#the animal sidekick that was important in season 1

[gayhenrycreel]

spoilers for the dragon prince s7

what the actual fuck was that shit.

the pacing was terrible. i dont understand. Aaravos apparently died and everyone seems to think so, except that Claudia is still waiting for him? was that an ending?

okay, so the baby birds. birds grow up extremely fast and it doesn't seem like fuck all time has passed since beating Aaravos in the last few scenes, so why arent the characters that bothered by what happened? its like theyve had years to recover but everyone is the same age. ZYM WATCHED HIS MUM EXPLODE. HOW IS HE FINE. he barely exists so maybe the writers just completely forgot until they decided to give Zym the ability to talk (he has one or two lines. he never speaks again he just stands in the background like an animal sidekick).

and why did Callum think what he thought was his death would be his "choice"? a fucking prophecy said it, thats the opposite of a choice.

Aaravos squishing that guy was really funny. 10/10 made me laugh, 0/10 that was not as serious as it was clearly intended to be.

somehow within a couple weeks a new city with a cheesey name is built, everyone magically has no ptsd at all despite an entire nation getting burned to a crisp, Ezrin gets everyone to accept anarchism after literal centuries of monarchy in a couple seconds. if only.

Aaravos did absolutely fuck all. he just stood around, squished a fascist, had embarrassing lines that no voice actor deserves, and wasnt even smart enough to just.... step away from Callum's spell which was completely unnecessary anyway, and was also so bad at just being a villain that he told Ezrin about a god killing weapon that could easily kill him.

speaking of the nova sword, WHY DID NO ONE FIND IT AFTER CENTURIES WHEN IT WAS LITERALLY JUST COVERED IN A LAYER OF DUST IN PLAIN FUCKING SIGHT.

Callum was just as bad as Aaravos telling him his entire plan (good thing Aaravos is completely lacking in a survival instinct because he just let it happen).

the nova sword exists for literally no reason at all. i expected that Aaravos would win and the last episode would be post apocalyptic and Ezrin would have to go on a journey like Frodo or something to kill Aaravos, BUT NO. Zym can basically teleport now (dont remember his mum doin that. doesn't make sense at all), but still manages to be incredibly slow at flying from the edge of a video game boss fight arena to the center because otherwise the sword would actually have a purpose and then Callum would be all sad that his brother got exploded or something and people would have actually died in the battle against a literal god who can be easily killed by a dragon restraining him and biting his neck (was it just me or was that sexy).

why is Ezrins dad a bird. that takes away all of tension with Runaan WHICH WAS ACTUALLY A GOOD PLOTLINE. why did they have to ruin that....

[luisssblog]

Okay, I'm still enjoying My Adventures with Superman. The show still has the same problems that I talked when episode 1 and 2 released. The writing is not very mature, it has a lot of fanfics/YA tropes.

Also, I have to say that characters don't act very smart and sometimes they act very dumb and contradictory just because the script needs them to act like that, for example: Louis wants to be a profissional journalist, but everytime she has a chance to prove herself, she acts imature, reckless and pretty dumb, like in episode 4 she has a chance to interview important people and her approach is going direct to them and ask if they commit any crime or corruption, sis please, there are better ways to work your career! She also keeps repeating actions that Clark already discuss with her and told her to do better or do in a different way and then she apologizes and next episode she does it again.

Another thing that is contradictory is Jimmy. During first and second episodes he is super supportive of Clark and Louis getting together, but in episode 4 he is totally third wheeling and he is not supportive anymore, now he acts a bit clueless about the others feelings and that doesn't make sense when you think how he acted before. Also, I know he is a supporting character and he is helpful and charming as a character, but he is lacking development and importance and he needs to be his own character instead than just a sidekick/shipper/third wheel/token black character and I hope we can see more of him in the next episodes, but I have a gut feeling that the writers don't really know what to do with him.

Now for the things I liked about the new episode.

Thank you for making Louis find out Clark is Superman already in episode 4. This girl has being this close 🤏 from both Clark and Superman and she not realizing that they are the same person for a whole season would have been ridiculous. I'm glad they are putting things together fast and not wasting time with unnecessary stuff.

Another important stuff I have to say is that I love that Clark and Louis are already building a romantic relationship, they are not going for the "We are so good friends" route and making me wait for a whole season for small demonstrations of love, no! We have four episodes and they already smooch twice. Good for them!

Well, I don't have anything more relevant to say. I just want to point out how the picture where they draw glasses to Superman reminds me from that one scene from one of the animated Batman movies where Bruce finds out who Joker is by drawing a smile in a picture. It's so funny! 🤣

[albertanimation]

Space Ghost Coast to Coast - Season 1 Episode 6 "Banjo" (Air Date Sep 10, 1994) - Dir. C. Martin Croker

When it comes to TV, sometimes one man's trash is another man's treasure. Such was the case with Space Ghost Coast to Coast, a show loosely cobbled together out of detritus of the airwaves to appeal to the cynical Generation X that became iconic, by all accounts, entirely by accident.

DVD Cover for SGC2C.

Before we can discuss the bizarre place Space Ghost found himself in the 90's, we have to go back 30 years. Originally created by Alex Toth (1928-2005) as an action-oriented break from the "funny animal" comedies that were frequent fare of Hanna-Barbera Productions, Space Ghost was nonetheless fairly typical of HB cartoons, utilizing an extremely limited animation style that made frequent re-use of cels and animation cycles in order to produce a Saturday morning superhero cartoon as quickly and cheaply as was possible. The plot involved the titular Space Ghost, along with his two teenage sidekicks Jan and Jace and their pet monkey Blip, as they travelled through space and battled against a number of nefarious villains, such as Zorak, Brak, Moltar, and a number of other now far less memorable characters such as "The Spider Woman" and Metallus.

Model sheet for Space Ghost 1966.

Although it was considerably popular at the time of its release, spurring a wave of superhero themed cartoons and merchandise following its airing, production on the original Space Ghost cartoon lasted only a single year with a grand total of 20 episodes. This was just one example of Hanna-Barbera's prolific production schedule, as the studio aimed for a maximalist style aiming to flood the market with a "quantity over quality" mindset. Ultimately, however, this lack of craftsmanship would be their downfall. By the 1980's, Saturday morning cartoons had lost their profitability and the studio was in economic freefall. The studio's monetary woes eventually led to the acquisition of Hanna-Barbera properties by media mogul Ted Turner and his Turner Broadcasting System, the studio's assets being folded into Warner Brothers entertainment.

Cartoon Network's logo from 1992-2002.

Shortly after this acquisition, TBS launched its burgeoning Cartoon Network channel as an outlet for its now expanded animation library. Vice President of the network, Mike Lazzo, was tasked with creating a cartoon aimed at appealing to adults, with only a single requirement - the show would have to be dirt cheap. With this in mind, Lazzo turned to the recently acquired HB properties and eventually settled upon Space Ghost. Cobbled together by Andy Merrill (the voice of Brak) and Jay Edwards out of archival footage of the original cartoon and footage of press junket interviews with Denzel Washington for Malcom X, a proof-of-concept pilot was created. Here is where things truly begin going off the rails - the first Adult Swim cartoon was coming into existence.

Space Ghost at his desk.

SGC2C first aired on April 15th, 1994 as the first original Cartoon Network production. The concept started relatively simply; the eponymous character had grown tired of the superhero game and had instead retired to host a late-night talk show, utilizing his imprisoned foes from the original show as crew. The character of Space Ghost (voiced by Gary Owens in the HB cartoon, now recast as George Lowe), once a noble and honourable bog-standard hero type, was reshaped into a "clueless, fabulously self-important" media personality who would interrogate guests with baffling non-sequiturs. Villains Zorak (a giant mantis) and Moltar (some kind of magma-man), both voiced by director C. Martin Croker, served as bandleader and director/producer respectively, both participating as part of the show against their will, under duress of being exploded by the unhinged Space Ghost's wrist lasers.

Zorak tickling the ivories.

The show's production had to be innovative considering its shoestring budget. The "set' was created out of plastic and plexiglass with the characters' reused animation projected on top. In the rare instances the producers required new animation, they utilized rotoscoping, a style where animators trace over live action footage frame by frame, to fill the gaps in the old assets, adding grain and imperfect lines to match the original cartoon's style. For the interview segments, they used a tiny motor to descend a miniature TV monitor from the ceiling to display the live action footage of the pre-recorded interviews with celebrity guests.

"Weird Al" Yankovic, the first celebrity guest to actually request to be interviewed by Space Ghost, from the episode "Banjo".

As previously mentioned, I have selected the episode "Banjo" ("KING OF THE SEA MONKEYS!") but all the episodes are more or less interchangeable, featuring animated insanity mixed with live-action interview footage. When it came to the interviews (after asking if the interviewee had enough oxygen or what superpowers they possessed), the footage would be cut and edited to create a number of awkward pauses, and seemingly reasonable responses to questions asked during the live interview would be repurposed by having Space Ghost asking a completely different question during the cartoon, resulting in the interviewee appearing almost as insane as Space Ghost himself. Space Ghost would often become angry or distracted during the interviews, sometimes becoming lost in an entirely imagined storyline in his head. Although the show was scripted, George Lowe was allowed leeway with ad-libbing dialogue and would occasionally interject with nonsense to surprise the interviewee. Most guests enjoyed the humorous incongruity of the show's format, although occasionally a guest, such as Paul Westerberg of the band The Replacements, would have enough of the insanity and would walk out.

