#not creepy but i used to dream a whole episode focusing on her beating people cuz i always wanted more | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

mobius-prime · 5 years

Text

118. Sonic Super Special #8

Zone Wars: Prelude

Writer: Dan Slott Pencils: James Fry Colors: Josh D. Ray

So this story is kind of infamously hilarious, but it also introduces a rather important concept. Sonic is racing around the hills, avoiding blasts of magic from a bizarre being that basically just looks like someone put boobs, pigtails and fishnets on Robotnik and who is apparently known as Ivana Robotina. A figure that appears to be standing sideways, called Zonic, gets a report of this happening from another zone and heads out to investigate. Before Zonic can get there, however, a few more people arrive on the scene - Sally Moon and Chibi Rose, who look like exactly what their names imply, that is to say Sailor Moon characters. Then Robotina is knocked out by a rather flimsy blow from a rose, and another unexpected figure makes his entrance - Tuxedo Knux!

Don't worry, Sonic, we're all just as baffled as you are.

At this point Zonic arrives through a portal and ushers everyone back through it, back to their home zone called the Luna Zone. He explains to Sonic that he's a Zone Cop, coming from a parallel dimension that runs 90 degrees through all other dimensions, allowing them to effectively police any attempts to travel to alternate zones. Sonic challenges him, saying he's been to plenty of other zones, but Zonic informs him that he deliberately sent Sonic there from his home zone, Mobius Prime (eyy, blog title drop!) to help restore order.

Oh c'mon Sonic, we're only like a third of the way into this comic. You have plenty of time to win Sally Prime over! (Well, technically, he already has, but don't tell him that!)

Running on Empty

Writers: Roger Brown and Nelson Rebeiro Pencils: Nelson Ribeiro Colors: Frank Gagliardo

Sonic and Amy are hanging out on a hill overlooking Knothole, admiring the view, and when Amy gets cold, Sonic races down to the buildings and back in a fraction of a second to retrieve her coat. When she compliments his speed, he decides to tell her about a time it almost got him killed. One day a few months ago (at least that's what I'm assuming, since Sally wears her trademark blue vest throughout it, and she didn't always have that near the beginning of the comic) Sonic thought he heard Sally calling for help, so he rushed to the gazebo where she appeared to be standing. However, his hand went right through her like she was a hologram, and then Snively, hiding behind the structure, activated his trap, zapping Sonic.

Ooh, dramatic. Sonic rushed back towards Knothole and encountered Rosie roaming the woods looking for an apple grove. Sonic rushed to lead her to it, trying to catch one of the apples before it fell from the tree, but suddenly found himself unable to stop running and smashed into the tree, dropping a whole heap of apples onto his head. At least this helped Rosie collect the apples she wanted, but on the way back Sonic noticed a Robotnik surveillance drone above the trees and decided to run back to Knothole to warn his friends. However, again, he was unable to stop running in time, and what's more, his sheer speed created some kind of vacuum behind him, sucking up tons of junk and depositing it directly on top of his hapless friends.

Rotor offered to run some tests to figure out what was causing Sonic to suddenly be able to run so fast that it was causing him problems, and had him run on a treadmill, which of course quickly overloaded and exploded. The data Rotor collected before it was ruined informed him that whatever had zapped Sonic had given him super-super speed, but along with it, every time he used it he aged further, causing him to quickly turn into a feeble old man. Everyone (except a fearful Antoine) teamed up to infiltrate Robotropolis and find the machine Snively used to cause this effect, hoping to get it to run in reverse and turn Sonic back into his former fifteen-year-old self. Once they got inside the city, Rotor discovered that although he was able to alter the machine to run in reverse, they needed a security code to actually activate it. However, as you might expect, at this point Robotnik and Snively, along with a host of swatbots, entered and sprung an ambush. Sonic was determined to save the lives of his friends, so despite his decrepit state, he used his speed one last time to destroy all the bots and kick Robotnik out of the room.

Exhausted from his feat, he collapsed, and his friends still didn't have the code needed to save his life. Sally, thinking fast, grabbed the gloating Snively and put her acting skills to use.

And just like that, the aging process was reversed, and no one ever thought to try to reverse-engineer that to help anyone else suffering from age-related problems ever again! Back in the present, Amy is pleased with the story, and asks for more, which Sonic happily obliges. It's nice to see that despite her obvious crush on him, Sonic is quite friendly with her in this universe, considering that in other canons he's often been shown to be somewhat callous toward her feelings.

Den of Thieves

Writer/Pencils: Frank Strom Colors: Barry Grossman

It's time to see what ol' Monkey Khan has been up to lately. He's been residing in a village called either Lau Kar or Leung Kar (it's called both over the course of the story, for whatever reason), along with two Mobians who… well, I can't tell what animal they're supposed to be by sight, but the wiki tells me they're rabbits, and they're brother and sister, named Liu Fang and Liu Chi Mei respectively. One morning they're distraught to find the Temple of the Golden Lotus being robbed by some bat ninjas of the Yagyu Clan, and call for help, which comes in the form of, you guessed it, Monkey Khan. He beats on the ninjas for a moment, but then they pull the smoke bomb trick and vanish, to his surprise.

Khan, Fang, and Chi Mei head up to the lake, where they're predictably ambushed by several more Yagyu ninjas. They try to get to higher ground, perhaps hoping to imitate their favorite Jedi Master, but find themselves dropped through a trapdoor into an underground room.

Okay, first of all, that does not look like a dragon, that looks like Godzilla with stegosaurus legs. Second of all, it's obviously a robot and not a mythical terror, something which Khan focuses in on right away. The "dragon" attacks him, hoping to steal his headband to become another piece of the Yagyu's stolen treasure collection, but Khan beats it back and then attacks its circuitry, confusing it and causing it to turn on the Yagyu ninjas instead. As it chases the Yagyu away, Khan, Fang and Chi Mei collect all the stolen treasure - fifty years worth of it, in fact - and take it back to their town, triumphant. Good to see Khan's found himself a place in the world, huh?

Ghost Busted

Writer/Pencils: Jay Oliveras Colors: Frank Gagliardo

This story is actually a retelling of an episode by the same name from the SatAM TV show, told from the point of view of Tails. Sometime in the past, he had gone out into the wilderness with Sonic and Antoine for some good old fashioned roughin' it in the wilderness, when Antoine, supposed to be hiding so Tails could practice tracking him, fell screaming down a muddy slope into the water below. He claimed that he had seen a ghost, but Sonic and Tails brushed him off, saying there's no such thing. That night, Sonic kept Tails and Antoine up late by telling ghost stories, including one about the "Headless Gopher" who was cursed by a stolen gold medallion. Antoine irritably (and somewhat nervously) demanded Sonic stop talking so he could sleep, and feeling tired, Sonic and Tails joined him. However, in the middle of the night, Tails found himself awakened from creepy dreams to something even creepier…

Tails was certain that he'd seen the Headless Gopher, and what's more, Antoine was now missing. Sonic decided to humor him and they split up to search the immediate area. However, Tails hadn't gone far when he circled back around and to his horror, saw Sonic standing right next to the fiery ghost, appearing to be working together with it to find him! He tried to fly away to find Sally and get her help, but ran smack into the ghost…

I don't know about you, but I'd love to find a bush like that, 'cause a bush that perpetually glows like it's on fire sounds awesome. The next morning, Tails, emboldened by his scary nighttime experience, asked Sonic for some more ghost stories as they packed up to leave. Sonic offered to tell some more later, but just then, Tails noticed a shimmering gold medallion on the ground near their camp… and thus, the three brave souls ran away screaming their heads off, certain that they really had gotten a visit from the Headless Gopher in the night. And ever since, it's been their little secret that they've never admitted to anyone else. Great job, guys! Truly a tale worthy of the legendary Freedom Fighters!

#nala reads archie sonic preboot #archie sonic #archie sonic preboot #sonic the hedgehog #sonic super special 8 #writer: dan slott #writer: roger brown #writer: nelson ribeiro #writer: frank strom #writer: jay oliveras #pencils: james fry #pencils: nelson ribeiro #pencils: frank strom #pencils: jay oliveras #colors: joshua d ray #colors: frank gagliardo #colors: barry grossman

2 notes · View notes

nonbinarysasquatch · 5 years

Text

I decided this time to just copy my review of The Dragon Reborn straight from Reddit rather than copy my not really detailed Goodreads review:

I'm back in the saddle again!

Yeah, my one week to finish this turned out to be a month. Oops. But it sure wasn't because I didn't enjoy this book, oh no.

As a reminder for the final time: I read New Spring first and if you are a fellow new reader who hasn't read it that might be something to keep in mind. That said, I'm not planning on referencing anything to it in this review as I don't feel it has any bearing on my thoughts for this one.

Overall thoughts on this book:

Woo, this series just keeps getting better. Even though this book is the shortest yet it really felt like so much happened. Jordan is really getting a feel for the story he's telling. This felt in many ways like the culmination of a lot of things from the first two books. Rand is the Dragon Reborn and is now embracing that role.

Do I have any complaints about this book? You know, not really. Well, beyond issues with one character which I'll get into below. This was a really solid entry.

