#this is good ol' fanservice >:3

[randomrabbidramblings]

"So, how do you like the new sauna? Isn't it how you imagined it?"

*angry dripping sounds*

Never put a Pristine Peakian in hot places or you'll have to scoop them up like a molten ice cream. Alabaster is Oreo flavored by the way.

Follow up of the cold sauna post.

[bumblingbabooshka]

Watching 11:59 and I can’t believe they just put a literal Hallmark romcom in the middle of Star Trek Voyager down to Shannon hating Christmas/New Years this show is wild

[mr-damian-s-power]

It’s not just the bad lesson in TOH, The Collecor and Stringbean are good examples of how inconsistent the writing became in the final episodes

In the Collector’s case it’s how their characterization kept shifting from Season 2 to the last episodes of Season 3

And how Stringbean became a “snakeshifter” showing how inconsistent the palismen concept became in the world building.

I am of the opinion that as soon as the writers found out the show was being shortened, they should have instantly cut the Collector. With how late in the game he's introduced, there was no time to develop him, and especially not enough time to give him a meaningful or satisfying 'redemption arc'.

Okay, tell a lie, there MIGHT have been enough time to develop him at least a bit if S3 used its time wisely. Did we really need all that crap at Hexside? Could we not have used this time to further develop Belos and the Collector?

That's not even bringing up what you mentioned! Him going from an aloof trickster God who views everyone as nothing but toys in his game, to a 'poor sad little boy who only wants a friend'. People like to call Lilith's redemption bad (which wasn't perfect, don't get it twisted), but look at how quickly ol' Collie changes!

How about this; Instead of Belos gaining power from the Collector, him and the Archivists just don't exist. Belos has been around for hundreds of years, we won't question it that he's managed to learn and keep some very ancient and very powerful types of magic.

-

Now onto Stringbean! I don't like Stringbean! I don't like what she represents! First of all, she's just fanservice! I'm sure people debated on what Luz's Palisman would be, and the writers couldn't decide so she's a shapeshifter. So, Luz gets a 'weird' Palisman that can be whatever it wants to. Weird? That's the coolest thing ever! Yep, Luz gets a really cool and special Palisman because she's just that great.🙄

Also, I found it incredibly shitty that Hunter loses Flapjack, his best friend and disability aid, then Luz very shortly afterwards gains her super cool and unique Palisman that is better than all the others. Just me?

How about this instead:

Stringbean is a little Snake Palisman (because Luz likes Snakes) who has been abandoned! She was thrown out by her previous owner when she was damaged and was deemed 'useless'. Her old owner couldn't use her to perform magic as powerfully anymore, and tossed her away like nothing. Luz comes across this poor hurt creature and feels pity for her. She finds it unfair to be thrown away when you've 'outlived your usefulness' like some rubbish.

Palismans are meant to be companions, not disposable tools! This is also under the impression Stringbean is introduced a bit earlier on. The whole time, she's upset at being abandoned and tries to help Luz despite her now limited magic capacity. Luz has to reassure her.

"you don't have to be useful to gain my love. I don't care if you're the most powerful Palisman that ever existed, or as powerless as me. You're more than just my Palisman, Stringbean. You're my friend, and nothing will ever change that. Everyone deserves love, and nobody should be made to prove that they're deserving of it."

-

Thoughts?

[shizukateal]

In honor of Across The Spiderverse going digital, here's the Beyond the Spiderverse Prediction Bingo!!!!

Explanations below the readmore:

Spider Ham's Chekov Hammer: simple enough to guess, I'm just really waiting for that to pay off, preferably over Miguel's head.

Spider Noir and Hobie get along: just some good ole' fanservice.

Miles G. is actually a dork (he's just better at hiding it. mildly): Wow, great introduction Miles G.! Very suspenseful and intimidating!! Let's see how long you can carry that demeanor without breaking.

Margo / Miles (Miles G.?) / Gwen Love Triangle (Pavitr is annoying about it): Pass the popcorn everyone. How resentful will be Miles when he meets Gwen again? Is getting the spider-band together enough for him or is it just the first step into making amends? Maybe he feels more grateful towards Margo (and Hobie) and will give Gwen (and Peter B.) the cold shoulder for a while. Will Miles G. also enter the ring? Maybe this one really cute comic by @bubblypinkfreak will become true.

Jess Drew Subplot (baby is born?): REAL interested in finding out why Jess would ever follow an asshole like Miguel. Also she deserves more plot relevance. And fanart. Aaaaaand I kinda want to see her husband too.

The Spot Collapses in on himself: Gonna be honest with you, people, I have no idea how they'll fight him, this just seems like the cleanest solution.

Miguel's actually just as much of an anomaly as Miles: My own personal theory, not really based on anything concrete beyond some flags I get from Miguel and some stuff I'll explain later. Basically, I think Miguel's projecting on Miles, and that's part of why his beef towards him is so intense. The only explanation I can think of is that he destroyed his original dimension, not just the one with his daughter in it, and the serum we see him take is what keeps him "stable" and "belonging" to Nueva York. Or you know, maybe just the watch, but the serum is more sus to me.

Gwen Stacy Fall Subversion: Either Gwen completes her character arc by saving Miles from falling to his death or she saves herself, thus breaking her karmic cycle of getting fridged.

Meows Morales cameo?? Pretty Please???: C'mooooon he became instantly popular and he's adorable!!!!! <3 <3 <3 bonus points if multiple miles help out to fight against Miguel's squad later.

We spend some time on Hobie's dimension: No idea how the plot would get there, but the concept art of Hobie's dimension is fire and I want to learn more about him <3 <3 <3 tell us why you almost gave up the mask, darling, and did you kill a cop in your dimension? <3 why would you feel bad about it? <3 <3 <3 <3

Gwiles Morales (he hates that name): Apparently this is how some of the staff called him. Poor guy.

The Spider-Band fights Earth 42's Sinister Six: For those who don't know, they control Earth 42, as confirmed by the art book. Nothing better to sweeten Miles G. to our heroes' side than taking care of them. Bonus points if one of them is explicitly a fascist and Hobie and Noir punch him together.

Miguel Bites Someone: bonus points if it's hot as fuck. Sorry but it's true.

Lyla's the real bad guy (beyonder): I'm gonna let moviebob do the heavylifting here. Could tie to that personal theory I explained above.

Peter B. vs Miguel fight redemption: ok this one I'm biased for because I personally find Peter B. more morally culpable than Gwen in their whole drama with Miles seeing as he's the adult with a kid. But also yeah, good chance for him to redeem himself in Miles eyes (or not! maybe Miles wants more from him that just standing up to a bully) and take Miguel down a peg. Bonus points if he looses a leg, because apparently that's something that happens in Spidergirl's comic.

Prowler!Hobie somehow: Not saying our Hobie will turn into the prowler, just that the connection will be addressed somehow. Idk man, it just feels like positioning Hobie as another mentor for Miles is very deliberate.

Miles feels guilty about Earth 42: Juicy source of drama between him and Miles G. as well as a free character arc about how responsibility is more than just cause and effect.

Miguel tries to redeem himself by dying but Miles won't allow him to: Miguel O'hara has several problems, and I speculate they all come from his self-obsession. Everything about the spider society is about him erecting structures dedicated to his pain to turn himself into the martyr holding reality together. So if he's finally proven wrong, it seems pretty in character to me that his idea of making amends would be to do the same thing one last time for "the right cause", being the diva he is and how he thinks you can sacrifice one person to save everyone else and all. I don't think Miles will allow that, though. Bonus if the scene parallels the one in into the spiderverse when Miles returns Peter B. home.

That one @cheezthatboiii comic / Mileswitch: because what's the point of having a twin if you can't fool people about it?

Gonzalo/Gonza Morales: The correct alternative to Gwiles if anyone during production has braincells or is latine.

Margo Subplot (family issues): confirmed in the artbook that she ended up having more plot relevance than originally planned, and even if that wasn't the case she deserves it. And more fanart.

The Spot is defeated with kindness: Ok. Before I said that I don't know how the Spot could be defeated with violence, but maybe that's not needed? He is clearly a foil to Miles after all, and I think it would do him (Miles) a lot of good to practice some radical empathy, even on someone who kinda doesn't "deserve" it. This isn't so much about him being ""redeemable"" (fandom has ruined that whole concept) so much as how much empathy the narrative is willing to grant him.

Jeff meets Gonza before Miles reveals to him that he's Spiderman. He's confused by having 2 sons: this just feels to me like the most probably sequence of events given the franchise's usual use of bathos and subversion of expectations.

Spider Support Network Finale: No more spider society authority "correcting" the multiverse, every spider-person gets a watch so their friends can come over and lend a hand and prevent as many deaths as possible.

Aaron 42 gets severely injured/dies: I don't want this to happen, it just seems like a way of trimming some fat in the cast and getting some more drama from Gonza.

[the-64th-gamer]

I FINISHED MLP YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!

(Started December 3, 2022 - Ended January 1, 2024 - 413 Days)

Am absolutely mindblown to see such an amazing series go through 9 seasons and literally continuously keep getting better and better!!!!!!!

