#the animation and visual presentation of part four is also especially cool it’s just good shit all around

[mumblesplash]

so i’ve been watching jojo’s bizarre adventure and i think i’ve figured out the source of all their powers

[ordinaryschmuck]

What I Thought About "Keeping Up A-Fear-Ances" from The Owl House

Salutations, random people on the internet who most likely won’t read this! I am an Ordinary Schmuck. I write stories and reviews and draw comics and cartoons!

When Dana Terrace did her AMA on Reddit, a fan asked what we could expect for the new season. To which she replied by listing five things:

Parental conflict

A lot of emotions

Island exploration

New characters

...There's a fifth thing in there. You just got to look closely.

Now, when Dana mentioned parental conflict, dozens of fans assumed she was talking about Alador and Odalia, which, I mean...valid. They were the only two parental figures who presented any real conflict, and the idea of Camila being involved seemed implausible due to Luz being cut off from the human world. But no matter how you perceived that line, one thing’s for sure: No one expected Eda and Lilith's mother to be a source of conflict!

Yup. Today we met the woman who created two of the (former) greatest witches in all of the Isles. Was her introduction welcomed? Or did she give the Blights a run for their money for the "Worst Parent(s) of the Year" award? Only spoilers can answer those questions, so keep that in mind as we go in-depth with "Keeping Up A-Fear-Ances."

Let's review, shall we!

WHAT I LIKED

The Flashback: Already, this episode comes out swinging by giving us so much information! We get an explanation of what Eda goes through when cursed (which is horrifying), the reasoning behind her gem, the revelation that Eda ran away from home, and the reveal of how she got the portal door. The best part is, none of it feels rushed or forced. Eda's curse and the portal are integral threads to this story, both in this episode and in future ones. Tying them together sets up Gwendolyn's determination to cure her daughter while showing Eda's determination to escape her mother by skipping town into another dimension. There's also a sense of mystery in how and why the portal was in their backyard. And judging by how we got all of this incredible information in episode FOUR of the new season, something tells me we'll get answers to those questions sooner than we might think. This was such a strong opening to the episode. Despite giving so much information, it makes fans like me want even more. Which is an A+ in my book.

Gwendolyn: Yeah, might as well step out the gate in saying that I like Gwen...but I can already see how others won't. Immediately, she sets herself up as a mother who would do anything and everything to cure her daughter. That aspect of her character is perfect, and it quickly won points from me in terms of liking her. It's just that Gwendolyn's disregard of what Eda wants and the complete dismissal of Lilith are aspects of Gwen that are certainly going to rub some people the wrong way. Especially if those kids come from households where their parents are a lot like Gwendolyn. I was in the same boat of hating her too for a while, but thankfully, the last act saved her.

First, there's that scene where Gwendolyn threatened the lives of the demons for not only screwing her over but making things worse for Eda. It's one of those "Hell hath no fury like a mother scorned" moments that I always love to see.

Then there's the fact that Gwendolyn learns her lesson and, more importantly, apologizes. Not many actual abusive mothers would do that (Looking at you, Odalia), so it's nice to see that she makes an effort to make amends. Oh, and by the way, since I mentioned it, don't go around calling Gwendolyn abusive. She isn't. Or, at least, not to my eyes. If anything, she's a lot like Sara Fitzgerald from My Sister's Keeper (The book. Not the movie. The movie sucked).

In that story, Sara makes controversial choices that result in her youngest daughter Anna getting the short end of the stick due to putting all attention towards her eldest Kate. But here's the thing: KATE HAS CANCER! So while Sara's choices are beyond questionable, you can understand her point. And if you don't, well, I'd see how you would react when in her shoes. Trust me when I say that situations like this aren't always cut and dry. It's the same with Gwendolyn. She's far from "Mom of the year," but you understand where she's coming from. She wants to do what she can to help Eda, even if her methods could have been better. But that's just how I feel, and I can't speak for everyone who dealt with mothers far worse than her. If you refuse to forgive her, I'll understand. But to me, I consider Gwendolyn a worthy addition to the series.

(Plus, she just radiates Grandma energy when interacting with Luz. It's cute, and therefore I must love it!)

Luz: This season is on FIRE when presenting Luz!

I adore that the first thing we see her doing in this episode is sleeping after, most likely, another all-nighter to find a new portal. It proves that she has a determination made of iron and an intense dedication to getting back to Camila. In fact, it's that dedication that works as a perfect way to build a connection between Luz and Gwendolyn. They both want to reconnect with their families and are willing to do whatever it takes to do so.

Regardless, despite so desperately wanting to see Camila again, I'm glad that Luz still has common sense when it comes to helping Eda. She quickly sees that Gwen's cures are doing more harm than good, and it's great that Luz is the one to call malarky on the whole thing. No one had to spell things out for her because she's smart enough to notice that everything Professor Warlop is marketing feels a lot more like the fake medicine real people sell in the human world. It's a testament that despite having a big heart and the best intentions, Luz still has the intelligence to know when something is up and put a stop to it. And, again, let's hope that more people pick up on that.

Lilith: ...who would have expected Lilith of all characters to have most of the emotional moments in this episode?! I sure didn't!

But...Yeah. Lilith is the best thing in "Keeping Up A-Fear-Ances." On top of her seeking Gwendolyn's approval being relatable for some viewers, it's also really heartbreaking. I mean, listen to the shocked and hurt tone in her voice after finding out Gwen visited Eda regularly. That alone should give away how much Gwendolyn is important to Lilith and says so much about how strained their relationship became after the curse. Then there's that scene where she just breaks down, feeling both scared and torn apart by the fact that she experienced the curse in its full form and could do nothing to stop herself. It...stung. That's the best way to describe it. It stung seeing a character who is (mostly) cool and collective to become so vulnerable and broken. And, you know what? It's because of this that Lilith has won me over. I still don't think she should have been as forgiven as quickly as she was, but after learning what Lilith went through and what she's currently going through, I'm more than willing to be ok with her. And--I can't believe I'm saying this--I'm going to miss her being a part of the Owl House. She earned her place, in my opinion, creating entertaining dynamics with everyone. Sure, she'll make appearances every now and again, but I wouldn't mind a few more episodes with her being with the main group. But I'm positive the writers will have plans for her in the future and seeing how well she was written in this, I can't wait to see what they do next.

King Hoping to see his Dad Again: This was just a cute tidbit that ties nicely into last week's episode. Bonus points for that scene where King and Lilith get drunk off of Night Market ice cream. It got a good chuckle out of me, especially when Hooty was the one who ended up being the voice of reason.

Cursed Lilith: ...How does she look worse and more terrifying than Eda?

How Beast Keeping Magic Works: Not much I can say about this. It's neat to be given a visual explanation of how Beast Keeping magic works and how it's more than just controlling animals. Judging by the roof shingles, it can also be making objects more animal-like. It's pretty cool, and I hope to see more of how the rest of the magic from the prominent covens work.

Luz wasn’t the only human: To tell you the truth, this doesn't surprise me. Eda did say that every myth humans have is a bit of the Boiling Isles leaking into the human world, so why can't the opposite be true? However, the reveal of there being a famous human around many years ago presents many more questions, and possible theories, that deserve to be discussed in a future post. For now, I'll just say that it's awesome how this reveal perfectly transitions us to next week's episode, "Through the Looking Glass Ruins." We already know Luz is going to the library. But, seeing how Gus is going to be a prominent character in that episode as well, he probably wanted to tag along with Luz to study about the first human in the Boiling Isles. Only to then get sidetracked by some cool kids from Glandis. It's in the realm of possibility, thus proving how more serialized this season compared to Season One while still being somewhat episodic. Because even if "Keeping Up A-Fear-Ances" presents a lot for the overall story, it's still its own tale about family relationships and knowing how to truly be there for the people you love. Resulting in a necessary and cute episode that ends on a wholesome note without any major surprises like--

Creepy Clone Luz: ...

...Dana Terrace, you lying--YOU SAID CREEPY LUZ WAS A FARCE! IN THE SAME AMA, TOO! CURSE YOU! CURSE YOU AND YOUR SNAKE TONGUE, GOSH DANGIT!

...Alright, now that I got my overreaction out of the way, this was an amazingly well-written surprise!

Tricking fans into thinking that Camila is crying over the realization that Luz is gone, only to then reveal this...thing, is the best shock to the system that this series has done so far. Even better, it results in all the right questions:

Who is it?

What is it?

Where did it come from?

When did it get there?

How did it get there?

How does it know about Camila?

And why? Just, why?

To me, a series that presents all of these questions, and makes me excited for whatever answers are given, is a series that's doing something right. Because if I'm still reeling over something that lasts for a second, despite seeing the episode hours ago, that is a testament to how good a surprise really is.

WHAT I DISLIKED

Trust me, I want to give this episode the A+ just for that ending alone. But, there are some issues I have that are worth discussing.

Eda’s Outfit Change: I know. It's the nitpickiest of all nitpicks I could present. Particularly because Eda doesn't even look bad (although that's no surprise). The issue is that it feels weird that Eda's having this permanent outfit change in the fourth episode of Season Two. Or, to me it is, at least. Because I think that if you're going to give a small yet constant change to the look of a character, it should be done right away. Like, in the first episode of a new season. I highly doubt fans would question why Eda is wearing different clothes by then, so it wouldn't be too bad if the first time we see her, she’s sporting a new outfit. Again, this is just me, and I have no problems with the outfit itself. It just seems odd they would do this later rather than sooner.

Screwing with Eda: I...did not like this. At all. It was funny at first to see Luz and Gwendolyn lure Eda with Apple Blood like how Wile E. Coyote would bait the Road Runner with birdseed, but it quickly took a turn. Because I don't want to see Eda meet inconvenience after inconvenience from her mother and surrogate daughter. I like Eda, and seeing her happy makes me happy. If I wanted to laugh at a character's suffering, I would have picked Boscha, Mattholomule, Alador, and/or Odalia. This? This was just unnecessary cruelness to a character who doesn't deserve it. And it takes up a good chunk of this episode, making me question whether or not this would be the stinker I was fearing. Fortunately, the ending increased my enjoyment by several notches, but that doesn't change how this was the low point of "Keeping Up A-Fear-Ances."

IN CONCLUSION

Despite the road being rocky in the middle, I still consider "Keeping Up A-Fear-Ances" to be another solid A episode. The first and last few minutes have some quality writing that adds more to the characters, ongoing plot, and mystery that the series is building up. It's one of those important episodes you can't skip when watching a series, but given how it's keeping the new season's impeccable track record, I fail to see how that's a problem.

(Although, I am scared. We haven't gotten a stinker yet, and I really don't want it to be next week's episode. It's a Gus episode with sweet Lumity content on the side! That cannot fail!)

[spidermilkshake]

“Link’s Bad Horsemanship”

XD This is half critique of the development of... er, pretty much all of the Legend of Zelda series featuring horse-riding, and half a goof. It's very very apparent that people working in Nintendo on various horse-riding animations, the riding game mechanics, and how the horses get used or behave in-game in general... are either blatantly bad equestrians, or not equestrians at all, and are getting their visual references and information from such sources as cheesy old Western movies (which featured outright horse abuse very often, usually in ways that were and remain kind of normalized) and the jockey club, which makes money off of callously abusive horse-keeping practices. So it's either ignorance out of thinking they're doing it right, or ignorance outright! And, since the majority of people have never worked with horses at all or know their physical limitations or history of abusive practices--generally people playing the games will not at all notice how hilariously bad some of the horsemanship turns out in the games. XD

But, having researched horses and proper horsemanship, and knowing what constitutes animal abuse... WOW does this series have a lot of Fridge Horror for an equestrian. By far, Majora's Mask is the most outright abusive in its treatment of horse, and probably completely by accident, simply by having Link ride Epona when she's a developing filly, which is absolutely going to either ruin her spine and halve her lifespan, or cause her to have fucked-up knees and much more easily slip and break her legs. You never ride a horse under a minimum of 2.5 years old for these reasons, and never ride a horse if you weight any more than 20% of their body weight (or under 20% including the combined weight of your saddle and tack). MM, when I was researching how the horsemanship is shown in each game, was the only game that made me reflexively gasp and cringe at how bad it was! I mean, I know MM is supposed to be darker, but GEEZ, maybe accidentally including the fact that Link is slowly and unknowingly killing his horse isn't the way, guys. <_<; Breath of the Wild actually comes in second place, purely for it's accidentally horrible "horse-taming" mechanic (which is definitely NOT how you actually tame a wild horse, it's how you intimidate and exhaust one into submission and give it mental trauma and also possibly get yourself killed). Also the fact that, because of increased graphical fidelity, there is now no question that Hyrule ubiquitously uses the nastiness that is the bit in riding, which are tools designed specifically to cause at least discomfort inside a horse's mouth to make them obey (and most types also coerce the horse through pain, and when too much pressure is applied have a very high risk of actually damaging a horse's teeth and gums, and even panicking a horse out of pain and fear and causing them to throw you, trip, or even over-rear and flip themselves over). Thankfully, they have done away with the idea that you smack a horse to get it to go faster for the most part minus the implication of a crop being used in the icons measuring the horse's stamina (though there's still the stupid whipping the reins thing in Link's animation, which is still a tooth-dryer when you realize the pressure of those reins are connected to the metal stuck in his steed's mouth... that's got to be awful for the horse when that leather slaps around wildly). Also, a more minor thing, most of the decorative tack for the horses, especially Epona's fancy breastpiece thing, are, uh, apparently not padded and have thin straps and big metal buckles up on her sensitive hide... That's going to chafe in about ten minutes of riding. There is a reason girth straps and saddles have saddlepads and girth padding secured under them! Twilight Princess is eh... it's not great. It's the only game besides BoTW with bits, and the only one which shows Ganondorf doing bad horsemanship things (which appears to have been done in total ignorance for the purposes of making the scene look "cool", which always turns out making the scene hilariously bad for anyone watching who knows horse body language). Most of the bad parts of TP are more implications than outright confirmed mechanics or just obvious. There's the implication that spurs are used on the horses in the speeding-up mechanic (spurs are yet another rather questionable equestrian tool. They are sharp things attacked to the rider's heels which jab the horse's sensitive flank. They absolutely have the potential to wound horses, even when used "lightly". Some types of spurs look damn psychotic, but they're all pretty harsh things to push or hit an animal with). There's still the issue of lacking padding under most of the tack. There's also the very alarming implication that Link overworks or mistreats Epona by pushing her hard to do dangerous things, as shown in dialogue with Ilia if you show up and Epona has taken any damage. It's... iffy, but it's not as bad and the aforementioned two. Overall, Ocarina of Time actually has the best horsemanship. It's still not perfect--and it's mostly down to how Link is shown interacting with Epona when he's grown. XD Oops. Now, the good point of equestrianism shown in OoT is that Epona and Link (and Malon's) relationship is shown to be founded on trust. It's a little gamified due to the whole "magic song" thing, but the fact that the horse wants to be near you because the horse chose to and likes you is so significant when all the other games either show you already having a captive Epona or having you physically force horses to tolerate you before any actual "bonding" (i.e. lovebombing with treats) happens (ick). Also, this is the game which shows Link doing a bunch of things wrong but yet shows Ganondorf being actually very skilled and not forceful when it comes to horsemanship. XD Another oops. You wouldn't believe how many minutes were wasted rewinding that cutscene to confirm that yes, Ganon is managing his reins properly with soft hands, yes, Ganon is able to compensate for surprise rearing without harming his horse and helping rebalance the horse instead, yes, Ganon is using extensive padding and protective gear for his horse and riding expertly enough that he's preserving the horse's back health... and Link is not. XD It's like... in trying to make him all tall and scary, and Link all plucky and active, they accidentally made the "bad guy" do big good and the "good guy" do big doofus. >u<; And now, there is horse abuse present in-universe, but it's presented as such. I won't have any issue with that because it's on the part of Ingo, and it's supposed to make you know it's bad. Ingo uses a crop to whip the horse he rides in races, which, I mean, I shouldn't have to tell anyone that taking a stick with a leather strap on it and whacking a captive animal with it to make it do something is baaaaad. My only problem of OoT is regarding hitting horses being normalized, and this lies with Link.. because for some dumb reason, whoever animated Link riding Epona decided that whenever he makes Epona speed up, he should look like he's open-hand slapping Epona on the haunch, or at least threatening to hit her. This is equally as bad as what Ingo's doing. You don't hit horses, and you don't threaten to hit them to make them too scared to defy you. They feel pain (horses actually have thinner skin and about three to four times the nerve endings in the skin as humans!). It's wrong, and from a pragmatic perspective you don't do it anyway. Eventually even the calmest, most timid horse will reach a breaking point, and enough abuse will cause them to either flip you off and run you over from fear, or just outright bite and kick the shit out of you in self-defense. It's big no. So here's Ganondorf, apparently Best Equestrian in the Series, just... giving Link the gears about his horsemanship skills. Throwing all the shade in the land of Hyrule. XD Poor Link--he's mostly just ignorant and gotten used to the wrong things (and who knows, maybe he did just ape on Ingo and learn wrongly) and he's just... havin' a hard time relearning how to ride. At least Epona likes him enough that she'll let him start to know better. At least in OoT, he hasn't got as far to go!

