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yjwhatif · 2 years

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YJ EPISODE 14 NOTES… let’s do this (spoilers below)

Dick shows some serious growth since S3. I love that opening scene - Dick asking Kaldur how he’s doing then pointing out that he might need to take a break before his unprocessed emotions break him. He literally says all the things I said in my Kaldur post and I was very happy to hear him say it. Also I really like how dick acknowledges the dick move he pulled of essentially dropping out after Wally died - pointing out how selfish it was of him to leave Kaldur to deal with everything - despite Kaldur going through the same tragedy and more. Dick shows so much personal growth in this scene - he was still not over losing Wally in S3 and it showed in his behaviour - to avoid his grief he focused on the mission. It took Will, Conner and Artemis talking to him at different occasions to help him realise avoidance and detachment doesn’t make the pain go away — and I think that’s what Dicks trying to do for Kaldur now. I love their bond - it’s not seen enough.

Ok this is definitely gonna end up being really long…

I’m so glad I read the tie in comics set in Atlantis before watching - it made things so much easier to follow and more impactful than if I hadn’t. Again I wanna reiterate, if you haven’t read the s1 tie in comics - especially the two set in Atlantis then you really should - 1, because they’re great, and 2, because all these characters are introduced in them and a lot of the dynamics we see in this episode are established from those comics. (Heads up I will be mentioning things from those comics plot in the points below…)

Topo and King Sha’ark are unlikely besties and I’m here for it. A bond established established in the comics after topo saves Sha’arks during the purists ambush - and its a well known fact that saving someone life creates a forever bond - whether you like it or not Sha’ark.

La’gaan playing with Artur is the cutest thing ever and is then immediately out cuteified by the way La’gaan interacts with Coral and later Rodun - seriously how do Grandon do this - I never used to care about romance in media and now - ever since that 7th wheel comment - I can’t get enough of it. They’re throwing all these adorable AquaFamilies in my face and I’m rooting for them all — but that means I’m terrified for everyone because I know something bads gonna end up happening. Just let them all be happy please 🙏

This shot is just so pure 🥺

GROWTH!! There is so much growth present in all these characters - it shows how times change and so too do people. (This will probably be getting its own post at some point)

Ronal definitely has some sort of feelings for Lori - he’s a pompous jerk but always a little smitten around her. These two definitely had a dynamic in the comics - he seemed to have a particular distain for her and she certainly wasn’t afraid of fighting back his attacks. Maybe the hate he thought he felt towards her was really unrealised attraction corrupted by learnt prejudices. There’s also a chance she saved his life in the comics when Sha’ark tried to eat one of the hooded purists - though I don’t know if that was actually him since he was still hooded - but maybe he feels a sense of loyalty or indebted to her. Either way, Ronal intrigues me.

I have already posted something about this but since the general consensus was Delphis is around 20yo I’m gonna add some stuff to it… Garth seems to show the smallest bit of interest in Delphis as he’s leaving the council - it’s blink and you’ll miss it but by the rules of animation it’s there for a reason. Someone pointed out on that post that Garth and Dolphin have been together in dc canon so maybe it will become something in yj. I honestly can’t imagine Kaldur taking it too well if they do - it might be a bit cliché but I would totally buy Kaldur still holding a bit of resentment towards Garth for dating Tula after he became Aqualad - now he wants to date his adopted sister — the nerve of him.

Wyynde, Kaldur & Delphis remind me of Conner, M’gann & Gar. I’m living for all these family dynamics — they’re so pure!

I am very glad to see Conner is in fact still wearing underwear - because that would have been a really awkward conversation when Ghosty wakes up — oh and Phantom Girl will now and forever be referred to as Ghosty - because it’s really hecking cute.

I really love all the Phantom zone content we get - it’s really cool to see Conner doing stuff on his own - he tends to be a character that’s always grouped with others and acts as the voice of reason. Here he’s isolated and stuck in the unknown with nothing but his mind - so we’re seeing him in a who new light as he essentially has an existential crisis.

I am here for Wyynde constantly trying to get Kaldur to relax and not focus on work stuff when he shouldn’t have to. I truly love him with all my heart and am absolutely terrified something very bad is definitely going to happen to him and that’s gonna be Kaldur’s breaking point and I am NOT OKAY WITH THAT!! Please don’t hurt Wyynde!🙏

Is Arion following Kaldur ? he was in the algae bar sat at the table next to them - angled perfectly to watch them… what is he up to

Wyynde going from flirty winky face at Kaldur to sad guilt ridden face as he notices Lori sat alone at the bar. I’m gonna keep saying this - but I love him! I also love this whole scene at the bar and I’m gonna go into that in a separate post.

Kaldur punching Sha’ark and no one batting an eyelid because that’s the only language Sha’ark listens to — “I respect your strength, schoolmate”

Nice touch having Samad’s new job being on a fishing boat and loving it while the Atlanteans are almost at war with each other because of the effects of human pollution and overfishing — kinda plays into that perspectives thing that’s through the episodes

It’s nice to see Violet helped Gabriel’s family get out of Qurac and is staying connected with them - or at least with Madia anyway. It’s nice to see Violet has found trust in her - after everything that happened with Jace that psychotic witch, it wouldn’t be surprising if Violet had some serious trust issues.

Conner and Ghosty are really adorable - I love that he’s just talking to her even though she’s unresponsive - he’s a good little soul.

HALO CAN HEAL OTHER PEOPLE!!! This is so cool - I can’t wait to see how else their powers have evolved - I knew rainbow powered Violet was gonna be epic.

I’m here for Lori calling Ronal out on his rudeness and him immediately backing down and apologising to her - these Atlantean dynamics are really compelling and I want more.

The only content I’ve been exposed to which depicts a polyamorous relationship is in the Les Mis fandom so it’s pretty cool seeing an official explicit representation on screen. I already posted something about my immediate reaction to the relationship reveal (here) but I wanted to add on that I love that this is a show where polyamory makes more sense than adultery - and I’m here for it. So much romance in media revolves around jealousy and cheating and confrontation and I just can’t be arsed with it — but La’gaan and his growing family are just so wholesome and loving and sweet and I honestly can’t get enough of it. I wish more media depicted relationships like yj - where they’re not just created for passion and conflict but to actually develop and strengthen the characters — it’s way more compelling. Ok I’ll stop ranting about romance now.

I love how respectful the tone of Violet and Madias conversations are as they explore Islam together. The pacing is soft and light, there’s no sense of an overload of information is being thrown at you - it takes the time it needs. They are really calming moments. I also like that Madia is constantly reenforcing the fact that one must follow their heart when it comes to faith - she doesn’t expect anything of Violet because it’s their decision. I really hope she shows the same respectful positivity around Violets gender identity when they finally choose to open up about it.

Ronal definitely has some unspoken feelings for Lori - he goes to help her up after the attack - I want to know more!

Return of the forehead touch!!! 🧡💙

KALDUR YOU ARE NOT FINE AND YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE!!

VIOLET HARPER IS OFFICIALLY THEY/THEM NON-BINARY AND WE LOVE THEM

I kinda figured the promised LGBTQ+ rep would probably turn up in the second half - that is what happened last season (though it was still very light in S3 and I think the Bart thing caused a lot of problems). I think all of it was written well - nothing felt out of place or there to tick a box - everything felt grounded in the canon and not just written to make someone happy (I don’t know if that makes sense). Nothing stands out in a harsh or cringey way (like the beach scene we don’t talk about). This is honestly shaping up to be my favourite arc so far - the pacing is great, we’re exploring and discussing the things I’ve been wanting to see and personally, I like that we’re continuing the other plots as well as - I never feel like they are taking time away from Kaldur and Atlantis.

Over all this was a phenomenal episode back and the other two are just as good. Stay tuned for my notes on episodes 15 & 16, and also some others I’ve got in mind. If you read all this then thank you - I’d love to hear what everyone else thought of this episode, the arc or anything yj.

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duchezss · 3 years

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Buckle in folks cause I’m about to put more effort into this than an english assignment Presenting Why Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous is actually an amazing show

Now what defines the term amazing you might ask? I’m talking about a show that goes above and beyond in plot, characters, storytelling, and overall experience. Nowadays most adult shows don’t meet my standards much less a kids show so if that gives you an idea how good this show is stop right now and go watch it if you haven’t. Spoilers ahead ofc but as an aspiring film major I will be diving into just about everything I love and this is gonna get long.

For your convince I will start with a simple bullet point list and then extend on them below, so if you only wanna see the big points and not my thoughts behind them this first parts for you.

Black mc

Diverse main cast (4/6 are poc)

Actual plot lines and a lot of suspense

Very dark for a kids show

Complex characters that develop

Fits in with the main Jurassic World series beautifully

Body language and facial expressions are top tier

Have genuine relationships (platonically and/or romantically) between all of the main 6

Phenomenal camera angles and use of special effects

Great with details

Amazing VA’s

Continuity

So the nose dives begins

Black mc: To some people this might not matter that much but holy cow this is so important and such a big step. The people complaining are just weird middle aged white people, like do you know how big of an impact a black mc can have on young black children. It’s so important and it makes them feel happy because someone actually looks like them. Clear evidence of this was Into The Spider Verse (which is also an amazing movie oml). Come to think of it the only black mc I think I’ve ever seen in an animated kids show is probably Static Shock (also an amazing show ily). Somehow representation has got swept under the rug in this day and age which is ironic really, but this show does an amazing job with tackling that and I love it.

Diverse main cast: I can’t think of any recent kids movies/tv shows, live action or animated, that have this much representation. In animation is also very easy for the show runners to make a character poc and then have a white VA, but jwcc is quite the opposite. Honestly the characters look so much like their VA’s that something tells me the animation team based the characters off them and not the other way around. Not only that but their names actually match with their ethnicities. So for reference or just anyone that doesn’t know, Ben and Brooklynn are white, Sammy is hispanic, Darius is black, Kenji is asian, and Yazmina is middle eastern. Sammy’s last name is Gutierrez, Yazmina’s is Fadoula, Kenji’s is Kon and Darius’s Bowman. Gutierrez is a common last name in Mexico and Latin America in general. Fadoula is found throughout upper Africa and the Middle East, Kon is rare name of Japense origin, and Bowman is a common last name among black folks in the US. So not only do they have a poc cast, voiced by poc people, but all the characters have realistic names. Not to mention they are very good on skin tone in the show, personally I think Yaz should’ve been just a bit darker but hey I’ll take it and run.

Actual plot lines: This seem like stating the obvious but work with me here. Most kids and even adult shows have a very episodic format, there’s nothing wrong with that per say but having a plot and conflict build up and having little things matter is much more satisfying in my opinion. Most kids shows have some conflict but its very PG which is also fine that’s what it’s meant for. But every once in a while you’ll find a show that had plot wise beyond it’s years and those are the golden ones. Easily and rightfully the most famous is Avatar the Last Airbender or ATLA. This show to this day is still one my favorites and truly nothing will ever top it, but in my years of watching kids shows after it jwcc might just be second. We can argue all day about what’s the best and it’s truly a matter of opinion, but to me atla and jwcc just achieve such a level of complexity that 99% of kids and even adult shows don’t reach.

Very dark: While this might not be exactly the best for kids it’s great for an olderish audience. Honestly it having a much darker element makes the show enjoyable for all ages while still keeping it chill enough so that children may watch. But come to think of it it’s hard not to make a show about dinosaurs dark, the show runners do a wonderful job at keeping it intense and exciting, but still kid friendly, and to me thats incredibly impressive. Not to mention since the show isn’t afraid to go dark they can do more (such as ben’s “death”, the hunters etc) which makes it go from good to great. Reminds me a lot of atla and I know I keep mentioning atla but know that is the biggest compliment ever. atla is easily the best animated/kids show of all time so the fact that a bring it up so much is huge. There have been shows in the past that have tried to replicate what atla (such as voltron..) and it just hasn’t worked. I think this show nails the boundary between too dark and not dark enough.

Complex characters: Oh yes. If there’s one thing I love more than an ensemble cast it’s a cast that grows and develops as the series progresses. Sure the main 6 might start off as typical character tropes (Darius the super fan, Yaz the loner, Sammy the extrovert, Ben the underdog, Kenji the arrogant, and Brooklynn the influencer.) but they become so much more than that. I’d say at least half of them are completely different people between the 1st episode and the latest one. An easy example being Ben and Kenji. Ben started off as a naive, timid, and terrified person and has become confident, independent, and brave. Kenji started off as arrogant, selfish, and apathetic person and became compassionate, driven, and concerned. All of them have had some sort of change even if it’s not super dramatic and that’s important. It makes the storytelling better because they grow as they go.

Fits in with JP/JW beautifully: In terms of shows connecting to movies this has gotta be some clone wars level s-tier stuff. Personally I have never watched clone wars but my sister has and she always raves about how well this show connects to the movies, and from what I’ve seen I completely agree. A youtube channel by the name of Silverscreen Edits actually put together the scenes from every time they overlap, mainly in S1 but also the cold open from Fallen Kingdom. I’d advise you to watch it because it’s just incredible. The show runners nail ever detail of these scenes and it truly feels like you’re watching the same scene from a different perspective. The set up is beautiful and I cannot rave enough about how amazing it is, my favorite easily being the dome scene because of all the small details. Not to mention this show actually connect JW and FK because it shows us that the cold open was 6 months later while the rest was 3 years later. Quite honestly I had no idea these two scenes were that far apart from each other, I thought the opening was from a years or two later not 6 months, so this show really connected the dots between these two movies and made them flow together much nicer. And I love all the countless references too old and new JP/JW movies. Overall this show is a great addition to the franchise.

Body language and facial expressions: You might be thinking to yourself, hmph that is a really odd point to make, let me tell you it’s not and I’ll explain why. When analyzing films I usually tend to stick to live action because one of my favorite parts of films is how characters react to things, and we animation we really don’t get that. Most of the time even if shows get this complex they won’t use both the way jwcc. What impressed me so much was how amazing they are at this, the animation team seriously needs more praise. Jwcc is great at facial expressions which I will say other animated shows know how to do as well, but they are also so amazing at body language which is rare rare when it comes to animation. It’s because it’s so hard and often times it just doesn’t fit, but they do an amazing job with this and it makes the characters feel so life-like. When a character is sad or closed off their shoulders hunch, when they feel scared they stiffen up and cover their ears (which is another detail I love so much, I never realized till this show that hardly anyone ever covers their ears and it makes a lot of sense because these dinos are very loud) and when they feel hopeless their shoulder sag and their head drops, do you see what I mean? You can quite literally tell what these kids are feeling and thinking without them saying anything that is so impressive and it makes the show that much better. It makes it easy to analyze and if it wasn’t clear around I love to do so.