Its been very cool binging it so quickly compared to most old fandom members watching it through syndication. Similar to when I rewatched SU there's such a difference seeing ideas and characters evolve at normal pace than to sit there for years brewing in fandom content that makes you expect them to go a different path. Lots of what I've heard be controversial things like Slice of Life and Starlight in general were some of my favorite parts of the show!!

Fav episode is The Perfect Pear, I was spoiled William Shatner was gonna play someone in the series and was SO FUCKIGN EXCITED when I realized it was him and in such an amazing episode!!!!! The ending was so fucking sweet omg.

Second fav was Slice of Life cause I get it was fanservice but on its own it was a great change of pace in the season to focus on background and side characters!!! After that it feels like they focused on background characters way more and it was very rewarding.

Seeing ***every single shot of Derpy*** was the funnest part of the show, I have personal screenshots of every single time I spotted her and stopping in the middle of songs or big fights just to scream and snapshot them was such a fun scavenger hunt. It made me go NUTS to see them do actual stuff on screen (ESPECIALLY THE SCENE IN BEST GIFT EVER WHEN SHE FINALLY GOT TO SPEAK IN FOREVER). It was also hilarious to see all the error derpies with fucked up colors and hair!!!!! It stopped in the later seasons except a time where she had a purple eye in a single shot, and one where she had big mac's face???? I was having a blast.

Similarly I was also just watching every single background character all the time every time, got to figure out which ponies would be used for which locations, when they'd appear in other places, which special ones could show up anywhere, which ones would do funny stuff, seeing new super cute background characters come in like Sweet Biscuit and Rainbow Stars!!! As someone hyperfocused on stupid stuff this was so fun watching the background nonstop.

Favorite season was season 6 or 7. Starlight was a great link for the episodes and it was the most normal seasons while the writing had gotten really good. Season 8 and 9 are still super good and I love that they were so willing to be bold and change things up a ton to keep interest, but 6 and 7 are closer to the usual baseline episode stuff so they're the best to go back to if I wanna rewatch.

I think the early seasons were still looking for a longterm identity for the show but I think starting season 5 it became this really great constant escalation of things. I really expected the show to just linger around the same ol' topics but it it kept changing the characters lives, the plot, and circumstances a ton while developing old characters and introducing new ones! Out of everything I've watched so far it was like the most masterful way to run a longterm series I've seen. Never felt burnt out or that anything was dragging, but also never felt like it ever lost its core identity!

Season 9 also was just a masterclass on ending a series, every single episode focused on bringing back some side character to give them an interesting spin, or conclude some arcs left behind. There were maybe one or two normal episodes but even those didnt feel like filler! I think the show was at its best throwing new ideas out and then taking a break with a standard friendship problem episode in a normal location. After watching it I don't think there was any missing thread or interesting thing they didn't try out! (Though also the series is formatted well enough they definitely could have continued making tons of standard episodes)

I can't remember if it was season 2 or 3 but I think when they first started introducing like regular songs to non adventure/important episodes it was really off, didn't really mesh well having the show be so musical, but they definitely incorporated it better as they went along and its kinda crazy it worked out well.

BTW I've steered clear from almost all opinions on the show outside of what Ray tells me so I dont know what of my opinions are universal to the fandom, but holy shit the season 8-9 intro sucks so much ass, all of the timing is COMPLETELY lost, theres that stupid school zoom out shot thats just maud hitting a rock in the middle of the road as it slowwwwwly pans, the backgrounds are way too visually noisy in the classrooms and the castle and its just an absolutely horrible nightmare that was thrown together in a day.

But yeah great show favorite show best show!!!!! I now get to see a decade of fan content and reviews and discussions n such!!! I watched some that were time appropriate for the current season I was watching to avoid spoilers but nows time for the floodgates!!!!! I'm glad I'll be able to hold onto my opinions now though and seperate them from anything I'm gonna further see discussed by all the old fans. I'm sure there will be tons of complaints I never considered but as I see it now that was a perfect run of television that I love very dearly!!!! Its certainly changed my life going forward lol.

[banemmanan]

U.N.C.L.E. statistics graphs

Part 2 of 3

[part 1] * [part 3]

All Man from U.N.C.L.E. data was compiled by @commander-kiranerys :

Series 1 * Series 2 * Series 3 * Series 4

Girl from U.N.C.L.E. data was compiled by myself and my sister:

* GFU *

Original graphs created by commander-kiranerys:

* :1: * :2: * :3: * :4: *

(more info and analysis under the cut)

Disclaimer:

As you can see from the data attributes, the mfu and gfu stats have been compiled by two different people. As such, results should be taken with a grain of salt as our views on what exactly constitutes 'torture' or a 'failed escape' may vary.

A word on graphs:

I felt that having compiling the separate info in one place in the form of bar charts was ideal for visual comparisons of the data, rather than jumping between posts. However, I cannot recommend enough commander-kiranerys's original graphs enough due to them being in the form of line graphs, thus giving a good view of change over time for the individual results of her statistics. This was not possible here due to gfu being part of a separate show.

Analysis:

Tied up: so if you're into bondage then MFU Season 3 is for you. Specifically Illya... (I see you Season 3 writers, I see you). As you can see from these graphs and the next two, the GFU villains weren't really very kinky. A shame tbh (who said that?).

Chained or handcuffed: I had combined these two separate categories into just the one in my data set and so I added together commander-kiranerys' results to create some compatible data. The MFU stats here remain very consistent before that good ol' Season 4 drop, they didn't get that same significant increase that being tied up saw.

Tortured: sad to see that Napoleon and Illya have never been tortured together. As the old saying goes, partners who get tortured together, stay together. Very tragic.

Drugged: a lot of the cynics out there will say that it's no surprise at all that GFU was on the most drugs of the series. But to that I say, just look at that MFU Season 3 stat! The least by a long shot!

Knocked out: the most impressive thing here is that if you removed all of April's stats, GFU would still be leading on getting knocked out. I'm more than a little worried about Mark; has anyone checked him for post-concussion syndrome?

Shot: my findings? Bullet wound Mark is an outlier and should not be counted. He is one gunshot away in his single series from equalling Illya in the entire run of MFU. The consistency of those MFU results is very satisfying to me, and then Mark has to ruin it! Someone get this man a touriquet or smth idc. Also April is bullet proof, aparently.

Wet: although I was too British and prude to tally-up instances of partial nudity (idk why I found that too embarrassing ok), I am not imune to fanservice and was more than happy to count instances of getting wet. Now, if you like your agents soaking wet, then aparently GFU is the show for you (yes this is a propaganda post). Though on average it ties with MFU Season 4; in terms of raw numbers it cannot be beat. Interestingly though, Season 1 Napoleon is tied with Mark for soggiest individual character.

I will freely admit that the analysis here is strongly skewed towards comparing the GFU results with the MFU results. Mainly due to commander-kiranerys having already created a set of graphs and gone over the MFU data there. I didn't want these posts to replace those in any way and instead to add to them. Please check out those posts (linked above) for a more MFU-oriented approach!

I hope you found this data useful or at least interesting! I would love to have discussions about these!

[5-7-9]

as much as i despise Virgo’s♍️ antics, she’s the most consistent celestial spirit Lucy has in the series 🥺 when she isn’t being treated as a joke, she can be enduring in a poker face only through actions and words type of way. She wasn’t there for Lucy’s childhood, but i think a maid🤵 would make Lucy feel comforted since she used to have maids. Maybe it’s because she’s a maid and it’s fanservice to show her, but still. She’s possibly the closest celestial spirit Lucy has if not for Loke (i guess he’s in second place). Also she needs to control Earth in more ways than holes because I KNOW SHE CAN DO IT BUT SHE NEVER DOES!!!

MY GURL IS THIS THE ONLY TIME YOU EVER USE EARTH SPICA LOCK SHELL?!!??!?!!??!?! (Sidenote: is she a maschoist because she’s a virgin????). Virgo lending Lucy celestial clothes when they were ripped was nice. (below panels)

Aquarius♒️🌊 is a no brainer, she’s just the last thing from her mother and got last minute flashbacks so she doesn’t count… I do think if it was developed better she’d work fine. I’d still be annoyed with her but I’d at least understand. She’s annoying but she was there for her when she was younger… yeah whatever.

Taurus🐄🐂♉️ surprisingly had a moment when he was controlled which was sorta nice if it wasn’t built on his perversion, but besides that there’s not much there. He’s prideful and straight forward, which could’ve been fun if rewritten… like an Elfman+Natsu combo. Also give him cool axes, can be multiple, i like variety 🪓

Sagittarius🐴🐎♐️ had a few too many losses and doesn’t much besides lose☠️ and shoot arrows🏹. He’s overly… dense? Righteous? Idk. Google says they should be adventurous, so like a hunter? Miss opportunity there. I have no clue what the writer is trying to do anyways. He’s a horse, horses like to run, and bows are for hunters who like the wilderness. He should be hyper aware of his surroundings and overjoyed for future possible quests and battles. It’s really simple. Also he should have special arrows like Green Arrow does including flame arrows 🔥

Crab🦀 cuts hair💈🪮💆🏿‍♂️ and was basically given to Lucy in her later years of childhood (idk exactly when tho). Honestly, I’m not sure what Lucy’s maid Satto would use the Crab♋️ celestial spirit for? Why keep holding it until when Lucy was slightly older but still young?? Might as well give it to Lucy immediately. …Or is it because it was a dude 😐 idk, the story is sexist enough to assume a double standard 🤷🏻 Would be a really cute thing tho if Mr Krab did Lucy’s hair💇🏼‍♀️ for her as a kid. Also his scissors as weapons could be cool if only ✂️✂️

I was gonna mention Scorpio and Gemini until I checked the wiki for my rewatch and there’s a tiny serious moment Lucy has not just with Aries, but with all 3 of the zodiacs. I’m splitting it down but while Aries obviously went through blatant abuse (and we know I want her to gain back confidence and independence), Scorpio mentions how they were all demeaned to and thought of as tools/objects. I’m not even sure what that could possible imply how exactly Angel treated them all, but that’s sounds HORRIBLE!!??!?? I wouldn’t be surprised if they all had an inferiority complex somehow. I can’t even remember Angel’s redemption arc, but this was never again addressed.