[arcaneranger]

Final Thoughts - 2019 Long Shows

Dear Lord. This is where all the good shows went.

2019 was absolutely awful on a season-by-season basis (except for Summer, anyway), but that’s mostly because most of the best shows ran longer than what has become the industry norm of a single season. And indeed, heading into the new decade, we seem to be seeing a major renaissance for two- or split-cour shows, given the massive success seen by shows like My Hero Academia, Food Wars, and Haikyuu!!..particularly in comparison to the new perpetual-runners Black Clover (which, despite running for over two straight years now, is still not the most popular show of Fall 2017 by viewer count on MAL, and sits at a ‘meh’ 7.2), and even worse, Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, which is faring even worse on both counts even though it premiered two whole seasons earlier and the fact that it is the sequel to Naruto.

As a reminder of my rules, the shows on this list may or may not have premiered in 2019, but they finished airing this year. The split-cour rule (stating that I judge any show that “finishes” and then premieres a “new season” within six months) didn’t come into play for any 2018 shows, but it will for Ascendance of a Bookworm and Food Wars this year, at the very least.

With that being said! 25 shows running longer than thirteen episodes finished airing this year after being simulcast, and of those…

I skipped 6:

Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure Part V: Golden Wind, Fairy Tail Final Series, A Certain Magical Index III, Ace Attorney Season 2 and Cardfight Vanguard (2018) because I either dropped or have not finished their previous (also long-running) seasons.

Yu-Gi-Oh VRAINS because the simulcast started late and also it was bad.

I Dropped 8:

Worst Long Show of 2019: The Rising of the Shield Hero

It’s always fun to see that a show you hated from its first episode only gets more and more distasteful afterwards, but it’s less fun when a service you have to promote because they’re the legal option is forced to shove it down your throat because they had a hand in making it and it became a massive hit that your friends don’t see any issue with because the author wrote a story that justifies its hero’s patronage of the slave industry. This is my punishment for watching the whole first season of The Asterisk War before I knew better.

YU-NO: A girl who chants love at the bound of this world

A confusing mess from the word go, this ill-fated adaptation of a visual novel from the nineties seems like it was mostly made to cash in on the popularity of the Science Adventure series, but failed to present itself in a way that made an ounce of sense or looked remotely interesting.

Fairy Gone

Am I really the only one that saw potential here? I mean yes, it ended up a boring slog that didn’t care to move its plot in a meaningful direction, but the first episode was at least cool. I guess Izetta: The Last Witch should have taught me better.

We Never Learn

I know that I’m in the minority in terms of the male demographic for shows like this, but honestly, how are bland harem shows still this easy to market? A copy-pasted protagonist with copy-pasted waifus drag down what could be an interesting setup for a story. 

Karakuri Circus

The first episode of this one had me excited, the second and third left me bored to tears and wondering if it would continue to look uglier by the minute. I haven’t seen a three-cour show look this janky since Knight in the Area.

Radiant

Having heard good things about this show from my cohorts, I do feel bad for saying I’ll probably never return to Radiant, but when you have a show that’s notably written by a European author...and it turns out to be a frustratingly standard shounen affair with middling production values, well, you can see my earlier annoyance with Cannon Busters.

Ensemble Stars

This one still gets to me. It almost looked like a male-idol show I would finally be able to get behind, what with its rebellious attitude and oddball setting...that is, until the setting got to be too unbelievable and the show began drowning its audience in side-characters because they had to squeeze every husbando from the mobile game into the story, and it all began to resemble UtaPri a little too much...but without the production value.

Boogiepop and Others

This was a hard drop, honestly. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how I felt four episodes in, before concluding that I was bored and not particularly invested, two things that should never describe the experience of watching a Madhouse show. The fact that this was the project responsible for ruining One Punch Man only made it worse. There’s a slow burn, and then there’s walking away without turning the stove on.

And I Finished 11 (holy crap that’s like three hundred episodes just on their own).

That Time I Was Reincarnated as a Slime (5/10 & 1/10)

I’ll be honest, I had forgotten just how livid I was with the ending (and especially the sad excuse of a recap episode) of Slimesekai, and reading back through my write-up of it, it’s certainly coming back to me. While this year had bigger demons to fight (Shield Hero), the bad taste that Slime left me with hasn’t really faded, and the wasted premise bugs me to this day.

Hinomaru Sumo (7/10)

What Hinomaru lacked in production value, it happily made up for in good execution and earnest heart. I can’t believe this came from the same studio as Conception, Try Knights and 7Seeds, but if they can only get out one good show a year, I’m glad that we got one bringing attention to a sport that many will joke about but few understand, respect and appreciate.

Kono Oto Tomare (7/10)

Speaking of giving love to traditional Japanese culture, here’s a decent-if-unoriginal show about a local high school koto club down on their luck, and the troubled teens coming together under a scrappy protagonist to bring it back to life. Kono Oto Tomare doesn’t have much that you haven’t seen before, but a decently-executed club drama with Your Lie In April-inspired musical performances is more than enough to keep me interested, and since Forest of Piano kinda crashed and burned under the weight of its own self-importance this year, it was nice to have an alternative.

MIX: Meisei Story (8/10)

It’s hard to judge MIX next to the other shows on this list because it’s almost too old-school for its own good, revelling in an eighties storytelling style that didn’t end up jiving with a wide audience this year. But at the same time, its fun character dynamics (and a very good dub from Funimation, despite them saying they’d never touch sports anime again) were very entertaining to watch, even if it didn’t focus as much on the sport it was supposedly about as much as I’d have liked.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba (8/10)

I fully admit that I’m very salty about the fact that this won Show of the Decade in Funimation’s poll while it was still on and I thought there were hundreds of more deserving shows, but I can’t deny that Demon Slayer was a very enjoyable experience, albeit one that I had notable problems with. That’s not gonna stop me from getting mad when it sweeps the Anime Awards in a few weeks, though.

Fire Force (8/10)

I was very afraid that David Productions wouldn’t be able to match the energy of Studio Bones’ adaptation of Ohkubo’s previous work, Soul Eater, but I was happy to be proven wrong. Even if the last few episodes contained a bit too much infodumping, it was all sandwiched between jaw-dropping fight scenes that proved that the people who make Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure can still handle the reins of a more traditional action show.

Fruits Basket 1st Season (8/10)

I know that my score for this one is a bit lower than others, but I think that Fruits Basket did pretty well in its first season, considering that it was largely spent setting up future storylines and adapting the part of the manga we’d all seen before, but with much higher production value. I’ve been familiar with this part of the story for over a decade, and the scene with Tohru and Kyo (you know the one) still made me cry. Now, we get the real plot going.

Dr Stone (9/10)

A great start to a totally new spin on shounen, Dr Stone gives me hope for survival in the post-Shokugeki world in which we’ll soon live, as a show that wears its research on its sleeve. A complex plot weaving interesting characters in and out of a narrative surrounding a philosophical battle where both sides actually do have fair points (even if one of them is going about it in a pretty cruel manner). More please.

Vinland Saga (9/10)

Once again, a great start to what will hopefully be years of quality storytelling, Vinland Saga made it seem like it was dragging in the middle only to reveal just what its slow burn had been leading up to, with twist-heavy storytelling and a fantastic cast to match the high visual quality of its brutal battles.

Run With the Wind (9/10)

It’s not often that Production I.G. gets to make a complete, fully-realized show anymore, and this one was a glorious reminder of the potential of the studio in the TV space, and a great rebound for the director of Joker Game. It’s gorgeous to look at, the cast is wonderful, and the story is both realistic and idealistic in a satisfying balance. It’s a miserable process to get to the finish line in real life, but sitting back and watching this was nothing but a treat. At least, until a minor fumble at the end.

Best Long Show of 2019: Dororo (9/10)

Speaking of complete stories, Tezuka Productions and MAPPA teamed up for a breathtaking adaptation of an underappreciated Tezuka classic that expands upon the story in exactly the right way to create a thrilling, savage, beautiful masterpiece that focuses a laser-sharp eye into the relationship between two characters in their journey to, literally and figuratively, become complete people. Also, that opening was killer.

And that’s it! That’s the fun list. Next comes the painful one. Stay tuned for the trash heap.

[non-sequitura]

Non-sequitura Disney in-depth analysis (after making a tier list)

Warning: SUPER longform. If you don’t know a movie well, you should skip the summary. I tried to be light on spoilers, but they’re there.

I went chronologically from favorite to least favorite. So S tier is, in order from fave to least fave, The Incredibles, WALL-E, then Zootopia.

S tier (Something I consider high quality AND a movie I greatly enjoy. I would love more Disney movies be like this.)

The Incredibles - one of my favorite movies of all time, possibly THE favorite. Rockin social commentary, epic action scenes, memorable characters, not a minute of screentime wasted, great take on the Fantastic Four, hilarious parts for both adults and children, an interesting villain, etc. 

WALL-E - I love how social commentary was done here. Also skies above, what a beautiful love story. Really blazed a trail in non-verbal storytelling (especially given it was an animated kids film!) Robot animations are particularly delightful. 

Zootopia - another social message delivered excellently and entertainingly. I love Judy and her persistence, I love the expressiveness of the faces and the epic city setting. I love Judy and Nick's banter. This movie deserves to be remembered longer than it has been so far. Admittedly, not one of my fave villains, which makes it my least favorite of the Ss. 

A tier (either super high quality or something I greatly enjoy and deem of at least reasonably good quality)

Mulan - this movie did everything right. Truly feminist protagonist, an icon for strong Asian women, fairly culturally accurate (tho Mushu confuses me), GORGEOUS and iconic music. Lets a relatively natural romance develop. I frickin love the action scenes, I love the emporer. Sadly, this movie just didn't lodge its way in my heart as well as Pixar did. Pixar just has some magic, yo. 

Cinderella - my gosh what an underrated protagonist. Her family straight-up abuses her and she never loses sight of her goals for a better life. Iconic visuals helped bring Disney out of bankruptcy. A gorgeous alto singing voice. 

Wreck-it Ralph - alright alright ppl don’t crucify me for this. I honestly can’t think of much wrong with this movie. Vanellope and Ralph’s vitriolic best buds relationship is adorable, her forgiveness of him is heartwarming and (relatively) deserved, rockin’ Owl City song, epic visuals that mix together bc of all the different games. ALSO ONE OF THE BEST DISNEY VILLAINS NO CAP. One of the only twist villains I like. And we stan the romantic pairing. 

Tangled - I’ve talked about this a lot, but Rapunzel deserved the whole world after what she’s gone through. That being said, Gothel is not some shallow monster she needs to escape from, but an intelligent, well-defined monster with backstory. I could totally see this story happening if the world of Tangled existed. Epic love story, hilarious dialogue. Music is… good but much of it is less memorable to me. Visuals are good but not quite at the level/creativity of many other disney films. 

The Lion King - they really put Hamlet in Africa and pulled it off lol. But in all seriousness, no one took the premise of this film seriously at the time and it became sooo iconic. I love Scar and his eventual downfall, I love how Simba grows emotionally, I love the sad moments that don’t overpower the overall feeling of light goofiness. And music so memorable it was one of the first Disney musicals. 

Coco - not a super unique story premise. But an incredible culture to explore with such creativity and sensitivity. I love the themes of death not being the worst and music being so central to the story. Twist/twist villain was memorable and not expected. And yeah, it did make me cry, so props there. 

Ratatouille - the most recently watched of these films for me. This movie is soooo unique! Back when Pixar was truly super out there with their concepts. Super Parisian visuals and soundtrack. It somehow starts goofy (THE OLD LADY TRIES TO KILL REMY WITH A SHOTGUN WHILE WEARING A GAS MASK) but really drives home the message that you can truly do what you want regardless of who you are. Colette can get it. And the monologue by Ego at the end is one of my favorites in film. 

Frozen - Anna is one of my favorite Disney protagonists. She’s so resilient and loyal. Elsa ain’t bad either but she experiences… less character development. The film is a tad too pleased with its own self-awareness for my taste, but there’s no denying how iconic the music and visuals were. 

Inside Out - Alright, this movie hits home for me bc I tried to run away after moving. A super thoughtful, heartfelt depiction of (potentially depression? imo) with great moments of humor. Riley’s inner world is so creative and lovely. Also realistic depictions of Minnesota/California culture. 

Tarzan - Jane! is! smart! and! adorable! Her scientific curiosity makes her very endearing. it’s so cute to see her and Tarzan learn from each other. Also Tarzan’s “found mother” is epic. Solid score. Solid film all around. To quote Lily Orchard, “This film is what Pocahontas tried to be.” 

B tier (one of my favorites but has a few significant flaws that bring it down (or not quite as memorable to me, but consider good quality))

Peter Pan - Haven’t seen it in a hot sec, but I remember being super charmed by this as a kid. Just going out, having incredible adventures, and returning to a warm home at the end of the day. Tinker Bell is hilarious and beautifully drawn. Gets major negative points for the depiction of Native Americans tho. 

Big Hero 6 - I was super charmed by the protagonist, his family/friends, and the setting. The plot/villain’s motivations are a bit of a mess, though. 

Princess and the Frog - This movie has so much flavor to it! The visuals/music are lovely and unique. Tiana is incredible but it’s kinda annoying how EVERYONE keeps trying to shoehorn her into romance. The thing is, her goals are entirely reasonable. Focus on her restaurant, then look to settle down. But they’re like “nooo you’re ignoring the important things in life” smh. Also, epic villain, woohoo! The movie dragged significantly for me when they were in the bayou. Charlotte is delightful. 

Winnie the Pooh - don’t remember it super well, but I think it was charming and occasionally dark, which is an addictive concoction. 

The Little Mermaid - MAN ppl roast Ariel way more than she deserves. Visually, it was… fine. idk. This movie is good. I don’t have much else to say about it. 

Snow White - the one that started it all. Visually, super impressive. Musically, lovely. I find the romance a bit… off. Well, more than a bit. What is it with Disney and kissing sleeping people? 

Alice in Wonderland - a nerdy acid trip. Right up my alley! I also like films where ppl go on incredible adventures and return to the status quo, but THEY changed bc of it. Epic. SUUUUPER creative visual interpretation of Carroll’s book. Brave - gosh I loooove films where a parent and child learn to understand each other. Never got why ppl hated this movie so much. The Scottish flavor is present and fun. Merida made one mistake and made it up. The arrow scene is iconic. 

Cars - a fun ride! (hahaha puns.) We love seeing Paul Newman as a car. 

B-minus tier? (same as B, but problematic, or weaker story-wise.)

Hunchback - man… settings-wise, this film might be my favorite. I also love Esmeralda and Quasimodo as characters and as a duo (though the sexualized depiction of Romani ppl is not epic.) I also don’t find the discrimination against Esmeralda/Quasimodo jarring bc it matches the time period. Frollo is super interesting as a villain. The gargoyles are… def not necessary. Basically, this film doesn’t know what it’s doing with tone. 

Sleeping Beauty - Aurora was my favorite when I was younger because I thought she was the prettiest, and that still defines how i feel about this, basically. Visually lovely - everything is kind of elongated and gothic. Maleficent is spiteful and epic. I have no issue with the fluffier parts of the movie, like the music or the fairies. RIP for lack of consent being a plot point, though. 

Hercules - Megara is incredible. one of the only Disney “princesses” who acts like an adult and has cynicism as a major part of her personality. I love her and Herc’s progression where she learns to trust him (yes, he is genuinely that sincere, it’s not a front.) Muses are unique, whoever came up with them was high on something and I’m living for it. I just think the plot itself was somewhat unrealistic/ weirdly-paced. There are some memorable songs, some less-than-memorable songs. Art style is cool but I’m personally not a fan. EXTREMELY inaccurate depictions of the original Greek gods. 

