#like ironically imo their okay or like with a level of comedy

[randomuzerthelozer]

Osc twt drama(or the whole platform) got me feeling like hit song "Świat według kiepskich" by big cyc (which translates to) Big Boob. From hit series "świat według kiepskich" aka "Lousy world" which is sitcom about a dysfunctional polish family from Wrocław.

[yoshizora]

Hello!!! I'd like to ask you a few things about Megumu (if that's okay!).

How would you describe her? I think there's more to the "greedy tengu" impression that I'm getting from the wiki and from her routes in UM. Her and Momoyo are friends after all.

Would you say that Momoyo brings out the best in her? (or, at least, better than Tsukasa does).

Thanks in advance!! ^^

THANK U for giving me a chance to blab about megumu because if i was more outspoken i would never shut up about her. warning, this is going to be long as fuck because when i said i wouldn't shut up i MEANT i wouldn't shut up

honestly the first thing to keep in mind is that Megumu isn't human, so human moralities shouldn't be so strictly applied to her. i often see people exaggerating her less palatable aspects, but she's........ not a human!!!! because of this i like to apply more leeway to her personality; she's not strictly black/white in terms of whether she's "good" or "bad", which is what i think the main issue is when it comes to general perception of Megumu (she often ends up being watered down to Mean Greedy Bully Boss). it's also more fun when characters have personality traits that should logically contradict each other.

i think she genuinely does have tengu society's best interests in mind, but it's more about the whole vs the individual which can also be seen as a reflection of Japanese society. ayahatamomi's complaints in altfacts was essentially both a comedy bit and meta commentary on Japan's toxic work culture, but it shouldn't be seen as a 1:1 situation imo. but anyway, i think Megumu does have issues with connecting to the other tengu on a personal level because of her position as middle management, but she doesn't like...... go out of her way to be deliberately cruel to them either. at worst it's indifference, at best it's a "means to an end" sort of situation, which results in disgruntled workers on the lower rungs of the ladder suffering because the higher-ups believe that's what's best for the group as a whole. Megumu sucks! but she's not a deliberate bully. maybe an accidental bully but that just makes it funny.

she does obviously care about the consolidation of power as well, but from her weird villain monologue in LE38 it doesn't seem like she's interested in gaining power HERSELF, but rather having the tengu as a whole being the top dogs of youkai mountain and in control of Gensokyo's flow of information. so Megumu is greedy, but not in the sense that she'd do anything that wouldn't benefit the other tengu as well. idk, we'll see if ZUN says anything about what she used the card market profits for in the next scoow issue, but for now i think it's a big stretch to say Megumu had ulterior motives beyond gathering economical strength for the tengu in 18. she's not the type of antagonist to try to grab the throne all for herself, because that would throw off the balance of tengu society.

she's honest! sort of! i don't think she lies to people's faces like Tsukasa does, but prefers lies of omission. if she says she's going to do something she'll do it, but it's the things she doesn't say that would warrant some alarm. this is more headcanon than anything else, but i also think Megumu is arrogant/strong enough to believe she doesn't have to outwardly lie to get what she wants.

going back to what i said about Megumu being unable to form personal friendships with other tengu, i like to imagine she has a weird interest in outsiders that would ironically go against the tengus' isolationist policies. she readily picked up Chimata off the ground and rekindled their friendship after 18, and is friends with Momoyo, and she even expressed interest and concern for Marisa. she was worried about Marisa!! that's kinda funny! Marizza Kirisame strikes again— but yeah, Megumu may be an asshole but she's still nice, and i think consolidating those two ideas is what throws a lot of people off. she's not a good person by human standards, but she's still courteous in general and wouldn't insult others because... she just doesn't have a reason to. but she would still totally throw hands with Kanako.

since she's directly inspired by Izuna Gongen i also like to imagine she also has a weird charitable streak as well. Izuna Gongen fed humans who were going through a famine and one of Megumu's major motifs is her onigiri. hell, even her ability card is her onigiri instead of something with her star lasers. Megumu once said she's interested in brave, powerful people, but i think she also does take pity on weaker beings and likes to help out just because she can. maybe it's to flex her power but it could also just be a Thing she does as a tengu.