Genuine relationships between all of main cast: I will not budge at this point at all, gonna say it right now if you disagree argue with the wall. I might have some bias on this but one, if not my favorite, part of any media is an ensemble cast. It’s something I actively seek out, and when I say ensemble cast I don’t mean a trio, I mean a full cast, my favorite being 6 but 4 or 5 will do. So when I found out this show had 6 main characters I was immediately interested. Not only because I love ensemble casts but I also wanted to see how they handled it. Ensemble cast are so rare because they are extremely hard to do and do well. I will even criticize atla on this. At one point they had 6 main characters and they never elaborated on more than a handful of the duos and just focused on the group as whole. But this is typical and easiest to do without giving up individual character development so I get that. But jesus christ jwcc does a phenomenal job with this, and I mean phenomenal. Out of the 15 different duos you can get between 6 characters then have elaborated on 11 of them, and it could easily be more this is just from memory. I might make a post elaborating on this specifically because it’s just amazing. This time they take to flesh out these relationships truly makes them feel like a unit and a family, instead of just a group of people all working towards the same goal. This is easily the most impressive and rewarding of any of the points on this list in my opinion. (coming from #1 squad lover right here)

Camera angles and special effects: This shows downfall for some was that it had strange animation, honestly it never bothered me and since I’ve watched dragon prince and rwby, it’s clear that bad animation never stops me from watching a show. But I think people just won’t give it a chance, because when you do you’ll see it’s actually very good. To me the coolest part of the animation is the dinos. They look incredible and so so similar to the cgi used in JW. That’s hard to do so more claps for the animation team I love y’all. They also have to work around the PG side of this show and do a great job at implying what happens but never actually showing what happens. This is all angles, not to mention they do a great job at showcasing the park and the scenery so that magic from the movies really translates to the show. Finally my favorite scene of the show from an avid slow mo lover has got to me when Ben falls of the monorail (idk why it is cause he’s literally my fav and I was so upset) The scene is just beautiful and the set up before hand makes it that much more heart breaking. The use of slow mo is amazing I literally cannot rave about this scene enough. It builds so much suspense and they used just the right amount, to much and the scene would move to slow, and to little the scene would be to fast. I need more great scenes like this in S4 (idk if I want the angst that comes with it too I’ll get back to you)

Details: To me details, in any show in general, is what makes it go from great to fantastic. An example of this is Harry Potter, something that hooked me into this franchise was how much small details mattered and it’s the same with jwcc. There are so many throw away lines that end up coming back and all us are hitting ourselves for missing it. Such as Ben saying early on he knows where the tracker beam is and when he “dies” and the crew can’t find it it shows how important he was. Those are details I love to see. Or the three dinos, one of which Sammy released, coming back all season. Of course toro as well and he always kept his burns. Not to mention the animation team always kept Ben’s scar in and I think that’s an important detail because he shaped who he is. Keep up the good work animation and writing team because I love what you’re doing with this (also I’m 90% sure the compass is another one of these details I’m calling it rn)

Amazing VA’s: Honestly VA’s in general do not get enough credit and they really should. But these 6 are pretty amazing let me tell you. If I’m not mistaken Ryan Potter (Kenji’s VA) is the only one with a notable history of voice acting as he played the title character in Big Hero 6. (fun fact I had no idea and when I found this out I quite literally screamed). But the others have also done things as well, most of it being live action though, and voice acting is much different. Honestly I just need to make a post about the various roles they’ve had cause looking into this has been an experience. Anyway all of them do such an incredible job with this ahh. I think the times where you can really tell how different they all are is when they lash out. This happens quite often and honestly it’s expected, I mean they’re 6 teenagers in a stressful environment of course they’ll last out. But all of them have such a different way of doing it, Darius is hopeless, Kenji is nervous, Yaz is emotional, Ben is harsh, Brooklynn is stern, and Sammy is level headed. Usually everyone lashes out the same way so the fact that they’re so different in just one aspect shows you how good they are. Each character is so individual and all of them have different goals and morals which is not only realistic but it makes way for conflict which is always interesting.

Continuity: Now this could arguable go with details but it’s slightly different so I’m making this a separate point. Continuity to put it simple it basically not have the show be episodic. Honestly that completely what I expected from this show because that how most kids shows are. In this show the plot not only progress each episode but so do the characters and their trauma. Most of the time the plot will progress but anything bad that has happened to the characters will not show and is hardly talked about (COUGH VOLTRON). To me it’s something that has to be addressed because if the characters don’t grow what was the point of it. And they’ve shown that characters grow based on the events that happen and I love that. Another thing about continuity is when show runners stick a pin in something and actually go back to it (COUGH RWBY). Jwcc is amazing at this and make a point to bring back just about everything that gets sidelined in the first place. It’s so impressive and make the show that much more enjoyable. There have been countless times where I get so caught up with the pins that shows just leave there and it makes me so mad, but jwcc is good at for the most part because of course some things will slip through. But they always get back to the important things.

The conclusion: Overall this show is phenomenal and if my essay hasn’t convinced you I’m not sure what will. The show is amazing at storytelling and plot and the lovable main cast makes it that much better. It is so much better than a good chunk of kids shows and honestly part of me wishes it was rated PG-13 cause I really wanna see that. But they do an amazing job and keep it kid friendly enough while still discussing mature topics. It’s the next atla to me and something that many kids shows now days try to be and fail. It’s impressive and complex and truly one of the best shows I’ve ever watched. Film major mara out, and if you actually read all of this ily mwah.

#jwcc #jurassic world camp cretaceous #jurassic world #jurassic park #jesus why did I write so much lmao #I have issues I spend more than 2 hours on this..#hyperfixations go hard ig

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lifeofashieldagent · 3 years

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THOUGHTS WHILE WATCHING LOKI EPISODE 1

SPOILERS BELOW. don't read if you haven't seen the episode yet.

1- YAY flashback!!

2- Thor screaming LOKIIIIIIII!!! is a mood.

3- hahahahahaha what is this slo mo

4- "it sounds dumb" how dare they disrespect the love of loki's life like that

5- rip fine asgardian leather, hello abs

6- someone please get me a copy of loki's life transcript

7-idk but I can see him being 2012 loki BUT I can already see TINY bits of the ragnarok loki, maybe cause we know him better now

8- this is the best animation I've ever seen

9- DANGER: MULTIVERSE ah I'm already in love with this phase. so excited for the multiverse.

10- I am in love with this title music

11- I wanna speak every language on the timeline too

12- the cologne of two tony starks, I love this man

13- I miss him in his robes

14- the tva architecture is so chaotic

15- loki just crossed his arms and I was like DAMN he makes even THAT look so good and mobius immediately said "if looks could kill" I like this show. it gets me

16- I love long, intense conversational scenes like these. Marvel does them so well.

17- OH MY GOD PHIL , MY HEART WASN'T READY FOR THAT. COULSON!! btw watch agents of shield if you haven't. it's amazing. ok back to loki.

18- l lost a bet to Thor. I love these shows and the history they give us!! also, I wanted more of the loki in a suit.

19- it won't be as meaningful now, HE'S SO CUTE

20- YES FINALLY! show him the future.

21- loki IS the god of mischief. I hope that's where this show will go. he quits all the ruling and torture stuff and just sticks to mischief.

22- wtf no one tell thanos.

23- aww he's realising stuff if bigger than he thought. tom is such a good actor

24- ok if he cries, I cry

25-oh shit, is he gonna be like "I still died after being nice, so fuck it, I'll just stay bad" I hope not

26- loki being honest is making me cry

27- WAIT WHAT him?? We're gonna get loki vs loki? THIS IS SO EXCITING but I'm so confused

28- NO I WANT MORE LOKI, ah, ok, well, WOW. end of episode one.

29- THIS IS GOING TO BE SO GOOD. The end credits music is also so magical and fantasy like. Loving it. Okay, no end credits scene.

30- okay. final thoughts. love the vibe of the whole show. love tom so much. love the chemistry between him and owen wilson. so so so so so excited for the next episode. can't wait.

#loki #loki series #loki laufeyson #tom hiddleston #loki spoilers #marvel #thor #avengers #owen wilson #agent mobius #disney plus

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sleepysnk · 3 years

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thoughts on the marleyan warriors? like reiner and zeke etc, btw LOOOVE ur page and fics ❤️❤️

thank you for your kind words love! 🥺❤ your words are so kind :)

here is what i think about the warriors, MAJOR MANGA SPOILERS ARE BELOW!

Reiner: I ABSOLUTELY LOVE REINER SO MUCH. if you haven't seen the many times i have wrote/spoke about him, i literally love Reiner so much. i honestly love how much he's developed, his backstory is honestly really really sad, and this baby deserves better 🥺. i don't hate Reiner i could never, he's just an amazing character and i hope he gets a good ending... well let's hope. i just wanna give him a big hug.

Zeke: so honestly, i hated Zeke before getting into the manga. he killed many scouts and i hated his ass so much lmao, but that really started to change when i started to write for him and got to know his character a bit better. his backstory is another sad one, especially since he wasn't the best warrior, and with all that his parents went through too. can we mention how he's daddy as fuck tho? dude he's so fine 😭. i never thought i would be attracted to him.

Pieck: OKAY HONESTLY MAPPA DID HER REALLY WELL IN THE ANIME. she's honestly really cute and adorable tbh, but with what's going on in the manga 😳... Pieck might not be alive in the end. i never really hated Pieck, she seems like a really smart character, but her titan is so ugly 😭. she's really pretty tho, kinda wish i looked like her 🙄.

Porco: OKAY HE IS SO SEXYYY. Porco is just so fine and mappa did him really well, i kinda wish he didn't die :/, he was a good character tbh. i literally love him, he also deserves better considering what happened with Marcel and how he didn't get the armored titan. i love Porco's character so much, he gives me those hot guy vibes, I LOVE HIS SEXY ASS SM.

Colt: I LOVE COLT SO FUCKING MUCH. he's such a sweet baby 🥺, he honestly is an amazing guy. i wish he didn't die, his death was kind of brutal tbh 😳. i feel really bad for Falco :(, but i know his brother is watching over him. Colt honestly is a great character, i love his compassion, it just fits his character. he's another character i wish got to live longer :/.

Gabi: bye i hate her. SHE ERUPTS ANGER IN ME.

Falco: PLSSS MY BABY 🥺🥺 HE IS LITERALLY MY SON OKAY. falco is so cute and i love how determined he is to become a warrior, he's so adorable. his crush on Gabi is so cute tho, like bro he's so adorable. he also had great development too, HIS ASS CAN FLY NOW LIKE OOOOO.

#attack on titan #shingeki no kyojin #reiner braun #zeke jaeger #porco galliard #pieck finger #falco grice #colt grice #gabi braun

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dukeofonions · 4 years

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Thoughts on the new Asides

Alright, I’ve watched the new video three times at this point and finally have my thoughts together. Also just in case anyone was wondering no.

No I did not get breakfast magically delivered to me and had to eat a bowl of cereal.

Oh well, there’s always next time.

Anywho, spoilers below if you haven’t seen the episode yet I would not recommend reading this.

Ready? Let’s go.

So what are my general thoughts here, I loved it. Sure there were some things that didn’t make sense to me writing wise but overall this was an adorable, funny episode that provided us with a nice break from all the angst of the main series.

Now to get into the nitty gritty.

Right off the bat the art for this was just amazing. Honestly the idea to make this episode as an animatic was a brilliant move. Not just because of how things are right now in the world (but we don’t wanna think about that) but using this form allows the characters to interact in ways that they can’t when filming live. We got to see Roman and Virgil engaging with the world around them and how they interacting with Thomas when he’s not at home. It also gives us an idea of what the world of Sanders Sides is like. Everyone acts a little more cartoony, but it still feels like the real world as well.

Also the expressions on the characters, even the background ones, were perfect. You could tell so much from a quick expression or body language and as an animation nerd, I was in love from the get go. Honestly the team should think about utilizing this format more with these Asides as it allows more freedom for the characters which can help aid the story and can be used for comedy. Not saying every episode should be animated, but if they have an idea that they simply can’t achieve in live action, they now know that this format works.

And now, on to the characters.

So this is a Roman and Virgil episode, none of the other Sides make an appearance or are even mentioned. (Well I guess Janus is vaguely referenced with all the talk of lies going around) But I can understand their absence even though I would have loved to see them even briefly like how Remus and Janus were in Are There Healthy Distractions but besides one character (which I will get too later) I didn’t really mind and it didn’t take away my enjoyment of the episode.

As usual, Virgil and Roman have a great dynamic and are hilarious with how they bounce off one another. I do question the timeline of this episode given how relaxed Virgil is around Thomas, considering the last time they were together they weren’t on the best footing and he wasn’t present at all during Putting Others First. But I’ll probably make another post about that.

Starting with Virgil, it was fun seeing him act more like his pre-AA self. Getting onto Thomas’ case about every little thing was both hilarious and way too relatable (like way to call a dude out) and him explaining introvert culture was just *cheff’s kiss* It was nice to him slightly more laid back and worrying about something else other than whether or not Thomas is a good person and keeping a dark secret about his past hidden. Also the ending with him openly celebrating with Thomas and Roman was adorable. We’ve never seen Virgil with his guard down like this, letting himself be genuinely happy in front of the others. He always hides that part of him and seeing him like this just warmed my heart because that means Thomas himself isn’t feeling anxious and is allowing himself to enjoy the moment. Sure there are some moments of doubt here and there, but it was overall a great scene and I was glad they gave us a scene with them in the apartment.