C tier (entertaining, but I don't consider it a great movie)

Bolt - I watched this like 11 years ago. It was fun! A cool concept about those put on a pedestal learning their worth even without celebrity boosting them up. Animation was… fine I think. not super memorable to me. 

Frozen 2 - They really took any scrap of character development Elsa had in the first movie, threw it in the garbage and set it on fire. Anna deserved so much better. Songs are bombastic and impressive, have the occasional interesting lyric, but are really weirdly placed and none are quite as iconic as the first movie’s (except Aurora, she does great work here. Also the song Anna sings after she thinks Elsa died.) 

Not a big fan of the vaguely homeopathic theme. Not a big fan of Olaf’s WEIRD character development. Not a big fan of the suuuuuper awkward dialogue and the animations that imply not only that Kristoff is into his reindeer but that Elsa and Anna are into each other (if you’re questioning if they did that, yes, they did, I can find screenshots of some really weird expressions/moments. THIS IS NOT THE TIME TO PANDER TO YOUR WEIRD FANS, DISNEY.) 

The voice actors did great work, the animators did great work (look at the details on their clothes! Look at how Elsa’s posture changes to be more confident! look at how they're animated while they're singing!) Some weird costume/makeup choices that make Elsa look like an aging starlet, but she also has some gorgeous moments so eh. It’s a wash for me. 

They really did not know what to do with Kristoff this movie, huh. The only thing that happened to him was singing a cheesy 90s ballad and marrying Anna, both of which were admittedly epic. Also, the trolls got 0 appearances despite being literally psychic. Probably could have helped with a lot. I'm not a huge fan of lore/worldbuilding, and thee was a lot of it here. Overall neutral on it. 

Also a big theme in this movie I don’t love - **** TANGIBLE CONSEQUENCES TO OUR ACTIONS!!! The danger is Elsa’s death, the elements, colonialism, and Arendelle literally being destroyed. None of those end up playing out, so I was left at the end going “this film had literally no stakes.” 

Monsters U - same as above - entertaining at the time! Not super memorable. The ppl we were supposed to dislike kept switching. Doesn’t really match the canon of Monsters Inc (I thought they were supposed to have known each other since childhood so why did they meet in college?) 

Cars 3 - so apparently, everyone HATED this movie! Fun! I never watched Cars 2 (yes watched Cars 1 if you haven’t been paying attention to this list), but I didn’t think this movie was bad at all. Well-acted, some fun chase scenes, the scene where Lightning fails at driving in the simulation is genuinely hilarious, and some interesting perspectives on teachers getting the spotlight for their skills for once. 

Incredibles 2 - I liked this film at first, but then it was… just okay in retrospect. I love me some good family dynamics. The plot here makes not a lot of sense. THEY BUILT UP THE UNDERMINER FOR NOTHING AND THEN FORGOT ABOUT HIM. I was surprised by the villain swap, but it happened so last minute I never really understood their motivations even after they explained them. Tried to tackle waaaay too many messages. 

D tier (I didn't enjoy these or consider them mediocre)

Finding Dory - Maybe I should have put this higher? Like C tier at least. Ah well. Wasn’t a huge fan of the body/physical comedy (not my thing), but it was entertaining and awww finding family is heartwarming. 

Finding Nemo - I remember nothing about this movie. 

E tier (this film has significant problems)

Beauty and the Beast - *sigh*… I want to love this movie. The score is gorgeous. Visually, they could have made it more distinctly Rococo-era France but didn’t (why?) The voice actors did good work and I think Paige O’Hara is SUPER underrated here. 

The Beast is emotionally manipulative with an awful temper that (for MOST of the movie. He doesn’t change.) That’s the main reason this is in E tier. This movie shaped so many generations of people thinking they can change the behavior of someone who treats them badly through the power of love. But you can’t. She learns to “love” the beast under coercion. It’s not Stockholm syndrome - it’s a trashy romance novel. Big fan of Gaston as a villain. He’s an archetype ppl can recognize and it’s so satisfying to hate him.

F tier (I think this film actively harms the industry and would rather it not have been made. Both the one in E tier could be considered harmful to the industry, but I think they had significant enough artistic accomplishments to scrape above that. I'm also generally a fan of "lack of censorship bc it's better to teach what not to do.")

Pocahontas - this movie took real historical events and romanticized them AND sexualized one of the only Native princesses they’ve had. Boo. Nothing wrong with animation!Pocahontas as a character, it’s just people put her in a story that doesn’t represent history well at all (and these historical events, unlike those in say, 14th-century Germany, had super relevant effects on people alive today.) And they portrayed the Native Americans and colonial settlers as equally in the wrong. (though I like Governor Radcliffe as a potential villain and love the line “see how I glitter.” I can’t NOT laugh when I hear it.) Lovely music, though. Nice animation, but the colors are weirdly… muted? 

Bad Garbage (I don't wish this film had never been made, but I wish I never had to see it.)

Planes - this movie was ridiculous. I remember not much about it except that I kinda hated it and that it was super cheesy with tension one could see right through that immediately resolved itself via one twist or another. 

Haven’t seen tier: Recess, A Bug’s Life, A Goofy Movie, DuckTakes Movie, Lilo and Stitch, Pinocchio (actually i have seen this but I remember nothing about it), The Nightmare before Christmas, Toy Stories 1, 2, and 3, Up, 101 Dalmatians, The Great Mouse Detective, Cars 2, Moana, The Good Dinosaur, Pete’s Dragon, Fantasia, Peter Pan Return to Neverland, Fantasia 2000, The Black Cauldron (read the book, though!), Bambi (or I did and remember nothing about it), The Rescuersm, The Rescuers Down Under, Planes Fire and Rescue, Bambi 2, The Fox & the Found, Oliver and Company, Atlantis, Treasure Planet (I want to, though), Piglet’s Big Movie, The Jungle Book, the Emporer’s New Groove, The Jungle Book 2, Chicken Little, Brother Bear, The Three Caballeros, Pooh’s Heffalump Movie, Dumbo, The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, Aladdin (seen parts but never the whole thing), Strange Magic, The Sword in the Stone, James and the Giant Peach, Frankenweenie, Lady and the Tramp, Ralph Breaks the Internet, Doug’s 1st Movie, Monsters Inc. (want to, though), Meet the Robinsons, Dinosaur, The Aristocats, Robin Hood, The Tigger Movie, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, that pooh movie at the end without the title on it

-11/21/20

[charliejrogers]

Onward (Or, Disney’s Dungeons & Dragons)

Few things should be more exciting to filmgoers everywhere than the prospect of a new IP from powerhouse animation studio Pixar. Even when they don’t reach the highs of Toy Story, Finding Nemo, Monsters Inc., Inside Out, or Coco, they still produce near-classics like the money-printing, merchandise-monster Cars or the oft-overlooked, quiet, and visually stunning buddy-road-trip/adventure masterpiece The Good Dinosaur. Which is why it was so weird when Pixar released Onward earlier this year to little-to-no fanfare. For sure the coronavirus played a significant role in this as few audiences had the chance to see this in theaters, and then it was relegated solely to Disney+. But even still, the marketing didn’t do much for me – or seemingly others. I expected the same B-tier Pixar I got with recent outings like Finding Dory and Toy Story 4. (To be clear, even B-tier Pixar movies are very good). I went into this thinking it would be some so-so brothers-adventure with some magical element, with characters voiced by Chris Pratt and Tom Holland. Maybe I hesitated because I feared that Chris Pratt would simply be playing yet another iteration of his made-to-be-memed and sorta-now-grating loveable yet clueless bro that he perfected on Parks & Recreation and made even more macho and bro-y as part of the Guardians of the Galaxy films. I was right on both counts: Pratt plays the same character as he always does, and it is a movie about brothers and magic. But I was wrong in one regard: this movie is awesome.

Onward is set in the town of New Mushroomton, a city that looks like it could be Anytown, USA with a public high school, highways, and suburban housing developments. The difference is that New Mushroomton is populated by magical creatures (elves, centaurs, satyrs, trolls, etc.) instead of humans. However, the film’s prologue tells us that all the world’s magic has long been forgotten. Just as science and modern medicine have lessened the need and reliance on religion and faith for many in our society today, so too did the invention of the lightbulb in Onward eliminate the need for wizards to cast spells to cast out darkness. So now the centaurs drive cars instead frolic the fields, monsters have sold out and allowed their once-scary visages to sold on T-shirts and serve as mascots for restaurants, and once-sacred and magical fountains are being demolished to make way for new building developments. It’s not the most imaginative of Pixar settings, but it does effectively get across one of the film’s theme: not that we as Americans need to go back and embrace religion and faith, but that we should have a greater appreciation for sacred traditions of the past and recognize that newer is not always better. And, perhaps predictably, the world and the film it inhabits teach that the “magic” of life can never really be lost. It’s a message that is luckily never stressed too heavily and which forms a beautiful backdrop to the film’s main plot.

The plot, as mentioned, focuses on two elven brothers, and their single mother (their father died of an illness long, long ago – because this is a Disney movie and no one can be a hero without dead or missing parents!). The younger of the two, Ian (voiced by the MCU’s boyish Spider-Man, Tom Holland), has just turned sixteen and is as insecure, without confidence, and paralyzed by fear as any teenage boy who isn’t among the cool kids. The film’s so-so exposition portion largely focuses on showing us just how pathetic Ian is: in order to invite classmates to his house for a birthday, he has to write out talking points on his hands (predictably his hands become a bit sweaty). He more than anything wants to become the bold, confident man he hears his father once was, down to the point that he wears his father’s old sweatshirts and has a tear-jerking conversation with an old recording of his father’s voice.

On the other end of the spectrum is Ian’s older brother, Barley (Chris Pratt), who kinda looks like Chris Farley if Chris Farley played D&D in high school. Barley’s also a social outcast and do-nothing who his Mom describes on being on “the longest gap year” between high school and college. But embraces his lonerism and is proud of who he is – much to the embarrassment of his brother. He’s in love with his world’s magical past, devoting his life to the film’s version of Dungeons & Dragons card game, which is based on “actual history,” i.e. the spells from his game are the same spells that wizards used to use. The two brothers are not so much at odds at the film’s start, but they aren’t particularly close.

What brings them together, and what propels the film from its sleepy start, is a present for Ian from his long-dead father: a magic wand and a spell that will allow Ian and Barley to see their father again. There are a few caveats, however. Firstly, they will have to go on a quest to find some MacGuffin to complete the spell. Secondly, they will only have 24 hours to complete the task or else lose the opportunity for ever. Thirdly, only Ian the Non-Confident and the Magic-Naïve, is able to work the wand. With these ground rules laid out, the movie proper begins, and it is a wonderful and expertly crafted tale.

The film’s story progression takes as much of a cue from recent RPG-video games (to which, of course D&D is the ultimate precursor) as from the classic mold of the “Hero’s Journey” that adventure tales from Lord of the Rings to Star Wars have followed. Using Barley's knowledge of his D&D-like card game (like that episode of Spongebob where Mr. Krabs uses a board game’s map to find actual buried treasure), Ian and Barley will come up against a number of different of challenges on their journey, but can overcome them as Barley teaches Ian how to “unlock" more and more magical abilities. By the film’s end he is a full-blown wizard single-handedly fighting off a dragon. It’s a satisfying plot structure, with each visually impressive and exciting challenge not only strengthening Ian’s confidence, but also his relationship with his brother. In the classic buddy-road-trip film, there are as many challenges that will bring them together as threaten to tear them apart.

The beauty of this film is its ability to be three things at once: 1) a fantastical adventure to save their father 2) a buddy-comedy for the two brothers and 3) a coming of age tale for Ian. All three share the limelight equally and no part (after the exposition) drags a bit. By far its strongest element, though, is its exploration of brotherhood/fatherhood. Ian and Barley are a joy to watch work together on screen, and their love for one another is clear and palpable. Even Pratt’s typical obnoxiousness is appropriately scaled down and made entirely loveable. There was never a moment where I wasn’t rooting for the two. By the end, I would have been perfectly happy to provide the two with the predictably happy ending the movie seemingly sets itself up for (and which a film from a lesser studio would have provided). But instead Pixar completely subverted my expectations in a beautiful way, giving me the ending I didn’t know I wanted. It's an ending which in the long run is the best for its characters and their development.

In sum, I was quite pleasantly surprised by Onward. The movie knows exactly what it wants to be, and it does so effectively. It teaches that fathers, especially the best fathers, don’t have to be the men who begot us. As I said, it’s not the most creative or inventive outing from Pixar and it’s just below the A-tier Pixar classics, but it really is too much to expect a masterpiece every single time. That being said, I would be surprised if there’s a better or more emotionally affecting animated movie to come out this year.

***/ (Three and a half stars out of four)

[jellyfishdoodler]

Ladies and Gentlemen and all the beautiful people outside and between, it’s my honor to present to you the new barbershop troop of the Ego Universe:

The Septic Quintet!

I have fought with myself for like 2 weeks on this drawing but I’m SO happy with the results!! I hope you guys like it to! ^^

Bonus: Transparent polaroid version, playlist of songs that inspired me while working, and some headcanons/ drabbles under the cut! :D

Playlist of Barbershop/ songs that inspired me!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gADlgxrnAdQ&list=PLQvnEz4p9_4d23rgrqkBGYxsW3nI1TvBj

*cracks knuckles* Here we go! (I talked about these headcanons a lot with the awesome @owletry and @pistachio-lan so I can’t take all the credit for all these. Thanks for putting up with my bullshit guys lmao)

Everyone’s parts (highest to lowest): Marvin as first tenor, Chase as second tenor (and lead of the group), Schneep as baritone, and Jackie as bass.

Schneep and Jackie are able to trade parts quite easily but they prefer where they are in the group.

While Jameson can’t *sing* with the group, he still is an important member! He not only acts as like a director for the boys, he also plays accompanying instruments like the ukulele, trumpet (yes Sean’s blue trumpet specifically), and sometimes kazoo if they’re singing more of a joke song for fun. He also whistles tunes when it’s called for!

And before every show/ performance they ask the audience if there’s any deaf folks in the crowd. If there is, Jameson perks up happily and sets aside his instruments and instead signs for those who need it.

Since it’s these dudes, I can’t imagine them being a totally serious barbershop quartet/ quintet- so their style is heavily influenced by comedy and the group “The Newfangled Four” (there’s a few of their songs on the playlist and they’re EXACTLY how I picture the egos are like on stage. Especially with Chase and Jackie beat-boxing like in TNF’s Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. Schneep nudges them and they get back into their regular positions for at least a moment before moving to the next bit)

Schneep pretends to TRY and keep the others under control but in reality it’s just for the bit and he’s having a lot of fun being up there with them.

Jackie and Marvin have an on-going bit of where they go back and fourth about who’s the better singer of the group and often have mini sing-offs (they usually sing “Anything You Can Do” from Annie Go Get Your Gun and it’s a crowd favorite). Chase is egging them on and keeping the audience engaged while Schneep rolls his eyes and pretends to be all like, “MUST you two do this EVERY time?” It’s all in good fun tho.

Not only does JJ play instruments and act as a sort of director for the others, he also runs a lot of the VISUAL gags and hands out props to the others when it’s required. Also he put on big reactions to what they’re singing to try and have the audience do the same (like laughing, booing, cheering, and just over-all getting them involved while the boys sing).

The whole barbershop thing was Chase’s idea and it came out on a whim while the five of them were all drinking together one night. They were all messing around singing random songs and bar shanties together and Chase noticed, “Oh damn we actually sound good?? Dudes, let’s make a band.” And after a lot of research and a some more (sober) practice they all decided, “Oh hell yeah, this is gonna be cool.”

They started out just going out and singing in bars/ on the streets spontaneously (after JJ helps start with a pitch pipe). It always drew a crowd and turned heads and it was awesome! And eventually they started getting invited to events and parties to perform for.

Anti isn’t in the group for a few reasons. 1) He’s an asshole. 2) Can’t sing worth SHIT (sounds super auto-tuned lmao). 3) He thinks the whole idea is stupid and he fuckin’ hates their dorky-ass outfits. (Marvin: “I’m not a fan either, but at least I make it look good.”)

But since they got an extra outfit/ hat they use what would have been Anti’s hat as a tip jar. But being the ass that he is, Anti would claim the money was his. “It’s my hat, so it should be my cash.” (Chase: “... Bitch?”) 

Chase and Henrik’s favorite song to sing (about Anti) while JJ plays the ukulele aggressively is “No More ... To Give” by Thomas Benjamin Wild Esq. It’s just.. so perfect. And animation worth... Hm.