MOMOYO..... ok now we're going into fanon territory LOL but her friendship with Momoyo is SO interesting because there's technically 0 canon interaction between them but we do get tidbits of their dynamic, like the fact Momoyo agreed to work for her and also seemed excited to introduce the humans to Megumu. Momoyo also says that Megumu is a "combat-lover" but apparently they also hang out just to hang out, like when Momoyo implied Megumu sometimes vents about work (Kanako) to her. i like to place importance on those scraps because they do show that Megumu isn't just about work work work work work, she does have hobbies and is strong enough to have befriended Momoyo. granted, Momoyo isn't 100% loyal to her either, but since they're both powerful youkai i don't think that really means much. they're on friendly terms!! that's the basic gist of it!!

i do think that Momoyo brings out the best in Megumu!! again, she's not human, so her "best" is probably something extremely deranged, but i like to imagine she's so close with Momoyo because she doesn't have to put on pretenses as the Daitengu with her; Momoyo dgaf about her standing in that youkai hierarchy, so Megumu earned Momoyo's respect and friendship through her own merit and strength. with Momoyo, who does not care about all that Daitengu stuff, Megumu can be true equals with her, and that's what makes their friendship really sweet to me. and inversely, Megumu doesn't mind that Momoyo is a gross centipede monster, but it seems like ZUN kinda walked back on the idea of Momoyo being a loner since she's described to be popular with other youkai in 18.5. Hisona made a series of momomegu doujinshi that really digs into that idea of their friendship being based on pure personal wants outside of their respective social standings that i draw a lot of inspiration from.

also in 18.5 Megumu is described as a festival-lover so she's totally a raging party animal. Fratboy Megumu is VERY funny to me. y'all can pry Fratboy Megumu out of my cold dead hands.

[idleglowingpixels]

I finally got my schedule aligned with a friend of mine to watch Monster High 2 (the live action movie sequel) and I have some thoughts about it

(Keep reading only if you're okay with spoilers, I go into a lot of detail)

Monster High 2 was a solid experience altogether. The previous movie was in a similar vain, but I think the special effects budget got amped up, because everything looked stellar and just generally better than the first movie. It's still not cinema film level quality but these aren't meant to be compared to that. It's a TV movie, and for what it is I thought that (almost) everything rendered out beautifully (idk why they keep having Lagoona do the oAo thing but okay).

As per the previous film, there were lots of highs in the comedy (Frankie is always the highlight of these movies for me, Cleo taking her job as campaign manager so seriously was kinda funny to me, and a lot of the Heath shenanigans were so reminiscent of G1 to me ESPECIALLY the teasing about Clawdeen being Deuce's girlfriend and general himbo behavior), but it's also a kid's movie, so there's bound to be misses too. Comedy isn't personally my forte, but I got enough chuckles and laughs here and there that it didn't really matter to me.

The songs sounded pretty nice! I went into the movie this time without hearing any songs in advance like the first movie, and was pleasantly surprised. None of them were particularly bad to me, but I think my favorite one was the very-poorly-disguised friend breakup song with the main trio. It reminded me of a similar song in Descendants 2 ironically enough, but I don't mean that as an insult, I love the Descendants soundtracks too!

Okay, now the story of the movie…I don't really know where to begin, there's so much to talk about. I guess I can start at the beginning.

I've seen a few people complain about Clawdeen blowing up on social media and going viral when the characters would regularly go viral or get tons of views on their not-YouTube channels in G1. I know the Internet was different back in 2010, but it wasn't THAT much different going viral back then as it is now imo. I found it an odd complaint personally.

While I have no idea how a half-human ghost can exist in the first place, I ADORED the little bits where that new character was. Unfortunately I neglected to remember her name, usually I'm better with keeping up on this stuff. But she was so goofy, like yeah queen, walk through the door and immediately hit it on the way back out. 💖

The whole thing with the prefect is kind of irrelevant for the most part, so I don't mind it as much. I have an irrational love for the whole fire and water thing Heath and Lagoona got to do for it together, and I noticed characters like them actually have something to do in the movie instead of just awkwardly showing up at the end to record Komos and stand guard I guess??? And they had much more dialogue this time around (very few exceptions, I can only think of Ghoulia and Abbey but who knows, maybe they'll get to be main characters in the third movie I presume will release next year).

Torelai being a general nuisance was amazing, and here she really did feel like her G1 counterpart…if said counterpart was British lol. Her outfits were really nice, felt super edgy and it was a plus for me. I also liked the mention of her scarring from the witches in France, where she'd studied abroad, but I do think they repeated the point of her bringing it up against witches in the song was too quick after the initial mention, perhaps it could've been reserved to the song and have her sing-song her way through explaining the wraith silver.