Despite its absurdist tone and incredibly cheap production, the show was a relative success and quickly became Cartoon Network's first hit show, even garnering fans at NASA, who named rocks found on Mars after Space Ghost, Zorak, Moltar, and Brak during 1997’s Pathfinder mission. Although there were rumours that Space Ghost creator Alex Toth was displeased with the bastardization of his work, he disproved this with written letters stating he appreciated any adaptation of his characters. The show would go on to spawn a number of successors, including Cartoon Planet, a somewhat direct continuation of the series in a variety show format, The Brak Show, a series based around the childlike Brak in a pastiche of 50's family sitcoms, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, an equally absurdist and crass series based on characters debuting in the SGC2C episode "Baffler Meal", and Harvey Birdman, Attourney at Law, another Adult Swim property that reused Hanna-Barbera characters in modern context, although this program utilized far more original animation as Space Ghost had proven the formula successful and thus allowed for a higher budget. Additionally, absurdist comedian Eric Andre would claim SGC2C as a major inspiration for his bizarre, nightmarish talk show The Eric Andre Show, stating he rewatched the entirety of the series to gain insight into how to properly unsettle guests.

The show would be cancelled and revived several times, and its legacy lives on today through Adult Swim's current roster of dadaist humour based cartoons. Although it is not my favourite of the Adult Swim roster, I carry a place in my heart for SGC2C for its trailblazing absurdity and long lasting influence. Tragically, director and voice actor on the show C. Martin Croker died abruptly in 2016, and an outpouring of support from fans of his work followed.

References:

https://hazlitt.net/blog/last-time-things-made-sense-space-ghost-coast-coast-20

https://consequence.net/2024/04/space-ghost-coast-to-coast-anniversary/

https://thehundreds.com/blogs/content/space-ghost-coast-to-coast-how-one-networks-trash-became-anothers-bizarre-treasure

https://www.indiewire.com/features/commentary/space-ghost-coast-to-coast-30-anniversary-cable-tv-delight-1234973555/

https://www.cracked.com/article_39518_tell-me-about-your-trousers-the-voice-of-space-ghost-reflects-on-space-ghost-coast-to-coast.html

[army-of-mai-lovers]

Why Amon Should Have Been An Android

(spoilers for LoK and Young Justice season 1) 

If you followed my LoK liveblog at all you may have noticed that I theorized at one point or another that all four major villains of LoK (Amon, Unalaq, Zaheer, and Kuvira) were secretly robots/androids (the term I used was robot, but the more accurate term would have been android.) Now, with Unalaq it was definitely just because I found him boring, with Zaheer it was to make fun of the fact that he was an Airbending prodigy with zero training, and with Kuvira it was because it was a thing at that point for me to predict that an LoK villain was a robot (and I was kind of right that time!!) 

But with Amon? I was completely serious. We never see his face, his cause is stupid (and the perfect way for his programmers to start some trouble in Republic City), and he was able to resist bloodbending, which, if you’ll recall, requires that the victim have blood for it to work. You know who doesn’t have blood? That’s right, androids/robots. 

But there’s another reason that I sincerely thought Amon was going to be a robot (android), and it’s the reason I’m writing this. There was something naggingly familiar about LoK to me, and no, it wasn’t that it was a sequel series to ATLA. To me, LoK doesn’t really feel a lot like ATLA (barring, of course, the very poorly shoehorned in fanservice cameos of Iroh, three times, like he’s a recurring character or something.) I struggled to pinpoint exactly what it was, but in my own observations and the observations of other people that I was talking to while liveblogging, a couple key differences became clear: 

[ID: an image of Korra from the back looking out towards Republic City, which is shown to have large white skyscrapers, a bay, and numerous smaller buildings. Much of it is obscured by fog and clouds. The city is built in the middle of a sprawling bay. /End ID]

1. the setting of LoK is incredibly Americanized and Eurocentric. While ATLA displays a lot of cultural insensitivity towards the cultures it borrows from in choosing how to depict them, LoK...doesn’t really depict other cultures. Republic City to me felt very similar to how 1920s New York is typically depicted in media, and no setting in the Earth Kingdom or Water Tribe was explored enough to really explore the unique cultures of those settings. While you can tell in ATLA that bryke was somewhat interested in (a vague, exoticized, unrealistic vision of) East Asian culture, LoK is very clearly inspired by America and Europe, with very little else influencing how the setting was depicted. 

2. there are no “unimportant” people in LoK. Everybody is related to somebody we know from ATLA (or somebody from ATLA), a powerful business mogul, military, somebody high up in the government, a celebrity, and/or the Avatar. The only character I can really think of that’s an exception to this is Kai, who really does not have much of a role. (I guess you could argue that Mako is an exception but y’know...he was a famous pro-bender for a while there) You don’t just get to meet a regular person living in a village anymore. Every character in LoK has political, social, or cultural power. 

These points, put together with the technological prowess of the world of LoK (which is different season to season and sometimes even episode to episode depending on how the writers are feeling that day), made the show feel very distant from ATLA, but very, very close to another show that I have watched and loved. And that show is Young Justice. 

[ID: an image, from left to right, of Batgirl, Blue Beetle, Bumblebee, Beast Boy, Miss Martian, Nightwing, Superboy, Wondergirl, Robin, and Red Arrow in the foreground, posing together. Above them and in the background are the adult heroes, obscured in shadow. From left to right, Red Tornado, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, Batman, Superman, the Flash, Green Arrow, and Wonder Woman. They are all against a gradient blue background. /End ID]

For those not in the know, Young Justice is a DC animated cartoon focusing on the teen sidekicks, proteges, and relatives of superheroes like Batman, Superman the Flash, Green Arrow, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, and others banding together to form their own superhero team. YJ is set in America, vaguely, with characters residing in cities with names like Gotham City, Star City, and Central City (a naming convention that Republic City fits right into). And as is apparent from the premise, most of the characters you’ll meet in YJ are superheroes, related to superheroes, or otherwise important business moguls, celebrities, or political figures. And while the world of YJ is of course significantly more technologically advanced than that of LoK, there’s more overlap than you’d think. Besides spaceships, teleportation, smartphones, and genetic engineering, there’s really not a lot of tech that YJ seasons 1 and 2 have that LoK doesn’t. 

So you may be thinking, “ok Arthur, we get it, you’re a fucking nerd, what does this have to do with robots?” I’m glad you asked! One of the storylines of YJ focuses on the war between rival tech moguls Tio Morro and Professor Ivo, in which they build increasingly sophisticated androids. Ivo’s are pretty much just designed to kill supers, but Morro’s are expressly designed to mirror the human psyche, and desire to be a part of human society. Amon very clearly also desires a community, and does much of what he does to integrate himself into a community of nonbenders where he really doesn’t belong. Further, Morro’s androids are immune to threats that humans are not immune to because they are not made up of organic matter. For example, in season 1, episode 3, Miss Martian attempts to read Red Tornado’s mind, to no avail, because she can only read the minds of organic beings. In a similar vein, Amon was able to resist bloodbending, and while unfortunately that was not because he was an android, it would have made sense given the conventions of the cartoon android genre. I didn’t realize it at the time, but my previous YJ knowledge very much influenced the way I read that scene. The way Amon’s body was animated very much mirrored the animation of Morro’s androids trying to resist their evil creator’s programming. 

So, I’ve taken you through the what, the how, but I promised that I’d say why Amon being an android would have been better, and I plan to deliver. First, it needs be remarked that while Amon being an android wouldn’t have made much sense, it would have only made slightly less sense than the canon explanation of Amon being Tarrlok’s secret brother. In fact, I’d argue that, if handled correctly, Amon being an android could make more sense and be more impactful. Here’s how I envision it: android! Amon would be pretty similar to Red Tornado, in that he would know that he was an android and be programmed to help people. He was of course, built by Hiroshi Sato (that man designed and likely built all the Equalists’ weapons he has the range), who sees himself as a sort of father to Amon. Hiroshi tells Amon about the systemic disenfranchisement of nonbenders and how a Firebender killed his wife, and Amon, being programmed to want to help people and to desire participation in human society, decides he wants to lead a revolution against benders. However, an android can’t very well openly lead a revolution (you could add a bit in the backstory episodes about how humans don’t trust androids or something), so Hiroshi and Amon come up with the story that Firebenders burned his face and hands, which is what prompted him to lead the revolution. Thus, his whole body, including his face, is covered, and his followers assume that it’s because the burns are so bad, and they follow him. In the latter half of the season, the krew would uncover Hiroshi’s involvement with the Equalists, but Asami would be the one to realize that Amon is an android that Hiroshi built. Amon being Hiroshi’s “son” of sorts would be another element of Asami coming to terms with the evils of her family, as Amon in this case would be a machine programmed to be easily manipulated to follow Hiroshi’s cause and would consider himself her brother, and she would have to reckon what to do with both of them. The nonbenders’ cause would still be legitimate after Amon was exposed as an android (unlike it is when the literal figurehead of their movement is also antithetical to their movement) and the heroes would have to reckon with the realities of bender supremacy and the hurt it caused. Amon could even get a redemption arc and work with world leaders to make a better society for nonbenders and androids like himself (I’m sure there’s some parallel you can draw between nonbender oppression and android oppression, though I can’t think of one atm) As an added bonus, Amon wouldn’t be able to bend, so he couldn’t bloodbend Korra, which would be one less time that an LoK villain took away Korra’s bodily autonomy. Amon could even be a recurring character in the later books, because really, wouldn’t LoK have been more fun with a newly-redeemed android sidekick still learning about what the world is outside of his creator’s narrow worldview? Plus, that would give Asami more to do in books 2 and 3 than meet Varrick and participate in love triangle drama (Amon is of course replacing Varrick’s presence on the show), and getting to know and bond with Amon could be the catalyst for her visiting her father in prison in book 4. 