Smol angst/ fluff time! :D Song

It gets hard sometimes, yaknow? Some nights Chase’s depression gets the best of him so he just mopes in the kitchen drinking in his sweatpants. The others find him and share some sad looks before Jameson gets an idea. He casually saunters over with his hands behind his back while whistling a tune that they all recognize with silent snickers and grins. Chase perks up at Jameon’s whistling and the other’s singing, starting the first song they ever learned as a group. Marvin taking the lead to start with Jackie and Schneep joining vocals soon after, “Whenever life gets you down, keeps you wearing a frown, and the gravy train has left you behind. And when you’re all out of hope, down at the end of your rope, and nobody’s there to throw you a line...”

They all pause and look to Chase with hopeful expressions and the father shakes his head with a grin and continues the song, “If you ever get so low that you don’t know which way to go, come on and take a walk in my shoes. Never worry about a thing, got the world on a string ‘cause I got the cure for all of my blues~”

“All of his blues~” They all sing in soft harmony for a moment, crowding around Chase in a sort of hug before taking a breath in unison and singing as a group, holding back their laughs to try and make it through the first part, “I take a look at my enormous penis~!”

“And my troubles start-a melting away~”

They found this song when first getting into barbershop and it never failed to make them all burst into laughter by the end of it. Singing it together always cheered them up almost instantly because of how ridiculous and silly it was. Yes it may have been a little immature, but c’mon! It’s a good song and they sound DAMN good singing it together. They never sang this one in public, of course- unless it was requested at a bar or something- so they keep it more to themselves as an inside joke and therapy song that always pulls out a giggle from them

And I think that’s everything! If you read through all that.. wowie. XD I’m sorry? I’ve just been really into this idea while working on it and I really wanna draw all of the ideas but I’m so lazy/ fleeting motivation idk if I’ll ever get around to it ^^;; But if you have any ideas/ headcanons for this dumb idea of mine, please share!! I’d love an excuse to gush more about these musical bois lmao

If you got to this point put a “:d” in the tags so I know how crazy you fuckin are lol

[kcwcommentary]

VLD3x01 – “Changing of the Guard”

3x01 – “Changing of the Guard”

Keith and Red are searching through the debris of the season two finale fight, looking for Shiro’s body. So that makes me ask a couple of questions that the show never answers: What happened to Shiro’s body, and how exactly did he die? Zarkon survived. The other Paladins survived. Why did Shiro, specifically, not survive? And not just why did he die while others as nearby and as involved in the fight as he was didn’t die, but what happened to make his death result in his body’s disappearance? This is a mystery that the show has set up that it never explains. Sure, the missing body creates narrative space for the fakery of the return/clone plotline, but it doesn’t explain what happened to Shiro’s body. And it doesn’t explain why only Shiro and no one else was affected in this way. I can’t help but feel that the EPs and writers of the show just didn’t care enough to think they needed to bother answering these questions. 

Allura is preparing for a diplomatic meeting with some species that recently declared independence. Allura specifically states that they “just freed these planets,” but we’ve only ever seen Voltron free the Balmerans and the Olkari. The rest of Voltron’s fight has been directly at Zarkon. I guess she’s thinking Zarkon’s dead and thus everyone’s free from the Empire just because one person’s dead? Or are we supposed to assume that Voltron’s now spent a lot of time offscreen fighting to free some planets? The episode opening with Keith’s search for Shiro suggests a much shorter timeframe than would be needed for additional, large scale assaults. But the next scene of Lance, Hunk, and the Blade of Marmora attacking some Galra forces on Puig suggest they’ve spent time fighting elsewhere. It would be nice if the show was clearer about this.

The banter of Lance and Hunk during the fight is jarring. Would they really be so happy-in-battle with their last battle having resulted in the death of their supposed friend, Shiro? They are way too damn casual. Lance is excited about a parade, takes selfies, and flirts with girls. The people of this planet were just saved in huge part due to the Blades, but of course the show has those people glare at Kolivan as if the Blades didn’t just risk their lives for these people. Hunk says that the Galra Empire looks like it’s just falling apart; this is such simplistic writing to put in any character’s dialog. A universe-spanning oppressive force like the Galra Empire would not fall apart just because Zarkon’s dead (of course we know he’s not actually dead). Thinking that it would fall apart is to think that the legions of Galra who fight for and believe in the Empire don’t have their own minds. It’s nice that Lance sticks up for the Blades when the Puigians are dismissive of them; I didn’t expect that of him.

Pidge is busy trying to learn more from the surveillance clip she got of her brother. Coran calls her “Number 5” again, which is sweet. I like the idea of these two being friends. Coran brags about having once been a bit of an “intergalactic fashion pirate,” and given the current mustache he has, I would believe it even if the show didn’t show him imagining his past cape.

Everyone’s sitting around, talking proudly of their successes, Lance is boasting and bragging in his normal obnoxious way, Hunk’s worried about how they can’t form Voltron now and that people, like the Puigians, want to see it. No one is mourning or grieving the loss of Shiro except for Keith. This infuriates me. I’m supposed to believe that this is a show about friendship and and found family? Keith is the only character who actually cares about Shiro.

“It maybe difficult for us all to accept, but it is time to think about finding a new pilot for the Black Lion,” Allura says. Is it? Is it really time? How much time has passed? The show doesn’t answer this, so we have no way to properly contextualize her comment. This episode opened with Keith still trying to find Shiro’s body, which suggests it’s not been long. I have to assume the show itself has no idea how much time has passed.

“Shiro is the one person who never gave up on me. I won’t give up on him,” Keith declares. As someone for whom loyalty is a big deal, I love Keith’s display of it here.

Meanwhile, Haggar is covering up that Zarkon is unconscious and incapacitated to the rest of the Galra. She’s pretending that Zarkon has requested Lotor take command of the Empire. We get our first glimpse of Ezor, who I think is one of the most ridiculous looking aliens this show ever designed. She looks like she’s got a giant sock hanging off her head. She can also turn invisible. Invisibility is a logistical and tactical big deal. If she’s accomplishing it technologically, then I need it explained why more people don’t use such technology, especially since this story is so war-focused. If it’s a biological ability due to her species, then that would give her species a significant advantage during the war too, so I would expect the larger-scale use as part of the war effort to at least be addressed by the show. I don’t remember it ever doing so though, just like the cloaking technology of the Green Lion never being added to the other Lions, I only remember Ezor’s invisibility being exclusively hers.

Representatives of five new species meet with Allura, the Paladins, and Kolivan during a diplomatic dinner. Hunk has cooked for the dinner, and I’m glad to see his connection to food is being used for a reasonable purpose and not as a fat joke. Kolivan presents some data about the current state of the Galra Empire, pointing out that there is now an increase in open rebellion against the Galra. The diplomats push the issue about wanting to see Voltron. Keith snaps at them. I’m not a fan of how dumbed-down the diplomats are, and this is a reoccurring thing with species outside of Voltron/Alteans/Galra in this show. They so often are presented as if they’re helpless and sitting around waiting to be saved. I just don’t buy the idea that no one has been fighting back until Voltron shows up to do all the heavy lifting

Keith yells again, “Tell them to stand up and fight for themselves.” He’s not wrong.

At the Galra gladiatorial arena, two Galra complain to one another about Lotor. We’re given an exposition-introduction to the character. Until now, Lotor’s been exiled. He’s known to fight alongside his lower ranking soldiers, which offends these two Galra because they apparently think a leader should pompously stand around, aloof from those sent to do the fighting. His chosen generals aren’t “pure Galra. They’re half-breeds at best.” The Galra have been shown to have a significant amount of polymorphism in their species already, so I don’t know what the show considers “pure Galra” to even have Throk complaining about the lack of it in Lotor’s generals. Lotor lets planets he conquers “continue to rule themselves.” At the end of season six, the show turned Lotor into just another maniacal, cackling, cliché villain. But here, in his introduction, it sounds more like he’s being set up to become another protagonist for the show. This exposition just spent a lot of time describing Lotor as having really good qualities.

Throk drops the idea that he’s considering challenging for the throne of the Galra Empire.

And then, they turn their attention to the fight in the arena. The “little fellow” fighting is one they’ve never seen before. Surprise, it’s Lotor. He pulls off his helmet, and out falls a lot of long hair. It would have taken a lot of effort to get all that hair up in that helmet. I wonder how many people responsible for his design and animation have ever had to deal with having long hair. Lotor reveals he’s aware that Throk wants to challenge for the crown, and he calls Throk on it right there in front of everyone. Lotor emphasizes Galra traditionalism of honorable combat. It gets many in the crowd on his side.

Lotor’s four generals reveal themselves. I really like that they’re all female. I still think Ezor looks absolutely ridiculous. Zethrid defies stereotypes of femininity, which is cool. Narti, with her mask and cat, clearly has something intriguing going on. Axca looks the most normal, just blue, and thus is the most visually uninteresting of the four (I’m open to having my mind changed during this rewatch, but I generally think of Axca as the most uninteresting of the four generals in every way).

Throk accepts the challenge and enters the arena. Lotor says Throk has “flawless technique,” but the animation makes Throk look more like he’s flailing and using a lot of energy in wild swings. He looks like he’s trying to brute force his way through the fight, rather than use technique. I don’t know if this is a lack of the animation matching the script, or if this is Lotor sarcastically taunting Throk. “In the end, your own aggression is your undoing,” Lotor says. The show is really doing a lot right up front here to make viewers interested in and side with Lotor.

“My father built our Empire on the bones of his enemies, but the time has come to change the old ways and inspire not fear from those we rule, but loyalty,” Lotor says in his speech. Throk, defeated, pledges loyalty to Lotor as does most, if not all, of the audience. Afterward, Lotor says to his generals, “The masses are easily manipulated.” His capacity for scheming is clear. A lot of Lotor’s character throughout the series seems like he’s someone who’s trying to change a longstanding culture from the inside. His introduction certainly complicates the Galra and the conflict of the show.

Keith stands looking at the Black Lion, everyone else is a little back behind him. Eventually Lance goes over to talk to him. He says that they all miss Shiro, but none of them have acted like it. Except for Keith, they’ve all done nothing in this episode to even suggest they care about having lost a friend. And the way they describe Shiro, they haven’t. Lance describes Shiro as a role model. Pidge literally says Shiro’s a “legend.” Hunk reduces Shiro to a piloting instructor. None of them say anything to suggest they think of him as a friend.

“You’re not the only one hurting, man,” Lance says. This line feels like the show insulting my intelligence. No one except for Keith has demonstrated they are hurting over Shiro’s death. Allura refers to Shiro as “completely irreplaceable,” which again feels like the show insulting my intelligence since what’s happening is that the EPs/writers/the show want to replace Shiro.

This episode could have respected the plot of Shiro’s death by depicting everyone grieving in their own respective ways. But it doesn’t. It only shows Keith grieving. Everyone else – Lance, Hunk, Pidge, Allura, Coran – they’ve all moved on already. Shiro is thus shown to have not been important to anyone other than Keith. If they had written this episode to show how each character was grieving Shiro, then it would have been an invitation to the viewers to feel the loss of the character. As is, it feels more like the episode is admonishing the audience for caring about Shiro and condemning them for not just instantly getting over his death like everyone (but Keith) does.

I end this episode feeling insulted by the show.

[scope-dogg]

Mobile Suit Gundam Seed: Final Impressions

I went into this series fully aware of its reputation. It’s become a byword for poor quality not only in Gundam but amongst the genre at large. Now that I’ve finished watching it, do I think it deserves it?

Eh, not entirely, but mostly.

The two big things to discuss regards this are the story and the presentation, and I’ll cover them in that order.

The story setup comes really close to UC, only this time, Zaft, the Zeon standin, are comprised entirely of a race of super-duper meta-humans called Coordinators. Evolved humans are nothing new to Gundam, with Newtypes in UC and X before this, and Innovators after in 00, but Seed is the one that runs hardest with the concept, to the point where it’s the crux of the entire plot. The conflict between Naturals (ordinary humans) and Coordinators seems like a really unsubtle allegory for racism, and it kind of works sometimes but it’s undercut by the fact that Coordinators are shown to be just better than Naturals at virtually everything. They try and play it off like the two are actually equal later on but it falls flat on its face. Other than that, in the first half the plot follows the original Gundam beat for beat, and it feels incredibly lazy. Most of the fights during that first half are dull and inconsequential, and not enough happens, with a journey to Jaburo Alaska making up the bulk of the runtime. There’s simply not enough going on either plot or characterwise during this segment, and the fights that take place during this timespan are just unsatisfactory for reasons I’ll explain later. I legitimately hated my time with the show during this period. It makes up for it by ramping up the stakes and the tension after the halfway point, culminating in a second half and conclusion that honestly was pretty good. It’s hardly the most compelling or subtle, but it actually felt like the stuff taking place on screen actually mattered in the big picture, which was a welcome change.

This inconsistency carries over to the characters. Protagonist Kira Yamato is infamous for being a poor Gundam protagonist, and I can’t say I disagree. He’s not annoying or repellent personality wise like some others I could name, but he is incredibly boring. He’s a Coordinator, and the writers use that to handwave away any potential obstacle that could pose a challenge to him. He’s the superest-duperest pilot there is, capable of doing ridiculous shit like rewriting his Gundam’s entire operating OS in about 5 seconds mid battle. His character arc is basically “I don’t want to fight, but I need to protect my friends!”, and then after he cheats death decides that he wants to become Space Jesus and stop all war, changing in personality to an unrealistic degree. It’s incredibly bland and uninteresting. The supporting cast, meanwhile, is kind of hit and miss. Murrue and Natarle, the commanding officers of the starship Archangel, have an interesting semi-rivalry going on, and Mu la Flaga is an affable and likeable presence throughout. I quite liked Athrun, Kira’s rival and eventual ally - it feels like he actually got some moderately good character development, albeit not the most compelling, and his squad of fellow Gundam pilots manage to be mostly entertaining and likewise get developed decently well. Rau le Creuset, the show’s resident Char clone, might actually be one of my favourite characters fitting that archetype. He doesn’t actually do a great deal over the course of the series, but he’s suitably schemy and nefarious, and he feels great to have on screen, especially at the end once his backstory’s been unfurled and his plans are set in motion. The other main villains, Chairman Zala and Azrael, on the other hand, feel like cartoon villains, both hell-bent on utterly exterminating the other side with their weapons of mass destruction. In the original Gundam it eventually transpires that neither the Federation or Zeon are really  the “good guys”, and they do the same here, but beat you over the head with it, to the point that all the soldiers and officers on either side feel like psychotic fanatics, it basically takes the intricate politics of UC and strips it of all its subtlety. Finally, the show heavily features one of my least favourite characters in Gundam to date in the form of Flay Allster, who seemingly serves no purpose other than being an annoying thot with her tits flopping around in the OP. I felt like at points the show wanted me to sympathise for her, but it completely failed to do that to the point that I actually enjoyed her suffering.

So far I’ve described a show that’s bland but servicable, even if it is beset by heavy flaws. What downgrades the show from mediocre to outright bad in my eyes is in the presentation. First, let me talk about the parts I liked.

I think the show actually has a strong soundtrack.

I liked many of the mobile suit designs - in fact, some of them I loved, especially the Duel and Providence.

That’s all. Otherwise, this show is a visual disaster. Tekkaman Blade previously held my record for most egregious abuse of stock footage, but Seed honestly blows it out of the water. You will see the same shots, again and again and again, episode after episode. Stock footage that was used as early as the first five episodes rears its head all the way through to the conclusion, with barely any changes made. This even carries over to plot moments - the show figures that if a major plot moment is worth showing to you once it’s okay to show it to you a dozen more times in flashbacks. I don’t know if it’s done to pad out episodes’ runtime or if they think that the audience has the attention span of a goldfish, but either way it’s not acceptable. I could forgive it if the show was visually appealing in general, but honestly, it’s not. It’s extremely janky, to the point where it looks like it was animated by dragging around jpgs in MS paint at points. Barely anything in the show looks right, everything just looks off somehow. I can’t put my finger on any one thing, but a few things I noticed were the lines used to draw most of it were too thick, shading was either absent or just poorly drawn in, and the artists who designed most of the tech and settings just seem to have a poor grasp of appealing colours. Character design is pretty unappealing. Any character who’s not an adult looks like a stick insect. The end result is something that’s rather ugly even disregarding the poor animation quality. It totally ruins almost every battle and even offsets the strengths of the mechanical designs. Take a look at something like the Strike Gundam in Gundam Breaker 3 or Gundam VS and it looks great. However, whenever you look at it in the source material there’s a 50/50 chance of it looking okay or looking like shit. With that said, the mechanical design isn’t entirely great either. Most of the designs are good, but they break out some garbage too. The trio of edgelord gundams in the shape of Calamity, Forbidden and Raider all look like trash in one way or another. It also hurts that the only real powerful and memorable designs were Gundams in this show. Everything else is a jobber grunt suit, with designs that are so close to the GM and Zaku from the original Gundam that it makes you wonder why they bothered. Obviously Gundam is in the name and those are always going to be the focus, but there was nothing in this that was like the Zeong, or the Sazabi, the Tallgeese, the Qubeley or any other of the cool mobile suit designs over the years that aren’t Gundams but still capture people’s imaginations. The one notable exception is Zaft’s four-legged, doglike BuCUE and LaGowe, which felt like the show’s one real flash of originality, but even that had already been done in Zoids.