Draculaura was the main focus in the film, and I really enjoyed her story. She's got every card stacked against her, even those she trusts, it feels like they turn on her in her point of view (Clawdeen and Ellis specifically). I've also seen characters like Ellis a billion times, but as generic as he is, he served the purpose he was in the film for (lowkey thought the name was a reference to Elphaba/Wicked Witch of the West).

Seeing Dracula as much as we did this movie was amazing, loved that, though Zamara kinda fell flat with me as an antagonist. Making a comparison here, but it felt like they were trying to replicate what they'd done with Komos in the previous film, just adjusting her to fit the new narrative, but Komos was much better executed imo (I promise this isn't my bias to Jekyll and Hyde characters showing, I just think his dynamics with the students flowed more organically). I found the whole thing about witches marketing herbal products as remedies with magical healing properties to exploit humanity's fears of appearing healthy to be funny with Z, but that's about it. I also could tell she'd be the villain a lot faster than I did with Komos haha. Seeing Apollo play a significant role here was nice too! I really like how the adult/parent characters can be just as important as the teens, as I find the lack of parent appearances in G1 to be too sparce for something so integral to the characters' stories.

As with pretty much anyone who's seen the film, it seems we were all shouting at Clawdeen towards the end to just turn human to avoid injury from the wraith silver bars (I was so confused lmao), but I think she was so desperate to save her friend that she was in too blind a panic to control that or think rationally. Frankie is in a similar vein; I thought their upgrades would've caused more pain than it'd be worth, and since we saw the electricity from their arm separating from the rest of their body earlier in the scene, it might've triggered a rush of pain to Frankie or their energy would've been zapped out like a light. Also, y’all, they thought their friend was going to forcefully commit genocide, I don’t think either of them were safe from having irrational/impulsive solutions to a situation in which their friend is literally gonna die if they take time to think critically. I do think there could’ve been better execution with the scene, especially how important it is for later, however. I may be explaining the thought process of my only other point of contention here, but it wasn’t thought out all too much imo — Deen could’ve tried to shift back and find it doesn’t work, Frankie could’ve tried to detach their hand/arm and found themselves getting hurt (but not scarred since that’s really the were-girls’ common thing).

But when Clawdeen died just from touching the bars for too long, I was so shocked it was happening from something so small, I figured the explanation was that it might drain a monster's life force or something. But I COULD NOT take the grim reaper thing seriously. Genuinely laughed my ass off cause WHAT WAS THAT??? It seemed so out of place for the pacing to me I guess. I felt like it could've been a perfect opportunity to have Komos reach out to her through his petrification, especially with how much she hangs around his statue during her troubles and looks to his statue for guidance, but I knew going in he was like 99% certain to be a one-off villain. 🥲

Anyway, Torelai and Clawdeen's little trauma bond moment with the scars at the end was very wholesome, a nice tie back to the "not afraid to show my secrets or my scars" line from Coming Out Of The Dark. And for once the franchise acknowledges were-animals as having kinship, like don't get me wrong, I know it's mainly for the cats vs dogs thing, but they're essentially the same monsters. I always found it odd that they were treated as completely different monster types entirely when all they are is just a human base with animal features and abilities (speed, agility, heightened senses, etc.).

A lot of people have a problem with Clawdeuce being a thing, but I don't mind it personally. It's a different gen, nothing has to stay the same as G1, so I’m just going along with the vibes. And I can tell Deuce leaving is going to be where we follow through in the next movie (unless he got tossed into the underworld in the end credits scene, I have no clue). To be honest I really like his prominent inclusion in the roster of characters, especially with how erased he’d get in the G1 movies (they literally cut his part of the rap out and it’s so apparent q-q).

But back to the point about the after credits, when I saw the grim reaper actually CAME BACK and just threw Deuce to the side (or maybe through the portal idk) I instantly freaked out, no laughter to be had, like "WAIT OH MY GOD WE WERE SUPPOSED TO TAKE THAT BIT FOR REAL—"

I know the third film is looking to be centered on Frankie (They 💖) but I do worry with how much elements they're taking from G1 movies to make up new/similar narratives (Drac's Sweet 1600, the previous gen's self acceptance narrative but specifically with a half human character, the emphasis on Jekyll and Hyde shenanigans, vampires vs werewolves but make it vampires vs witches instead, etc.). I just don't think another Freaky Fusion thing with Frankie sacrificing their life energy should be necessary. Especially considering the new antagonist is very clearly gonna be this Grim Reaper dude. And since the Underworld might be the main location for the third film, I wonder if the whole thing about Heath being Hades's son in the TV show will come up in the movie. Ik they're different canons from each other, but It'd be pretty interesting to see how they'd create a MH version of Hades. (I found his design from the cartoon after typing all this up and I mean, okay then I guess 🤷 Don’t love it but don’t hate it either, he just looks too nice to me haha. I love when Hades is actually a nice character, but his appearance and Resting Bitch Face make him out to be a huge dick.)