Gemini♊️ mocks Lucy and at first appearance everybody else too until they suddenly decided to switch teams because Lucy was against celestial spirits fighting against each other or being used as tools. If that was enough to make Gemini cry, then I gotta ask whether that was the first time a human celestial mage treated them as normal 😓 that robot thingy too. Gemini never stopped mocking Lucy after this btw, fanservice and whatnot, but it would be interesting to see Gemini act like a trickster prankster to everybody again. I like how Gemini could hear and see and remember a person’s memories and thoughts and feelings, big ole hyper empathy. But the fandom wiki makes a good point about how Gemini’s first appearance with Angel was because they copied Angel. I think that’s plenty scary because that essentially makes for one contracted celestial controller/sorta-abuser and one toxic co-worker. That has GOTTA BE TOUGH on Aries and Scorpio 😢 They need to learn to control themselves, imagine if they could change into Zeref 💀 or the celestial king.

Scorpio🦂♏️ is just known for being Aquarius’s boyfriend. He’s not as weird as the other spirits, he just kinda looks inhuman (because he isn’t, lobster) and has an added speech quirk by saying “we.” Idk why he says we, but Sagittarius says moshi-moshi/hello-hello and gemini says piri-piri which i also don’t know why, and Taurus says moo which actually makes sense, so he’s not the weirdest. Uhm, i doubt scorpions make noises? What does the scorpion (fox reference) say?? Crab took “snip-snip” already sooooooo… (searches google) ah- they can hiss and stridulate (making shrill sounds by rubbing body parts together). Huh. 😶 The wiki says he’s loyal and google too, and the fandom wiki makes a great point about how differently Scorpio treats Lucy compared to his girlfriend Aquarius. Going back to the whole “being owned and treated like a tool by Angel alongside his other zodiac buddies” it is kinda interesting for him to date Aquarius who, not to compare Aquarius to celestial spirit abusers, is kinda a destructive force to everyone including her contractor Lucy (which is why her attacks sweeps everyone away no matter whom). No clue how their relationship works out either, Awuarius seems like a totally different person when she’s with Scorpio, while Scorpio doesn’t change at all. Scorpio is considered a loyal characteristic in astrology (i think. I’m trying not to go too deep), so it’s kinda surprising Scorpio would actually cheat on Aquarius. He did kinda feel ashamed or awkward in the GMG arc, but later after that he still calls her his girlfriend she they never broke up. If Loke can advice Aries on strategy, well then I think Scorpio should speak up for Lucy against Aquarius. Considering he was being treated badly by other celestial mages until Lucy (albeit the writing failed to show Scorpio in a normal/casual setting where Lucy isn’t using him as an attack tool 😐 but let’s pretend the writing is good), it stands to reason that Scorpio could reason with Aquarius to “take it easy” on Lucy. Also he should have venom idc if snake boi has it too.

Wow. I wrote a lot about Scorpio lore despite him being one of the least developed celestial spirits. I sure do have priorities (wtf is wrong with me).

Capricorn is tricky since he can easily tell Lucy about her mother Layla since he’s worked with her, but the manga doesn’t really care… so… missed opportunity. Him dancing with Lucy shows he’s actually gonna know how to make Lucy feel at home because he was from her home unlike Virgo. They should honestly just talk.

[lesser-mook]

Deadpool & Pander-ine (and Logan) “less is more” *spoilers obviously*

I watched it twice in the same day and it is fun, same ol’ Ryan hammyness but it ain’t all that.

The movie is just No way home part 2, because we all know what that movie did right?

And how many people are talking about it now?

Same shit, different studio. Now its Fox. (Though No Way Home is still decent, recommended. Best MCU Spider-man movie because: Consequences. Not because cameos, but Peter had to grow up & finally become Spider-man)

Otherwise, Fanservice: The Movie

Just better Fanservice than Japan’s bullshit.

The plot of this Deadpool 3 is garbage only because it boiled down to (destroying timelines) which literally means nothing now and the villain was weak because her motivations make no sense.

They’re sent to the void, to go to the base then to escape, to roadtrip, to go right back to the same fucking base, then to some town, and that’s it.

Logan somehow gets through to baldy to let them go buuuut now she wants to make the void the only frontier left, multiversal genocide. Ooookay then, cause that’s now a thing.

We don’t even get to see what happened to her in the past. We’re told.

The best thing about it is Wolverine. And Deadpool is a lot more serious at times in this movie.

The film is actually pretty critical of Deadpool through Wolverine and it works but the film itself was just a hack pander piece.

Using Logans corpse like that in the beginning was beyond disrespectful and mind-numbing. And no, being self-aware of the problem doesn’t vindicate the problem.

Dancing and shit, while weaponizing bones, just what the actual fuck is the MCU anymore.

That “call out your own writing flaws, thus that makes continuing the flaws A-Ok”shit didn’t work for Horikoshi and it ain’t working for you, DP3.

Now when you watch the Logan film again, just know- THATS what happens to his remains years later.

MCU comes and literally beats a dead horse.

My biggest complaint, criticism:

X-23 was underused.

This character is the Cassandra Cain of Marvel Comics (possible inspiration of Cain 90s to 2003)

She should’ve had more of a bigger role helping Wolverine heal emotionally like Logan was present for her in their journey in the previous movie- a poetic role reversal, but she’s helping to heal his Callous exterior.

The dynamic between her Wade, & Logan would’ve been great.

Not some rushed campfire scene where he spills his guts to a kid he doesn’t even know.

It’s a good good scene, one of the better ones cause DP isn’t in it- but it reads like it was payoff to build up and development we never got to see between these two.

When she walked in the room, and they saw each other: You could feel it, Hugh & Dafne have a very subtle acting chemistry, and its better when you remember: Oh shit, this is a different Wolverine but Hugh worked with this same kid way back when, didn’t he? Yep. Same people, believe it or not.

So you naturally want everyone else in the room to fuck off and just hear these two talk.

Now if Laura was there a little earlier, in more of the film and they had more time together not only would everyone want to see that, but it’d make his change of heart on his part make more goddamn sense.

Because now he has an actual dynamic with this young lady, who in some respects is his kid.

Maybe even set up her getting her own suit, admiring his.

Just wasted potential, all the effort went into “REMEMBER THEM!?”

Nostalgia-Bombs over storytelling. Sloppy

Got Lady Deadpool in the mix, yaaay (said someone), but why are the DP’s dropping so easy and not healing while moving or fighting like they’re mercenaries with healing factors too, they’re not zombies.

I get thematic timing, but if Lady DP was one of the first to drop, why wasn’t she getting up first or faster? Lmfao.

Why doesn’t any of them have the teleport belt? Why doesn’t Wade have the belt yet!?

My favorite scene though is Wade & Logan going apeshit in the van, and thus Logans strength is soooooo much better represented in this movie than any of the others. And there have been plenty of good highlights in the Logan movie (X-24 is prime Logan so the feats are by proxy his own):

The way he manhandles Wade, tackles the van so hard the airbag deploys, he even slings the man through a solid wall- THAT’S Wolverine. Brute fucking strength.

That kind of strength behind unbreakable claws + the healing is why he’s a problem. Imagine that striking strength, it’s like a Car made of razor blades sideswiping you at 60 mph with every throw, and that’s lowballing.

Think about it, he’s got like 200–500 pounds + of metal on him, you know how strong he’s gotta be to carry that 24/7, even while swimming?

There’s a reason why he can give Hulk a little bit of a fight, Big Guy Hulk anyway “Dumb Hulk”. Green Scar? Not a contest. But Logan can hang with the best of them for a reason.

It got the little things right more than the bigger shit. They really lost me with that timeline destruction plot, please please please stop with the universe shit only If it boils down to “mwahaha me evil”

Did WE really forget why Thanos worked in the first place? less is more more.

Logan was a small scale film, very humble, with personal small scale stakes. 

That’s why it works, thats why its tense, that’s why it’s emotional: because there’s no multiverse, no timeline, no reality bullshit. Just personal stakes.

DP&W is more fun than Logan, but Logan is going to age better than Deadpool & Wolverine. As it’s aged very well even now.

It aged better than Endgame.

We’re really overlooking the importance of a stake being “personal” to a character.

Why do you think Phase 3 even worked in the first place? Because Phase 1–2 had personal stakes, small scale storytelling first (small enough, Thor was punching kind of high with it’s 3rd act but hey, it’s Thor).

