#it's a very solid season finale but very lackluster series finale; which I REALLY hope it won't be

[heloflor]

Ah screw it, thoughts on the finale + something about one aspect of the show I really like (3.5k words below):

- Overall I’m pretty mixed on whether I liked it or not, and I think the main reason is because it left me wanting more but in a bad way. I think the main issue is that, since we don’t know whether the show will be renewed or not, this could very well be the series’ finale, and I can’t help but treat it as such.

But the thing is, while this episode works very well as a season finale, it doesn’t hold up as a series finale. It’s not “grandiose” enough, with a lot of characters not having much to do because they didn’t have enough time for everyone.

Now that’s more of a me problem but I think another issue about the pacing is that I’ve gotten used to seasons or series finale being two-parters or longer when it comes to serialized/semi-serialized shows (My Little Pony gen 4, ATLA, Owl House, Ducktales, Gravity Falls etc). So having only 20 minutes to solve everything doesn’t feel like it’s enough, especially when you consider the scope this battle could have had.

Like I really wish (no pun intended) that Cosmo, Wanda, Peri, Anti-Cosmo and Anti-Wanda did more than just stand there (low-key feel sad for all you Anti-Cosmo fans out there, you guys got scammed); or that Hazel and Dev talked more since the core of the story is centered around their relationship; or Dev and Peri talking more; or that we saw more of the anti-fairies takeover or end the episode with a fight between fairies and anti-fairies, like I know the fight at the end of “Best Of Luck” was low-budget but it was still fun (also Cosmo spending the entire show hiding behind Wanda when things get tense only to throw hands with Irep without a second thought just to defend his son’s honor was amazing)!

So yeah, when taking it as a potential series finale, it doesn’t hold up well and feels too rushed. That being said I do think that it’s good as a season finale, which hopefully it will end up being.

- Something funny about this episode is that before watching it I was thinking about how A New Wish is basically two different shows glued as one.

On one hand you have the fun episodic show about Hazel having fairy godparents granting her wishes, making her learn life lessons while hanging out with her friends Jasmine and Winn. On the other hand you have 8-9 episodes basically giving us a 2-hours serialized show about Hazel’s relationship with Dev and their mutual connection with fairies. And in a way, you could watch those 8-9 episodes as standalone and still get a full interesting show the same way you could watch all the other episodes in any order and have a fun show.

(for those asking the episodes I see as creating a serialized show are “Fly”, “A New Development”, “Lost and Founder’s Day”, “Battle of the Dimmsonian”, arguably “Lost in Fairy World” (Dev discovering Fairy World + setting up the Fairywinkle-Cosma family dynamic), "Operation: Birthday Takeback”, “Best of Luck”, arguably "Fairy for a Day” (more focus on anti-fairies + introduction of magical backup), “The Battle of Big Wand”)

But then the finale kinda breaks this view by referencing many of the episodic ones, which tbh I really like! It just gave me a bit of a laugh that I was all like “damn it’s like two shows in one, that’s cool” only for the finale to make me go “nevermind you gotta watch every episode to understand it”.

- Going into the meat of the episode, first of all I can’t help but wonder if the “rule-free wish” thing is how one of Cosmo and Wanda’s previous godchild caused WWI.

- Also I have to agree with Hazel already making one million wishes being ridiculous. Like one million is a lot, and from the looks of it she only got her fairies for a year max, likely way less. That being said, both Cookie episodes show that Hazel makes a lot of wishes outside of what we see, which I’m assuming was the writers’ way of setting up that she could reach a high number in a fairly short time.

- I kinda love Irep in this episode, he’s mainly just vibing and having fun, good for him. Also love how we see more of an “immature young adult” side to him.

- Speaking of childish I really like how much you can tell Dev is a kid here. Most of his wishes are pretty juvenile (being king of the world, changing stuff to his name), he’s doing all this to get his father’s attention, he laughs at the thought of fairies turning into confetti (appropriate reaction for a kid who doesn’t know it’s lethal tbh), gets worried for Peri, doesn’t want to capture any fairies beside the ones he knows. He’s really just a hurt kid in the end, and I like that they fully acknowledge it.

On that note, while I do like that he suffers consequences for his actions, I really hope he’ll get the help he needs in a possible season 2 with a potential redemption, even if it doesn’t come from a fairy (though I’m already seeing theories that his glasses might have saved him from mind erasure).

- Not sure how to feel about Hazel having her friends + others help take back Fairy World. On one hand I really like the idea and it’s cool to see so many references, on the other hand Jasmine, Winn and Anthony are severely underdeveloped characters so I can’t bring myself to care that much about them (and I care even less about the extras they brought with them). That’s kind of what I meant too earlier when saying I wanted more of Hazel and Dev interacting, I find the two of them much more interesting than the peanut gallery.

That being said I really like that they were smart enough to deduce something was up with Hazel, same with them keeping their memories at the end. It’s a very cute wish and it opens the door for a lot more ideas if season 2 happens.

(And for those complaining about Hazel not using her wish for Dev because “he’s a 10 years old kid trying his best!”, reminder that Hazel is also a 10 years old kid trying her best; give her a break!)

- I know I said it before but I really like Dale as an antagonist! I think it’s because, unlike a villain like Mark Beaks from Ducktales, there’s a level of malice/deviousness and manipulation to Dale that make him come off as much more of a threat. Like it feels like if he were to lose his fortune, he’d still find a way to cause problems and worm his way into a position of power.

Also he’s low-key the main reason why I want a season 2 (outside of wanting to see more of those characters having fun and interacting with each other). I’d love an arc focused on him trying to figure out Hazel, with Dev being stuck in the middle between wanting to help his dad and protecting his friend.

(on that note I had an idea for a few days about Dev selling out Peri to Dale in hopes to help with Project H, like telling him godparents exist and showing off his own as proof + using Peri as bait to capture Cosmo and Wanda, but it’s one of those ideas with a beginning and somewhat middle but no end, so I might write it down as some “A New Wish but the anti-fairies never showed up” kind of fic but I’m not sure since I don’t know how to finish it 🤔)

- For Peri, I was on team “there’s no way they’ll do magical backup...right?” so I’d say I was both surprised and not surprised by it. That being said they did a wonderful job foreshadowing it, hence why so many people expected it! Between Dev being seen without Peri in his last few appearances, Peri chilling at what is now fully confirmed to be Cosmo and Wanda’s house, and their last episode together (Best of Luck) having no wishes due to the rules, the way they went with it was very clever!

- On a more negative note I’m not a fan of how gross magical backup is. Like I have no issues with the bloating since it’s kind of the point of it since the og show (the fairies inflate until their bodies can’t handle it anymore and explode), but the vomiting and eyes going on a side were a nope for me. Also not the biggest fan of them making a joke out of it.

- While like I said I wished Cosmo and Wanda did more in this episode, I do find it really cute that they spend the whole time taking care of their son and worrying for him.

Speaking of which, while I know it’s human nature to care about your loved ones like that, there’s something incredibly sweet about how Fairy World is a mess and all fairies are going to die eventually due to it (and from the looks of it removing their magic completely is speeding up the magical backup process) yet all Cosmo and Wanda care about is their son being safe and sound. Hell even when talking to Dev, they’re not doing it to free themselves or save Fairy World, they’re only trying to save Peri. Again, I know that’s just how people are but I still find it adorable.

- And on that note, the fact that the show never made a parallel between Dev and Peri’s family situations is probably the biggest missed opportunity of this season! I mean even just in this episode! Dale’s son is at the top of the world yet this guy barely cares and just uses the situation for himself. Meanwhile Cosmo and Wanda are fully focused on their son being safe and recovering, even with their world ending around them.

Like there is literally a scene of Hazel coming to the rescue which worries Dale and Irep, making them ditch Dev who’s like “yeah don’t worry I’ll be fine”, showing his father doesn’t show concern for him, while concern is the one thing Cosmo and Wanda are currently showing for their son!

My guess as to why they passed up this very obvious parallel is because they wanted something that anti-fairies have that fairies don’t (so Dev would be interested in siding with them) and the lack of rules was the most obvious thing, thus making Dev’s problem with Peri be that Peri follows the rules to a T.