Now Roman? Oh my gosh I needed an episode where he got his happy ending and it has arrived! Considering the punch to the gut that was POF’s ending I was ecstatic to see Roman finally, finally getting something he wanted. Think about it. Roman recently gave up the callback, which he wanted more than anything, only to have it all blow up in his face and be told that his sacrifice was all for nothing. Like, ouch. But here we see him once again pursuing something he wants, and he actually gets it! He probably thought it was going to be yet another loss for him, all their efforts were for nothing, but it wasn’t! That’s one thing I love about Roman, no matter how many times he loses he never stops trying. Even when he gets knocked down to his lowest he won’t hesitate to grab the next opportunity that comes his way. And as we can see, that will and determination has paid off.

Of course we can’t forget about Thomas himself. He’s so lovable in this, trying to just get through what should be a simple shopping trip at the mall only to have the most minor things continue to interfere with that. We don’t ever really see Thomas outside of his apartment so it’s nice to finally have an explanation for that. The focus of this episode though is his attempts to find out more about the handsome stranger across the food court and work up the nerve to talk to him. One of the funniest parts of this episode (in my opinion) is when Thomas comes up with the brilliant idea to use the stickers and pins as a way to start a conversation (which honestly could have been sparked by Logan who’s had enough of this) only for it to be shot down as a horrible idea because, what else would anxiety tell you? The monologue in the bathroom was another highlight of this episode and just, gosh Thomas’ acting here is just great. Even though we can only hear his voice there’s just so much emotion put into it. It honestly sounds like he’s crying in some parts and I loved it just as much as the bathroom guy did.

And finally, last but certainly not least, we have the wonderful Nico Flores. I did not expect to love him as much as I did but like, my gosh how can you not? He’s that perfect mix of cool while still being a bit of a dork. Like did he just grab a stranger’s food and wander around looking for them to return it? Had he noticed Thomas go in the bathroom and was just awkwardly standing around waiting for him to come out? His relationship with Thomas is already super cute and I hope that he becomes a recurring character and love interest for Thomas. (Note when I say Thomas I am referring to character!Thomas and not the real Thomas) Seeing as Thomas (now referring to the real one) said this episode would be important to the plot of Sanders Sides, I think it’s safe to assume Nico will be making a return and I for one can’t wait to see more of him, along with seeing how his relationship with Thomas develops.

If I had anything negative to say about this episode, I’d have three negative things to say.

I’ll start with one that I sorta brought up earlier which regarded the absence of a certain character that just didn’t really make sense to me, and that character is Patton. Now for Logan, Janus, and Remus, I can see why they wouldn’t be there. Logan doesn’t do feelings. Janus and Virgil would be having a hissy fit the entire time. And we all know what Remus would be doing. Not saying none of them could have shown up briefly, but their absence doesn’t bother me as much as Patton’s does.

Patton is Thomas’ heart, the core of all his feelings, why wouldn’t the heart be present during a time where Thomas is starting to fall in love? He wasn’t mentioned or anything! Not even when Roman was literally telling Thomas to speak from the heart. It just rubbed me the wrong way that he wasn’t brought up at all and the reason for that has to do with another problem I had with this episode, and that was the choice to have the main thing keeping Thomas from talking to Nico was him being a liar.

The episode starts with hitting the audience on the head with this idea that Thomas is struggling with lying. Despite the fact that nothing that happens is really his fault and everything else isn’t really a big deal. I just found it odd that this was the thing they were having Virgil and Roman get onto Thomas’ case for considering, well, we already had an episode (multiple really) that have already addressed this. One could say this was a result of Roman and Virgil teaming up and being upset over Janus’ partial acceptance. The reason I don’t think this is likely is because Thomas said Virgil finding out about Janus would be a major plot point and I doubt something like that would have happened off screen (honestly the timeline for this video is so confusing)

Another reason this bothered me is because Virgil comes to the conclusion that everything that has gone wrong (the rehearsing in the bathroom, the old friend in the food court, the plant, the pretending, the hiding, the god forsaken boiled carrots) are all lies and Thomas can’t build a relationship off of lies.

But... He literally wasn’t doing that?

At this point Thomas hasn’t even talked to Nico yet. He lied to the guy in the bathroom regarding the monologue (who wouldn’t) and he tried to pretend to be a stranger’s friend (which backfired horribly so lesson learned) I don’t even know how the plant would be considered a lie (and Virgil was the one who pushed him over there anyway) I’m not sure what Virgil’s referring to with the pretending and the hiding I can only assume is when they hid in a trashcan (unless I’m not meant to take that literally) and with the carrots Thomas should have just walked away the moment he saw the rainbow pin on the backpack. That was his fault.

But not once did Thomas lie about anything to Nico. In fact when they finally started talking Thomas was nothing but honest with him, embarrassingly so. The thing Virgil was claiming to be the source of the problem just, wasn’t true. It didn’t make sense to me and still doesn’t even after my third viewing. What I had originally thought was going to happen was that they’d come to a conclusion that tied into Moving On, the episode where Thomas dealt with the aftermath of a break up with Roman, Virgil, and Patton.

Wouldn’t that be something they’d be afraid of? Say Thomas managed to hit it off with this guy. They start dating, everything is going well, only for it to end the same way his last relationship did. Wouldn’t it make a little more since for the main thing to be holding Thomas back is the fear of getting his heart broken again? Of losing yet another person he loved?

Which brings me back to previous point of Patton not being there. Considering these three were the ones to help Thomas resolve things in Moving On, why shouldn’t these three be the ones to be by him when beginning a new relationship?

Unless Patton’s been avoiding these two since currently Virgil is still on rocky ground with Patton and after what happened in POF. But again we have no idea since we don’t know when this episode takes place (well as of writing this I have no idea considering how long it’s taken me to write this Thomas may have tweeted about it or something)

Another potential reason for Patton not being there is basically what I said earlier. In Moving On he was the one struggling the most since he’s Thomas’ feelings. He could have been overwhelmed by all the emotions Thomas was dealing with and simply couldn’t bring himself to show up. This has me hoping that we’ll get a follow up Asides episode where we get to see the other side’s reactions to Nico. If not all of them at least Logan and Patton since it’s been awhile since those two had an episode together.

If that’s the case then I can understand keeping Patton out of this one. But that doesn’t change the fact that I find the whole “lies” thing to be a bit ridiculous.

The final thing I have some of an issue with is how Virgil was the one to “save the day” in this. Throughout this episode Virgil was the one causing the problems (which isn’t to say anything bad about Virgil it’s literally his job to protect Thomas and that includes protecting him from rejection and heartbreak) while Roman was pushing Thomas to go take a chance. I dunno, this one isn’t as big of an issue since I still like the conclusion and Roman calling Virgil brave. It just would have been nice to see Roman going for something and getting it himself. Or at least him and Virgil deciding together that they weren’t going to let this opportunity go.

I dunno, I’m kinda impartial on that one. I just want to see Roman succeed.

And there you have it. Those are my thoughts. As usual, you may take them with a grain of salt. But also feel free to share your own opinions on this episode. It’s definitely become a favorite of mine and is up there with my other favorites.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go be sad because bathroom guy had his hopes and dreams crushed and he deserves justice.

#ts spoilers #sanders sides spoilers #dukeofonions

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365days365movies · 3 years

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March 3, 2021: Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989) (Part One)

I’ve got a confession: I haven’t seen much Miyazaki.

I’ve seen Howl’s Moving Castle (the fucking scarecrow is the film’s best character, DO NOT FUCKING AT ME), Princess Mononoke (boar Keith David, people, that is my SHIT), My Neighbor Totoro (honestly, that whole movie is great, I can’t choose a favorite-Totoro. It’s Totoro, c’mon), bits and pieces of Ponyo (my favorite character is ham) and...that’s it.

I know.

I KNOW, OK?

Look, I promise, I’ll be getting around to them, I promise. Hell, I’ll be doing one of these tomorrow. But today...today, I’ve got another prerogative. And I can sum it up in one word.

Witches.

This was one of my Mom’s favorite shows as a kid, and I grew up watching it, too. So, I’ve always had a soft spot for witches. I also loved Sabrina as a kid (and the new series ain’t bad, either, although I need to watch more of it). And before anybody asks, I still have to watch Little Witch Academia. And up until now, my favorite animated witch has been Witch Hazel from Looney Tunes.

But let’s try to change that, huh? I know a lot of people who love this movie, and it’s been on my list for a while, so let’s get into Kiki’s Delivery Service, yeah? SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Recap (1/2)

It’s a gorgeous day, in a typical Miyazaki landscape. As the radio reports that that night will be nice and clear, a young witch named Kiki (Kirsten Dunst) runs home excitedly to her mother, Okino (Kath Soucie), readying herself to go on a journey.

See, after a witch turns 13, it’s tradition for them to go on a year-long journey on their own. Like Pokémon, but with magic shit. I can dig it. While her parents are a touch reluctant, they allow her to go on the journey with her cat, Jiji (Phil Hartman).

After this very sweet opening, she quite literally takes off on her broomstick with Jiji, heading south towards the ocean. And I’m gonna say right now that this is absolutely adorable, and I’m digging it hardcore, real talk. Maybe this is my mom’s love of Bewitched leaking through to me, but this is already a lovely movie.

Kiki turns on her radio, and flies off over the opening credits. On the way, she meets another witch at the end of her training year, and she’s kind of a snob. The encounter leads Kiki to wonder what her specialty is, magic-wise, before a rainstorm hits them and forces them aground.

That ground, however, happens to be a train car, which takes off in the middle of the night. When she wakes up, the hay she’s sleeping in is being eaten by a group of cows. She gets out with Jiji to see a small hilly port-city, called Koriko. As she and Jiji wonder if there are any witches there, they fly over the bustling city.

I want to go here. I mean, fuck me, man, I wanna go here. It reminds me of the islands, but is also nothing like the islands. I dunno, it just looks lovely. Anyway, there are no witches here, according to a an in a clock tower, cementing Kiki’s decision to stay here. And while the rest of the city people marvel at her flying, she’s clearly not the best at flying, as she nearly causes a massive accident.

The awkward young Kiki tries to talk to some of the frazzled citizens, who quickly leave her be, only for an angry cop to accost her for nearly causing an accident. As he’s about to right her a ticket and contact her parents, he’s suddenly distracted by someone yelling about a thief. As he runs away, he tells her to stay there. She does not stay there. Nice.

The screams of “”thief” came from a young man named Tombo (Matthew Lawrence), who distracted the cop to help Kiki get away. But Kiki’s clearly very shaken by the whole affair, and brushes off the eager and friendly Tombo, flying away as he asks how she’s able to fly. Seems like a nice kid, though.

Still, an upset Kiki isn’t sure where she’ll sleep tonight, and the two consider moving to another town. However, those plans are interrupted by Osono (Tress MacNeille), a pregnant woman and bakery owner. One of her customers left behind her baby’s pacifier, and she is about to bring it back to her. Kiki volunteers to do so in her stead, which Osono greatly appreciates.

After the delivery takes place, she returns to Osono with a message from the mother, noting that her “new delivery girl” is “quite special”. And based on the title of the film, I’m pretty sure I know where this is headed. As Kiki’s about to leave, Osono instead invites her to the back, where the two have hot chocolate.

Osono immediatly takes a like to Kiki, and upon learning that Kiki and Jiji have no place to stay, offers her the attic to stay in. She accepts, and the witch and cat move into the dusty attic. Jiji’s not the biggest fan of the place still, but Kiki decides to stay, hoping to find other nice accepting people like Osono.

The next day, Kiki decides on what to do: she’ll be a delivery witch, bringing goods from place to place throughout town, working for Osono in the process. Osono agrees with this, and the movie’s setting is established. However, Kiki still has some learning to do about city life, from cars to kids.

On the way through town, Kiki laments her “ugly” dress, which honestly isn’t ugly, it’s just plain. Common confluence, those terms. Tombo doesn’t help, as he drives by in a car with his friends, and comments that witches always wear dark dresses. Smooth move, Tombo.

Once she gets back to Osono’s, she finds a delivery job waiting for her. A woman would like a toy cat delivered to her nephew, and Kiki immediately agrees. She flies there, alongside a group of...Canada geese. Huh. Where exactly is this place?

Doesn’t atter, because that wind drove the RIGHT THE FUCK BACK to Canada, and knocks Kiki off her course. She crashes into the forest down below, through the trees and into a nest belonging to what looks like a magpie or rook species. This angers the birds, and causes Kiki to take off in a hurry.

Ther’s a problem, though: Kiki’s lost the doll. Fuck. She tries to go back, but the magpie brought back friends to attack the duo. And lemme tell ya: the eyes don’t work.

Lucky for Kiki, Jiji looks exactly like the doll. And so, they come up with a plan: Jiji will pose as the doll until Kiki can find it in the forest. She delivers “the doll” to the kid, who is...Bobby Hill. Seriously, his name is Ket, but his voice actor is Pamela Segall, who voices Bobby Hill. He takes Jiji, pretending to be a toy, and Jiji...Jiji does a goddamn amazing job pretending to be a toy, lemme tell you.

Kiki finds the toy cat in the shack of an artist, Ursula (Janeane Garofalo), but it’s broken. Ursula agrees to fix it, while Kiki cleans her place in exchange. Ursula also wants to paint Kiki at some point, which makes Kiki quite happy. She returns the toy cat to the mansion she delivered to. Jeff the dog is a fuckin’ GREAT boy, and brings Jiji outside, where he exchanges it with the toy cat, with nobody being the wiser. Good boy, Jeff. Good boy.

Kiki goes home after the tough day, and night becomes day. A bored Kiki is less than pleased when Tombo shows up, offering an invitation to a party with his aviation club. He gives her the invitation as a man comes in with a massive package to deliver, which begins a long day of deliveries.

That is punctuated with a visit to two old women, Barsa (Edie McClurg) and Madame (Debbie Reynolds). As Madame presents the problem, making a herring and pumpkin pot pie for delivery (HURK, oh God, that sounds disHURK), Barsa...

Well, hello there, secret best character of the film, how are you doing today?

That’s so good, that I’m literally stopping on that image. See you in Part 2!

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notsosuperkonoha · 3 years

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Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni Gou ep 23 thoughts

spoilers below!