Remember, I didn’t claim that this would be good, I claimed that it would be better, and since the bar was on the ground with that secret brothers twist that wasn’t too hard to accomplish. tl;dr bryke are cowards, take the plunge and make him an android. 

[niallloverontheloose]

“Sterek and Steter fans dislike Scott McCall because he is the most important character of Teen Wolf”

https://princeescaluswords.tumblr.com/post/646995619305619456/the-whole-thing-with-the-boy-who-runs-with#notes

@russianspacegeckosexparty: The whole thing with “the boy who runs with wolves” fandom fixates on is that… at it��s root? I don’t disagree! You absolutely can/should talk about the fact a regular human works with + fights alongside supernatural creatures and is a part of the Pack (and its first member after Scott). But instead of actually delving into that, they always use it to show Stiles’s superiority to them (mostly Scott). Countless fic where Stiles is basically a one man army with all their skillsets rolled into one person, which…. goes against the whole “pack dynamic”. They contradict themselves by simultaneously wanting him far away from the pack after showing them up with his Spark powers and they don’t “deserve” him… but also they want him the most important member (when packs don’t have rankings of importance + multiple people can be good at something + that’s OK cuz being in the McCall Pack isn’t about filling a niche, it’s about being friends and allies)

Claude @princeescaluswords Frollo:

This is one of the things that drives me crazy about how parts of the Teen Wolf fandom and especially the Sterek and Steter fandoms react to the show. They simply cannot recognize that even though the show is about Scott, the production never made Stiles unimportant.

Stiles is intrinsic to every single season. He makes significant contributions to the plot throughout the season and is tactically important in every single climax. The writers literally created things for him to do that were completely unnecessary to a plot’s resolution in order to remind the audience that while this is Scott’s story, a big part of that story is his friendship with Stiles.

In Season 1, he is the one who turned the tide of the final battle by throwing the first Molotov cocktail (Steter shippers hate that). In Season 2, he delivers Lydia to the warehouse so she could help Jackson. In Season 3A, he saves the people trapped in the root cellar with a timely arrival, etc. Stiles has a significant role in every season even when he was possessed, kidnapped to another dimension, or in Washington D.C.

And yet, he doesn’t have the most important role, and to them, that is something that cannot be borne.

Now, take any month of writing in the Teen Wolf fandom on AO3. Look at the top story by kudos and/or hits. Hell, look at the top twenty stories by kudos and/or hits. If Scott is in that story – which isn’t a given – I will bet you that in ninety-five percent of those stories Scott is either a background character or an antagonist. In the other five percent, he’s the villain.

But isn’t that the nature of transformative works? There are certain tropes that people like to apply and choosing love over friendship seems to be very big. Except there’s something you might notice. All of this is dependent on reducing or condemning the role of Scott in Stiles’s life. Even if he’s a good friend, he gets diminished to the role of emotional support animal.

It really isn’t about Stiles yearning for love and affection. It is, frankly, transformation with the specific goal of righting the show’s wrong of making a hero of color the central character.

It’s the same reason that the BAMF Stiles stories almost never have Stiles placed into positions where he has to make significant choices, because it’s not about the nature of power, it’s about Stiles being more important than Scott. You know how I know this? Because Stiles almost never uses his power for any other reasons but his own comfort. The purpose of power is Stiles’s triumph and nothing else.

It’s the same among the “Ensemble, Ensemble, Ensemble!” crowd. These people go full meta, but their goal is the same. They can’t stand that a hero of color is the central focus, so they argue, quite simply, that he isn’t. Except that there’s not a single plotline on Teen Wolf that doesn’t involve or concern or require Scott in some way. Even Derek and Peter’s field trip to Mexico is ultimately about Derek anointing Scott as the Protector of Beacon Hills. Even Kate framing Derek in Season 6 is about her coming for Scott and Derek coming to protect him.

And there are plenty of plotlines that don’t include other characters. You don’t need to look any farther than the incandescent rage of parts of the fandom that Stiles wasn’t involved in Scott’s Master Plan against Gerard. How dare Scott not tell Stiles? How dare Scott not run it past Stiles? Because it’s not Stiles’s story and it’s not an ensemble. It’s Scott’s story, and Stiles isn’t involved in that part of Scott’s story. It’s the same reason that Deucalion’s disinterest in Stiles frustrates them to no end.

So they, in the dull, baffled rage common to most racists when confronted with the idea that not all stories have to focus on a white character, move to alleviate that stress by creating an alternative world where the white character IS the most important person, regardless of whether that makes any sense or not. (Not just in Teen Wolf. I’m seeing the same thing where Bucky Barnes has become the absolute focus of the fandom surrounding The Falcon and the Winter Soldier to the point where you look at their works and go Sam Who? Or the Julie and the Phantoms fandom where you’d have to search to find out who the hell Julie is.) And well, as for the hero of color who had the nerve to be more important and the focus of the story? Well, they have to demonstrate how just unworthy he is to even be considered a main character.

And so, The Boy Who Runs with Wolves is wasted, because they want more than anything else to turn it into The Boy Who Runs the Wolves. And that’s not what Teen Wolf is about.

//

Except that Teen Wolf is an ensemble show. Even Tyler Posey has no problem acknowledging it. So why do Scott Stans?

Teen Wolf Season 3B – aka the highest rated and most critically acclaimed Teen Wolf season ever – is entirely focused on Stiles Stilinski and on Void Stiles with star & breakout star of the show Dylan O’Brien as its front and center. Stiles is the main and central character in Season 3B. Scott’s just the oblivious sidekick ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Of course the Scott McCall defense squad could argue that Scott is important because he has a season that revolved around him, too: Teen Wolf Season 6 was supposed to be Tyler Posey’s time to shine, and it’s the season in which Posey felt like “the leader and star of my own show again”. Jeff Davis and the show writers/producers took full advantage of Dylan O’Brien, Tyler Hoechlin, Stiles and Derek’s absence and made Season 6A/B all about Scott McCall. The results? Fans stopped watching and Teen Wolf got cancelled due to shitty ratings.

Also: the only ones who hate the fact that Stiles wasn’t involved in Scott’s dumb Master Plan and that Scott plotted/conspired with Gerard behind everyone’s back to violate Derek are Scott Stans themselves; and that’s only because they can’t even try to blame Stiles for Scott’s own abusive actions and behavior in Season 2

[jakeroo123]

It's very close right now, so… I want to endorse King, for he is Luz's little brother and best friend! And also saved everyone's lives! … I think King is such a fun and interesting character, who really changes a lot throughout the show.

And, honestly, he's interesting from a writing perspective, too - he's first presented as the funny little talking animal sidekick, but the show subverts that expectation rather well, in my opinion.

In the first season, we see that this attitude others have towards him has left him without many friends. Other people don't really see him as much, it's clear that this has had a negative effect, and it's not really until Luz befriends him where things start looking up for the little guy.

And Season 2 just… Completely flips the expectations on their head. King acts the way he does because he's a child, giving an explanation for his behavior in Season 1 and more context to his actions and reactions on a rewatch. He turns out to be quite important to the worldbuilding, and, of course, has his own character arc, which is just… top-notch.

And it all culminates in him sacrificing himself to protect his older sister, with no clear indication he'll ever see her again. That broke my heart.

So, yeah… King. He's a constant presence, with lots of funny moments, sweet moments, tragedy, and everything in-between.

Main Bracket Round 2 Match 7: Gus Porter vs King Clawthorne

The winner will advance to the quarter-finals. The loser is relegated in the loser bracket.

[rotblut]

Thoughts on sweet home? Your rating?

.

GOD I AM PISSED OFF ABOUT THAT FUCKING ADAPTATION. that was a shitty way to adapt a perfectly paced, well-structured, written, and character-driven plot from the webtoon into a messy and confusing drama. and I am mostly speaking about the writing that was a big no from me. the biggest problem for me was the writing for 85% of the time. acting was amazing and have no problem with that (aside from 1 criminal). my problem was how it was written. 

if I hadn’t read the webtoon i would be so confused about it all. and I know the webtoon wasn’t finished while they were shooting the drama, so why didn’t or couldn’t they adapt faithfully the first 70 chapters in the first 10 eps (season1) and the last 71 chapters into season 2 (because from that fucking open-ended cliffhanger they sure as hell want to make a season 2). and I know dramas can never be as faithful to a webtoon but still :(((((((((( that shit was insulting they came up with instead.

they kept 30% of the webtoon and said fuck to the rest of the plot that was thhere. the new written plot for the drama was obnoxious af and not needed and hardly better than the plot that was in the webtoon. characters that were in the webtoon were reduced to the minimum or completely re-written, or personalities-events switched. minor side characters were terribly dumb. also, fuck the unnecessary violence. the only new character that was made for the drama who i  liked was the pregnant women (and she did a looooooooooooooooot. like they made her do a looooooooooooooooooot of stuff.) but the subplot that they specifically wrote for her??????? NAh, wasn’t a fan of that at all. the actress was amazing tho.

sooooooooooooo many fucking plotholes, the monsters conveniently disappearing and showing up when needed to show up made no sense. also fuck the director for hiring the r*pist to play a character named wook. his character was completely re-written and i hated both him and his newly written character. the only thing they kept was his name and his new subplot was fucking terrible but fuck him to the infinite for his real life crimes. (ironic how they hired a r*pist to play a character in the drama who’s after revenge and murders a guy who's a p*do and r*pist too.......................)