Character thoughts:

Egwene: Egwene is starting to fight Nynaeve for being my favourite. I loved how much more brash and harsh she's become. It feels a bit like she's mirroring Rand in terms of becoming more powerful and becoming less nice. She's not at his level yet but she's showing herself to be comfortable with, even enjoying, torture. It's a dark turn but I like it. Complex, flawed characters are always more interesting than safe characters who never make mistakes. I am surprised by how fast she, Elayne and Nynaeve are moving up the ranks in the Aes Sedai but it's not super shocking since if they all spend a decade moving up the entire plot would have to be put on hold which would kill the dramatic tension.

Perrin: OK, I guess, saying that I'll admit Perrin isn't that complex, but I still continue to love him. He's also kind of mirroring Rand, at least in terms of power. I loved the wolf dreams (and all the dream stuff in this in general, I'm weak for dream stuff.) Unfortunately, Perrin's plot has a mark against it but I'll get to Faile further below.

Mat: Heyyy, Mat actually got to do stuff. He's evolved being a foolhardy prankster to being a gambler with luck on his side. I'm a little unclear if it's literal magic luck or just general good luck from being ta'veren. I liked Mat in this one. He's not my favourite but he's fun.

Rand: Sir Barely Appearing in this Book. I thought keeping Rand to a minimum in this book was an interesting choice. It gave the other characters more room to breathe and I also think it highlights how he's changing. And boy is he changing. Rand using the one power to make a bunch of corpses kneel before him is pretty eerie. I also thought it was interesting exploring the effect he's having on the world and those around him by simply existing instead of focusing on how the changes happening are affecting him. This book felt more about the world than it was about Rand.

Nynaeve: Still my favourite for the time being. She did get overshadowed by Egwene in this book.

Elayne: I'm not really super certain what my feelings are on Elayne at this point. I like her but don't have strong feelings about her yet. I just like reading about the friendship between the three ladies.

Moiraine: Moiraine really upped her intensity in this one. Whatever niceness and patience she had before are getting shed. I do feel like the characters should start putting more faith and trust in her. She's saved their lives a whole heck of a lot at this point and been right about basically everything, that should earn her something.

Lan: Not much development for Lan in this but he was great as always. Even the Nynaeve romance only got little mentions here and there.

Loial/Thom: You know, I like both these two but I'm starting to feel like they aren' that important to the plot? Granted, maybe there was just not much for them to do in this book. Thom definitely could've been cut from Mat's plot without losing much. I'm glad he wasn't since I like Thom but I'm not really clear what his and Loial's places are in the overall narrative.

Min: I was hoping I'd get more of her beyond the opening bits. We haven't gotten that deep of a look at her yet. I guess she must've arrived at the Tower at some point.

Siuan: Glad we got a fair bit of her in this. I feel like her fishing metaphors increase with every appearance haha.

Faile: I'm always really reluctant to be negative about a female character. I've noticed in pretty much every fandom I've ever interacted with the female characters tend to... get more negative attention for doing less wrong than the male characters. A flaw that adds complexity to a male character will be seen as something unforgivable when given to a female character.

That said, hooboy, Faile has really tested me. Faile stalks Perrin, forces herself into their group, forces her way into their plans, is inappropriate and creepy with Perrin the entire time, is given numerous opportunities to bail but sticks around because she wants to be part of a good story but then complains the entire time like she's being put-upon even though literally no one forced her into this and then for some reason at the end I guess she and Perrin are in love now? And the saddest thing about that is its somehow the best-developed romance these books have been given so far.

My guess is we're supposed to find all her inappropriate behaviour charming? Perrin's the sweetest, kindest character in these books, what'd he do to deserve this? Hopefully, this is just a rocky start and she'll be toned down in the next book. I can honestly deal with harsh and not necessarily nice characters but Jordan's choices with her are really strange. The way she acts just isn't earned. There's no good reason for her to demand to be a part of this then complain about it as if she were a child.

Apologies to anyone who loves her. Just remember I didn't care for Mat at first either haha.

Ba'alzamon: Well. I'll admit, I'm confused at what the point of this character was. Rand kicks his ass 3 times then we find out he was just a pretender who was this other bad guy that seems to have been built up but now he's dead. It's particularly odd since I didn't think he was the Dark One in the first place. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Robert Jordan's plans for this character may have changed along the way. Perhaps in EOTW he was meant to be the Dark One or possessed by the Dark One but decided that the series was growing longer and having Rand beat the main villain several times would cheapen him in the long term. I'm hopeful that the next book will clear things up since Moiraine didn't have much time to explain things at the end.

Some broad stroke thoughts:

I'm starting to feel kind of numb to all the different inns and innkeepers. I know some of them may come back and be important but 3 books in there really have been a lot of them. I can't really blame Jordan for giving them all names and descriptions but I don't think my brain can really retain that much information haha.

I felt a similar thing with all the different captains in this book. He goes into so much detail about the ships and the captains but it just kind of blurs together. Also, I missed Domon in this book. Kept expecting him to show up. Alas.

I really would read an entire series of books just about the Aes Sedai. I want to read about all the inner Tower politics and the nuances between all the different Ajahs. It's a shame there aren't enough female leads so that we can have one character joining each Ajah. I'm looking forward to seeing which Ajah Nynaeve, Egwene and Elayne will join. Elayne does seem to be leaning green. I do hope they all go for different ones just to get the different looks.

The entire climax was so great. For every book the climax has gotten better than the last. Just so many cool pieces with Egwene trying to get them out of the cell, Perrin trying to save Faile, Mat trying to rescue the ladies and Rand being an absolute beast and taking down not one but two forsaken. I love a good magic sword. They might be cliche but Callandor is still pretty rad.

Ohhh I haven't said anything about the Aiel. I'll admit having desert people look Nordic is definitely different. I thought the characters in this were interesting and I'm glad that we're seeing everyone's preconceptions of them being proven false. Given the ending, I assume the next book will have a lot more of them (and at some point Rand will need to dig into his past.)

Adaptation Talk:

Even though this is the shortest book so far, I really feel it's the one I'd want to see given the most episodes. You can easily squeeze the first two books into a ten-episode season but this one might be tough to fit in if you try to put another book in there. But it's hard to say what they should do without having read the next one (and hooboy, TSR appears to be the thickest yet.) I hope the show at least gets a second season so we can get the visual feast of the Heart of Stone battle.

Ranking:

The Dragon Reborn

The Great Hunt

New Spring

The Eye of the World

So far no stinkers. TDR was very, very good with my only real complaint being Faile in general. Starting the Shadow Rising this evening and I actually already have The Fires of Heaven waiting at the library because I just want to keep momentum going and not get sidetracked like I did this time haha.

#wheel of time

6 notes · View notes

drink-n-watch · 5 years

Text

Well, here we are. It was quite a ride! Demon Slayer was not without its lows, but it’s highs were impressive and now that season 1 is all said and done, I can confidently say that I am very happy I got to watch this! But maybe I’m getting ahead of myself here. First, let’s get to some important stuff: How are you Crow?

Hi, Irina! I’m doing well. I hope you enjoyed your week! Gotta say — this episode’s energy surprised me. It felt more like an opening than a closing! Oh, I’m bold, and we’ll likely have spoilers. Don’t want to mislead anyone!

For those of you that may not know – Demon Slayer was Crow’s recommendation and I’m sure glad he made it! How about we get this finale rolling.

When the episode opened back in Shinobu’s hospital, I thought we were in for another training montage and although I enjoy those, it seemed a little lackluster for a last episode, you know?

I was pretty happy when we suddenly moved to some creepy otherworldly demon meeting. Let’s say that poor guy’s question of “Where the Hell is this” may have been a little too accurate! But as hellish as it was, that twisty house was superb! Don’t you think?

It was architecturally fantastic. I felt like I was inside an M. C. Escher painting. It was also really cool to see how the demons themselves reacted. More than one of them were completely freaked out, which gave even more power to the feeling of unease. I’m pretty sure Crow hadn’t noticed my title when he made this comment….

And it was beautiful, too. This show excels at making evil look good.

As it happens the lower 5 kuzukis (Rui’s contemporaries) had been brought together by a rather dissatisfied Muzan. But they didn’t quite know that yet. I have been consistent in my praise for the Demons’ designs in Demon Slayer, and this episode was a treat in that regard. The lower 5 were just as varied and interesting as the hashiras but they don’t have to conform to a uniform or reasonable designs which made them even more interesting to me.

It’s impressive how much effort was put into each of their very individual appearances and even personalities considering how much time they got.

The range was amazing and the designs vibrant with individuality. One of the demons was more classical in that she had horns. The other, Lower One, was quiet and almost conservative, but here eyes and facial markings made it clear she was a demon. Even without know what was to come, there was something about her that marked her as particularly dangerous. Maybe the way she walked? How she stayed calm when some of the other demons were clearly skittish? Whatever it was, the show continued its tradition of being gorgeous.