As of right now, that's basically everything I have to say on the movie. I personally prefer the first one, but I will not deny that it's because I liked Komos more as an antagonist than Zamara — antagonists are just as important as protagonists. He has the Jekyll and Hyde thing going for him too, which is just overall a favorite trope of mine (Though his change wasn’t as literal). I do think this movie had more going on and much higher stakes, what with characters almost committing mass genocide, suffering injuries and nearly outright DYING.

But I don't know, it was a solid 7/10 for me I think, on the higher end of 7 but Zamara keeps me from giving it a higher rating (sorry y'all I just REALLY didn't like her character, not even in a love to hate way, and villains’ likability matters too much for me personally). I guess my ranking for the first movie would be a low 8, but it’s based more on how much I enjoyed it than how objectively good or "perfect" it is.

[oflgtfol]

I’m Going To Talk About Kung Fu Panda Now

as much as it pains me to say this as your local Number One Kung Fu Panda Fan, like........ kfp 3 is, not as good as 1 and 2....... but i am going to talk about it bc i do love kfp and i love talking abt kfp and so this falls under that lol

NOW LIKE, OBJECTIVELY, kfp 3 is still a great movie. it is still such a good movie especially compared to animation in recent years.

it’s just that like, kung fu panda 1 and 2 were just, SO good, they set the bar so high, so when the third movie was an objectively good movie it just... wasn’t as good as its predecessors

and i think it can really be boiled down to two things: the music and the villain, two things the kfp movies are renowned for

a lot of people point to the comedy as the reason for this movie’s downfall, and while that contributes to it i don’t think it, was the downfall? all the kung fu panda movies are kids movies with lots of comedy, even in kfp2 which was the darkest of the three. 3 definitely had a lot more comedy than 1 and 2 though, and that’s not inherently bad? it’s just that i think it was applied in the wrong places

which brings me back to... the villain.

so, kfp 1 and 2 had absolutely iconic villains. tai lung, the foreboding snow leopard who was shifu’s adoptive son and former student. he was raised with the belief that he would be named the dragon warrior, so when the moment came, and he wasnt.... well, he snapped, violently, and had to be locked away in prison for decades. he was put in a massive prison where he was the sole prisoner, guarded by 1000 soldiers, and he managed to escape with one (1) duck feather. he is violent and frightening, and ultimately he is a foil to po. while he seems like a stereotypical WAH EVIL NO REMORSE >:3 villain, he is honestly.. so much deeper than that? like his mere existence poses so many interesting questions in regards to po, his foil, and even shifu, and when you think about it its like, YEAH tai lung was evil for going around and killing people because he didnt get what he wanted BUT LIKE, he was literally raised with the belief that he would become the dragon warrior. his entire life was dedicated to that. it’s like, gifted kid syndrome but 100% worse. genuinely, what the fuck do you do with yourself when you dedicate your entire life towards something only for it to be like, oh sorry lol not you, at the last minute? especially when it was your own damn father who drilled that belief into you? his anger is absolutely justified. the only reason tai lung is a villain is just that he channeled that anger into like, homicide. his actions are not justifiable but his motives are honestly 10000% understandable and it makes him such an interesting character when you look beyond the typical smirking antagonist who kills people for fun exterior lol. and then juxtapose that with po? tai lung was raised to believe he would be the dragon warrior, meanwhile po, once named dragon warrior ~by accident~ was faced with opposition at every god damn turn. literally no one, not even himself, believed he was the dragon warrior. and beyond the character foil thing, it’s like, the way tai lung escaped from prison and how all his actions really play into that movie’s major theme of how In Trying To Escape Your Destiny, You Ultimately Fulfill it, it’s just. god it’s so good. he’s such a good villain