Park Gyu Young as Yoon Ji Su was hardly present at all in the drama the way she was in the webtoon. she was reduced to the bare minimum, even tho her character was one of the main characters but honestly she was better here than in psycho but okay......but not that exciting to me either. really liked Park Gyu Young as Yoon Ji Su too and his character more or less was the same as he was in the webtoon but in the drama he went out with a bigger banger. (also them making him an ex-alcoholic was not needed but oh well). loved the 2 old guys too they had more screentime in the drama but also at the same time they didn’t because in the webtoon they were like father figures to hyun and here it didn’t really work well because of time restrictions. Go Yoon Jung’s character was great too but she was most of the time with the r*pist so that was a no for me. 

ANYWAY THE HIGHLIGHT FOR ME was song kang, lee do hyun and go min shi. PERFECT CASTING FOR THEM. PERFECT. LOVED IT. LOVED IT. WANTED MORE. WANTED A LOOOOOOOOOOOOT MORE WITH THEM TOGETHER. the progression of her being a tsundere and all cold and rough on the outside but inside she’s hurt and she just loves her big brother and hyun so much. I did enjoy how they gave her more screen time in the drama and made her more flashed out because in the webtoon she’s more of a comedic character (aside from the last 20 chapters). and I did enjoy those changes a lot and that they focused on her as the main romantic love interest for hyun. she was really perfect and she could balance the rudeness with the tenderness and the comedy with the serious scenes so well. they did give her some plot points that belonged originally to Yoon Ji Su in the webtoon.  also the chemistry with the 2 boys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and I watched her act with song kang in love alarm too and i haven’t seen it there because i didn’t like the way her character was written there. but here......yeahhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!)

LEE DO HYUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!! he did what he had to do and he’s the perfect hyuk. the way he loves his lil sister soooooooooooooooooooooooo much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THE LOVE HE HAS FOR HER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BEST BROTHER LIKE BEST BROTHHER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HIM and sang tae for best bros of 2020!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! that was a big part of his character in the webtoon and I am glad they kept that. I do wish that they would have made him sometimes even more of an asshole. wished him and song kang had more scenes together. sad they erased his otaku loving self that he had in the webtoon and for that very reason was connected to hyun in a way the others weren’t.  missed the frenemy scenes between them. his *ending* (sacrifice in the webtoon) was much more meaningful in the webtoon. I mean I did cry like a lil bitch at him saying goodbye to his sis and all that because i love my siblings and i love him and it was powerful but something was missing. 

SONG KANG SAID THAT HE IS AN ACTOR!!!!!!!!!! LOOK at him act and act well and I am so proud like he did his part in love alarm too but that was hardly challenging acting lmaooooo. again, i am bitter they diminished his otaku self because in the webtoon (i shit you not) he overcomes his inner greed into turning into a monster a loooooooooooooot of the time with the power of the anime-webtoon-gaming gods and his obsession and enjoyment over 1 female character and her knight sidekick. the fanboy inside him was living and the reason for him to survive that long. so I was really sad tthat hey reduced that part because aside from him playing a fps in the first few eps it was hardly important. also wished they went more into his struggle with his inner greed-filled asshole self-monster (I loved those scenes in the webtoon). his webtoon persona was sooooooooooooo rich and it was such a satisfying way to read his character progression and what made him into a hikikomori and how he struggled with his past and how he slowly overcomes it. So sad they reduced that. 

also forgot about acting king  Kim Sung Chul as the antagonist was amazing but his character in the webtoon had so much more depth but of course in 2 eps you can’t achieve that. still he did that!

I can go on and on but anyway. the ost was nice, i don’t even care about the sometimes tacky looking cgi because that wasn’t really the problem here and i expected something like that. but MY BIG PROBLEM WAS THE FUCKING WRITING FOR THAT DRAMA and for 80% of the time it failed me deeply and it hurt because i wanted to love it and i do like some aspects a loooooooot but fuck it was a mess. alice in borderland did it better. LIKE THEY DID A LOOOOOOOOOOOOT BETTER. and will i gif it? YES. disliking a lot of aspects of a drama doesn’t stop me from not giffing it. but i do wish the writing was better. I’ll give it a 3/10 because they fucked up way too much when it comes to the writing. 

[monkey-network]

Why Sam & Max IS the Best

Seing a vid by B- Mask on The Devil’s Playhouse and honestly, it made me think a lot about how Sam & Max essentially got everything it wanted as a franchise. For a long time, after playing the third and final Telltale season, I’ve been craving for a season 4; at least one more season after a long time to just give the dog & rabbit an easy string of adventures like old times. But after seeing that video and remembering the beautiful story that was Sam & Max's third season, it made me realize how much the duo was able to offer over the decades and how Telltale’s third season was a definitive send-off. Call this a big brained take, expanding on that video, but to me Sam & Max is what would’ve happened if Calvin & Hobbes was marketed outside its comic strip. 

If you know the latter’s history, you’ll know that Bill Watterson had a strict rule against Calvin & Hobbes being merchandising beyond its comics or continuing in any way after the final comic in ‘95. “This isn't as hard to understand as people try to make it. By the end of ten years, I'd said pretty much everything I had come there to say. [...]  I've never regretted stopping when I did.” I’ve always admired Bill’s stance on this, especially after seeing my declining interest in stuff like The Simpsons where I’ve realized that sometimes a good thing doesn’t need to exist all the time, less it becomes a zombie of its former self. With that in mind, it’s amazing that Sam & Max managed to not adhere to Bill’s philosophy yet be able to have the most simple yet cleanest franchises I’ve seen in history.

It was in 1987 when the comics started, a pulp detective comedy centered around the duo basically doing whatever they want to both stop the bad guy in question and get a laugh from the audience. They’re vigilantes at best, antagonists at worst where while they aren’t total monsters, they’ll gladly treat anyone and anything they see as a part of their playground. From the beginning, Sam & Max are kinda the Rick Sanchezes of the late 80s if Rick was more casual and optimistic about not giving a shit. The comic as a whole is actually not big in content, but engagingly dense in what it offers. With lots of cockroaches cuz I guess a bug really had an impact on Purcell. It was clever, happily mean-spirited, sometimes dark, and after 6 years of making the comic, we soon got the biggest hit that is... 

Hit the Road honestly was the key to Sam & Max’s popularity. During the era of Point��‘n Click Adventures, it was the most fitting game genre in existence for the characters. Exploration was always Sam & Max’s forte, their special sauce of the comics outside the duo’s chemistry and bizarre encounters, so to center a game around a cross country road trip where the two fuck around in order solve a case is sheer brilliance. It of course captures the style of the comics, only in bright colors but the most memorable voice acting. This was where they had more of a voice. The game’s popularity would lead to them getting a cartoon which I say works well differently...

While Hit the Road was about the duo interacting with the world around them, the cartoon more adapted the comics where it was about the two getting in different situations; a day in the life if you will. For only 24 episodes, they certainly made the most of adapting the easy going yet absurd aspect of the comics for a younger audience. I mentioned before in a review long ago that it’s Freakazoid’s Pulp Fiction and it still holds up as such, where with this and Hit the Road, it’s credulous to believe that Sam & Max always worked better animated. To get the verbal and lively reaction of our duo is as equally compelling if not more than the subtler yet static page of a comic. And while it’s still a shame that while both the animated series and LucasArts got shut down, the new Telltale Games would pick up the slack and give us the next round of content. 

Season 1 and 2 of the Telltale series go hand in hand where they shrink the scale of Hit the Road in favor of having one off adventures all tied to one big final boss at the end. Many have called them repetitive but I say they work well for they are, with the dialogue and special moments picking up for what could be considered formulaic by design. It’s still Sam & Max, only made a little easier to enjoy the story more. While I wish I could say this for Bone, it was these games that put Telltale on the map; what they were known for in the early era. As such, it’s sad to say that when the third season rolled out, looking back now, Sam & Max was truly reaching its end.

The Devil’s Playhouse is the biggest S&M adventure, one the developers were plotting to make the whole time. While each episode has a different style and scenario, everything plays to one continuous story where for the first time in this series’ history, our duo are actually challenged. Max isn’t just the sidekick, he’s both a playable character in the game and a huge target thanks to his newfound importance. This makes Sam show more concern than usual where the idea of losing his best friend can leave him feel irrelevant to devastated. While the two still fire off jokes at each other and others as usual, there’s the looming threat of them being forced apart; the real antagonist is the story’s increasing rift between Sam and Max. The Devil’s Playhouse essentially dissects the franchise’s heart, finally putting the two’s friendship through the wringer to a point of no return. It all somehow makes sense, both Max’s reality warping ability and Sam as a character on his own especially with the 4th episode. Not everything about the duo is revealed, but enough was where I unfortunately have to repeat that Sam & Max was “at its end”.

Before, our duo literally went to hell and back, fought a variety of monsters and villains, and have bent reality to their will countless times. The two could go on many absurd adventures as possible afterward, but where can you go when you finally rattle the core of the franchise? Devil’s Playhouse ties up not only loose threads for fans of the previous seasons, but flips the script on what the series has built overall. There were a couple times beforehand where the comical shtick was dropped and things got serious for the duo, but they weren’t as climactic and revealing as the third season. As good as it sounds to reboot the series, since the season ends on an optimistic note, to return back to Watterson’s words. “I said pretty much everything I had come there to say.” We got two games with Sam and Max making irreverent cameos and later merch, but The Devil’s Playhouse is otherwise the last we truly see of the two. No official talks of a comeback and for what it's worth, that’s enough.