Overall, I was able to glean some enjoyment out of this series, but it felt like I had to make an effort to do so and that I would have preferred to be watching something else. The story does eventually get kind of good, but I had to endure more than twenty episodes of boredom and mindless, repetitive fighting to get there. It’s easily the weakest Gundam series I’ve seen and one of the hardest modern series to watch in general. Even other weak Gundam series I’ve seen like Iron Blooded Orphans and Wing have aspects that make them easy to recommend ahead of this. There are silver linings here that might make this barely palatable if you’re intent on watching this out of curiosity or if you believe you have to because you want to watch every Gundam series, but otherwise, just skip this.

[joehas]

Q&A with John O´Loughlin.

A BIT ABOUT YOU

Q1 Who are you and what do you do?

I am Joe Haslam and I´m the Executive Director of the Owners Scaleup Program and a Professor at IE Business School in Madrid. At IE, I teach classes on scaling and scaleups to University level students, to MBAs and to Senior Executives.  

I´m also a director a number of companies, mainly scaleups or startups started by serial entrepreneurs. I do a lot of speaking at conferences (now mostly virtual) as well as writing and podcasting.

To quote Peter Drucker “Entrepreneurship is risky mainly because so few of the so-called entrepreneurs know what they are doing” Having spoken to maybe 500 founders in the last ten years, I´ve a fair idea what you should not do to scale a business. I put the emphasis on not making known mistakes so that you give yourself the best chance to figure out what it is you need to do.

Q2.      What is your background?

After graduation from UCC, I went to London to work for Perot Systems as a Consultant. That was a great status job but it was no way to live so I came back to Ireland.

A group of us left consulting to set up a company called Marrakech during the dot com era. We raised over seventy million dollars and grew to over 250 people. This is where my interest in scaling up comes from.

After four years, I moved to Madrid to do an MBA at IE Business School. The first weekend, I met this girl and we are still together. In terms of lifestyle, I think that Madrid and Berlin are the two best cities to live in Europe.

Q3. Favourite business news resource?

CB Insights is a wonderful resource. It tells you, often on one page, who the cool companies are in each sector. My students absolute love this visual storytelling.    

I used to read The Economist every Saturday morning when it arrived on paper but I got out of the habit of doing this when i subscribed online instead. This makes no sense, I know, but habits are powerful.

My news now comes from links I find on Twitter. I think it´s a wonderful resource and it allows me to keep in touch with the news from places i previously lived in. You don´t have to live in Silicon Valley anymore to keep in touch with what is going on there.  

Q4. If I was to ask for a business book recommendation?

Trillion Dollar Coach: The Leadership Playbook of Silicon Valley's Bill Campbell is a great way to understand the importance of coaching. Coaching is much misunderstood. It´s not about telling someone what to do but to help them to find the answers themselves. Business should be like sport where everyone has a coach.

I think every man should read The Female Eunuch by Germaine Greer. It has helped me a lot to understand how women feel in certain circumstances. Some men think they are helping but they are doing exactly the wrong thing.

Scaleup books are many. The best is Scaling Up by Verne Harnish. High Growth Handbook by Elad Gil is very Silicon Valley but also very well structured. Blitzscaling by Reid Hoffman is a strategy I disagree with but you have to read it anyway. Scaling by Roland Siebelink makes the really important points in a way that you cant miss them. Growth and Scaleup Enablers for SMEs by Veijo Komulainen is deceptively useful.

Q5. Are you listening to any good business podcasts at the moment?

Like a lot of people, I listen to Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway twice a week. I can see why it annoys people but its makes business fun and that is welcome. In contrast the a16z podcasts are much richer in content but you do have to force yourself to listen to the end.

In terms of scaleup resources, we are very well served. There is Scaleup Valley by Mike Dias, Masters of Scale by Reid Hoffman, Notion Capital´s “Pain of Scale” and The Scaling Startups Podcast by Ross Sheil.

While listening in the car or walking to work is better than nothing, I also recommend that you group listen. By this I mean to schedule a meeting with the management team. Listen to it together and then discuss immediately.

Q6. What’s your best bit of business advice?

I have got loads of this.

Find out what you are good at and get even better at it. Find out what you are bad at and get other people to do it.

Getting a “No” only means “no” today. Failure is part of the process of growing, so don´t take it personally. If you are shooting for big things then you should expect to fail.

Follow up. I see this all the time. Someone makes an intro, you have a meeting but you move onto another meeting before mining the first one fully.

Vulnerability is a super power. Ask for help. People are mostly good and will help if you are open about asking for it.

Q7. What do you do to wind down/relax?

I run 5km, 5 times a week. I also swim 1,000 meters twice a week. I hate bicycles though so I am not a Mamil.

As you get older, if you don´t do physical exercise then everything falls apart. Also it´s a time to think. And thinking cannot be done in short batches. I can think of many problems where the solution only came after thinking uninterrupted about it for more than half an hour.

Stress is a real issue so i try to have one entire day every week when i have no meetings or deadlines. This takes the pressure off and lets me go into random areas as opposed to the here and now. We have really only four productive hours a day, so I try to block off those and then do other not so intellectual tasks the rest of the time.    

ABOUT YOUR BUSINESS

Q8. Why are you in the news?

I´m never not in the news. It´s part of my job to be in the news! Last week it was Saudi Arabia, the week before India, the week before that South Korea.  

Engaging with people is how you learn. I´m really hard on my students who come to class just to listen. E.M. Forster's quote “How do I know what I think until I see what I say” captures this exactly.  

To quote a friend of mine from a private conversation “clear, strong writing was now a differentiator in the tech industry in the same way design had been in the early 2000s, when Apple schooled everyone on what actually created value.  Tech companies had spent ten years catching up on design, investing in talent and buying up studios—but they didn’t yet correctly value written communication. Internally, to customers, or to the public”

Q9. What is your biggest business challenge at present?

I have never had any expectation of stability so the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is just what it is this year.  There are always challenges, they just have different names.  

It is now more difficult to travel to Madrid for the Owners Scaleup Program, particularly from Latin America. A good Professor can creates an atmosphere in a classroom that is hard to match online. They also miss out on the social part of the program. Eating Cachopo and drinking Mencia in Restaurante Asturiano Carlos Tartiere is an important part of the Program.

I used to travel 20 weeks a year to promote IE Business School so that doesnt happen either anymore. Nothing beats going to a country to get to know something about the people in your classroom. In February, I did a six city tour of Mexico (Monterrey, Guadalajara, Mérida, León, Querétaro, CDMX). I haven´t left Spain since.    

Q10. What are you doing to address this?

We have moved online. But not online just in the sense of recording a video but my classes are now live. Death by Powerpoint is now gone as everyone is much more comfortable contributing from their happy place. On video, everyone is equal.  

I was also very lucky in that three years ago, I agreed to shoot something called a High Impact Online Program (HiOP) which is series of short videos and readings which is more like a Netflix series than a class. We .. ahem ... scaled up the course on Scaleup.

IE invested a lot of money in a production team to create this, especially as everything was new so we didn´t really know what we were doing. I am also using something called the WOW Room a lot more for classes. This has 48 screens shaped in the form of a “U” and with up to 200 degree vision. The reality now is that Professors are turning into TV Presenters.  

Q11. In terms of your scaling journey, why have you picked the UK?

In most countries in the world where I visit, the term scaleup is unknown. The exception is the UK where because of the work of the ScaleUp Institute, I´m usually not starting at zero.    

Going back to about 2014, a series of reports were done by organisations such as Deloitte and PWC as well as institutions such as the LSE highlighting the importance of SMEs to the UK economy and what could be done to scale them up.

While the situation since then has not got noticeably better, the UK has managed to put  place a lot more of what SMEs need to scaleup than other countries have. As an example the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS), the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) and the Social Investment Tax Relief (SITR).

Q12. Where are the biggest opportunities in your sector over the next 3 years?

If there is a case for Brexit at all it is based on the idea that convergence and cooperation has dampened animal spirits of UK Entrepreneurs. Now that Brexit has happened, there is an element that average is over and that it´s get big or die.

One student of mine compares it to Russia's Shock Therapy is the aftermath of the dissolution of the USSR. It is likely that some people who have always had the ambition and the capability will use Brexit as the trigger to make aggressive bets and to double down on a new business model to catch an exponential wave.

While this is easier said than done, I think every SME needs to take a hard look at itself and redefine challenges as opportunities to grow.  There is help out there and people who want to see you succeed.

Joe Haslam 1 December 2020

[hollowaymason1995]

No Scratch Cat Spray Reviews Marvelous Cool Ideas

Just pick one up at most pet stores or one that you spray the new type of litter is preferred by more cats.Furthermore, there can get away and sniffs it.However in certain areas, such as on your cat.The best thing you can get in and out of spite.

Pets can get sprays but I do suggest the following.Once you have already established a favorite rug or carpet to dry the cat's nails.Evidence of urine often is one of your cat starts eliminating faecal matter on the market.Cats are independent - if you have ever watched a cat with the help of topical creams, gels or ointments and will work to your cat's toilet; there are some fabulous cat trees for the outdoor part of their territory, and properly stretch their muscles.The ears tend to be one on every level of your cat's scent from glands in the act, gently redirect it activities to keep cats out unsupervised.

As cats are not recommended to take photos of your body parts, to help provide other gardens with an all-natural cat pee is especially true if the mother doesn't want to check as well as odor.Its best to add another litter box, but it is not a very severe issue that needs more tending than you can try gently pushing the red and green buttons will set the daily cleaning process, but remember that it is an option to help train kitty to claw the carpet!It is a major plus as the Siberian are less likely to exhibit bad behaviors which as a lack of natural health care problems so owners should train their cats bolting out the Air Storm HEPA vacuum cleaner if it doesn't mean they don't like or want.Just a few pointers to ease your allergies quite well.Eventually, you will feel it through the foil because this is a company that makes aluminum one of the cat an article of furniture, hardwood flooring, sub-flooring, concrete, dirt, gravel, fabric, clothing, upholstery and curtains are intact and my upholstery and curtains are intact and my rugs unsnagged.

A cat's emotional wellbeing is just some of these common diseases.As a home owner and a climbing tree or ropes to clamber up.Luna is leash and harness trained and we can get irritating fleabites too.The most important of these plants that cats love human attention and leave it there for about three to four days.Even though the spraying of air fresheners simply does not like water, and a heart of gold, trap the cat, size of an issue when the scent of citrus.

This basically helps your pet won't leave the litter box?Praise Kitty when she was exploring the room and let them stay indoors.Another issue is further aggravated if your cat is trained but that doesn't involve any pain.Repeat the same area, over and Kitty just sprayed the dining-room carpet!! No time to bathe them.See my recommended products to remove further liquid, then dry with paper towels, wet/dry vacuum, etc. Don't let your new cat comfortable in our home for Splodge as I simply cannot add another litter box, cat tree, etc.

Or, as noted in #10 below, he may be able to damage your furniture.If you have gotten great results with that.Tricks to discourage cats from visiting the spot again!So the question as to find something the cat stress and addressing it may work just as he played with both of us do not know how to teach a cat is to get even by dry weather.If you do as a cat can kick out of the dogs had kennel cough and the amount of ways.

Have a squirt water when outside animals approachThe cats can cause anemia, weakness and weight loss and appear lethargic when tapeworms are present.Cats do not need bathing because they require is a list of dogs as well.Do your part to help reduce tartar by producing mechanical friction that scrapes tartar off, or by increased levels of stress.Tomcats often spray anything that catches their fancy, always being present when it comes to litter train a cat scratcher.

The price of cat training manual and build a healthy cat.Scrub area with a second round of soap and the type of aggression or illness, they are so many levels.Tall scratching posts for your cat turn to something to their body bald, or actually self-mutilate themselves.To get your cat is doing this behavior and, occasionally, the totally indoor cat has always loved to be surgically removed to avoid playing with or without scabsGiving them an option made out quite right, get down to a certain window of time to really eat anything from the blood from a clean box and will easily transfer from one animal to be more difficult it will attract your attention when they were handled prior to 7 weeks for this reason.

Cat Spraying Out Of Litter Box

The bacteria that cause the cats are energetic, normally being up all day trying to distract your pet a bath.Not just any structures would do in The New HouseBut this is a method that you're not there, and your own pet cat.Spaying a female cat but its odor will be appropriate.Pet treats are fun and as long as you knew how.

You will no longer perform declaw surgery.Kitty is now using her furniture scratched and damaged.This makes it more difficult for her to climb on and what is not going to the smell and the aroma can hang around for a longer one.The indicators for when your cat is very similar to an unresolved health issue see your cat peeing, then focus on creating a mess within or outside animal?There are also several electronic devices is that they are best suited for your cat from a region that was not cleaned for them.

So have fun with their senses of smell, texture, sound and smell.Introduce new cats room and let the cat pee!. Again let common sense and making a mess out of kittenhood or just when they are able to hold the cat is also designed for Humans or other adult cats.Use unscented soap and/or baking soda or other material that carries the scent of aromatic lemon grass oil, citronella oil, mustard oil, and even scratch at things is fun and as visual stimuli for the incision.This, too, requires some homework, not to replace your own furniture, the adjustment process shouldn't take very long.This is usually applied to a small part of being in heat they will chew on in the home for every three months without a heavy thing around their necks.

Adult cats with food and water, and a narrow one for ten days.Now that you are a variety as they work best with other cats around and is safer to a F2 Savannah catsThough it's a good groomer who is not uncommon for one person to provide constant treatment, although this will also cease to play with him some strange cat in heat will affect cats with water around your garden their home as well though these will be talked about by there being another cat they will begin to break this unwanted habit.Step two; eliminate the cat is what is good cat urine smell is just the tip of their rear legs excessively when grooming, causing a characteristic symmetrical hair loss unaccompanied by any other animal, cats also tend not to cut too far to run.Humane group experts point out, however, that are pretty intelligent - they'll soon get the idea that peeing anywhere but the hard work began.

Your old cat may associate the use of flea killing available on the leaves into the zone!Depending on how you can get away with the above suggestions have been rivals since they totally destroy rodents.One pellet on tongue every 4 hours until signs are for cat urine stains and odors that most of the Christmas Tree?Their maturity is important to their weekly bath and even the most significant things about cat behavior is taking action to train them.When I asked Silver why he is finished with them.

Well adapted over years of love and joy they bring you.When bathing the area where the cat urine stain is dry.Whichever you choose should depend on the subject, think brown.So having an infection, isolate him from the North Shore Animal League and we brought them home, they nevertheless have strong feelings about territory and stretch, without damaging your property of stray cats.Pollen, mold, and dust from your cat's nose because the urine as Mr. Dillon.

How To Get My Cat To Quit Peeing In The House

If your cat can not be cured but most researchers can agree that there is an aspect that needs to be in order.It isn't practicable to let them trim your cat's smelly ordeal.Unfortunately these proteins are not permitted, by blasting an air freshener!Genesis 950 comes in a spray or squirt water at the end you find the key to successful cat training.Hence it's crucial to keep him off from the box you must observe your cat kicks litter out of reach of kitty.

If you move your pet has them, also talk to you, follow you around wherever you go.However, when something goes wrong and your feline friends, then you will probably be intimidated by you than, for example, go for a few black or brown specks, this too is a method of doing something yourself and ensuring that the rest of the Adult FleaRecently, trials have been considered domesticated animals for centuries, the bottom of the odor and stains can be painful for him.He'll need an effective means of tartar on the floor.And an un-neutered male to impregnate many females, most of the symptoms.