AND THEN kfp 2 had shen, a white peacock who, honestly, IS the villain that tai lung is often perceived to be. he had loving parents but he didnt get what he wanted so he threw a hissy fit and committed genocide. his motives are a lot weaker, but he makes up for it in sheer presence. who thought a peacock would ever be threatening or a serious villain? YET HE IS!!!!! his presence is just so big and evil... the voice actor does a great job in making him sound so shrill and bird-like as well and its like, wow that peacock voice is actually EERIE? and just, overall, the fact he’s a peacock is such a good character design. his character design and overall presence is much better than tai lung, who’s literally just like, a normal uhm “person” for this universe. shen poses a much more personal threat to po as well - honestly, physically, po and the furious five probably could’ve taken him down earlier in the movie. tai lung was more of a physical threat, but shen? well shen does pose a much bigger physical threat as well since he has his cannons, but his main power is that he’s a PSYCHOLOGICAL threat. this is the second movie, po’s had training, he’s friends with the furious five so he has them fighting alongside him, he’s secure in the belief that he is the dragon warrior and he’s confident he can take any threat. yet, shen is still a major threat - specifically, to po. i mentioned shen committed genocide? yeah, well a fortune teller foretold that a panda would be shen’s downfall, so to prevent his downfall! shen killed all the pandas. po managed to survive because his mother hid him away in the valley of peace, where he was raised by ping. po was a baby at that time, he has no memories of this.... at least, until he meets shen, and the PEACOCK PATTERN on his FEATHERS reminds po of that Fateful night (once again, who knew a peacock could be so threatening!!!!!). and po, in his flashback, cannot fight back. that’s where shen gets his power - he holds the answers to po’s past, he’s the source of all his repressed trauma. shen is a more frightening antagonist than tai lung because he holds such personal power over po. what shen doesnt have in interesting character motives, he more than makes up for in his sheer presence!!! and AGAIN, his arc ties into that overarching theme of you fulfilling your destiny in an effort to avoid it - shen killed the pandas so that no panda could bring him down, but in doing so he indirectly brought po to the valley of peace, so that po could become the dragon warrior, and thus defeat him!!!!

now....... kai in kfp3?? where do i even begin...........

okay. so. kai has i think probably the best design of all the villains. he’s got such an imposing stature, he’s even taller than tai lung, and his HORNS! very intimidating. and his whole blue/green color scheme is very sinister and adds such a cool fucking atmosphere. his chi powers are also cool and all that spirit world stuff

onto kai’s role in the narrative........... so, kai poses no personal threat to po. shen was the most personal of them, with tai lung being more general (his main threat was that oh no he’s gonna rampage the valley of peace again!) but ultimately even he still posed a more personal threat to po, in that tai lung wanted to be the dragon god damn warrior and po was in his way. but what beef does kai have with po?? lmfao . his most personal tie with po is that, before the panda genocide, the pandas taught kai and oogway how to use chi

his beef was with oogway. and we don’t ever really get to explore his relationship with oogway because well, oogway’s gone, so their relationship is being narrated to us in the future, far far removed. his character motivations are so weak. like, he was ~brothers in arms~ with oogway, and yet when kai gets a whiff of power he just, instantly turns on oogway?? instantly? and oogway barely has any qualms with sending his best friend to the spirit world? like wheres the TENSION wheres the CONFLICT where is the EMOTIONAL DRAMA... nevermind how like, little i care about ~villain is power hungry~ sorta deal... at least with tai lung wanting to be dragon warrior, he did that because his entire sense of self had depended on that. but kai? literally some nice pandas teach him a new power and he’s instantly like OH I HAVE TO USE IT TO KILL PEOPLE like where did that come from??? and when his friend is like HI MAYBE DONT KILL PEOPLE ? he wants to abuse this brand new power THAT badly that he’d turn on his best friend with no hesitation??

this literally just came to me so idk if its a good idea lol but like i think it’d be really interesting if somehow there was? some sort of corrupting power? so that when he learned chi it kinda forced him to abuse it. like the sheer intensity of how fucking wild he got the instant he learned chi is just like, thats not normal bro . plus this movie’s already pretty supernatural so like, maybe there’s something beyond his control that’s making him do this. like, like think of the mind stone in avengers 1, how loki was using it to control everyone. everyone retained their personalities and abilities but ultimately were following loki’s orders. so like, something like that controlling him. it would make him a more interesting character imo and also make the whole conflict with oogway kinda heart breaking cause here his friend isnt in control of himself, and he still has to put him in the spirit world because regardless, kai is a menace. overall it would heighten the emotional intensity and appeal i think. and also it would play really nicely into this movie’s pattern of “not being in control of yourself” a la the jade zombies stuff. and how ironic would it be if kai played puppetmaster while he himself was being controlled.. lol