I brought up the Calvin and Hobbes comparison because Sam & Max is where I say if Bill decided to market the comic, this is what the best outcome would be. From the comics to the games, not only have they got a sense of clean finality but every step of the way, Steve Purcell was there to handle it. Beyond the cartoon getting toned down for obvious reasons, it never felt like Sam & Max was warped to please execs or turn into something unfamiliar. Steve’s vision got to exist through and through with The Devil’s Playhouse being the best finale. Purcell’s moved on and with Telltale’s sour shutdown, I’m not sure how S&M could come back. It’s impossible to think of how this could’ve ended like The Simpsons, Garfield, Spongebob, etc, but it feels like bonafide luck that we got Sam & Max as is. It’s not the biggest comic or video game franchise around, but I can never argue that it’s a franchise that stayed true to itself all the way. I'll never know what the future holds for Sam & Max, if there truly is one anymore, but I at least have some belief that it’ll be there for our boys.

Cuz after all, isn’t that the beauty of this whole series?

[daiskken]

My Hero Academia 5x15

After a week break we come back with an episode that has some important stuff at the beggining feels like a start of season recap, and it’s weird.

We begin with Hawks at a meeting with the league (without Shigaraki) and the dudes from the intro. so the allience thing really is happening. We learn this new internships are HARDCORE TRAINING for all students in case the pros fail against such big thread. NO PRESURE.

Then we get quick flashes to EVERYONE from UA. This was trully a surprise, cuz i was expecting to just see what the “TOP 10″ are doing. I don’t know if we’ll get to see all the students do stuff but some groups are interesting so lets do some comments.

Tokoyami is with Hawks’s sidekicks

Uraraka & Tsu back with Ryuko

Iida with Manual (hopefully it will be nice this time)

Kirishima is back with Fat Gum (and this time with his bro Tetsu)

 Mineta,Sero, Shiozaki & Kaminari (i asume cuz he likes her) are with Edgeshot, Kamui and Mt. Lady.

Sato, Ojiro, Nirengeki & Jurota are in a dojo with a Tiger looking dude with bike clothes.

Kioka & shoji are with Gang Orca’s gang.

Koda & Manga are with Wash seriously? (they have cool powers and Koda always gets under used in my opinon) He should’ve done some epic stuff at summer camp cuz it was NATURE but here he is with a joke character as a mentor.

Momo & Setsuna are with a wizard ( i assume has similar powers to them, cuz if not what’s the point?)

Hagakure, Mina & Aoyama are with Yoroi Musha one of the Top 10 pros.

Then we see a bunch of Class B shots without any pro (they didn’t get an intership?) 

Kendo & Reiko with a pair of ladies.

Bondo is with a crew that at least matches his look.

Then we see the Ketsubutsu & Shiketsu groups from the licence exams.

And Mirio cuz he’s a cutie.

Endeavor wanting to get them ready for real, gets professional and asks Deku, Bakugo and Todoroki what they want. Deku goes on a LONG in depth explanation of his power that Endeavor seems to understand 100%. Bakugo wants to know all his weak points now that he sees some value in other tactics other than blast first, ask later. And Todoroki (as always) came to use him to learn and wants that he stops “being his dad” during the internship. Endeavor sees this as a step back in their relationship.

Then we go on patrol as Endeavor gives some tips about what they need to do, for Todoroki & Bakugo they need to control fire better to be faster and more focused, to solve situations in 1 or 2 quick moves like he does. Deku being the complicated one needs to learn and do things without thinking as much, mastering each one before learning new stuff (the driving analogy was good)

My feelings about this episode being like a recap come from Izuku’s inner monologues about his progress and the fact even tho we see Hawk’s the league, and the internship, the plot doesn’t seem to move forward.

This leeds me to belive the fact the anime is only 60 or so chapters behind the manga is starting to affect the quick rythm the show had in seasons 1-4 

Another possibility is that something HUGE happens soon but since the season is already 15 episodes in they wanna strech the material to not end in an awkward place. 

Next episode we’ll get to see Selkie again, and even tho his filler episode in season 2 was ok and i was glad back then that they used filler to focus on less important characters, This feels like it comes out of nowhere and i doubt it’s canon (feel free to tell me if it is)

[trashcankitty12]

1, 4, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 15, 16, 26, 27

Okay, for clarification, all of these will be about WINX. Because you know, its the main fandom we share.

1. What OTPs in your fandom do you just not get?

-Any of the OTPs that make the Winx girls be in love with their enemies, like Sparxshipping (ughh) or the one where Ogron and Flora are a thing. I just... No.

I also don’t really get the people who try to ship the girls with their teachers. (I’ve seen a few that were legit FloraxPalladium and BloomxFaragonda. Like why? Just why?)

4. Do you have a NoTP in your fandom? Are they a popular OTP?

-Sparxshipping!!! And unfortunately it is a very, very popular ship. I just... Don’t get it. I don’t. It’s... icky to me. And gross to me. (Like if you like it, that’s fine, but don’t ever expect me to write a thing on it or to start shipping it, because I won’t.)

7. Is there anything you used to like but can’t stand now?

- Oh boy...

Look, I used to adore that these were some go-getter teens and that they were strong and independent and taking care of business and shit.

Now? Girls, y’all are like... 17 at the most (in the beginning of the series), you shouldn’t be literally taking on the world right now. Please tell the teachers about what’s going on! Or your parents! Half of you are fucking royalty! Bring the kings and queens into this bullshit! You’re kids, please be kids!

9. Most disliked character? Why?

-Fuck. I don’t necessarily dislike any of the characters, I just dislike (hate with a passion) how they were written. All of the characters could be awesome and amazing, if they were written and kept up with their own character arcs. (Like I hate how flip-floppy Riven’s character was after having such a great arc. And Diaspro and Chimera could have been excellent side villains. Not to mention Krystal as the princess of Linphea could have been much better if she wasn’t just a Let’s get drama started between Helia and Flora ploy.) 

10. Most disliked arc? Why?

-I’m about to get a lot of hate probably... But it’s a tie between the fairy animals and the Love and Pet thing.

I just can’t stand it. They... They already have a little mascot in Kiko and is it really fair to be bringing in more ‘sidekicks’ when the Pixies keep getting fucking sidelined? Especially after all the preaching about how important a pixie is to her fairy? Like good grief.

And the fairy animals thing wasn’t even executed properly. Like how did Faragonda keep a whole-ass zoo secret from her students for seven years, only to bring it up randomly? And it suddenly has to do with ultimate power? (And isn’t the dragon fire/flame supposed to be the ultimate power? Why all this extra ultimate power shit? First the infinite ocean and the Realix powers and the Legandarium and now this?)

Oh wait, I also hate the Layla(Aisha)/Nex/Roy thing... Girl didn’t even get to properly grieve over Nabu before they thrust two new fuckboys at her. Like WTF?!

11. Is there an unpopular character that you like that the fandom doesn’t? Why?

- I can’t really think of any... Except maybe Lucy? I really wish we could have seen and done more with her. She may have been a background character, but she had so much growth.

She literally went from being a Trix follower to becoming a strong witch with a backbone in her own right who still sort of felt betrayed and was hurting to a strong witch who was fine flaunting her relationship with Mirta. Like hell yes!

I also like Roxy and Selina. I feel like what happened during Season 4 should have made a reboot/new gen thing with Roxy starting at Alfea and having adventures while the rest of the Winx are grown and starting their lives (but coming in from time to time as like mentors or something). And Selina could have brought in around this time and rewritten to be like a foil to Roxy or a begrudging friend thing like with Faragonda and Griffin.

12. Is there an unpopular arc that I like that the rest of the fandom doesn’t? Why?

- I think it’d be when the fairies go to learn at Cloud Tower. I was just so happy we finally got to see more of what CT was like and how the witches are taught. And the lore around Cloud Tower being its own entity was amazing! (If it only stayed...)

15. Unpopular Opinion about the show/manga?

-I liked the ideas regarding the Legendarium stuff and the cosmix stuff... But I wished the villains had been different and the writing wasn’t so... Bad and full of plotholes. (Plus I was a sucker for Bloomix, even if I hate the name. It could have been Dragonix or something.)

16, If I could change anything in the show, what would I change?

-I legit am writing my own version of winx. Granted, it is sort of OC-centric because of the main character being Valkyrie... but I did my best to soothe out the plot holes and to make things make sense. 

(Almost everything. Almost everything. Especially with how the later season have been done.)

26. Most shippable character?

- I’m breaking this down into brackets.

Winx- Flora (simply because of how she can easily be seen in relationships with the other girls and guys. She’s just like... This sweet bean who can be with nearly anyone and it feel alright/natural.)

Boys- Honestly... Riven. Hear me out: his attitude makes him perfect for those ships that start off with “make me” and “wanna bet?”. Like he just has this vibe of raw energy that can put him with nearly everyone. And then you add in that secret sweet side and boom. Instant shipping guy.

Villains- Darcy. She’s shown the most interest in relationships outside the Trix, and she has that ‘make me’ energy like Riven. And while she could most likely kill you, if she actually likes you, she’ll keep you around and you see this real version of her. (Maybe I’m biased... I dunno.)

Teacher- Griffin. I really don’t need to answer why for this one... Just take my word for it because dammit I know I’m biased here and I really don’t give a shit.

27, Least shippable character?

- Wizgiz... I don’t know why, but he’s honestly the only person I can’t visualize with someone like i can the others. Hell, I even see Darkar and Mandragora being a lovely couple.

(Also, the Wizards of the Black Circle... They give me these sleazy/ick vibes that just make me feel they’d never be in a relationship with a willing participant. Do with that info what you will.)

Okay. I think I answered them all. Here’s hoping they don’t come back to bite me later.

