indoctrinated Lotor--finding his would have been the ultimate declaration of love for the trope. It would have tied up his character so nicely, and made him into a truly fascinating, multidimensional hero, rather than an uninspired, one-note villain.

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inkykate · 7 years ago

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GoT Preference Tag Meme

Tagged by @soleilpirate who puts up with all my GoT feels

Do you watch the episodes when they air? Yep. I have no patience.

How often do you rewatch it? Do you rewatch it from season one? I think I’ve done one total rewatch? But not since season 5. I generally will do multiple viewings of episodes in the week after they originally air, and then will go back looking for favorite scenes at random.

Do you rewatch the previous episode before the next one airs? By time Sunday comes around, I’ve usually seen the last episode twice - so no, just counting down for new material.

Do you eat anything while watching? If so, what do you eat? I have, but nothing specific. Oreos, chips, and other stuff like that? I’ve never done a meal.

One character that everyone seems to like that you don’t care much for? Oh, Jorah. Like he’s an explicitly better person in the show than in the books, but even then I just don’t get it. (He’s definitely a character who’s narrative arc should have been wrapped up already.)

Your 3 favorite pairings. (Just using show characters!) For pairings, meaning ships: Oberyn x Ellaria, Jon x Daenerys and Ned x Catelyn. For a pedantic interpretation of pairings: Arya & Tywin, Jaime & Bronn and Olenna & Anyone.

Favorite Scene. Too many come to mind, but Tyrion becoming Hand of the Queen is a big one.

One character you wish got more appreciation. As written in the books -Doreah, Irri, Jhiqui and Jeyne. Because female friendships are way too frequently shunted aside in Game of Thrones.

Fanfic or nah? Way too much fanfic, tbh. Have I told you about my latest obsessions? Female!Jon Snow and Arthur x Lyanna.

Favorite Quote. “A mind needs books like a sword needs a whetstone...” which is cliche but could almost be my motto.

Do you avoid spoilers? I haven’t actively sought them out much the past couple seasons and don’t put too much faith in them.

Favorite House words. Winter is Coming.

One character you’d bring back from the dead. Shireen, for a lot of different reasons, but mainly because I think it could have been interesting to have a true Baratheon around for Dany’s arrival.

One character you’d kill, or kill sooner then they were killed. Cersei. I feel like we were cheated out of her madness spiral by the fact that Lena is wonderful and they wanted to hold onto her until the last season.

Direwolves or dragons? Dragons. I mean, I have a pup already.

Which was more satisfying: Ramsay dying or Joffrey dying? Joffrey. What Ramsey represents is awful, don’t get me wrong, but Joffrey was warped without seeming cartoonish and his death had much broader repercussions.

Wildlings or the Dothraki? Dothraki, because I can not even with a land of always winter.

Favorite Lannister? Jaime, because I’m a sucker for a redemption arc.

Favorite Stark? Benjen, because I wish we had gotten more of him. (Jon is probably my series favorite though.)

Would you rather be able to be resurrected anytime, but gain scars and all like Beric, or become a faceless man? Neither? I’m pretty risk adverse, so resurrection would be mostly wasted on me. Faceless (wo)man it is!

Would you rather have the rebellion tv show or the conquest tv show? The Conquest. I want to watch Aegon run around Westeros keeping his conquered kingdoms (and their newly deposed kings) in line while Visenya and Rhaenys get stuff done in the capital. I want to see what Orys Baratheon was like, and what his relationship with the Targaryens was. I want to see Dorne holding off conquest by dragon. I want to have all those problematic talks about empire building, etc. because I’m a masochist.

#game of memes #about me #the queue is out there

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originaljediinjeans · 6 years ago

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MCU Rewatch: Iron Man 3 (2013)

This movie should have been called either The Pepperony Movie or The Fire Nation Attacks.

I’ve heard people say this is either the best or the worst Iron Man movie. I have re-watched the first two Iron Man films very recently so I can make a somewhat fair comparison. This one is actually the best and I think it’s officially my favorite now. My mom says it’s her favorite and I think I’ve figured out why. You will see the reasons why below.

The absence of Coulson, SHIELD, and Fury or even a lot of other references to the greater MCU really changes the tone--makes it darker, even, I don’t know how but it does. Which may be why I’ve only seen this movie all the way through twice.

In fact, since the last time I watched it I’ve forgotten about 30% of what actually happens

But I knew all the spoilers by the first viewing (October 2013 on a friend’s XBox) because I did a term paper on A Christmas Carol for a summer college class in 2013 and I found an article about how Iron Man 3 (which came out in May 2013) is actually based on A Christmas Carol which is why it’s set during the holidays--A Christmas Carol is more than about just Christmas and Iron Man 3 is more than about just Iron Man.

This is TONY’s best movie, this is PEPPER’s best movie, this is JARVIS’s best movie, this is RHODEY’s best movie.

Also Happy Hogan was great for the first 15 minutes. HAPPY HOGAN DOES NOT GET NEARLY ENOUGH LOVE AND APPRECIATION.

Happy as head of Stark Industries security is under a lot of stress. Has he been like this since he got the job or since the Aliens attacked New York or both?

Happy got hurt but he started the hunt for the real villain. Also Happy was really fortunate to be as far from the center of the blast as he was.

Also it was beyond convenient that Harley was carrying around the surprise for bullies when he was

I would love to have an elegant Edwardian Tea Party with Happy Hogan

The Prologue: The laptop in the hotel room glitched because it was Y2K--am I the only one who remembers that? Also OH MY GOSH HAPPY WHO LET YOU DO YOUR HAIR LIKE THAT? Oh, look, there’s Yensin. Oh, look, Tony totally brushed him off. Oh Look,Tony totally forgot about the night of Y2K and look what happened

Moral of the story: just don’t drink alcohol because there will be Consequences(TM)

Aldrich Killian is what happens to nerds/geeks when they go Bad

Tony Stark can create a complicated science formula while he’s drunk that’s how smart he is

(Or do I just underestimate how “drunk” you have to be to be really not-functional?)

Anyway, in his past life Tony left behind a long trails of lies and disappointment. Doesn’t make him a bad person. In fact he’s a better person now. And now he’s an even better person because he dealt with the problems that he started.