Now, people seem to enjoy this, good. 

Nice to hear laughs than dead silence from collective regret that money was paid to see trash. Same with No Way Home.

I think we’ve had enough of preachy movies making people miserable: but at the same time we gotta trace back the formula to better storytelling, less predictable member-berry heavy gimmick plots- cause this just might become a branched genre of hammy exploitative movies, if all it takes is jangling keys.

Small scale stories are now underrated.

DUNE PART TWO crushes this easily in terms of writing, pacing, story, but this is one of the better films of 2024 tho. It’s a gimmick driven, fun ride, prioritizing the audience liking what they see and not making the audience like what the narrative wants them to see.

Wasted potential on many fronts, Laura should’ve been in so much more of this, hell she could’ve been the compass to guide them through the wastes to accomplish things with purpose instead of them aimlessly wandering from place to place. A more mature, realized Laura, give us some sit-rep on what happened to the other kids, remember those other kids? I still remember the eldest boy, Rictor; He was cool. I hink he was Avalanche’s kid.

All in all, the film is a one-trick pony, but it’s a fun ride.

[captspaceface]

Back from seeing The Marvels! Initial braindump ahead.

Let me first start by saying that it was…fun?

But man, I feel like it suffered from the same problem as all recent Marvel releases...pacing. I feel like this was too rushed and potentially edited down to a point where it kind of hindered the film. There wasn't enough time spent with quite a few pivotal moments (especially the heavier moments because GOD FORBID MARVEL YOU LET SOMETHING BE HEAVY WITHOUT BREEZING PAST IT IMMEDIATELY). This could have been fleshed out more in certain areas. It was too surface-level to me which is disappointing but this is a universal Marvel issue though so nothing new here.

Brie + Teyonah + Iman had great chemistry. Loved every bit of it. I mean the training montage was cute.

Fight choreography was fun to watch (effects were a little rough during all the switching though).

IT'S NICE TO SEE FURY BE SILLY AGAIN. He's only like this with Carol and I love it so much but I still wanted more of those two. Their little banter/argument on the ship was hilarious I just wanted more of them because I love their dynamic so much.

Goose is a goddamn menace.

Dar-Benn, while another forgettable villain...I get her motive but still murder. Again, I wish she was fleshed out more because she really did have a legit reason to be pissed at Captain Marvel

Valkyrie/Carol was total fanservice AND I DON'T GIVE A DAMN. YOU GOT ME. FANFIC WRITERS TAG ME I WANT IT ALL. THERE WAS NOTHING STRAIGHT ABOUT THAT MOMENT. I NEED DETAILS NOW LADIES.

Guys...I'm just going to say it. I hated the Aladin (Aladna? what was it called? THE WATER PLANET) scene. It was just too cringe for me. Not a fan.

I KNEW Carol was on Earth with Maria while Monica was blipped. It didn't make sense for her not to be. But again, thanks to that good ol' Marvel pacing, WE JUST BREEZED PAST THIS PIVOTAL REVEAL AND I AM STILL ANNOYED ABOUT IT. Also? Endgame haircut reason confirmed.

Oh and Goose being with Maria the whole time...ugh my heart.

Kamala recruiting the Young Avengers is adorable and I LOVE THAT KATE IS FIRST MY GIRL I'VE MISSED HER.

I wish I could get excited about X-men but I don't trust Marvel right now.

Carol wrestling with the consequences of her actions (and the damage she’s caused, being known as “annihilator” across the universe and the guilt that comes with that)…again, I wish they would have spent more time with this because that's a central character attribute of hers that should be explored deeper. There’s so much meat there and I’m just left here starving. Like, the moment when she yells at Kamala about how they have to save as many Skrulls as they can which isn’t all…that’s a big-time Captain call that once again, has consequences and fallout. THIS IS THE CONTENT I WANT. Maybe if she had her own proper sequel which we probably won't ever get now. Do I sound bitter?

I'm seeing it again on Saturday (is it bad I don’t really feel compelled to though now) so now that I know what happens maybe I can settle and enjoy it more? I don’t know. Like I said in the beginning, it was fun, light, charming…but overall? This came across too superficial to me. I mean I’m not asking for a 3 hour movie just more depth. I just love Carol Danvers so much, I’ll always want more okay??

Before I wrap this up though, SPECIAL SHOUTOUT TO WARDROBE. THANKS FOR ALL OF THE CROPS TOPS AND THOSE DAMN RED GYM SHORTS. YOU DID A GIRL GOOD.

[lamnwar]

Kind of sad today, well sad isn't the best way to describe it, either way kinda need that good ol' fanservice cause I kind of want to sleep but I can't so maybe sad but sleepy reader x Midorima, Kise and Takao fluffy goodness. I don't want to give more than three. Thank you if you accept.

Aw baby hope you've got some rest and feel better 💕 I'm gonna feed you some fluff, in hope that it helps, big love <3

SWEET DREAMS, MY LOVE // KNB Headcanons

Context: how your s/o treats you when you're down and tired.

Pairing: Midorima + Kise + Takao x gn! Reader

Warning: 110% comfort and fluff because we all need it sometimes 💕

MIDORIMA

Ok ok but let's start this by saying that he is a very observant boy

He may not speak a lot, but be assured that he notices the slight changes in your behaviour and expression that can indicate how you feel

So the second you come before him looking exhausted with life, he's noticed it already

He won't be upfront about it though

Don't expect him to say anything to cheer you up

He'll still help, but it's in the little things he does

He'll get you a cup of your favourite bevarage and maybe your favourite snack if you're hungry

If you wanna vent, he'll gladly listen

He's such a good listener omg

But if you're too tired to talk , he'll ask you to join him in bed while he reads you something

You'll just cuddle in him while his soothing voice calms you down

He's not really a physical person, but when you feel down he'll actually initiate contact with you

You're not even noticing but he's stroking your hair while he reads

And he'll wait till you're sound asleep

When he's sure that you are resting, he'll cover you up with his fluffiest blanket and he'll leave a sweet kiss on your forehead

He'll check on you in the morning by sending you your horoscope

Probably lying by saying that it's your lucky day just to cheer you up (but really, he'd only ever lie for you)

KISE

This boy didn't grow up to be the kind to care about others' feelings, but you?

As soon as he sees your tired face and that sad aura surrounding you, he turns on his protective mode

He'll get so worried

He has a hard time understanding that you actually don't wanna talk about it

But after a little while he'll calm down and will cater to your needs

He'll ask you what you want, and will get exactly that for you

Want food? He's already buying your favourite snacks

Want to take a bath? He's got the water running already and candles lit up in the bathroom

Want to cuddle? His arms are wide open for you

Want to cry? He's got boxes of tissues ready

Eventually, you tell him that you just want to sleep this away, and he's again supplying

He'll cover your bed with the comfiest blankets, has your favourite plushies around, and he's got some essential oils ready to rub them on your temples

He'll stay by your side as long as you need him and as long as it takes for you to fall asleep

And the second you wake up, he's here with a warm cup of your favourite beverage, asking if you're ok

He might be too much, but in moments like that you do really appreciate his presence

TAKAO

Omg this boy is usually so cheerful that you never expect him to catch on your moods

But like Midorima, he is very observant

Behind his teasing smiles and jokes, he actually takes note of every little thing about you

So when you show up in front of him, completely drained physically and emotionally

He knows he has to be serious for a moment there

It's kinda confusing, because his serious self is very different from what you are used to

Sure, if he feels like it's appropriate, he'll drop one or two jokes to see you smile

But since you are tired, he rather be more calm around you

He'll be all smile and sweetness

He's the kind to massage your shoulders to help you let out some tension

And he'll take this tone of voice that is so smooth just because he knows that it's like a lullaby to you

Talking of which, if you want him to sing you a lullaby, he 100% will

He'll lend you his hoodie for you to sleep in

And he'll join you in bed so he can hold you till you're asleep

Takao understands that you are really really tired, so he won't speak much

But he'll murmur some sweet words to you just to make you fall asleep

If you want him to stay the night with you, he'll gladly will

And if the next morning you are still tired, he'll make all the calls so you can stay home and rest a bit

And because he is such a service man, you won't have to move a single bit

He'll do everything for you: getting you food, doing chores, literally anything so that you don't have to lift a single finger

Honestly, he's the sweetest guy and you're lucky to have him around

[kingdomblade]

Digimon Kizuna thoughts

All spoilers will be under the cut!

Fresh off of Tri when Kizuna was announced, I wrote up some hopes I had for this movie. Without looking back at that list, I'm pretty sure this movie managed to not hit any of the things I wanted off of that list - but I'm still walking away completely satisfied. The characters, the story, the setting all feel like completely natural progression from how I remember them, it manages to tell a compelling story in a fairly short movie, the animation and designs are drop dead gorgeous. It's clearly a labor or love and I'm thankful for everyone who worked on it. In some ways it leaves me wanting more - I'd love one more entry with the 02 group as a focus, and I think there would be a lot of value in an entry that focuses more on Digimon intigrated with the human world rather than yet another story about kids discovering Digimon. But if this is the last time we see these twelve in this form, what a way to go. 