[majordomo-zazu]

/There’s a post going around about which Lion Guard episodes are most essential/important to the plot, which I think is all well and good if you only want the bare-bones of the show and are only in it for the TLK2 characters/Tree of Life lions or whatever, but I think honestly does the show a disservice. There’s a lot of really good episodes in the first two-seasons that, while not ‘essential’ to the plot, really enhance the viewing experience as a whole, and these incidental guest-character driven episodes are usually a lot better than most of the ‘plot-driven’ ones. If you watch only the ‘plot relevant’ episodes of the Lion Guard you’re probably not going to like it very much

So rather than making a list of episodes I would recommend for first-time viewers, here’s a list of episodes I would recommend skipping, which I think makes for a much shorter list:

Season 1:

1x3 “Bunga the Wise”: ESPECIALLY if you’re not a Bunga/Timon and Pumbaa fan

1x8 “The Search for Utama”: It’s a Fuli character development episode right after another Fuli character development episode, and in this one the song is much worse and it’s also pretty Bunga-heavy

1x11 “Paintings and Predictions”: Not terrible, but very skippable

1x22 “The Lost Gorillas”: If you care about cool world-building things then only watch the last two minutes of this one, otherwise Dan and Phil are in it and are pretty intolerable

Season 2:

2x1 “Babysitter Bunga”: The jackals are back and this is (weirdly) Dogo’s last speaking appearance, and the baby animals are cute, but I would say this is the episode of The Lion Guard that feels the most like a preschool show

2x3 “The Travelling Baboon Show”: The Lion Guard does ‘selfish character learns to put the needs of others before their own’ plot three separate times, and this is the worst execution of it

2x12 “Timon and Pumbaa’s Christmas”: Season 2 is The Lion Guard at its best once the Scar plotline gets going, but this is a major roadblock. Listen to ‘Christmas in the Pridelands’ because its a bop and should be on every Christmas playlist, but other than that I might call this the worst episode of the show (at least in terms of standalones)

2x18 “The Wisdom of Kongwe”: This episode centres on a lot of good characters; Makini, Makucha, Fuli, and newcomer Kongwe, but none of them really have anything interesting to do. And the mission ends up not amounting to much.

2x22 “The Zebra Mastermind”: The zebra in question is maybe the worst character on the show, and a lot of this episode focuses on him and the ‘sidekick’ villains, who are usually well-meaning and dumb enough that you feel bad watching them get beat up. And this episode is a lot of The Lion Guard beating them up

2x24 “The Underground Adventure”: If you like Zuri and/or Tiifu, watch this one, but skip it if you don’t. The only plot-heavy thing that happens here is that Scar tries to kill Kion and Kiara, but they escape through tunnels

2x27 “The Queen’s Visit”: Unless you really liked Dhahabu and wanted her to be more than a one-episode character, skip this one as well. There’s not a lot new that it has to offer other than fleshing out her zebra side-characters a bit

Season 3:

(Honestly, I would recommend stopping after Battle for the Pridelands. It’s a nice ambiguous book-end to the series, and IMO is better than the actual finale. But if you really want to know what happens and how it all links up to TLK2, watch on)

3x3 “The Accidental Avalanche”: Doesn’t add new recurring characters, and doesn’t do much other than act as the beginning of Kion’s ‘dark-turn’. I was almost going to recommend skipping the one that comes after it, but it does introduce one of the main villains

3x5 “The Marsh of Mystery”: Kind of generic characters-go-on-a-journey filler. The only positive is it gives Makini and Ono some screentime, development, and a good song

3x7 “Journey of Memories”: I almost wasn’t going to put this one on here, but I would only recommend watching it if you really like Makini. Her flashbacks to her parents and their song are what make this episode worth it

3x10 “Friends to the End”: ...I guess this one is kind of plot relevant, I just don’t think it’s done very well. It comes almost out of nowhere, feels out of character and low-stakes for everyone involved, and is a complete character assassination of Bunga (yeah, he gets worse). It does feature a cute Clouded Leopard though which is cool

3x13 “Little Old Ginterbong”: Only thing plot-relevant in this episode is Ono getting his eyesight back. Otherwise it features Bunga meeting a skinny pink female honey badger who is meant to be his love interest and is 10x worse than he is. AVOID. 

3x14 “Poa the Destroyer”: Beshte is the best character don’t @ me, and this is nice for his last spotlight episode. But other than a good song this episode is major filler, and the penguin might just be worse than the zebra.

[bigherosixfeels]

Hiro The Villain REVIEW

I think it's safe to say that Momakase is on the "Would Adopt Hiro" list now.

The episode begins with Gogo, Wasabi, Honey Lemon and Fred going up against Momakase and what appears to be a sidekick. After a great fight sequence, the sidekick turning on her and Honey removing their mask, they discover that her partner in crime is Hiro. His friends obviously want an explanation as to why he decided to team up with her. The story begins two days prior when Momakase escaped from prison (again). Not being able to scan for her, the team agrees to risk night patrol despite to police being after them. Although Hiro and Baymax fail to find her right away, Momakase patiently waits for Hiro in his garage. She blackmails him into helping her steal something, threatening to reveal his and the rest of the teams' identities if he doesn't cooperate. With a lot on the line, Hiro reluctantly obliges.

Later on, Momakase reveals that they'll be stealing from Yama's headquarters. She needs a genius level of expertise to get past high-tech security cameras and gives him two days to find a way to do so. Hiro demands to know what she's stealing, unwilling to help if it could harm people, but Momakase insists that he'll just have to trust her. While messing around with sonic waves, a quick visit from Fred in regards to fixing his Fredmeleon suit inspires him to use the Flexible Display Technology. Once he meets up with Momakase, he reveals that he designed a mask. Both of them wear one and between the invisibility and Hiro's sonic waves destroying the cameras, they get through the building with ease.

In Yama's office, Momakase finds what she's looking for; a pair of swords. Before they leave, Hiro questions why she wanted to steal them since she has graphene blades. She reveals that they're a family heirloom. Her father traded them when gangsters threatened her family and she had been searching for them her whole life. They're all she has left of her family. Ultimately, Hiro understands her motives, knowing how important holding onto that memory is. Unfortunately, Yama, who was recently let out of jail early in exchange for information on Momakase, catches up to them. Luckily, with the ability to turn invisible, they knock him and his goons down and make a quick escape. They arrive in an alley where the rest of Big Hero 6 (minus Baymax) corner them. This is pretty much where the episode began, so the episode skips through the majority of the fight scene. Hiro has officially gotten his friends up to speed. The police have unfortunately gotten closer to them all, but Momakase decides to lead them away so Hiro and the others can get away safely. Hiro refuses, not allowing her to hurt anyone, but Momakase says she won't...this time. She then takes off, letting the police chase after her. Our heroes are able to safely make it to their headquarters. The others are grateful that Hiro went through such lengths to keep their identites a secret. They all feel secure believing that their secret is still unknown...

...Except Super Sleuth Megan Cruz spends this episode digging further into her Big Hero 6 story. In the beginning, she's about ready to call her news story quits. However, Hiro accidentally tells her information that leads to her discovering more about the team. She goes around San Fransokyo, interviewing Krei and Granville since multiple occurrences with Big Hero 6 have happened at Krei Tech and SFIT. Both refuse to give her any information.

Meanwhile, Chief Cruz conducts an interview with Callaghan for his investigation on the team. Thankfully, our origin story villain reveals nothing as well, telling Cruz that he's wrong about Big Hero 6 being vigilantes. Later on at home, the Chief and his daughter voice their frustrations about not getting answers. Curious about what was said during Callaghan's interview, Megan takes her dad's phone. After hearing her father mention a fire at SFIT, Megan does some research, immediately discovering that it was the fire Tadashi perished in.

By the end of the episode, her conspiracy wall is complete with multiple strings of red yarn connecting to a photo of Hiro.

Things I Liked:

The entire opening scene was amazing! It draws you right in from the beginning.

“And that’s why Krei wears a cow costume every Mother’s Day.” I’ve mentioned it before, but I really need a full story on this.

Fred comforting Baymax even though he doesn’t feel emotion.

Hiro mentioning to Megan about Krei being poisoned by Momakase unintentionally benefiting her investigation.

Callaghan’s alias Yokai finally being mentioned in canon!

I’m going to mention this now, but something I really loved is that this episode mentioned a lot of call-backs. Both from earlier in the series and as far back as the movie. The way it was done was great!

All of those Employee of the Month photos. The one of Hiro with the cow costume. All of the ones of Judy. The Buddy Guards are on the wall the most out of everyone. 

That small moment where Hiro looked at Tadashi’s hat before going on night patrol with Baymax!!

Low battery Baymax wanting to start a tickle fight with Hiro

After seeing Momakase in Hiro’s garage, Hiro’s immediate concern was about Aunt Cass

Momakase’s blackmail was very clever

Both Krei and Granville not telling Megan anything about Big Hero 6

Hiro refusing to help Momakase if what she plans on stealing could hurt people.

 Chief Cruz’s interview with Callaghan. I had no doubt that he’d be unwilling to provide more information to Cruz. He handled the whole thing very well and it makes me like his character even more.

Hiro’s sonic waves

As much as Chief Cruz annoys me, him putting his police hat on Megan’s head was adorable

A new Tadashi photo!!.....BUT AT WHAT COST

All the Tadashi, Obake and Karmi mentions. I miss them all so much.

Hiro and Baymax making dinner for Aunt Cass!! Yeah, the combo was definitely unsettling, but that’s so sweet!

THE FAMILY HUG

“Your friends and Aunt Cass trust your instincts. So did Tadashi.” MY HEART

THAT HUG BETWEEN HIRO AND BAYMAX I’M SOFT

The masks Hiro designed making it so both him and Momakase could sneak in Yama’s headquarters undetected!! Brilliant!