and then, not only is kai just kinda a flat character period, then his narrative role as a villain is undermined? like his character design and overall presence is on the same fuckin level as shen like he is SO intimidating and they could absolutely play that up.... but then. the comedy. here’s what i was talking about with the comedy being applied poorly. because kai is simultaneously a major fucking threat who is terrorizing all of china, yet whenever he’s actually on screen no characters take him seriously? especially po and the pandas. like the part where kai was slowly uhm Killing for lack of a better word all of the kung fu masters in china and all the names just keep piling up and up until the realization that the jade palace is the last stronghold left to stop him.. that shit is so eerie . it is so eerie. and kai LITERALLY DESTROYED THE JADE PALACE LIKE IT WAS NOTHING. HE SMASHED IT TO SMITHEREENS. the look of HORROR on tigress’s face during that, the fact the oogway statue was the thing used to destroy the jade palace, the poetic cinema of that, the irony, oh my god....... it was such a gut wrenching scene. and kai is such a major villain there, you HAVE to take him seriously. but then when he gets to the panda village? he fucking monologues. and po is like “stop with the chit chat” and just generally undermining him and its to the point where like, would it be better to let kai monologue or have po not take him seriously? either decision sucks because its either the audience realizing its stupid, or its having the movie be self referential and say oh yeah we know its stupid, but by doing that then you’re saying that the villain is stupid and not to be taken seriously? and then the major fight scene with kai attacking the village, the pandas were having fun just fucking around with the jade zombies, nobody looked like they were fighting for their god damn lives?? yeah i know the point was that like oh you dont need to be a master of formal kung fu, we got this bros, we can win by just being ourselves, but LIKE? they could also still be scared for their lives??? they could still fight him like pandas but still take it seriously? because if they lost, not only would THEY die, but they are the LAST STAND against kai so all of china would be FUCKED if they were defeated!! and yet everybodys laughing and having fun during it?!?! like the stakes are set SO high and yet nobody actually acts like the stakes are high and ultimately kai as a villain is just undermined by the narrative and its so underwhelming compared to how seriously the previous 2 villains were taken and how good they were at being villains because of it....

anyway ive already been writing this for 40 minutes and im losing steam so im gonna briefly touch upon the music now.. i dont think the music is as glaring an error as kai was, but i think it contributes to it.

idk, the music in 3 just doesn’t feel as authentically Kung Fu Panda as the previous 2 movies. i think the most shocking thing was that oogway’s legacy had a fucking PIANO in it?!!?! A PIANO? i think thats the ONLY instance a piano has ever been used in this entire franchise and its genuinely just so... wrong... like it sounds good but it’s just!! oogway’s theme has always been in traditional string instruments and so to hear it in this stripped piano is just, it doesnt feel like a real part of the kfp soundtrack

and 1 and 2 reused a lot of the same musical themes while still being unique on their own, yet kfp 3 literally only ever uses oogway’s theme, and that’s at the very beginning in the one song oogway’s legacy. maybe it uses a few other previous themes but theyre used very sparingly to the point where i wouldnt be able to tell you what or when. without those overarching musical themes it just doesnt feel like an authentic kung fu panda soundtrack!!! idk its just ..... maybe this is a nit pick im making because i’ve listened to the 1 and 2 soundtracks religiously for years but it’s something i noticed and it’s a reason why i can’t really listen to 3′s soundtrack as much lol

also. kai’s theme is so good and it also contributes to that intimidating presence he has. it’s so good

BUT ALSO IT IS ? LITERALLY THE MELODY FROM IM SO SORRY BY IMAGINE DRAGONS. and it was intentionally taken from that song, it’s credited in the end credits. which also serves to make this feel not authentically kung fu panda because all the other villains had their own original themes meanwhile kai its like, yes its a good theme but it just isnt ? kung fu panda??

AND IF THEYRE GONNA SAMPLE A POP SONG FOR HIS THEME THEN LIKE. CAN THERE BE A NARRATIVE REASON FOR IT? like genuinely why the fuck was this song used. i try to wrack my brain as to why im so sorry was used nd it gives me cool ideas on how to flesh kai out as a character but those ideas just arent supported in canon so its like ??!?!?!?!?!

like again going back to that He’s Being Controlled idea, i think it would be so cool to communicate that subconsciously through this song. the reason they’d sample it is because it is a popular pop song so we all know that it goes IM SO SORRY in the main line, so having our brains fill that in... and it’d be like how subconsciously he’s still there inside and being control, meanwhile on the outside he shows no remorse and actually seems to be enjoying it and is overall just a fucking menace but there, inside! we get a brief glimpse of whats going on inside through this song!!