This is absolutely stream of consciousness writing while I’m on my second watch through of the day (In lieu of livetweeting - I’ll spare my followers that much lol). Is it rambling? Absolutely. It may or may not be of interest, but I thought it would be something fun to do regardless. If you decide to read, I hope you enjoy!

----

Tom Fahn’s Agumon is noticeably a bit lower pitched even compared to Tri, weather he can’t take his voice up as much or if it’s a different portrayal I’m not sure but it still fits him really well - Tentomon’s voice feel slightly different too. Funny enough Gabumon is somehow lighter and more childish than his original portrayal, but it also fits him well.

Both Tri and Kizuna have such a weird process to their casting - They got back actors that as far as I can tell haven’t done much if anything since their days on Digimon, they’ve gotten back actors for side characters with bit parts. They’ve hired new actors that seem to take the original voice into account and take their own spin on them, and then they hire actors with absolutely no regard for how the original sounded to the point that it just plain conflicts with the established character. It’s all over the place and it’s weird.

Johnny Yong Bosch's portrayal seems slightly different from Tri, maybe he's playing him slightly older, maybe it's the slightly different personality, maybe I'm imagining it. Something about it reminds me of Doug Erholtz's portrayal, which is an added bonus when JYB was already one of the best of the recasts. Minutes in and I'm completely sold on Nicholas Roye's Matt as well, it sounds like a natural progression from his Adventure voice.

In a vacuum Griffin Burns is a decent Davis, but he's one of the recasts that immersion breaking because not only does he sound nothing like Brian Donovan, but his take on Davis is higher pitch than Donovan's so it's impossible to hear him as older. The fact that Donovan was supposed to reprise his role is just salt on the wound. With the insane amount of delays that this dub got, they surely could have brought him back onboard... It's a  shame that 2 our of 3 roles I've heard of Burns have been a replacement of another actor, hope he can get more roles where he can shine more. On the other hand, Bryce Papenbrook as Cody is brilliant casting coming from his 02 voice for what little we get to hear of him.

Yolei didn't sound to great in her video message, but by the time we see her in person her VA has gotten into the role and captures her really well. Hawkmon sounds fine enough, but I'm way more upset than I should be about Armadillomon's voice considering he doesn't have many lines. A recast was mandatory here, and 'medium-deep southern accent' should honestly be pretty easy to replicate but what we got was horrific. What casting director knew enough about the characters to know that Hawkmon had a British accent but not enough to know what an armadillo sounds like??

Mimi is just straight up Sakura now! I actually thought Kate Higgens would have made a great Yolei, kinda funny to see her here as Mimi now.

Not only did Agumon's "Polly want a cracker?" line slay me, but there's something about Tom Fahn's portrayal that really hits me, even though he's not even my favorite Digimon. It hasn't even been a long time since I've heard it - Tri wasn't that long ago, and I just rewatched Adventure/02 within the past few weeks, but hearing him made me a bit emotional, ha. Same thing happened with his first appearance in Tri, and that was after having seen it in Japanese and knowing what was going to happen!

The opening battle is like a complete screw-you to Tai's arc in Tri with Greymon smashing into buildings and Tai completely unfazed. I'm here for it, lol.

The remastered Digivolution sequences are nice but in true nostalgia fashion I kinda prefer the originals, haha.

Izzy's computer is counting down a 'time rimit'.

Agumon says something to the effect of “Aren’t I always hungry?“ and I don't feel like it’s a reference/jab at Tri, but it got a chuckle out of me anyway.

Tai's classmate is blatantly voiced by JYB too, ha.

Matt gives his location as 'inside the restaurant' when calling an ambulance which seems... not helpful. Love that Tai's reaction to a girl collapsing is a confused "Is she drunk?"

An article on Tai's phone is written in perfect English and he gets message from the name Izzy specifically so I'd assume this is a change for the US release. Subtitles would have been perfectly fine but it's a nice effort to keep immersion.

"The ol' Izz-master" I’m so, so glad they got Jeff Nimoy to write this script, bless Toei.

Only 4 of the Digidestined participating in the battle against the Digidestined is kinda disappointing until I realized that it was a throwback to Our War Game - TK and Izzy get to participate more this time around! As per usual Tentomon (Kabuterimon) manages to sneak in a hilarious line here.

'Lime Magazine' just doesn't have the same ring to it...

TAI'S MAGAZINES...

Tai calling Agumon 'little buddy' is the second scene to hit me right in the feels.

Matt is the only one to reach out to the 02 kids during the movie, I wonder if he felt guilty about what went down in Tri and kept in touch with them a bit more since.

Seeing Kari and TK tied up in a dark room like that is actually one of the more shocking scenes in the movie. That could have ended very differently if this was a different movie...

Meiko shows up for literally one scene with Meicoomon which has... interesting implications. This movie retroactively makes her more tragic as well, as even if she didn't sacrifice Meicoomon there's a chance their partnership would have dissolved anyway - almost a complete lose-lose, there was no way for them to be happy together.

Himekawa is also retroactively more tragic as it's possible she would have been able to see Tapirmon again here - one shows up in the crowd shot!

Honestly this is the movie Himekawa deserved - she was a really interesting character that got wasted and underused in Tri, and while Menoa parallels her in a lot of ways her stoicism just isn't as interesting and Hime's decent into madness was.

L'il Joe has black hair now?

I'm pretty sure Menoa doesn't say "Oh shit" but honestly I'm gonna pretend she does.

I mentioned on Twitter how Leomon doesn't die in this one because he never showed up, but there's one fighting an Eosmon in what I think is Osaka and he doesn't die, and GOOD ON HIM, HE BROKE THE CYCLE!

Omnimon having limbs sliced off got an audible gasp from me.

Matt ACTUALLY got to curse in this movie, character development!!

"Just one thing: Meow" I had to pause the movie, I lost it

Story wise, theme wise, character wise I get it, but mad Sora got screwed over in this movie. Would have been nice if 'To Sora' was included inside of the movie at least.

I still don't like Agu and Gabu's new evolutions, but they did feel really earned and a natural extension of the plot. What better way to spark an evolution than such a huge sacrifice? Izzy's perfectly timed 'prodigious' was the icing on the cake, coming at such a fitting emotional moment and possibly being the last time we'll hear it from Izzy.

When the Eosmon start disappearing all over the world there's a shot of an exhausted lone Numemon who had clearly held off the Eosmon with all the poop that is strewn about. THAT is the next story I want to see.

Unfortunately this movie is in the Tri School of Only Using Champion Level. It's actually pretty inexcusable that we we don't see WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon one more time, but even the other characters should have gone up to Ultimate if not Mega for one final sendoff. I wish we could have seen them truely fight as a team once more, even just for fanservice.

My strongest complaint with the movie itself is that it just kinda... ends. The ending is super emotional, but it just skips ahead afterwards and says 'things are going to be ok!' and ends. I would have liked to see the rest of the kids once more, seeing how they handle the fallout or how they might support Tai and Matt - or maybe a little about what Tai and Matt have taken away from this whole things. Just felt like we needed an extra couple of minutes.

Will we see these particular versions of these characters again? From what I can tell this movie did well in Japan and it’s trending pretty well on Amazon, so who knows. I hope if we do, it’s because the writers come up with an idea they really believe in and not just for the sake of a sequel. But if not, I’m definately greatful for what we have.

[stillinaincrad]

The NineSpot: Anime I Really Liked with Sequels I Really Didn’t

Am not calling any of these the worst sequels of all time or likewise calling any of the originals the best ever by any stretch of anyone’s imagination, but these are sequels to anime series I fell in love with and didn’t really care at all for what came next. (am not considering OVAs or movies based on entire shows, btw, because they both almost always suck compared to entire seasons anime)

1. Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? (Dungeon ni Deai wo Motomeru no wa Machigatteiru Darou ka)

The original DanMachi series was proof-positive that predictable and cliché can still yield a really great tale when the directing and production is top notch. Everything that should have made it lackluster couldn’t outweigh the feels and I always end up smiling earlobe to earlobe. The characters are beyond well crafted, and it is still crystalline-clear that this project was someone’s pride and joy. I adore the original series. The Sword Oratorio spinoff was -meh- to me, it leaned too much on the original for hooks as it tried to fill in Ais’ backstory and ended up being more about Lefiya anyways (plus they blatantly stole the marquee anthem from Last of the Mohicans, which turns me off a thousand times every time it plays now). Oratorio provided some levity, but did nothing at all to advance the story. Then we got DanMachi 2, which started out with mediocre writing but a killer arc and the backbone surfaced for some amazing story depth to amass, but all we got in the end was the horribly lame Ishtar arc where a depressed fox girl doesn’t want to be a prostitute and Bell feels bad about it. I’ve felt exactly nothing for these characters since the original.

2. Overlord

Take a peruse through my blog and you will see that I have never campaigned for a second season of anything more than I did Overlord. I LOVE the first season, it is an absolute favorite of mine, and being that it is yet another Madhouse anime I honestly never expected more but always clamored for it because Overlord was absolutely deserving. When we finally got S2, it threw me for a loop because the original cast barely appears in the first four episodes, but then I found my feet and eventually got myself into the new episodes. Ironically, that is about all that this second season had to offer to me. The lizardmen arc is fantastic, definitely watch it, but when that ends? Here’s about all you need to know: Sebas has a softer side, Climb is a little bitch. There you go, onto season 3 (which is fantastic, btw). 