The animation during this entire scene was phenomenal. It was really cool to see outlines of Momakase as she would beat up Yama’s goons

Hiro and Momakase honestly make a great team!

Momakase stealing swords which belonged to her family.

Hiro sympathizing with her

Momakase: You do good work. Hiro: Yeah I do.

Hiro trying his best to jump from building to building

MOMAKASE LEADING THE POLICE AWAY FROM THE TEAM SO THEY COULD GET AWAY FROM THE POLICE SAFELY!!!

The others being grateful for Hiro doing what he did to keep their identities a secret

Megan has figured out Hiro’s identity

Things I Disliked:

You know, I really don’t have a major dislike for any particular moment in this episode. Both of the plots were both incredibly intriguing in their own ways. While the A plot left me extremely satisfied, the B plot leaves me excited for what will come next. Everything about this episode flowed wonderfully together. Momakase has been one of my favorite villains and in my opinion this was her best episode yet. This episode made me enjoy her character so much that she might as well be tied with Obake for favorite villain. It was also great to see Megan dig really deep into figuring out who Big Hero 6 is. In the end, Tadashi was the final piece that connected all the dots to Hiro which was really well done. Also, not that I’ve had anything against this arc, but the episode really made me love where the second arc of Season 2 is going. This is definitely one of the best episodes of the season and the entire series so far. I’m blown away by this episode.

On a scale of 1 to 10....I’d rate Hiro The Villain a 9.7!

[mysterylover123]

BNHA Rewatch: Two Heroes

mysterylover123

And before we start Season 3, one more road stop: The Big Freaking Movie, Two Heroes, last year’s surprise anime blockbuster and HeroAca’s first excursion onto the big screen. Time to share my thoughts and rewatch this very entertaining film!

We open with bald eagles, deserts, and cowpoke themes, to make sure we know we’re in America. We fly into “California” which looks more like Las Vegas (not really complaining, I loooove that they picked my hometown state for this) to find young, white schlera eye-having All Might and his hunky bro David Shield kicking ass and taking names. My state’s name, to be precise. 

Some exposition follows, basically recapping the premise of HeroAca, as I’m reminded of what a stroke of genius Hori had when he decided to make the MC an easy expositor thanks to his geeky knowledge of all things Hero. Deku will always be Captain Exposition.

Melissa! She’s fun and adorable and amazing, and I just love that the first HeroAca movie chooses to focus on a geeky, kind and energetic lady. 

Deku looking back and forth between Melissa’s breasts and All Might’s crotch belt is peak Bi energy.

I’m so jealous that Melissa gets to touch Deku’s hand.

Melissa describing All Might as someone David ‘loves’ is just throwing away all pretence of his heterosexuality, if it ever existed. How the hell did this guy end up with a kid?

Deku blushing around and enthusing over both Melissa and David is max bi energy.

Uraraka’s Annoying Crush Counter: 5

But I’m glad the girls are here! The Bones animators clearly know well what the fanbase wants to see, choosing to give all 6 class 1-A girls at least a cameo in the film, and three of them involved in the main plot. I especially love that, despite being initially pitted against each other, Uraraka and Melissa develop a bit of a womance in the film. OchaLissa ship!

My one major regret about this film is that Mineta is included in the Main Cast. I wish either Mina or Tsuyu had come along for the ride instead - one, they’re better, more lovable characters who could do the same job he does, and two, then we’d have a nearly gender-even cast! (6 Boys: Deku, Katsuki, Tenya, Shoto, Kiri, Kaminari; 5 Girls: Ochaco, Momo, Jiro, Melissa, Mina or Tsu). 

Kacchan makes his appearance! This bit was leaked online before the film’s release and drew quite a lot of ire from BKDK shippers and Bakugo fans. I’m mostly annoyed that Deku is acting OOC here; this is Post-Final Exam Deku, post Hero Killer Deku. Would the guy who punched All Might in the face and Bakugo in the face and the Hero Killer in the face be cowering in fear behind Iida, the guy whose life he saved, from the guy he, only a few weeks ago, punched in the face?! Badass Deku Rights!

Ooh a wild Todobaku moment! I always love when they bicker. Or rather, Katsuki bickers and Shoto ignores him.

OH NO you cannot slap me with the Ingenium OST theme and hardcore feels out of nowhere! God this scene is heartbreaking. I love, however, the cut to the whole of Class 1-A and Melissa when they talk about the future.

AH Bakugo’s feet! Why are we staring up his crotch? So this movie has a lot of KiriBaku scenes, and I should probably talk about them a little, since their friendship is a big deal in S3. They’re the only major HeroAca ship I’ve never shipped as a romantic pairing, per se. Like, in this scene, I see Kiri as Katsuki’s wingman, his bro, the guy who teases him about his obvious feelings from someone, not as the guy he has feelings for.

And for Kiri’s sake, I kinda dislike making him basically Bakugo’s sidekick. He willingly hangs out with the guy, when he wants to, in canon, he doesn’t follow him around and become the butt of the joke, and he has lots of other relationships in canon to draw from, so this dynamic between them doesn’t appeal to me.

Melissa being a quirkless kid like Deku is a great idea for the film, especially since she and David still find a way to help others. They’re a brighter image of the person Izuku could have been. 

Full Gauntlet is pretty cool

Everyone dresses up pretty! The movie suits/dresses are awesome and (almost) everyone looks great. Why Deku is wearing a baggy zoot-suity mess is beyond me, but hey, he sheds it pretty quickly so I’m not complaining. 

If by ‘female assassin’ you mean Beauty Queen. Jiro is gorgeous.

OK the plot ensues! Darn, I could’ve easily enjoyed a movie that was just everyone hanging out and goofing off...ah well, I still love what we got.

This villain does what neither Tomura nor All for One could ever do! Subdue All Might! My god he’s a criminal mastermind!

Deku wants to help, and everyone but Shoto basically piles on the bandwagon afterwards. “And me!” “And me!” “Me too!” “And Me” “Nobody cares Mineta.” I like how they bring up the Powers dilemma, since that’s a big deal in Season 3.

I was pretty impressed by the amount of level grinding our heroes had to do to make it to the top floor. 200 freaking floors, that’s impressive.

Todoroki saved Bakugo! Yay! BTW I love all the tactical planning stuff in this portion, and how lots of characters get to contribute.

10 little superheroes, trying to save the day. Two got lost and then there were eight.

8 little superheroes, escaping from the garden. One saved the others and then there were seven.

7 little superheroes running against the sea, four were trapped by robots and then there were three. (i don’t count mineta). 

Three little superheroes, reached the top and flew; one had to float them so then there were two. (she’s fine, Bakugo saved her. Save to win!)

Two little superheroes, faced with a gun. One fell out the window and then there was - never mind, she saved him, he’s fine.

That was fun. Anyway, to sum, the group gets split up as they work to get to the top, leaving only Deku and Melissa to reach the final boss dungeon. Highlights include the usual Kamijiro bantering, Todobaku making an awesome combat move, Uraraka standing against the coming onslaught of robots in a weirdly dramatic scene, and Reciproburst.

Dislikes include Kirishima being portrayed as not much use and kind of stupid (c’mon, he can do better than that!) and Uraraka not getting to kick any real ass other than floating Melissa and Deku. 

So we make it to Dramatic Plot Twist Tower and find out that David set up the whole thing. I joke, but I actually didn’t see this coming the first time around and was genuinely surprised. I also think it fits really well with the story they’re telling here: about trying to hold onto the past and forgetting to look to the future. I usually measure good plot twists in terms of how they change the story, characters and themes, and this one does.

On the other hand, Sam betraying him is just kind of silly. “Oh no, not...that guy!”

The villain being named Wolfram makes me wonder if there are any secret Buffyverse fans on Bones’ writing staff. With the next movie’s villain be named Hart?

I love how Melissa is a quirkless character who gets to save the day every bit as much as the powered ones. Also, Deku is freaking awesome in this scene, ngl. It has vibes of his fight with Muscular, that “pinned by an unstoppable wall” thing.

And this has vibes of Deku vs Overhaul trying to save Eri. OMG S4 IS GONNA KILL ME. Anyway Deku tries really really hard to save David Shield and does lots of cool leaps and gets beaten up while doing it, enough to earn some of Wolfram’s respect, but is unable to. Fortunately...

Watashi Ga Kita!

But then...duh duh duh! Wolfram has that power-enhancer-plot MacGuffin! Actually, it’s not a MacGuffin now, because now we the audience kind of care about it. It has weight, it’s significant. The characters care about it, but there’s more to it than just being an interchangeable object.

I LOVE how they animated the metal on this guy. That’s Metalbending. OMG. 

Class 1-A showing up and kicking ass as always. I just wanna quibble for a second with how this movie uses Howitzer Impact: a giant mind-blowing explosion in manga canon, a small underwhelming fizzle here.

DUH DUH DUH DRAMATIC PLOT TWIST. Again this one floored me the first time around. My jaw actually dropped when AFO’s theme started playing. Holy crap WHAH How what how. I’m not as excited about this plot twist, as it basically just happens for the sake of being shocking, but hey, that is clearly something AFO would do, and I like seeing him and hearing his theme here anyway, so who cares. Just roll with it!

And now, the reason this movie was made and the premise behind it. We never, in the canon of the manga, actually get to see All Might and Deku fight the same villain at the same time, so the movie I think was made for that purpose: DOUBLE DELAWARE DETROIT SMASH + YSR

OH YOU SAY RUN. You could soundtrack a scene of people sitting around staring at the wall and turn it into the most epic thing ever. I will never get tired of this beautiful, peerless, impossibly good composition. And this is honestly one of my favorite YSR scenes, because dayum, you can’t get much cooler than the Double DD smash. 

