#it has its filler episodes but the dramatic ones

[thelowcalcalzonezone]

watched tangled on friday with my roommate and it made think about the sheer lore of the series. like damn they didn't have to go that hard but they DID.

also i'm desperate to share the show with them but it's too late they started watching outlander 😔

[physalian]

On Tournament Arcs (I want more of these in lit)

The “tournament arc” is a staple of shonen anime. I’d find it very hard to believe anyone on here hasn’t at least seen gifs of it so here’s a quick breakdown: Your core cast of characters + extras and new adversaries are all thrown together in a tournament competing for anything from the low stakes of cash or bragging rights to who lives and who dies by the hand of the nefarious god throwing the tournament.

These are extremely popular for a few reasons:

They’re fodder for a ton of episodes without a whole lot of complicated story—the story is baked into the different rounds of combat

There’s a chance for a lot of different intense character interaction that might not normally happen pitting two random names against each other

They can sometimes artificially raise the stakes—in isolation, winning the Round of 16 in a series about saving the world doesn’t mean anything, but winning any one game might give the heroes the chance to stay alive just one more day

I just rewatched the first tournament arc of My Hero Academia a few days ago (the first sports festival) and man, I do miss when this show was good.

So! While tournament arcs aren’t exclusive to shows with super powers or magical abilities like Naruto—they’re baked into a sports anime—today’s essay is all about the efficiency and shake-ups that MHA pulled off, since its pacing is something you could realistically cram into a written novel, and, well, I like this one.

Disclaimer: This show is incredibly manipulative, in a good way (at least in earlier seasons it was in a good way). Elements are way more dramatic than they should be due to the music, the animation, and the pacing, but you’re having fun right along with the characters at the edge of your seat. The excitement isn’t manufactured, you’re hyped right along with the people in the stands. This isn’t very translatable to page, unfortunately.

Second disclaimer: I DNFed this show midway through an episode in season 5 and never went back. It got so bad I literally turned it off in both disgust and sheer boredom. I am not an MHA superfan.

—

Pacing:

For a shonen anime, this first tournament arc is brutally efficient. Take a show like Naruto or DBZ, shows known for their filler, and their tournament arcs for any given season will last 50 episodes or more. MHA’s is 11 episodes, 12 if you want to include the setup in episode 1. In that time, there’s three unique stages of combat and an entire three-tiered 1v1 tournament within the tournament.

Some fights last two episodes, some last about 30 seconds, but none are too drawn out, or too rushed, based on who’s fighting and what their powers are.

Example: Todoroki kind of has “instakill” powers (or at least he does in this arc, he forgets about it 6 episodes later) and if he’s up against anyone who doesn’t have the specific kind of powers that can counteract his, the fight’s decided pretty much instantly, like when he’s up against quasi-Spiderman Sero, and manifests a whole glacier from teenage angst. When he is up against somebody who he can’t freeze immediately, well, that’s where the drama comes from. This is his arc, after all.

Character fodder:

Not only that, but it’s not 11 straight episodes of 1v1. The first leg of combat is an obstacle race, the second is a “cavalry battle” with teams, and the last, the majority, is 1v1. These different challenges require the core characters to think different ways, and as the number of competitors thin dramatically, different side characters get the chance to shine at different points in the arc as more and more are disqualified.

But the way that this arc is written leaves even some core characters in the protagonist class on the outs pretty quickly, even those who make it to the final round, usually due to bad matchups. Characters who had excelled either in power, physical ability, or intelligence just aren’t suited to face whoever they’re up against and it shocks them as much as it does the audience. Even when it forces them to get creative—and that is one thing I loved about this show in its early years, how smart some characters had to be with their niche powers to compete with the natural born powerhouses.

A surprising standout fight was Bakugo vs Uraraka, where nearly every single person in the stands, including the teachers, all professional heroes, were like “dude you can’t hit a girl, you can explode shit with your hands, she’s only got anti gravity” and Bakugo did not give a single fuck about what’s in Uraraka’s pants. It shows that he’s smart, and that he’s a dick, but he has a shit ton of respect for other people’s power and determination when they have as much as he does. Only one other character, their personal teacher, Aizawa, notices: To go easy on her would be a far greater insult than to treat her like an equal challenger.

She lost, in a heartbreaking defeat, but she absolutely made him work for it. It did so much for his character, this whole arc did, but more on that later.

Audience expectations:

But the big reason this arc worked so well was how it subverted expectations. Midoriya is (or used to be) the show’s protagonist. In this arc, he’s got two real main adversaries in his way to gold: Bakugo, a kid with extremely impressive raw talent that he’s honed with a dangerous perfectionist streak, and Todoroki, who wants to win by half-assing it to piss off his abusive hero dad. Both of these two are far more competent with their powers while Midoriya still has the training wheels on his.

Usually, in these types of shows, if the hero doesn’t win, he comes in a very close second in the big dramatic final showdown. It’s part of his arc to be not quite ready yet. But usually, he wins, and the character he’d beaten to a pulp learns some humility and joins the hero squad in the next arc out of respect to their better.

MHA doesn’t do that. Midoriya never faces Bakugo in the 1v1 and he faces Todoroki in the semis, not the finals, and he loses.

The big fight of the tournament is Midoriya vs Todoroki. I used to hear it compared to Rock Lee vs Gaara (which I actually have seen despite not liking Naruto) and it’s… not, if only because it’s missing about 300 episodes of buildup and drama between these two.

But the fight isn’t just a fistfight. Midoriya wants to win, yes, but he’s a hero, first, and he wants to save his friend in the true shonen way of punching friendship into his enemies. Their fight plus the buildup takes two episodes, littered with Todoroki’s PTSD flashbacks (to a gorgeous score) that basically boils down to:

Todoroki: Wah I hate my powers, fuck my dad, I’m gonna half-ass this out of spite and my raw power is enough to win

Midoriya: Fuck you dude, if you want to beat me, you have to give it your all, and it’s not his powers. You may have inherited them, but it’s your power.

Well, Midoriya gets what he asked for, and Todoroki does not at all hold back.

And that’s the semifinal.

With Midoriya out, there’s still the rest of the semis and the final round. This does not happen.

So why did it happen? Because our hero isn’t ready yet. He’s so new with his powers, so inexperienced in combat, that so far he’s skated by on his smarts and his sheer raw ability the few times he’s able to let it out like releasing a pressure valve, seriously injuring himself in the process. Against kids who’ve been training their whole lives, being smart only got him so far.

It was the perfect path for his character, one we’ve only known for maybe 30 episodes in total at this point in the show. If he won or even just barely lost, that would have left so much less room for growth in later tournaments. He’s hella OP, but he’s not at all a Mary Sue, and his greatest strength—his heart—is what cost him the win. In the end, he lost the medal, but he won a friend.

And then the final round comes.

Bakugo vs Todoroki, the two most well-rounded kids in the class (in their whole grade level probably), after Bakugo opens the entire tournament with “I pledge that I’m going to win”.

Thing is, with Bakugo, he’s an asshole, but he’s an asshole who continuously puts his money where his mouth is. He’s never blowing smoke. If he says he’s going to do something, by god, he will do it.

So the final round comes and Bakugo tells Todoroki that he wants to win fair and square, that Todoroki'd better not hold back, he’d better give it his all, because going easy on Bakugo would be giving him the win, and he ain’t no charity case.

That… does not happen. One does not overcome a lifetime of childhood trauma by the Power of Friendship and one speech in this show. Todoroki botches it, gets his ass handed to him, and Bakugo wins the tournament, and he is pissed.

Character Arcs:

I already talked about Midoriya above and won’t repeat myself, but like I said above, tournament arcs are a fantastic way to do many things at once, which is crucial to pacing. It won’t feel stale, no matter how long or repetitive it is, so long as the characters are still developing within that repetition. This was about showing off their powers, yes, but the pressure to perform and get their names out their in a highly saturated, cynical heroism market of capitalism is a lot for 15 year old kids.

Some are out there to make money, being a hero to their families. Some are out there to be the best. Some are out there to be the friendly neighborhood super kid. Since all but one character must lose, everybody but Bakugo failed in some way, big or small, to make the impact they wanted on tournament day. And Bakugo, though he won, feels like he still failed because he won basically by default.

Since it’s set so early in the show, one would think that it would be a fantastic foundation for where all the core characters see themselves and where they go from here. If you’re writing this into a novel and you don’t have a million characters that don’t matter, it’s a brutally efficient way to establish the major players in high-octane fashion.

I’mma gush about Bakugo for a second now: He and Todoroki are two sides of the same coin in this arc. Both are plagued by expectations because of their powers, and both suffer because of it. Todoroki’s been beaten like a dog by his dad to hone his fire and ice powers to one day usurp the number one hero.

Bakugo, though, Bakugo is “the gifted kid” who suddenly entered a world where the gap between him and everyone inferior to him is a lot smaller. He has incredible power, which has always gotten him high expectations and little margin for fucking up and looking weak—cause if you’ve got the ability to make explosions with your hands, you have to be the best all day every day. There is no falling off the wagon, there are no sick days, there is no flab or fat or cheat days.

All of this is an undercurrent in this arc. He has such high expectations for himself, such high expectations thrown on him by hero society, such critical views of his attitude and his powers—he was literally called a villain when he fought Uraraka and didn’t treat her like a “frail” little girl—that when he wins because Todoroki throws the fight, it’s the biggest insult anyone could do to him.

Nobody else cares, but Bakugo cares. In his desperate quest to always be the best or else, winning by default doesn’t prove anything to him. He doesn’t want the medal, he doesn’t want this victory by his name, he doesn’t want anything except a rematch that truly challenges him. And mad respect to this kid for it.

—

Some things to consider for your tournament arc should you choose to write one

Every character should have their own separate goals and reasons for winning, beyond simply “winning”. Why do they want to win, or what will happen to them, internally or externally, if they lose?

Would it be better for your hero to win right now, or lose so they have room to grow? Who else loses and how? Are they disqualified, do they cheat, is it a devastating defeat or a photo finish?

What do these people do to themselves in their desperation to win? Do they hurt themselves, go past their physical limit? Do they bully themselves and pick their faults apart? Are they completely different people when they’re under this kind of pressure? Who’s overconfident? Who’s exactly as competent as they say they are?

What are the best matchups, not for spectacle, but for character development? In the written medium, character work absolutely comes before how pretty it might look one day on the silver screen, and that’s what will hold audience attention long after the arc is over and done with. That’s what will have people coming back to reread over and over again.

Remember: The tournament is never just about the combat, it’s about the combatants.

[star3synth]

the pokemon sun and moon anime: why it’s actually good and how the pokemon fandom is wrong about it

aka me analyzing (and defending!) an anime i really like purely because i can

so. the pokemon sun and moon anime. according to a large majority of the pokemon fandom, it absolutely sucks. most of the fandom completely ignores its existence at best or just spends way too much time complaining about it at worst. aside from pokemon journeys (which also doesn’t deserve the amount of hate it gets but that is a topic for another time), the sun and moon anime is probably the most widely hated portion of the entire pokemon anime series.

…..well according to me it’s actually good and worth watching, and i’m tired of people dismissing it without actually giving it a chance!

so first of all, why is it hated on so much?

one of the main reasons that people tend to hate on it is the anime’s art style. the sun and moon anime’s art style is drastically (like dramatically) different from the xy/xyz anime, so much so that it is a bit shocking and jarring going from watching that anime to this one. to be fair most of the series has stylistic changes in between regions, but this change in artstyle is huge compared to stylistic changes that were made in the past with this media. the characters are drawn and animated in an entirely different fashion than in previous region series, and the style is a lot more simplistic. people tend to just see the artstyle, hate it, and then proceed to complain about it without watching the anime at all.

i was one of those fans at first when this anime initially came out. it came out around when i was in middle school. having watched a good portion of the xy anime previously, i was pretty dang mad when i saw how the sun and moon anime looked and proceeded to ignore it entirely. fastforward a few years later and i see that’s it’s finished and out on netflix, and i randomly decide to watch it and give it a chance because i had a lot of free time on my hands. upon doing so i was amazed at how much i liked it, astounded by the quality of the story, and internally going “how did i miss this what”

concerning the artstyle, it is a big change like i previously mentioned. however, i think that most* of the characters are animated very well, and i like the artstyle (*the one exception to this opinion is ash. i do think he does look a bit weird in this artstyle). one of the things i think that this anime is very good at is expressions, and all of the characters have very varied and funny emotional expressions. there are multiple moments that i saw that i personally thought were beautifully drawn and it was clear that a lot of effort was put in. i think that the style really shows a large range of what these characters are like and how they act, and i personally think that is really cool.