Turns out, Muzan had decided to be a beautiful Japanese lady that day. No one knows why. Just in the mood for it I guess. It’s all good. The thing is, this particular design overlaps somewhat with lady Tamayo, and it’s never in your advantage to compare yourself to Tamayo

I don’t know about you, but a female Muzan felt terrifying in a way the male form never did for me. It might be that I kept seeing Michael Jackson instead! But his female form? Dang.

What follows was an education. It made sure I had properly assimilated the lessons of this season of Demon Slayer. (I say this season, I’ll get back to it).

First, being a Demon is no fun. It simply isn’t. They might grin like cheshires but no one wants to end up in their shoes. Well, maybe some people do but they are not o.k. Demons are without value even to each other as even kuzukis’ lives are cheap. Although I guess those aren’t exactly “lives”.

Second, Muzan is a monster, and whatever humanity he may have had has leaked out a while ago. There’s little point in hoping for any type of understanding. He’s also a rather horrible boss. I certainly have a whole new appreciation for mine after this episode.

And third, Tanjiro is special. Out of everything that is happening to encite Muzan’s rage; all the priorities he may have with the Demon Slayer corp nipping at his heels; the one thing he cares about is getting the slayer with the hanafuda earrings. At this point I’m seriously beginning to wonder why Tanjiro doesn’t take those earrings off, they constantly get him in trouble.

What were your takeaways from the scene?

His interactions with them were brutal. Of the demons was dumb enough to beg for mercy. What was he thinking? Another tried to argue; that didn’t get much farther. A third tired to escape — you can guess what happened to him. And when another tried to plead his case, Muzan accused him of disagreeing. “Whatever I say is right is the right thing,” he said as he killed the poor demon.

By the end of the scene, that’s how I thought of these blood-thirsty creatures — poor demons!

But did you see how Lower One watched the others die before fashioning her response? “This is like a dream to me,” she said. “To die by your hand in person… I thank you for leaving me for last.”

He “spared” her by giving her an injection of his own blood, which will give her a power up — if she survives!

You’re absolutely right. Being a Demon is no fun!

After Muzan neetly culls his troupe, leaving only one particularly interesting looking one behind (this guy (or girl – seems Crow thinks it’s a girl and he may be right) will make for some great cosplay – also that gravity defying transition shot was the bomb!) the episode brings us back to the present where Tanjiro, Zenitsu and Inosuke seem to have mostly recovered from their wounds. And just in time as it seems the “train incident” is getting worse!

Before leaving on their new mission though, the boys have on last day at Shinobu’s to say their goodbyes. We mostly follow Tanjiro, though, and he is his usual overly earnest and touching self. First he takes on Aoi in a scene that was touching but rang hollow to me.

Aoi is chastising herself for not being an active combattant and Tanjiro cheers her up by saying he’ll carry her feelings in battle with him. I would feel worse if someone told me that. Aoi works tirelessly to help slayers recover. She basically was their nurse, doctor, maid, cook and physical therapist for months. That’s no small feat! Why is Tanjiro just basically saying – Yup you’re a coward but it’s OK cause I’m brave! I know it was animated and conveened as words of compassion and encouragement and that’s how most fans will see them. Just for me, I thought the double message was pretty amusing.

I didn’t take it that way — and I think this might be a case of a gender bias I didn’t realize I had. I saw the scene as touching: Here was Tanjiro being the combat form of Tooru Honda again, spreading cheer and forgiveness! But if I put myself in Aoi’s position, and if Tanjiro were to say that to me, I would feel humiliated.

I’m reminded of when the two Kakushi grabbed Tanjiro and Nezuko back in episode 23. Tanjiro seriously wanted to head butt Sanemi for stabbing Nezuko, but the Master finally convinced him to stand down. As the two Kakushi carried our two heroes to the hospital, one of them practically screamed that she was furious with him for putting her in such a terrifying position. “Ready the room!” she yelled at him. That’s Tanjiro, though, isn’t it? He’s so earnest that he often misses little details — like he does later with Kanao!

Then Tanjiro bid farewell to Kanao in a scene that was akin to emotional fanservice. I’m saying that as a good thing. I do think most fans would really enjoy this scene. It was very sweet.

For a second I thought Tanjiro may actually have lost the coin (I thought he was going to throw it away for a bit as well), and that the entire thing would have turned to slapstick comedy with Kanao royally beating him up. It stayed sweet instead.

This is where Tanjiro showed his oblivious side again! When he told her that he was going to flip the coin to determine if she would listen to the little voice in her heart, she almost looked panicked. The prospect was clearly scary for her! He showed her it was heads and was so happy that he grabbed both her hands. He had no idea what he was doing to her feelings at that point. He was just focused on the idea that he had helped her move forward!

And when he gave her his carefree grin and said goodbye, he had not a clue the emotional confusion he left in his wake. He had just introduced a huge change into his life, then skipped off to war!

Seriously, Tanjiro, read the room!

I forgot to mention that we also saw scar boy in the halls and I don’t know what type of Demon steroids he’s been taking. I think he was roughly the same size as Tanjiro last time we saw him, now he dwarfs him. And it’s not like Tanjiro has been laying around on the couch eating chips or anything…

Can confirm. Not a single chip was consumed.

Were you as surprised as I was by the fact that all three of them could break the big jugs with their breath? Zenitsu and Inosuke actually ended up taking their training seriously enough to not be left behind. That’s pretty impressive. I figure Inosuke may have powered through on brute force but Zenitsu must have actually put in the work at some point!

They even got a reward from the three scary therapy girls. With the way they handle Zenitsu and Inosuke, I’m thinking just send these three after the demons, they’ll make short work of it. Or is that too mean to the demons?

I didn’t think they were scary! To be fair, I didn’t try to subject them to emotional blackmail like Zenitsu did. I loved how they told him, “Maser Zenitsu, please try to learn how to be considerate and respectful of girls.” I laughed even harder when he asked if they were even a little sad he was leaving.

In unison, they answered, “We are not sad.”

From that perspective? I can see how scary they can be! And good for them.

As the last scenes were coming up, I realized something. This isn’t an ending. As in, not even close. It’s a clear set up for the next arc. There’s no pretense that the story has any sort of end point here. You might as well have stopped the season mid sentence.

The reason it took me so long to realize this though is because the boys were about to board a train. A first for both Inosuke and Tanjiro who have lived isolated in the mountains their entire lives. So it was up to city boy Zenitsu to be the voice of wisdom. And he was! It was so weird!!

I almost felt dizzy because of that. It was so disorienting!

Not only did this last scene set up the “train incident” it also brought up a lot of other great world building tidbits. Trains are still not common in the countryside, which means the world of Demon Slayer is right at the cusp of heavy industrialization. This is bound to change how Demons live and how Slayers hunt! Tanjiro has visited the big city once, it’s where he met Muzan but he was in a daze and frantic then. I’m not sure Inosuke ever has. How will they take the culture shock? Slayers are not officially sanctioned, and it seems law enforcement does take its job seriously. A clash between Slayers and the government could be an amazing storyline. And why aren’t they sanctioned, aren’t demons a huge problem? All these questions brought up in the last minutes. How mean!

I agree. It didn’t feel like an ending at all. The energy was much more like the first few episodes!

Back in the first episode, I did a little research. According to Manga Tokyo, the series takes place during the Taisho Era, which was between 1912 and 1926. I hadn’t considered that “modern” transportation wouldn’t have reached non urban areas. It was hilarious how Inosuke thought the locomotive was the master of the land — an opponent he had to confront. Tanjiro spoke up, and I thought okay, he’s going to correct Inosuke. But no, he suggested they shouldn’t attack because it might be the “guardian spirit of this land.” Like you said, it was Zenitsu who set them straight.

Did you notice how he was more subdued this episode? Do you think it’s too much to hope this is a permanent thing?

I firmly believe it will last for the rest of the season….

All in all, this last episode was a showcase for what Demon Slayer does best. Breathtaking animation, ambitious CG integration, eye popping designs mixed with a bit of action, a bit of comedy, a measure of intrigue, a few feels for good measure, and just buckets of blood! It was fun, heartwarming and harshly disturbing all in a single episode without giving me whiplash! What did you think Crow?

I think you summed it up! Oh, do you want to share the news about the movie? Or do you want me to?

Well all we really know for now is that a movie adaptation of the Infinite Train arc has been greenlit. Demon Slayer must be so impressive on a big screen!

*** I had made a gif for my header but it turned out a bit too gruesome so I made a different one. Still it was a nice gif so here it is:

Reviews of the Other Episodes

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 01: Cruelty

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 02: Trainer Sakonji Urokodaki

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 03: Sabito and Makomo

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 04: Final Selection

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 05: My Own Steel

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 06: A Friend fo All Humans

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 07: Muzan Kibutsuji

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 08: The Smell of Enchanting Blood

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 09: Temari Demon and Arrow Demon

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 10: Together Forever

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 11: Tsuzumi Mansion

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 12: The Boar Bears Its Fangs, Zenitsu Sleeps

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 13: Something More Important Than Life

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 14: The House with the Wisteria Family Crest

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 15: Mount Natagumo

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 16: Letting Someone Else Go First

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 17: You Must Master a Single Thing

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Episode 18: In which Tanjiro Dispenses Good Advice

Review Of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 19: The Bonds That Tie Us And A Family Affair

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 20: Playing House

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 21: Challenge Accepted and Be Careful With That Thing

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 22: Master of the Mansion

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 23: Hashira Meeting

Review of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Episode 25: Tanjiro Triumphant and What’s Up with Kanao?