Man, and we thought a Takano redemption arc was unexpected, huh? Also I haven’t done one of these in a few weeks, mainly cause I felt like I couldn’t organize my thoughts enough for a post for the past few. But I feel like I just have to say something about this one! So, getting into it:

-My main thought right now immediately after watching it is that, wow, that was...too real. That hit really hard, in a much more normal, human way than Higurashi has been hitting lately. I nearly cried during that. I uh...this might be a bit too personal for a Higurashi post but. I wish that my family could’ve seen something like that happen, with someone that did so much wrong having such a true change of heart like that.

-Okay, putting the emotions aside a bit and switching to Logical Higurashi Brain, I feel like choosing to have Teppei have a change of heart like that might be controversial in the fanbase (idk for sure yet though, I haven’t checked the tag yet) but honestly I think that under the very specific circumstances, it works. If anything’s gonna make a horrible person have a change of heart, I think them seeing themself die completely alone and hated by all could definitely do it.

-Overall I really liked this episode! I think it’s one of the better written Gou episodes, and as I showed earlier, it really made me feel. A lot. And that’s one thing that often makes me like an anime (or a work of fiction in general), when it can make me feel very strongly. That’s why I often seek out sad anime, I enjoy how powerful a work of fiction can be to make me feel very strong, human sad feelings.

-The ending though, man. It’s just...really tragic. Part of me almost wants to say that I feel like this was a chance for Satoko to find another way. With Teppei being a changed man, if things worked out with him trying to step up to actually be there for Satoko, I could see a future where he takes on the role of a parental figure for her and actually does it properly this time. Finally having a family member that cares for her again for the first time since Satoshi disappeared, she could realize that this means that even with Rika taking a different path she doesn’t have to be completely alone, and rather than needing to be together 24/7 they could still maintain a healthy friendship while on their different walks of life. And if things go well enough, maybe Satoshi could even get better this time, meaning that she could really have a happy family and things could turn out okay....but that doesn’t happen. Things are only gonna get worse from here and Satoko’s only gonna travel down a worse path.

-To be clear, obviously I’m not like, mad at Satoko for having the ptsd reaction that she had to Teppei reaching out to her, she’s very traumatized and I don’t blame her for her feelings, I’m just sad that things have to be the way they are.

-Final thoughts, a theory. Wait, that reminds me, I haven’t really spoken about Takano since I entertained the idea of her being a looper, have I? Well, that theory’s obviously as dead as dead can be, but I’m gonna keep “looper Takano truther” in my bio cause 1. it’s funny to me and 2. I wanna hold onto the memory of when I seriously thought that that could be. Anyways, theory time! If being part of the looper’s family makes you have very strong loop memories...and we just saw a member of Satoko’s family have these memories result in them having a total change of heart...does this imply what I’m thinking it implies?

Are Satoko and Takano related somehow? I tried to look into seeing if it’s at all possible for her to fit into that family tree but honestly I’m not really sure. Is there anywhere she could fit in? Who knows. But it would make her consistently having the memories make some sort of sense, even if it’s kinda wacky - and it also brings to light some potential understanding of why there seems to be such a connection between them with like, ‘Eua” calling Satoko by the name of Ciconia’s Takano lookalike, along with other names that reference the 3-4 thing. It sounds wacky and kinda out there but like, idk! I feel like anything could happen at this point!

Anyways all in all good episode today, can’t wait for next week’s!

#higurashi no naku koro ni #higurashi no naku kori no gou #higurashi gou #higurashi gou spoilers #higurashi when they cry #when they cry #satoko houjou #my state of the world

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honeylikewords · 5 years

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Gimme your thoughts about Us, I’m still dumb af - You know who it be

I’m putting off an essay to write this but let’s ROCK and ROLL, BABY!

So, spoilers below the cut, just as a warning for anyone who still wants to see Us (2019), dir. Jordan Peele. If you’re unable to see the movie for whatever reason, you can feel free to read this and garner some ideas from it, but I still suggest seeing the film, in the end. A lot of this won’t make sense unless you’ve seen Us!

I normally don’t go out for too much horror, but I do think the Jordan Peele movies are legitimately great works of art, and very culturally relevant, so if you want to be supportive of black artists, black art, and the vocalization of the black experience, I highly suggest going to see these movies or watching them at home.

They’re not actually overly violent or exploitative, and understanding that the violence in the films is meant to be metaphorical for the systemic violence perpetrated against oppressed groups helps to contextualize the stuff you do end up seeing. So, without further ado, let’s get into some Thoughts about some Cinema.

So, first of all, I have to say that I haven’t stopped thinking about this movie since I saw it at, like, 5:30 pm on Sunday. It’s been on my mind non-stop, and I’ve been fixated on the soundtrack, particularly “Anthem” and “Pas de Deux”, along with the “Tethered Remix” of “I Got Five On It”. I love the intentionally jarring combination of sounds, and how “Anthem” is directly reflective of the idea of the “U.S. Anthem”. “Us Anthem”.

Jordan himself has been very open about the fact that the title Us is meant to also represent “U.S.”, and when Red is asked “what she is” and she rasps out “We’re Americans” it just... stuck with me.

The nonsense-singing of “Anthem”, too, fixates me, since the scorer for the film has talked about how it’s the “voices of the Tethered”, and how they’re “angry” and “ready to get free”. We know that the Tethered cannot speak, which is a major and interesting facet of their life, to me, since they’re never given “a voice” beyond this kind of animal screaming and groaning.

It’s what makes a lot of viewers see them as “sub-human”, but always gets to my heart and makes me think about the fact that they are so very keenly human. It makes me think about the repression of “lesser” languages, native languages, “non-verbal” languages. The Tethered DO have a means of communication-- clicks and rasps, cries and screams-- which definitely do pull at the human fear of “unnatural” noises, but also remind me of native languages that utilize clicks or throat sounds often not found in English.

The Tethered are deeply, intimately human. While it is mentioned by Red that two bodies cannot share the one soul, that doesn’t mean to me that the other is soulless. I really don’t think that about the Tethered. I think that they are their own people, and that their rising proves that. They’re not hollow machines that just mimic their “original” on the surface, but are just people with their own souls, people who have been wrongly oppressed and mistreated.

Us is openly a discussion about the way we, as people and as Americans, treat “others”. Whether that means the racial other, the cultural other, the class other, the gendered other, or anything other system we try to dichotomize, binarize, or diametrically oppose to something else, it’s very definitely about the ways we abuse and mistreat people in order to systemically oppress them and gain from that.

Adelaide represents this interesting kind of class-traitor, in a way, because she rises “above the others”, both literally and figuratively, and instead of making an effort to free those around her, she just rises to the top and forgets where she came from. Whether that’s about assimilating into white culture and “rejecting” the culture one came from (joining in the oppression of your own people by claiming to ‘not be one of those kinds’) or about rising to a wealthy position and oppressing the poor, forgetting what it was like to be poor one’s self, or about any number of other things, that’s up for interpretation. But the issue is still there.

Jordan intentionally left the specific meaning of the film open so that every viewer would be forced to engage with it personally. Who do you, personally, help to betray? Who do you, personally, help to oppress? Whose suffering do you, personally, benefit from? You’re forced to grapple with that, and forced to acknowledge the reality that every single one of us is part of the issue. You only climb higher by putting someone below you, and this movie forces you to recognize that.

I’ve heard people complaining that Us isn’t as good as Get Out specifically because it’s more open-ended, but I think that’s what makes both films fantastic and beautiful. Get Out brazenly exposes the direct experience of everyday black horror, and is completely open about it. It’s a one-to-one analogy. But Us is for everyone, making you wrestle with yourself. You are your own Tethered. You are the good and the bad of yourself. And neither one is fully good and neither one is fully bad. Get Out was a master-class in analogy, but Us is more of a metaphor; it doesn’t need to have everything laid out. Its horror and its beauty lay inside of its intentional cloudiness.

I’m really obsessed with the rabbit imagery, too. I love bunnies, and seeing them become symbolic of this horror really was an interesting take. Jordan himself has expressed being uncomfortable with and scared of rabbits, specifically because he can see that they’re “soulless” inside; he says that if you took the brain of a rabbit and put it in a person, you’d get Michael Myers. Totally void, just ready to hurt. And I think that’s an interesting take on them. He also points out that the image of rabbit ears, the shape of their head, mirrors the shape of the scissors that the Tethereds use.

I also love the way that rabbits are largely docile little creatures, but can bite pretty hard if provoked, and I feel that’s a good way to look at the Tethered. I don’t see them as inherently evil or violent, just pushed beyond their own limitations. They did what we all did as Americans: they led a violent uprising against their oppressors, then ‘peacefully’ took their place, all the way across America. They are us, for better, for worse.

The choice to use the 80′s references really often also caught my attention; Jordan talks about how the 80′s nostalgia is this double-edged sword, since everyone is longing to go back, but not realizing the costs and weights of that, the evil lurking under the placidity and “wholesome American image” that the 80′s sought to project.

The all-American, apple pie, small-town fun and games of the 80′s also came with the Reagan administration, the AIDs crisis, the war on drugs, a massive rift between the rich and the poor (with a steadily more wealthy middle class expanding from just middle class into rich, upper middle class individuals and extremely poor lower middle class), and “sublimated racism”. We pretended, as a nation, that we were now post-racial, but that was such, such, such a huge lie.

So setting the memory scenes in the 80′s, using 80′s film references, 80′s imagery, 80′s sound-a-likes, the Michael Jackson stuff: it all points to the duality of what we love, what we are nostalgic for. Michael was a hero of the 80′s, but now...

Speaking of Michael Jackson, notice carefully the costuming of the Tethereds. Red jumpsuit, single glove, ‘the monster is not what it seems’, the “Thriller” t-shirt... why, Jordan, one might think that you made the Tethereds look like Michael in “Thriller”!

Which he obviously did, guh-doy.

I mean, the glove/sharp symbol also is an homage to good ol’ shithead Freddy Krueger, too, but it’s definitely a potent nod to Michael Jackson. We know that Adelaide (now Red) had seen the “Thriller” video as a child, and that she wanted the shirt with him on it, so the image of the Tethered is this combination between the Hands Across America symbols and the Michael Jackson look in “Thriller”. Adelaide (now Red) never forgot.

Also, god, Hands Across America? Talk about 80′s false optimism! It’s incredible how potent that image is for the issue being discussed. For those of you who don’t know, Hands Across America was an initiative in the 80′s to help end hunger and homelessness in America. The idea was that every person in America would join hands and form a line “from sea to shining sea” across the entire lower 48 continental states, and for each person in line, $10 dollars would be donated to the cause.

The event, of course, failed in many ways. First, there’s no POSSIBLE way for people to join hands across the whole continent; the terrain of the US makes it entirely impossible. Plus, the time necessary to conduct that would be incredibly exhausting for people standing in line! But what’s worse? The project did successfully raise ~$34 million, but nearly $20 million of that disappeared into “event costs”: paying the celebrities that endorsed it, paying the event organizers, et cetera. Only around $15 millions made it to the homeless and hungry. While $15 mil. is no small number, that’s.... less than half of what was raised. So where did all that go? Into the pockets of the already rich. It’s such powerful symbolism, especially within the context of the film.

Oh, also, while still on the 80′s talk, the opening shot of the film features a VHS copy of the movie C.H.U.D., a movie about “sub-human underground sewer dwellers” who rose up to eat the surface humans. These “CHUDs” were one-to-one analogies for the homeless and impoverished.

I cannot get over how strong the storytelling is in Us, I just can’t. I’m obsessed with it. I cannot help but wanna talk about it all the time! It’s so GOOD and I’m so FRUSTRATED that I’m gonna cut myself off here to stop from ranting about every teeny tiny thing and every big major thing because no one will know what I’m on about, but, seriously, do yourselves a favor and go see Us.

This movie will make you have to sit down and think about whose suffering you’ve benefited from, and what you need to do within yourself to change this.

Also, before I go, I just gotta say I love, love, love the decision Jordan made about having the 1980s version of the hall of mirrors be “Native American” themed, only to have that “politically corrected” in the 2010s to be “Merlin’s Hall Of Mirrors”, which is just a facade thrown up over a still-racist, exactly the same hall of mirrors. The problem lurks within, never gone, just covered.

Also, that ties to the Kubrick connection (The Shining is a major inspiration for Jordan) and the genocide connection, so, uh, it’s deep out here, lads.

Anyway, I have opinions about movies.