But even then it’s sad they passed up this opportunity. It could’ve made Dev even more heartbreaking (have him frown sometimes when Peri is with his parents, or be confused when seeing Peri ask for space, stuff like that) + is a really good reason for Dev to dislike his fairy + it would be an interesting way to show Peri’s inexperience, with him being oblivious to the situation until Dev blows up on him about it near the end of the season + there could have been ways to connect it with Irep, if only for the fact Irep grew up in Peri’s shadow (dude straight up cries when Dev tells him he’s much better than Peri in “Best of Luck”).

So yeah, this side of their relationship was such an obvious thing and it’s a bit sad they never used it.

- And since I’m at it, that scene with Wanda trying to convince Dev to help them is just more proof to me that Cosmo and Wanda would be much better godparents to Dev than Peri. Like Wanda manages pretty well when explaining what magical backup is and talking the kid into considering helping them, with Cosmo even pointing out that him having fairies won’t give him the one thing he wants.

(Also love how Cosmo immediately tries to shut Wanda up when she does the “deep deep deep inside” thing because “hey honey how about we DON’T anger the one kid that can save our son’s life?!” Between this and him attacking Irep in “Best of Luck”, I’m low-key fascinated by how Cosmo seems to take things more seriously than even Wanda when it comes to his son’s well-being. And I swear as someone who didn’t care much about Cosmo in the og show, I can’t get over how much I adore the way he’s written in New Wish!)

And yes I know Peri is the one to change Dev’s mind by telling him he cares, but idk this moment didn’t hit as it should for me. I don’t know if this is due to the lack of interactions between those two in those last few episodes (including this one), the fact Peri’s condition is played as a joke or the quick pacing but yeah, this line didn’t hit.

On the other hand Cosmo’s line about how a fairy can’t fix Dev’s situation works incredibly well, thus making me think more about how Cosmo and Wanda should be the ones in charge of this kid (Cosmo especially, like on top of this line I’m also thinking back on this scene at the beginning of the birthday episode with Cosmo being able to comfort Dev a little about Dale missing his birthday. Have I mentioned how much I love Cosmo’s writing in this show?).

Although it’s worth noting that while I believe Dev and Hazel switching fairies would be better for everyone involved (Hazel having a big bro, Dev having parental figures, Peri learning that taking care of a kid also means connecting with them and having fun, Cosmo and Wanda having complicated relationship with their own parents that makes it easier for them to understand Dev, the fairy trio would still hang out but by having this switch up Cosmo and Wanda could explain to Dev why they’re like this with Peri thus helping him understand that his dad’s a pos), ultimately I’m glad the show went the direction it did as there would be a lot less conflict otherwise.

- Still on Peri, I’m a bit curious as to what they’re going to do with him now. Is he going to get assigned to another random kid or change jobs thus only showing up occasionally? Is he going to be a third fairy to Hazel like he was back with Timmy (tbh given how he wants to be seen as an adult, I don’t really see him do that, but then again he might feel incompetent after failing with his first godkid and might want to get some more “training” in a way by working with his parents?)? Is he going to try and help Dev without revealing his identity as a fairy, or on the opposite side fight to get back with this kid?

Especially considering how popular his character got, I could see the team having plans for him to show up from time to time only for the network to be like “no no no we need more of him he’s bringing up the ratings!” Granted part of the team doing this show worked on Infinity Train so I trust their writing when dealing with potential executive meddling (can’t talk for Craig of the Creek since I haven’t watched it, it’s on my list tho).

- Last on Peri, I’m very amused that the season ends with him breaking the fourth wall, because given how he’s a big reason why the show eventually got a lot of attention, it’s incredibly fitting for the show to end on him. But at the same time, I’m assuming the whole season was fully finished before it started airing, meaning the crew had no idea how people would react to an aged-up Poof, especially with him being considered “the beginning of the end” of the og show. So the crew basically did a gamble here and it worked in their favor!

Finally, something that has nothing to do with the episode itself but I still wanted to talk about it: I find it very interesting how the way Cosmo and Wanda act with Hazel seems to be the norm for how they usually act with godkids compared to Timmy.

To explain better, from what we know fairy godparents are only supposed to be with a child for a few months, until the child feels good enough to continue without them (or they break the rules, mostly by revealing their fairies).

Timmy was a huge exception to that, mostly because his situation couldn’t be fixed by fairies (something I’m very happy they acknowledge with Dev in this finale). Timmy has incredibly absent parents, an abusive babysitter, is bullied at school, his teacher hates him, he’s failing academically possibly due to his babysitter’s abuse and his parents never being there… None of that can be fixed by having fairies for a short while, what Timmy needs is to be taken away and put in a healthier environment (granted the foster system is utter shit so it’s doubtful how much they would help).

And yeah because of his situation, not only did Timmy need his fairies for longer, but Cosmo and Wanda basically became his parents. Now I haven’t watched the show in a long time so I could be wrong, but from what I remember Cosmo and Wanda basically saw Timmy as their own child. Hell even once Poof was around Timmy wasn’t treated all that differently, the main difference was that Poof is a baby so needs more attention. Other than that, Timmy was like a son to them, reinforced by them spending 7 years with him. This also explains why their retired after him, it was literally like losing their own child!

(And unpopular opinion but considering his situation I can understand why Timmy would make his secret wish. He was a child terrified of losing the only people who love and take care of him on top of forgetting them. Of course he’d go to such an extreme!)

In comparison, Hazel already has involved if not busy parents who love her and are doing their best. As a result, Cosmo and Wanda feel less like parents to her and more like adults she can trust and confide in. In other words, what godparents are supposed to be. And yeah I really like that! Timmy was the exception, so it’s interesting to see how Cosmo and Wanda usually operate!

Btw I give Hazel 2 maybe 3 years top before she doesn’t need them anymore. She’s already in a pretty good situation by the end of season 1, she clearly won’t need them as long as Timmy. On that note, while I could see A New Wish get a third season, if they get a fourth one and still make it about Hazel having Cosmo and Wanda, it might start stretching the limits of suspension of disbelief.

And since I talked about Poof and Timmy, like I said in a previous post it’s interesting how you can clearly see a huge difference in how Cosmo and Wanda are with Hazel and how they are with Peri, which reinforces this aspect of Hazel being how they usually operate. On that note, I’m very impressed with how Cosmo and Wanda talk to Hazel like one would with a child without making you think that they’re her parents, while at the same time having them talk to Peri like an adult (for the most part) yet you can clearly tell he’s their son. I swear the character writing in this show is so ridiculously good (outside of Hazel’s classmates)!

But yeah all this to say after coming from a kid that Cosmo and Wanda basically saw as their own child and pretty much raised themselves and were likely devastated to lose, it’s very interesting to see them get back to how they’d usually interact with their godkids. Also what I love about this is that it allows Cosmo and Wanda to have a life outside of Hazel. They have an apartment/house, focus on their marriage, interact with other humans, get invested in Peri’s life. Again it’s very interesting to see them have this kind of “work-life balance” for a lack of a better term.

And like I said in the previous post mentioning them acting differently with Hazel and Peri, in no way am I saying that Cosmo and Wanda don’t care about Hazel. They very obviously love her, they just don’t see her as their daughter the way they did with Timmy.

Oh and since I’m talking things about the overall show, I think my favorite episode overall is “Lost and Founder’s Day”, least favorite is “Dig a Little Deeper”.

For favorite character I’m really hesitating between what I consider the major 5 characters (Hazel, Dev, Cosmo, Wanda, Peri) as I absolutely love all five of them. But if I had to rank them as of right now it’d be 5. Wanda; 4. Peri; 3. Dev; 2. Hazel; 1. Cosmo. The order might change tho, again I love all five of them. Least favorite character would probably be one of Hazel’s classmates due to how underdeveloped and uninteresting most of them are (I do like Whisper Fred though, and the teacher Mr. Guzman).

So this was supposed to be part of my other fop post but it got way too long (both posts did tbh) and is a different topic than the other one. So yeah here’s a bunch of random thoughts about the show in general from what I’ve seen of it. For context I’ve only seen the first 4-5 episodes + “Battle of the Dimmsonian” + the Cosmo-Wanda-Peri scenes in “Lost in Fairy World” and “Operation: Birthday Takeback”.

SPOILERS for “Operation: Birthday Takeback” for the last three dashes (2.4k words below):

- Putting it in first since it’s still related to Peri but I’m pretty amused by the whole “Tumblr sexyman” situation. I mean, less than two weeks ago all canon pics we had of him were baby pics. It’s the same deal when I see people call him a father figure to Dev, I can’t help but be like “wdym father figure? He’s barely an adult! He’s too young!”