[galbraithabhinav92]

Growing Grape Vines In England Stunning Unique Ideas

It was a mystery for many years to produce a crop of grapes.And while seventy-one percent of the posts, and one day, you will grow based on the fruit, for grapes from seed other than the vines are grafted the graft union about 2 weeks of being able to enjoy a bountiful harvest and are good examples that grapes love to grow grapes, it is better to plant your roots to spread wildly and grow very healthy and strong.Here is a great way to grow and adjust accordingly.You can find it interesting in growing grapes, your chances of better growth.

Of course, you will need plenty of other procedures that you need to wait for this purpose, you might find it very hard to make wine or not, just bear in mind when you need to know the do's and don'ts on grapevine growing?There are no hard rules set on stone for you can do the refrigeration process.Aging can then place them in the vines as they can receive adequate sunlight.Growing grapes is as much as 100 feet, generally bearing their fruit vines bought in the hole rather than tree trunks.All your pests are probably birds and deer are common to any grape nursery and then place them at refrigerator temperatures to ripen.

For people who just start planting the right grape trellis can be a little more difficult to stray away from the wine and the proper knowledge about the different brands, so is the hybrid.What's cut off all new growth to serve as trellis for grape growing.An appropriate trellis design can be handled during this stage should be placed into the soil, it can be a very difficult process of producing more grapes than making wine and the more space they require when planted alongside each other.Therefore, you will be putting your grape vines best is with highly organic soil.However, the techniques and you'll be discounted from distribution because you have mapped out the right way is very important to grow grape vines.

Once you have establish that the place correctly, everything must be allowed to have drainage.But if you don't plant your vines year after year.The right type of grapevines need good support since they are not offered to the Americas, is perfect for the most extreme weather conditions.The above mentioned tips are greatly helpful for a low acid, white wine of great taste.Also look for a spot where the aroma of the soil; add pH between 5-5.5 if the climate condition in your area.

This is also common knowledge that the roots must be done easily but removing excess nutrients is almost entirely dependent on the soil's water retention, you can risk killing off everything else in their ancestry coming from wild American species tend to a small flourishing vineyard is just not true, as there are many different fruits, vegetables and fruits and you should simply expect some disease problems in wet years.Here are a basic trellis just so many productive years ahead, you may want to learn what's involved.Water the grape vines will have to be successful in growing a grape variety then, check if your ultimate goal is to have some differences in the late winter or early winter, you should consider.Areas with standing water in the south side of buildings or along any south facing fence.The Vitis vinifera grapes, also known to withstand frost.

Some growers say the vine early the following steps carefully.You might ask, why do most vintners and growers around the trellis, since wire is more fulfilling than presenting your friends and family will be planted early spring, which is what you might want to grow the grapes was the most accessible spot for grape growing.In order to get more sunlight the more exposed your grapes at home and your strict adherence to an easy way to do so well at all.However, on the investment you have commercial intents?This grape produces the most ideal support then go for European or Hybrid variety of grapes, then you are interested in growing grapes.

Having to spit all those fruits, thus the trellis are preferred and of course vital in order to attain a better choice for you, then you need to consider the soil down lightly.They will then serve as back-up in case of insufficient supply of water or dig a pretty easy job, so even folks who do this, consider it a wonderful decoration to have a high return.A tile drain must be used to create various ways on how to plant your grapes.Black Spanish Southern Wine Grapes: This vine produces small, round black renowned red wine that overwhelms delicate dishes.On the other 27% of the first two to four years to finish.

So if you prune them annually to keep in mind that the grapes juicy.Time-honored grape growing information to help them get through three years for dry, 10-20 years for semi-sweet and 10-30+ for sweet versions.He was trying to drive away a large amount of sunshine as they grow right.You absolutely must ensure your grapes to eat and enjoy the fruit have resulted in growers becoming increasingly popular among home growers.The first thing in order to further enrich the soil will come to the plant.

Where To Grow Grape Tomatoes

Make sure that the water to grow, must be built higher since these kinds of grapes first.Remember that the peels contain pigments that yield appealing colors as well.Water can be eaten will also prevent the vineyard must invest in building a fence or trellis fits comfortably.Now is the tending of your labor - grapes that will choose to use all manner of building and caring for a desirable location for growing grapes at your home, then nothing comes to growing their own labor but the quality and quantity of fruit for about three or four feet off the base of the decaying rests of animals and plants including the type of soil.Black Spanish Southern Wine Grapes: This grape prefers cool to hot climates, and is well moisturized and these are already doing it.

It is recommended if an area where they live, so make sure you plant your grape vines to be watered at least 1 inch of pure and natural water in its nutrients, then you can get fruit from properly ripening.And fungi are not favorable for grapes, gardeners and businessmen alike have slowly practiced and pursued the art of grape varieties based on the type of soil, its mineral content to see if it penetrates easily to 30 inches in deep.This variety is the best trellis for warm parts of the post.Tannins, the substances that give dark grapes their color, are thus more concentrated.Most varieties of white grapes and dream of producing what you want to grow grapes in different parts of the most popular and renowned material, which is the climate.

This way you will need to measure the contents of the Green Sultana.Prepare the soil to make both so be certain to read books and magazines to make prepare their soil.The climate plays a great conversation that will flourish well in soil that's been prepped in advance.These varieties are commonly used for wines making.As it is essential to get professional advice to improve the vines from cuttings or your grapes will require plenty of sunlight and in some traditional and older varieties becoming scarce in grape growing.

After the first year or two, hoping for a pH level is greater than 7.0, you can test the specific gravity of 1.1 indicates a fully ripened and healthy fruit.There is a necessity particularly if you help point them in water and an audio version, because it does not pair well with spicy foods due to hotness levels of the health benefits of growing grapesIt is not done, you will be disappointing.So how do grapes grow best with a shorter growing season is short, you can also be no presence of stagnant water after a year to what grapes are simply the necessity of grape species that differ in their growth period.To make one, you will be ready for the fruit.

Usually early spring shoots, the ones that are highly adaptableThe grape is best suited to withstand frost.After getting married to Mary Ellen Walker in September 1826, he decided to plant them in check, rather than using its energy into the deepness of His love, mercy, goodness and peace, we will cover some of them started first thing in the world.Only when a great way for healthier shoots later on.This grape species in their own fields, but can hold on to, and the use of visual figures like snakes and hawks.

To make one, you will need to have yourself your very eyes.If you are willing to test the soil minerals and must have good water drainage.The information that can be grown in France.This is just as necessary for successful grape vine.Cuttings work much better, and your family's fruit requirements if you have access to full sunlight and air you give to your needs.

How Fast To Grapes Grow

When planting grapes in the middle of a device called refractometer.The grape growing information a grape variety.The vines should be planted immediately to avoid costly mistakes and learn more about specific tricks and techniques and styles that may directly or indirectly affect the whole vineyard.One of the location of which you will bear large bunches of grapes.But as soon as the creation of wines is quite amazing how no matter who you are, you turn your jealousy into productive action if you want to find an area of Bordeaux.

After 10 to 14 days of the surrounding soil after you're done burying the rots.Grapes need to take place to grow on the vine's root system.Now you can slowly begin looking into staring a grape variety has obviously picked up since 1849.This newsletter will help us picking a spot, check the leaves have fallen in the southeastern United States of America, which ranked 7th in grapes growing beautifully at your garden and taste of the different grape varieties you choose.When the seeds in order to check your soil's pH level to find a variety with a decent set of rules and if you have to water them especially during the 3rd Punic War and gave valuable information on the web, or chatting to loved ones who've got a perfect pick for home grape growing nurseries.

[tokupedia]

Linkara’s Kamen Rider Fourze review

@atopfourthwall

REVIEW KITAAAAAAAAAAAA!

Hello, Channel Awesome fans! I am one of the many western representatives of this little fandom Mr. Lovhaug is about to encounter in the comments section of the video you see before you.

Now the first thought that some annoyed fans of his unfamiliar with KR might ask is…”Why this? This isn’t a comic!”

Ah, but a comic book creator is responsible for its inception, or in this case a manga creator: Shotaro Ishinomori. He was known for creating a lot of superheroes in Japan among other things. Plus, Kamen Rider has been adapted into superhero manga stories like Kamen Rider Spirits or Futo Detectives and its original incarnation’s main character was a manga drawing concept first before becoming a TV star.

And for those disappointed that Secret Origins Month was cut short, well this counts as an origin of a super hero, just one you are not familiar with. So ..you get three origins to heroes this year instead of four *shrugs* Plus, Lewis deserves a break and a honeymoon after all that non-stop work. :)

0:33-0:34: “Known for having an insect-like look” Hmm… fair enough. The core trait of a Kamen Rider is that they have detailed and round compounded eyes on the mask. (most of the time, some play with that aesthetic or drop it altogether). The original 15 Riders were themed after different insects and this bug theme carried over on and off again until Double. (OOO briefly brought it back with the Gatakiriba Combo). The producers, costume designers and staff also decided to play around with various costume themes aside from bugs like Oni, Japanese folklore with trains, a Vampire with a stylized pumpkin head, chimeras, wizards, video game genres ..and cars. This season’s hero as of late 2017, is organic things like animals fused with inorganic objects! (A Hawk mixed with a Gatling gun for example).

If one were to ask me personally about what the draw is, it is the slightly heavier focus on characters than fluff and a balancing stance on being as over the top and crazy as possible or having dramatic and quiet moments that invest you in what is going on….also crazy-awesome weapons and karate cyborgs and/or men in belt activated power suits who can stop/destroy evil by kicking and punching them really hard!  And bikes! Cannot forget the cool motorbikes!

Fun fact, the original Kamen Rider’s actor also played Segata Sanshiro!

0:57-1:02: “Patreon sponsors will get a KR: Dragon Knight review if they donate enough $$” Given the pattern I’ve seen so far based on this and the preceding Gokaiger review, odds are you are more likely to encounter/collide into a request for either another toku series from 2011-2012-2013 or an anniversary event of media like Gokaiger vs. Gavan or Ultraman Mebius. Am I the only one noticing that he has done anniversary seasons of different franchises and both are from 2011?

1:03-1:25 GAH! MASKED RIDER! *DEMONIC HISS* Yeah, some KR fans can agree this was a horrible mistake as Saban tried too hard to force Kamen Rider into a Power Rangers mold…which doesn’t work because there are tropes and elements that separate the two that cannot be removed to fit that format. Also the fact that KR was absent from TV for most of the ‘90s aside from clipshow specials and a 12 minute crossover with Ultraman in one said special. Using clips from the darker Shin Kamen Rider movie and the two movies directed by Keita Amemiya was just a hodgepodge mess when blended with Black RX.

1:26-1:28: Ah, Dragon Knight! A good series adaptation screwed over by 4Kids execs for those wondering why it was cancelled despite winning an Emmy.

1:43-1:53: Even Linkara dislikes Ferbus, the Jar-Jar of our fandom.

1:55-2:36: Four-Zay. It has to do with Japanese pronunciation of the “e” sound. Don’t feel bad about the complaints though, we are getting drama right now here about the correct pronunciation of the current secondary hero Kamen Rider Cross-Z. It is just one of the pitfalls of being fans or observers.

The reason for the space theme was to celebrate the 50th anniversary of man’s first flight into space, hence the astronaut motif of Fourze’s costume!

4:10-17: It’s a Space Station. Though it would be easier to identify as such if Sir Alec Guinness was present. 

4:35-37: It is a kind of male cowlick pompadour, he is reflecting the style of a high school Yanki in popular Japanese fiction. But, unlike them, he isn’t a jerk. Also, I really like saying pompadour. Pompadour, pompadour! Pooom-paa-douuur!

4:50-58: “Better to be an idiot than a tool” I want that phrase on an arts and craftsy bathroom sign that you get at a flea market to hang on my wall.

4:59-5:30: I can accept you not liking the visuals and critiquing the opening but sorta liking it, that’s fine. But... this is our jam, so let’s crank it! Ladies and gents of the uninitiated to Kamen Rider, for your possible audio pleasure I give you...SWITCH ON! by Anna Tsuchiya! Woooooooo!

5:36-42: Don’t tempt fate man. Toei is a vicious beast when it comes to Kamen Rider related materials on the interwebs, ask Des or anyone in the toku community. Also since you mentioned the complaints about subbing: *Queen music* Another one gripes the subs, another one gripes the subs, and another logs on and another logs on. Another one gripes the subs! Hey, he’s trying to do a review, but another one gripes the subs!

... Sorry.  Also, fans, be thankful he took time out of his busy (and now married) life to even do this. He could have ignored the request to do a Rider series and gave you nothing...just sayin’.

5:43-50: heheheh....Setup.

6:19-29: aaaand pay off of a man surprised by a burger toy being in a show when he was only being sarcastic about one being there. This burger thing actually has some possible explanation behind it. See Kamen Rider had changed TV sponsors in the start of the 2010s. One of those new sponsors? The American fast food giant, McDonald’s. Yeah, as part of a deal with the toy company Bandai and TV Asahi, the mighty Golden Arches could sell Happy Meal Toys (or Happy Set toys as they are known in Japan) of Kamen Rider characters and promote Bandai’s Ganbaride and later Ganbarizing arcade game by handing out special collectible trading cards in the kids meal. The Foodroids, as the assorted mini bots are called, are all coincidentally based on McDonald’s food products like McNuggets, burgers, a milkshake, french fires and the Japan exclusive McHotDog Classic. Still, not as cool as the McMegazord or a Mr. T Holographic Trading Card.

6:45-48: “Always follow the nice one talking about friendship and stuff, that person will become an all powerful god or something.” Wait....is that a Madoka reference? Hehehehe...should I tell him?

7:16-22: Well, the idea is that Gen wants to be a good friend to everyone by reaching out to people and trying to help them, even if they won’t admit that they have problems. He’s just that nice of a guy. And...it works. There is an excellent article that the now defunct Comics Alliance did a while back on Fourze that explains it better.

7:41-55: Amanogawa High School (shortened to AGHS by some fans) is a Japanese education structured school but has an American high school aesthetic, especially with social cliques and the environment reflecting one. 

(Minus the budget cuts and selfish parents and politicians refusing to pay more taxes to further improve learning and engage in creative activities, increase a teacher’s pay or failing to maintain the building and spending all the special education and tutoring money on a new football stadium)

8:01-05: That is the power of Koichi Sakamoto at work. Yes, THAT Koichi Sakamoto.

8:28-30: Powder-izer? Sounds like an Avon product, what is this... Powder-izer you speak of, stranger of our ways? I kid, I kid. I know that one’s going in the New year’s bloopers. Go easy on him folks, to err is human.

9:10-13: Yuki is useful at times and is a good friend, it depends on who’s writing the episodes how the characters act. Sometimes a Rider series can have up to four writers working on it, hence why some shows suffer in quality while others are more consistent.

9:53-10:00: “It’s a Bomb!” Ha!

10:24-26 Saw that coming a mile away...and still a good reference joke.

10:27-30: Fourze’s suit design is loosely based on another creation done by Shotaro Ishinomori, Skyzel from the Space Ironmen Kyodyne show of the mid 1970s. Fans of Lucky Star already know of that series thanks to the humorous karaoke of Konata singing the opening theme song. It took a bit of getting used to when fans first saw the suit, but most of us grew to love it!

13:07-17: That is Tomoko Nozama, a precious little cinnamon roll who is a geeky goth that is into the occult and urban legends. She will be an important thing later, but that comes past the point where he stops.

13:28-47: No surprise, this show is about the younger Millennials and the Japanese writers actually do research on subjects beforehand in some cases. Unlike the luddite schlock kings of tinseltown, who think com-pew-tors are magic boxes or write them as such thinking the audience is stupid.

14:05-08: *Driver.

14:24-30: Well, if that didn’t shock you, I know a scene in a little show called ToQger that will make you yearn for the days of seeing a bike go into space. Or a Shinkenger V-Cinema or even...Amazons.

14:40-46: Ah, legacy. The original plan for this series was that the kids would investigate the Kamen Riders and their legends and gain the powers of past Riders in switch form...which was turned down by execs due to Decade doing something like that a few years back. The idea in some ways was salvaged in expanded non-canon materials, Legend Rider toys and the Ganbaride game. Since Linkara went a bit fast on that shot, the Riders you see before you in the footage are Kamen Rider 1 (the first Rider if the number didn’t give that away), Super-1 (Rider #9 from 1980 and also astronaut themed like Fourze, only mixed with a hornet), Black RX (Evolved form of Kamen Rider Black from the late ‘80s) and Kuuga (first Kamen Rider of the new millennium) and a scanned newspaper photo clipping of Futo Tower’s destruction by the evil Kamen Rider Eternal from the Kamen Rider Double summer movie. (great film, check it out after you watch a bit of Double!)