#also lupita deserves an oscar for this role no joke #her 'red' voice? ogh my god... oh my god #HER M II I I I I N D !!!!#messages #long post #us spoilers #Anonymous

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sleepy--mp3 · 5 years

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okja (2017)

it may be two years too late but i recently (a few minutes ago) watched the film Okja. for those who are unsure of the plot, okja follows the path of a young girl who raised okja, a pig bred for a competition. when the pig is taken away for the competition, Mija, the girl, goes after her. she meets a rebel group of animal lovers and they attempt to take the pig back.

im about to spoil the film so if you haven’t seen it and wanna, bye!

okay. spoilers below. it’s been two years though so unless you’re me, you should be aware of the plot. they’re not major spoilers though.

firstly, my initial thoughts. i loved it. the cinematography was fantastic, striking visuals and contrast of light and dark when approaching different parts of the film were perfect and beautiful, the emotions they evoked from me when watching it was unforgettable. when the shot of all the manufactured pigs panned out to show thousands of them, i had chills everywhere.

the fact that it was a korean-american film in terms of actors, language and setting--and done so WELL, director Bong Joon-ho impressed me to no ends, is important in so many ways. the representation it brings, as well as the importance of steven yeun (the walking dead, voltron: legendary defender, mayhem) in the role of the korean-american character ‘k’. i am not a korean speaker, so i did limited research on his portrayal of k in the film, and according to an interview, he played k as a character that was dancing in between the roles of korean and american, and spoke slightly broken korean on purpose. read this article for a well articulated version of what im trying to say: https://slate.com/culture/2017/06/there-s-a-translation-joke-for-korean-americans-in-the-subtitles-of-okja.html

the acting was fantastic. Seo-Hyeon Ahn, mija, was phenomenal. i was truly and completely invested because of her. incredible. the entire cast floored me. everyone was so perfect in their roles i couldn’t believe what a dream cast it was. tilda swinton and jake gyllenhaal astounded me, they were absolutely unforgettable as the ‘antagonists’, and i even felt disgustingly sympathetic for them, especially jake when dr. johnny has the breakdown in the factory.

carrying on, the characters were amazingly written. the movie okja was portrayed so that there was no black and white, right and wrong--every character was in the grey area, it portrayed everyone in a harsh light. the ‘good’ characters did bad things and it was a refreshing take on protag vs antag. the main characters were so likeable and i loved their chemistry and interactions. paul dano (jay) and steven yeun (k) thrived in their scenes together (k is a primary example of the “good character does bad thing” style i just mentioned when he mistranslates. jay is also a bit iffy in terms of his morals in some scenes. in fact, the whole alf is). i lowkey shipped them together throughout the film, especially in the post credit scene. other main characters included red, played by lily collins, blond, played by daniel henshall, and silver, played by devon bostick (aka jasper from the 100).

blond and silver, i would like to point out, are portrayed as boyfriends in the film. lgbt characters. they did not kiss on screen, nor did they in any way verbally state that they were in a homosexual relationship. they were dating though. through body language (holding each other, burying faces in necks/shoulders, sacrificing themselves for the other, etc) it was explicitly shown. the fact that lgbt characters were shown in Okja without anybody mentioning or playing a large amount of attention to was amazing. it showed that lgbt characters don’t have to be a ‘big deal’ or that they are in a film just to be an lgbt character. they were animal lovers part of the alf who played crucial roles in the film, who just happened to be dating. it was fine. wonderful.

finally, okja the film was NOT an anti-meat statement. i can see how it could be interpreted as such but it was NOT AN ANTI-MEAT FILM. mija is shown explicitly eating meat, she collects fish in the stream for dinner and her grandfather makes her chicken stew. this film was promoting ETHICAL PRODUCTION. the conditions of which the bred bigs were put through were an attempt to show the horrors of manufactured creatures such as okja. though they are not real creatures and this is a fictional setting, it is a representation of real meat manufacturing and production. okja is chosen as the Biggest, Best, most Beautiful pig, and she has been raised by just roaming the country, fed and raised naturally. this is a representation of natural, ethical means of meat production. it showed corporate greed, activism and ETHICAL PRODUCTION.

tldr; OKJA IS AN INCREDIBLE FILM WITH PHENOMENAL ACTING AND AN AMAZING MESSAGE THAT STAYS WITH YOU LONG AFTER WATCHING. PLEASE GO WATCH IT. IT IS WORTH THE TIME I PROMISE YOU.

also: i have absolutely no experience nor professional critiquing in terms of film studies or the history of meat production. or ethnicity representation or anything that i have spoken about. take my opinions with a grain of salt. i am literally fifteen years old.

if you made it this far, thanks for reading! i hope this film changes/changed you as much as it did me.

#okja #bong joon-ho #film #netflix

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meny-sempai · 6 years

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MO DAO ZU SHI IS A MASTERPIECE – part 01

OH MY GOD EP 15! That was so… UGH. I have so much to say, yet I’m speechless at the same time! Aaaaa! Ok, that’s it! It’s time!

The first season is over and I can finally talk about my experience with the piece of art that is Mo Dao Zu Shi. Yes, it is a piece of art and I will prove it to you in this short series of my thoughts about the show.

I just have to say – I’m not a native English speaker so bear with the mistakes I’m bound to make. I did read the novel, but only as far as the Exiled Rebels Scanlations translated it (thank you Rebels, you’re gods). I started reading the novel after the first airing of the third episode, so at the very beginning of MDZS mania – I went in blind and… it was FUNNY. I’ll talk more about that down below. And yes, I know a lot of spoilers, but I can’t say I know the whole story – If I start theorizing be aware that I’m just theorizing, I’m not actually telling the plot, but, just to be sure: SPOILERS ahead, I will use the facts I know for my analysis.

For the first two episodes I’m going to tell you my blind reactions and compare them with my impressions after finishing the season. My misinterpretations are hilarious and I admit I was really dumb. Enjoy my stupidity.

The rest of the episodes will have my impressions and analysis that I now have after finishing the show. There will be a few of these kind of posts on my profile because I can’t fit everything I have to say in just one. I don’t actually do analysis of shows here, because this is my personal art blog, but I sometimes make exceptions. As an animation student I just had to talk about Mo Dao Zu Shi. I want more people to see it. I want people to know that it is much more than BL.

So… Here we go!

INTRODUCTION – or, who the hell even asked for my opinion?

I’ve been a fan of anime/manga since I was 13, which was 12 years ago (I’m old, I know). Sure, I’ve watched Digimon, Pokemon, Bayblade and all that jazz when I was even younger, but that doesn’t count, because I had no clue about the concept of anime.

I’ve seen a lot of shit, I’m quite open to a lot of shit and if I’m in the right mood I can take a lot of shit, but I still regard myself as someone who has a good taste. The older I get the less time I have to take a chance at something I wouldn’t normally watch. Even if there is something I’d watch I usually end up not having time for it. Since I started studying and doing animation myself, my criteria for the quality skyrocketed. I long gave up on the three episode rule. One episode is enough to see potential if there is potential (some shows can still trick me – I’m looking at you Sirius the Jaeger).

Ok, ok, I’m not bashing on Sirius the Jaeger. I’m just saying the show had a lot of potential and threw it out of the window. If there was no Mikhail and Yuliy dynamics… Scratch that – if there was no Mikhail in the show, the story would have been completely empty. At least for me.

Since we’re talking about other shows, I’ll use this opportunity to declare Mo Dao Zu Shi as the animation of the year. Sure, the year’s still not over, sure I only watched Cells at Work, Free! Dive in to the Future, Sirius the Jaeger and BANANA FISH, but I still believe in what I say.

Sorry Cells, you’re cute, you make me care more about my body, you make me have weird feelings about Cancer (WTF). I wish I can show you to all the school kids in my country, but you’re not the best this time. Please, give me another season, thank you. Love the manga. Guys, please watch this anime!

Sorry Free, you… Pfff… Ok, yeah, FREE, I love you dude, thank you for all the sexy muscles and almost BL drama (and some actual deep moments). Thank you for all the Rin, we can never have enough of Rin. And thank you for Kisumi and Asahi – didn’t know I needed that. Thank you, but… yeah, know your place (hint: it’s right here in my arms).

Sorry Sirius, I wish you had more episodes to explore the story and the characters. Liked the OP and the animation.

Sorry BANANA FISH, oh god, I really am. Before MDZS I lived for you BF, I lived for you! I was an old fan of the manga and I was so hyped. I can’t say I’m dissatisfied with the anime adaptation. I liked a lot of things they did, the way they adapted stuff, added and changed stuff, but it was just too much plot for 13 episodes and the effects of it became clearer and worse while the anime progressed. I have no idea how MAPPA will handle the second season. My fingers are crossed. Guys, watch this anime. Even with all the flaws it’s worth your time.

And yes, I watched Voltron and The Dragon Prince. This will be a really long post if I start on those, so I won’t.

So… YES. Mo Dao Zu Shi came out of nowhere for me and took the crown. Wow… where to start…?

How did I find this show…? Actually, how did this show find me? Well… It was my beta reader, I think. After 13 years of being a silent fan of Asian comics and animation, I decided to finally write a fanfiction. Surprisingly, it was for the small fandom of the Korean comic Noblesse (nobody cares, carry on). I don’t know why, but my beta told me about this new BL “anime”. When I realized it was Chinese I rolled my eyes. I’m an asshole, I know, but I just never liked anything I saw from the Chinese (I haven’t seen much, but what I saw was poorly animated/was in 3D and I’m not a huge fan of 3D). I also never liked the voice acting… Ok. OK, I admit! I never liked the language, ok? Shoot me!

Then… Everything changed when the Wen clan attacked.

Anyway… I was bored, I was lazy and didn’t want to do work for my university, so I said: “What the heck! Hit me with some Chinese BL.” I clicked on the first episode not even bothering to read the summary. Man… My expectations were the low of the lowest.

EPISODE 01 – or, what the fuck did I just watch and is there more of it?

Oh shit… I’m terrible at names, especially Chinese names! Am I supposed to remember all this, is this important? The clans, the wars, the titles? This is BL, right? Should I take out my note book? Fuck, pause it. Ok… Ok… I get it? Let’s just continue.

(When I look at it now it was pretty clear. I really am dumb. To be fair, you need time to get used to how they use names. And for someone who never watched Chinese animation seriously and doesn’t know anything about the culture it really was a lot of new information. But don’t let that stop you from watching it!)

Ughhhhh…. 3D… damn it. And it was going so well. Ugh, just look at those wings flapping! Are the wings broken? What the hell! Why do they do this?

(Lol, I was so triggered. XD The bird is actually fine. I like how the scene transitioned from the pupil of a scared man to the pupil of the crow. As if they were watching each other in the eye, only adding to the creepiness. The lighting is also great. Everything is dark and gloomy, fitting the “horror” atmosphere really well, yet at the same time the dark scenes are vivid and clear. It’s hard to make the misty night look clear and colorful. The flying is a bit iffy, but it doesn’t really matter because the effect of hundred birds covering the sky is strong and meaningful.)

Holly shit! This is amazing! Pause it! No, go back, I wanna see this again. Oh my god, that flute! The music is awesome, I’m having goosebumps. Ooohh, love the music, I never heard something like this. Oh, this dude is so cool. Red eyes and zombies and… What is this show about again? Zombie BL? Really? It’s not really zombies, right? Please don’t be about zombies, I hate zombies.

(Honestly, this scene is stunning. A really effective way to reveal a character. Especially a character that we are not sure whether he is good or bad. The most amazing thing for me about this is how they used music. It isn’t just the background music to accompany the atmosphere. It isn’t there just to tell something about the character and make him stand out (it’s not a character theme). The flute is not alone here, there are many themes working with it. Together they are not there to tell us “this is a scary action scene” so feel this, or “this is a sad scene”, or a “funny scene”. No. The music here is its own art piece. It’s actually there to tell us in its own language the story that we are seeing on screen. I don’t know how to explain it. For me, the way the music changed was perfectly synchronized with the way people were saying words, the way Wei Wuxian moved his head, the way the corpses stood up to attack. If I close my eyes I can see the scene by only listening to the music. This is something that regularly happens in this show. I don’t know how they do it, but I applaud to it. I can’t remember the last time the music left such an impact on me in the animation series. And this is just the first episode and the first scene. We have no idea who these people are. We are not expected to feel emotional for them. But I felt the connection. I felt like I was there and the corpses were about to get me.)

Ugh! 3D, you’re killing me! And it was such a cool intro! Ok, calm down, what are they saying? So… That’s the guy with the flute, right? No, it was Wei, but Wei Something else. No, wait, it has to be him. Go back. Yeah, it is him. What the hell is a courtesy name? Ok, never mind, try to remember.

Oh no…! More exposition, more names and clans! My brain is melting! Cool smoke/ink animation, though. Hmm, purple ring. Nice. That’s important, right? Oh! The amulet thing! Remember that. That’s gonna bite us in the ass later, ain’t it? Alright, so “Wei something” died. Killed by… shidi? So… the younger clan member? So…? This Wei also had his own clan? Am I getting this right? I’m probably not getting this right. Ugh, just watch the damn episode, quit pausing every goddamn second! It’ll explain itself.

I like the OP! The similar smoke/ink animation and… Wow, ok, there are too many handsome guys here. I’ll have to focus. The music is catchy. I like the singer’s voice. Cool!

(I’m now quite fond of the 3D in here. The tortoise and everything. XD Also, in my defense - they have three names, like, come on. I didn’t see that coming. I don’t even have a middle name. Although, I do think having three ways to be addressed is pretty interesting. You can tell and convey a lot by just picking a name the character uses in his speech.

Fun fact no1. – at the time I couldn’t even recognition the names when they would speak. All of the words sounded the same to me, which was so unusual. I can now recognize a lot of words and phrases. And, I think… Well, you’ll see what I now think about Chinese and VAs. I’m just gonna say this: I’d like to learn Chinese just so that I can write a love letter to Guo Haoran.

Fun fact no2. – It took me 6 episodes to actually pay attention to the lyrics of the OP and ED and to realize that they are representing Wei Wuxian and Lan WangJi. That’s a really beautiful touch, very smart. And it brings so much meaning to the table when the ED changes. I don’t think I ever saw OP and ED used in this particular way.)

Well, this is getting really dark and interesting. This Wei may be a refreshing MC. Probably a good guy at heart, but shady as fuck and ready to kill. I do have another name to worry about, but Mo is easy to remember (“Don’t close mountain” – if you know what I mean :P). I wonder if Mo is important to the plot. I see potential for some twists here.

2D animation is looking good so far. I like how they made us look from the protagonist’s POV. Really refreshing directing… hmm… Still not buying the Chinese, but Wei has a nice voice. The music is still great.

Bahahahaha! Scratch that, Wei is an idiot! Good to know that liquor is your priority, Wei! XD Omg the donkey, too, look at that face, look at the eyelashes!

The fuck is this shit? Are those people flying? While standing? Are they standing on something? What the hell? XD Man, that sky is nice. Oh! Oh, oh, wait, those guys! Those were the shadows I saw a scene earlier. Mmm… Attention to detail. Nice. Looks like I’ll have to pay close attention to every scene. Been a long time I had to focus so hard on an “anime”.

(10 minutes and I was already very intrigued. I didn’t know shit, but I was in. With all the pausing I probably spent 50 minutes on this episode, but it felt like barely 20 minutes had passed. At the beginning I paused a lot because I was too slow to read the subtitles (no, I don’t watch dubs, I’m just too used to Japanese and their culture references that reading subs is child’s play, but this was new territory for me). I also paused a lot because I felt I’ve missed something, or because I was surprised at how some scenes looked.

I don’t pause that often now. Mo Dao Zu Shi trained me to see and hunt for detail. As I said, it’s been a long time since I had the need to carefully look at the backgrounds and pay attention to all of the characters’ expressions. Mo Dao Zu Shi tells a lot in silence and in small details. It awards you if you take time to look at the scenery. When I find something that I’d usually miss, I don’t necessarily feel smarter, but I feel the show is treating me as someone smart. MDZS respects its audience. It makes them think and remember. Which makes this show 100% re-watchable. I watched all the episodes 3 times. Some I watched even more – like episode 11. And I always have a new experience. I love coming back to it. Even when I work I play the episodes and listen to them. It’s interesting. Try it. Try just to listen to the audio. It has rare quality to it. The sounds and music are used wisely and a piece of music always has a legit reason why it’s played.)