It’s like imagine you have a neighbor who have a baby when you’re 9-10, then they move out and 20 years later you meet their kid as an adult. You can clearly tell they’re an adult and treat them as such but also it’s a bit weird bc your last and only memories of them were of a baby. Idk, I see Peri’s character as an adult but also he’s still a bit of a kid, you know? I feel like I explain this better in the other post tbh.

- In retrospect it’s also very funny to see how, when people talk about the decline of fop, they point at the inclusion of the new characters, including Poof. Yet look where we are now! If you thought the baby was the problem, apologize to him, now! /j

But yeah more seriously, personally I never minded Poof. He was definitely a useless addition, like outside of the handful of episodes focused on him he mostly just stands there looking at the other characters, but he was also a cute baby, so I’ve always been fine with him being around. He’s a useless but inoffensive addition, and I think the decline of the show around that time had less to do with him and more to do with the writing as a whole.

- Last thing about Peri before moving on to the show in general, which tbh I could've put in the other post: I've seen people talk about the idea of Hazel and Dev switching fairies and I kind of agree with it.

Not only because Cosmo and Wanda have the experience needed to help a kid like Dev (though it wouldn't be all sunshine and rainbows) while Hazel's situation is easier for Peri, but also it's worth noting that Dev needs a parental figure, which Cosmo and Wanda can be, while Hazel misses her older brother, who Peri is around the same age of. Idk, I feel like this could work, or at least make things easier for everyone involved (but also especially for Dev).

- Something I originally wanted to put in the tags of the other post but fuck it: I’m really not a fan of them releasing the episodes so soon one after the other. With serialized shows, I’m always been more of a fan of having an episode a week you can chew on and theorize about, rather than being given everything at once. Also it takes a while for the cargo to get on the ships if you catch my drift.

I’d also complain about seeing all those plot-related episodes one after the other with none of the more casual stories in-between that give us more character moments, but honestly that’s on me for looking up spoilers.

- Going to the early show, I think the first episode is such a good introduction! I especially like the amount of focus on Cosmo and Wanda, it’s good to have them reintroduced given how flanderized they became in the og show. I’m especially happy with Cosmo! He arguably had it worse than Wanda in the og and it’s so good to see him shine this much in this first episode (also I love his human form having a bit of a gut)! On that note, they did a fantastic job having them around a lot while still giving Hazel enough time to be introduced properly and get us to care about her as the MC!

But yeah I really like this first episode, fantastic beginning to the show! The only issue I “really” have with it is the way Cosmo and Wanda go back to being godparents just because Hazel made a strong enough wish or something, it felt a bit arbitrary rather than them just telling her who they are.

And on that note, big fan of that one scene where they immediately notice her trying to run away and try to talk her out of it. I love the contrast between them starting off as disasters being barely capable of passing off as humans at the beginning of the episode, and them being perfectly in their element the second they start talking to Hazel about her running away in this scene. It’s such a good way to see how much experience they have with taking care of kids!

- I’m not going to go episode by episode but one thing that bothers me a lot in the second one is that rule of “kids should get whatever they wish for”. Doesn’t that...go against the whole concept of having rules in the first place???

They should’ve replaced it with something along the lines of “a kid should always get the fairy that fits them the best”, not only bc it would work perfectly well for the episode, but also from what I’ve heard Foop (now Irep) is coming back and I could 100% see him use that rule to his advantage given Peri and Dev were such a bad match (I’m guessing anti-fairies don’t actually follow Da Rules but maybe they could still use it as an excuse regardless since fairies do have to follow them or something?)

- Call we talk about the fact Hazel is clearly autistic? Like is this a canon thing in the show? Are there people out there talking about it? No because seriously:

The fidget toys (Cosmo and Wanda’s disguises), her special interest for rocks, her anxiety over making new friends which is reinforced as uncommon when that one girl she befriends comments on how easy and not scary it is to approach other people (also Hazel’s “what am I supposed to talk about with them? School lunches?” comment in the teachers friend episode), her liking for fries which could be seen as her being potentially picky (bit of a stretch tho), her comment about liking the DMV if only for the reaction she gets that makes her seem “different”, her struggles to come up with a wish on the fly with minimal/vague instructions (episode 2), her character arc throughout the show apparently having to do with her not wanting things to change (me too girl), her being considered mature for her age, the angry outbursts when things don’t go how she hoped, pretty sure there’s also a lot of stimming that I have yet to pick up on (see if any of them repeat often). Like, there’s no way ALL of that was a coincidence!

I’d also like to mention at the beginning of the Dino episode, when her dad is explaining things to her, he starts talking louder and louder in excitement until his wife tells him to quiet down. Makes me think her dad’s likely neurodivergent as well. Also this moment hurts my soul a bit, as someone who’s both been on the receiving end of it and done it to someone else, in both cases it sucks.: /

- Took me until like episode 4 to realize the town she lives in is named after the Dimmadomes, with the hat in it (the very first shot of the intro). Also you can see their infinite house in the background, both in that shot and the show in general, and I absolutely adore that they committed so hard to this joke! That giant ambiguously-shaped-like-a-hat skyscraper that we never see the top of is just *chief kiss*.

- On that note Dev’s introduction in the first episode made me laugh, if only for the references. I also find it kinda funny he has such a big speaking role considering he doesn’t do anything for the rest of the pilot and the next few episodes. Then again I guess it’s in character for him to make such a show of introducing himself.

- Still on general stuff, I’m a bit curious about how the timeline went in regards to Cosmo and Wanda retiring and going on vacation “right after” Timmy (iirc they don’t voice it like that in the show). Like I’m having a hard time believing they would just ditch their then-child son to go on vacation, and then come back when he’s an adult. So I ended up having a bunch of headcanons.

Basically, after leaving Timmy they do take what was supposed to be a short leave to think of their future since it feels strange to get a new kid after so long with the same one + I like the idea that Cosmo and Wanda’s marriage did suffer while living with Timmy and they want to work on it before getting a new kid (the whole thing about them feeling confined, made worse if the “stopping time for 50 years” wish is canon) + Poof/Peri is struggling with the reality of having to leave Timmy behind and is nervous about his parents having a new godkid because of it.

Eventually they decide to retire, got to marriage counseling, possibly get Poof/Peri into therapy, and raise their son until he’s an older teen/young adult, at which point they leave for their vacation. And while the vacation is 10 thousand years for them, it’s like, 5 years at max in their present. And in that meantime, Peri starts his godparents studies (or however it works), leaves the house and changes his name.

Btw Cosmo and Wanda would 100% invite him to the vacation, he’d just refuse in a mix between wanting to be away from his parents for once, wanting to maybe surprise them a bit with his work and/or just get started with work, and not knowing how long the vacation would be. He’d also probably tell them to just use this time as some new honeymoon to finish rebuilding their marriage (though by that point it must’ve gone back to being strong). Oh and Cosmo and Wanda would send Peri postcards every so often, which would also let him know how long they’ve been gone.

Once they come back from vacation, I’d imagine there’s like less than a month between them “moving to the human world” and meeting Hazel, hence why they didn’t reconnect with Peri. They didn’t really know how to contact him and were busy with the move, and afterwards they had a godkid to take care of so they couldn’t exactly go back to Fairyworld.

As for Peri, he hears through the gravepine that his parents are back, and would be happy until he realizes they’ve been gone for 10 thousand years, hence him freaking out about meeting them again (he doesn’t know how much they might’ve changed with how long it’s been). Also he can’t contact them bc he’d hear about them coming back due to them taking in Hazel, meaning they’re in the human world and he doesn’t know where. Also he might be intimidated to contact them, which doesn’t help his decision-making.

So yeah, that’s all for how I could imagine this whole vacation thing going and how it fits with them having a child.

- Since I’m talking about Cosmo and Wanda’s marriage, I’ve heard about the whole “they fixed their marriage” before watching the show and oh my god I can’t get over how fucking adorable those two are in this show!!! I fucking love them.