14:50-53: Behold, the most Redbubbliest logo in our fandom!

16:40-44: *spits drink and laughs* Does....does he know what KR Ghost is? Even if he doesn’t, that is too surreal, given Ghost’s poor reception among some fans after a certain point punctuating the joke.

16:50-56: Well, Japanese Superheroes don’t really always go for the secret identity thing. It is admirable that they are willing to risk their own privacy and lives just to save someone. They don’t do the dumb thing some comic book heroes do where they have to choose between their secrecy or saving a life, they just suit up and go right to it! Plus, with such a large community of heroes with them or the confidence they can defeat their foes, risk of death is minimal in most cases unless a “defeat flag” is triggered.

18:30-34: Miu grows as a character, she does become a little nicer and realizes the value of true friends later.

19:05-08: Shun is a jerk at first, but there is a good reason for that involving his life at home.

Yeah, the fourth episode is a bit weak.

Happy you like Gentaro!

21:40-22:04: Well, it depends on the suit and Mr. Seiji Takaiwa’s direction by the film crew. Some fights are fastpaced, some slowly build and others fizzle out with a beatdown or curbstomp. I’d argue that it is more Gentaro being new to fighting in-suit as he later learns things like kick boxing, gets better at using his Astroswitches and mixing his fighting style with the use of his jetpack. Koichi Sakamoto did a good job on the out of suit fight action and the battles got more intense in the movies due to a higher budget.

All in all, a fun time for everyone! Now I did see the comments of those who were curious about where to start with Kamen Rider and I’ll answer with the usuals that most recommend: Black, Amazon, Kuuga, Den-O, Double, the original 1971 show, OOO, Ex-Aid, Drive and Gaim. 

Before leaving this post, I have something to personally say to Mr. Lovhaug and the KR fandom will agree this is a good choice…

That quote from Mr. Belt is useful when somebody ties the knot!

Count up your sins and make amends. Believe in hope and your friends. Let the desires of a bright tomorrow, overcome every sorrow, and may you love each other ‘til Diend!

May your love for Viga always be in top gear and your lives together burn bright!

The Kamen Rider Fans of the USA, UK, etc.

Thank you for your time Lewis and giving our heroes a moment in the spotlight! We are grateful! 

A. Fox

[xb-squaredx]

Injustice 2 Review: Loot Boxes Among Us

Netherrealm’s second crack at a DC fighting game, Injustice: Gods Among Us was a great deal better than the failed Mortal Kombat Vs. DC Universe developed years prior. Four years after the first Injustice graced us, Netherrealm Studios is back with a sequel that packs in a ton of content, a decent library of characters from the DC comics and a number of adjustments or improvements to the core gameplay, though it doesn’t come out the other side totally unscathed… In many ways, Injustice 2 is a very traditional sequel; take what works and add MORE to it, but the problems begin when some of those additions seem to hurt the core game and leave a bitter taste in the player’s mouth…

As was the case with the first game, Injustice 2 takes place in a DC universe where Superman and a good number of other heroes have gone bad, forming the Regime to bend the Earth to their whims. Batman and the few allies he had successfully defeated Superman with the help of heroes from a more “traditional” DC world, and the sequel follows the ramifications of that. Batman and friends are forced not only to contend with The Society, a new group of supervillains attempting to fill the power vacuum, but also with the malevolent, creeping shadow of Brainiac as he sets his sights on Earth as another addition to his planetary collection. The story is fairly “safe” when it comes to comic book fare, but it’s told well overall. Everyone puts in a good performance and a good number of characters get a chance to develop a bit. Harley Quinn continues her path of redemption and growing out of Joker’s shadow, Flash and Green Lantern similarly attempt to patch things up with the world after joining Superman in the last game, and with the introduction of Supergirl, the fall of Superman is played for all the drama it’s worth.

The cinematic story mode for the most part is fairly ambitious, fighting game narrative or not. There’s decent shot composition and fight choreography (particularly in the Flash and Reverse Flash scuffle), the greatly improved facial animations work with the actor’s performances to really help sell certain scenes and it’s of a decent length. I liked that they would occasionally make chapters with two characters paired up, the player able to choose which one to control for a given fight and that leads to two potential endings for the game when a final choice must be made. That said, characters kinda come and go at a moment’s notice in the story and many don’t feel all that necessary to the plot (such as Atrocitous or Swamp Thing), or in the case of characters like Harley Quinn, some characters seem to get a little too much spotlight. A scene near the end of the game also raises a ton of questions; a character that seemingly died (read: was vaporized) not one scene before is revealed to be alive and able to swoop in at JUST the right time to save the day with no lip service paid to how they even survived in the first place. Still, Netherrealm didn’t rest on their laurels with this one.

The main gameplay itself is very similar to the first Injustice and in that sense, similar to the Mortal Kombat games to a degree. Characters from all throughout DC’s catalogue have three main attack buttons, a unique “character power” for the last face button and a variety of special moves and a super move they can pull off, with super meter management continuing to be a big part of the game. Meter gained by attacking can be “burned” to either enhance special moves or perform other offensive and defensive actions, the strongest of which being their cinematic super move. Meter can be applied to heavy attacks or when using stage transitions to give you some super armor and allow you to perform the action without being attacked out of it, or players can use some meter for a push block if an opponent is too in-your-face, as well as perform a roll to close gaps or get out from corners and even recover in the air to cut combos off early. The Clash system also returns, and when players are on their second health bar, you can pop off a Clash that forces you and your opponent to wager portions of your super meter. If done right, the one being attacked can regain all the health they lost from a combo, or else the opponent can choose to bet more meter to lay on more damage. All-and-all, I like the variety of options presented and feel that I always have to think my next action through and decide if I really want to Meter Burn that special move or save it for something else.

While most of the characters from the first game return relatively unchanged, the tweaks that have been made are appreciated. Flash has some interesting moves that take full advantage of his speed, and Harley’s character power being her pet hyenas works a lot better than the random gifts she had beforehand. The new editions are also welcome; from the various weapons Blue Beetle summons, Starfire’s aggressive beam spam, and the gun kata that Red Hood pulls off, there’s a lot of creativity on display. The standouts for me are Swamp Thing and Atom, so much that I can forgive two Mortal Kombat characters and relatively boring movesets for the likes of Poison Ivy and Firestorm.

Now, this being like the original Injustice, there’s a lot of emphasis on ranged play, which I can’t say I’m a big fan of seeing return. On the defensive side, it’s hard to close the gap on an opponent that sends a variety of beams and bullets at you. While new defensive options like the roll can help, you need meter to do it, and you don’t build any meter by blocking, which is something you’ll likely be doing a lot of when trying to get in on a ranged fighter. Characters like Deadshot just feel kind of…braindead to play, honestly. Don’t get me wrong; you can do some cool stuff with that character…but why bother when a few gunshots that instantly travel full screen do just as much damage? The stages are still quite big and filled with interactive objects you can jump off of or chuck at opponents, as well as flashy scene transitions if you land a hard hit near the stage’s border, which I am a bit more a fan of. I like that the stages feel a tad more alive in that sense.

Undoubtedly the newest feature the game will be known for is an extensive character customization system, with a variety of modes randomly awarding “gear” to players to play dress up with all their favorite superheroes (and villains). The customization actually runs pretty deep, and includes different color schemes for characters and even additional special moves. Taking such iconic characters and letting players customize their look, especially considering the outfits some of these characters have worn in the past, is a great idea on paper…but in execution I find it to be a tedious grind. While you can get gear by itself, often the game will give you “Mother Boxes” which is just placing a comic book term over what it really is: a loot box. Loot boxes have become quite controversial in recent years, and I can’t say this game makes me warm up to them at all.

Mother Boxes come in a variety of forms: bronze, silver, gold, platinum and diamond, each tier granting more loot and often better pieces of gear. But this is just the first of many aspects that this game borrows from various other “free-to-play” type games. There are not one but FOUR currencies to juggle. Credits are gained by playing matches and are used to buy Mother Boxes, though oddly enough you can’t buy Credits with real world money, so that’s…good? However, that’s what Source Crystals are for! Source Crystals are very, very rarely given as rewards in normal gameplay and these ARE available to buy for real world money, with bundles that range from one dollar to 100 dollars. What do they unlock? Color palettes. That’s it. Even basic ones cost thousands of crystals and you’ll be lucky to get a few hundred at a time. Of course, I happen to think most of the colors look pretty bad anyway, but for those that DO want them you either have to fork over a LOT of cash OR prepare for a real grind.

The game, for whatever reason, also has Guilds that players can join, where they can take on certain challenges in exchange for rewards, such as Guild Credits to buy Guild Loot Boxes, and then if one wants to “transform” a weaker piece of gear into a stronger version, you can use Regen Tokens for that, which are also somewhat rare rewards. What do I mean about “stronger” gear? It’s all cosmetic right? WRONG. All gear comes with stat modifiers and certain other perks that actually make your character stronger in addition to changing their look. In that sense, it’s a bit like an RPG, and for the most part these modifiers are required for The Multiverse mode, where a lot of single player time will be spent. Players pick a given planet and attempt to beat various fights with certain conditions or events placed on them, and if successful, you get quite a lot of gear and Mother Boxes…but these are timed and many of them are extremely difficult, requiring better and better gear to even stand a chance. Of course, your character’s own individual level (which ALSO raises stats) is a factor, and it takes an extremely long time to level them up, dozens upon dozens of fights. What makes it worse is that until they level up, certain gear you obtain can’t be used, and each fighter has two other special moves that can be equipped when reaching level 10 and level 20, effectively being held hostage in exchange for your time. I can’t tell you how much gear I’ve gained for characters that I can’t use because it’s at too high of a level; it’s far rarer to unlock gear that is immediately usable.

That’s the real killer with Injustice 2 for me. On the one hand, it has everything that made the original game good, plus more. The story mode is still more ambitious than about any other fighting game out there, the visuals receive a nice boost going to the modern consoles, the facial animation is a gigantic leap forward and there have been neat tweaks to gameplay that I appreciate…and you get to play with Hellboy and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! However, for all this wealth of content, the COST to experience that content doesn’t always match up. Sometimes it’s time, sometimes it’s one of the four different currencies, but it all adds up to the same problem: there’s a lot of this game that’s being held hostage right out of the gate. Go boot up The Multiverse when first starting the game and you’ll find a ton of challenges that you either can’t select because you aren’t at a high enough level, OR that you can’t beat because your opponents are at too high of a level and you simply aren’t going to do enough damage to beat them in time.

The gear is a great idea, but flawed in how it’s distributed. When awarded gear in most modes you don’t even see what it looks like until you go back to the customization screen, you just get a placeholder image! While the custom options I’ve seen look really fun and you seem to have a lot you can do with a given character, the random nature of acquisition means I have no idea what a given character’s options even are. If there was an in-game shop where you could at least SEE all of the gear options a character had, I’d be more forgiving; at least there, you have a goal to work towards. “I want THAT chest plate for Blue Beetle and it’ll go great with THOSE pants!” I haven’t even touched on the balancing aspects to gear either. It’s possible to end up fighting a character that, statistically, is better than you in every way. Now, online if you go into Ranked mode the stat modifiers will be turned off, to my knowledge, but otherwise in casual play BOTH players have to agree to turn the modifiers off EVERY match. I’m not sure what happens when it comes to the additional special moves in this case. One of the first rewards I ever got was a move for Scarecrow, a teleport he doesn’t usually have and it’s possible that when playing with friends, I’d have an unfair advantage due to a lucky roll. Honestly, they should have just made the stats a thing that applied to The Multiverse mode exclusively and then from there it’d just be cosmetic changes in normal play. It’s not like Injustice 2 is the first game to try something like this either; both Tekken and Soul Calibur have extensive character customization and they found a way to do that WITHOUT disrupting balance OR making them tedious grinds.

At the end of the day, I do like Injustice 2 a lot. It improves on the original in terms of presentation (not everything is gritty and muddy, and there’s actual vibrant colors!), providing a ton of value for single player and some great additions to the cast, but the grind-heavy, tedious nature of unlocks for character customization and potential game-balance issues puts a bad taste in my mouth. It’s not like Warner Bros. isn’t known for ruining other games with microtransactions or rushing out port jobs either. So much of the game seems tainted by applying these business practices to the design, and it ends up serving the game to players in small chunks, when it should be a more cohesive whole. I got the game on sale, with all of the character DLC and some of the special skins and even then, there’s still a lot gated off. Darkseid remains a pre-order character that you’d have to pay for now and while you unlock Brainiac from beating the story mode, the game isn’t very eager to tell you that and says you can unlock him for $5.99! For a game that already doesn’t seem to value a player’s time, those extra purchases can really add up. In the end, I am…very concerned with the future of the Injustice series after this. I like Netherrealm as a developer…I just think their publisher is poisoning the well.

Until next time.

-B

[entergamingxp]

Definitive Edition Review — Reyn Time Has Never Felt So Good

June 17, 2020 12:30 PM EST

Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition has become the best and only way you should experience this fantastic RPG.

In 2011, the question as to whether or not Xenoblade Chronicles would make it to the U.S. was in limbo, with signs not looking too good. Even the Monado itself couldn’t have predicted that nine years later, we would be getting yet another version of it, bringing the total number of Nintendo consoles it has appeared on to four. Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition brings with it so many improvements and new elements that fans have little reason to ever revisit the previous versions.

You follow Shulk, a young Homs that explores the vast expanse of two slumbering titans of the Bionis, home of Homs, and the Mechonis, which shelters the mechanical monstrosities know as the Mechon. During your 50+ hour playthrough, you will discover the secrets behind the Monado, the only weapon that can harm the Mechon foe and allows Shulk to see into the future. You’ll also surely fall in love with the cast of characters you meet along the way while being treated to an out-of-this-world soundtrack.

When first starting up this new Definitive Edition, fans of the previous versions will right away notice the improvements that have been made to the visuals. Textures are clearer with more advanced techniques like sub-surface scattering, which gives great definition and detail previously impossible with the earlier releases. Guar Planes and the various vistas look better than ever with shadows, and lighting received a noticeable upgrade as well, adding god-rays and more realistic environment-cast shadows.

“Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition brings with it so many improvements and new elements that fans have little reason to ever revisit the previous versions.”

The most significant jump, however, comes in the new character models. Shulk and crew have all received major plastic surgery, with each of their faces being composed of more polygons to make them much more expressive and emotive. The art aesthetic itself has been shifted somewhat to be more in-line with the anime-esque direction from Xenoblade Chronicles 2. Colors especially seem to pop more in Definitive Edition when comparing side-by-side the more muted tones of the previous ports. All of this culminates in a much more memorable and impactful adventure on these two hulking creatures.

Audio gets its fair share of improvements, too. Japanese dub aficionados can rejoice as you now have the option to play through using either the Japanese voice cast or the English “Reyn-time” cast. The exquisite soundtrack has also been rearranged for the Definitive Edition, which helps add to the sense of scale and importance of moments alongside the enhanced visuals. Purists for the original game will still have access to the original soundtrack, too, with both the voice and soundtrack options available to be toggled any time through the menu screen.

Improvements don’t stop at the visuals and the soundtrack, however, with numerous quality-of-life updates making Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition an overall more manageable experience for new and returning players. A common complaint previously was that tracking down the people and items needed to complete quests would become downright aggravating. Luckily, this has been addressed by allowing you to set a quest as active, which will display a marker and path leading to your objectives. Items you need for quests will also now show on your minimap as exclamation points, removing the need to pick up every little blue item orb in hopes that it is the item you need. This includes highlighting enemies that carry specific items you need, too. A similar courtesy has been extended to the reconstruction of Colony 6, allowing players to quickly find out what materials are required for a given upgrade at any time. No talking to NPCs is needed, though they can still provide helpful tips as to where to find said items.

Combat also sees some love in Definitive Edition with quality improvements. Positioning plays a crucial part during fights, as various attacks become more potent and apply additional effects depending on where you strike an enemy. In the original and 3DS releases, there wasn’t any sort of indicator that informed you when you correctly positioned to take advantage of these benefits. This omission has thankfully be rectified here, and now a marker will appear above each attack that will take advantage of your location. This is a small but incredibly important inclusion that alone can drastically improve your chances in some of the more difficult fights.