Ok, this run is too slow. I get that he’s fat, but still, the foot exchange doesn’t fit with the distance he’s making. Also, the flying guys are not flying anymore. I got more info. And MORE NAMES. Kill me now. The info is interesting, though. Cultivators are Chinese exorcist, right? I really should have read the summery.

(I still think the running was not convincing. There are moments such as these in the show, but honestly, MDZS has fascinating animation and it only gets better in the later episodes (I’m not even gonna start with ep 11 – ep 11 will get its own post). The animators know what they are doing and the director knows how to make a scene work at full capacity.

Fun Fact no3. – D.Gray-man destroyed me. I now only know how to say “exorcist” the Japanese way.

MDZS also has a way of making seemingly stupid stuff look and be cool. Surfing on swords sounds pretty dumb, but when you actually see it and have it explained to you, when it has plot significance it becomes a fresh idea. I want to have my own sword to surf on!)

Well, hello… Lan… Jingyi ~ (How do you read this? O.O) Mmm… I’m digging the art style. Cute boys~

Also, Wei, you’re a fucking genius! XD The Oscar goes to you, my dude.

(… I still think Wei Wuxian is a fucking genius. I’m not gonna talk a lot about him right now, but I just gotta say that he is such a classic MC, yet at the same time he is so original. He’s just one of the proofs how great the writing this series has.

Speaking of writing – this show has some of the best dialog I’ve ever seen. Not only because of what is being said, but also because of the VAs, directing, music and animation. Dialog often has more than one meaning and always serves to deepen the characters and their relationships. I love how they use animation to show how the characters are truly feeling while saying something and what they actually mean when they say it. Everything they say has a reason and it makes you pay attention to other’s reaction to what is being said. I love how the character can say the same thing in so many different ways and that this is used to show his development and growth. I’m also amazed at how simple “hmm-s” and “mmm-s” mean so much in this show.

I’m not saying character animation and rich expressiveness is something new, but it is rare and this show is really good at it. For example, quite a few characters laugh or cry but they all do it differently. They raise their eyebrows differently, they’re surprised and scared differently etc. This all sounds as a no-brainer, but it’s not so common. It’s difficult to pull off and I’m not saying MDZS is perfect, but it’s close.)

(Please… You think you can take down someone who spent his whole life perfecting the art of climbing up trees? Pff! You’re not Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan.)

(He looks so comfortable among corpses. It’s funny, yet so sad. These are all great hints for the mind-set of a character that you’ll miss at first watching, but you won’t forget about it. And when the memory clicks – it makes a loud click. Not a second is wasted in this show. Everything has a point. I’ll elaborate more on that with some examples in other posts.)

Bahahaha! I feel you bro! XD

But I feel you too. I mean, I don’t care about you, wench, don’t get me wrong, but it’s kinda sad. I’m liking these zombies. They’re my way of creepy and there’s potential for a deeper plot for them if it’s true that their personalities are still there somewhere. This just adds to the debate whether Wei is good or bad. The grey area… I love the grey the most. All 50 shades of it. And I’m enjoying the mystery vibe of this episode. Was there a mystery tag on this “anime”? Also, the fight scenes are not bad. And it’s cool how they all hate Wei but use his technics and knowledge. Realistic. Cool.

Oh my god! The colors! Whaaat? What the hell, look at that hair animation! And the music from that… string thingy- instrument – so cool. Ooohh, wait, this is the white dude, THE dude. Here comes the BL!

Ooohhh, I see what you did there. Kudos for you, director! Similarities and contrasts. Nice. And it’s over, I can’t believe it’s over! How can you cliff hang like that?! There’s a second episode, right? Mm, the ED is so pure. There IS a second episode! Well, while I’m here, don’t mind if I do!

EPISODE 2 – or, how I got everything wrong!

I bet he’s thinking: “The fuck is with this aim? The little shit almost killed me! I’m annoyed and amazed! Better play a fool and run for it.” But, seriously, that aim! Wei actually paused (love the little wobble effect on the arrow). And I have another name to remember! Ugh! And another color! Are they color coded? That could be helpful. Also, look at that tree. Wow… They’re blending the 3D backgrounds quite well with the 2D.

And Mo is important to the plot! Nice! So he has connections with the Yellow clan. The plot thickens.

I just gotta say – all of them have interesting designs. I wonder if every cultivator has his own sword. Bleach style or something. On the other hand, animators must be pulling out their hair because of all the details. XD

Cool little battle. Great camera work. They showed the difference between a student cultivator and an experienced one in an entertaining way. That soul summoning was nice too.

(This fight served as a nice show of power difference. It adds a lot to the future episodes where all of the main cast are students and have to face various trials. It gives us a hint at how powerful the clan leaders must be, it gives us a new perspective on the war and its casualties. We now get why many cultivators died so “easy”. It also hints at how talented students are different from the average which is an important detail in the plot. This little “unimportant” fight grounds it all and makes the levels in the clan system believable and palpable.)

This is really clever. Kudos for the reflection. Wei, haven’t you ever watched an anime? It’s clear the kid doesn’t have a mom. He probably doesn’t even have a dad.

(Ok… prepare for a full on fangirl attack.)

… My ears are tingling.

… This voice… Oh my ears, please calm down, something big is happening right now. Wait… Oh wow, he knows him! Look at the face he’s making, oh shit! And this new guy…! We haven’t even seen his face and he’s making threats! Hmm… Can’t say I don’t like that. Yeah, I like that… He’s gonna be the villain, isn’t he? I always like the villains and they always have the best voices. Well… if he’s a villain, let’s hope he’s hot-

Oh, wow, this is really good. The way the light appears, and that little shine of the… bell? Purple… Purple? The purple ring? Is this connected? Well, anyway, he has a pretty dramatic reveal and nice music – yep, he’s the bad guy. Let me see your face-

Wei… why are you so scared? They sure take their sweet time in revealing this guy. This may be more important than I thought. Don’t miss anything!

(Are you prepared?)

HOLLY MOTHER OF GOD WHAT THE FUCK OH MY GOD WHAAATT??? Was he this beautiful in the OP? Whaaaatt? AAAAHHHHHH!!!! SCREENSHOT! WALLPAPER! GO BACK, REPEAT THE SCENE! YOU! YOU, MY BOY, HAVE ENTERED MY HAREM. Oh what a day to be alive! Mmmm, ok, calm down, we’ll draw him later, let’s try to focus. Jiang Cheng. Ok, it’s a more common name, I’ll remember him. Heh. Like I could forget this boy. Oh, no, not a boy, a MAN. This is a man. Uhuhuhu~

(Aaaand my mind was a bit hazy for the rest of the episode – you will see the results.

Fun fact no4. – Immediately after this episode I looked up MDZS on Tumblr and realized that the fandom is calling Jiang Cheng JC. Still under the effects of what I just saw I thought calling him God was quite appropriate.)

NICE PROFILE!!! Is he going to be the other love interest for the MC? Are we gonna see the cliché love triangle? If it’s with this dude, maybe it won’t be so bad~ Ok, seriously, watch the show!

Ok, the magic light here is a nice touch. This Jiang Cheng is a bit cold even to his nephew. He doesn’t recognize Wei, but that’s expected. Wei is strongly reacting to him. What’s the connection? Judging by the music – it’s sad? I expected something more, I don’t know, menacing? Evil? But it’s just sad. Maybe he’s not a villain. That… that could open so many doors… TO MY KOKORO.

“Feed your dogs.” Ouch, that’s dark. Someone really hates the “demon” cultivators.

“Could this boy be…?” What? What is he? Want’s the connection? Should I know, did I miss something?

The white dude and my purple man clash! Holly, Jiang Chang sounds pissed (passive aggressive enough?), while White poster boy here doesn’t give a damn! XD Ahahaha! Could Jiang Cheng be the Chinese tsundere? No, no, no, let’s not call such a man a tsundere. It’s too early.

Oh, Uncle is the leader of the sect. Nice. How old is the Uncle? Is he married?

This obvious metaphor of concealing the light is distracting me from fangirling. It’s interesting how it connects with the Jiang Cheng reveal. I feel that… shit is about to go down.

I was right! He’s the ring! What does the ring represent? And he’s doing what I always do! I play with my ring like that all the time! Nice.

SCREENSHOT! Oh, but he’s pissed. Oh, but I love the way he looks at me~ I feel all mushy.

Ha! Interesting. He’s smart, he has some self-control. Refreshing. But don’t turn your anger at your nephew, please. Also, it seems like the white dude and the Uncle have some history. Hmm…

I thought so. The white dude was the one who killed Wei. The tragic love. I can already see it.

(Yep. I thought Lan WangJi was the Shidi who “killed” Wei Wuxian. You are allowed to face palm.)

Oh no… I know where this is going. And the music…

Oh man… It’s the second episode and I’m already having the feels. What happened, Wei?! I refuse to believe you’re a bad guy!

But, I get Wei’s reaction to Jiang Cheng now.

(I don’t know how it happened, but I was thinking… What if she was killed by Jin Zixuan’s sword? We know Wei Wuxian stopped using his. From this shot we know he wasn’t the one who stabbed her, so was it Wen Ning? It’s obvious he was involved in the tragedy. As far as I know SPOILERS Wen Ning killed Jin Zixuan. If the killer sword is the one we know – if it’s Jin Zixuan’s then Wei’s reflection in this episode has a deeper meaning.)

Bahahaha I feel you, honor student. I like the kids.

(Honestly, they balance the humor and the serious stuff masterfully.)

I died.

This is giving me Gantz PTSD. That shit gave me nightmares. Nephew is really bold.

(I believe Jin Ling has some of his Uncle Wei’s recklessness and hero complex, but he also wants to prove himself just like his other two Uncles. I’ll talk more about them in another post.)

Uuhh, Wei is playing the flute! Risky, I like it.

(Ok, people. Be prepared for the ultimate face palm.)

Oh my god! Don’t tell me he summoned his own body! This resembles the scene from the narration… and he’s wearing black!

I’m right! Nephew wants revenge! Great shot by the way. You can feel the rage in the movement.

(You face palmed yet?)

I really love the way they use the flute! It depicts the flow of the camera so well!

… Wen… Wen what? Wen Ning? Who’s Wen Ning? What? Wait, are they talking about the corpse? What’s going on??? O_O Who’s Wen Ning?! Did I miss something? What’s the full name of the MC again? Ugh… This is so tiring… Ok, never mind, enjoy the beautiful flute song.

Busted!

I swear to god, this guy is illegal!

Oh, boy he figured it out too and he’s… sadistically happy? Eh… But, I get it. If he believes that Wei killed his sister, I get it. And her husband? Did he “kill” the dad, too?

I can’t believe he has a whip AND a braid? And he’s purple??? Did someone look into my diary? Is it Christmas yet? XD Am I dead?

Did he just smile? Am I imagining things? XD I can’t figure him out!

Please! Don’t lie, white dude! “He’s path is uncommon”, yeah right, we all know what you want.

THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST THINGS I’VE SEEN AND HEARD IN MY LIFE.

(This would have annoyed anyone no matter who said it, but because it was Wei Wuxian, I think it was even more annoying in Jiang Cheng’s head. Wei Wuxian knows him too well. It’s even funnier when you know that JC is blacklisted. XD He’s no good even to the lunatic.)

And at this exact moment Wei knew he fucked up. XD This is golden.

... Please DON’T turn into rape BL.

(It so DID NOT.)

Oh Wei, you’re no match for this guy! :D

Hmm, looks like we’re going back in time. I love me some juicy flashbacks. Can’t wait to see more.

... I can’t believe I actually like this zombie BL. I just hope they don’t fuck up the animation later on.

(And the rest is history. As you can see - I’m obsessed.)

-----

That’s all for today! Next posts will have more character, story and art analysis. Hope you liked this and please forgive me for making this so long. See you!

#mo dao zu shi #grandmaster of demonic cultivation #wei wuxian #lan wangji #Jiang Cheng #jin ling #wen ning #jin zixuan #analysis #donghua #animation

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aerislei · 6 years

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MHA - Post Season 1 Wrap Up

Season one covered a lot of ground and introduced a huge number of characters. It’s, ah, pretty ambitious tbh. That’s a big cast to keep track of and keep everyone interested in. And while it looks like they aren’t staying restricted to 13 episode seasons (thank goodness) there is still really limited screentime to work with when you consider we’ve got... Baku, Deku, Momo, Todoroki, ... ... Ochaco, that’s her name. And also... Kirishima, Mina, All Might, Aizawa...Jiru... I could go on and on, at this point.

Most characters are a name, a power, and a big question mark. I’m not going to even try to cover the whole cast, just going to pull a few I have something to say about, but below are a few characters and my current thoughts/theories. I do a more general wrap up at the end as well with what I’m thinking as we go forward.

I’m 13 episodes in, with more than 60 total. I’ve got some work to go yet.

This is the part where I mention (possibly reiterate) that I really don’t mind spoilers (because I am of the mind that it’s not necessarily the bit of information but how we get to it/learn about it/etc that makes the story what it is) and because of that I am somewhat steeped in information about MHA that was not necessarily available when season one was originally released. This is not a blind watching of the anime, and so some of my theorizing is based on information that I know comes into play, but don’t know how. I don’t really go seeking spoilers and I have been slightly more cautious since I started watching, but yeah, some things are inevitable.

Bakugo

I still think he’s compensating for something. He is settling into class better, after the combat practice episode. But there’s something... hm. He’s not got a good base, and I’m still suspecting some sort of rough place in his history with his quirk bringing positive attention that he craved. ... Or negative attention, even. Anything is better than being ignored right? This is speculation, but that’s where I am with him right now. I was very proud of his actions during the Villain attack, but... his personality remains all sharp edges. Still not sure I like him exactly, but here we are. He’s not a bad character, just a complicated one.

... I really which I knew why Deku keeps calling him -chan tho bc that’s generally a term of endearment and hell if they don’t seem to really not like each other. Like were they actually friendly once? Because all the flashbacks have the friendliness as very... very one sided. On the other hand, it may just be that he calls him -chan because that’s the sort of person Deku is. Hrm.