some other reasons i think that people tend to hate on this anime: the change in structure and pacing, and the (admittedly small to me) change in humor/ maturity level. compared to the other main pokemon series, the structure of this anime is entirely different than the previous ones because there are no pokemon gyms in the alola region, and the league is not developed until much later on. ash instead focuses on attending the pokemon school and completing the island challenge, which results in a much looser structure than previous series and a lot more “filler” episodes. additionally, although the pokemon anime as a whole has always been aimed at children, there is a change in maturity level between the xy anime and this one. while ash and his friends still have their silly moments in the xy/ xyz anime, that anime as a whole is a bit more serious than the sm anime, with ash acting a bit more mature in that series. the sun and moon anime as a whole is a bit less mature and focuses more on humor than the xy series.

while how the structure thing is interpreted is often up to personal preference, i can see how people dislike it. personally, i think it is a refreshing and needed change of pace compared to other anime in this series. to me, the “go to eight gyms, defeat the leaders, and challenge the pokemon league” structure got pretty old pretty quickly, and i personally felt that by the time the xy/ xyz anime rolled around, that structure was getting boring and super predictable. it felt nice to not have that happen for once. additionally, the so called “filler” episodes offer a lot of insight into each character and their motives and still sometimes advance the plot in some way, with some of my favorite episodes in the series being considered filler.

the change in maturity level is not all that palpable to me. again, the pokemon anime has always been aimed at ten year olds. the xy anime still had its goofy silly moments just like other series, but there still is a change between the two. personally, i liked how the sun and moon anime was a bit more silly than previous pokemon series.

are critisms of these previously mentioned topics valid? yep! all media is interpreted differently from person to person, and everyone has their likes and dislikes.

however, my issue is that most pokemon fans refuse to even watch it and give the anime a chance before hating on it. most of the critism i see of it online doesn’t go any deeper than “well i think that the art style sucks!” when this anime has so many good things to offer.

so here are some of the things that i like about the sun and moon anime that have absolutely nothing to do with the art style, structure, or tone of it!

the anime has really good characterization. i would argue that nearly all of the main characters that get decent screentime, including ash, are multidimensional in personality and flaws, which is something that is not super common in anime sometimes. i would also argue that each character (besides the random side characters that only show up for one or a few episodes) undergoes some kind of character development, and i really like how that is handled throughout the series.

it also handles complex and hard to talk about topics really well, and talks about them in a way that a younger audience can easily understand. for example, lillie’s story of how she is afraid of touching pokemon and how she overcomes it and later finds out that it is due to a traumatizing incident that happened with a pokemon when she was younger felt like a realistic depiction of fear, traumatic experiences, and how hard people have to work to overcome their fears. this is done in a way that children can understand and digest really well without going too much into detail. (i don’t have experience with majorly traumatic events. this is my perception of it and i could be wrong.) there are also multiple episodes that talk about death and grief in a both symbolic and literal way, communicating the lessons of those stories in a way that would be clear and appropriate to their target audience. in one of those episodes a pokemon dies, and it is not communicated directly/explicitly for very obvious reasons, but the depiction of it on an implied/ symbolic level felt very thoughtful and it was interesting to me how the story was told (it still hurt me emotionally though….that ep had a lasting impact for sure). most animes aimed at a younger audience do not touch on topics such as these, and i think this anime does it particularly well.

the found family dynamics present are amazing. ash and his friends feel like a very close-knit group as the series goes on, and their dynamics are really done well in my opinion. ash’s pokemon team really does interact almost like a family, and it’s really cute in my opinion. and i didn’t forget ash, kukui, and burnet! it really becomes clear how much those three care about each other, they really do feel like a family of their own, and i just. god i love them and their dynamic so much aaaaa

ash WINS THE POKEMON LEAGUE IN THIS SERIES!!! like full on wins the whole thing!! he really deserved it after all this time!! the league also felt a lot more interesting to me this time around, with most of the major battles being well thought out and having interesting dynamics between characters. and ash coming out on top as the victor felt like an achievement that was a loooooooong time coming! (in my opinion he should’ve won the kalos league as well but whatever—)

the team rocket antics that we get in this series are top notch. the three of them literally live with a bewear and stufful (with the bewear capturing them after every single battle with the main characters) and open a malasada food truck and interfere in almost every competition event in the entire series. they also manage to watch ash during every single league battle he has in this series while *insisting* that they’re only there for work reasons and still being super happy when ash manages to win (personally i think that this is adorable). they get so much screentime compared to other series and personally? i’m here for it. i love them. they also almost manage to actually defeat ash in battle! they get so close and i was honestly a bit proud of them. james and jessie’s pokemon also have really interesting personalities and are adorable. as a whole i feel like the TR trio are just so much fun in this series while still having very few serious moments and personally i think that’s fun.

kukui and burnet are literally the cutest couple i have ever seen. i don’t usually like straight ships in media. they are the exception!! the episode where they get married almost made me die of cuteness and was so sweet!! and after they get married and the series goes on, it is so clear how much they love each other, both platonically and romantically. they win the award for most wholesome couple i swear.

team skull was also super interesting. admittedly, they didn’t show up all that often, and their interactions with the main characters were pretty short sometimes. i think guzma’s characterization was really interesting and well done. we also get glimpses of team skull in multiple episodes that emphasize their complexity and show that they are human like ash and his friends and that despite being “the bad guys”, they have their own desires too and also care about their pokemon.

ash’s pokemon also have really interesting developments and paths they take in order to become strong. litten’s and rockruff’s development are particularly good and compelling examples of this. his pokemon also have personalities that are really distinct from each other. (rowlet was my personal favorite of the bunch. it’s so cute and great.) additionally, there are multiple moments where it is emphasized that ash likes and accepts his pokemon exactly the way they are (🥺😭)

so in conclusion, i really like this anime. a lot. it has a lot of good qualities that make it worthwhile, and i think that the majority of the pokemon fandom tends to wrongly dismiss it on first glance without actually seeing what it has to offer. you don’t have to, but i would be glad if you watched it :)

*side note: i mentioned multiple times that the pokemon anime has children as its target audience. this is just simply me stating a fact. i am not meaning to imply, in any way shape or form, that it is purely just for kids and that teens and adults are wrong for enjoying it. anyone is welcome to enjoy the pokemon franchise! heck, i am 19 and am obsessed with the games and anime! i thought that mentioning the target audience was a pretty important thing to do while talking about this anime, and offending anyone with mentions of that is not my intent. i also do mention the xy/xyz anime multiple times and compare it to the sun and moon series. i do this because it is logical to compare these two series to each other since xy/xyz came shortly before sm, but it is not meant as a jab or insult to the xy anime. i also think that the xy anime is cool too i promise.*

(also if i see one more critism of this anime that is just “well the art style is bad and i hate it!” i WILL throw something out a window /hj /lh)

[10underoot2]

I finally rewatched Queen of Tears Episode 16.

Its given me a lot of clarity on why I didn't like it all that much. The episode feels very filler like, reiterating what I already know, no development nothing to draw me in. So here's a list of thing I really like vs things I had beef with: 

The Good:

- Hyunwoo's understanding of what marriage is is very profound and beautiful. Really appreciate that bit.

- The employees in this corporate sector have been 10/10 throughout. I cannot with how much I love them to bits. Still not over 'I just want to see the rich argue' 😭😂

- Yangi's bond with Hyunwoo is absolutely 10/10 

- I like Haein trying to find the reason of their divorce. It's important for her cause why did two people who love each other want to divorce each other. But again I hate how this wasn't a main cause of comcern around epsidoe 7. Like don't brush over it fam. Don't you wanna know why the man you love and who loved you to bits wanted to divorce you?

- Those last 7-8 mins. Though I wish I had more of them. I needed a linear passing of time. Something like the Germany Montage at the start would've been perfect. But at the very end just 'Way home' playing, Hyunwoo seeing Haein as an angel to pick him up, the familiar happiness and love just spreading around them was beautiful to witness. Really got me teary eyed both times I watched it. 

The Bad: 

- I'm not even getting into the uselessness and bad execution of the whole Yoon Eun Sung plot line since episode 14. 

- Still have no idea why Mol Soo Hee she wanted Suwan dead? Like there's no rationale? Why not kill Hae-in or SeoCheol in all those 20 years as well? It makes no sense to me.

- the episode felt so unnecessarily dramatic. I get it he got shot and was in a car accident but I was so sure he'd be okay? Did not understand or appreciate the over dramaticness also those Yangi shots in that sequence were a little tooo dramatic for me

- I don't like Haein getting back her memories cause they said the hippocampus would be destroyed. It's my fault for looking for logic in the first place but can we please stick to what we established writernim. Also wasn't this the whole problem that she's not getting back ANY memories EVER?!

- The scene between the mothers at this point was also unnecessary. We could've gotten to this realization back in the episode this was brought up the first time. She knew the location and date I don't see how reviewing her album was the light bulb moment.

- I feel super bad for this one but for me even Hae-in's bedside speech, once Hyunwoo woke up, lacked sincerity. As much as she might realize she loves him. He's still a stranger. Who does she miss? Her husband who's love she has no recollection of? The man she loved but she has no idea how she loved him? Take out the loss of memories and it would've hit me like a truck. Like she's not even holding his hand as she waits cause she recently met him. What am supposed to cry over here? What could've been? The pre ep 15 Baekhong I dearly misssed at this point?

- More on the Hyunwoo hospital scene. When he says 'I had forgotten' As sweet as it is I already knew all of it. It was so ill placed I didn't have to see it here.  Also like what does she care? She doesn't remember if you forgot or not in the first place 💀

- The Yangi x Haeina acene in the hospital - what notebook are we talking about? Did I miss something? Did I fall asleep somewhere like what?! Also I feally do like Yangi but I thought all of the scenes with him were kinda forced this episode.

- The conversations where Haein tells Hyunwoo he's perfect. Is it just me or is Haein extremely expressive after the surgery? I can never imagine Haein telling Hyunwoo that he's perfect even if she think so. It was a little off putting for me being introduced to this new character in the last episode. I miss my inexpressible power girl.

- Just the voice over off what happened with Mol Soo Hee would've sufficed but I guess we had to see that SNU degree in action. 

- The turn in Da hye's emotion - as sweet as it was also felt forced. They just showed me earlier she didn't care for him and bullied him. Now you want me to belive she mistook her feeling okay sureeee 🙃

- This is what meant by killing the temperment. They start Hyunwoo's monolougue 'We forgave those who we used to resent and then we cut to this long scene of Aunt Beom ja. Then we have Hyunwoo, then we have his brother's scene. The editing was off here. I wish we had a monologue of just them. It all threw me off so much.

And here's why a sequence of Baekhong was so necessary cause remember the first episode we instantly fall in love and get curious because of that lovely montage of BaekHong Germany scenes. 

All in all good ending, horrible last two epsiode. Kinda left a bad taste in my mouth. It makes me long so much for the show I saw and fell in love with before. I have never felt this way about a last episode, I think I just expected better from this show. 

[inkblackorchid]

Hi! How do you feel about the Crashtown mini-arc?

Ahhh, Crashtown. Honestly, I’m extremely in two minds about the arc. See, here’s the thing. When I watch it, it’s a great deal of fun. It’s a very self-contained little story that has all the necessary setup and payoff built into itself, and the cowboy aesthetics in Crashtown’s unique setting, while technically still being part of 5Ds’ largely futuristic canon, are absolutely hilarious. Not to speak of the excellent dramatics, what with Kiryu being in his depressed bitch era and needing the Power of Friendship to remember why it’s nice to be alive. So, in isolation, I find Crashtown very funny and its self-contained story compelling.

However, sometimes, I get a little frustrated knowing how many episodes this arc takes up, because where the larger narrative is concerned, Crashtown accomplishes… Well, nothing, unfortunately. It doesn’t interact with the main plot in any way, doesn’t develop Yusei’s character in a particular way (because we already knew he’s a special kind of loyal-as-a-dog-devoted when it comes to Kiryu; if anything, Crashtown only shows us that he’s also a little more gullible than usual when Kiryu gets brought up), and while it does give Kiryu meaningful character progression, he’s sadly never relevant again after this point in the show (literally the only two times he shows up after this point is during the flashback of everyone cheering Yusei on during his duel with Z-ONE and in the epilogue as he loses to Jack). Worse yet, the whole arc begs the question of why only Kiryu and no other dark signer got this kind of tying-up-loose-ends treatment. (The answer, I believe, is that he’s specifically the dark signer who has the strongest ties to Yusei in particular, which awards him special treatment. That does nothing to justify why Carly, who I’d go as far as saying is at least equally important to Jack as Kiryu is to Yusei, doesn’t get anything like this, though, and is instead sidelined because she has amnesia. You know. Amnesia. Everyone’s favourite trope. Which Kiryu, curiously, also doesn’t have.) And considering how often I lament about the things I wish 5Ds canon had spent more time on, I don’t think it comes as a surprise that it leaves a slight, bitter aftertaste in my mouth that an arc like Crashtown that adds nothing to the larger plot or any character other than Kiryu gets so many episodes while many things I wish the show had addressed don’t get a single one.