3. Full Metal Panic

FMP is one of my favorite old-school anime ever, because it balances great humor, great characters, and - despite a shload of filler in the second half - a great all-around story. It is SUCH a gem. Second Raid was a tad bumpy due to a new studio, but still fantastic, and Fumoffu was the comedic break that an already goofball of an anime conjured up and it totally fit as long as no one took it too seriously. Then, some 15yrs later out of nowhere we get Invisible Victory, which Xebec used to completely rewrite everything, and not in a good way. From go, Kyouka - an important supporting character from the outset - is killed and totally glossed over like it wasn’t significant asf, and I got pissed. Then all the already-established characters took on totally new personalities of grave seriousness, which was never the brand. When you take previously established characters who have always been hopeful, energetic, and buoyant to a fault, always looking forward and up - and suddenly make all of them overtly dramatic, hardened, and inordinately austere across the board, it totally cheapens the original and to an extent that superflous doesen't even begin to describe. Massive franchise fail, Xebec - dishonor on you, dishonor on your cow. Easily the sequel I have hated the most. As in, ever. 

4. Sword Art Online

Look, I am the last person you need to tell how much bad this series has divulged into. I was so all-in on the concept, the characters, the drama, and the love of the original series. Do you think it’s ironic that I’ve been doing this almost 5yrs now and haven’t changed my URL? I’ve always said that if the first Matrix movie were left alone and that was it - Neo giving that threat and then flying off into the credits and we have to make up the reality that may or may not have transpired after that -  that it would be in the top 10 movies ever made. That’s how I see the first arc of SAO. It was THAT good, I have somehow watched it more than anything ever made. I originally considered the whole second half of the first season to be filler and am always turned off at the molestation that it celebrates, but said it was ‘for the story’. Then the Sterben shiz happened and I said ‘yes, it’s the EXACT SAME STORY  but it’s going somewhere’, and then it did, to somewhere absolutely worse. I made it about halfway through Alicization and I up and quit altogether. SAO is such a shit franchise - the only thing that has gotten worse than the animation is the writing, the characters that used to be great are so incredibly shallow and annoying now, and I have made more fun of something I used to love than anyone. I am the first to admit I am a huge heel for most of what I have said in support of it in the past. But omg those first 14 episodes. I can’t label the initial tale of SAO as anything but amazing. And if those 14 episodes were the only episodes we ever got, I would easily call it one of the best anime ever made.

5. Date a Live

I almost have to laugh that I am about to mention Date a Live after that. DAL was never going to be confused with a good anime, but it was fun. It was silly and rampant and insane, but you still fell in love with the characters because they were totally and completely worth falling in love with. Then DAL2 happened, and I hate this season a little too much. It was released too soon, it was done too poorly, it was just every kind of measurable cringe. The only thing worse than the writing was the lackadaisical and pedestrian voice acting, and that’s saying a lot considering how intern-worthy the animation of the second season was. DAL3 redeems itself plenty, the characters become likeable again, and there is an actual story and it isn’t awful and harkens back to seeds planted that were never developed, and at least part of the budget was dedicated to better artwork. But wow - DAL2 is just pure hot garbage.

6. A Certain Magical Index (Toaru Majutsu no Index)

The first two seasons of both Raildex series have casts I'd pretty much take on an entire den of Wendol with a soup spoon to protect. They're just that good, so I was beyond excited when a third Index season was announced. I've never read the source material, so maybe some were ready for it more than I was, but Index III started off TOTALLY different - the blood and brutality is turned up past 10, everybody up and turned into an a-hole about everything, and it all felt very foreign to me compared to everything before it. But, I stayed in because I was still invested in the characters and wanted to see where it all went. It eventually reminded me a lot of the good 'ol days of anime where it wasn't always happy, where sometimes even the good guys made you feel bad, and where there was a fairly complex storyline that you really had to pay attention to if you wanted to keep up. The difference is, a lot of those shows were good. Index III just... was. I got nothing out of choking my way through the entire season, and really didn't care about anything but finishing it long before I ever did. I still feel a bit betrayed that this was the anime that fans waited 8 years for. 

7. Eureka 7 Ao

No need for any exposé. Screencap says it all. How you follow up one of the most epic mecha anime ever with this fail of a series is beyond me. Great music, absolutely abysmal writing. 

8. Infinite Stratos

Was Infinite Stratos good? Original, yes. Fun, yes, Characters that made you care about them, yes. But good? BWAHAHAHA NO, it absolutely was not good. IS is one of a handful of titles I chuckle about saying I enjoyed, because it's quite bad. Which is how you know IS2 is total dregs, because it's so very bad that it makes the first season look kinda decent. There was a story worth developing in place in the second season, they just chose to go full potato on the harem and fanservice elements instead, and decided that the writing didn't really matter. The ensuing episodes are for the most part just too much stupid to watch. 

9. Blood Blockade Battlefront (Kekkai Sensen)

A bit of an odd duck, Kekkai Sensen introduced us to a world of enigmatic and strange bedfellows traversing a totally bonkers landscape of a world that somehow all manages to come together as a collective yaaas in the end. There is a unity that develops between them which task by wacky task binds these otherwise incongruent personalities together towards a common goal, and interpersonal gold eventually develops between them. The strengths of the individual are blended like watercolor to reinforce the weaknesses of the individual within the resulting eccentric genus. A cliché but nonetheless robust red string of fate ties all the loose ends together and a fantastic actuality of cognizance materializes between the ragtag cast and the forces that amass against them, and the first season ends with a feel-good that no one could have ever seen coming. It really is a great ride. Then the second season happens, and the glue that holds it all together feathers and ‘stuff just happens’. I was disappointed that all that great writing and plot that intertwines in the first season is totally absent in the second, and in the end it becomes just tales. I wanted so much more and got barfly stories regaled secondhand. 

[lunanoirre]

Episodes 11, 12, and 13

Ok, it has been a hot minute!!!

Merry late Christmas and Happy Holidays to all, and since the 19th of this month has passed, I am now 19!!!!

I am still the same ol’ dumbass reviewing Supernatural in 2020 though, so let’s get this show on the road!

Episode 11, the episode which I forgot that I watched. Not to say that it wasn’t a good episode!!! It was, and it scared the shit outta me.

The scarecrow design looks eerily like the one in the OG prints of Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark, and that—.... Horrifies me. So that was awesome!

But, unfortunately, this episode finally shows the boys getting into contact with their father again, and I really did not like it!

I mean, calling up your KIDS at complete random, when they’re worried sick about you, beebopping around America looking for YOU, and just???? Barking more orders at them??? Forcing them back into a job??? I mean, no wonder Sam got sick of this shit, and left for Cali to try and find John himself.

And poor, poor Dean... I really hate watching him bend over backwards to please their dad, and this is the worst example so far.

At least this episode showed how much these brothers need each other to continue this job successfully, which is wholesome yet sad. Siblings shouldn’t be forced to become codependent for survival.

Oh. And what the fuck was with the hitchhiker lady Sam met???????

Of course that hasn’t been answered yet, smfh.

Episode 12 didn’t... really have much in terms of character development???

OH WAIT NO!

This episode shows just how much Dean doesn’t value his own life! Mmm, Christmas fun!

But seriously, an episode about a Grim Reaper that looks like one of the Silence from Doctor Who, was interesting. Well... Interesting until Dean started insinuating that his life wasn’t worth as much as the girl with the brain tumor.

I’m just...

GOD!!!!

Spn, please stop milking me of my empathy for Dean???

Though, this would have been more impactful if his disability lasted more than 3 minutes.

I understand that Sam desperately wanted to get him better, since a prognosis of a week to a few months was visibly tearing poor Sammy to shreds inside...

But...

Rectifying the illness within 3 seconds of introducing it... killed the oomf this event would have held if left to marinate.

Yes, yes, I know, Season 1 still has the monster of the week type vibes and all and it doesn’t yet feel comfortable enough to dive into these inner issues... But it’s just???? Y’know, an odd choice at minimum.

Though it punched me in the gut to hear Dean speak so lowly about himself in regards to the fact that he... admits that he doesn’t feel like he’s worthy of living?

And that hit hard, as someone who has struggled with those sorts of thoughts. The worst part is that nothing really rose to challenge his opinion on that. Not even Sam decided to combat the way he was speaking.

And the fact that he didn’t even fight the Reaper, knowing that he was risking death??? Entirely because he felt like it would save someone who was worth more than him???

GOD.... I am GOING to cry.

And episode 13 was even sadder!!!

Exploring Dean’s first love seemed like it would have been fun... Until he started expressing the fact that he regrets opening up to Cassie. Because Cassie immediately interpreted his truth as an elaborate lie to break things off with her.

😐

Now, I’m not saying Cassie is abusive. She is not (I honestly love her SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!), and her reaction to hearing that he was a professional ghoul hunter was completely rational.

But!

Hearing that this event caused Dean to shut himself off even further... Hurts me???? Because I know how that feels.

I know how it feels to feel the need to hide integral parts of yourself because they’re abnormal, and you know most people wouldn’t react well to it. I know that pain.

So it kinda felt like a slap in the face to see that Dean’s hurt was kinda... pushed aside in favor of make-up sex??? I mean... being on the asexual spectrum myself, I cannot imagine doing something like that anyway, even if the partner was a beloved ex... But with my bias aside, it still felt wrong.