Ahhhhhh. I’m actually excited to see where the rivalry drives them, I didn’t expect to say that. But the two of them are in a position to push each other very... very far. I still want to see him develop more as a friend of Kirishima tho. He could use actual friends it seems.

Kirishima

It took me a second to remember his quirk, right, hardening. Okay. So! He’s had a combined total of like 5 minutes of screentime, curse of a cast this large. He is intriguing to me. He has a very hero-like attitude, is the best way I can describe it. And by that I mean his general outlook on ... for example, he and Bakugo going after warpgate, he recognized that they got in the way, and it may have been partially their fault that Thirteen wasn’t able to stop things before they were all scattered. He wanted to fix that.

He works really well with Bakugo in a way I’m not sure how to describe. I do hope to see them becoming friends, to an extent because I get the sense that maybe both of them could use a friend. I have a slight guess that he may feel drawn to Bakugo because they’re similar in some ways - but I haven’t quite figured out how because they have very different outlooks, externally.

I kind of ship Kiribaku, despite aforementioned combined total of maybe 5 minutes. Don’t judge me too harshly.

I really wanna know more about this guy, I think that’s all.

Todoroki

Literally a name a power and a question mark. We know he got in on recommendation - of course we don’t know who’s, but I’m not sure it’s important. What’s interesting though, and Midoriya brought it up in the monologue during um, Hero Notebook, I think, and I realized he’s right. We’ve never seen him use the heat portion of his quirk except to release his classmates that he froze in the combat practice episode. He relies almost solely on the ice portion. Now, this could be because freezing people in place is super effective and he hasn’t needed anything more but it’s still... interesting.

Especially when coupled with the burn on the side of his face, around his eye. That scar reminds me of Zuko, ofc (seriously look at that picture. I’m not convinced the imagery was accidental). Don’t know how he got it yet, but I literally cannot imagine that that burn isn’t extremely important - it’s very prominent and honestly I’d be surprised they bothered with something like that on a character that’s already extremely identifiable by his hair alone if it wasn’t important to his character somehow. And I also suspect it’s highly likely that it relates to why he doesn’t use the heat portion of his powers.

This is partially helped along by listening to ‘Sparks Rise’ and ‘Burn’. Neither of which give any particular details but *shrug*. I’ll leave anyone who hasn’t heard them to consider their additions to what little we see in season 1, because he has more than Kirishima’s screen time but not by much.

So, with that in mind. Ice Zuko Todoroki here, due to comparisons in my own head with Zuko, I’m predicting some kind of family issues. Indeterminate type. And I’m hedging a bet on, he’s either becoming a hero bc his family is pushing him to, or because he wants to get back at a family member for something. Perhaps the burn?

I’m looking forward to seeing if we get to see him use his fire seriously at some point. And, of course, learning more about what made him the way he is.

Midoriya

Okay so our main protagonist, and to be honest the one we know the most about. ... I have questions, of course, like where is his father and do we ever find out? But for the most part, we know he grew up watching heroes and that’s why he’s doing what he’s doing. His ultimate idol All Might is grooming him as a successor and that’s... I mean awesome for him. Dreams come true and all.

Easily arguable as one of the weaker combatants because he can’t use his quirk without half killing himself. But he’s got that, um, ... I think i’m going to go with inspiring personality (one of my friends @that-one-gundam-guy called him a Labrador in human form at one point and tbh that is so accurate). He’s very we can do it, happy go lucky, but he’s also very determined and he is taking this seriously. Even if he is extremely nervous outside of serious situations.

Anyway, he’s got a really good head in a fight. Probably second only to ... Momo and Todoroki, he is extremely good at analyzing a situation and the strengths/potential weaknesses of an enemy. His habit of collecting and analyzing everything about Heroes he can find will definitely serve him well in the field because he can recognize how a quirk can be used and how best to get around it. .... Mind he generally won’t have the tools to get around it himself. Currently, at least.

Aside from the fact that he’s not yet mastered his quirk there’s the fact that he tends to freeze up in certain situations. But there’s time to get around that yet. ... Though I hope at some point he starts to get a style that’s... his instead of just him copying All Might. Like, given the way One For All works, it’s gotta be possible to do... other stuff with it? Stuff that might suit his... much... smaller form better? I mean, yes it’s a close range quirk and he’s going to have to get into close combat, but punches can’t possibly be the only option. Some variation would be good.

All in all...

There’s still a lot of ground to cover and I’ve got a lot of hope for the series. Lots of room for everyone to grow and maybe for some reveals that will expand on some of our characters so they’re more than a power and a name. But there are... like 20 episodes in next season, so there should be more screen time to do all of that in.

Somewhere out there we have Kurogiri and Tomura (see I do know Warpgate and Hands’ names... lol)... and whoever is actually commanding them. But they’re still out there, and that means that they are going to pull their forces together and try to come after All Might again at some point. ... And Tomura certainly took notice of Deku. That’s not going to end well.

Or no, it will. But not before it hurts like heck all, I’m sure. Not sure it’ll be this next season though? Depends on how far they want to drag that plotpoint out for, I suppose. ... And how many times Tomura and Kurogiri strike before they hit gold, so to speak.

I was thinking though, the person they were speaking to when they first got back to their hideout took some serious interest when Tomura mentioned ‘the kid’. Does one of our bad guys know about One for All’s ability to be transferred between holders? Because that could spell trouble for Izuku “I’m-still-breaking-bones-constantly" Midoriya.

Anyway, season one was good, and I’m looking forward to season 2!

#MHA #BNHA #my hero academia #boku no hero academia #season wrap up

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fibula-rasa · 6 years

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August 2018 in Review

I have a weird memory. It’s highly pattern-driven and very visual. This means that my memory of films I’ve watched is based on images and series of images that made an impression instead of plot points. It’s why I rewatch movies so often. Even though I’ve been tracking my movie viewing habits for two and a half years, that doesn’t mean I’ve created strong memories for all those movies. That’s why I’m gonna start doing monthly roundups of the new-to-me films that struck me, one way or the other.

[If you wanna know all the films I’m watching, I keep full lists on letterboxd and imdb.]

The reviews below are essentially transcriptions of the notes I took right after watching the films. Because of Summer Under the Stars and my cosplay challenge, this month was pretty TCM heavy for me.

Full Roundup BELOW THE JUMP!

Teen Titans Go to the Movies (2018)

27 July 2018 | 84 min. | Color

Directed and Written by Aaron Horvath and Peter Rida Michail

Starring Greg Cipes, Scott Menville, Khary Payton, Tara Strong, and Hynden Walch

I’m already a fan of the show and the movie kicks it up a notch with its humor and style. [If you liked the original series, give TTG a chance already.] TTG to the Movies is a great superhero movie for anyone who’s down for superhero stories but is fatigued by the current spate of offerings. Grain-of-Salt warning here because I think Superman III (1983) is great.

Fun that they included some gags here and there for the parents out there who’ve had to hear the Waffles song a few too many times. Also, one of the best ending gags for a kid’s movie ever.

Where to Watch: Still in theaters, but I’d imagine Cartoon Network will be playing it soon.

Doctor X (1932)

27 August 1932 | 76 min. | 2-strip Technicolor

Directed by Michael Curtiz

Written by Earl Baldwin and Robert Tasker

Starring Lionel Atwill, Lee Tracy, and Fay Wray

I made the statement that Darkman (1990) is the most comic-book movie that isn’t adapted from a comic book. I hadn’t seen Doctor X yet though.

The set pieces are phenomenal. Each shot is artfully constructed and the way the shots are strung together makes the most of the production design. If one were to do a comic adaptation, it would take some imaginative work to not just mimic the film. The 2-strip technicolor is particularly effective in the laboratory scenes in creating an eerie aura. Sensational.

Lee Tracy is playing, as usual, a press man and he’s doing so perfectly. Tracy is so underrated.

Where to Watch: Looks like the DVD is out of print, so maybe check your local library or video store. TCM plays it every once and a while and, since Warner Bros has a deal with Filmstruck, I wouldn’t be surprised to see it pop up there eventually.

The Half-Naked Truth (1932)

16 December 1932 | 77 min. | B&W

Directed by Gregory La Cava

Written by Corey Ford and Gregory La Cava

Starring Frank Morgan, Eugene Pallette, Lee Tracy, and Lupe Velez

You might very well think Lee Tracy was a featured TCM star this month. (Maybe next SUTS? Pretty please.)

Lupe Velez is so talented and natural it was nice to see her in a film where her wits were matched. I’ll be honest, I’m a big Lupe fan but, for most of her films, she’s the only good reason to watch them. This wasn’t the case here! There are a lot of wonderful moments with small movements and gestures that make Velez and Tracy’s relationship feel very real, as if they’re actually that caught up in one another. Eugene Pallette, Franklin Pangborn, and Frank Morgan round out the ensemble. The running eunuch joke might not be all that funny, but it’s a masterclass in not saying what you mean. Also, very cute chihuahua.

Where to Watch: The DVD is available from the Warner Archive. (So, once again, local library or video store might have a copy.)

The Cuban Love Song (1931)

5 December 1931 | 86 min. | B&W

Directed by W.S. Van Dyke

Written by John Lynch, Bess Meredith, and C. Gardener Sullivan

Starring Jimmy Durante, Lawrence Tibbett, Ernest Torrance, and Lupe Velez

Lupe is wonderful in this. She plays a Cuban woman who sounds an awful lot like a Mexican woman--which might be something you have to overlook to enjoy the film FYI. Lawrence Tibbett has a shocking dearth of charisma in the lead, but Jimmy Durante, Ernest Torrence, and Louise Fazenda take the heat off him well. It’s a little hard to root for Tibbett’s character and the ending is disappointing. (Spoiler: privileging of the affluent “white” couple.)

The songs are great. I love the habit of placing people in musicals so that they are singing full force directly into each other’s faces. I don’t know why I find it so funny, but it’s not a mood ruiner for Cuban Love Song. The editing is fun and energetic. Until the war breaks out, there’s a lot of solid humor.

After watching so many Lupe films this month, I’d love to sit down with people who do and don’t know Spanish to talk about her films. There seem to be some divisions on social media and across blogs about Lupe’s films that might be attributable to whether or not one understands Spanish. I myself understand Spanish reasonably well and I think knowing what Lupe and others are saying makes almost all of her films funnier. And boy, does Lupe like calling men stupid animals.

Where to Watch: This one seems kinda rare. Looks like there may have been a VHS release, but you may just have to wait for TCM to play it again!

The Night Stalker (1972)

11 January 1972 | 74 min. | Color

Directed by John Llewellyn Moxey

Written by Jeffrey Grant Rice and Richard Matheson

Starring Carol Lynley, Darren McGavin, and Simon Oakland

and

The Night Strangler (1973)

16 January 1973 | 74 min. | Color

Directed by Dan Curtis

Written by Jeffrey Grant Rice and Richard Matheson

Starring Darren McGavin, Simon Oakland, and Jo Ann Pflug

I loved that these films are exactly like the Kolchak TV series. My SO and I have been watching the show weekly as it airs on MeTV and so he surprised me by renting the movies that kicked off the series. Honestly, watching backwards may have made the movies even more entertaining. How is Kolchak still working for Vincenzo in Las Vegas?? The answer is in Seattle.

The TV movies were intended as a trilogy, but after the success of the first two films, it was developed into a series instead. It’s cool to see how every piece of the Kolchak formula was in place immediately and how firmly Darren McGavin had a hold on the character. His chemistry with Simon Oakland (Vincenzo) is spectacular--a great comedy duo TBH. If you like their shouting matches on the show, Night Strangler has a humdinger to offer you.

Night Stalker is a pretty straight-forward vampire story, written by Richard Matheson, one of the great spec-fic writers of the 1960s and 1970s. Matheson also wrote one of the best undead novels of all time, I am Legend. What elevates the film over the basic mythology, aside from the great performances, pacing, and editing, is that the story’s really about how suppression actually goes down--how mundane and frustrating it can be even in the face of the supernatural.

Night Strangler is a little more creative with its monster. They integrate the nature and landmarks of Seattle in fun ways. The stripper characters are delightful. Jo Ann Pflug gives a truly funny performance and feels like a natural contender for Kolchak. Even his romantic relationships should be affectionately combative. The ditzy lesbian, Charisma Beauty (Nina Wayne) is hilarious and Wayne’s timing is impeccable. (BTW: they don’t explicitly call her a lesbian but it’s still made very overt.) There’s also a wonderful cameo by Margaret Hamilton.

As far as I can tell, it’s easier to get access to these films than the series. They’re worth seeing even if you haven’t seen the Kolchak TV show. They’re also a good pick if you’re a fan of X-Files, as Kolchak is the mother of that show. Even though I’m an X-Files fan and grew up watching it, Kolchak is edging it out for me lately. Maybe because if you’re telling a story about fighting for truth against the suppression of information, you undercut yourself by making the protagonist a fed.

Where to Watch: Kino Lorber is releasing restored editions of the films on Blu-ray and DVD in October!

The Mask of Dimitrios (1944)

1 July 1944 | 95 min. | B&W

Directed by Jean Negulesco

Written by Frank Gruber

Starring Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, and Zachary Scott

This was great! I loved Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet together. If you’re looking for a mystery story that flows and escalates well and presents a parade of interesting characters and locales, Dimitrios is for you. It’s also always nice to see Lorre in the lead.

Where to Watch: The DVD is available from the Warner Archive. (So, once again, local library or video store might have copy.)

Strait-Jacket (1964)

19 January 1964 | 93 min. | B&W

Directed by William Castle

Written by Robert Bloch

Starring Diane Baker and Joan Crawford

I mentioned in my Joan Crawford CUTS post that I’d been meaning to see this for years. My enjoyment of the film didn’t suffer a bit from that length of anticipation.

I like William Castle’s movies a lot. I like the campy humor and quirky stories. This one is campy still, but not as heavy on the humor--unless you have a real weird sense of humor. That’s not a strike against Strait-Jacket though. Castle builds so much tension that by the end of the film, you feel like anyone could be axe-murdered at any moment, which becomes absurdly fun. The ending might be a little predictable, but it’s fun to go along for the ride. I didn’t particularly like the tacked on ending but I guess every JC movie needs to end on JC?