So, Crashtown’s kind of a mixed bag for me. I think the best way to sum it up would be this: If you handed me the reins for a full 5Ds rewrite, one of two things would happen. Either the show would gain another twenty or so episodes where I’d try to give all the other dark signers similar treatment as Kiryu in Crashtown, developing both them and the main cast members they interact with more (and also try to make them at least show up one more time before the Ark Cradle arc, even if only to cheer Team 5Ds on during the WRGP), or Crashtown would be left on the cutting room floor entirely, because if the only way to improve the main cast and plot were to find time for all the necessary adjustments within the exact same episode count we already have, Crashtown (and all of the pre-WRGP arc’s pure filler episodes) would be the first thing to go.

Don’t get me wrong, the yeehaw arc has excellent aesthetics, excellent dramatics, and is great fun every time I rewatch it, so I don’t fault anyone for loving it to bits, I absolutely get it. My inner overanalyst/canon rewriter just can’t unsee how many episodes it took up that were desperately needed for other stuff sometimes.

[jeremy-ken-anderson]

Ranma Remake

So far I have just one real gripe with the two episodes of the new Ranma 1/2 show I've seen: Akane's fight scenes were just plain better in the original.

Admittedly, the school fight scene from the original show is a fucking masterclass

It was hard to imagine anything topping it. But I'm sad the new fight choreographers couldn't keep up.

Likewise, the original dojo scene is so good, showing the frustrating inability to hit Ranma from an Akane's-eye view to an outstanding score played on violin. The new one is good in a different way, but I do find Ranma's Ninja Vanish insufficiently telegraphed - It felt like it needed more afterimage? Or less? Something felt off about it, and I preferred when we could kind of see Ranma getting out of the way outrageously fast, rather than having her teleport. I think I'd have been more okay with the "teleport" if it'd been from Akane's perspective - We've seen that kind of thing before, for instance when Ichigo first uses his Bankai in Bleach. If it's from the perspective of the person whose eyes can't keep up with the movement, we're not being told this person can teleport. We're being told the POV character lost track of them because they were so fast, which is what we're going for.

There were little moments I missed - Soun's "tracing an hourglass shape with his hands" moment after hugging Ranma for the first time, the delivery-echo of Ranma each time saying, "I'm Ranma Saotome...Sorry about this," and the dub delivery of, "Dad, you're gonna scare 'em spitless!" The speed with which Akane picks up the whole-ass table to use it as a weapon.

But those I don't consider failures. The new adaptation has artistic differences; It's not just a fresh coat of paint on the older show, but a new attempt to adapt the comic. And it's got some really excellent moments. The animation of Ranma when she's just received Kuno's proposal, as rose petals float around her and she turns to dust and blows away in the wind, is top-notch. The look on Tendo's face when he realizes Ranma's female more than makes up for the missing "hourglass trace." I love the bits of floating sound-effect text. Those were animated with love and care.

Also, both Ranma and Akane are cuter in this one. You can more easily believe that they'd fall for each other, get pissed off and swear off the other...and then kinda fall for them again, because this show does a better job than the original at selling each of them as attractive - in form, and in personality, and in...demeanor? There's more humanity in Akane's reaction to losing to Ranma in the dojo, and in Ranma's silent response to that reaction. They both have this layer of emotional vulnerability that the show (and even the comic, usually) didn't make time for, and I am here for it.

In fact they made Ranma so cute that it feels weirder here than in the original show that Nabiki immediately has no interest in him. Kasumi made it very clear that she was out of the running because of her disinterest in anyone younger than herself. But Nabiki was merely hoping this unknown guy would be cute, and then he was pretty fuckin' cute. Maybe she didn't want to mess with the curse business, or he didn't fit her vibe, or maybe she genuinely thought he'd be a good fit for Akane (though that ruins the joke of the two older sisters foisting Ranma off on her).

Honestly what I really want is for the new series to have four seasons. That should give about enough time for all 48 original graphic novels, with no dumb filler. Maybe drop it to three seasons and have a "just the good bits" like the Princess Bride film. Against the first two episodes of the original show, the new series barely treads water in spite of its dramatically improved budget and animation techniques. But that was a really high bar, and on the whole I think the new series did successfully tread water and not drown. I want to see the remake tackle things the old show did horribly, and get to see those scenes made competently.

Show me a well-animated cat fist vs shark fist, and I'll be a happy camper.

[ikuzeminna]

Gundam Seed Freedom was… something

I'm not exactly a Seed fan. Yes, I own the gunpla, yes, Cagalli, Athrun and Badgiruel are my favorite characters, yes, I enjoy the series up until Kira gets the Freedom, but I will still mock it mercilessly, groan at every lack of bra or brain cell and by heavens, I want to smash every single one of Lacus' Haros to pieces.

And I only watched Destiny once because I couldn't stomach Cagalli's character assassination a second time. Or Gladys', literally, in the very last second. Like, ma'am, you have a kid. What are you doing dying on an exploding asteroid? :/

So you can imagine I wasn't exactly refreshing Gogoanime every two seconds to see if the movie had dropped. Eventually, it did and I got around to watching it, and although I had already spoiled myself with plot summaries and recorded scenes, this movie somehow managed to miss even my wacky expectations. I was promised wtf scenes, and I got them, but at x1.2 speed which just left me confused and checking my speed settings all the time.

So, let's get into this, with spoilers and all.

Though honestly, what's there to spoil? It's just the last episodes of Destiny all over again, which itself was recycling Seed's finale. If you have seen Destiny, imagine reading a retelling of its finale on Wattpad with a five-year-old and a fourteen-year-old collaborating. The five-year-old handled the plot while the fourteen-year-old handled the romances. That's Seed Freedom in a nutshell.

To be a little more specific, the plot is basically a new bunch of bad guys, Accords, who are super Coordinators able to read and manipulate minds, wanting to implement the Destiny Plan because... reasons. They were all grown by Walmart Mariemaia who Benjamin Button'd herself because... Tuesday. And she's the queen of a kingdom now, somehow, which has the brilliant name of "Foundation."

"Kingdom of Foundation." Why don't you have it run by Prime Minister CEO while you're at it? Seriously, this physically hurts if you speak English. -_-

Anyway, the Earth Alliance and ZAFT are still trying to kill each other because it's Seed and while people can genetically manipulate their offspring to be superior and even reverse age now, they still haven't figured out how to grow brains yet, which is why Cagalli launched Seed's version of the Preventers, called Compass, which is basically Kira beam spamming everyone into submission like he always does because it's forbidden by law to put the words "Seed" and "originality" in the same sentence. The Accords use the conflict to make it seem as though the Earth Alliance blew up their Kingdom of Stupid Name via nuke so that they can then retaliate with Requiem because, again, originality is not allowed in this movie. Oh, and the Accords are also racist, because duh, everyone is.

Does this all serve a grander scheme? Why, of course! Do you think it's so that they can stage a successful coup on the PLANTs to gain more allies?

Actually no, that just happens to coincide.

The far grander scheme is to pinch Kira's girlfriend!! -_- I kid you not, as soon as they fire those nukes on themselves, they pull a Lady Une and make a dramatic escape with Lacus straight to space within 5 minutes tops, just so that Orphee, the leader of the Affronts To My Intelligence and a visual cross between Athrun and Cagalli, can repeatedly get rejected by Lacus since Baby Queen Abysmal Eye Shadow hardcoded being horny for Lacus into his DNA, but her love for Kira overrides her own genetic coding finding Orphee attractive (since Lacus was apparently also created by Queen Baklava For Brains while her mom wasn't looking?), so Orphee just ends up growing Shinji levels of sexually frustrated with Lacus, which, given how Lacus' (and every female's, honestly) lip fillers make her look like a blowup doll in various scenes, especially when she forms an "oh" with her mouth, I can almost understand why hearing her say no is unexpected. Too crass? That's what you get for making me watch a zoom-in on Lacus' giant butt in a cat suit in the finale.

It doesn't culminate in him choking her out, but Orphee does try to force himself on her and the fact that Lacus doesn't knee him in the balls right then and there makes the whole scene pointless. It's very reminiscent of a fourteen-year-old fanfic writer thinking a woman talking her almost-rapist out of his action is the height of female empowerment. It's not. And this wasn't written by a fourteen-year-old. Fukuda says there were over a hundred drafts for this movie. And they settled for this? Lacus should have used that unearned Seed mode and gone Corin on Orphee's nuts.

(Go watch Turn A if you have no idea what I'm talking about. It's Seed but better. Which is an embarrassment, since Seed came out right after it.)

At this point it's pretty clear that our fourteen-year-old has infiltrated the plot with her romances, because we can't have a mere final battle with giant robots and pink explosions, it has to mean something!

And in this case, that meaning is a battle for Lacus' love!

Same, Cagalli. -_-

So it's time now to look at the romance side of this movie, just so that you can understand why my brain started dripping out of my nose by the 1 hour mark already.

Every single character arc in this movie is relationship drama. Every. Single. One. From Kira to Lacus to Orphee to Ingrid to Agnes to even Luna and Shinn. If characters interact, it's always in the context of the same freaking love triangle. No variation.

So let's go through the list. First, we have Orphee, who we've established wants to get into Lacus' pants. Ingrid, the blue-haired Accord chick, is saddened by this because she wants him to get into hers instead, which, given how this Village Of The Darned refer to Mini Me as their mother, is... Freudian to say the least. Baklava For Brains either didn't code her right or is a sadist, I guess. Next, we have Kira, who is in Lacus' pants, but thinks Lacus prefers Orphee and starts whining about it because the movie can't make up its mind on how it wants to portray their relationship. It's clearly established that them living together alone and acting like husband and wife is anything but platonic, but when Lacus and Orphee have their shoujo sparkle moments of intense, sexual attraction, Kira acts as though he isn't her boyfriend, when it's abundantly clear that he's seen her naked on the daily for the past year or so. The movie adds the new character, Agnes, to the mix here, who looks like a pink Misa Misa (alas, without the hidden intellect) and has the hots for her commander, Kira, taking every opportunity to hit on him, even going so far as to try to plant one on him while Lacus is "hiding" around the corner.

....She's not even trying.

And you know, you just know a fourteen-year-old wrote this because we hear nothing of the 152 regulations that hitting on your superior officer go against, never mind any consequences, because... brilliant writing. That they dare to give Agnes Flay's voice is such an insult to me, considering how her writing was freaking Mark Twain level compared to this Post-It note version we're getting here.

Kira ultimately rejects her and Agnes, who previously mocked Luna for settling for whatever came along (which had me laughing real loud because where is the lie?), falls into Walmart Yzak's arms a mere two seconds later because he told her she's pretty and proceeds to spend the rest of the movie as a bad guy because that's what happens to a woman scorned: both self-esteem and the IQ start hitting the negatives.

There are also Murrue and Mwu, and while they don't have drama, they are pretty much reduced to their relationship to each other. You think you were gonna get any personality out of the veteran captain of the Archangel? Pfff, not with Becky writing. Have Murrue jumping, straddling and kissing Mwu on the bridge in front of everyone instead.

The only girls who aren't strangled by a relationship are Meyrin, who barely says three lines but gets to be a pilot now for some reason, Cagalli, who is, weirdly, the best character in the movie, and Ehehe. (You will know exactly who I mean once you watch it.)

Out of those three, Cagalli is the only one actually in a relationship and, lo and behold, her and Athrun are unexpectedly handled well! They even use that they are dating in their fight against Walmart Yzak, which leads to that famous lewd Cagalli fantasy of Athrun's. Cagalli even gets to react to that! (She's not pleased. lol)

The funniest part is that we didn't even know Walmart Yzak is allergic to girl cooties, what with hitting on Agnes previously, so this was Athrun full-on trolling him with Seed's version of the Sexy Jutsu. Look at Athrun having a sense of humor. Look at Cagalli consistently making every scene she is in better. :)

I'm honestly surprised that the best characters in this movie end up being Athrun and Cagalli, with the former being the most badass and the latter the most relatable and best-written, complete with personality and crowning moments of awesome, given how they had been handled in Destiny.

Took them 20 years, but they finally made up for it. Now, if only the rest didn't suck so bad. :/

Because the rest is pretty much Kira and Lacus angsting over not deserving each other for almost two hours because they apparently never sat down and talked about their feelings and relationship, so the merest hint of rejection or competition sends them spiraling into a depression that becomes a galactic conflict for reasons beyond intelligence. Like, picture Shinji and Asuka in a stable relationship act like Shinji and Asuka in Eva, without any depth and in dumb. That's the level of Huh???? the relationship was written with. It makes no sense at all.

Why are you two so insecure? Why is all it takes one comment from random people to make you question your year-long relationship??

Agnes, Ingrid and Orphee are there to provide an external source of conflict because the relationship itself is full of gaping holes so we can't focus on that, and because Becky is fourteen, the best she can manage is contrasting Kira's and Lacus' lip service pure love with evil horniness. Even though it's heavily implied that they've boinked, too.

Okay, I'm being mean to my fictional Becky here. I have actually seen digital manhwa that have this exact same love story, so it's not like you can't write them as an adult and make money with them. I just had irrational expectations, I guess, after Flay hopped over that low bar.