- And on that note I’m incredibly amused that this show had the balls to reference the mpreg. Twice. Especially since it doesn’t even specify the whole “that’s just how fairies work”! In the eyes of people who never watched the og show, “A New Wish” just casually dropped the fact that Cosmo’s a trans man (bc let’s be real, how else are you supposed to interpret those lines if you haven’t watched the og show?) or you get the vibe that the writers wanted to make him trans (+ Wanda by proxy since she’s Peri’s bio mom) but weren’t allowed so that’s how they got past the censors.

And I love this because you just know Hartman would be furious about it! With our current society more aware of trans people and how men can in fact get pregnant, I could definitely see him sweep the whole mpreg thing under the rug, hoping people would forget about his “”accidentally-progressive”” (and also very sexist 😒) episode, but nope! New show said Cosmo was pregnant and gave birth! And better yet it didn’t even elaborate further! It just goes “btw this guy has an uterus and was once pregnant, here’s his bio child if you need more proof” and then walks on like nothing happened, I love it!

- Going back to the episodes talk for the last three dashes, there’s that shot at the very end of “Operation: Birthday Takeback” that I really dislike. It’s the one when Dev lashes out on Peri, with him hovering over Peri who’s laying on the ground in fear.

Really not a big fan of this shot bc 1. It makes Dev look way too much like a villain, especially with the way Peri’s laying like a servant that gets beaten up, and 2. Peri, honey, you’re a grown ass man; why are you so scared of that 10 years old scarred kid that’s lashing out while in a very vulnerable mental state? What are you doing on the ground buddy? I’m not asking for him to fight back but at least stand up! Don’t act like that kid can actually hurt you! Btw I’m completely fine with Peri afterwards looking like a dejected puppy (after Dev makes his wish), it’s just that one shot with him on the ground that I dislike.

- Obviously I’m genuinely curious to see how things are going to go in the next episodes (which apparently air tonight?). Like obviously Dev is going to spiral but if you have a scene at school how will it go? How will Hazel feel about the whole thing? What about Peri? Is he going to be gone for a few episodes? Be a temporary third fairy to Hazel? Crash at Cosmo and Wanda’s for a while?

(Personally I’m hoping for the third option, it would be a good way to still give him appearances to show the main plot’s still going without giving him to much screentime, which could take away from Hazel. Also given how much he wants to appear independent, I don’t see him being a third fairy to her, though I think he’d be ok with staying at his parents for a bit, if only for emotional support (though tbh I doubt they’ll do that, most likely he’ll be doing his own thing off-screen for an episode or two). Also I want to see a “human” design for him)

OK so I wrote this yesterday before the Irep episode came out, so on one hand nevermind all that but on the other hand I’m letting it in bc I AM curious as to how things are going to evolve with our main cast, especially with Dev spiraling and pushing both his bestie and fairy away.

- Btw is nobody going to talk about how Vicky’s dress might be a reference to one of the “Oh Yeah” shorts?

- VERY LAST SECOND ADDITION, SPOILERS FOR IREP: So yesterday before I finished both this and the other post the new episodes dropped, with a few clips shared on Tumblr. And OH MY GOD IREP’S DESIGN!!! The fact that they kept him as a cube makes me so happy!!! I was HOPING at least ONE part of him would be a cube and they delivered!!! He looks like absolulte dogshit I love it!!! Bc yeah for some reason I remember Foop as a character you’re not supposed to take seriously at all? And as a result I really like how stupid Irep looks. A+ design right there! /gen

[tvdversefanfiction]

Thoughts on Legacies Season 3 Episode 1

Warning: Spoilers below, do not read if you are still to watch the season 3 premiere of Legacies.

“We’re Not Worthy”

Okay so I’m going to start with the acknowledgement that I know Legacies is a different tone to The Vampire Diaries, and that TVD was a different tone to The Originals, I am also going to acknowledge the fact that out of the three The Originals is by far my favorite, with TVD firmly in second place to which I am starting to believe Legacies will never manage to take said place from TVD.

For me the stronger episodes of Legacies are always going to be the darker ones, although I must admit there have been extremely cheesy moments that I’ve found to be a guilty pleasure...however, the overall softer more child friendly tone of this show has been hard to get behind but as a HUGE TVDverse fan, and fanfic writer, I’ve been pushing pass it and it sure does help that we have had several solid episodes per season, just no solid season, in my opinion.

My favorite character in Legacies has to be Lizzie Saltzman, Hope Mikaelson was hard for me to love because of the epicness of kid Hope but now I’m a strong fan of hers, and Josie Saltzman has her moments too.

Now on to the actual episode “We’re Not Worthy” thoughts...

Okay so Hope is MIA once again in another series premiere but instead of the show allowing it as a chance to further the supporting characters I found myself screaming at the television for Hope to just wake up already! (more on her waking up further down) This was an episode very much centered on Lizzie, Raphael, Josie, and Landon with some strong MG moments, and where I normally love any episodes Lizzie centric this one was a total dud for me!

Lizzie reverting to her old self is always a pleasure, especially seeing her protective sister side kick in towards Josie, Josie who just comes across completely ungrateful towards Lizzie, I know their co-dependency has a lot of issues but for me it gives me ugh feelings towards Josie and I know the word ungrateful is strong especially considering I did get Josie’s side but still, I’m glad we are going to have some Josie time out (talking about that further down too) to which I hope allows Lizzie, and her friendship with Hope, my favorite friendship Hizzie to grow, as well as allowing Josie to come back feeling lighter and being more fun as a character in general.

Raphael who is easily one of my least liked characters trying to force Landon to come back to life was some reasonably good filler, Landon’s quirkiness is often a pleasure to watch, especially alongside the over-campy guilty pleasure villain The Necromancer, a villain that could only work in the Legacies format. However, the idea of Landon in Raphael’s body was all kinds of wrong and I’m so glad they did not go down that route, I mean Hope waking up to find Landon in Raphael’s body would just be too cringe, mostly because Haphael or Rope, or whatever shippers call that one, should never happen IMO.

MG is a character who is just kind of there most episodes but then come the odd episode he really shines when given the chance and he really did in this episode, his team spirit was almost inspiring so major points for that and his cuteness.

So, in this episode we find Legacies tackling Camelot, with easily the worst CGI from the show so far, with the worst villain of the week the green knight, and the worst acting Nimue by far! 

This is easily the worst take on a rather epic tale I have seen to date it just felt all kinds of rushed and far too much like a theatre play on school that a kid wrote :(

Raphael turning out to have royal blood and being the descendent of Arthur would be interesting if it were any other character like MG for example, but with Raphael’s ill advised sudden love for his best mate’s girlfriend and him being MIA for a lot of season 2 his character just feels very misplaced to me and this plot feels to me like hey he does have a purpose after all, no thanks writers!

Lizzie and MG feel to me like their going down the route of a romance now more than ever, and although I did briefly ship them in an episode in season one I just feel like too much and at the same time not enough has went on for them to just wind up together this season, I’d like to see more growth between them both, changes, and development before they wind up together, if they wind up together but for now I’m not a shipper!

Now when Hope finally does wake up after Landon is brought back to life that whole scene just feels so lackluster, now I know what your thinking one minute I’m like wake up Hope next I’m complaining about her waking up but seriously her wake up could’ve been a bigger moment and I wouldn’t have minded next week’s episode being inside Hope’s mind which I reckon would have been a whole lot less Disney than Josie’s mind, a cheesy episode I enjoyed.

I just feel Handon reunited after one died and the other woke from a coma could have been more romantic or something, I do not ship Handon but they have had some really good shippable moments that I can not deny to the point I cannot deny them having a moment that forces me to ship them, this episode not being one of them.

So, we tackled Nimue’s involvement, Hope’s coma, Lizzie and Josie, Lizzie and MG, Landon’s brief death, and Raphael’s royal lineage which means it’s time to discuss Josie leaving to spend some quality time with her mother CAROLINE (Caroline Forbes easily being one of TVDverse’s greatest characters) Now a break from Josie I think is a great time not only to further herself but others when dealing without her, although I have a feeling her brief departure will not be very long at all.

Any mention of Caroline gets me screaming “Come back, Queen, come back!” and I know Candice King keeps saying never say never so each season I await only to be broken hearted for now two seasons in a row :( 

I get actors wanting to pursue other things, TVD was 8 years of that cast and crew’s life and TO was 5, so they deserve the break 1000%, I loved Freya’s return and I was never much of a fan of her character but it felt so needed for Hope and I cried at that reunion unashamedly. Which is why Caroline’s return would mean so much not just for fans of her character but for fans of the twins and finally getting to see mummy Caroline with grown daughters, on that same note bring back Rebekah Mikaelson, crazy aunt Bex would be perfect for a pop in to see her niece Hope.