BUT LIKe. THATS NOT CANON? HE’S NOT BEING CONTROLLED IN CANON. AND HE SHOWS NO REMORSE FOR HS ACTIONS SO WHY IS HIS MAIN THEME SAMPLED FROM A SONG CALLED IM SO SORRY??!?!?!?

anyway im really out of steam now its been 50 minutes and i think i’ve touched upon everything i wanted to talk about.... again, this isnt to say kfp 3 is a bad movie its just that, these are the reasons why i think it’s the weakest of the franchise. it’s by no means a bad movie its just, in comparison to the perfection that kfp 1 and 2 are its just, kinda lackluster. but remove that comparison and it’s like oh fuck yeah this is a good movie. its just, frustrating, because we know how good 1 and 2 are and its like, 3 couldve been so much more bro....... but that frustration comes from a place of Love

anyway . watch all 3 kung fu panda movies now

- your local Kung Fu Panda enthusiast

[bob-dude]

Some Orange Jerk’s Hazbin thoughts, the longer version.

As I mentioned in a prior post, I  thought the pilot was so-so. Don't hate it with a capital H but find everyone's love for this show to be... odd. Though considering the late 2000s Devinart vibe I get from the show’s art style, probably not too odd now that I think about it. So here’s my longer, more rambly, thoughts on Hazbin Hotel by some rando Orange Jerk on Tumblr.  And as always, more power to ya if you do love it, obviously.

Art direction wise, I’m just not crazy about Viv’s color choice. The red and black and pinks give a Valintine’s day meets Wonderland Queen of Hearts vibe that just doesn't personally work for me on a visual level. 

As for hell itself, I thought the background stuff like ‘Radio Hack’ and the main city being named Pentagram to be... eh? Like, that’s the kind of world-building we’re going with here? It felt less like Hell and more like a city with the trapings of Hell, at least for me. 

So, main cast, the trio as it were. Eh. Meh. Like, Charlie is a Disney Princess of Hell... even though no one treats her as one respect wise which just strikes me as odd from a background perspective. And Charlie has that standard Disney nativity going on... even though she was born and raised in Hell? Like, why bother to make your most optimistic and native character a denizen of hell if she’s not going to look or act the part personality wise?

The reason the personality thing confuses me I guess,  is that take Charlie out of Hell and we’ve seen her character a thousand times before: The bubbly sweet optimistic girl that’s been done so many times before.  Is the ‘But in Hell!’ aspect really that much of a grabber for people? Guess it is and more power to em but it just strikes me as a strange creative choice where once again a character's personality doesn’t logically flow from their background. 

Design-wise Charile is fine, red tux reminds me of the God from the 1977 Oh God movie so that gets a thumbs up in my book. Still a bit weird that a princess is wearing it but it makes sense with the Hotel set up and all so her outfit has a logic to it. 

Then we have Vaggie. So, legit question here people: If you went into the pilot blind and Angle Dust didn’t make his ‘taco’ comment would you have ANY idea that Vaggie is supposed to be Latina? Because I legitimately had no idea that was what her design was supposed to say about her as a charchter. Also didn’t really get a moth vibe from her, either if I’m honest. As for her personality, she’s the standard ‘loving supportive’ GF but with an angry side protective side for Charile... and she’s a Latinia/Latinix.  Does... Does no one else think that’s just a bit... off? Making the one clearly marked Latinia character the ‘angry girlfriend’ archetype? 

Also, that weird pink X eye patch bugged the hell out of me when I was watching. Totally petty as shit nitpick, but I had to vent on that bit. Honestly, though Vaggie is also Meh? Like, she’s in a relationship with Charlie, cool and all but she just doesn’t strike me as a terribly interesting character if I’m honest. Gives me a sort of Lisa Simpson ‘stick-in-the-mud’ vibe. 

And then we have Angle Dust. You know, in the words of Netflix’s Big Mouth, “Sassy and Gay”  isn’t a personality. Angle Dust basically has that sort of ‘2000s  Yaoi OC’ vibe and considering Vive once had a DA character sheet where she literally listed his personality is ‘Bitch’... Yeah. 

Also, as I’ve said elsewhere, Viv and crew are doing too much with this guy. So he’s an ex mobster killed by his homophobic father in the 1920s (not mentioned in the pilot but it is a pilot in all fairness so you can’t throw all your cards on the table). And he’s a Spider Demon... even though per Word of Viv how everyone’s designed in hell doesn’t have anything to do with how they died on Earth (then why deign them that way?). And he’s a porn star (being ex Mob shouldn’t he be the one paying for porn stars as a power domination sort of thing?). AND he’s going for a Beetlejuice meets CJ from Regular Show sort of design.