The cherry on top of this sad puddle of melted brain matter is Fukuda saying in an interview that he viewed Kira as having an obsession with Lacus in Destiny, so this was his attempt to fix that. Sir? You catapulted their relationship right past toxic and straight to the acid pit from MK II, Erich Fromm quote or not. Lacus blathering about needing someone because you love them (mature love) rather than loving someone because you need them (immature love) is nothing but lip service in this fetishistic nightmare Lacan would balk at.

I had to sit through two hours of "Gundam Seed - Get All These Drama Queens Freaking Therapy, But Not For War Trauma, But For Their Psychotic Relationship And Self-Esteem Issues."

Because not being in a relationship with the person you want in this movie results in emo exits to the left (seriously, count them), incessant temper tantrums and desperate clutching from heartbreak. We also get to wade through Kira's emo episode as the movie's emotional turning point, whining that Lacus doesn't love him because he can't make her happy and that he's good for nothing, which Athrun thankfully beats out of him quickly in good ol' Beavis and Butt-Head fashion, lest they have to go through Kira's character development in Seed again, too. And no, Kira still hasn't learned how to throw a punch properly. Athrun destroys him.

I read in a lot of reviews that people cheered at this scene, but I had to check my speed settings because the movements were all so fast. The pacing is really abysmal in this movie and I don't mean in a plot kind of way, but in a "my cat hits my keyboard and keeps fast-forwarding scenes until I stop it" kind of way. There are so many scenes that feel like I've accidentally hit increase speed, especially in fight scenes, and I'm utterly confused because letting a scene breathe was never an issue in Seed. We all remember Kira bawling his eyes out every five minutes and either muting the audio or dying from laughter because the VA just sounded severely constipated. Here we get sequences like Kira's Freedom getting destroyed, Shinn's Justice getting wrecked, a nuke going off, the Archangel being blown to pieces, and if any of it was supposed to make me emotional then it utterly failed because not even the characters react to these events with how fast we have to get to the next scene. Never mind people practically teleporting from one location to another, except for Kira who takes longer than Goku to get somewhere.

Seed Freedom is a very weird mix of dragging and speed-running and I don't get why. You had 20 years, man. In fact, even the movie knows it's paced awfully, which is why it keeps giving you the location every time, to increasingly ridiculous degrees.

Anyway, back to the plot and romance. So, Athrun snaps Kira out of his funk with a good walloping. What's next? The rescue mission, of course, which is supposed to be the scene that fixes Kira's and Lacus' relationship by proclamation of their true love for each other! Yay, emotional payoff for this relationship I was totally invested in and not groaning through.

Well, truth be told, I can't stand kumbaya Kira and Lacus in Destiny, so this movie not making me want to scream at my screen whenever I saw them is a feat. Too bad Becky heard me, because she presents us with the following, which somehow manages to be the most mind-bendingly dumb exchange in the entire movie, which honestly requires a superpower at this point to pull off.

Kira, if she slits Lacus' throat, her vocal chords are gonna be the least of your worries. Why is the only one with a functioning brain in there Kisaka? Who, by the way, owns super Coordinator mind reader like it's nothing, despite being a Natural, because ovaries.

Just, ugh.

So after Kira and Lacus get to tell each other "I love you!" with dramatic catches thrown in despite no need for them, making things just awkward, we rush off to the final battle and it's like Fukuda took 5 episodes that were supposed to be the finale and condensed them into three, while cutting half the transitions. There's colorful pew pew, Shinn hilariously weaponizing his stupidity, things exploding, people dying, Yzak and Dearka pushing new gunpla sales, Mwu outright breaking the last remnants of my brain, Lunamaria and Agnes having a girl fight, Murrue ramming a space ship into another one because screw logic, and finally, rolled into this erratic nonsense burrito is Kira defeating Orphee with the power of Lacus' love and her being able to use the Force now, while Horny For Pink is still screaming about wanting to get into her pants and Ingrid still wants him to get into hers instead.

Thankfully, they both die and rid me of their presence.

The saving grace really are Athrun and Cagalli, who rely on actual skill and brains in their fight, and thus end up the best part of the movie by a landslide.

...And then there's Mwu tanking a Requiem shot to the face without issue and deflecting its beam with its puny shield to destroy various targets and Requiem itself because dinosaurs.

Dang it, D.J., stop writing the script for the movie and go back to your noodle pictures. I have a hard enough time reining Becky in as it is. The happy conclusion is everyone smooching or reaffirming their relationship status otherwise, while Lacus blathers over the ending song with her and Kira as two human shaped blobs ready to get nasty on the beach.

Hooray.

So what's the verdict?

Gundam Seed Freedom sucks. And I don't even mean that as a movie, but as a Seed movie. If I previously thought Seed's characters had the depth of a rain puddle, then Freedom threw a maxi pack of paper towels on all of them.

You get a gigantic cast, with various well-established characters with pasts, and, somehow, only Athrun and Cagalli resemble themselves. The rest are bulldozed to single word characteristics like dumb, horny emo, or rude.

For instance, there are two separate occasions where Compass fights a Destroy, and Shinn doesn't care. Stella even gets a cameo, going full Tokomon teeth in his mind at the Evil Dumbass Brigade trying to infiltrate it, but do you think her traumatic death would warrant a reaction when he has to face the mobile suit she piloted when she was killed before him? Naaah.

Kira starts the movie with something resembling a personality, but that gets quickly flushed down the toilet by the time he and Lacus go through the same scene for the 8th time.

Murrue? Don't get me started on Murrue. Murrue spends the entire movie in heat. Funnily enough, she's finally wearing a bra when Archangel gets hit, so no more gainaxing boobs. But she's worse than the horny teenagers.

Everyone else you know and love is just there. I don't remember Sai even getting a line. Miri does, one. Dearka and Yzak exist and it's a big, fat whatever. You'd think they could have put some of them on the ships' bridges, so that we could get cool discussions, right? Yeah, no, have two new characters instead, one of whom is voiced by freaking Jiraiya. No, not Jiraiya's VA, but Jiraiya, because that man doesn't vary his voice one bit.

As someone who used to watch Naruto, it drove me bonkers. Especially when the female VAs put in the effort to blow everyone out of the water. Props to Cagalli's new VA especially who manages to capture the original's stresses and pauses perfectly. I knew right away it was Cagalli despite the different voice. Kudos.

Another positive thing are the backgrounds of the movie. I'm pretty sure a sizeable chunk of the budget was invested in those. They all look gorgeous.

Those visual feasts sadly make the wonky characters stand out more though. Movements down to the very mouth flaps look really choppy, 3D Gundams are always a bad idea, please stop doing that, and often enough the animation quality dips noticeably.

This movie is also in love with potato noses so huge, Gerard Depardieu would laugh at them. It's especially weird 'cause half of those are on Coordinators. You know, the designer babies? Did dogs and pigs go extinct in the Cosmic Era that they need to sniff for truffles themselves now?

It's also a complete crime that the movie ends with no one having kicked Orphee between the legs. Or in the face. He taunts Kira so many times with the line that all he's good for is fighting that I kept yelling at my screen for Kira to please just display that and introduce a bat to Orphee's face.

Not even Shinn gets to throw a punch his way, and that boy is allowed to wave a sword at a person. But in a manner that makes me wanna tear my hair out.

That's a saber, you moron. You don't hold sabers with two hands. Coordinator, my foot. You deserve getting your butt kicked just for that. Though I went full panda facepalm when Yzak With Hair Horns started doing cart wheels during their fight.

Just. Throw a brick at my head, it's less painful.

Then we also have the gem that is the dance scene between Pinky and Horny For Her, which cracked me up specifically, because it's supposed to be this beautiful~ smooth~ charming~ skilled waltz the super Coordinators perform that makes Kira so sad, and I'm dying of laughter because I'm an avid Ballroom e Youkoso fan and if there is anything that series taught me, it's a) the man's hand goes where the bra strap is, so Orphee fails at a basic hold already and b) that's the most pathetic throwaway oversway I've ever seen. Total beer keg.

If Kira knew the first thing about dancing, he would have been sassing Blond Athrun instead of getting all mopey, like actual Athrun did to Discount Yzak. Would have improved the movie by x1000 actually if Kira had gotten the same amount of brain cells as his sister and friend and spent the two hours snarking at all the fanfic nonsense instead of acting like he got gut punched all the time.

Alas, we can't have nice things. What we get after 20 years and over a hundred drafts is a movie about Kira's and Lacus' love story that's literally no different from a Wattpad fic. It glues itself to the surface level of the concept and pulls it off as if the entirety of the two prior series doesn't exist, while making sure to give it no substance at all. Sure, they throw in names and reuse plot points that anyone who has seen the series knows, but they end up as mere Easter eggs. There is no taking advantage of established backstories or past events. Not even a nod. Creating a sense of continuity or closure?

Not in this movie.

Another thing is this bizarre tug-of-war between prudish and sexy Lacus. There's no opening anymore in which she can float naked across our screen, so the movie needs to push her boobs in our faces in a different way, I guess, but she's still a "pure" character so it just ends up being... weird. She won't kiss Orphee and probably whip herself every night for ever considering it, but she'll prance around naked on the beach with Kira and go all Golden Boy with how she's shown riding those wing attachments for the Freedom. Like, make up your mind, movie.

I understand why Fukuda wouldn't want to sully Lacus' "purity" (outside of teenager's minds >_>), but I really wish that she had just kissed Orphee. Just, give me something to work with here. You can't drag out "No! I don't love you! I love Kira!" for two hours by recycling the same exchange over and over. If she had kissed him, there would have been a point to all the relationship drama at least. But like this, it's just boring and inane because we're stuck at the setup and never move to a build up or climax, much less a resolution.

So yeah, outside of the Cagalli and Athrun scenes, this movie really didn't do it for me. I actually recorded my reaction for my own amusement because I thought I'd have a blast hate-watching it, but it's just me going "good grief" increasingly loudly as the movie goes on and pausing to check my speed settings.

Oh, and me losing my mind at Kira and Lacus keeping their motorcycles in their living room. Who on Earth does this???

[gayleviticus]

FMA 03 writers

i had an autism moment and decided to look into the writers of FMA 03 and am now going to vomit out my findings here (nothing very in-depth but it's interesting to see which niches they fall into)

Sho Aikawa: 1-3, 7-8, 13-16, 21-22, 25, 29-31, 32 (w Yamatoya), 36, 39-51, Shamballa.

He wrote the first three episodes, the Nina/Barry the Chopper double whammy, the Marcoh/Scar arc, the latter half of Lab 5, Hughes' death, a decent chunk of the Wrath arc, the Elrics learning Scar's backstory, and then everything from about when the Liore arc begins.

Clearly as head writer he takes charge of the most significant turning points in the series - interestingly, aside from E35, E37, and E38 ("Reunion of the Fallen", "The Flame Alchemist, The Bachelor Lieutenant & The Mystery of Warehouse 13", and "With the River's Flow" by Inoue, Takahashi, and Yamatoya respectively), Aikawa is the only writer to write anything after the series fully diverges from the manga (which I would place at Ed killing Greed in E34). Wikipedia tells me has a reputation for working on adaptations that diverge significantly from the source material, as opposed to original works.

Other writing credits include head writer for Martian Successor Nadesico, Kamen Rider Decade, and the second half of Kamen Raider Blade. At 29.5/51 episodes (he co-wrote a single episode) he was responsible for 57.8% of the series.

Natsuko Takahashi: 6, 11, 17, 23, 26, 37.

She wrote the first Nina episode, The Other Elric Brothers 1, the Elrics recuperating in Resembool, the Elrics recovering post Lab 5, the Paininya episode, and Warehouse 13.

Her forte here is almost entirely slow, character-focused stories without danger or high stakes, with a tendency to emphasise cooling down from big dramatic moments and exploring the implications of these events for the characters.

Other credits include Tokyo Mew Mew, Chrno Crusade, Bleach, and Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo. At 6/51 episodes she wrote 11.8% of the series.

Akatsuki Yamatoya: 28, 32 (w Aikawa), 33-34, 38.

He wrote the Yock Island training episode, Greed arc, and the episode where Ed and Al get into an argument and meet by the river (while Winry and Sheska investigate conspiracies).

Interestingly he is the only writer aside from Aikawa involved in writing actual ongoing arcs after the anime begins to diverge significantly from the manga (I would consider this the introduction of Wrath in E29); the only other contributions past this point are Warehouse 13 (E37) by Takahashi, which a joke episode, and Inoue's Lust and Lujon episode (35), which is valuable characterisation wise but technically standalone. Essentially Yamatoya writes solely for the transition point where FMA 03 is moving from following the manga's blueprint (with significant elaborations, albeit) to its own path.

Other writing credits include Soul Eater, Ghost Stories, Naruto, Detective Conan. At 4.5/51 episodes he wrote 8.8% of the series.

Toshiki Inoue: 4, 10, 24, 35

He wrote Majhal, Psiren, Al defending the Ishbalans against Barry the Chopper with Scar, and Lust and Lujon.