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Episode 26: The House of Escher Well, here we are. It was quite a ride! Demon Slayer was not without its lows, but it’s highs were impressive and now that season 1 is all said and done, I can confidently say that I am very happy I got to watch this!

#action #anime #Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba #Horror #shonen #supernatural

3 notes · View notes

itsclydebitches · 6 years

Text

RWBY Recaps: Volume 6 “Alone In The Woods”

I stan one grandma and one silver-eyed warrior.

Seriously though. Ruby and Maria were the MVPs of this episode and one of the things I want to emphasize going into this recap—right here, right now—is that the Brunswick grimm didn’t create the feelings of hopelessness and inevitability that the girls are fighting against, they enhanced it. To a staggering degree, yes, but these feelings aren’t just coming out of nowhere and I think it would be a mistake to go, “See! All this negativity regarding the mission was just a result of The Apathy. They’ll be fine now that they’re away from the farm.” They’ll be better, but I don’t think they’ll be fine. We saw hints of the girls’ dwindling hope before the farm and we get one clear hint of it after they’ve left. More significantly, we can see a correlation between how much The Apathy affected them and how hopeful the character is outside of its influence. Basically, in descending order we’ve got:

Maria

Ruby

Oscar

Weiss

Yang/Blake

Qrow

Ozpin (currently)

I’ll be spending a fair bit of this recap pointing out moments where we see these differences between the characters because it’s an excellent writing tool. Here we have a literal event also functioning as a metaphor, in which The Apathy’s power allows us to witness an over-the-top display of the characters’ feelings; an overt summary of where everyone is at right now. And though these feelings will no doubt become more nuanced now that they’re away from the farm, they certainly haven’t disappeared.

But let’s start at the beginning.

We open with a shot of the moon, which has so much more significance now that we know Remnant’s history. I mean there’s a whole lot of philosophical and symbolic stuff we could delve into—Humanity is broken! Scattered! It needs to be made whole and/or we need accept that the moon is still a good moon even if we can’t make it ‘perfect’!—but honestly I just see it, think of the Gods, and mentally go, “You bastards.”

As people already pointed out when we got the sneak peek, Ruby is separating herself from the group while everyone else sits close together: her team huddled shoulder to shoulder as Oscar and Maria fill the rest of the room. Qrow is obviously separating himself too, though it says a lot about her thought process that when Ruby reminds him that he can talk to her and Yang, that advice doesn’t extend to herself. We don’t see Ruby seeking out the physical comfort of her team and we certainly don’t see her voicing her fears—biting off complaints in front of Weiss was a perfect example. Ruby is great at pinpointing what other people need without attributing the same things to herself. Because she’s the young prodigy. She’s team leader. She’s the one with silver eyes. Regardless of what aspect of her personality you pick out, Ruby is always the one with responsibility on her shoulders and therefore the one who can’t afford to break. We see a lot of that in this episode.

Qrow has moved onto a whole bottle now and stares morosely out the window. He notes that the storm is lessening and that they’ll be able to leave at sunrise. Ruby says that’s good and Qrow follows it with a, “No. I don’t have a good feeling about this place. Especially with me around.” This exchange is their current relationship in a nutshell: Ruby finds the silver lining, Qrow immediately shuts her down. And of course it all comes back to self-loathing. It might look like things are getting better, but remember that I’m here. So no, they won’t stay good for long.

What’s perhaps most aggravating is the continued cruelty that worms its way into Qrow’s pessimism. He doesn’t just give a fake smile and assure Ruby he’s fine, like many other characters would. He rolls his eyes at her concern and gives a sarcastic “Suuuure.” Qrow doesn’t just reject Ruby’s support, he finds it stupid. That response was very much a, Really? You want to know if I’m okay? Don’t ask stupid questions, kid—which is a kind of personal attack that Ruby doesn’t deserve, in the same way Oscar didn’t deserve to have his identity rejected just because Qrow is struggling with his own.

Keep in mind that throughout all of this I’m still aware that The Apathy is impacting their mood. But as said at the beginning, all these emotions are real. Qrow doesn’t get a free pass for his attitude just because The Apathy is making it easier for him to act on the way he feels.

Meanwhile, Maria’s bedtime story is a series of diaries and damn, that woman reads fast! She’s already on volume three by the time everyone comes back inside and she’s learned plenty about how difficult it was for people to build here. Blight, expenses, cold… and yes, grimm. It was by no means an easy settlement. And though it’s just a small line thrown into a larger explanation, I’m interested in the fact that these people apparently wanted to live on their own despite so many difficulties. We don’t hear much about those outside of the Kingdoms—with the exception of Blake’s history—and that this group would weather all this hardship for the chance to live independently says a lot about how not everyone is happy with the system Ozpin set up after the Great War.

Ruby interrupts Maria’s story to announce that “Qrow said we should get some sleep.” Notably not Uncle Qrow. Everyone immediately stands with the exception of Maria who has the best reaction, delivering in a caustic voice:

“The last thing you’ll catch me doing is letting some kid tell me what to do!”

There’s nothing I don’t love about this line. This is how you have a truly compassionate character vent their frustration. Because no matter Maria’s beef with Qrow (and boy, is she justified in it), the suggestion to sleep is objectively a good one. They fought grimm, got into a train crash, witnessed the Saddest Story Ever, beat up on their former headmaster, trudged who knows how far in the snow, found a creepy town, found some dead bodies, and just had emotional conversations with their besties. Sleep is so freaking necessary right now… but Maria doesn’t want to acknowledge that because it’s Qrow giving the order. The difference between her mini tantrum and the others’ we’ve seen? Maria’s doesn’t put anyone in danger. It’s not Yang refusing to move in a grimm-infested forrest until she gets the answers she wants. It’s not Qrow punching a sobbing man in a child’s body. Maria vents, but does so in a way that only impacts herself. I might be tired come morning, but it’s not going to hurt any of you if I stay up longer with this book.

Plus she calls Qrow a kid. Valid. Compare how Maria acts around Qrow to how she acts around Ruby. For Maria, literal age isn’t important. Qrow might technically be the other adult here, but he sure as hell isn’t acting like it. Ruby might be the second youngest, but she’s handling things like a champ. Only one of them is the “kid” in this situation.

“Go to bed,” Maria mimics, playing the roll of a child herself. Though again, in a way that hurts no one. Qrow isn’t even in the room to hear her. Ruby realizes all this and smiles—one of the first genuine ones we’ve seen since the beginning of this Volume. Maria is funny like this and yeah, at least some of that reaction was probably deliberate. She wants Ruby to hear her playfully mocking her uncle and loosen up a bit.

The camera turns towards the fire and we get a quick cut to hours later where it’s burned out completely. The morning light shines through the window. Well, color me surprised. Given the horror tropes last time I fully expected the girls to wake up (or start dreaming) in the dead of night, but in some ways it’s creepier for everything to go down on a bright, sunny morning. They live in a world with literal monsters. A bit of daylight isn’t going to save you.

At least everyone was smart enough to sleep in the same room together. With the exception of Qrow, but he already went off by himself after telling everyone else to stay in pairs. Dude, you’re so lucky you didn’t die this episode.

Sometime during the night Qrow found two more bottles that he emptied before passing out and when the last finally slips from his fingers it shatters, startling the hell out of Ruby. Here we get our first glimpse of how she’s able to resist The Apathy, how much more hope and determination she has than everyone else in her group—Ruby literally isn’t as tired. Not only did the bottle not wake anyone else up, her yell didn’t either. These are trained fighters suffering from PTSD who are entirely devoted to one another, and your leader’s scream doesn’t rouse you? After a whole night in this place the rest of the team is in deep.

We see quickly though that this isn’t the kind of cursed sleep that some of the fandom thought we might get. Everyone can wake up, it’s just extraordinarily hard. Weiss complains about Ruby opening the window curtains and Qrow tells her to leave him alone. When he doesn’t stir after that we finally see some of the anger Ruby is housing. She snatches another one of the bottles and hurls it against the wall. That wakes Qrow up fast.

Her frustration immediately gives way to concern though—another reason why I think she would have reached out a hand to Ozpin if she’d been given a chance. We get her reminder that Qrow can talk to them and Ruby moves in for a hug.

Thus begins a theme this episode of Qrow rejecting physical affection. Here he lets Ruby hug him, but gives only the most perfunctory pat on her back and then immediately pulls away. We see it again in the cellar when Ruby is legit screaming about how they need to get out of there and Qrow’s only reaction is a, “Hey! Get off me!” He focuses on the unwanted touch and keeps struggling in their grip up until he spots The Apathy burning in the doorway.