Tony using implanted computer chips to summon the parts of the Mark 42 is actually pretty cool, kinda like magic, he should figure out something like that to show Doctor Strange--not that Strange would be remotely impressed but the point is Tony does Magic

But gosh Tony is just petty sometimes to people who don’t need it. That’s how other people treat him, I get it.

Tony programmed JARVIS to be sarcastic and it is flawless. JARVIS is even sarcastic at Tony. JARVIS is really an extension of Tony himself but maybe at this point there’s still some bugs to work out, even for the World’s Finest AI Ever.

The suit putting itself on Tony while Tony is climbing through the wreckage as his house is collapsing around him is incredible

The heart-wrenching scream when Pepper calls for him

I’ve heard that in the comics that The Mandarin was an actual supervillain and people hate this movie because they got played. I haven’t read the comics so that doesn’t affect me.

Trevor Slatterly is actually pretty entertaining in the scenes he has with Tony and Rhodey. He’s kind of like Jack Sparrow. But he is total trash and he knows it. Sir Laurence Obliviae indeed.

I get the whole White Capitalist Conspiracy theory and there’s no use arguing against it

Was the piano Maria Stark’s?

Also the Extremis hot chick grabbed a weapon from a civilian who was trying to defend himself, that says volumes about the people who wrote this movie

But AIM is really just REALLY evil because they are targeting vulnerable people. Trevor by his own admission was a drug addict they picked up on the street. Their experiments are run on veterans with lost limbs and probably PTSD in the mix. And deep down that makes me so mad. Partly because Steve and Bucky and Sam. But I have an uncle in the Army and I lived with his family for a school year so it’s personal.

Gary and Harley’s wildest dreams coming true am I right?

POTUS Mills kind of came across as a pansy the first two times I saw this movie. But this time he’s not. He was going to call the hotline to save the dude’s life he had a man at his elbow telling him not to but he was going to do it. He doesn’t even really cower after he gets kidnapped. In fact he’s kind of mad. He has more than a spine than you’d think.

It’s the “Mandarin” who has the deep righteous voice that you would associate with a POTUS.

Maya Hansen. Just wow.

Hell froze over and Tony went to Hickville, Tenessee

Tony Stark in an Iron Man Suit is great but Tony Stark with weapons he built himself from stuff he bought at Home Depot and constructed in a cheap motel room is a Force to be Reckoned With

Just Tony and Rhodey having great fight scenes without their suits on why does nobody talk about that?

Also Tony and Rhodey are huge dorks

The scene where Tony threatens the AIM security guards while he’s zip-tied to a bed frame is the most hilarious thing ever, officially my favorite Tony scene of all time

One of my worst fears is being strapped to an operating table and injected with heck knows what, maybe even being turned into a monster. Tony saw an image of that happening to Pepper and he saw that but he also saw the love of his life probably dying. *insert the This is Fine meme here*

and then P E P P E R D I D T H A T

Was Pepper even mortal to begin with?

Tony was not afraid to touch Pepper while she was on Extremis even though she hated having it in herself

The scene in the epilogue where the Vice Creep is escorted away and Rhodey is watching: there’s a portrait of George Washington on the wall behind Rhodey and talk about History having its Eyes on You, did Lin-Manuel Miranda see this when he was writing Hamilton? cuz wow. I could write a whole essay on that shot alone.

Iron Man 2 and all three Cap films are political but Iron Man Three is somehow even more political than all of them put together?

Does Pepper have PTSD from this? Yes but unlike Tony (at least up until Spider-man Homecoming) she went to actual counseling

Pepper wants a normal life for her and Tony but she’s never going to get it. Tony tells her as much at the very ending. But then he blows up his suits and takes out his arc reactor so they have the illusion of closure. That illusion only lasts as long as the rest of the MCU doesn’t go to crap and it will quickly. Even if Tony survives Endgame they’ll still have the past to deal with, but at least they’ll be able to heal together.

The entire thing is just Tony talking to Bruce but Bruce falls asleep right at the beginning. It’s funny but this is why Science Bros is a thing: Tony told Bruce everything even without knowing that Bruce wasn’t listening. I don’t think Tony is ever that upfront with the rest of the Avengers combined.

#mcu rewatch #iron man 3 #we're in the endgame now

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recentanimenews · 5 years ago

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THE GREAT CRUNCHYROLL NARUTO REWATCH Goes Hunting in Episodes 134-140

Hello, everyone! Noelle here, and I'm your host for this week's batch of episodes as we all tackle the original run of Naruto! During last week's harrowing stretch, we got started on the fateful match of Naruto vs Sasuke, and the wild moments that came with that. It's the showdown we've all been waiting for, and the general consensus seems to be that it didn't disappoint.

While this time we finish up this great battle, we also transition into the first of the massive stretch of filler, this time in the mysterious Land of Rice Paddies with the all-new Fuuma clan. Sasuke may have left, but Naruto and Sakura are determined to seek him out once again.

Let's get started!

Naruto’s been able to convince a lot of people to see his side of things, but in the end, he can’t persuade Sasuke to return. How does it feel to see Naruto fail at what he set out for, especially for something so important?

Kevin: For me, the more important point is actually the aftermath. Yes Naruto failed, and it was even at something extremely important to the main cast, but no one just moved past the mission. Shikamaru legitimately considered retiring from being a ninja, Sakura is realizing just how weak she is compared to everyone else. Even in Shippuden, several years and at least dozens of episodes later, Naruto keeping his promise to Sakura is one of the driving plot points for at least an arc.

Kara: I kind of suspected it. From a writing standpoint I like it: seeing Naruto’s friendship and determination fall flat sets some new stakes (and fortunately, it just makes him more determined). If he wants to be Hokage someday, he’s going to have to deal with all sorts of people and situations, and a lot of them are going to test his devotion to his own “Way of the Ninja.” From a fan standpoint, it’s sad; from a writer standpoint, it was a very good choice and is going to end up being very rewarding.

David: It would be unconvincing for him to eventually achieve his goal and not fail at points along the way; in that sense, this is one of the best ways to get that across. I think it’s also worth noting how Sasuke also “failed” by not killing Naruto like he believes Itachi would want him to do, though that situation is even more complicated so it’s arguable how similar those situations are.

Paul: I expected Naruto to fail to convince Sasuke, since his failure is necessary to the drama, but even so some part of me wanted to see him succeed. It feels tragic, in the classical Greek sense of the word.