Visual storytelling here is on point. David Shield’s image of All Might turning into Deku is perfect.

We end on a sunrise, fittingly, and Long Hope Philia sountracked credits - with a small bit of depressing to end on, as we see David is probably gonna get arrested and All Might can’t do nothing about it.

Two Heroes is great. My quibbles with it are all minor. It’s the perfect first movie for BNHA; it is big and bombastic and action-packed, but more important, it gets what MHA is about at it’s core. BNHA is a story about the prior generation of heroes (and villains) passing the torch down to the next one. You know, like how teachers pass info onto their students in Academia. The movie gets that, and it delivers it with aplomb. It’s a great script, every scene and moment is necessary and everything happens in the right place and right order. It’s a thrill to watch, and I can’t even begin to imagine what insane stuff they’re gonna put in Movie #2 BKDK Boogaloo. Starting S3 tomorrow!

BKDK CORNER:

On a rewatch, I’m a little more OK with this scene, because Deku pretty quickly bucks up and takes the challenge - and he doesn’t exactly cower from Kacchan, Iida just gets in the way. I also love that gay sounding “Kacchan, people are watching!” line in the sub. 

All of Deku’s Love interests where white flowers on their fancy wear.

NGL this is my favorite part of the movie. That is the sweetest, softest, most endearing smile Bakugo has ever had, and Todoroki seeing it and smirking is just perfect. Baku is peak Tsundere in this scene.

RANKER: The Formal Wear

Girls:

4. Momo - I like the tiara, and the dress is kind of a nice color.

3. Melissa - pretty but a little birthday cake-y.

2. Ochaco - Very cute and well-tailored. The tights really sell it.

1. Jiro - unconventional is the winner of the day here.

Boys:

6. Izuku - Deku where the f did you get that suit? Take it off, please. Why is your taste in clothing so bad.

5. Kirishima - it’s ok, but a little generic.

4. Kaminari - the waiter look isn’t half bad on him

3. Iida - sharp dressed, of course. It looks nice!

2. Todoroki - perfectly handsome, and of course his suit is white.

1. Bakugo - that vest tho. damn. 

[ichika27]

Sorcerous Stabber Orphen 2020

So, I guess this is the end? I also watched the OVA and I heard there’s gonna be a 2nd season so we’ll just have to wait. Anyways, here are my thoughts...

(This is gonna be pretty long for some odd, unfathomable reason)

Story:

Years ago, after Azalie had accidentaly turned herself into a dragon after a ritual gone wrong, everyone else in the Tower of Fangs declared her dead except for Krylancelo who leaves and vows to get her back. Krylancelo, now calling himself “Orphen” travels to find a way to turn her back to the way she was and protect her from those who want her dead.

Characters:

Okay, so the show jumps from the present time to some flashback of Orphen’s school days so we got a lot of characters ranging from Orphen and his companions Majic (his apprentice) and Claiohm (a rich girl who wanted to travel and so stows away on Orphen’s carriage) to those from the Tower of Fangs - specifically those from the Childman Class especially Leticia (Orphen’s older sister figure) and Forte (another classmate of theirs whose trying to take over what Childman left behind).

Of course, we also have Azalie who got turned into a dragon but the flashbacks shows us what kind of person the “Chaos Witch” used to be before the transformation.

They’re all interesting of course but some more than the others as there are those who tend to have less screentime. I feel particularly bad for a certain someone who dies in the present before we could get to know him more. Also another someone who could’ve been really helpful in the current issues but just had to die. I’m gonna spoil if I say their names so I won’t.

My thoughts:

I’ve seen the original series years ago when it aired in our country dubbed. I might not remember everything about it but I am gonna make a few comparisons based on the stuff I remember and episode 1 of the 1998 series since I felt like rewatching that one.

Art-wise, while 2020 version isn’t that bad, I prefer the 1998 version because it looks a bit more serious and different compared to how the 2020 version just feels the same as other series coming out nowadays. I wish they’d just made the 1998 art better (cause it does have flaws) instead of remaking the whole thing. The 1998 version is also more detailed compared to the simpler one of the 2020 version. Also, the characters look younger than their 1998 counterparts. Especially you, Childman (who I didn’t recognize at first and then I went ‘wtf?!’ when I finally knew who he was).

(Personality-wise, I prefer 2020! Orphen to 1998!Orphen who seem kinda more untrustworthy unlike the misunderstood 2020 version. I also with there was more to Claiohm and Majic than seemingly being sidekicks cause they do have moment where they shined but not enough to make them stand out compared to the characters that showed up in the flashbacks

The OP, “Calling U” took a while to grow on me but it’s catchy once I had gotten used to it. Still, “Ai Just on my Love” has this special place in my heart and also, it’s much more badass sounding. The ED didn’t need to try cause I liked it the first time I heard it.

So, let me just say that the older series have a more “serious and dark” vibe to it: from the art style to the darker lighting (either that or it’s just an old show so the quality is like that idk) and the way it presented the story. Even the world they live in seemed different from the 2020 version cause it felt more vast and abandoned even though there are towns (Totokanta of 1998 had less trees and seemed to be in a desert unlike the 2020 version, for one.). The scene where Claiohm first sees Orphen from the tower while she was in the lake just... the feel of that scen, you know? It was night and quiet and it did give that mysterious atmosphere it was going for.

And Bloody August!Azalie’s entrance in the 1998 series was scarier than the way she appeared in the 2020 anime. The 1998 series had the other characters talking about an urban legend and then there were dark clouds, black lighning and ghost. The 2020 version, Azalie just flies down to Totokanta and destroys some stuff with no fanfare.

The new series felt more shounen and lighter for some reason. So in a way, I guess the OP choice is fitting.

Their clothes though: Majic’s clothes from the 1998 version looked a bit more modern than the replacement he has in the new one wherein he does look the part of a sorcerer’s apprentice on a journey. Meanwhile, Claiohm’s dress from the 1998 version only showed up in the beginning and when she went to travel, switched it with a white button up and pants making me feel like the theme of Majic and Claiohm’s outfits changed lol. Nothing against it though cause it looks good on them.

Now, the way the series went? It’s kinda a mess in my opinion. If I remember correctly, Orphen’s entire backstory was a spoiler in the 1998 version and the flashbacks come out at the latter half of the series while here, they started off with Azalie’s dragon transformation and everyone who knows just refers to Orphen by his old name (plus I don’t remember them ever calling Azalie’s dragon form Bloody August in the new series). The flashbacks also come out frequently that it felt like there were more of those than the present time (which meant Majic and Claiohm didn’t really have much important screentime). And since there were tons of flashbacks from Orphen’s school days, the present time plot is somewhat put on halt. I wish they’d just dumped all of those later on in the show instead of sprinkling them everywhere cause while I appreciate the backstory as I get to learn more about the Childman Class students, it just felt messy. But I guess this happened because, this is gonna be a spoiler alert but they dealt with the Dragon Azalie issue fairly early on. The old series, I think, went for the other route that finishing off the Dragon plot line was the climax of the series and is at the end.

Speaking of flashbacks, the worst type is also in this version. I get that showing some important scenes from a few episodes ago is needed at times for effect but there were flashbacks that could’ve been cut shorter and would’ve still worked. It felt like padding and it was annoying.

Personality-wise, I prefer 2020! Orphen to 1998!Orphen who seem kinda more untrustworthy unlike the misunderstood 2020 version. I also with there was more to Claiohm and Majic than seemingly being sidekicks cause they do have moments where they shined but not enough to make them stand out compared to the characters that showed up in the flashbacks. Especially in the action scenes where they’re usually just there being protected.

I heard that the new version is more faithful to the LN so I’m not gonna complain much but I hope they fix the pacing in the 2nd season. That said, it was fun and hopefully the next season is, too.

If you got this far, thank you and hopefully you weren’t super bored at this point! (But then again, maybe you read the entire thing cause you’re bored and got time to kill? Hehe thank you for picking this to waste your time on).

[labrat-king]

The Kropp brothers are burdened with a family curse. Demon blood runs in their veins. But they use their hellish powers to protect the world from Lieseil, the evil organization trying to destroy free thinking... and rock ‘n roll! 

I feel someone (or everyone) is owed an explanation for this demon magical girl AU monstrosity. 

The three of them making that little rock gesture made me think they were about to do one of those elaborate anime transformations, and I read way too much magical girl manga when I was younger. (Also I have a very important test tomorrow, so obviously I’m making memes because apparently I only make memes when I need to be studying.) 

(Edit: added a few more panels. Mishka is the obligatory talking animal sidekick.) 

(Also their little transformation song is this little bit in Cemeteries 2. Which is also probably the season 1 closing theme.) 

(Also... Yungblud as a magical girl here.)

[foureyedfreezy]

Without spoilers: Young Justice: Outsiders is worth the six-year wait:

Smooth, colorful animation and unique character designs.

Ton of diversity and representation. Everyone is treated equally. Women  and girls aren’t hypersexualized. people of color aren’t mere background characters/sidekicks, and disabled people aren’t butts of jokes. Everyone plays an important part of the story: both action and non-action.

Strong character development from the original characters from season 1 to now.

Relatable political commentary. Again, no spoilers, but the politics is really close to how we deal with politics in the real world.

There’s only three episodes out so hard, but they’re all very interesting. I’m not too surprised since DC’s best work is in animation. I highly recommend it, even if you’re not a DC fan or superhero fan. I do suggest watching season 1 & 2 first or you’ll get lost.