Neither of them are in the wrong per se... Although, the fact that Cassie seemed kinda aggressive when apologizing to Dean about the hurt he was hiding also rubbed me the wrong way. She knows that he hides his inner feelings, so spitting on them like that was the obvious wrong step, but since they’re straight, make-up sex makes everything better right?? 🤪🤪🤪

The answer is no, no it doesn’t. I liked the shirtless Dean fanservice though.

GOD he’s attractive....

But, aside from that, I was glad to see Dean enjoy himself a bit, and be a little vulnerable.

For god’s sake, it’s such a big deal that he told Cassie anything!!!!! It’s just such a shame that she took his confession the wrong way... That, and she point blank told him that she couldn’t see things working out in the end.

Annnnndddddddd I’m sure Cassie won’t reappear anytime soon, if at all... which is sad.

I really do like her!!!

Now, onto episodes 20 and beyond!

Man, a couple more episodes and I’m into season 2...

EDIT:

oh. My GODD HOW DID I FORGET TO MENTION THE FUCKING RACIST TRUCK??????

I DID NOT EXPECT THE RACIST TRUCK TO APPEAR SO SOON?????

[recentanimenews]

Bookshelf Briefs 6/8/20

Ace of the Diamond, Vol. 26 | By Yuji Terajima | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – The fall season has begun! Furuya is wearing the ace number and dominates the first game, much to Eijun’s distress, since he’s still suffering from “the yips” after striking a batter with an inside pitch. Thankfully, Miyuki and Coach Kataoka arrange for Chris to drop by and teach Eijun a new trick, which seems to help get him out of his doldrums. Meanwhile, Furuya’s performance begins to deteriorate, rumors about Coach Kataoka’s imminent departure begin to circulate, and the guy who’s been observing them (but who is probably Kataoka’s replacement) plans to focus solely on cultivating Furuya the ace and objects to how much time and effort Kataoka devotes to the other players. I mean, I can only assume that this guy is going to get sent packing at some point, but I definitely appreciate that Terajima-sensei is able to make me this anxious about his presence. Perennially recommended. – Michelle Smith

A Certain Scientific Railgun: Astral Buddy, Vol. 3 | By Kazuma Kamachi, Yasuhito Nogi, and Kiyotaka Haimura | Seven Seas – The first half of this volume is a giant flashback, and you know those are always bad in the Indexverse. Expect dead kids, dead adults, and a whooooooole lot of evil science. Unfortunately, there’s also a lot here that relies on the reader knowing one of the antagonists is from New Testament Vol. 11… which we have not seen in English, and might never see. Too much continuity. Junko continues to be laughably retroactively strong, going toe to toe with a level 5 here. And there’s the bond between her and Misaki, which may be “master and servant” but is also a close friendship (and yuri tease, as Misaki herself demonstrates). Railgun fans will like this. – Sean Gaffney

The Girl from the Other Side: Siúil, a Rún, Vol. 8 | By Nagabe | Seven Seas – The eighth volume of The Girl from the Other Side is unbearably sad—so much so that I struggled to finish it, as watching Shiva come to terms with losing Teacher is a shattering experience. Compounding my sense of anguish were the final chapters, in which we learn why the Inside world was so desperately interested in Shiva. The parallels between her situation and our current health crisis are impossible to ignore, reminding us about the human cost of capitulating to fear, ignorance, and superstition in the face of a pandemic. In a less fraught moment, I’d be inclined to recommend The Girl from the Other Side for the lessons it imparts, but I think it’s OK to decide that Nagabe’s allegory is a little too on-the-nose to offer insight or comfort right now. – Katherine Dacey

Go with the Clouds, North-by-Northwest, Vol. 3 | By Aki Irie | Vertical Comics – After two messy but interesting volumes that see-sawed between mystery and travelogue, Go with the Clouds, North-by-Northwest finds its groove in volume three. Michitaka—who disappeared from the previous volume—takes center stage in the latest installment, as Kei inadvertently stumbles across some important clues about what happened to his aunt and uncle back in Japan. Though Kei’s discovery propels the story in a new and unexpected direction, the latest plot twists feel earned; the sometimes awkward shifts in tone and genre that characterized the first two volumes are smoothed over by new revelations about Michitaka, and a new sense of urgency about solving the trail of gruesome deaths he’s left behind. The result is a compelling story that has the trappings of a Scandinavian crime show but the soul of an X-Files episode. Recommended. – Katherine Dacey

Kakushigoto: My Dad’s Secret Ambition, Vol. 3 | By Kouji Kumeta | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – Whereas Zetsubou-sensei made a point to seemingly attack everything in the world for leaving the author (and, by extension, Nozomu) in despair, Kakushigoto is zeroing in on the manga profession in particular. Here we get mysteries answered, such as why are the pages of weekly magazines colored differently, who determines the order the stories go in, and what is the exact nature of a deadline? We don’t get real answers for any of these, as it turns out things are very fluid. As for Hime, she’s still cute, and still investigating things with her not-Zetsubou girls mystery club. And there’s still that flashforward threatening us with the death of Hime’s father. Will the series get that dark? – Sean Gaffney

The Misfit of Demon King Academy: History’s Strongest Demon King Reincarnates and Goes to School with His Descendants, Vol. 1 | By Shu, Kayaharuka, and Yoshinori Shizuma | Square Enix – This isn’t my usual fare, but I hoped it would help with my Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun withdrawal. And it actually did! Anoth Voldigord was the all-powerful demon king, but sacrificed himself to end a perpetual war with humanity, pledging to reincarnate in 2000 years. When he does so, he’s invited to a school attendend by his many descendants but nobody believes he’s who he says he is because his magic is too vast to be measured and all of the facts about his reign have been distorted or forgotten over time. Anoth isn’t too likable at first, but the fact that his smug announcements of superiority garner no reaction, his jokes fall flat, and he must deal with a pair of doting and dimwitted human parents all help to humble him a bit. I guess it sometimes pays to venture out of your comfort zone! – Michelle Smith

My Senpai Is Annoying, Vol. 1 | By Shiromanta | Seven Seas – Thankfully, the senpai is not annoying in the way that I feared—this is all on her. Futaba is a new OL at a company who is so short she looks about twelve years old. She also has a near-terminal case of tsundere. This mostly comes out when around Harumi, her senpai at the company, who is huge, nice, helps her with her work and occasionally lightly teases her, and she is absolutely not ready to deal with it. This manga has one joke—Futaba is embarrassed and gets mad to hide it—and if you like that joke, it can be fun. It’s also based on a webcomic, with most “chapters” being about two pages. Towards the end, there’s longer original content, and that works much better. Recommended for those who like 4-komas and tsunderes. – Sean Gaffney

New Game!, Vol. 9 | By Shotaro Tokuno | Seven Seas – You got the sense that Kou wasn’t going to stay in France forever, and sure enough, she’s back by the end of this volume. There’s some nice stories here about not-quite-rivalries between her and Aoba’s friend Hotaru, and of course the inevitable yuri tease between Kou and Rin, which will never rise above a certain level but that level is pretty damn high. Other than that, a big part of this volume features the danger of farming out parts of your game to outside companies to complete, as they’re harder to control and can easily affect quality in ways that need to be fixed somehow. We also see Aoba continue to grow into her role as a real adult, even as she continues to never quite take the starring role. Cute. – Sean Gaffney

Primitive Boyfriend, Vol. 1 | By Yoshineko Kitafuku | Seven Seas – Kamigome Mito is popular with the boys at her school but feels nothing for any of them, finding them all insufficiently manly. Mito is lamenting her circumstances while working on the family farm, when she suddenly receives a visit from Spica, Goddess of the Harvest. Mito’s hard work has not gone unnoticed and as a reward, Spica sends her back in time 2.5 million years to meet her soulmate, a member of the species Australopithecus Garhi. He takes care of Mito, she falls for him, and when she’s sent home just as his life is in peril, she’s desperate to return. It’s pretty fun, I guess, if you don’t let yourself get bogged down in the realities of how their relationship will never work. Thankfully, it’s also only three volumes long. It’s short, it’s unique, and thus I will keep reading to see how it all plays out. – Michelle Smith

Species Domain, Vol. 8 | By Noro Shunsuke | Seven Seas – The series has now reached the Culture Festival, and seems like it might slowly be gliding to an ending, which in a series like this means pairing up more people. The “joke” confession that wasn’t in the last volume gets revisited here, with much embarrassment all around. Kazamori’s desperation for other girls to be attracted to Ohki may end up getting her in trouble down the road. Mikasagi explains why he isn’t ready to commit to anything, etc. There’s also an extended bathhouse scene, for those who like fanservice, which includes discussion about where Mizuno should be, on the men’s or women’s side. Again, I appreciate the care they’re taking with this character. Fun. – Sean Gaffney

The Way of the Househusband, Vol. 3 | By Kousuke Oono | Viz Media -As I have said in previous reviews, you read this series for its one gag, and should not expect more than that one gag done extremely well. Beyond that, here we see that our househusband is not the only former yakuza trying to make a living doing mundane everyday things, and that it’s much easier to change what you do than how you act. We also see why he’s such a good husband, manipulating things a bit so that his wife can meet some live action Pretty Cure actors (or rather the non-copyright violating Pretty Cure knockoff). That said, I think it’s Santa’s appearance that is absolutely the highlight of the volume, along with the stunned reaction of all the children. Hilarious. – Sean Gaffney

By: Katherine Dacey

[mysterylover123]

BNHA Rewatch: Episode 39 “Game Start”

mysterylover123

SEASON 3 FINALLY! Who cares about anything that actually happens in this recap/filler ep because ODD FUTURE!!!!!!! 