Joseph: It was a really tragic ending to an awesome arc, but I love the way it paves the road for the future of the story. Like Kevin said, the aftermath and the bounceback make it all the more effective.

Jared: Sometimes you have to fail in order to succeed later on. If this was just Naruto being able to achieve whatever he wanted, that wouldn’t make for a good story. It makes me excited to see how he bounces back overall and how he learns from this.

Carolyn: Overall, I appreciate that Sasuke didn’t go back with him. I feel like him going back would be the obvious, expected route to take.

Danni: I don’t know. I kind of feel like he did win, in a sense. While he didn’t manage to bring him back, his fight with Sasuke affected Sasuke’s heart enough to have him reject Itachi’s way of finding power. Sasuke didn’t fall completely into the darkness, and that’s why Naruto will be able to win him back later, I imagine.

We go into the start of a massive stretch of filler after a truly dynamic fight. After such a high-stakes clash, is the tone of the filler too different? Or did you need a break after all the seriousness?

Kevin: Honestly, the break is pretty welcome. Sure, it gets significantly lighter a bit too quickly, but some levity is nice after “I intend to kill you to unlock greater power so that I can kill my brother, the person who murdered my entire family.” Sasuke versus Naruto was the emotional climax of Naruto, and keeping up the more serious atmosphere might’ve been possible, but the longer it went on the more exhausted the audience would get.

Kara: I’m so scared to say anything because I just looked at our viewing schedule and this filler goes on for approximately 87 years. I’ll say that at the time of this writing and speaking for right now, I’m okay with the filler. I reserve the right to become increasingly less okay with it as it goes on.

David: For now they’ve kept it close enough to the tone of the main story while also keeping things light, so I’m still enjoying myself. Ask me again in a few weeks.

Paul: Since I haven't read the original manga and I haven't seen the Naruto TV anime before, I didn't know we were entering a filler arc. In terms of pacing and content, the Land of Rice Paddies seems far superior to the Land of Tea. It may not be canonical, but there's lots of Ninjutsu weirdness and betrayal going on, and that feels like a natural extension of the main story-line rather than a digression.

Joseph: So far I am actually loving this first filler story. Land of Tea was rough, but I dig the character designs here and it’s just enough of a continuation of the story to matter to me, even if a lot of it is illusory.

Jared: I think you need to essentially have this kind of tonal change after an emotionally exhausting encounter like Naruto vs. Sasuke is. It helps too that the transition into this new arc wasn’t as rough as the Land of Tea one was.

Carolyn: I don’t mind the shift from serious to silly, but I can’t really get into the new people. I think after such a big arc featuring the main characters, we need some time with Naruto and Sakura just kinda chilling.

Danni: I like that Jiraiya seems poised to take Sakura under her wing as well now, but it doesn’t seem like she’s getting much actual development in spite of it. I’d really like to see that change.

Before this, Orochimaru’s schemes were more subtle, tending to be a mastermind behind large happenings. Here, we see that his manipulations also heavily affect the villages and land surrounding him. Is this a welcome change?

Kevin: I’d say it manages to be welcome and unwelcome at the same time. It’s welcome because it shows just how much influence Orochimaru really has. If he wants to, he can bend entire countries to his will. It’s unwelcome because by showing that he actually is causing that much change opens up plot holes like how the Leaf can’t find him, when entire clans work for him.

Kara: That’s actually a good point about plot holes. I hadn’t considered that at first. At the same time, I’m always interested to see more outside of our one or two standard settings, because this alternate ninja universe is so wild to me. Anything that lets us see a bit more of what’s going on, how these different situations affect people who aren’t directly involved, is pretty neat. It does give a feeling that All Roads Lead to Orochimaru, though.

David: “Countries” in this context seem extremely small, to the point Konoha is basically just one big city, so I don’t see it as too big an issue that Orochimaru could spread his influence and still be on the loose. He probably has a whole chain of underground tiled showers for every occasion.

Paul: Orochimaru feels more like the genuine article when his machinations warp the entire social and political structure of a small country. To me, Orochimaru will always be the “Dirtbag Jeff” of the Naruto universe, but seeing entire populations made miserable on his behalf at least makes him seem like a more capable villain.

Joseph: If only this land had some kind of police force! The fact that Orochimaru can run so rampant with so many powerful ninja around seems ridiculous when you think too hard about it, so it’s much more fun to just think of him as a standard big ol’ baddie and sit back and observe how sick his actions are in the way they affect others.

Jared: I don’t know if it’s necessarily a change or just more to the fact that villains who have a network like Orochimaru has, tend to be manipulative jerks who push people into awkward situations in order to appease them. Plus it’s a way to show off what he’s been doing outside of just sitting in his chair chatting with Kabuto.

Carolyn: Orochimaru has been shown to be incredibly manipulative. It doesn’t surprise me at all that he could operate on a large scale in plain sight. I actually like that narrative.

Danni: Yeah, like others said before, you’d think if he’s this well known for destabilizing ninja clans and starting new villages, no one would have been surprised when he showed up out of the blue.

The fillers this time focuses on the Fuuma clan, and their desire to restore their clan to glory. Do you sympathize with their plight? Why or why not?

Kevin: Maybe if we had a little more backstory about the clan showing them when they were prosperous and then their descent into criminal activity and then being tricked by Orochimaru, I would sympathize with them more, but they honestly just seem like pawns in a larger game and as a result are more of an afterthought as Naruto and Sakura try to find Sasuke.

Kara: New villages always take a little time for me to adjust to. We kind of throw all our chips in with Leaf, so when we come to new places, we get a sort of surface-level idea of what’s going on in the first few episodes elsewhere. Also I’m so hesitant to trust anyone or anything in this setting because you never know who’s wearing a mask, who’s a double/triple agent, who’s a resurrected corpse, who’s using substitution/disguise jutsu, etc. Having Sasame as our link to the greater story is a help, though. I like her, and (even counting her attempted double-cross) she seems very straightforward in what she wants to accomplish.

David: I totally agree with the sentiment that it would be easier to get into these kinds of stories if we knew more about the “before” of these families and lands. Hard to care too much about fighting for the status quo when we don’t really know what the status quo was.