Now granted, there’s a lot of other things at play here, but it doesn’t surprise me that one of them is Qrow’s discomfort with, not just compassion, but physical compassion. After all, his semblance has a radius. We see during the fight with Tyrian that the kids can stand a few feet away from them, but they shouldn’t “come any closer.” Once Ruby does, she’s nearly brained by a falling beam. Those who are literally close to Qrow are the ones who get caught up in his semblance. During times of peace when things are looking up? He gives in, letting Ruby hang off his arm or sitting close to everyone at the Haven house. Now though? After Jinn’s vision? Qrow doesn’t just think he’s undeserving of comfort, he shies away from the physical proximity that comfort is usually delivered through. He’s cursed and he’ll be damned if he lets anyone get close to him—figuratively or literally.

It’s also worth pointing out that most of this shot takes place through the window. This technique can mean a lot of things in television and cinema, including evoking the feeling of peeking in on a private moment (think Rear Window), using the frame to divide people (you’re on one side of the line, I’m on the other), creating a sense of balance (or lack thereof), and producing a feeling of distance—for both the viewer and the characters.

Ruby and Qrow might be together in this shot, but the frame is no longer balanced. Their expressions are hidden from us, there’s height to make them appear small, and there’s even a bit of a Dutch Angle, usually used to show unease; that the world is suddenly confusing and off kilter. In short, Ruby is trying to offer that comfort and the cinematography is doing everything it can to tell us that it’s not working.

“Let’s just get out of here,” Qrow says, which is at least something they can all agree on.

And then. Then! Oscar being treated like a human being!!

Oh this did my heart good to see. His interaction with Blake was short, but filled with excellence. That right there was a true early morning sibling exchange.

I don’t wanna do work.

Me neither. I want food.

YES. Wait. Are YOU going to make the food?

…No.

alkdjdakhfadihfg.

Thank god. Keep this up. Let them push back against Qrow’s belief that Oscar isn’t his own person with simple, everyday interaction. Let him worm even deeper into their lives so that the next time someone suggests that Oscar doesn’t have his own, intrinsic value he’s got four big sisters ready to stand up for him.

Connected to this, I also love everyone screaming for him while running from The Apathy. No one abandoned Oscar in their own fear. They had faith that he’d be ready to take them out of there.

They remembered he has a name.

Good shit, good shit.

So everyone gets the flatbed and bike ready, but when Qrow puts his foot up on it one of the tires blows. Nice callback to the broken coffee table. Of course, rather than tackling the new problem—Ruby: “It’s just a flat tire. I’m sure there’s a spare”—Qrow gives up. Remember, he’s both the one with the least hope in their mission and by extension the one most swayed by The Apathy. One minor setback and he’s ready to just stay there, despite his earlier desire to get the hell out of dodge. Qrow plops himself down in the snow and starts drinking again.

Maria, please talk some sense into him.

Not that Qrow would listen to her, especially after she makes the comment that they’re all “beacons for bad luck.” (Oooh nice contrast to our Beacon (school) of hope.) It’s a nice reminder that yeah, Maria might have gotten an info dump on Remnant’s history, but she doesn’t know anything else about this group, including the fact that Qrow actually has a bad luck semblance. She’s already watched a movie of humanity’s greatest secrets. Someone should really fill her in on the rest.

That comment sparks the conversation that we all knew was coming. Yes, we can clearly see The Apathy at work here… but we can also see who has the determination to fight it. Yang says that it seems like the universe doesn’t want them to make it to Atlas, the same kind of twisted logic we’ve seen from her for the last two volumes. She knows she can’t trust Raven, but believes her anyway. She knows she agreed to deliberately separate from the train, but then acts like this is some kind of spiteful karma. She knows something as simple as a snowstorm in, you know, winter isn’t a sign that their mission is impossible… but she’s going to turn it into a sign when she wants to justify giving up. Yang is very good at taking innocuous things and/or things she originally agreed to and then using them as “evidence” when she feels like it. Like agreeing to a career that’s all about risking their lives and then going, “Actually if we’re risking our lives there should be payment in the form of secrets.”

That’s what Blake latches onto next. She bemoans the fact that they always have to fight to get by and Ruby and I both go, “????”

Ruby: “Yeah, but that’s what we signed up for.”

Thank you! Yes, that is exactly what you signed up for and, The Apathy’s influence aside, no one is willing to acknowledge that. You signed up for a hard life. You signed up for battle, but only Ruby both recognizes and admits to that choice. The Apathy’s extreme influence helps us see that these girls still haven’t found new motivations since Mountain Glenn. In their minds they didn’t sign up for this kind of hardship because they saw being huntsmen as a track towards adventure (Yang), recognition (Weiss), and an escape from a previous life (Blake). Without that ethical drive, experiencing the dark side of their careers—like the Fall of Beacon—really kind of broke them. In that way they’re still kids, told by adults and the rest of society that the thing they’re so excited to do will be hard, and they claim they understand this… but are then surprised when, shock, it actually turns out to be hard.

Oscar has a slightly different view. He actually didn’t sign up for this, so he points out that they’re supposed to “save the world. Not just delay the inevitable.” Ignoring for the moment that Salem’s victory is in no way inevitable (that’s the Raven in you talking), Oscar doesn’t even have the guilt of knowing that he chose helping people as his career to push him forward. Some bullshit magic chose him specifically to “save the world” and now everyone thinks that’s impossible, so why exactly am I here again?

It says a ton about his personality then that Oscar, despite having the most objectively justifiable reason to give up, is one of the more tentative in his complaints. After that line he doesn’t gang up on Ruby like her team does, pressuring her to give up like the rest of them. He also immediately does as Qrow asks and sets about finding a new tire, even though The Apathy and his own apparent uselessness should convince him to just sit there—like Qrow is. But Oscar keeps going. We’re seeing glimmer after glimmer of how he’s a “like minded soul” to Ozpin. Both keep getting up no matter how many times they’re knocked down.

Ozpin, of course, is also worth acknowledging here. We don’t know if he can hear/see everything that’s going on that deep in Oscar’s mind, but even if he can his self-loathing is currently even worse than Qrow’s. Combine that with The Apathy’s influence and it’s absolutely no surprise to me that he never makes an appearance. (To say nothing of the fact that the plot isn’t ready for him to come back yet.) Though it goes against his core characterization, Ozpin is currently the least hopeful of the lot. Ruby is holding them all together until he re-discovers his own convictions.

But boy, is it hard. I wasn’t kidding about the other girls ganging up on her. They’re pressuring Ruby to give in to them through both words and by physically invading her space. That balance in the frame we were talking about? Two cuts show us that it doesn’t exist: everyone is on one side and Ruby stands alone on the other. It’s hard to stand up to that kind of peer pressure in general, let alone when you’ve got a grimm weighing you down.

Yang tries to spin the decision to leave the relic with more selfish logic: Salem probably won’t find it for a couple of years at least. Hell, “It might not even happen in our lifetime. We could be done with it now.” I’ve spoken about this in other metas, but this self-centered thinking is really at the heart of the issue. The girls expected to kill Salem just as soon as they were a bit stronger (they probably assumed, naively, that they’d be done in the next few years) and now they’ve learned that this is a multi-generational battle. Protagonist Status aside, the in-world implication is that they won’t reap any rewards. This is a fight that requires true sacrifice: planting seeds in a garden you never get to see, if I may quote Hamilton. And right now they’re say ‘no.’ That’s not my responsibility. That’s not worth it. Drop this stupid thing and maybe we’ll have peaceful lives before Salem wins. No one else matters.

Ruby gets far enough to unclip the relic and dangle it over the well, her hand shaking as badly as Yang’s. She’s “really tired”… but Ruby is also currently stronger than the others. She faces The Apathy as well as her entire team doubting her and says no, this isn’t the right thing to do.

Too bad red eyes startle her and the relic drops.

Her reaction is so telling though. Ruby maintains her determination, even in the face of the problem being literally taken out of her hands. It would have been so easy to just relax into the mistake, acknowledge that whoops, didn’t mean to drop it… but is it so bad that I did? It takes more strength to go after the relic again than it would to just hold onto it. Ruby’s freaking amazing for demanding they go back down.

The reactions piss me off though. (Yes, yes even with The Apathy’s influence.) Like Qrow’s cruelty towards her concern, the girls aren’t just indifferent to Ruby’s emotion here, they’re mean. They act like they’re putting up with a naive, annoying child whose finally gotten on their nerves one too many times. If you watch Yang and Blake they trade the embodiment of an “Ugh here she goes” look. Yang then has the gall to say that Ruby just imagined the thing in the well. That’s a standard horror trope: protagonist sees something scary and friend immediately says nah, monsters aren’t real! Except, you know, they put that reaction into the mouth of a girl who fights monsters for a living. I also love the logic here, or lack thereof. Grimm, Ruby? C’mon. We’re surrounded by woods where we were attacked by a ton of grimm just yesterday, hanging out in an abandoned town where everyone is dead in their beds. We’ve got a magical object that specifically attracts grimm, a guy with a bad luck semblance, and we’ve been spewing negative emotion non-stop for the last 24 hours. Why would you think there’s a monster down there??

So yeah. Rational thought is out the window right now. Ruby stands her ground though (I STAN ONE FIERCE CHILD) and says she’s not leaving without the relic. I legit worried for a moment that her dead-eyed team would go, “Okay fine. Then we’ll leave without you,” but luckily RT didn’t take it that far. They all agree to go back down with her—further showing how Ruby’s determination helps combat apathy, both natural and grimm-induced.