It just seems a bit much, imo. Like, you could make him just a gay ex mob who mostly uses a Tommy Gun and design him to fit that and leave the Spider-Demon stuff out and it becomes a lot more manageable. Something like a simplified Zoot Suit, or the like. You could keep the sexual humor but throw it a bit more 1920s slang and pop culture references for characterization/comedy purposes (Vaggie, for example, has no idea what he’s talking about most of the time). Granted, I’d personally rather they ditch the ‘animal bits slapped on’ aspects of the designs as a whole but that, as always is just me.

For the record, I’m not ‘offended’ by Angle Dust as a character concept, I’m just not wowed or impressed, ultimately.

And then we have Alastor. Now, I LOVE Alastor as a character. He’s got that classic ‘reality warper’ vibe ala Bill Cipher or Discord but with a 1920s radio show host twist that I just think is amazing and the sound distortion they added to his voice was a really cool touch on top of it all. The problem, as always, comes more with the color choice. One one of your own characters can’t take someone seriously because they look like a ‘strawberry pimp’ that might be the time to maybe go with a different color pallet? Like, idk,  maybe throw in some warm browns and brass golds to involve the 1920s radio vibe stronger? Radios of the 20s and 30s weren’t famous for being red, is what I’m getting at.

The other problem with Alastor is that he’s too strong a personality, ironically. He comes in at the tail end of the pilot and basically steals whatever interest a potential audience member (or at least fat orange jerks like me) might have had in Charlie's plight. It's like introducing Bill Cipher in the first episode of Gravity Falls. At that point whatever interest you might have had in the MC goes out the window and you think ‘what’s this dudes deal and can the show be about them instead please?’ Sure, Alastor in all of his pesudo deer (Those don’t look like horns in my opinion but whatever you say Viv) is fun to watch but he drowns out Charile through sheer force of charisma and showmen ship. Maybe the series itself will fix this but for the pilot at least I think it’s an issue.  

Also, Nifty is Nifty and she needs her own spin-off ASAP. That is all. 

Husk is literally Avocato from Final Space with wings and some gambling bits thrown in design-wise. That’s literally all I think of Husk, sorry Husk fans :(

The animation is good, but I do find it ironic that as much as people like the bitch about  SU being off model, Hazbin I thought suffered from so many different animators tackling different scenes that it just felt jarring going from one scene to the next due to the difference in style and the shifts in animation pacing. Now, don’t get me wrong, a lot of it looks great but that switch in animators kinda just took me out of the experience in places.  Well, that and the lack of proper scene transitions. Those are what also made the pilot feel like whiplash for me.

And now comes to Bob’s thoughts on the plot of the pilot and this is where the logical holes of the series start to get to me just a bit.

So. Charlie wants to reform the demons of hell of their sins so they can get to heaven and Hell can lower its population and angles down come down and deliver some righteous furry smiting on their asses. Okay. Stupid question but what the hell is Charlie basing this off of? I mean, was AD really THAT good an actor that Charlie thought going full steam ahead on the Hotel idea was the next reasonable step up?

 Like, the Hotel was clearly a mess and her staff is literally just her and Vaggie and MAYBe Angel Dust. Even if the episode had ended with a horde of demons lining up to get into heaven by way of cleaning up their acts there’s no way two, three people could handle that (Or, you know, six if we throw in Nifty and Husk in fairness now that I think about it).

 And that’s ultimately the thing with the pilot, the demons are assholes as you’d expect the citizens of hell to be but if they are assholes... why should we care if they get redeemed or not when not one of them is clearly interested in the idea? As cheesy as it would have been, the pilot ending with a horde of demons wanting to give this ‘become better’ thing a shot would have at least left the pilot on a better note to end on. As it is it just seems like Charlie is doomed to fail because no one but her gives a shit or belives about her idea for the Hotel and we have no proof that her idea will even work. Which just makes me wonder: Why should I care if no one else does?

Ultimately, the show has potential but the art style and aspects of the writing just don’t click for me. The show doesn’t say ‘adult’ to me so much as it does 'Hot Topic Teen trying to be adult' which works for a lot of people but for me I think Hellevua Boss as more potential concept-wise. And has scenes on Earth which do the red and black and pink and white colors of the demons a lot better visual justice contrast wise but that’s just me.