Paul: I get where the Fuuma Clan are coming from, but I don't exactly sympathize. As Jiraiya of all people points out, in this world a ninja is “one who endures”, so even though the Fuuma Clan's power and influence may have dwindled, that's no reason for them to work for Orochimaru, who will indubitably only manipulate them, experiment on them, and then cast them aside when they are no longer useful.

Joseph: I didn’t really sympathize with their plight, but I did enjoy their character designs. They were much more interesting than any characters in the Land of Tea, especially Kagero, who I absolutely loved.

Jared: There’s probably a slight bit of sympathy towards them given that we know how Orochimaru can just be and put people into bad situations, although given how their plight is just kind of dumped on you, it doesn’t make you feel entirely sympathetic. Still, this is more of an investment than the Land of Tea arc gives.

Carolyn: As noted, I didn’t really get into their story, I think just the timing of it is off for me. But I do appreciate that Orochimaru has a lot of negative influence that could impact just about anyone who comes in contact with him. I understand where they’re coming from.

Danni: Not really? We know next to nothing about them or the land they served in. Literally all we know about them is Orochimaru messed with them a bit.

Sakura has been in the background for quite some time, and this arc is trying to push her into the forefront. How do you think this is being handled?

Kevin: So far, not very well. Yes, she understands better that she is weak compared to her teammates and that she may be bringing them down. Okay… GO DO SOMETHING. Instead of just sitting around thinking about how useless you are, actually go and learn new jutsu or train or just generally do something to be less useless!

Kara: Okay, just an aside, did Sakura’s face and tone when she said she was going to heal Sasame’s shoulder seem kinda creepy to anyone else? I don’t think it was deliberate, but I swear she looked more like she was going to take a bite out of Sasame’s neck for a second there. That aside, I appreciate what this arc is trying to do, but it’s taking its sweet time to do it. Sakura is smart. We were reminded of this over and over in the early episodes. She is extremely capable and has a good heart and all the other stuff she needs to now start doing things. I feel like right now her role is Person Who Told Naruto To Look After Sasuke and like. I wanna see a bit more than that.

David: What I mainly enjoy is that they are seeding her interest in medicine here. I hope they continue setting up future developments in small ways like that.

Paul: From what little I've seen of this arc, Sakura hasn't been treated very well. After she was left behind in the mission to retrieve Sasuke, I want to see Sakura take the same sort of bold, decisive, heroic actions that her male peers are allowed to pursue. That hasn't happened yet.

Joseph: I think it’s great that she’s being forced into more situations here, but the hilarious side effect is them illustrating just how disconnected she’s been. She’s all THIS IS JIRAIYA? And FROGS TALK? GROSS! Like, alright, hi, welcome back to class, Sakura.

Jared: It’s strange because it feels like the show just doesn’t know what to do with her as I thought we’d already been through Sakura having a moral dilemma of whether she thinks she’s capable or not. Granted, it’s not like she’s gotten to do much of anything in the last, what forty or so episodes? It’s like the show wants you to think she’s just been sitting at home dreaming about Sasuke since the end of the Chunin Exams and that’s it.

Carolyn: Honestly, I still feel like she is being given the short end of the stick. She’s saying she needs to be better like Naruto. To pull her own weight as if she is a failure. I feel like it’s more bad female character writing than Sakura’s established personality being at fault. She’s been proven to be one of the hardest workers in the series.

Danni: Quite poorly. Even when she saves Naruto it’s not really of her own doing. Someone else had to come in and say “Hey use this” for her to be able to do anything. It’s a real letdown, honestly.

Lastly, what are your highs and lows of this week’s batch of episodes?

Kevin: High - The end of Naruto versus Sasuke, specifically the look on Sasuke’s face. There are so many conflicting emotions with his character in that scene that I’m honestly amazed anything was able to capture how much he was going through. Low - The majority of Orochimaru’s hideout. Orochimaru himself was actually a pretty good scene, but the traps, psychological manipulation (did Naruto really never tell anyone that Sasuke used his Curse Mark, which would’ve informed Sakura that Kabuto really was lying?) and even some character actions (like Jiraiya sitting down and having a drink while on a mission) didn’t really seem to add up.

Kara: High point was predictably the end of Naruto vs. Sasuke, even with Sasuke’s weird glow-up and back-hands. I also love that this whole thing is a lot more intricate than just “Sasuke kill Naruto” — it doesn’t work without an acknowledgment of their friendship and that’s just so cool. Low point is Jiraiya back at it again takin’ money from kids and sleepin’ around. Although I will give a hand-wave/secondary high point to that scene in the alley where everyone literally drops because they realized they’re messing with the wrong dude.

David: My high is the entirety of episode 139, which had some of the tightest directing and animation I’ve seen from this show so far period. Really wasn’t expecting that out of some random set of filler episodes. My low point is all the weird ways the show kind of infantilizes Sasame when we first see her, but that luckily gets resolved relatively quickly.

Paul: My high point was the conclusion of the fight between Naruto and Sasuke, where after their ultimate techniques have collided and the resulting Chakra storm has dissipated, they exchange a sorrowful look, as if silently questioning how their lives have come to this point. My low point was when Kagero (disguised as Kabuto) re-enacts Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom on herself in an effort to stop Naruto's heart. That was super gross, and I'm still recovering mentally from all the bone stuff with Kimimaro.

Joseph: I actually have to also say that, beyond the obvious choice of the end of the real story (for now), episode 139 was a highlight. It had some of the best animation of this batch and some really good comedic smears, and I love trap-loaded hideout hijinks. The low point, I guess, would be the very start of the filler. I couldn’t tell what Jiraiya’s motivation was, and at first I thought he was just tricking Naruto and Sakura to distract them and take them somewhere away from the action. Which maybe he did? But Orochimaru is there? But it’s probably an illusion after all? I dunno, it seemed kind of awkwardly conveyed in general.

Jared: High point would definitely be the end of Naruto vs. Sasuke. Although I wouldn’t consider it a high point, the idea that Orochimaru’s hideout is this strange labyrinth of traps is probably funnier than it should be. Low point would be Jiraiya continuing to be a skeeving creep at times and also the general idea that I’m curious how this show is really going to handle having very dramatic moments moving forward. With us going into filler, all the main players kind of go into a holding pattern since we know nothing is going to happen to them. You certainly can’t tease that Naruto is going to die when it’s obvious he won’t. Maybe the rest of these episodes will surprise me, but I’m very curious about how they’ll handle this with all the filler.