His episodes are largely anime-original and standalone, without significantly shaping the course of the series, but arguably contain valuable characterisation. The Al episode is something of an exception here as it is tied into an ongoing arc (Al's existential crisis) which is also based off manga material, but the episode itself is not a direct adaptation of anything from the manga. Majhal and Psiren are arguably the only genuine cases of pure 'filler' in 03.

Other credits include main writer of Don Brothers and the Death Note anime. At 4/51 episodes he wrote 7.8% of the series.

Katsuhiko Takayama: 9, 19-20, 27.

He wrote the Yousewell episode, first two episodes of Lab 5 arc, and the one where Izumi catches the Elrics.

His work seems fairly solid but nothing very innovative: he adapts manga material well but it's hard to see any strong theme here I think. Notably his Lab 5 episodes mainly cover manga events; the Lab 5 arc does end up significantly diverging from the manga with elements like Scar, Greed, Kimblee, and the Homunculi trying to convince Ed to make the Stone, but not in his episodes.

Other credits include Star Ocean EX, Mirai Nikki, Magia Record S2. At 4/51 episodes he wrote 7.8% of the series.

Manabu Ishikawa: 12, 18.

He wrote The Other Elric Brothers Part 2 and Marcoh's Notes.

Not much to say here - an adaptation of a light novel and a manga chapter.

Other credits include production assistant on Neon Genesis Evangelion, and writing for the Arc the Lad anime and Kimi no koe o todoketai. At 2/51 episodes he wrote 3.9% of the series.

Aya Yoshinaga: 5.

Wrote only the train episode so hard to draw any strong conclusions.

Other credits include Golden Kamui, Natsume's Book of Friends, and Durara!! At 1/51 episodes they (unsure of their gender) wrote 1.9% of the series.

as a special bonus I have made a pie chart bc I like pie charts

[mdhwrites]

So, what do you think would have happened to Amphibia if its third season got shortened down to three hour long specials like Owl House did?

So A: this question is flawed. The shortening wasn't told to TOH's crew post S2. They were told WELL in advance. Dana is on record (source) for having said as much. The news came down on episode 7 of S2. Reasonably, this probably meant not a lot of S2A could have been changed due to deadlines but I don't know how all this works that well. For the sake of this, I'm going to mostly assume that something could have started changing starting episode eight and more drastic changes could be done after the mid season hiatus.

B: TOH needed S2B to mostly look identical to setup for going into the human realm, for having the Day of Unity as the finale and for the Collector to be set up as a villain by then. There are maybe two episodes you could change but nothing that is emblematic of the problems of S2B as a whole. Here's an entire blog about that. Btw, I published that blog before the finale came out and my opinion is mostly that that blog is kinder than it should have been.

C: I am not going to say this is a better version of Amphibia. Some might though. A lot of people think S2B and S3 of Amphibia is loaded with what they see as filler. Even I agree that you could probably cut a fair amount and not lose the core of the show. I'm about to demonstrate that. Also, just inherently because of a faster pace, the show would have to be more about the trio, or feel that way at least (again, I'll get into it), which the majority of the Amphibia fandom argues is what the show should have done anyways. So yeah, it's kind of an interesting conundrum.

D: I'll mostly talk about the weaknesses of this rewrite once I'm done. For anyone who needs a refresher though: S2, Episode 7 of Amphibia, the last one before this change, is one after Marcy at the Gates and has the segments "Scavenger Hunt" and "The Plantars Check In." Oh and before I get to the three specials, I'll mostly just be trying to slot in episode segments because that feels the most fair to actually capture a reasonable timeline for the show. Like I'm not coming up with cheats to handwave issues that this change would cause. As such, I'm not going to do something like cut The First Temple in half just for the sake of claiming more time. Once we get to the specials, that will change because those episodes' structures would have inherently changed, kind of like how The Hardest Thing has a different structure due to its extended run time. Until then though? I'll mostly be trying to effectively Mad Libs this off of what we already have despite the fact that the creators would have, at least if they're responsible, made changes to work within their new time frame. I'm going to give myself one unreasonable shift in return for this handicap effectively of not being able to change the core structure of the show or its plot points.

ANYWAYS. With that out of the way:

For the sake of pacing, you probably do Lost in Newtopia and then the Sleepover to End All Sleepovers as episode 8 because we can't literally go straight into leaving Newtopia and one could argue that the sleepover is important foreshadowing. However, the next episode is then a double whammy of A Day at the Aquarium to say farewell to Newtopia and still have that touching confirmation of the found family before then skipping Night Drivers and going straight to Return to Wartwood for the second segment, bringing us up to nine.

Then I would actually move Toad to Redemption into the first slot for episode ten because it is thematically important and a good rallying moment for Wartwood. You could also replace with Ivy on the Run for the sake of Sprivy and just make episode 13 into episode 10 by making After the Rain be the mid season finale. It's dramatic enough to do so and lets:

The First Temple opens S2B and episode 15 of the normal show, New Wartwood and Friend or Frobo stays too in order to help setup Wartwood's relationship with humans besides Anne and to get Frobo in. That brings the count to 12.

Then you do episode 17 as episode 13, Barrel's Warhammer and The Second Temple, because we do still need a bit more time with Sasha to prep for True Colors and The Second Temple is obvious. However, I'd probably swap their positions because then episode 14 is The Third Temple (so you don't have two temples literally back to back, even if the two are different episodes like in the actual show) and The Dinner... With Battle of the Bands being cut. It's Sasha's weakest episode, is just kind of reinforcement of a few elements and some expansion on the three's relationship, though mostly Anne and Sasha. The Dinner is needed though to get Sasha with the other two and heading to Newtopia because...

There is a quarter season finale now with True Colors. It is ABSOLUTELY the most radical choice in this rewrite and you could arguably say that it's not fair because Disney wouldn't have allowed them to have that episode as anything but a season finale. This is the only 'cheat' I'll give myself since I'm not altering episodes drastically or the like to fit in with the new time frame. Plus side: They'd have the compelling pitch that in five episodes, they CAN get back to Amphibia to make that the season finale. Otherwise there isn't really much to change before S3 because so much has to wait on the major turn of Andrias becoming the main villain. That version of this outline though, that S2 doesn't change at ALL, is... A genuine nightmare on a lot of fronts and honestly less reasonable than thinking this would be allowed and I'll get to why after the outline. Oh, there is one change that needs to happen unfortunately: Frobo probably doesn't make it in this version after this. Polly and him unfortunately just aren't important enough to really get the wrap up they do in S3. It does mean that mechanic Polly during the ending probably has an RC robo or the like with her to help explain where her being a mechanic came from.

Anywhos: Episode 16 is The New Normal... Mixed with Anne-sterminator. Anne is honest about the danger they're in from go and instead of the quarantine montage, we get her actually beating the Cloak Bot first try to show how far she's come to her parents and to show off the new powers alongside their cost.

Then you do Fight at the Museum followed by Turning Point for episode 17 to start the ball rolling on getting back as well as get Sasha into place and finish up her arc.

Episode 18 has Temple Frogs because the Plantars DO need to still connect with Earth and Temple Frogs is EASILY the best episode of that as it explores how different Anne is from the start of the show and how that isn't entirely a good thing because of the things she's now ignoring, fits thematically with the show as a whole and is just a lot of fun. The other side meanwhile is Olivia and Yunan. I would almost not advocate for keeping this episode for a lot of reasons but it's kind of necessary in order to set up for:

The Core and the King is in episode 19 because Andrias' backstory is REALLY important to how he is beat and to also understand what the Core is and what the kingdom of Amphibia can do. What the stakes are to all of this. It is also the one segment in the actual show itself that explores the villain so you can't really cut it. The other half of the episode though is If You Give a Frog a Cookie because we need Terry.

Especially because you might have noticed that I didn't include Mr. X. There just isn't room for them for the most part which luckily... Is okay. He's fun but his parts can be mostly replaced either with faceless people or Terry. You can also just go with his first appearance actually being him taking the Plantars in this episode. Maybe there's been foreshadowing at the end of Earth segments of someone watching. Something that only takes a few seconds but builds up to honestly having Escape to Amphibia be mostly the same as it was but with a reduced cast and less familiarity with Mr. X as a villain.

So that covers S2. Now there are 3 45 minute specials on average to cover all of S3B. Or more so there's two specials to cover the seven episodes between Escape to Amphibia and The Hardest Thing because Amphibia's finale already had an extended time slot. As 45 minutes is effectively two episodes each, you need to save on three episodes. Six segments.

That's... easier said than done because the segments are actually incredibly important to Amphibia's storytelling and these specials could technically be split into four segments each but more likely they actually have to tell a through line story per special. You can't jump AS MUCH as you could before.

So Special 1 starts with effectively Commander. The reintroduction to Wartwood and the finalizing of Sasha's new self after her character arc is not something you can really leave out. Plus side is that Commander Anne is a really efficient eleven minutes to introduce what Amphibia is like now and you probably don't do the pampered brat routine with the Plantars which is not a real loss. The theme of this special though is allies so the target of Sasha's mission when Anne gets back changes.

The goal is now to free Mother Olm. This way you can skip the Olms themselves and still get the prophecy and foresight from Mother Olm that sets up the finale. It also allows a smooth transition into meeting with Mother Olm in general. She warns them they'll need allies once they're done and we get a montage of the a lot of what people consider filler in S3 with getting allies, though mostly the Toads, Newts and the Killerpillars probably. You could also do this with people splitting up so that each one gets a truncated version of the full segment to get them. Then the final portion of the special is Sasha and Anne hoping their efforts paid off before Sprig shows Lief's hidden room to get Lief's letter.

Then Special 2 is effectively episodes 16 and 17 of S3. Just consolidating the army, heading out, then protecting Earth after midway through the special everything goes wrong. Not really anything even has to be changed here really except just smoothing out the transitions between segments. Admittedly, the Plantars probably rely more on Domino 2 to replace the loss of Frobo and unfortunately Polly just doesn't have a lot to do in All In.

Then Special 3 is literally just The Hardest Thing. Pretty much no changes I think because the elements for it have still been covered.

And that's it. It's not by any means perfect of course. Elements are rushed and some elements probably feel neglected or abandoned entirely. I already mentioned Polly but this version also means Sprivy is ignored post S1 effectively and just has a nice come back at the end of the finale (which is a good argument for Ivy on the Run over Toad of Redemption for the filler segment in episode 10 of the rewrite). Worse yet... Sprig is kind of ignored and Anne and his friendship is mostly left fallow. I admittedly don't think the show does the best job keeping it burning post S1 but S1 sells it HARD already as part of the stable base of the show so it's not a big problem. It also harms the connection to Amphibia itself so a line like "They aren't Amphibia's greatest treasure" doesn't hit as hard.

It would almost certainly feel actually rushed... Which is a fuckton better than what happened with TOH because TOH doesn't feel rushed. Its three specials are incredibly bloated with plotlines THEY introduce, or S2B introduced, that go nowhere. Or hell, resolutions that mean nothing, like how Luz finishes her character arc THREE. FUCKING. TIMES. Even people who love TOH still will admit the majority of For the Future is filler. That it does nothing to actually move anything forward, wrap much of anything up that couldn't have been left alone (besides Stringbean but that moment is cut off at the knees immediately by the finale's dream sequence) and those are people who won't bring up how Willow had her power problems resolved literally two seasons ago. S3 is so bankrupt on what to do to fill the time that they bring it back anyways, alongside Kikimora who has NO REASON to still be a villain we're dealing with.

That is the HUGE difference here. TOH doesn't actually feel like we're missing out on anything with its S3 besides fluff and maybe a bit of exploration on the whole Grimmwalker thing. The specials just don't feel like they actually know what to do in the first place though. It makes it feel like we're mostly missing out on filler but there's already so much of that in these episodes. Even the elements that could have been expanded, like Belos backstory, the human realm shenanigans and the Collector's redemption are rough because none of these are from before the shortening. Only Hunter's arc is really something stared BEFORE THE SHORTENING. Belos' backstory and the contradictory nature of The Collector, like how he absolutely knows what death is during Hollow Mind and is a complete evil fucker there... Are written in S2B. They were included and written as part of the shortening. Hell, the human realm and the Collector as a whole weren't even planned for S3 supposedly. They were things they wanted to do but didn't have a place for them and so just jammed in these MASSIVE new elements that needed more time than was available with no care for the fact that they had NO TIME. (I don't have a source for this unfortunately.)

Admit you didn't have a plan for your show without admitting you didn't have a plan.

That also brings up an element that I brought up at the top: How much the story might have actually changed. I'm having to work off of the main outline provided by the show but it's entirely possible that The Core might not have been included. That Earth might not have. Changes would have happened to the overall story and it's kind of impossible to reasonably guess how. After all, I wouldn't have guessed that an all powerful child and a trip to the human realm would have been responses to a shortening for The Owl House.

So I did my best and I still stand by that this would still be a fine to good version of the show. That it wouldn't have been impossible to tell a full narrative with the time given. One that is still thematically coherent, has a strong finale that doesn't contradict itself and still has plenty of fun in it to counterbalance the higher focus on the more dramatic elements.