Overall, this episode of Legacies easily goes into my do not rewatch unless your binging the show as a whole! It does have some great moments such as: Landon’s defiance over being revived, the overall campiness that is the necromancer and Lizzie putting Alyssa in her place, but it also has some horrible moments like Chad’s untimely death (loved him) Alyssa’s non exit, and literally everything Nimue related including the Shrek in armor villain of the week that they called the green knight.

NOTABLE MENTIONS

1) Chad’s dead, again! Only this time I feel like it’s a proper exit for the character, although hoping they bring him back. Love his scenes with the necromancer and even found myself shipping the two (Chad and Ted forever)

2) Josie’s off to see mummy Caroline, any mention of Caroline is notable. (Come back to us Caroline)

3) What the heck is going on with Lizzie’s hair? Is it a really bad wig or just styled so awful? It does not do the character or actress any justice whatsoever. (justice for Lizzie’s hair)

4) The Necromancer is clearly sticking around! Not to mention Alyssa and Raphael are still very much tied to him which we found out by Chad’s death (my heart keeps breaking)

5) MG, who is not my favorite character, is easily the character that shines the most in this particular episode. (MG on the rise?)

Episode Rating - 2/5 (Not the worst, but close)

[venus-says]

Kamen Rider OOO Episodes 17-32

I'm really holding myself to not make a joke with a Katy Perry song.

Yes, I'm late. Yesterday was my mom's birthday and I was taking care of that for the past three days so I didn't finish writing this post on time, I'M SORRY. But here I am now so let's get to the juice.

You know, looking from the point we left in the last post I expected things to go downhill and I was prepared to have another W's mid-season experience. Aaaaand I was wrong! And thank god for it.

The complaints I had from the first part are still present here, but they picked on the good points already present and expanded so much on them that when you put things on paper the positives more than compensate for the bad ones. As I mentioned before, arcs introducing a new "ranger" in the middle of the season are for the most part very hard to me, I usually don't like those, and the way they introduce Birth sure was rough in some edges. But despite the elements I dislike still being there, I've grown to like Akira/Birth and I think their inclusion to the cast played a big role in making this second part as solid as it was.

The come and go of the medals is still confusing and hard to keep up with, the antagonists are still kind of a mess, some of the MOTW plots are weak, but each one of these negatives come with a positive. Yes, is hard to keep track of the medals, but the new combo forms Os got in these episodes were amazing both in visuals and in powers. Yes, there are still many "factions" acting as antagonists, but each one of them had something added to them so they don't look just like a bunch of pawns trying to act like a king and just looking like a bunch of ants who broke formation coming back to their colony. While some MOTW didn't have a very engaging story, each one of them had at least one quirk that made them interesting.

If there are things I'd consider fatal flaws in this particular block of episodes I'd say they are: how they didn't know how to manage the GREED, Gotou's storyline, and those horrible episodes celebrating the 1000th episode.

Regarding the GREED, this is a problem I had in the first part as well, they're completely underused. First, they quickly ditched two generals (the ones with most personality) at once, so I thought we would see Uva and Kazari as two different forces going against each other, but no Uva was pushed to the side for the most of it and we only saw Kazari doing his things. Then there's the matter of Ankh's body who's sitting on a very thin line and sometimes it's pending more to the interesting side and in other times is just sitting in the "really, queen?" side of things. Now not everything is bad, adding a new GREED that wasn't one of the original 5 and having this GREED be merging with both Eiji and Dr, Maki is very interesting and I'm quite curious to see how it'll develop, I feel like they're building up for Maki be the final boss and I'm kinda thorned about it since I really like Kougami and I wish he was the final antagonist, but episodes 29 and 30 shed a new light on Dr. Maki and I started liking him a little more so I think I'm okay if that's the path they'll take.

Gotou is a mixed bag of feelings for me. I really started disliking him around episode 12, and I disliked him more when they started to hint him as being the next Rider to join, and I still think he's a very weak character and he's definitely not in my favorites' list. But I started to get more sympathetic towards him and a huge part of that is because of his interactions with Akira, I'm still not interested on seeing him becoming Birth but thanks to this period he spent with Akira I think when the change happens I'll be more open-minded for it. I also can't deny that he had a great part in on of my favorite stories of the season (Episodes 21 and 22) that made me soften my heart for him, seeing his internal conflict about his own sense of justice was very cool, the conclusion he came to wasn't what I wanted but it was still great nonetheless.

The 1000th episode arc was... just boring and embarrassing, I'm sorry. I know I don't have the knowledge of this franchise to catch all the easter eggs and such, but with easter eggs or no is a very weak plot and I wasn't interested in anything. Again, I'm sorry.

But now let's talk about the good stuff. First of all, I wanna take a moment to talk about the power-ups, Os got two new combos in these episodes and they're both great. Seeing that I'm a sucker for water powers I thought ShaUTa would be my favorite, and while it looks pretty good and the fight underwater we got as cool as heck my favorite form is TaJaDor, I love the design of the suit, I love the design of the wings, I love that attack with the peacock feathers, I love when he goes to the sky and start looking like a phoenix, that power-up is *chef's kiss* perfecto! I don't know if PuToTyranno is considered a power-up, but the form is also pretty darn good, I think the ptera wings are a bit weird and attacking with a tail is a bit too much for me (especially with that CGI), but I love the ax/gun weapon he got, and I can't wait to see more. (also PuToTyranno is a very fun name to me because "puto" is not a family-friendly word in Portuguese and I just can't help but crack every time I think of it XD)

Talking about characters, Eiji is as great as ever, his smartness continues being on point, he has great comedy moments, and the delivery on the emotional moments is very well done. What I liked the most about him in these episodes was seeing how he could gave some very strong speeches about justice and helping other people and said speeches didn't sound generic or fake like in the many other shows with a young male target audience. They were a bit idealistic while staying very grounded in reality which I loved. We also got to see the full scope of his backstory too, I don't necessarily love the part about he coming from a wealthy family, but I can see that this also adds a lot on his shoulders so I'm okay with it, is still a very strong character point. I thought it would take long to another Rider to dethrone Shotaro as my favorite, but Eiji is coming very close to it, let's see how the show will handle his character in this final third.

Ankh... is still Ankh. I thought they were building a narrative of him betraying Eiji, and I thought that could be a very nice point to make him grow as a character but that didn't come true so, I'm still kinda meh about him. Hina is still boring, but this time I'll blame all on the actress/direction they gave to her because there are good moments for her here but the delivery is very lackluster. Chiyoko is still a very nice side character, I really liked her participation in episodes 29 and 30 with her interactions with Maki, I hope we can see more of this in the future.

The things in Kougami foundation are still a high point for me, Kougami himself seems to be becoming more crazy and obsessive as time passes and I just love it. Erika is by far the best support character, and I love that badass action scene they gave her in episode 20! I wish the booty shots didn't have camera angles that weren't so IN YOUR FACE, but I guess is a fair trade considering the many closeups on Eiji while he's on his underwear so...

I already talked a bit about Akira but I feel like I need to highlight him again. I wasn't expecting to like him this much, especially seeing how he crashed this party without previous notice, but I really enjoy him. He's so upbeat and straightforward, yet he's not just an easygoing character, we can see his dept and whenever he goes serious it doesn't seem like a very drastic change. It's kinda impossible to dislike this guy. I'm a bit afraid for him, because the signs that he's going to die are all here, and I don't wanna see him go because I like him so much, I hope that if they do it it'll be on a nice way and it'll make him justice, BUT I'LL TRY TO STAY POSITIVE TILL THE LAST MINUTE AND I'LL BELIEVE THAT HE'S NOT GONNA DIE (pls OOO, don't crush my heart).

I believe this is all I had to say, I can't believe I'm already so close to the end of this wonderful series, I really hope they won't drop the ball in this final stretch. How yall feel about the middle portion of OOO, anything you agree or disagree with? Let me know in the comments. See you, folks. o/

[jmsa1287]

'The Good Place' Says Goodbye with a Lackluster Season 4

“The Good Place” comes to an end with a rough starting to Season 4. (Spoilers for the show’s first three seasons follow!)