Carolyn: My high and low point would be Shikamaru crying after being told his mission was a failure. Poor guy.

Danni: High point is easily the entire episode concluding the fight between Naruto and Sasuke. I got pretty emotional because of how well-executed it was. My low point would be the continuing casual misogyny of Shikamaru! Stop it, dude!!!

COUNTERS:

Ramen: 1 bowl Hokage: 0 Clones: 90 + 1 variable scene

Total so far: Bowls of Ramen: 45 bowls, 3 cups “I'm Gonna be Hokage!”: 52 Shadow Clones Created: 457

That's all for this week! Everyone's welcome to join us for this rewatch, doubly so if you haven't yet watched the original Naruto! Watch Naruto today!

CATCH UP ON THE REWATCH!

Episodes 127-133: Naruto vs Sasuke

Episodes 120-126: The Sand Siblings Return

Episodes 113-119: Operation Rescue Sasuke

Episodes 106-112: Sasuke Goes Rogue

Episodes 99-105: Trouble in the Land of Tea

Episodes 92-98: Clash of the Sannin

Episodes 85-91: A Life-Changing Decision

Episodes 78-84: The Fall of a Legend

Episodes 71-77: Sands of Sorrow

Episodes 64-70: Crashing the Chunin Exam

Episodes 57-63: Family Feud

Episodes 50-56: Rock Lee Rally

Episodes 43-49: The Gate

Episodes 36-42: Through the Woods

Episodes 29-35: Sakura Unleashed

Episodes 22-28: Chunin Exams Kickoff

Episodes 15-21: Leaving the Land of Waves

Episodes 8-14: Beginners' Battle

Episodes 1-7: I'm Gonna Be the Hokage!

Here's our upcoming schedule:

- On June 7th, DAVID LYNN will keep foraging into the land of fillers.

- On June 14th, PAUL CHAPMAN will continue on with our filler journey.

- On June 21st, KEVIN MATYI will push onward into what the fillers have to offer.

Thank you for joining us for the Great Crunchyroll Naruto Rewatch! See you next time!

Have any inquiries or thoughts on Episodes 134-140? Let us know in the comments!

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Noelle Ogawa is a contributor to Bubbleblabber and Cup of Moe. She can be found on Twitter @noelleogawa.

Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!

By: [email protected]

#Anime #News #Latest in Anime News by Crunchyroll!

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imintoanimerightnow · 8 years ago

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[Afterthoughts] Boruto, Episode 2: “The Hokage's Son!”

I watched the first episode of this series 3 times: once to view it, once to review it for tumblr, and again because I didn’t satisfied with my own first impressions.

I don’t hate Boruto.

I hate the fact that Naruto, a character I’ve truly grown to love, is not a great dad (for a lot of very good reasons) and Boruto is evidence of that.

Upon rewatching the first few episodes of the original Naruto series I suddenly remembered why I’d planned to drop the series within 11 minutes of watching: Naruto was annoying. He grew on me very quickly, but wow - even I can admit he had a lot going on in those early days.

It’s only natural that his kid would also have some bratty tendencies. In fact, after watching the first episode a few times, I decided that Boruto is actually quite mature and socially adept compared with his near-feral father at a similar age.

(I’m not totally sure how old Boruto is here. In the movie he looks smaller and younger, but that may be because he’s often drawn from the point of view of the adults)

With that out of the way-

The Actual Review

I’m genuinely enjoying this now. I was put off by Boruto’s attitude and the fact that many of his peers are just blatant Konoha 12/11/10 clones, but in viewing with an open mind, I can see the differences and appreciate the efforts to satisfy nostalgia for the Naruto fans but also bring in a newer, younger audience.

It is unclear whether these first episodes are canon or not - they don’t appear in the manga, but they certainly have been critical for character and relationship development. The characters of Denki and Iwabe Yuino don’t show up in the ending credits (but someone who we haven’t met, like Metal Lee, is featured) so I’m guessing they are filler characters.

In this episode, Boruto attempts to make friends during his first day of classes (with Shino as his home room teacher) at the now-reformed Ninja Academy. The students there now must complete actual academic classes in order to graduate instead of just learning how to kill people at an alarmingly young age. It looks like the kids of the Konoha 10 have been home trained well, as some of them have already shown their powers, and Boruto, in particular, can already create shadow clones, and use shuriken and kunai with proficiency that would have probably been Chunin level years ago when most kids in the village were being brought up to be ninja.

With the change in curriculum comes the change in graduation policies- meaning that there’s a guy in Boruto’s class with facial hair named Iwabe Yuino, and he’s got a bit of a chip on his should when it comes to the Hokage’s son. In fact, most of his classmates shun him, with some notable exceptions like Shikadai, who is taking on the wingman role in this anime very well. Honestly the kids have a point though: if Boruto and Denki (the kid with the terrifying chakra from Episode 1) weren’t the Hokage’s son and the son of the richest guy in town, yes, they’d likely be in jail for derailing a train with kids inside and then crashing the car into the side of a mountain.

Iwabe challenges Boruto to a fight, and if I’m not mistaken, it all goes down in the place where the prelims for the one on one Chunin Exams battles took place during the original Naruto series. The fight was good; it was nice to actually see some taijutsu, and watch people get excited about a wood substitution again and overall it was great to not see god-like moves pulled out at every turn.

In the end, Boruto is still very much like his father in many ways, and he uses some talk-no-jutsu to change the heart and mind of his foe while also winning over his classmates.

It is interesting to note how different he is from his father at this age though - Boruto grew up in a happy and loving home without a murderous tailed beast within him, so he’s a confident and relatively well-adjusted kid who hasn’t seen death or destruction or experienced any of the very deep feelings of being alone, an outcast, or a danger to anyone. He speaks at a normal volume and not every sentence is a proclamation about his greatness. In fact, like Sasuke, Boruto doesn’t bother to mention how good he is - he just shows it.

Asides:

Boruto’s hair design is ridiculous.

I am extremely worried about what will have to happen to create real conflict and strife in Boruto’s life by the time we get back to the opening scene of episode one. He looks like a teenager there, so I’m imagining whatever happens will happen fairly quickly, maybe during this arc or the next, and Boruto will go on his Sasuke-esque journey.

I love that Inojin has Ino’s catty forwardness with Sai’s unsettling honesty, and he has the good heart of them both. Aw.