That's still a LOT better than can be said for TOH's finale, let alone its three specials.

======+++++======

I ended up just rewriting the outline as a way to give it more thought instead of copy and pasting the first one I wrote. *whimpers*

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

[fellow-traveller]

There's a minor debate in the JoJo fandom about Part 3 having fillers. I'm just...;;-;;

Consider this a mini attempt to help the new gen of JoJo fans understand something about JoJo. Might be kinda long, so...under the cut :)

JoJo is probably one of the anime that has no fillers. JoJo manga's runtime from Part 1 to 6 is from 1987 to 2003 pretty much gets faithful adapted into the 2013 anime. They have minor changes and additions to it from the manga, but not enough to be calling them fillers. Even the OVA, it still holds the storyline without straying away from the source material.

But somehow, a few fans, minor up to the age of 25, misunderstood what a filler in anime is. They sort of assumed that filler means boring plots or side stories that are not important to the main plot.

I'm sorry but, no.

Fillers are story arcs/major events in an official anime that do not exist in its original source material i.e. the manga or novel. Filler was used (and still is) to "fill up" the time between the production of the manga and the anime that is supposed to refer from said manga. As not to have the anime catch up with the manga, fillers are made.

Best examples of anime notorious for fillers are Naruto and One Piece. They had story arcs, 2-3 episodes (or more) long, and definitely doesn't add much to the actual story in the manga. Newest addition would most likely be MHA, but that's more of padding (adding extra elements/scenes to existing story) than an actual filler.

I get wanting to label an episode in JoJo as uninteresting, but filler is not the correct word to use. If it's boring to you, then it's just that - boring.

Plus, I'm not sure how other JoJo fans perceived JoJo's story arcs and how they were constructed in terms of art and pace. If one notices, Araki has the habit of showing a dramatic scene or a battle in slow motion. Unlike other battle shounen anime/manga, every movement, every punch, every kick, is fast paced. But JoJo is drawn in such a way to show the actions in slowed time.

As such, it's best to keep that in mind when one feels like the battles are drawn or the story prolonged. The pace is normal, but Araki drew them to depict slow motion.

I'm obviously biased with Part 3 since it's my favourite part, but if you want it to be less boring for you, maybe instead of concentrating on the story pace and the "villain of the week" framework, try looking it in a different angle.

Like, why tarot cards? Why the association to colours for their Stands? Why the certain designs of the characters/Stands? Why the small changes from manga to anime? Or manga to OVA to anime? Tbh, there are so many things one can dig just by the cards alone, which can make your experience with Part 3 more enjoyable.

[where-theres-smoak-2]

Shadow and Bone 2x08 Review

I..um...hmm well that finale was something. I honestly don’t know how I feel about it because like alot of action happened at the start, and then the end, the end, well in interviews the cast described it as shocking and unexpected which yup I think those are good words for it. But I also feel like this episode has alot of filler, not much happened between the dramatic start and then end of the episode. But lets jump on in. Oh and Spoilers, duh. 

Darklina

So within the first like 5 mins of this hour long episode the fold has been brought down. Mal and Alina realise that he is dying from the wound made by the cut and so Alina makes the decision to stab him and take the amplifier powers. I will admit that the visuals for the destruction of the fold were impressive, it looked epic. Again I don’t really care all that much about malina so whilst I did think it was sad that Mal ‘died’ it didn’t have too much of an effect on me. 

I did think the conversation between darklina was interesting. Like when Aleks says now she knows sacrifice and she replies beyond anything you’ve ever known. What hit me about this moment though was how untrue that was. They are at the heart of the fold, the creation point and the same place that Luda died. Its ironic to me that Alina is telling Aleks that he doesn’t know a sacrifice like this when she is standing in the same place where he knew that sacrifice. Where he knew the same loss that she is feeling now. 

Another moment that hits hard is when Alina says she and Mal changed the world and tore down his shadow fold and he replies you have my sympathies for the moment she realises what she did made no difference. This is so true. I scoffed when Alina said it, about her and Mal changing the world, because sure but not for the better, and she has yet to realise that. The fold wasn’t the true problem, it was a symptom of the true problem which is the hate and fear that Otkazat’sya have for grisha, that was there long before the fold. The fold may be gone but the memory of it isn’t, with that scar across the land there is always going to be the reminder of it and that isn’t going to keep the fear at bay. For a little while people will reduce and celebrate the sun summoner but eventually that gratitude will fade and they will go back to hating and hunting the grisha. But I do think when he says this he is thinking about the creation of the fold and how despite everything he sacrificed, despite everything he had done over his long life he still ended up back where it all started with first army hunting down grisha.

I do think Aleks is right when he says without him Alina will have no balance and no equal, there can be no light with out darkness. But I also want to point out how willing he was to be that monster for her, it takes me back to the fountain scene in season 1 where she voices concern about being branded the new heretic and he promises he’s never let that happen. I said then that I believed that Aleks would take on all the hate and let them label him the heretic, the monster if it meant they would love and exult her. Then here he is saying the same thing that he would take on their hate. I really do think in this moment Aleks knows exactly what is coming for Alina and is desperate to try and spare her from it, to warn her but to also make her understand why he made the choices he did, as he said, choices she herself will make in time. When she tells him that she will never walk his path and he tells her he knows she thinks that now but that they years spent alone will grind her down and harden her. I really so think he was seeing his old self in her, his younger self from the flashback, who was slower to violence and believed he wouldn’t walk the path he did, the one that existed before he lost luda, before the fold. He wants to be that shield for her to protect her from all that he went through. 

When Alina says that his story is written and there will be no redemption for him I do think this could signify one of two things, it could be the showrunners/writers very on the nose way of telling fans that Alek’s story is over and there won’t be a redemption arc for him. But it could be the opposite, its interesting that right after she says that the Nichevo’ya bursts out of him and attacks Alina, his reaction is to lunge for it and try to stop it only for it to smack him back. Its something I guessed at in ep 6 that is confirmed here, Aleks doesn’t have control over the merzost, its acting completely against his will. What’s interesting is Alina saying ‘you cant control any of it.’ Which as I said before in the ep 6 review, this raises alot of questions about Aleks’ actions this entire season because we don’t know how much of it was him being controlled by the merzost. I definitely think this is one to think about some more and I think I might make a separate post covering it in a bit more depth. 

What happened next I have to say actually had me full on sobbing. Like I had to pause the episode to pull myself together, I just wasn’t expecting it for one thing but also the whole tragedy of it kind of killed me. He says that there was a time when he thought he could control it, find peace and that for a moment he swears he did and then it cuts to his first kiss with Alina. The moment when she had just told him that she believed that together they could bring hope to ravka and the grisha. The fact that Alina chooses this moment to kill him just makes it all the more harsh and tragic. One complaint I do have about his death scene though is Alina’s reaction to it. With most changes from the books I have been good with them, many of them I even prefer, but in this case the scene had much more impact in the books because Alina is alot more emotional, she struggles with it alot more it is not something she finds easy at all. I would have liked it if they showed a bit more of that conflict and compassion within her. One change from the book I did like was Alina using Merzost to bring Mal back. That resurrection didn’t make any sense at all in the books. But here it works.

Another scene I wasn’t a fan of though was Aleks’ funeral. Again it just didn’t have that compassion or complex emotion that it had in the books, also I didn’t like that Nikolai gave a speech over his burning body, I would have preferred if there had just been silence or some sombre music instead of a monologue. 

Mal and Alina

Ok lets talk about this, I’ll be honest I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry in anger at this, they made me sit through an entire season of this malina nonsense, had Alina use merzost for the first time to resurrect him, just for him to be like you know what actually, nah. Like I am not that mad at it to be honest. But it did feel like it came out of nowhere. It left me a little baffled. That moment when he was like remember true north, and alina says he was talking about them, I thought this was going to be another cringey moment between them, then he just deadpan goes I don’t feel it anymore, like ouch poor alina. But all of that being said I do think this is a good thing. Like he makes a good point about how they don’t know whether the feelings they have for each other are really theirs or just the effect of the amplifier. And he also makes it good point that she is meant for something more. They just don’t work together. And so a pirate’s life for mal, sorry privateer’s. I do think this was a good choice for Mal. A complaint I had was that Mal’s characterisation was too wrapped up in Alina, it had become his whole personality and as a result it made him a very bland character. I am hoping if we get a season 3 we can see him grow as a individual and get to know who he is, himself outside of his relationship with Alina.  

Kaz and Inej 

Ok so these guys are continuing with the really great scenes. The moment Kaz sees Inej arrive back safe from the fold, you can see how relieved he is and how badly he wants to go to her, then he sees Jesper rush over to hug her and realises that’s something he can’t do. Its a very bittersweet moment between them. 

But the scene that takes the cake for the whole season between them is where they talk in the chapel. We see Kaz break through some of that armour he’s got around himself and actually admit to Inej that he wants her to stay, that he want’ her. It’s exactly what she dreamt he would say in that vision she had in shu han. But I think at that moment she realise that its not enough. That whole speech she gives, How will you have me? It was so good, I will have you without your armour or I won’t have you at all. But right now that is something Kaz can’t give her and she knows that so she walks away. Its like I’ve been given everything I’ve wanted for Kaz and Inej in one instance and then its taken away in the next. It sure is going to be interesting when they reunite, especially as it seemed like there were some vibes between her and Tolya. I did like that Inej joined Mal’s crew and that they are hunting down slaver ships.  

 Genya and David

Ok yeah, no I’m not buying it for one second. David is not dead, I don’t care if there was blood on that door and Genya couldn’t hear his heartbeat, if I don’t see a body it didn’t happen (and if its a fantasy/supernatural show like this sometimes even when I do see a body I don’t necessarily think they are going to stay that way.) My theory is that David got kidnapped and I think he got kidnapped by Aleks’ alchemist because that dude was suspiciously absent from the finale and I don’t remember seeing him get killed in ep 7 so that’s the theory I am going for. Even so it was heartbreaking watching Genya believe she had lost him and then her finding the ruby and designs for the engagement ring, why did they do this to me?

That Ending! 

Ok so the ending may have saved the season for me because boy was it a doozy. We see that Nikolai is getting ready for his coronation and it looks like he and Alina are still engaged which is interesting. But what is also interesting is that we see Nikolai has been infected by the Nichevo’ya that had impaled him. When he looks in the mirror he sees a Nichevo’ya staring back and I feel like this is going to have all kinds of implications going forward. 

But the best part of the ending by far was that cliffhanger. At the coronation a grisha assassin that has consumed some kiind of enhancing grisha drug attacks everyone at the ceremony, I mean its a pretty gruesome scene with people spewing out blood and this heartrender moves down the hall and everyone is falling down around her. Now here’s the thing, after the way the books ended I was waiting the whole time for Alina to use her powers, like I really needed to see it because I hated her ending in particular in the books. Then they throw this at me. Alina summons the cut, only it is made of shadows not light. Like wow, did not see this coming. But not only that but like how in last episode when she used the cut she looked excited by it, well she looked even more excited this time. Instead of looking scared at what had just happened she looked in awe of it and got this really dark look in her eyes. So like one thing I really did want was for them to explore Alina’s dark side and have Alina be lured towards that darker path. I’m I getting my dark alina story arc? Because that is what it looks like and honestly I am soo down for that and it actually got me really excited because the implications with this, the places they could go are endless. I mean I also have alot of questions about how exactly she can summon shadows but honestly I kind of went from not minding whether we got a season 3 or not too like I need a season 3 and I need it now.  

So to wrap up I am going to give a quick summary on my thoughts on the season as a whole. I do think that the first 4 episodes were stronger than the last 4 episodes which did have some pacing issues. I think it was a bit like they were rushing to get to the end of the grisha trilogy as quickly as they could which was something I was worried about. Whilst it wasn’t as bad as it could have been, I don’t think they quite managed to pull it off, some of the relationships suffered because of the rush and some moments had less of an impact because of it. But overall I did enjoy the season and I am sure I’ll be making many a analysis and theory post soon, as this season did raise many questions and had a lot to explore. I do think the crows storyline in particular shone through this season, but that could be because I haven’t read the books so the reveals were more exciting. I am curious to know what everyone else thought about the season, did you enjoy it? Do you want a season 3? 

[rebelsofshield]

Star Wars: The Bad Batch: "Bad Territory" -Review

(Yes, I know this is very, very late. I'm sorry. Turns out being a full time university professor is a lot of work and time commitment. Anyways, I do know that the big day is this Wednesday and I'm very determined to be caught up in time for all the tears and fireworks.)

The Bad Batch turn to an old adversary to find answers on Omega’s origins in this fun but unremarkable episode.

The Batch may know that the Empire is interested in Omega for experiments related to M-count, but that doesn’t mean that they have any idea what it means. In order to stay one step ahead of their pursuers and keep Omega safe, the squad must find answers. When Phee informs them that bounty hunters throughout the galaxy have been hunting down targets with high M-counts, Hunter and Wrecker decide to make contact with one of the few hunters they are on (somewhat) friendly terms on, Fennec Shand.