Qrow yells for the “farm boy” to find them a spare tire and then goes to drink himself into oblivion. Maria rightly sneers at his lazy, childish behavior. Qrow’s bitching about the “stupid lamp” and the “stupid tire”? Maria snaps that he’s the stupid one here.

Keep dragging him, Grandma. Maybe if you get him mad enough it’ll break through some of that self-loathing.

We then begin a series of parallel edits where Maria sits reading the diary while the girls explore the sewers below. It helps build suspense to catch glimpses of the writing—things like “I did it!” and “my solution” and “The huntsmen pointed them out to me the other day”—as they near whatever is laying in wait. By the time Maria turns the page and finds the awful illustration of what was brought into town, the girls have already found it for themselves.

During all this we see even more how little Yang, Weiss, and Blake don’t trust Ruby while under The Apathy’s influence. When they turn out their lights (omg no) none of them take out their weapon like she does, even though we’ve seen in the past that it’s an instinctual reaction to copy her, especially when it comes to keeping themselves safe. But they’re too tired and there’s no grimm, remember?

They finally spot the relic and Ruby, bless her, smiles. No matter how much of a burden it is, she’s so relieved that she found it again.

Aaaaand she finds something else too.

Like the others, Ruby isn’t quite herself right now. She cowers and screams rather than immediately fighting back, but at least she’s able to get off a couple of shots before The Apathy’s cry does them all in. Maria drops down into the well for a rescue attempt (!!!!) and recognizing the grimm at hand just tells them to run.

So they do. Why didn’t they keep heading for the well exit? I have no idea. That seemed a little contrived to suddenly head deeper into this maze, but whatever. It’s more atmospheric to face The Apathy underground and it gives RT the opportunity to throw out another corpse leaning against the wall. Yeesh.

“I can’t do this,” Yang says, a line that obviously speaks to more than just her inability to run away from the grimm. Then Blake flat out drops.

It says a lot about both of their states of mind that after a candid conversation about protecting one another, Blake isn’t able to rouse herself to help Yang and Yang doesn’t even realize Blake is about to die. The ability to keep going, even for a beloved friend if not for yourself, is just gone.

Not so for Ruby and Maria. They’re each still able to get to their feet—the only two continuing this fight here and the fight out there—literally pulling everyone else along. Ruby yells for Blake to get up and she gives the creepiest line in all of RWBY’s history.

Blake: “It’s fine.”

With The Apathy’s claws literally inches from Blake’s cheek, Ruby lets loose her silver eyes.

It’s enough to knock them back, but not defeat them all. More importantly though, Ruby’s power seems to have knocked something into the girls as well. The recovery they make is staggering and I think it’s more than just The Apathy loosening its hold. As we’ll see in a second, the power is literally tied to love of friends, family, and humanity as a whole. Ruby just gave everyone a big dose of love-infused hope. Despite the episode’s title, the point here is that they’re not alone in the woods.

Weiss gets up the steps and shouts that the door is locked… and I’m sorry for laughing. But it just reminded me so much of First Year Hermione in the Devil’s Snare, shouting about how there’s no matches for a fire. Weiss. Are you a crazy powerful fighter capable of breaking a measly lock or not?

Yang comes to lend her a hand, but The Apathy knocks them down with their cry again. I love that they separated the partners here—Ruby trying to keep Blake safe—and we see Yang reaching for Weiss as she collapses again, muttering “No, no, no, no.” We then get a nice shot from Maria’s perspective as she slowly pieces things together. An experienced, silver-eyed warrior herself, Maria is the only one still able to move and she crawls to Ruby, asking what color her eyes are.

Damn if this poor grandma isn’t getting crazy revelation after crazy revelation. At least this one is able to save their asses. She coaches Ruby through drawing on the emotions that will activate her eyes. Think about the people you love. Focus on keeping them safe. “Life is beautiful. It’s precious. And it must be protected.”

The silver-eyed warriors are embodiments of the cause Ozpin fights for: protect humanity, no matter how hard. No wonder he was so interested in Ruby when they first met.

So for the first time we not only get to see Ruby using her power intentionally, we also see it destroy. She only froze the dragon grimm at Beacon and injured Cinder rather than killing her. Now, Ruby’s eyes turn all The Apathy before them into dust. With knowledge of what she’s drawing on and some measure of control, Ruby is growing more powerful.

Hell yes.

They come out into the wine cellar where Qrow is drunk beyond belief. Between all the alcohol and The Apathy it doesn’t even register that maybe his kids are panicking for a reason. He just yells at Weiss for wasting precious alcohol. Because yeah, Ruby might have done some damage, but The Apathy isn’t dead yet… and Weiss has beef with both the grimm that nearly killed them and with a cellar stuffed full of drink, courtesy of her mother. Now she’s given the chance to burn both to the ground? Weiss isn’t passing that opportunity up.

“Now we can leave,” she says. Once everything is on fire.

(Someone please make a version of the Elmo GIF with Weiss raising her arms maniacally as everything burns behind her. I’d like that.)

During all this we also get a wonderful little bumblebee moment as Yang grabs hold of Blake’s hand. A bright spot amongst all the horror.

They re-unite with Oscar, who is literally just,

and then they get the hell out of there. Driving away everyone is able to start thinking again, with Maria laying out how two of The Apathy were brought into town to try and keep people safe—a messed up form of self-medication in a world that doesn’t seem to care at all about mental health. “They drain your will to go on” and once you get the whole pack? You’re done for. Presumably everyone went to bed and just… never bothered to get up again.

Maria then straight up chucks the diary into the snow, which was an incredibly sad gesture to me. Like yes, they obviously don’t need the diary anymore, but it’s still a diary, the last surviving remnant of the family given that Weiss burned the house down. That action, for me at least, speaks to Maria’s disgust at the choices here. Not only that people think they can remove the bad parts of life without damaging the good, but that, financial difficulties aside, this fool actually thought he could get rid of huntsmen and replace their protection with grimm.

That was a rejection of them and it lead to the deaths of an entire town. Now apply that scenario to a much bigger picture. What’s gonna happen if the girls reject their own status as huntsmen and the town becomes the entire world?

Nothing good.

Weiss is the first to apologize. God bless this girl, that must have been hard to do, especially coming from an abusive family. Weiss has developed remarkably good communication skills in the last two years. I’m super proud of her. I’m also proud of Yang for stopping the bike and following Weiss’ apology with, “Me too.” She could have easily reacted with more anger—well we wouldn’t have even been in that awful place if it wasn’t for Ozpin—but she takes responsibility for at least some of her part in this mess. That’s such a good step forward! Go Yang!

The only thing that still worries me?

Yang: “We can’t quit until the lamp is safe.”

That’s, again, not a drive to fight. Yang is now clearheaded enough to be where Blake was back in Episode Four: we’ve got this powerful magical object, I have enough sense to recognize that we can’t abandon it, so let’s just get the stupid thing to Atlas and then we’ll be done. They’re still thinking selfishly outside of The Apathy’s clutches. Okay, okay, we are responsible for the relic… but why do we have to be responsible for anything else? Because this is the life you chose. Because no one else is equipped to do this. Because it’s the right thing to do. Because someone has to. At some point soon they’re going to need to tackle the fact that Atlas is just the first step of many, many more.

Ruby asks how in the world Maria knows so much and we end with the bombshell that, to be frank, most of the fandom was expecting: “Well isn’t it obvious, girl? I had silver eyes.”

The “had” now seems to be the important bit. Given the power of silver eyed warriors, it wouldn’t surprise me if—like the Maidens—they were once hunted for their power, either to claim it or remove it as a threat. We might learn that Maria isn’t just blind but at one point had her eyes entirely removed.

With that revelation the group keeps on driving.

Honestly? I’m super surprised they’re out of Brunswick already. Based on the slow exploration of the house and some tweets from RT—“Welcome to Brunswick Farms!”—it looked like we were settling in for the long haul, a series of episodes slowly revealing the creature and then figuring out how to destroy it. Instead we blew through everything in twenty minutes. Right now I don’t necessarily think that’s bad, I’ll just be curious to see how we’re going to fill up the rest of the Volume. Perhaps we’ll be getting back together with JN__R sooner than expected.

With that in mind, let me make a final comment about my newfound optimism. After today’s episode I’m not as convinced that we’re going to have that awful ‘Jaune slams Oscar/Ozpin up against the wall’ scene. I’ve spoken with multiple friends about how RWBY has gotten more literal with its opening credit imagery, but so far we’ve actually seen a fair number of metaphors for Volume Six:

Ruby and Weiss didn’t literally chase each other down the train, but that image demonstrates the strong support we’ve seen them giving one another this Volume.

Blake and Yang didn’t literally sit at a table and mope, but those actions also reflect the continued work that needs to go into their relationship—especially when compared with Ruby and Weiss.

We didn’t literally see Qrow get grabbed by The Apathy, but it definitely had the biggest effect on him. It helped to pull him further down.