I think this is the first time I’ve ever actually heard the word chakra explained in the Naruto universe.

I hope we see more of Saratobi-sensai (Konohamaru) soon!

The class rep girl who is clearly a filler character has a Hinata-esque crush on Boruto. It’s... something.

Next week: We meet Metal Lee! Hopefully, we’ll find out if he has a mom, or if Rock Lee just reproduces by budding. It also seems like he may be able to use ninjutsu? That’d be incredible if he had Rock Lee/Gai’s strength and motivation along with the ability to actually use his chakra.

#boruto review #boruto #naruto #anime #animereview #anime review

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recentanimenews · 6 years ago

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THE GREAT CRUNCHYROLL NARUTO REWATCH Gets Caught In A Sticky Web In Episodes 113-119

Welcome back to the Great Crunchyroll Naruto Rewatch! I'm Carolyn Burke, and I'll be your host this week as we make our way through all 220 episodes of the original Naruto. Last week, we covered Episodes 106 - 112, where we slogged through the conclusion the Land Of Tea arc and watched Sasuke abandon his team in favor of Orochimaru (boo, Sasuke, boo) even while Sakura poured her heart out to try to get him to change his mind and stay.

We continue our rewatch this week with Episodes 113 - 119 in which Naruto, Shikamaru, and the rest of the gang attempt to recover Sasuke from the clutches of evil while simultaneously further discovering each other's (and their own) individual jutsu and fighting styles, along with their uniquely important roles on the battlefield. And there's no better time for it, either. Because this go-around, these kids could very well be in the most danger they've ever had to face. Will they step up and survive, or crumble under the pressure?

We've got character development, spiders, and a stunningly fancy underground bathroom coming at ya this week! We'll dig into a few of our own introspective revelations and find out what each Crunchyroll Features team member brings to the table. We'll dig into our favorite jutsus, as well as singling out our favorite comedic Naruto moments.

Let's check in with the Crunchyroll Features team and see what they thought about this week's batch of episodes.

Shikamaru acknowledges that Choji thinks he is the weakest link. Others agree with this line of thinking, but Shikamaru seems to see Choji's worth. What do you think Shikamaru would see in you that your teammates might miss?

Paul: I'm 33% social anxiety, 33% depression, and 33% Impostor Syndrome, so I don't really know what Shikamaru would see in me that I don't already see in myself. If sent on an important ninja mission, such as rescuing Sasuke from the clutches of a gang of super-powered weirdos, my first response would probably be to hide in a ditch and let the Earth reclaim me.

Kevin: That I view myself as a pawn. As long as the leader has something for me to do, I will never give up and will follow any whatever order they give me, even if I don't necessarily understand the reasoning.

Joseph: That's a tough question. I guess he might see that I'm really stubborn and won't back down from something once I've committed to it, which means I'm really likely to end up like Choji whether it has to do with this fight in particular or snatching the last chip from the bottom of the bag.

David: That I'm most motivated and do my best work when given specific directives and goals.

Noelle: This is a little tricky to answer, to tell the truth. If I had to think about it, I like to think I have good analytical skills, and I am very determined when I put my mind to something.

Jared: I guess that I can be stubborn and not give up despite things looking bad, so that might work for him.

Kara: This is a very clever way to get writers to say something nice about themselves. Also probably why it's so hard for most of us! He'd probably notice that I will risk wasting my time to salvage at least a tiny victory from the jaws of defeat... though "defeat" in my line of work is a lot more to do with missing files than actual death.

Danni: This is literally the hardest question anyone has ever asked me.

Neji is stepping up and showing he can keep a calm head and strategize in the middle of danger. Shikamaru is definitely noticing and rewards Neji with a leadership position because of it. What do you think about the dynamics of the students, how they interact with each when the chips are down? Would you have made the same decision or would you have appointed someone else?

Paul: I appreciate how all of the members of rival teams from Hidden Leaf Village pull together during this crisis, and I'm glad that they accept Shikamaru's planning without a bunch of egos getting in the way. It was especially gratifying to see that Neji has internalized the lessons he learned from being defeated by Naruto during the Chunin Exams. If I were put in Shikamaru's leadership position, it would be Hide in a Ditch City, 24/7, 365, though.

Kevin: Honestly, I more think that Shikamaru appointed Neji as vice-leader because he was the obvious best choice. Both Naruto and Kiba are too hot-headed to think in tense situations, let alone lead, and Choji had already been left behind. As for the Genin interactions, I like that they are actually somewhat nuanced and call on each person's history with the others. Shikamaru has more inherent trust in Choji's abilities than anyone else, while Naruto believes in Neji because of their fight in the Chunin Exam.

Joseph: It seems obvious since Neji is considered a genius, but I really love the introspection that came about with each individual student in these episodes. For Neji, who we've mostly seen as someone who falls right into the genius role, he actually seems somewhat burdened by it. He's surprised that people see someone as average as him as a genius. I just thought that was interesting. Shikamaru made wise decisions all around.

David: It's an astute decision, and in combination with his choices and reasoning in the previous set of episodes, Shikamaru is finally proving there actually was something worth admiring in him. So much development all at once for these characters makes it kind of wash over me, but overall I'm enjoying how the show manages to wring these characters for all they're worth.

Noelle: It's a logical choice, and I think it makes a fair amount of sense. Neji has clearly learned from his mistakes, and has the ability to keep a cool head during a crisis situation. For kids as young as them, that's not an ability many people have. Being able to recognize that during a pinch was a solid call.

Jared: Neji makes the most sense to be the de facto second in command. He's supposed to be a genius and despite his loss to Naruto in the Chunin Exams, I don't think that's necessarily knocked that moniker away from him. Naruto has probably had more experience recently in circumstances like they're in, but his tactical prowess and ability to make calm and collected decisions is questionable at times which would knock him down a bit. So yeah, it was the right call to make.

Kara: This goes back to why I thought Shikamaru was a shoo-in for Chunin rank. Everyone's aware of each other's strengths and weaknesses, but Shikamaru doesn't have the baggage of ego or anything to prove to go with it. Considering I tend to be a lot more like Naruto when it comes to being fighty and having something to prove, I would probably not in the heat of the moment have made the same decision. And I would have been wrong.