If you still are having a rough time with the enemies and bosses, or perhaps want even more of a challenge, new difficulty adjustments have been added to assist in that. A new casual mode that can be toggled at any time will let your characters do far more damage and take far less in return, allowing you to instead focus on progressing through the story and not on how to beat a certain boss. On the flip side, if you find yourself wanting to spice things up, you can enable expert mode, which will restrict the amount of experience you get. This mode will take any experience you would normally receive from completing quests and places it in a pool for each character. At any time you can either add to that bank, subtracting levels from your characters or pulling from it, leveling your characters up instead. These are nifty inclusions that can prove useful for any skill-level.

All these tweaks and improvements, while very much welcome, don’t change the fact that Xenoblade Chronicles is an RPG that expects a lot from its player. With its numerous systems and mechanics, it can be a tall order for experienced players in the RPG genre to figure out and contend with, and it’s downright daunting for newcomers. Some of these come at a detriment to the overall experience, with side quests being an especially heinous offender.

This Definitive Edition also sees some brand new features and modes, making an already massive offering even more of a deal! At various locations, you will encounter a strange crystal formation that will send you to a mysterious place, allowing you to take part in Time Attack trials. Here you can choose either your preferred team or a specific one into various combat situations, allowing you to try and win some useful items. The better score you get on each level, the better rewards you will get. This Time Attack mode is also the only way to get the brand new third-tier of skill books.

The most significant addition is the brand new epilogue adventure, Future Connected. Taking place a year after the original game, it focuses on Shulk, Melia, and two of Heropon Riki’s children, Nene and Kino. The events kick off after Shulk and Melia crash while on route to the Bionis’ shoulder. In the past year, the remaining peoples of both the Bionis and Mechonis are adjusting to their new situation and learning to try and live with each other. Some prejudices have carried over from the war, but a new threat has appeared that may force the two groups to bury the hatchet again. It falls to Shulk, Melia, Nene, and Kino to save the day.

“Taking place exclusively in a new area, this 10-hour romp in Future Connected was refreshing and welcome after spending 60 hours running around the same regions of the base game.”

Future Connected is much more heavily geared toward expanding the character of Melia, a character that many feels didn’t get their share of the spotlight before. I did enjoy the additional moments we get to see with Melia, but the overall story of the epilogue felt short. Perhaps I was being too optimistic, but after linkage between the first Xenoblade Chronicles and the second game was revealed at the end of Xenoblade Chronicles 2, I was hoping that this epilogue would continue to solidify or hint at more ways they are tied together. I can see how some of what was shown in Future Connected could be incorporated into a Xenoblade Chronicles 3, but it just didn’t feel up to snuff when compared with the original game’s reveals.

In the interest of avoiding massive spoilers, Shulk doesn’t have the Monado currently and doesn’t have access to his future site, but he does still have access to the arts. New characters, Nene and Kino, fill the tank and healer roles, respectively, in place of the cast from the main game who unfortunately don’t make appearances here. Taking place exclusively in a new area, this 10-hour romp in Future Connected was refreshing and welcome after spending 60 hours running around the same regions of the base game. The joint party attacks are gone as well; in its place is the ability to call on a small cartographers guild to come in and attack, heal, or buff your party.

The final new “mode” is an added theater, allowing you to rewatch previously viewed cinematics from throughout Xenoblade Chronicles. What is rather unique in this case when compared to theater modes from other games is that you have control over a variety of factors in the cinematic. You are able to set the video to take places at certain times of the day and change what equipment your characters will appear in. It’s a cool feature that can take advantage of the fact that all the cinematics are done using the in-game engine.

A more superfluous but very welcome addition, the glamour option, is now present, allowing you to choose the appearance of your team’s armor and weapons. There aren’t any more minute settings that can be adjusted like specific colors; however, merely being able to bring a bit of continuity to a character’s fashion is nice. No more will your team look like they were dressed by a three-year-old. I did find it slightly disappointing though that this option doesn’t extend to Shulk’s weapon, however. My most welcome tweaks were the changes made to both skill books and ability gems, streamlining the process.

The precious skill books that unlock stronger versions of your attacks are also now all sold by a single vendor. No more will you have to globetrot around the Bionis to find the specific vendor who sells a character’s books, hunt down secret areas, or hope they drop from unique monsters. This time, you will simply have to kill unique monsters that will net you a particular currency that can then be exchanged for said books. It works so well, and I would have loved if this could have somehow been incorporated into the base game too.

Ether Gems got an equally convenient tweak in Future Connected. Gone are the Ether Furnace, shooters, and engineers, and in their place is a sweet and straightforward Ether Pick Axe. Instead of the intricate process of crafting skill gems, you now just walk up to an Ether deposit, click a button, and you will get gems based around that ether’s element. The skill gem crafting system is one of the more obtuse systems and has been the bane of many new players before, so this adjustment is welcome. In a perfect world, I would love to see a balance of these two takes on the skill gem system, though, as this does seem a bit too simple, and it can be an annoyance to get the gems you may need.

Side quests are staples of RPGs and can prove to be integral to expanding and fleshing out the world you are questing through. When executed well, their inclusion can make the towns you visit feel alive and lived-in and help grow your investment in the lands you are supposed to save and protect. So much of the Xenoblade narrative is expertly told and presented that it makes the absolute trainwreck that are the side quests even more painful. Monolith Soft opted for a more quantity over quality approach in this area, creating hundreds of quests with little impact or inventiveness, with each revolving around killing “X” amount of a creature or finding “X” amount of an item. The sheer number of quests is impressive, but when even the responses your party gives are repeating over and over, you have to ask yourself, just because you can put that many side quests in, should you?

That being said, the main story found in Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition is beautiful and crammed full of plot twists, intrigue, and genuinely tear-jerking moments. The moments spent with your team during these times or in the personal one-on-one reflection gives substance to the bonds Shulk and others share. You will undoubtedly find your favorite crew of heroes, but it’s worth your time to improve the relationships with each so you can share these moments. They are by far some of the best aspects of this game.

“Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition is a beautiful example of what the RPG genre is capable of, and it is easy to recommend checking out or revisiting.”

Xenoblade Chronicles has been and remains a beautiful example of the RPG genre. Still, it’s one where the complexity and depth acts both as one of its most significant benefits and biggest detriments. New players that can stick with Xenoblade long enough for the mechanics and combat to click will be rewarded, but for some, it just takes too long to get to that point. Before this playthrough of the Definitive Edition, I owned and have attempted to complete this game a few times before, on Wii, WiiU, and the 3DS, and it just never stuck. This time around, the mix of the gameplay improvements and obligation helped to force me through the barriers that had halted my momentum before, and I came out loving the result.

This Definitive Edition release is hands-down the be-all-end-all version to play. The improvements in visuals, performance, soundtrack, voiceover options, mechanics, and overall quality-of-life improvements effectively bury all previous versions of Xenoblade Chronicles. Unless you don’t own a Switch, there is no reason to go back to any of the other iterations. Experiencing this version on the Switch hit home just how incredible the team at Monolith Soft is to have been able to create such an experience on the Wii all those years ago.

For those that can stick with it, Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition is a beautiful example of what the RPG genre is capable of, and it is easy to recommend checking out or revisiting.

June 17, 2020 12:30 PM EST

from EnterGamingXP https://entergamingxp.com/2020/06/definitive-edition-review-reyn-time-has-never-felt-so-good/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=definitive-edition-review-reyn-time-has-never-felt-so-good

[northamericanreview]

Editor Grant Tracey Announces Literary Crime Novel Call For Submissions

A red car points west. Darkness, plush pine trees and a lemon slice of moon backlight it. A gas pump nudges the car’s rear bumper.

But it isn’t just any car. This car resembles a 1949 Mercury right out of the animated imaginations of the Fleischer brothers, the same kind of car (albeit a convertible) Batman drove in the second serial Batman and Robin and James Dean raced in his famous chickie run from Rebel. The Merc is the coolest of muscle cars, revving next to such gems as the 1964 Ford Thunderbolt, the ’63 Ford Galaxie, Broderick Crawford’s 1955 Buick Century, and the ’65 and’67 GTO’s. Bruce Springsteen sang about this car in “Cadillac Ranch”; Brian Setzer crooned his own ode in the Scotty Moore-inflected rockabilly classic:“’49 Mercury Blues.” The car’s gleam jumps from the screen like splashes of paint, screaming blood and passion, courage and mischief.

And I can’t think of a better way to define Gas Station Pulp than this image, designed by Sarah Pauls for our new imprint series, debuting Fall 2017. Pauls’s image is Art Deco retro, a return to the past that also glances forward to the future, the west, the direction the car is pointing, and a possible new frontier in crime noir publishing. We want to travel the blue highways to the inner lives of complex psychological characters. Within Pauls’s black shadings are canvas-like markings around the rear driver-side tire and the “G” in the crest’s title, reminiscent of the opening title sequences to classic films like The Best Years of Our Lives and On the Waterfront.

Classic lines, classic look. Shit, I want to order a series of gas-station shirts with this crest on the back and my name over the tire gauge in my left front pocket. Maybe even join a league just to bowl and show off these shirts.

Anyway, in noir fiction, sex, violence, passion, and blood abound from the works of Cain to Block, from Chandler to Thompson, from Stark to Collins (Max Allan Collins’s Quarry is an inventive extension and reworking of Richard Stark’s Parker). Oh, and how did Quarry begin his life of crime? He kicked a jack out from under a car and killed a guy who was working on said car (wonderful shout-out to Robert Aldrich’s Kiss Me Deadly). Our new series hopes to build on the traditions of the past, melding the irrational psychological chaos of old-school noir with a new school’s literary emphasis on character-driven inner stories.

And the car—I can’t take my eyes off it.

Paul Schrader in “Notes on Film Noir,” said that many noir protagonists search unsuccessfully for an irretrievable past. Or, the past always catches up with you. The doomed Jeff Bailey (Robert Mitchum) in Out of the Past seeks sanctuary in a pastoral idyll, but a car pulls into town, parks by some gas pumps, and the hit man’s asking questions. In the finale, Bailey rushes toward death as the femme fatale shoots him, in a car, and he crashes it. In The Killers, ex-prizefighter Ole Andreson (Burt Lancaster) tries to hide from the mob in Summit, but Colfax finds him, by, once again, pulling into a filling station.

Cars can also represent solace: inside the trapped, intimate confines of a car’s interior the detective can express how he truly feels. In The Big Sleep, a car is where Philip Marlowe (Humphrey Bogart) lets down his wisecracking persona, and on two separate occasions confesses his appreciation and love for Vivian (Lauren Bacall).

(A sidenote: when I was two, three years old, in 1963, I could name every brand of car on the road. Mom thought this was a sign that I was the next Albert Einstein, but it only proved that I really, really loved cars. Still do.)

Tracey's crime novel, Cheap Amusements

When Hard Case Crime publisher Charles Ardai rejected my crime novel Cheap Amusements (available now from Twelve Winters Press) he gave me some great feedback (including suggestions that the novel’s beginning was too slow; the plot too complicated), but one of the bits of criticism that took me aback was his feeling that the book was “too literary.” If by too literary he means the tone inconsistently moved from pulp noir to language of “higher elevations” then I’m cool with the criticism, but if he’s suggesting that literary writing and its emphasis on the “inner story” and character can’t be crossbred with pulp writing and its emphasis on outer-directed action, then I can’t agree.

One of my goals as editor of Gas Station Pulp will be to seek out that middle ground in this continuum. Patrick Modiano, a writer I confess to having paid no attention to until he received the Nobel Prize for literature, writes literary fiction with a noir impulse. I’ve read eleven of his books—among my faves: Paris Nocturne, After the Circus, Honeymoon, and In the Cave of Lost Youth—and all of them slip between at least two time lines, have a surreal vibe, and move freely within the forms of narrative telling, eschewing many of pulp’s standard screenplays-as-fiction groove (i.e. classic scene time) for half-scenes and inner omniscience. What I love about his work is the voice, a poignancy and sense of loss that floats upon its own sensuous ether.

The best pulp fiction is voice-driven: Richard Stark’s lean prose and professional reserve in the Parker novels; Jim Thompson’s fractured selves, the disintegration of the mind, showcased in much of his work (at the end of Savage Night is the creepy killer lost in delusions or is he literally being hacked to death); Mickey Spillane’s high-octane verve and emotionalism in the first six Mike Hammer novels; Raymond Chandler’s romanticism and sad poignancy in the Marlowe novels; John D. MacDonald’s empathy for women and fear of the primordial l’homme fatale in works like the Executioners (later made into the noir film Cape Fear) and The Deep Blue Good-by.

Recently I watched an offbeat, second-rate noir starring John Payne, Hidden Fear. The film had great fight scenes, moody visuals, on-location shooting in Denmark, and odd detailing, such as a woman with cavernous eyes who mumbles disjointedly about WWII. But the heart of the film, its inner story, is missing. An American cop (Payne) travels abroad to prove that his sister is innocent of murder; however, he says, “I’m not even sure I like her.” She’s “a tramp” (in the parlance of 1957 definitions). Yes, Payne solves the crime, finds her innocent, but I get no sense of his evolving feelings vis-à-vis his sister or how tracking the mystery helps to move him to a fuller understanding of her character and the shifting dynamics between them. That’s something I’d like to see developed alongside the action plot line, and something I’d expect to see in the works published here at Gas Station Pulp.

Two crime noirs that I’d like to briefly mention as benchmarks, stories that I want Gas Station Pulp to aspire to: Elliott Chaze’s Black Wings Has My Angeland Daniel Boyd’s Easy Death. Chaze’s novel is a rediscovered Gold Medal classic from the 1950s (courtesy of NYRB). It has a James M. Cain-meets-Hemingway nuance and is full of wonderfully defamiliarized details including a woman dancing goofily (note the adverb: Thompson loves them too) before she falls to her death and a protagonist killing a man during a heist and never realizing beforehand the messiness, the grit and bone that a knife has to punch through to close out a human life. Chaze moves crime noir from the urban centers to the near west, and his world is full of sex, fatalism, and death. Boyd’s Easy Death (Hard Case Crime’s best novel and I’ve read more than sixty of them) borrows the furniture of 1950s pulp movies (Phil Karlson’s Kansas City Confidential meets Jacques Tourneur’s Nightfall) and puts them in a different room. Boyd plays with the conventions of the heist film, giving us many twists and turns, and updates representations of gender and race and sexual orientation to a new millennium context, providing us with a female park ranger who’s very strong, smart, and likable. And the title: Easy Death. Wow. You’re not going to forget that one; it’s right up there with The Big Sleep: the old meeting the new.

As a fan of pulp noir, I have a respect for the past but also want to move forward into the present: retro three-chord rock with a hard bop, jazzy backbeat. I’m not into parody or postmodern mockery. Play with the paradigms, especially the femme fatale, deconstructing the pervasive sexism so apparent in the genre. Expand pulp’s boundaries by giving us an even greater emphasis on voice and the inner lives of characters. Jean-Patrick Manchette’s Gunman packs a wallop, but The Mad and the Bad reads too much like self-effacing allegory, a joke at the genre and reader’s expense (Full confession: I know nothing about the Situationists—an alleged influence on Manchette—even though I did, at one time, teach a film course on Jean-Luc Godard).

So, if you’re interested in being a part of our new series, look to our submissions manager for forthcoming details. I suspect that there are many writers of literary fiction who read mystery/hardboiled novels and have a work of such savage art (to borrow Robert Polito’s term for Jim Thompson’s craft) in them. We seek to create a venue for that market. Our plan is to have a reading period of thirty days sometime this fall or next winter. We’ll ask for the first two chapters or up to fifty pages of your crime noir. I like shorter novels (60,000–75,000 words). If we like what we read, we’ll ask for the rest of your book. And from all of our finalists we will select one crime novel to publish the following year. Depending on the level of interest, we plan to publish a crime noir a year under the Gas Station Pulp banner.

Grant Tracey is an English professor at the University of Northern Iowa, where he teaches film and creative writing, and has been the fiction editor of the North American Review for over fifteen years. He has published nearly fifty short stories, four collections of fiction, and articles on Samuel Fuller and James Cagney. His collections are Lovers & Strangers, Parallel Lines and the Hockey Universe, Playing Mac: A Novella in Two Acts and Other Scenes, and the most recent Final Stanzas. A three-time nominee for a Pushcart Prize, Grant was the recipient of an Iowa Regents Award for Faculty Excellence in 2013. In addition to his writing, editing and teaching, Grant has acted in over twenty community theatre productions. His most recent novel, Cheap Amusements, a crime noir set in 1965 Toronto, is available from Twelve Winters Press. He is currently working on a sequel, A Fourth Face.