We didn’t literally see Ruby soloing The Apathy and we definitely don’t see her using Crescent Rose like that. But that shot nicely reflects how she stood alone against the rest of her team. She was the only one initially willing to go back for the relic and by extension the only one figuratively facing The Apathy, as well as all it represents.

In the same way, I’m less convinced now that we’ll literally see Jaune grabbing hold of Oscar and doing him more bodily harm. Rather, this image might just be another representation of the mood: Jaune will be pissed. But hopefully by that point RWBY, Oscar, and Qrow have found their own determination and can back Ozpin up a bit.

Here’s hoping for more bright spots in general now that they’re out of that hell-hole... despite what these expressions imply.

Other Things of Note

A potential detail of the merge: Oscar’s pacing looks very Ozpin to me. People have already pointed out that he’s holding their cane like Ozpin (baseball bat charge into the house aside) and now he seems to be walking like him too.

When Maria talks about the solutions the townspeople were coming up with she says, “It sounds like it worked. At least for a spell.” Granted, I don’t think the writers used it deliberately, but I still like that the word “spell” made it into common vocabulary. It shows that yeah, people once knew about magic (at the very least Maidens were once common knowledge) and language grew to reflect that.

There is… a random trunk on the floor now. Was that there before?? I honestly don’t remember. Either way that was a jarring image for me. Open the treasure chest, Oscar.

Ruby and Yang sharing a blanket together. Awww.

It’s clear now that Ruby ignored her silver eyes all through Volume Five so that we could have this dramatic reveal, but it’s still an annoying choice. All they needed to do was provide a five second conversation where Ruby brings it up and Ozpin puts off revealing more secrets, or Ozpin brings it up and Ruby makes it clear she’s not ready to handle that conversation yet. (Her first use of her eyes is connected to the trauma of Pyrrha’s death.) Little details like that would have given RT space to set up this arc without leaving us with the annoying question, “Why the hell is our normally strategic leader ignoring the best weapon she currently has?”

This is just a little complaint, but I wish they’d done a bit more with how the townspeople died. Given the range of resisting/not resisting The Apathy that we saw today, it seems a little unlikely that everyone went to bed one night and simultaneously stayed there until they starved or whatever. Idk. Just seems like they could have done more with the story, but as said, we’ll have to see what the rest of the Volume holds and whether it was worth leaving the farm so quickly.

#rwby #rwby spoilers #rwby volume six spoilers #mymetas #RWBY Recaps

147 notes · View notes

amemericans · 7 years

Note

what anime recs do you have an anime n00b

under a read more because the list is long and we added extra commentary because we’re just that extra

anon i hope you’re happy exposing us for the weebs that we are

j’s sidenote: i usually read more manga but fortunately, some of the ones i read have anime!!

Shoujo

Cardcaptor Sakura

J: if you’re looking for a magical girl type of anime, this is it!!! kinomoto sakura is precious i hope you love her and her lesbian best friend tomoyo. please don’t watch the US dub “cardcaptors”…it’s an insult.

Yona of the Dawn / Akatsuki no Yona

J: sheltered princess gets kicked out of the castle, is involved in a prophecy, and then lots of action because why not? also i love yona

Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-Kun (GSNK) / Monthly Girl’s Nozaki-Kun

J: even if you say you’re an anime n00b, you probably have an understanding of shoujo tropes. too bad this breaks all the stereotypes!! it’ll make you laugh, i guarantee. characters are as clueless as hoshi is with technology and i’m sure all of them will never be in a relationship.

Ao Haru Ride / Blue Spring Ride

J: if GSNK breaks all the shoujo tropes, this one has all of them!!!! even so, it’s still pretty good- i bet you woozi can make a song or two from this anime (though i know his main muse will be full moon wo sagashite- also a good anime!)

Orange

J: slice-of-life anime about a group of friends who try to save one of their own. prepare tissues.

Ouran High School Host Club

J: if you love seventeen and their dynamic, you’ll love this too!! shoutout to my girl haruhi for dealing with all of the host club’s shit.

Your Lie in April

V: A male pianist and a female violinist play music together. also prepare tissues…you’ll understand the meaning of the anime title at the very last episode lol.

Ore Monogatari / My Love Story

J: this is…really…the purest love story…you just have to watch it, seriously…it’s as pure as seventeen adore u, mansae, and pretty u eras

Sports

Haikyuu!! (a personal fav of seventeen!)

J: be prepared to binge watch this because i know i did!! it’s a heartwarming story with lots of nicely-placed (and not forced) comedy. but i mean, it’s volleyball. **seungkwan endorses it**

Kuroko no Basuke

J: has the most cliche shit in a sports anime (i’ve watched like 5 sports anime so idk how accurate this statement is). friendship!!! teamwork!!! ridiculous basketball powers!!! but we can overcome everything when we work hard!!!

Yuuri On Ice!!!

J: ice skating anime. VERY GAY. no queerbaiting here- it’s GAY AS FUCK. you really have to admire and root for our main boy yuuri here though. he is truly a precious katsudon

Chihayafuru

J: at first glace, it MAY look like shoujo, but our main girl chihaya over here is 120% focused on karuta. because who needs boys who are in an unrequited love with you right?? still has the power of friendship and teamwork, which is always a must in sports anime!!

Shounen

Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood

J: personally picking this over the earlier version of FMA only because this follows more closely to the canon (manga) storyline. it really does have a wonderful storyline with rich characters and great development and you’ll feel satisfied with the story when you finish it

Hunter x Hunter (2011 but i have a soft spot for the older ver too)

J: this one has a little bit of everything: friendship, teamwork, sports, magical abilities, ~family~ (the main 4 are family don’t fight me on this), beautifully written characters, great storylines, a creepy ass clown,

Bungou Stray Dogs

J: um joshua personally recommended this so you should watch it. MC works in a detective agency that has staff with *abilities*. definitely lots of action. fun fact: the characters are named after famous people in literature and their abilities are named after their work! the first arc of season 2 is a personal favorite of mine

Code Geass

J: basically tells the story of a revolution against the current government. our main boy here, (sometimes douchey) lelouche pretty much leads the revolution accompanied by an ability he acquired- his geass. very mecha and has fighting robots action!!

Death Note

J: an even bigger douche than lelouche, light yagami is out to reform the current justice system by taking it upon himself to play god. someone give him an oscar for his performance honestly this bitch really knows how to act

My Hero Academy

V: high school students with super powers and they go to school to learn how to become heroes! easily became one of my favorite shounen anime. every student is precious except that one grape-looking dude

Shingeki no Kyojin / Attack on Titan

J: we have another hot-blooded male protagonist over here!!! my boy eren just has a simple dream- to kill all the titans that ever existed because they ruined his life!!! is it really too much to ask for?

One Punch Man

J: this follows the story of saitama, who just wants to be a hero and save people’s lives. he’s bored because, well, he’s overpowered. you’ll get a lot of laughs here, definitely

Tokyo Ghoul (the whole show censored the gore but you can find the uncensored version too)

V: Ghouls basically look like humans but their diet is limited to humans and coffee only (they can’t eat human food). The ghouls need to kill humans to eat but humans want to live so they fight back. It shows the story of both sides so you feel sorry for both of them lol…and so my boy kaneki just wanted to go on a date but his life turned upside down after that.

Noragami

J: we’re dealing with the supernatural this time! my girl hiyori suddenly becomes involved with the gods, which is kind of awesome but also awful. also the gods are so very human in the sense that they cause so much shit. you probably don’t want them ruling your planet or something

Parasyte: Maxim

J: in this world, there’s an organism/parasite that invades your body and takes over it, killing you instantly. sometimes, things don’t go as planned, and the parasite and the human have to coexist, guess what happens to our main character….

Psycho Pass

J: in a dystopian future, there’s a technology that actually predicts your probability of becoming a criminal/endangering humanity. that technology in itself is already the problem….

Moribito

V: set in a fantasy, historical Asia. my girl Balsa can easily beat up 1000 men while guarding a child prince. interesting plot, beautiful animation, and an amazing main character!!

D.Gray Man

J: hey there demons, it’s me, ya exorcist!!! demon-hunting adventures with lots of friendship in between and you’ll fall in love with these character i swear!! a+ humor as well honestly i love these kids

Blue Exorcist

V: hey there demons, it’s me, another exorcist! half-human/half-demon boy goes to school to learn how to become an exorcist to defeat demons and most importantly: Satan

Thriller

Erased (We recommend the live action too! it follows the manga more accurately. It’son Netflix)

J: murder mystery where our MC has this ability to rewind time and fix any bad things that were about to happen. one day, he gets transported back and ends up having to figure out on who murdered one of his classmates. really keeps you on the edge of your seat and the music is spot on!!

Another

J: in a seriously haunted classroom, there’s always one extra person who had died but is present with them, every year it’s someone different and the class has to figure out on who the dead one is before……bad things…

Terror In Resonance

V: two teenage boys commit terrorist attacks on Tokyo and they somehow get a girl involved in their crimes

Movies

Kimi no Na Wa

V: JunHao’s My I was inspired by this!!! I don’t want to spoil too much, you just have to watch it! beautiful animation, beautiful characters. the story makes a lot more sense if you watch it the second time.