There’s never a direct answer in Star Wars shows. Major plot reveals or even important missions are often proceeded by at least an episode or two of stage setting or logistical problem solving. While sometimes this leads to some solid installments of television like The Mandalorian’s season two standout “The Believer,” it’s hard not to wish that we could get to the point a bit quicker.

This is what watching “Bad Territory” feels like. It’s by no means a poor episode and is sometimes very fun, but it can’t help but feel like narrative wheel spinning. It’s not quite what some would call “filler,” but it instead feels like an unnecessary twenty minute detour when there wasn’t really anything preventing us from taking a more direct route.

I do love space Louisiana though. One thing that’s been a joy about the Star Wars animated shows is that they allow the design team to find new ideas for exotic worlds and locales that would not necessarily fit into live-action storytelling. Having Hunter, Wrecker, and Fennec hunt down a giant praying mantis criminal through a space bayou while occasionally wrestling alligators (and they are really just space alligators) is the sort of playful, almost campy storytelling I’ve come to enjoy from this series when it is diving into some of its more dramatic storytelling.

It is also always a pleasure to get more Fennec Shand. Even if my enthusiasm for her character has waned a little after the absolute dud that was The Book of Boba Fett, Ming-Na Wen is just a stellar performer and I’m always excited to see her bring her talents to the galaxy far, far away.

I guess, somewhat unsurprisingly, it’s Crosshair and Omega who end up stealing the show once again. Even when the two are relegated to a rather quite B-Plot, these two are still the most compelling characters in this series. Watching Omega walk a frustrated Crosshair through his shaking hands and uneasy aim marks another wonderfully tender turn for these two. For a character that has for so long resisted the kindness and compassion of others, it’s been a joy to see Crosshair open up to a child who he was previously so antagonistic towards. Great stuff.

Anyways, I think we all know who Fennec was chatting to on that hologram. We may be getting a certain former Nightsister/Sith/Jedi turned bounty hunter in our very near future.

Score: B

[ambreiiigns]

Ok wait. Yes tell me what episodes are good and everything else you said in the tags, but does rick and morty have lore? I thought it was episodic?

ok first Yes there's lore. there's like. the backdrop premise of rick having just came back into his daughter's life after being absent since she was a child for undisclosed reasons but it is a big part of beth's characterization and why he gets away w all the shit he gets away with. but there's also Lore that ties w rick's crybaby backstory™ and like the universe in general is probably more. Complicated? Expanded? than you'd think? bc yea it SHOULD be episodic and self contained but the team is at war w that concept since s2 if not s1 already. it's why i'm annoyed at people complaining abt the random filler episodes in s7 like girl that's the Normal Episodes. the Lore Heavy Episodes are the little special treat for you not the standard?? it's a sitcom unfort.

so. maybe still my favorite episode is STILL from s1 ep8. rixty minutes aka interdimensional cable ONE!!! let me set the scene. a few episodes earlier morty's school was doing prom and he asked rick to make him a love potion to get the girl he has a crush on to go to prom w him. rick fucks up SEVERELY bc his nihilistic scientist brain didn't understand love (??? i mean we know he Does. but it was s1) and he accidentally turns everyone first into morty stans who wont him desperately and then into straight up Monsters. he can't figure out how to fix it so what he does instead is move morty and himself into a new dimension where the incident had also happened but that dimension's rick had fixed the problem And gotten himself and morty killed accidentally. so they swoop in and dig a grave for Themselves and take those rick and morty's place. for rick it's Nothing it's Normal he's been doing this a while he's closely aware of the many dimensions and many versions of himself etc in fact it becomes a Huge plotpoint soon. but morty's still new to this and having to? handle his dead body? and put it in the ground? and take its place like nothing happened? that's tough for him! baby's traumatized. rip

but everything's been self contained enough so far that you sort of dismiss it right. then two episodes later interdimensional cable happens. aka rick fucks around w their tv to hook it up to. interdimensional. cable. so they can watch stuff from every other reality out there (whoa!) and as they binge they bump into jerry being interviewed on some late night show and they're like HUH???? THERE'S A VERSION OF REALITY OUT THERE WHERE JERRY'S RICH AND FAMOUS???? so now beth and summer are also wondering what They're up to in other realities and rick gives them some goggles that let you see what different versions of you are doing. rick himself and morty are the only ones who don't care and just keep watching silly tv having a laff. in the meanwhile summer complains that every version of her is doing nothing cool while her parents are hitting the jackpot and beth offhandedly mentions that "if we accomplished our dreams it probably means you were never born" which is obviously HORRIBLE TO HEAR so summer being an angsty dramatic teen wants to Run Away From Home and beth and jerry start fighting abt how you ruined my life and all. morty smells blood in the water so he goes upstairs to cheer up summer and she's like. they had you on purpose as a symptom of their problems you're not the Cause of their problems you can't make me feel better. so morty points out his and rick's graves in the yard outside the window and tells her he's not even her real brother he's as much of an incident as she is rn and now that he eats breakfast a few feet away from his corpse he knows better than most how meaningless all of this is anyway. and he tells her. something that still brings tears to my eyes. he goes "nobody exists on purpose, nobody belongs anywhere, everybody's gonna die. come watch tv?"

ARGH! HE'S JUST A 14 YEAR OLD BOY WITH AN INSANE MAD SCIENTIST GRANDPA WHO'S BEEN DRAGGING HIM ON FUCKED UP ELDRITCH SPACE ADVENTURES THAT HAVE BEEN SHATTERING HIS INNOCENCE AND UNDERSTANDING OF LIFE! AND NOW HE JUST WANTS TO WATCH TV WITH HIS SISTER! it kills me it's so humane and childish and it was REALLY gutting to me. cause i didn't expect a callback at that point. i didn't expect the trauma to impact the characters. it was completely out of left field and it made me say oh. so this is good. so this is actually worth watching.

[raayllum]

just want to say thank you so much for appreciating season 4 so much tdp <3 i dont really understand why it is so disliked;  not without his problems, but still sweet, sad and thoughtful

Yeah it's like... 4x01-4x02 is the only time the show is presumably going to have any time for anything remotely resembling filler, which the previous three seasons also had some brief shares of (1x05, 2x04, honestly 3x01 for how much its two plotlines are drawn out the whole ep, and Rayllum's plot line in 3x02). So just like those filler eps, early S4 spends time getting us re-acquainted with the bulk of the main cast (everyone but Rayla really) and the ways they and the world are either different now, or have stayed the same, i.e.

Corvus and Callum have more than two lines of dialogue with each other, Soren is fully integrated as a crown guard, Ezran is being king in a very Ezran-y way (both good and bad), Callum is the same but also fronting and much more serious, and Claudia's stability is hanging on by a thread. Then 4x02 kicks off the plot for Claudia's side of things, and technically also for Callum (and Rayla) with Rayla's arrival, but 4x03 has to accordingly deal with some of that fallout. Claudia's actions directly kick off the plot, and then it's travel and stopping Aaravos time from 4x04 onwards (which again, is structured very similarly to 1x01-1x03 and 2x01-2x03 being the Castle / Moon Nexus arcs respectively). 4x04 gets the audience caught up with the fanatics (S4 is the first season to actually explain what type of elf Aaravos is - a Startouch elf - that he's ancient, etc etc), and Claudia and co. are also given what they need (Sir Sparklepuff) to be set into motion.

As you can see, I don't think the plot of the season bothered people (something if not multiple things are established every episode) but I do think people found some of the character interactions lacking. Which - I'd rather have people be awkward and unfair and not entirely honest with others than themselves and acting like people than anything else. Claudia can be awkward with over sharing (per usual) and Callum can be shut down (it's an interesting character turn and not an entirely unexpected one).

Like I genuinely feel bad for people who were disappointed or didn't like S4! It sucks when a show you love has a bad season you didn't enjoy, and it's not as though that's never happened to me. I just think I've typically either 1) borne it better, 2) got over it and looked at what the show was trying to do to, or 3) saw it coming ahead of time and left, lmao.

Like S4 of Infinity Train is really good but not nearly (to me) on the same level of S3, yet I know people how prefer it, and yeah - it does come down to preferences. JWCC S4 feels like it lost sight of what the show was (a simple fun premise executed very well) by adding in too many elements; I didn't make it past ep3, and the previous season had wrapped up 90% of what I was emotionally invested in anyway and works pretty well as a total finale. TDP wasn't this, as there were still a lot of loose ends following S3, and I think S4 carried them on just fine as well as setting up so many interesting things ahead (much the same way S1 did, and kind of to be expected when Arc 1 was so wrapped up). Getting to see the characters (somewhat) enjoy peace while not knowing the events were in motion to see it all come crashing down was a great sense of dramatic irony, iMO.

Anyway, I loved S4 plenty when I watched it for the first time, and I love it even more now! It's my 3rd fave season, which considering how much I adore and have nostalgia for S1, is saying something. If this is the show's 'lowpoint' I can't think of how even more incredible it's going to be

[cartoonfangirl1218]

Legend of the Dragon S1 Ep 14-26 Watch and Rewrite

Remember how I wrote that by the midway of the show, it was really picking up steam with more tension and intrigue between the siblings and the guardian world in general? It delivers by making Ling more human and less psychotic, Ang is less naieve, and there are far less slo-mo. Actually, in some episodes there is none and when they do use it, it's for appropriate dramatic purposes instead of filler.

Now, it's not without its flaws. The animation is still wonky at times, and it haas its generic melodramatic moments like there was four consecutive episodes in a row where Ang shouts at Ling when she leaves again. And I know it's supposed to be angsty but I just keep thinking of

Without the romantic conotations of course, but the melodrama yep.

Luckily it dies down. The humor (especially the sibling teasing) is top notch, creepy final boss villain, has some unique guardian powers and expands lore. The second half is a vast improvement and nicely sets up urgent business for season 2.

Now to the episodes, beware spoilers unless you want to watch it on youtube.

Sister, Sister has Ling split into four when she steals the rabbit armband and you can imagine the headache everyone has in having to deal with an angry Ling, a depressed, apathetic Ling (that is Valley Girl for some reason), hungry Ling and peacemaker Ling. Zodiac Master has the biggest migraine of all when he gets overthrown by the Lings (literally, he's literally thrown off his own ship) and goes to the gang for help. 

While he relaxes in jail (confirming that regular Hong Kong police think he's a nutcase), the group goes to the Rabbit temple where the rabbit guardian, Hye has Ang all aflutter with a crush and Bengail with jealousy.

While this is mostly an amusing episode, I found the attempted character romance to fall flat on Bengail's side. While Ang is clearly experiencing his first crush (that's not going anywhere) and appreciates Hye's sympathetic ear in regards to his complicated feelings on his sister, Bengail's jealousy felt petty as she wouldn't even admit to her feelings. I just appreciate Hye for her maturity in playing along with Ang's crush and assuring Bengail that she has a role at Ang's side and can't be replaced. But tbh, I found her VA's high, soft voice to be lowkey annoying. 

I would rewrite this to have Bengail's jealousy over Ang's crush lead to a real fight over Ang feeling unsupported. He knows he shouldn't trust Ling and he mostly doesn't but he's tired of everyone dismissing his hope that she'll change. Everyone expects him to forget that she's his sister and they had seventeen years of history, good history. She wasn't always an evil psychopath and he feels like he's the only one who remembers that and he's tired of being called naive and a fool when she's the only family he has left.

Then Bengail can go into her own feelings since Ling had been her friend too and why she's much harsher on her. 

Otherwise, this was a fun episode with plenty of funny moments too and wit as Ang tricks the Lings into turning on each other as they figure out who is the real leader and whose the clone. Also apparently the only thing the clones agree on is shopping which is so random but funny. It does highlight a flaw that while the Lings go shopping, there are no background people. Maybe the clones scared them off but it’s more likely the animators didn’t have the budget to populate Hong Kong which makes it feel very empty. 

Associating with Vermin: Another good episode where Ling tricks Ang into believing the rat guardian,  is actually her in disguise pitting them against each other before she ambushes them and takes the rat band. 

By the way, the rat guardian is a feisty twelve year old girl, Ming (I think she's around the age) whose armband allows her to shapeshift into different animals (mainly rats and snakes) and wolverine claws. Literal wolverine claws! So cool! Seriously, why do they make the guardian powers so much cooler than the protagonists?

And while the rest of the episode is predictable in how they team up to take her down using  's knowledge of her temple, it's full of funny lines. Like when Ling does the villain monologuing explaining her deception and complains no one recognizes her brilliance. 

And -- just roasts Ang the entire time like when she says that the only protection she needs is protection from someone stupid enough to be tricked by their own sibling and he's supposed to be the golden dragon, not an oversized twit. 

Also Xuan Chi getting to be the voice of reason is always fun switch of personalities. 

Shell Game brings the return of the monkey band when Azng finds that a museum curator has it and in his attempt to not tip off the Zodiac Master goons that are spying on him, he accidentally lets the curator place the armband on a suit of samurai armor. 