I freaking love this OP. If you could somehow marry an anime op I would marry this one. I’ve heard it a million times and I always find something new I love about it. I love the song and the visuals, BTW. Most reactors seem to have it grow on them, slowly. I can’t fathom not loving it to death.

Opening scene is Recap at the Ol Villain Bar with Villain Mom Kurogiri, He recaps Episode 37. Remember that time when Tomura got mad about Stain and cornered Deku at the mall? Member? 

Recap #2: Deku likes All Might and wants to be like him. In case you didn’t know that already.

Recap #3: List off everyone’s quirks in Class A in alphabetical order! Man my eyes are glazing over at this point. I KNOW THIS ALREADY. 

WOW Deku is apparently so gay that Kaminari and Mineta can use him as a reverse beard. 

I like how the girls in Class A kinda get along. Solidarity in a male-dominated field is pretty realistic.

The swimsuits are canon, actually; Kami and Mineta fantasize about them in a volume extra. I kinda love them and how they fit the characters’ personalities pretty well. Ochaco’s is my favorite.

Sorry Kaminari, no heterosexual lust allowed here.

OMG WE’RE SO SPOILED. So many best boys all in one room. I remember the first time I saw this ep, it was on my lunch break at my trash job, and I thought “Thank you, BNHA, for giving me this pleasant image to keep me going through the day. It’s not substantial, I don’t even care.”

This might be the only time in a show I’ve ever seen the girls wearing more substantial clothes than the guys. 

“COME SWEAT WITH US”. OH MY. Join the gay orgy of your classmates Mineta and Kami! You cannot resist!

Now Iida, Deku and Shoto are reminiscing. Recap #4. Remember that time when we had bromance about fighting Stain? Member dat?  (OMG they’re so cute in this scene. Iideku and Tododeku vibes!)

“Hey Kirishima, you got Bakugo here?” “Of course, I have no life outside of being his sidekick, what else would I be doing?” (Sorry for the salt, it just annoys me how filler Kirishima basically does nothing but follow Bakugo around like an underpaid minion.) 

Another filler gripe: How post-Final Exam, punched Baku in the face Deku is apparently still as nervous and afraid of challenging Kacchan as he was back in Episode 3. He’s changed, ya’ll! Character development happened! Anyway, swim race happens. 

Bakugou is now reminding Todoroki that he’s part of the rivalry threesome as well, and Shoto isn’t fighting it this time.

“Swimming” race time! 

WOWZA. (How is Shoto not freezing? wouldn’t that be effing cold?)

BTW I really like the way they animate Ojiro’s tail as he jumps in in this scene; I don’t know why, it just looks good. Obviously Iida isn’t really using Recipro here, because he’d beat Deku at this point. )

This shot is always captioned with “Jealous Todoroki” and that cracks me up.

The OT3 of your dreams is about to race! Taking all bets, folks!

Wah wah wah.

“Game Start” is silly and kind of dumb, but I kinda love it. It’s not a great episode of BNHA by any means, nor a great start to a season this intense...yet i still get a kick out of watching it. I hope most future BNHA filler is more like this episode; just a fun dumb set of Class 1-A antics with a bit of fanservice and friendship thrown in. Man this recap was easy to write, because basically nothing all that substantial happens other than the collective guy-sexual fanbase squeeing in unison.

( Also, I wanna make a note that Deku got voted as Best Boy of 2018′s anime season, and I want to make a note of how that happened. Step 1: Remind the whole fanbase in the first ep that he’s ripped as eff by throwing him in skintight swim trunks).

BKDK CORNER:

Remember how we’re rivals, Kacchan! “Yeah, of course I do, you damn nerd!” The second part of this scene does show Deku calmly, with that determined expression on his face, accepting Kacchan’s rivalry challenges. I do like that in filler, because that’s Deku at this point. He socked this guy in the face at the final exam, he’s not about to cower in fear of him. Also, you cannot not convince me that Kirishima, ever Katsuki’s wingman, convinced him to go by mentioning that Deku was there in a tight swimsuit. 

BEST GIRL OF THE EP: No one new. 

RANKER: The Fantasy Swimsuits

6. Jiro’s (I feel like she’d look better in more of a wraparound style)

5. Momo’s (I love her but her taste in clothes is kinda tacky)

4. Tooru’s (hangs well on her)

3. Tsuyu’s (really creative and odd)

2. Mina’s (simple but effective)

1. Ochaco’s (girl has damn fine fashion sense!)

[thesinglesjukebox]

LIL UZI VERT - FUTSAL SHUFFLE 2020

[6.40]

Uzi’s got a brand new dance, you gotta move your muscle...

Wayne Weizhen Zhang: "Futsal" refers to a type of indoor soccer that's played on a smaller field, "Shuffle" refers to the dance that Lil Uzi Vert is shamelessly trying to promote with this song, and "2020" is 2020. But awkward track name aside, it's nice to hear Uzi just having fun, clearly enjoying himself, spitting nonsense words over a beat as erratic as he is. Tell me the samples of Tyler, the Creator at the beginning and Nardwuar at the end aren't thrown in just to make you smile. [9]

Joshua Minsoo Kim: The same ol' post-Luv is Rage 2 rapping from Uzi, which is enough to keep the song going. He doesn't make much of the beat, though: a dreamlike trance with some blaring gunshots. The soundbites from the Nardwuar interview seem like a last-minute attempt at injecting some fun, which gives the impression that "Futsal Shuffle 2020" is just something to tide people over until Eternal Atake. [5]

Katherine St Asaph: The main synth perpetually sounds one second away from turning into "Sandstorm," which I assume gives this implied meme currency (if the associated dance and Tyler/Nardwuar samples didn't already have "Futsal Shuffle" flush with viral cash). You certainly can't accuse this of being overly chill. If anything, it overcompensates; there's too much jittery energy, and aside from one second (you know which) it can't stop skittering to start to bang. [6]

Scott Mildenhall: Small-sided football is all good in theory -- more tricks, more flicks! -- but that intricacy is soon demolished by the force of stockier people hassling and harrying you, and your less tactful teammates chastising you until it feels like the walls are closing in. On a larger pitch there's more time to look up, pick a pass, use the space, dribble, intercept, while still annoying people by feinting past the opposition unnecessarily. All of which is to say that the anti-loitering alarm synth, while at first an asset, becomes oppressive over time. Speed it up and you're probably halfway to the end of "GhettoMusick," a thought that makes a cheering distraction. [6]

Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: The most self-indulgent rap single I've heard since "Otis." It's three minutes of big audio irritants (that buzzsaw synth!) that Uzi uses as a bed for fanservice raps, sounding less like the moody goth rapper of Luv is Rage 2 and more like the meme of Lil Uzi Vert that has arisen on Twitter and Instagram. Here, Uzi is at his most extravagantly enjoyable, turning every line into a taunt-boast about his own style, his unique appeal. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy: He proves his one-of-one status by making "Futsal Shuffle" work. [8]

Crystal Leww: The highest compliment I can pay a song is Shazaming it on the dance floor, and at 3:50 a.m. on Saturday night, I knew that with that synth line that sounds like the best of Kanye's Graduation days and a still-hot Lil Uzi Vert that I needed to keep this for my own records. [7]

Brad Shoup: Considered docking this for the presence of my mortal enemy Nardwuar -- he pops up right after Uzi talks about annoying some girl, which is appropriate. (The "gotta shoot two at her" line reminds me of a funnier joke.) All kinds of unforced errors here, maybe because that Eurodance riff and the dance took all his attention. Uzi gets to cruising speed at the end of the second verse, bursting through a bank and a tour bus before landing on his bed. He sounds content. Then the shots drop again. [6]

Ryo Miyauchi: The seriousness in approach suggests Uzi considers this more than just a novelty track, but it's also not nearly substantial enough to compare to his more lyrically adept one-offs. The flow feels athletic, keeping up a double-time drill in the spaces of the busy synths and busier footwork, but it doesn't generate much content aside from cheese talk -- literal and metaphorical. It's more fun and endearing watching Uzi do the actual dance. [5]

Alfred Soto: It's not The Twist or the Harlem Shuffle or the Ostrich: the sequences blare too loudly. A few years after his debut, I get off on the off rhymes and surrealism. Just because nothing's at stake doesn't mean nothing matters. [6]

Nortey Dowuona: Lil Uzi Vert has been training to do this for a while. Several singles have stalled out after a brief moment of being buoyed by his diehard fans, and now this hollowed-out bass ball of a beat that he's juggling on both ashy ankles is going to be the winning goal that should finally get Generation Now to give him more playing time. The problem is, he's not a tricks player, he's supposed to be a striker. And he keeps not scoring. [6]

[Read, comment and vote on The Singles Jukebox]