Over its four-season run, "The Good Place" proved that the network comedy is not dead and that you can still do a lot within the boundaries of the broadcast. In fact, the show proved to be one of the most innovative series in recent memory. Created by Michael Schur, who most people will know for his writing on "The Office" and "Parks and Recreation," "The Good Place" has more in common with "Lost" or "The Leftovers" than it does "The Big Bang Theory" or "How I Met Your Mother." For its first two exceptional seasons, "The Good Place" pulled off some of the most incredible twists in TV history, revealing that its core four — Eleanor (Kristen Bell), Chidi (William Jackson Harper), Tahani (Jameela Jamil) and Jason (Manny Jacinto) — were never really in The Good Place but torturing each other in an experimental Bad Place, created by demon Michael (Ted Danson) and his all-knowing humanoid Siri, Janet (D'Arcy Carden). A lot has happened since that massive twist and, after the fallout of a not great Season 3, the crew have to save mankind by proving that there's something wrong with the system that judges humans and sends them to The Good Place or The Bad Place. After convincing a cosmic judge — Judge Gen (an out-of-this-world Maya Rudolph) — that humans are capable of becoming better beings, the six are allowed to recreate Michael's experiment with four new folks chosen by the rulers of The Bad Place. Among the new test humans is Chidi's ex-girlfriend Simone (Kirby Howell-Baptiste), which is an issue for philosophy scholar Chidi. It's decided that he get his memory completely erased, forgetting that he and Eleanor had fallen in love, and that he becomes one of the new test subjects; oblivious to his past and his relationship with Eleanor, who now is playing Michael's role as "architect" of the fake Good Place neighborhood.

There's no coincidence that the begging of "The Good Place" Season 4, which debuts on NBC Thursday, mirrors the start of Season 1, except this time both its characters and the audience are the ones behind the curtain. That choice feels like Schur and his team are recalibrating the comedy, setting up something major for down the line. But much like a not-great-Season 3, the final installment of the popular series doesn't move the needle much over the first four episodes. Instead, it's a lot of back-and-forth with the crew working out the kinks in their new experiment and avoiding the trappings set by the folks from The Bad Place as they hope their new test subjects have the innate ability to become decent and good people. Things get particularly exhausting in the fourth episode in which a Bad Place demon offers some questionable information about Michael, sending Eleanor, Tahani and Jason into a tailspin we've seen before. At its best, "The Good Place" has been a brilliant balance of high and low brow humor. It's asking its audience to think about existential questions while making poop jokes; it has some of the best and snappiest writing of any current comedy. At its worst, the show can get caught up in itself, like Chidi in the stellar Season 2 episode "The Trolley Problem," in which he's faced with the famous ethical dilemma and goes in circles trying to figure out what he should do. Between the love triangles, the countless reboots of Michael's Good Place experiment, and now Season 4's repeat of that same experiment (but with different variations, of course) "The Good Place" feels inert. But Schur has built up enough credit and faith that it's very likely the next 10 episodes of the final season will make up for any misgivings, moving far beyond whether the crew succeeds or fail at their experiment. Still, people are likely returning to "The Good Place" because it's often genuinely funny and has solid performances from its leads (a shout out goes to Carden, however). It's also exciting; with a wild premise, there's no telling what can happen week-to-week. And Schur is incredibly wise to end "The Good Place" with four seasons and 53 episodes — a rare feat for a network show, which tends to be built to last for hundreds of episodes over several seasons. Instead, he takes a note from prestige cable drams, bringing the story of four misfits and their interdimensional friends trapped in the afterlife to a hopefully satisfying close.

[blueskyheadleft010]

A few stray thoughts [Wrapping up watching Voltron S7]

But okay, first off I want to say this is obviously spoilery so don’t like, don’t read.

Also, my opinion will probs be a bit contradictory to most of the tumblr voltron fans, but bare with me here, I just wanted to point out some interesting things...

Okay so first, I just wanted to say the the ‘Family Feud’ rip off ep made me want to gag, and the only thing I liked about it was Pidge being smart enough to fool ‘Bob the host’ into letting his guard down so she could attack him.

Also, why? was it even needed? at all???? Honestly, the whole ep was like an animated bad work of fiction, and I seriously cannot believe the writers would pull this kinda crap so late in the series.

Moving on, there were points in the show that had me excited but there was also low points were I just wanted the story to move on and I felt like they were trying too hard to connect crucial moments and ended up adding in random junk because they had no idea what to fill in.

For example, the druid fight and finding Kolivan could’ve been shortened way down and honestly nothing would’ve changed.

Also, can we just talk about how Kolivan was being held? And (possibly) waterboarded?!? When I first saw that I was like, ‘woah, holy shit guys. That’s not okay. That’s not an okay thing to do/show’. That was fucking terrifying to watch, and even if he wasn’t being treated that way, the fact alone that he was being held in the air by rope in a very painful position is very scary and if Kolivan was real I would’ve been seriously concerned how tf he lasted so long without losing circulation to at least his extremities.

‘The Last Stand’ was where I began regaining my interest in the story as finally we got to see Sam back on Earth, and hot damn did he ever deliver the justice that the Garrison deserved. 

I also liked Iverson not ending up being a jerk, and was honestly just trying to keep the peace and do the right thing. It was a huge improvement, and whether or not he deserved this change in character, he reminded the audience that people can change and become better, which is something I can get behind 100%. :)

(Lol, tho I totally predicted the lady commander being evil. She had her head too far up her butt to see the light of day. Doesn’t mean I agree with her dying tho :U)

Anyways, I love how Sam just ends up taking the reigns, being an overall wonderful/kind man, and laying down the law just flat out instead of trying to play nice and let Earth be mowed over by the Galra. (Would’ve liked to have heard from other global powers about what their thoughts were on this whole plan, but meh I guess that would’ve been too crazy to write with everything else going on.)

What I didn’t expect was how long they were going to focus on the Garrison arc, and like, all the people inside. Like, that’s fine I guess? but it made me worry that we were going to be seeing something like Go!Lion or have another voltron team or something, and really the only 2 people on the fighter team we knew were Keith’s rival? and Lance’s sister, but the other people might as well have just been random civilians because idk what their background was other than they were good pilots. 

(also was the blond chick autistic or something? idk she just seemed a little less socially adept and more like a calculating computer, and god would I have loved it if they said she was and showed more about her and the other people because I can just sense a story behind them...)

It was cool seeing Earth tech and Altean tech work to make the Atlas, but seriously? SERIOUSLY?!?!? You just HAD to make another voltron toy to sell didn’t you Dreamworks? V_V

Why did you make Shiro be the pilot? Why did the Atlas have to become the new Castle of the Lions? How come Coran couldn’t help with anything aboard it? HOW COME THE SHIP DIDN’T FREAKING BLOW UP AFTER THAT FIRST SPACE SHOT?!?

All of this felt weird and odd, and like now that it is the new CotL, idk what to think. It’s just odd to have a bunch of military/space cadets running about on a ship and listening to young adults/teenaged voltron pilots tell them what to do to help in a war.

Also, how come we didn’t see anything about the humans as slaves in Galra encampments? Like, is humanity screwed now? The galara did blow up their satellites, how will Earth work the same?

This was literally 9/11-WWIV to them. Which is so bizarre.

The paladins literally came back to an Earth that, for all they knew, was completely obliterated, and they were just walking over corpses. (There had to be some. There was no way every human on that planet evacuated in time.) That thought alone is weird to think about in a Y7 kids production.

Not to mention the fact that this even happened at all?? Like, I get the fear of Earth being destroyed is a terrifying thing, but the writers just kept dangling it over our heads so much that for a bit I genuinely believed that the amount of bs going on against the heroes would just pile up and the Earth was just going to be fucking obliterated by how many holes were in their plans. The only thing keeping me from that was the fact that there would be no show if they did that, but that’s not a very comforting thought, nor does it make me want to root for everyone. What’s the point when you know how it’s going to end?

Idk, it was so out of place I felt like I was watching an entirely different show. Since when did the paladins ever fight like military pilots? Why and how were there random pockets of human resistance that could somehow communicate to each other? How tf did the Garrison come up with tech to stop the drones from sending out signals to each other? Why didn’t they use that to stop Sendak’s ships???