No problem right, they just go back and steal it back. Yeah, Zodiac Master gets it first and brings the armor to life so he can use it like a jacked up samurai monster with monkey powers. 

Unfortunately since he cast a spell of evil it bites him and Ling in the butt when the samurai turns against them with another enemy of my enemy team up that ends up blasting the samurai to pieces and the monkey armband is lost to the wind again. 

If I had to change the episode I would just remove the trite fight between Ang and Xuan Chi on the morals of stealing and give Xuan Chi a bigger moment to shine as retrieving the monkey band is so important to his arc. There had been a moment when Xuan Chi decides to fight the samurai armor on his own because it's his armband and duty, it is played for laughs as he quickly runs at the armor's might. If it was played straight, it would have added more bathos to this fillery episode.

Thief of Power: A big time thief breaks into the dojo, seeking revenge on Master Chin. But before he does, Master Chin goes to Vietnam and the gang goes to get answers from Shoong and Chin. Yes, it's backstory time!!!! 

Apparently, Tommy the thief was actually the Pig Guardian whose greed led him to abuse his powers for thievery so Master Chin put him in jail. The big surprise is that Master Chin and Shoong were the ones that secretly broke him out because they needed him to complete a sacred ceremony to recharge the pig armband for the next 12 years. An interesting addition to the lore here is that one retains the power even in disgrace which explains Tommy's awesome moves and tank-like build. 

So it's up to Ang, Bengail and Xuan Chi to keep Tommy from getting the pig band while keeping him within the temple for the ceremony to work. It was cool interplay and this might be me getting used to the show but I feel like there was less slow mo in the fights so that was a plus. 

Horse Play had almost no slo mo! We’re getting places and by that I mean, Xuan, Master Chin are heading to the horse temple which Chin warms that things aren’t as they seem. 

That’s certainly true as Ang has to trust his instincts rather than his eyes to find the temple under the lake. I just find the setting choices for each temple cool especially as the horse is supposed to represent 

From there, Ang fights the Eternal Maiden who initially disguised herself as Manaho, the horse guardian but was so touchy feels and seductive that you know she’s bad news. 

At the same time, Chin and Xuan Chi find the real Manaho who warns they have to get the armband back before the volcano explodes. 

It all ends as predictably as expected but I thought it was a solid plot with good fight scenes. I would just give Manaho more of a personality, tying it back to the horse zodiac, specifically fire horse by showing her high spirited enthusiasm and well, fire. Something to make her more distinct as a character. 

Darkest before Xuan was a fun episode giving the pathos to Xuan that was missing in Shell Game. After being easily bested in a fight by Zodiac Master and Ling, Xuan feels more down about his skills as a sole combatant. His self esteem takes a further plunge when the former monkey guardian comes and rips him a new one. 

To be fair, he’s a grumpy old man the others don’t like as he considers them just kids and Bengali is more pretty than a warrior. And he’s bitter that Master Chin made him retire for Xuan to take his place. 

So Xuan goes to the dark side and gets a shadow band. Why he thought he’d be able to use it without getting corrupted, I have no idea but he gets corrupted. 

There’s fights and eventually Ang and Bengali save the day and remain Xuan of his worth but evil!Xuan is super entertaining. I just generally like Xuan’s arc of insecurity, confidence, slide backs and so on. 

Venom has a ticking clock plot when the Zodiac Master sics his cobra on the snake guardian, Cobra (I'm guessing that's a psyudenom or else her parents knew the future) poisoning her. And without her snake armband, she’ll need an alternative antidote or the snake armband, whatever comes first.  

Oh and their doctor from the mainland is an actual shapeshifting snake.

Pretty decent episode and has cool moments like Ang getting to use his dragon armband and Bengail’s Tiger armband in tandem. Like that’s the kind of creative action I want to see (tho I still they could have gotten a lot cooler than what they did do). Plus Zodiac Master backstory, apparently he had been the Snake Guardian before he turned evil. That explains why he attacked the snake temple in the pilot. I just wish they included it earlier and maybe showed a bit more of Cobra instead of her being unconscious for most of it. She was all British and badass in the pilot, she should be conscious more.

Empower the Darkest Ling brings back the spirit of the Emperor of Yin who possesses Ling into a dragon snake hybrid to with the power of shadow tiger/dragon/snake. He is on the hunt for one more armband since he needs four armbands to come back to life. 

Know who else is on the hunt for the shadow armbands? Ang and the gang because while the shadow armbands keep the world in balance, they're still corruptive.

It ends in battle, it’s not Ang vs Ling but Shoong and Ming come to help for a big guardian showdown.

And while Ling won't admit to being thankful for their help in un-possessing her, she says she's not ready to go back. Being possessed by the emperor gave her in even more power than what she would have with just the shadow dragon band or the golden dragon band. She wants more. 

But in big twist, she comes back to the dojo with the shadow tiger and shadow snake bands, warning them that the Zodiac Master cannot know but she is worried what would happen if the Emperor was resurrected. It cannot happen. 

It shows that there's still good in there. She doesn't want the world to end and it gives Master Chin hope for the first time that she can change. 

I know it all sounds like the plot for the second to last episode or part 1 of a finale. It's only the midpoint but I'd argue it would make a better finale. 

That’s why the only change I would make is to rearrange the episodes. Zodiac Master trying to resurrect the Emperor should be a bigger deal and should build to the finale instead of popping up midway and having a bunch of episodes in between. 

So I would switch The Last Dragon to episode 11 since that’s when Ling starts showing a hint of good again and is more willing to truce and help her brother. 

I would put the scene of Ling giving the shadow armbands to Ang in the end of Emperor of Darkest Yin since that would be after the emperor tries to suck her into the tomb, thus sparking her fear that she's in over her head. 

Spy Hard then would be ep 24 where Ling fights against the Zodiac Master for trying to corrupt the dragon temple. It’s then she realizes how far she has come from her original goal to get the dragon band and double cross Zodiac Master before he does real harm. Because again, she wants to win with honor. 

Then it can segue to Empower the Darkest Ling as episode 25 where Zodiac Master seeing that he is losing control on his second in command, has the Emperor possess them both in an attempt to seize more power and irreparably corrupt Ling which it does by sparking her thirst for more power and goes into the finale of Double Dragon as episode 26. Yes, much more angsty, dangerous and in keeping with the episode title.

Hair of the Dog has a mad scientist turning into a man-wolf, one powerful enough to overthrow Chow Chow (the dog guardian remember) for man animal supremacy.  

Luckily, Chow Chow’s pug heads to the dojo for help, preventing another Golden v. Shadow Dragon showdown. It’s a classic writer’s trick when you want to make someone sympathetic, make them like or rescue an animal. And even though I know what they’re doing, it does work to see how much Ling cares for the pug dubbed Cruiser. 

The episode also improves her in another way. After they all save the day together, Ang once again offers Ling a chance to stay, even get all the pets she wants. And Ling shows that she has gotten over her petty jealousy of her brother. She no longer cares about being Golden Dragon, but she cannot return because she doesn’t want to give up her shadow dragon.

The only thing I would change in this episode is the pug. Yes, he’s adorable but it would be more culturally significant to have a pekingese or a shih tzu since they were bred in ancient China to guard their temples just as the guardians guard their temples. 

 X Games Guardians: In the early 00s, there was an interest in the skating craze. X Men Evolution did it, Scooby-Doo did it and now Legend of the Dragon is trying to show how hip they are with the kids by having some young skaters unintentionally steal the ram armband from Zodiac Master. 

From there it’s a game of “keep away” with different skaters trying out the ram power as the gang tries to get it back before the Zodiac Master blasts them all in fury. 

It would be pretty forgettable but it’s saved that they have Ling on the side of good again and bonding with the original thief/street urchin, Jungi, who she sympathizes with trying to be let in the inner sanctum of the big kids (or in Ling's case, becoming a guardian) and pushed aside (though Ling kinda deserved it).  

A way to fix this episode would just get rid of the slang and x games references. Keep the interest in skating since that will always be popular but try to not to date it. Also, make the teens more competent so they aren’t outmaneuvered by a bunch of preteen skater street urchins, I mean that was just embarrassing. 

Lost and Found has more revelations for the twins about their supposed dead family members. After fighting with the ram guardian, he accidentally let it slips that she seems so similar to her mother. He supposedly dead mother. 

So Ling goes to Ang so he could ask for answers from Master Chin. And yep, she’s alive but amnesiac and the former ram guardian!

Another solid episode that expands the backstory, improves the twins relationship with some good banter and doesn’t end too sappily with their mom automatically regaining her memory. Rather she’ll try as she reacquaints herself with her old yet oddly familiar home. 

Monkey See Monkey Do: For Xuan Chi's birthday, we go on yet another search for the monkey armband that leads to a walk on the evil side for Xuan. Well actually, a walk on the wild side since the evil mask Xuan Chi puts on to make up for his lack of power turns him into King Kong. I am only a little disappointed that they didn't take advantage of the scenario to do a classic king Kong holding Zodiac Master on top of the temple scene. 

Anyway, Xuan Chi learns his lesson not to use evil to his advantage, it will only corrupt you. While I like that they have the monkey armband be an ongoing arc, this one felt repetitive in the lesson of the day and in the scenario.

The only intriguing parts were Ling's willingness to tip off the good guys to prevent Zodiac Master from getting all the armbands to resurrect the emperor, and Ang talking King Kong Xuan with the classic 'Fight it, I know you're in there" speech.

Others may find it a cheesy cliche, I still enjoy the trope. I feel like it could have been stronger by having Ang recount Xuan's growth throughout the season and their friendship. You know, really pull the heartstrings. 

Double Dragon: I have no rewrites here. This was a good finale that has almost all the guardians returning, and Bengail and Xuan get their own spotlight moment in the final battle. The Emperor has a cool design. And it has Ling facing the ultimate temptation when the resurrected Emperor of Darkest Yin goads her to getting the golden dragon armband so she can have the power of yin and yang in ultimate balance. 

I just wish Ang had just a big chance to reflect on his growth and how he's progressed from slacker, naive, and undisciplined to the wise, competent Golden Dragon he is today. Also Cobra didn't return and no one turned into a dragon, still waiting for a cooler power upgrade there, but maybe that will be revealed in season 2.

And for the first time, I realized just how dark skinned, Ang and Ling are when in Golden/Shadow dragon form. I must have been oblivious but it does feel weird. Both as a race thing and the artists couldn't keep a proper color palette thing.

Also cliffhanger, it has a very intriguing cliffhanger that will make fighting Ling and Zodiac Master small potatoes.

[solitaryandwandering]

Tag Game!

I was tagged by the wonderful @waitmyturtles - I had so much fun reading her post and am super flattered to be tagged, thank you!! :) :)

Favorite Color: Tangerine!! But I love anything in the green family, so I often just say that.

Currently Reading: One of my goals this year is to get back into reading; I used to be a MASSIVE bookworm but that has fell off quite dramatically in the last few years. I miss reading fiction quite a bit. Technically, I am currently reading the script book of Dear Evan Hansen, my best friend's favorite musical. It's... a mixed bag for me. Super short, but it's taken me forever to complete especially as my love for movies and current obsession with BL has taken over my life. I also tend to turn to fanfiction quite a bit more than actual books, a trend that began in earnest in college in the midst of my required reading for courses. That must change!!!

Last Song: "Mercury" by Sleeping At Last on Spotify, all due to @ripeteeth using his lyrics in "Revachol Calling", a fantastic Disco Elysium fic I'm currently catching up on (another goal for this year: catch up on a bunch of the albums I've missed out on over the last couple years, primarily supplied by my lil bro @internetaddict2)

Last Series: Just caught up with the latest episode of Between Us last night, which is fantastic despite the boring filler. The last series I finished in its entirety was Cutie Pie which was a WILD ride I recommend to everyone and absolutely no one. I'll wait and see how the special turns out before deciding if I want to check it out, the co-branding and skinship behind the scenes of this show makes me honestly pretty uncomfortable.

Last Movie: Jerrod Carmichael: Rothaniel, directed by Bo Burnham - phenomenal stand-up (sit-down) special. I watched it on HBO Max. Highly recommend, especially to queers or to anyone interested in fresh takes on this medium of comedy. Fair warning, he does use the r-word at one point which is the biggest blight on this otherwise incredibly moving film.

Currently Working On: Folding laundry, calling people to get access to my antivirus account, eating and hopefully getting some chores done today. Working on pacing myself so I can tackle the huge projects happening for me this year. My intention for this year is to be more responsible in all aspects of my life, so here's to being gentle to myself while building new habits! ผ(•̀_•́ผ)

Now for tags! Uhhh, I got absolutely stumped so I'm just gonna tag five people who interact the most with my blog (other than you, Stephen, or anyone I'm unable to tag). I see you, I appreciate you, I think you're awesome!! No pressure at all to do this if you don't feel like it. @i-just-wanted-hyphens, @smileybiene, @theambiguoushero, @anonyma13 :)