Studio Ghibli movies

The Girl who Leapt Through Time

#THIS IS LATE BEC IT'S LONG #anon #ask #j answers #v answers #;^}#:^)#j commented on most of them lol #anime recs

45 notes · View notes

aceofwands · 7 years

Text

Ria hateblogs Discovery Episode 5: “Choose Your Pain” (do I even need to retitle this one?) (not liveblogged to @kendradaynes for a change)

Okay here we go!

right ... fancy blurr-o vision of an empty ship, and oh look, it’s Michael facing herself - dream sequence?

yep. dream sequence

Michael talking to the Doctor about how they’re torturing the Tardis, oops I mean Tardigrade

What a veeeeery spiky starbase

Lorca talking to Admirals, who want to use the technology - wait, Starfleet didn’t already have the specs for the spore drive???

OH GOOD they’re HUNTING the Tardigrades! THAT seems like something Starfleet would do

Lorca is all “we’re the only ones who can do this” uuuuugh it’s just so unbelievable

what interesting friends Tilly? there are no other characters on this show

STRESSED Tilly?! WTF she has MORALS, not stress

UGH I did NOT need to see that Lorca - so they can fix his eyes but he doesn’t trust doctors? good lord

is it just me or is the admiral hella wooden? it’s probably just the dialogue

“why give everyone another reason to judge you?” for the drama. obviously

“are you uncomfortable with the power I’ve been given Admiral?” she might not be, but I am, cause it makes no damn sense - Sisko didn’t have this much power and DS9 was literally on the front line of the Dominion War

“i’m your friend” wait really?

my ship, my way - ah yes, that old Starfleet motto

LOL

Lorca just got picked up by a Klingon ship, where exactly is the Discovery in all this? where is the ship in relation to the space station???

skipping the intro cause I cbf today, it’s boring anyway

how does Discovery in orbit of a planet look LESS realistic than the old shows? TOS’s Enterprise on a string was more realistic ffs!

LOL it’s POSSIBLE the Klingons have figured out the spore drive exists - YOU THINK? what did they THINK would happen if they kept using it?

“do you have proof that we are harming it?” I mean, its screams of pain???

why would Saru continue to trust her and allow her to operate, given his own reservations

LOL I love how the list of Starfleet’s ‘decorated captains’ is LIMITED TO THE FEW CAPTAINS WE KNOW ABOUT, come ON show as IF there haven’t been people over the DECADE since Enterprise we don’t know about!!

also Georgiou is the ONLY WOMAN ON THE LIST

Saru getting the computer to tell him how to be a better captain ... uuuugh because Michael makes him doubt himself? you wouldn’t want to ever question your own decisions, would you Saru??

oh good. Mudd.

ahahahaha at least we get a bit of amusement finally .... even his exposition is boring though

wow, these Klingons really can’t talk

oh wow

this is what every Star Trek shows need, Klingons brutally beating up a prisoner to remind us they’re bad guys

from what they’ve established of Lorca so far, I find it hard to believe he HAS reservations about not letting other Starfleet officers or people be injured instead of him, that’s how shady his morals are

wait, the Doctor isn’t the CMO? where are the actual senior officers on this show?!!! we don’t see the Chief Engineer, the CMO, everyone we do see on the Bridge are just role-less bridge officers there to give orders to

“you are the cause of this situation Burnham” ummmmm that is blatantly untrue?

shoulda got those eyes fixed Lorca

lol “or a liar” Lorca is SUCH AN ASSHOLE

OH GOOD implied sexual assault!

“of course you did, the moment you decided to boldly go where no one had gone before” uuuugh this dialogue

“sick and tired of getting caught in the crossfire”, but I thought we hadn’t seen the Klingons in 100 years ??? what other war or ‘crossfire’ have Federation citizens been in, exactly?????

so glad they only have 3 crewmembers on this extremely important research project! an expert, a cadet, and a criminal! THAT’S believeable

they’re still calling it Ripper ... great ...

soooo it’s a Jaegar? they need to Drift? human controlled mushroom spore drive, the “science” of this is fucking ridiculous

“no cadet, it is fucking cool” w o w, what Star Trek dialogue

finally a Klingon speaking English

they just look so fucking stupid with their spiky armour and giant heads, like how is it that huge glam rock hair and creaky rubber armour still looks more real than these Klingons???

lol, no one’s told Saru about the plan to fix the Spore Drive

lol, Saru trusted Burnham to listen to him - why would he? how stupid can he be? she literally never listens to any orders. ever

“I gave you an order, do you understand?” > her long winded answer = no

“your actions show me what you are” lol yeah

but also way to ignore the ethical issue of torturing the Tardigrade ENTIRELY what the actual fuck

why are they all so terrible

“we both know you lost that [your decency] with your last command” oh good, Lorca backstory

“apparently, the honorable Captain was too good to go down with his ship” - OH but he blew up the ship so the crew wouldn’t be tortured on Qo’noS

WHAT a Starfleet officer folks! someone for us all to admire and be inspired by, not.

ugh back to Saru. I hate him SO MUCH, he is just driven by his fucking hatred and distrust of Michael

why don’t they pull a Lorca and transmit its cries of pain across the ship

OH GOOD they’ve killed it!

WHO COULD POSSIBLY HAVE PREDICTED THIS?

oh no, it’s not dead, it’s just dehydrated itself

“rehydrate it and bring it back” FUCK OFFFFF SARU

YOU’RE AN ASSHOLE

“I will not be party to murder” wow, so glad at least one crewmember has morals - but ofc it’s the doctor

awwww, the Starfleet officer volunteering to be beaten instead of Mudd - the only one who has morals - the only Starfleet officer so far who deserves the title

LORCA IS SUCH A COWARD

oh lol wait they’re trying to break out, these Klingons are even unbelievable as warriors, on top of everything else, they got beaten up way too easily

lol Lorca leaving Mudd to Klingon prison - he’s an asshole and that is NOT Starfleet Captain behaviour (but then nothing Lorca does is)

don’t leave him behind Lorca! you won’t be back for him!

WHAT EVEN IS THIS SHOW

NOOOOOOO Lorca this is your fault! don’t let the only likeable Starfleet officer be murdered by the Klingon who’s been assaulting him!

oh it’s okay though cause he found the docking bay in like 30 seconds and came back for him - good thing the ship was tiny apparently

what even are these Klingon fighter ships? they’re little fans! they look fucking stupid

Saru worked out Lorca was being chased, just in time for a dramatic beam out

“we are able to jump commander” in the shiftiest voice, guarantee they did the experiment on Burnham

ohhhh lol nope, Stamets did it to himself

at least he had morals!

oh the dramatic wake up scene

AHAHAHA his laughter is the best

at least he can finally talk to mushrooms or whatever?

oh good, Saru has come to talk to Michael

wow, I’m so amazed at this dialogue, the way everyone just explicitly lays out their feelings and motivations. how realistic.

it just rings so fucking false, like there is NOTHING genuine behind it, any of it

Michael giving Saru Georgiou’s telescope

finally a Starfleet order - save the Tardigrade’s life!

sooo they don’t know if it’s safe to let it go but they’re just gonna chuck the spores in and send it off????? ummmmmm

really?

REALLY?

oh good, it woke up in space and zapped away.

hey we’re finally seeing Stamets and Culber as a couple ... brushing their teeth

“you were in danger” awwww <3

also he’s like, tapped into the fungi network now, dream come true

“I also knew you’d leave me if I let anything else endanger that creature”

what they didn’t even get to kiss in their lovey dovey scene

UMMMMMM creepy mirror Stamets, that’s a bit of a worry

well.

episode done.

I really want to like this show for what it is. Really, I do.

We had the moral drama of the Tardigrade, but how am I supposed to like Saru when he literally throws his morals completely out the window??? “I was just following orders” is never a reason to harm another being and really, the show brushed over the whole ethical issue completely by just having the characters make individual choices to serve the plot, rather than actually discuss the issue like they would in any other Star Trek series

and Lorca’s entire backstory just makes him even more shady and immoral ffs

and I am just really really not on board with how the characters do complete 180s for the sake of the plot and drama - Saru doesn’t trust Michael, but then he does, flip. flop. flip. flop.

and oh boy am I really, really, really not on board for ‘characters explain their motivations and feelings in a paragraph of exposition’ with 0 emotion behind any of it. it makes it feel so contrived.

I still just don’t feel like I care about any of the characters at all, none of them feel the smallest bit real, there’s something so unnatural and unrealistic about their dialogue and their actions. I think the only reason I found the episode slightly more bearable than others is because they finally had enough plot to keep things moving along without me getting bored.

also, the weirdest part is how small the show feels. the Discovery feels empty, the starbase scene we didn’t know or care about any of the other Admirals, even the Klingon prison ship didn’t feel like it had anything other than that one cell (and corridor, and torture chamber) - they’re so tightly focused on the few characters we know that it just feels like everyone else is cardboard cutouts in the background. it doesn’t FEEL like there’s a war going on. all this money on set design and special effects and whatever and the show somehow feels tiny?

#hateblogging #anti Discovery #STD #ep 5

8 notes · View notes