Granted, there was some solid planning (mostly from Sam) that was genuinely smart (like the mini satellites they used that were too tiny and so many that the Galra couldn’t shoot at them); but most of everything after ‘The Last Stand’ episodes became a giant martyr after giant martyr of the team defying the odds but not having time to catch their breath. And that last robeast? I get why they needed to show off where the Altean colony went to, but the fight was lackluster compared to fighting Sendak’s whole fucking army and winning. (Even Allura complains about this, showing how self aware this show actually is when they put their thinking hats on).

The fact that the robeast was even that fucking powerful in the first place was insanity and why would you even have an impossible to beat villain take down the most hard to kill heroic team anyways? Aren’t we trying to show how friendship saves the day? Why give Shiro that credit? What the hell does he have that the paladins don't?

Apparently a big fucking ship named Atlas. That’s what.

And now we move onto my biggest grievance: The deaths and near-deaths of characters.

Why. Just why?

It was so poorly done, and kinda random. Adam didn’t get the screen time the writers were building up for him. All of Shiro’s problems, his degenerative disease, his near death again after the clone body tried to reject him (which ‘thank you Shiro’ we ‘totally’ need to be reminded how much shit you went through when you were talking with Lance about it. Not cool), and then his new arm trying to kill him? Dealt with in like 5 seconds. False alarm! Shiro’s totally not gonna die this time! ( ͡ಠ ͜ʖ ͡ಠ)

But I think the worst one was at the end when Shiro is giving that speech to the  humans with the lions standing behind him not online after we’d just seen them crash land on Earth in a fiery blaze, and honestly??? I thought they were dead.

Goodbye my sweet precious babies, you died protecting Earth and now the fucking Garrison is gonna end up showing those knock-off paladin cadets into the lions and things are gonna be okay again~!

No joke, that’s what I thought. 

But then suddenly they’re fine? In a hospital??? Why???? WHAT?!?!?!?

Cue music overture with a montage of everyone’s families and friends coming to say hello to them (instead of explaining wtf happened to all of them) and lots of hugging and oh yeah we forgot about Matt so here’s two frames of him with his weird android girlfriend? thing and long ponytailed head.

Cute, real heartwarmer with Shay suddenly having an entire fucking Balmeran transport her to Hunk. (omg think of how that’s affecting Earth’s gravity atm, the ocean tides r gonna b so screwed over).

Anyways, I did begrudgingly like the new season; but only barely, and I was nowhere near as excited watching this one as I was with previous seasons. There was too much testing my suspension of disbelief, not enough breathers during the last bit, and just overall confusion from all the devastation and chaos caused by Sendak. (Where the hell is Haggar?????)

Overall the story seemed to be trying too hard, and I’m not happy with that. I want Season 8 to smooth over some of this, but I don’t have the highest of hopes. I honestly just want to see my paladin children happy and not fighting a war, and I don’t want to focus on random secondary characters anymore. I want fulfillment, I want the paladins to come to some sense of self satisfaction and growth, regardless of the shipping.

Season 7 took two steps forwards and two steps back with the character development. They progressed Hunk and Sam, but regressed Lance and the others a bit. Coran has officially become the doorstop, with Shiro getting a whole army to command, and random secondary cadets acting like their the lead characters of the show.

I don’t want that. I want the normalcy the show has had up till now. I just want back regular Voltron.

[megaboy335]

Mega’s Top 2017 Anime

Another year as come and gone so as usual it’s time for me to list my top 5 favorite anime of the year. Also included are a short list of disappointments and my favorite OP/EDs of the year. I actually didn’t watch as much this year because Amazon and Netflix started aggressively going after anime so I ended up passing on some of them. As always this list is in no particular order and this is simply my opinion. There are some small spoilers. This post is of course too long for the dash, so its under the Keep Reading. Enjoy!

1) Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid

This may come as a surprise to some since I am usually not a fan of the monster girl genre, however this anime did things a little differently. The plot follows Kobayashi, Tooru, with a handful of other characters and the weekly hijinks they get in. Unlike most monster girl shows, there is only one species highlighted in this show: Dragons. In fact there are even male dragons. The show doesn’t glorify the monster girls but instead focuses on the idea of family. Kobayashi, Tooru, and Kana all make a precious family unit. Kobayashi has a day job, Tooru takes care of the house, while Kana attends school. All along the way learning from each other and growing closer together. Showing that people from different backgrounds can all come together, living cohesively in peace. I always felt relaxed while watching and always looked forward to the next episode. Lastly, I’ll just say Kana was one of the most precious characters in anime this year.

2) Tsuki ga Kirei

This anime really caught me by surprise. The show was a very cutesy pure teenage rom-com and it completely won me over. The best part was definitely how it played with the tropes of the genre. It would act it was on that path but divert before getting there. For example, we have a main couple who will of course get together by the end, but there’s also a male and female side love interest who naturally exist to stir up drama. Yet… they really don’t. They both knew their place and respected the main couple. I also just really liked the atmosphere of the show. The main characters usually spoke very softly and their mannerisms were often very well animated. It gave the show a very natural feeling. Overall a simple show, but with one of the purest romances in recent memory.

3) Re:Creators

What kind of relationship does a creator have with its creation? What about creation and the readers? Or even the creation and its creator? These are the questions Re:Creators explored and how it managed to hook me. The story follows a handful of fictional characters who are suddenly brought into our world, the world of the gods, as they call it. We got a wide assortment of characters from strong females, to the hot-blooded male character, a girl from an eroge, and even a magical girl along with most of their respective authors also in the story. However the character that I enjoyed the most was easily the villain Altair. She is basically an doujin creation in the same style as Black Rock Shooter. As such her powers are limitless as the fans have an infinite amount of interpretations of her. The only way our main characters could fight this was making one of the biggest crossover collaborations ever. They had to create a setting where it was possible for the readers to accept the characters having stronger powers. I thought this was a really creative concept. The anime overall felt very much like a love letter to creative process of making a story. I fully believe this would have been the most popular this year if hadn’t been on Amazon’s Anime Strike service.

4) Eromanga-Sensei

I enjoyed Oreimo a lot during its prime in the early 2010s. The first season was one of the first non-shonen simulcasts I ever watched which ended up being a gateway into the world of late-night anime. Eromanga Sensei has been on my radar ever since the author first announced it several years ago and here we are with an anime at last after several years.

Eromanga-Sensei lived up to and even exceed expectations in some areas. In Oreimo the author was always ambiguous about if he would follow through on the title’s namesake or not, but this time he couldn’t care less. By the end of the arc it’s very clear the story going to the incest ending. The show was much better animated than it ever needed to be. There was even someone on the staff who was tasked with just animating Sagiri. I also want to mention that Akane Fujita, Sagiri’s seiyuu, did extremely well in this role. They really wanted to go to the extra mile on Sagiri’s cuteness. I really hope it gets a 2nd season at some point.

5) Owarimonogatari

It’s been a long ride but the Monogatari series has finally finished its main story. The only novel left is Zoku-Owari which already has an anime confirmed for 2018. I was really happy to finally see it end. The final arc begins with Araragi and Hachikuji coming back from hell, then a date with Senjouhara, and lastly the final showdown with Ougi. Oshino even came back for the finale. Overall the Monogatari remains as one of my favorite series of all time. Nisio’s character focused dialogue and interesting cast of characters really makes this something special for me. One of these days I plan to re-watch the entire series in chronological order.

Bonus Round: Strong Sequels

Boku no Hero Academia Season 2 - Episode 10 (Todoroki: Origin) was a major stand out episode for me this year. It was jaw dropping in the manga and the added spice of Yutaka Nakamura animating the final scene made it jaw dropping once again for the anime. As a whole season 2 was a lot better than season 1. Two cour and having stronger content made a huge difference. I’m really hyped for season 3. Next up is the best arc in the series to date.

New Game!! - What was already a near perfect show was made even better with season 2 taking a new direction with the daily work of our main characters. While season 1 showed Aoba working on a game already in production, season 2 follows the creation of a game from conception to release. We got to see Aoba face the struggles of game development and grow from it both professionally and personally. Then the second half introduced two new characters and even made Nene a permanent part of the cast. Sadly its caught up to the manga for the time being, so getting any more anime seems unlikely in the foreseeable future.