Danni: I think Neji was the most obvious choice for the role. His ability to remain calm under pressure is pretty comparable to Shikamaru's, especially in the wake of the lessons he learned from fighting Naruto. I have a lot more respect for him now after that fight than before. Also, I'm glad Choji got some time in the spotlight finally.

Neji seemed to have some very close calls in this episode. Do you feel like stakes are being raised? Are these ninjas-in-training in more danger than when we first started watching? How do you think they're handling that?

Paul: I keep seeing pictures of most of the main cast as grown-ups in various social media posts related to Boruto, so I know that no matter how thickly they lay on the "this kid just died heroically for the sake of his friends" paint, none of them are actually in mortal danger. Plot armor aside, seeing Neji and Choji get beaten to within an inch of their life still evokes a strong emotional reaction from me. Aside from that, I think the show has done a good job amping up the drama.

Kevin: They're definitely in more danger than early on, simply by not expecting any backup and not having a Jonin around to save them. If they are outclassed, it's up to them to figure out how to not die. As for how they're handling it, in some ways I wish they were more frazzled. Everyone is just taking it in stride that they may die, and two of them have already finished their fights near death at best. Even if they've been on a bunch of missions before, this is the first time we've seen them as just Genin with a Chunin leader. Seeing a bit more psychological strain of realizing how high the stakes are would be a nice bit of realism.

Joseph: I kind of wish Choji and Neji's fights didn't end so similarly. Obviously, the emotions within were different, and Choji's was particularly poignant, but they both survived by the skin of their teeth and were more or less presumed dead in the same way.

David: It's weird, because I very much love how Choji's little arc was handled and felt like the emotion at the end was earned. On the other hand, Neji's is also good but it feels like the show is trying way too hard to convince us he might actually die here. It never feels like it would actually happen, at least this early with so much left unexplored, but the scenes where he's on the brink feel like they last forever. So, it's a mixed bag.

Noelle: As a kid, I was more concerned, but as an adult, I know the drill. Shows like these rarely commit to killing off their characters, and I remember Neji being decently popular at the time. It's too risky a move to kill people off. While I do think that comparatively, the stakes are absolutely being raised, with kids going out on a life-threatening mission, I know it's not going to end that badly. Bad, but not the worst possible outcome.

Jared: The stakes are much much higher for most of these characters since we haven't really seen them in this kind of danger before. Everyone outside of Naruto hasn't had to deal with these kinds of enemies yet within the context of what the show has presented us. So, it makes sense that even someone like Neji is struggling with a much tougher opponent compared to what he's used to. Although it was kind of odd how they seemed to structure both Choji and Neji's fights to be very similar with how they'd get the upper hand, their enemy would recapture momentum, here's a second form, and then both were spent by the end of it.

Kara: The stakes are higher for sure. But to revisit what Paul said, I'm not sure how I feel about the dramatic "death" scenes. Even if we didn't have Boruto now telling us who grows up and has kids and stuff, I don't think I like those scenes playing out only for a "just kidding" later. I love seeing the characters grow and realize what they value in what they think are their last moments, but now every time I see a sad death scene and hear that flute music I'm just gonna be like "Ah, it's fine, they'll wake up in the hospital."

Danni: Listen, it's a shonen anime. Is anyone really ever dead in a shonen anime?

Spiderwebs! We've seen some interesting jutsu on this show, but spiderwebs seems icky and sticky enough. What did you think of this scene? Has your favorite jutsu changed since we started rewatching the show?

Paul: As far as Ninjutsu go, "Literally Spider-Man" is pretty powerful. I'm not terribly arachnophobic, but between the sound effects and the visuals of Kidomaru spitting up his silk, I got pretty grossed out, although it made for a thrilling fight. My favorite Jutsu so far is still Kakashi's Sharingan-enhanced Jutsu copying skills.

Kevin: I'm not very arachnophobic, but throughout the first half of Neji's fight, I was continuously thinking "that's WAY too many spiders!" As for a favorite jutsu, if we're including all jutsu from all disciplines I really like he Eight Inner Gates. Something that theoretically everyone can obtain and which has an inherent progression system that lets you throttle the power. If we are restricted to ninjutsu, then probably the Shadow Clone jutsu because of all of the utility that we'll find out about later.

Joseph: Gosh, I can't even think of my favorite jutsu right now. There've been so many, but I guess I still prefer the earlier bugs to these bugs. I was kind of bored by the Neji fight, to be honest, and I didn't see the sudden appearance of a giant spider as much of a threat. I actually thought it might have just been an illusion at first.

David: I don't think anything can faze me after Shino's brand of bug jutsu, that's Peak Yikes.

Noelle: I love spiders! Spiders are cute! So no, there's no creep-out factor for me. I still think Gaara's sand is still a fave of mine though.

Jared: I'm so glad I'm not Neji when he had so many spiders raining down on him as I would've just noped the heck out of there immediately.

Kara: I thought the spiderwebs would be my biggest "Nope," but Kidomaru just horking up golden arrows like some sort of weird Mary Poppins carpetbag thing got me worse.

Danni: It's gotten weird. I honestly can't understand why that guy had six arms and the ability to secrete spiderwebs. That can't just be a chakra thing, right? Seriously, they're really glossing over the fact that guy somehow has six arms.

Shikamaru saying it would be dumb to rush into confrontation and being cut off by Naruto's "Hey jerk!" is completely hilarious. What are some other comedic beats you've been a fan of? Do you think putting these one-liners in the middle of intense scenes works? Or does it ruin the flow of a battle arc?

Paul: I'm still a fan of Naruto getting caught in a snare trap, freeing himself, then getting caught again immediately in another snare trap, and I suspect we haven't seen the last of the dreaded One Thousand Years of Death attack. The moments of levity (even in high-stakes situations) are nice because they give the audience breathing room. I personally don't want my shonen shows to be dark and depressing all of the time.

Kevin: Naruto including both funny and touching moments in the middle of tense situations is one of the parts of the franchise that I really like. The timing isn't always perfect, but it stops the show from staying too dark for long, or adding extra context to give weight to the situation. It becomes a problem when that weight takes an entire mini-arc in the middle of something much more important, but for one-liners or short flashback scenes, it's generally pretty effective.

Joseph: Naruto's comedy is at its best when it's mixed in with the action. When an entire episode relies on it, it totally falls flat, but I love moments like this. They're what makes Naruto Naruto! I wish I could remember more specific comedic beats throughout the series but I'm old and we're over 100 episodes in.