Honorable mentions: Shows that were also really good but for one reason or another just not good enough to reach the top of my list

Made in Abyss - It was a really solid show. I really wished it could have spent more time exploring each level but unfortunately the characters must always be pressing forward. The only thing really stopping me from rating the show higher is the fact its not over yet. I didn’t feel satisfied. Instead I only wanted to continue the adventure. The cliffhanger heavily implies that we’ve barely scratched the surface of lurks ahead. I have high hopes for the next season.

As per my tradition next up are my biggest disappointments of the year.

Shokugeki no Souma season 3 – Here we are again. Souma season 2 was on the disappointment list last year for rushing an important arc. While that did happen again I felt it was the least my concerns. The bigger issue this season was the lazy adaptation. They just copy and paste the manga and it feels like there was very little thought put into it. Even the animation itself was lackluster. If the arc has to conclude in the 2nd cour in April, I think it’s only going to get worse.

Black Clover – I know this hasn’t ended yet but I doubt my feeling about this show will change. I’ve been reading the manga since day 1 so I knew it wasn’t that good but I never wished for it to get the kind of anime it ended up with. It’s airing during late afternoon on TV Tokyo which means its airing for an entire year. So to make that work it’s loaded to the brim with filler upon filler. Sure it fleshes out the setting and slows the pacing compared to the hyper paced manga, but it all feels so pointless. There’s also Asta’s voice though I’m sure everyone’s heard it by now. Regardless I’ll be sticking with it all the way to the end because I am way too faithful to Shonen Jump titles for my own good sometimes.

Top Anime OP/EDs

1) Eromanga-sensei ED – Sagiri’s dance is so precious + Trysail song makes it even better

2) Attack on Titan S2 OP – new season, new arc, still another hype opening. Animation and visual choices were really well done.

3) Symphogear AXZ ED – Nothing like a hype song that overruns the last 5-10 seconds of the episode. It always increases the hype of the cliffhangers.

4) One Piece OP 20 – Easily the best One Piece opening since the time skip. It really highlights everything that makes Whole Cake Island a seriously great arc.

5) Boku no Hero Academia S2 OP1 – perfect song to pump you up for some high energy shonen action.

2017 wasn’t the best year for having a large amount of standout anime, but as usual there were a few good shows this year. 2018 is already looking promising. There’s an anime for the new Cardcaptor Sakura manga in just a few weeks from now. David Productions is animating a new Captain Tsubasa. (Come on David Pro, where is JoJo Part 5.) There are also many Jump titles with anime potential coming up in the later half of 2018. So there will be plenty to look forward to in the coming year.

[unnursvanablog]

The TV Shows I watched in 2020 / first half of the year.

The shows I finished.

Psychopath Diary: I loved the dark humor and I am not really used to getting these kinds of stories from kdramas, so it was just such a treat. I was always on the edge of my seat, it always made me smile and I really liked the characters. Even the villain I just found really fun to watch. There were some nice twists there as well and everything just kinda worked together. It was just a really fun watch.

Doctor Who, s12: Oh, Doctor Who. I wish I knew how to quit you. I really do. I always end up having hope that this season! THIS SEASON! Will do it for me. And yet, this one was as disappointing and lackluster as the previous one. The characters run around, saying funny things, without much of a soul to them and the whole arc is loose and not truly about anything. It felt a bit directionless. I want a good overall mystery! I know the writer can do that! It lacks something to sort of bind it together and make me care.

Save Me: I like the plot, found the subject matter really interesting and the execution of it all was really well done. Very thrilling. It was just a well-crafted show with pretty amazing characters. I really enjoyed the ride it took me on.

The Good Place, s4:  Oh, how I cried over the finale. And I wasn’t sure I was that into the show. It just felt so satisfying. It felt so right how it ended. Ugh, just so well done.

Black Sails: The plot and the twists were very well crafted, it never felt too explicit or gory just for the sake of gore, the characters were very interesting and you could never truly predict what they would do. But for some reason I wasn’t as hooked on it as I would have liked.

Miracle Workers – Middle Ages: I have to admit that I preferred the story from the first season. This was did not feel like it had the same structure to it. It felt a bit all over the place at times. But Daniel Radcliffe is adorable in this show and I am a simple girl who just likes to watch that.

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina:  I often watch this show without paying 100% attention to it, because you almost don’t have to. I am not sure the writers are always paying a 100& attention to the plot tbh. But this is a funny, aesthetically pleasing little fantasy nonsense of a show, with some lovely, likable characters, and I enjoy myself a lot while watching it.

Next in Fashion:  I am not usually into these kinds of shows, but I sort of became hooked in it. I stayed up late to finish it. It was nothing new really, but enjoyable.

The Miniaturist:  I remember the book and it’s plot remarkable well even if it has been a few years since I read it. This mini series followed it quite well, it was stunning to watch. I thought it was on par with the book. I liked it just fine. It was an easy watch.

Derry Girls: I adore this show! ADORE IT! Such a well dome coming-of-age-story wrapped around in some hilarious comedy. Every character in it is amazing in it’s own way.

Kim’s Convenience, s4: Another cozy little comedy show all about family and just their dynamic. I also loved that in this season the couple the show has been dangling in front of my eyes all this time finally became a thing.

The Cursed:  I liked the concept of the show. I love a found family and the dynamic between the two female characters was to die for. I loved that! The horror and the plot became a bit too repetitive for me in the second half of the show, but I still enjoyed it.

Kingdom, s1 and s2:  I watched season 1 in preparation for the second one. I also was hoping I would enjoy season one more now that I would get the whole story and not just a beginning of one. And I did! The second season was awesome! It was so action packed and the tension just kept on rising and rising as each episode went on and you did not know what was going to happen next. I was having the time of my life watching it.

Memorist: I really like the character and their dynamic with each other. The overall story or the mystery and the superpowers and all of that was not really my cup of tea. It was trying to be more clever than it was a times and as a result became very convoluted and frustrating to watch.

The Letter to the King: It was a fine little adventure-fantasy for teens. It tried a little to break out of the box it was in, but it just was not really daring enough to go all the way. I got a bit bored with the story at times.

365: Repeat the Year: I really like the idea and I thought the murder-mystery was fine and quite thrilling at times. At some points some of the twists became a bit too convoluted to be enjoyable and it does hit a bit of a slump in the middle. But I really liked how it all came together in the end.

Meow, The Secret Boy:  This was… something. In the beginning I was quite hopeful. It was going to be a cute, very fluffy and silly little show. The cat and the human would grow from one another and learn to be ‘more human’ or something. But then the romance happened, and it became a train wreck I could not look away from. Oh boy….

Brooklyn Nine Nine, s6: The only cop show I actually truly like. The only cops I kinda like. I love the characters and the work dynamic. It is just such a cozy, easy show to watch.

Killing Eve: I do like this show. I like Eve and Villanelle as characters, and I root for them so much. The actual mystery and just the plot overall doesn’t feel as tight as before though, which was a bummer.

The Great: I had so much fun with this show. It kinda hooked me in from the first episode and would not let go of me. I just wanted to consume it as quickly as I could, and I am not a binge watcher by nature. This is how you make unlikeable characters interesting! I like how they looked, I like the characters, the costumes, the humor.

Mystic Pop Up Bar:  I felt like it took the drama some time to find it’s feet, so when the story started for real I wasn’t as into it as I had hoped I would be. But it was a solid fantasy show, and I like all the characters and the romance was cute – I liked that the main couple are not in their twenties and felt like adult. I like the idea of it, but I was not as hooked as I would have liked.

Anne with an E: Oh, I love that show so so much. I cried so much over it, I thought it was so wholesome and cozy. It managed to be dramatic enough, yet mundane at the same time. I am not a binge watcher, but I sort of became one with this show.

Series which I did not finish:

When the Weather is Nice: It’s not that it was bad. I thought it looked super sweet and cozy. It just was not what I was looking for at that time. I just was not in the mood for watching that type of show.

The King – Eternal Monarch: I have never really liked any of the drama that this writer has done. Some have been okay, but they execution is never as good as the idea seems to be and I am often not a fan of the romance. There was something quite dull about The King, even if you could see how much money had been thrown at the whole thing. Just the story never really grabbed me, some of the main characters annoyed me, especially the king – they really tried to make the star quality of some of the actors make up for the dullness of the character. And the romance really did not feel earned enough as the writer forced them together.