David: Comedy is important to keeping the tone of a show like this in check. It's especially important here exactly because of moments like the one mentioned; Naruto himself is a hothead and frequently bad at reading the room, but that part of his personality absolutely has to land for the big story beats to work, too. In that sense, I don't just like the jokes, but find them vital to the show's success.

Noelle: I think it works just fine. The issue with a lot of comedy in action scenes is that it detracts from the situation at hand, lowering the tension. Most of the time, that's usually not a good thing. In this case, you need comedy because the scenes are so serious- being overly serious hurts a show equally so. While the jokes can be hit or miss, that they exist I don't think is much of an issue.

Jared: It's interesting because moments like that absolutely work as this brief instance of comic relief, without it taking away from the seriousness of the situation. Sometimes the show can get a bit overboard when it's trying to do comedy for a whole episode and that doesn't work, but when it's utilized in situations like here where we know Naruto would totally do something like this, it can help as a nice little breather in between everything being super tense.

Kara: When it's good, it's very very good. When they go for a completely wacky episode/set of episodes it's A Lot, but when they sprinkle the humor in amidst the action it's just excellent. I'm still a fan of Naruto showing up triumphantly during the second stage of the Chunin Exam forgetting the password just as predicted. More recently, I love the little song he sings as he swoops over Tayuya's head in this last set of episodes.

Danni: If nothing else, it's a clear and concise summary of his entire character. I can 100% believe someone who shouts "Hey jerk!" in that situation is also someone who makes a diversion attack only to completely negate the purpose of the diversion by shouting "Above you!" before attacking from above. Also, my favorite comedic beat is still Sasuke finding out Itachi is back because some grunt runs into the room shouting about Itachi. It probably wasn't supposed to be funny, but it still makes me laugh.

And, of course, what were your high and low points for the week?

Paul: My high point was Akimichi Choji stomping a mudhole in Jirobo, because Choji's my favorite supporting lad and this is his first real moment in the spotlight. My low point was Orochimaru's arms going fully necrotic. They really leaned into the body horror elements in these episodes. I'm not super squeamish, but I wasn't mentally prepared for that.

Kevin: High - Choji's fight. As the fat kid who was never picked first for any sport (and only not picked last because I would literally stand in front of someone running at me to stop them), Choji's entire backstory and moment of triumph really struck a chord with me, both when I was a kid and even now. Low - The start of Tayuya and Shikamaru's fight. Naruto, don't just stand there, run away so she can't stop you! Shikamaru, why did you wait so long to try to Shadow Possess Tayuya? Tayuya, why did you take so long to react to literally everything that happened in that moment? I'm sure that it was just a quick cutaway in the manga, but if it was it didn't translate to animation well.

Joseph: High: I really enjoyed Choji's fight, and the end to it--regardless of how permanent it really ends up being--was beautiful. Low: My dude Orochimaru is living in a series of interconnected caves. Forget the ninja closed-circuit TV, I'm more baffled by the fact that he had someone come in and grout and tile a custom shower for his bony ass.

David: Agreed on Choji's fight being the best part this week. Similarly, though, my low point was the Neji fight in general, because it felt like the same sort of fight but with a lot less punch.

Noelle: High point: Choji getting some screentime and owning it. He needed his time in the limelight. Low point: I'm enjoying the Neji fight a lot less than I used to, which is a shame.

Jared: My high point would probably be like everyone else so far in seeing Choji finally get his moment to shine. Orochimaru's lavish underground bunker was hilarious given how furnished it looked with a very nice bathroom, a technologically sound lab, and then a random prison in there as well. Low point might be just how the Neji fight was a bit too similar to the Choji fight in terms of structure which led it to not feel as impactful.

Kara: Ordering the same as everyone else at this table. Choji's fight was intense and definitely the high point of the week. It was cool seeing what he could do beyond Fat Kid from Hook no Jutsu. Low point is just knowing how weird it's gonna feel watching any dramatic alleged death scene going forward and wondering if they're just gonna be fine in five minutes.

Danni: High point is a tie between Choji's final punch and Neji showing off he has the coolest fighting style in the entire show. There wasn't really a singular low point for me, just a feeling of sluggishness in every episode that dragged down this whole batch of episodes for me. They just felt too slow.

COUNTERS:

Bowls of Ramen: 0 bowls

“I'm Gonna be Hokage!”: 0

Shadow Clones Created: 9 + 1 uncountable scene

Total so far:

Bowls of Ramen: 42 bowls, 3 cups

“I'm Gonna be Hokage!”: 52

Shadow Clones Created: 352

And that's everything for this week! Remember that you're always welcome to join us for this rewatch, especially if you haven't watched the original Naruto! Watch Naruto today!

Here's our upcoming schedule:

- May 17th, we'll visit the Valley of the End with JARED CLEMONS.

- May 24th, NICOLE MEJIAS plays referee for Naruto vs. Sasuke, Round 2!

-May 31st, NOELLE OGAWA will start us off on a journey back into the land of filler.

CATCH UP ON THE REWATCH!

Episodes 106-112: Sasuke Goes Rogue

Episodes 99-105: Trouble in the Land of Tea

Episodes 92-98: Clash of the Sannin

Episodes 85-91: A Life-Changing Decision

Episodes 78-84: The Fall of a Legend

Episodes 71-77: Sands of Sorrow

Episodes 64-70: Crashing the Chunin Exam

Episodes 57-63: Family Feud

Episodes 50-56: Rock Lee Rally

Episodes 43-49: The Gate

Episodes 36-42: Through the Woods

Episodes 29-35: Sakura Unleashed

Episodes 22-28: Chunin Exams Kickoff

Episodes 15-21: Leaving the Land of Waves

Episodes 8-14: Beginners' Battle

Episodes 1-7: I'm Gonna Be the Hokage!

Thank you for joining us for the Great Crunchyroll Naruto Rewatch! Have a great weekend, and we'll see you all next time!

Have anything to say about our thoughts on Episodes 113-119? Let us know in the comments! Don't forget, we're also accepting questions and comments for next week, so don't be shy and feel free to ask away!

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Carolyn Burke also writes for Bunny Ears and Cracked. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram.

Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!

By: [email protected]

#Anime #News #Latest in Anime News by Crunchyroll!

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