Largely unrelated, but if you’re a Castle fan, have you checked out his TV show Ghost Story/Circle of Fear? The first episode, The New House, in particular is top notch.

Where to Watch: It’s on Blu-ray and DVD from Sony (your local library or video store might have a copy) and it’s for rent on Amazon Prime. It’s also still on-demand via TCM for another few days.

One I didn’t write up: Cairo (1942). I brought up in my Jeanette MacDonald post that I was hoping to find a MacDonald film I enjoyed watching on her Summer Under the Stars day and I did!

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meowsaidmayaanime · 6 years

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First impression: The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

Sooooooooo yeah. This is an interesting anime in itself. A few years ago I started to watch it but quickly lost interest, after getting some merch from Akibento for this anime I decided to pick it up again and give it another shot. Evidently I never made it to the second episode, though in reality the third and fourth episodes are what really drew me into it. Now I wont reveal what actually happened to draw me in, but its pretty plot relevant.

Anyway, carrying on through the rest of the episodes I wanted to continue watching, but it honestly wasn't all that it was cracked up to be. I don't actually like Haruhi at all, but I quickly came to realize that the show wasn't really about her, it was about the lives of everyone else, which is what kept me watching (and what made the movie so good.) I still wanted to know what the story was and learn more about the other characters. I enjoyed the episodes, the randomness, and when the story suddenly stopped at the end of the second season (about 14 ep for both seasons) I was thoroughly confused and upset. That is, until the movie.

Ok, so this movie was actually very, very good. It does involve a concept that I have seen before, and one that I have a lot of opinions about. However, it was well carried out, I loved the story, the journey that the main character followed, it was just really well done. And things ended up playing out in a way that I was not ecpecting, and that were very different from other typical anime stories. Ahhhrg, its really hard to describe and explain without spoilers. So I will include my full, spoiler filled review later when I've thought of it more.

Basically the tv series is alright, very slice of life, a good break to take from more intense anime, and not plot heavy. The anime itself I wouldn't particularly recommend to anyone. If you wanna check out an unusual anime, or really love slice of life then yeah I would recommend this. Otherwise, there are better slice of life out there with a more consistent plot.

Although I would recommend the movie it is so good. But, you can only watch the movie if you have seen the tv series because it involves an understanding of the characters and the past events. I don't think anyone who watches the movie without the tv series would understand much of whats going on. Its very dependent on the tv series.

That being said would I recommend the tv series? not really.

Would I recommend the movie? Yes, BUT you need to watch the series.

Is it worth watching the series in order to watch the movie? Well, honestly I'm not sure. If you don't like the slice of life dramas then no, don't waste your time. If you do, or are curious, or are more accepting of anime and like me tend to want to finish whatever I start, then yes. I think you will like it a lot.

Oh btw. If you do intend on watching it, make sure you watch it in this order below. It's the chronological order and the order I wished I had watched it in. If you don't, you will miss a few episodes, and will get very confused about the order of things. Also if by the time you watch the movie and haven't seen the 'Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody' episode make sure you do so.

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya part 1 The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya part 2 The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya part 3 The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya part 4 The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya part 5 The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya part 6 The Boredom of Haruhi Suzumiya Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody Mysterique Sign Remote Island Syndrome part 1 Remote Island Syndrome part 2 Endless Eight Endless Eight Endless Eight Endless Eight Endless Eight Endless Eight Endless Eight Endless Eight The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya part 1 The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya part 2 The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya part 3 The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya part 4 The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya part 5 The Adventures of Mikuru Asahina Live Alive The Day of Sagittarius Someday in the rain

Movie: The Disapearance of Haruhi Suzumiya (its a 2 hour 40 minute movie so make sure to either pace yourself or set aside some time for watching)

animegg.org has the episodes in the right order, so go there first. I watched the series somewhere else which were ordered in the original air order, which was not chronological. (most other places are incorrect too, even the DVDs...)

Its important to say that some episodes from season two actually belong chronologically in season one... So yeah, be careful. (honestly I skipped the majority of Endless Eight, if you watch it you will know why. and dont worry , you wont be missing anything just make sure you watch the first and last one's at least.)

wow so many side notes on this post.

#msma 2016 #msma first impression #review #the melancholy of haruhi suzumiya #the disappearance of haruhi suzumiya

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dreadlock-detective · 7 years

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PREPARE FOR THE ASK ANSWER OMNIBUS!

I'm clearing out my ask box, so here's a rapid fire bunch of answers to the 43 questions in there! A lot of these I wanted to draw a comic or do a little animation for but just never got the time or energy, and others I didn't know what to say, but I think that some response is better than no response, so while these are all going to be either text or doodles, I wanted them all to actually get answers.

Below the cut because this’ll be a hella long one~ Plenty of Zelda doodles in there though so if you just wanna see doofy drawings click too!

@definitely-darcy - Ahhh I'm sorry I wanted to make an animated gif of this for a long time now and just never got around to it T_T. But thank you for the kind words!

@hfbdhhjsbnjdknfsjkbnfkjbgsm… I feel like this is some kind of internet talk that I totally missed the memo on

@sgo-j - Buliara definitely needs some art! She'll actually show up in my AU comic if I get far enough… probably another 3 sets of pages away or more at this point though.

@jackiithedevil - !!!!!!!! <3

@sparkybananaboi - no wolf Link but it’s somethin ;D

@scythfi-writer - Ahhhhh pressure! Eheheh, but glad I could entertain! Hope I haven’t disappointed so far ;D

@draceempressa - …wait there's a sidequest about that!? I saw the sign on the cliff but never saw a sidequest about it lol. Dangit even though I got this ask a while ago I forgot all about it lol. WHELP something else to do when I get back into the game for the DLC!

@rabbitmagic - Even a messenger of the heavens needs a hobby, right? :D

@nathanswallofopinion - They only think that because they haven't been seduced by his amazing puns yet~

Bucket has since died~ using my Windows PC now. Which drives me insane, but at least it's way more powerful than my old iMac. (Still hate Windows though - it's user interface is just so horribly inefficient…)

We're all wonderful band of seally fools here! Glad to have ya!

Teba's been in my AU comic stuff so far, and his family will probably show up in the next set if I get around to it. Unfortunately his personality doesn't lend itself too well to my stupid jokes so he's only been in my more serious stuff so far~

@verlinktbeichris

@sparkybananaboi

Is this still a problem? I haven’t got a way to check lol. I need to update it anyway to be more informative so I guess I’ll check it out then!

JUST AS SOON AS I CAN GET THE WORLD DOMINATION APP TO INSTALL ON THIS DANG THING!

I have no idea what you're talking about, Anon~ Just a bunch of potassium lovers here that's all~!

@redventure - That's Bob~ he's super supportive~ Kind of an enabler really…

@angeliquenoir1912

Ahhh!! thanks!!

Hm. Uh. Not that I've seen, but I'm not exactly diving into their collection~...

Once while he was relaxing out of uniform he ran into a nervous Shiekah girl. They got into a pretty heated argument over who’s face tattoo was upside down. Does that count?

I think this was before my Mipha comic, so at least I’ve drawn her a bit more, but yeah no Link x Mipha stuff directly yet~ I might get around to it! No silly ideas are coming to me to doodle out right now though, sorry!

OH MY GOD BE PREPARED IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE SONGS EVER AND AFTER READING THIS I WANTED TO DO A WHOLE ANIMATIC OF GANNY DOING THE SONG BUT THAT WAS EXACTLY WHEN MY COMPUTER DIED AND I LOST ALL MOTIVATION T_T

But I needed to at least do my favorite bit

Fun Fact: apparently the Hyrule Warriors website lists Dragmire as his last name again. Not that that game is canon but still. But yeah high five for old school Zelda lore!

*cries because I don’t have photoshop on my PC to edit Kamina’s shades onto loads of Sidon screenshots for this reply*

@purrple--kat - Well I sure have done a lot of art of them from commissions now haven't I? lol. I think they're a cute couple~ From my own relationship I can say that having the same sense of humor is vital for me, and those two are definitely on the same level!

*strikes a Kamina pose with Kamina shades to make other Anon happy too~*

@asfcruppy + @talk-shit-you-get-hit - I have a little comic half drawn for this but it's on my Surface instead of my PC.. need to get that moved over to finish it up~!

…why did I never think to do this? Of all the dumb things I've done, this was not one of them! I am ashamed!

YA HA HAA! YOU FOUND ME!... what you were looking for an answer from someone?

All 900 Koroks end up in group therapy because they get so confused by Mr. Hero’s behavior they legit cannot deal and are tired of him handing them self help books~

Bonus: They don’t have a digestive system, so logically you can just feed them the same apple over and over! (Need to go make another stal-horse friend sometime~)

@fluxed-touko - Ssshhhhh! Spoilers maybe ;)

@kirchuuuu (this one wont tag for some reason?)- I did one drawing of her being a bit older, but still wasn't an adult~ I like to imagine she'd actually still be super short though, mostly because it keeps her distinct from the others (speaking of, what the heck happens to Gerudo when they're older? the old gerudo are all so much shorter! And then there's the Twinrova witches from Ocarina… Gerudo spines must be all sorts of weird, start tiny, get huge, shrink down super small….)

@capnbanana - Usually 8.5x11 (standard US letter size), 300dpi. 350dpi for commissions, and commissions and comics are more likely to end up a different size (though never smaller for commissions)

Considering the lack of any sort of reference to a Gerudo king in BotW, I personally feel like the Gerudo abandoned that tradition after Ganny went evil. Not against him being actually Gerudo though!

@legoofallthemes22505 (this one wont take either...)- SOON!

@jcummins151 - Ahh thanks <3 I'm glad random strangers on the internet are enjoying my silly stuff! And I don't really mind that people want me to draw NSFW stuff - it's kind of flattering to know people find my art good enough to.. uh… wanna.. *cough* *Mighty Banana jokes*

Ahahahaha, I love that this was the next one to come in after that last one! Nothing in the works but maybe some day :P

@bearlycute - He’d freaking LOVE it if they’d be content to just watch or snuggle...

HOLY CRUD THAT’S ALL OF THEM! GEEZUM!

Thank you to everyone! Love hearing from ya’ll, and sorry if it takes me forever to reply to asks sometimes! Can’t guarantee I always will but I’ll always try to and DEFINITELY read every one! Love ya!

#ask omnibus #Legend of Zelda #LoZ #Link #Korok #Riju #Urbosa #Yunobo #Yiga #Dave #Bob #PUNS #Breath of the Wild #BotW #Dreadlock Detective

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thoughts-of-a-bibleophile · 6 years

Text

bit of a rant/review of pokemon the movie i choose you

Ok. Can we talk about the Pokémon movie? It was a beautiful fucking mess.

Why?

Let me preface this by saying I am a huge Pokénerd and am a fan of the games and anime (I haven’t watched it in years but what I have seen recently I enjoyed). Saying that, I also am someone who won’t take “well it’s just a kid’s show/movie, it doesn’t have to be good” as an excuse ever, especially with well-done kid’s movies are coming out every year at this point.

Anyway. if you are curious, for some reason, about my opinion of the latest movie in the Pokémon franchise....continue reading.

Also. SPOILERS BELOW.

So. Like I said previously. It was a beautiful, terrible hot mess.

A h o t mess

Let’s start with why I thought it was terrible (and weed out the butthurt fans right off the bat)

Story wise, there were issues. Since they crammed the entirety of season 1 into it with different characters and picked the best episodes of the season as story points.

Like I would compare it to The Last Airbender movie in how over-stuffed it was in story, since that movie also tried to an entire season into a movie, but I can’t compare them because The Last Airbender movie is actual garbage and this movie is.....not that.

Main complaint is movie length. Why is it so short when it could have been so much longer and filled with more character interaction and development?? I’m not asking for Pixar quality because I’m not expecting Pixar, but if you’re gonna introduce us to new characters and expect us to love them and miss them when they leave, give us a bit more to go on than just snapshots of their journey. Speaking of snapshots, though, I did like that little touch of Verity going through her phone to show the moments they’ve all been together -- clever, time-saving story-telling choice, that.

“No one watches/plays Pokémon for the story/characters” -- WELL I DO. THEY’VE DONE IT IN THE PAST AND MADE A MEMORABLE STORY AND GAME FOR US, SO THEY CAN DO IT AGAIN. Have you even SEEN Pokemon Mewtwo Strikes Back? BECAUSE BOI THERE WERE TEARS AND IT WAS THE BEST.

Just...The reason the other Pokémon movies worked so well/better is because we knew the characters involved aside from Ash. If we’re being introduced to new characters in this movie, give us a reason to care about them.

There was also just very little tension because I knew that they were just highlighting parts of the first season (or so), so whatever problem they had would be worked out by the end. Also, because it’s Pokémon and Ash is an OP MC.

My boi Sorrel tho

I love Sorrel, though. A+ dude. I wish he had more screen time because he's such a cute little bean and I FUCKING CRIED when his Luxray died HGHSJJJJjdee (but does he only have Lucario?? Like I know he was too afraid to love a Pokémon after Luxray, but boy are you seriously going on your own with one mon???)

I was also happy to see that he found Articuno, but WOW these kids are lucky because together they’ve all seen like four legendaries (Entei, Raikou, Suicine, Ho-Oh) in the span of a year (or so?) Some people, apparently, don’t see legendaries EVER and these kids see FOUR? I know it’s because plot but dang.

Verity (like the lake!)

Verity (ha her name is Verity and she's from a region with a lake named Verity lol) kind of just reminded me too much of Misty with her Pokémon being water types. If they were gonna add that little background about her mom, I wish they would have done more with it. Like...explain how she uses water types because her mom loved water types. She uses a Piplup because her mom has an Empoleon. I just wanna know MORE about her. GIVE ME MOREEEE DANG IT

I also def thought they were gonna have her mom as someone we've met in the games/show before, but no. Just random, faceless character we never see/meet.

Angry child Cross who is essentially Kacchan from My Hero

Can we talk about Cross for a second?

Yes, he’s an asshole, but, especially with that little redemption arc, he’s not EVIL. Like I know they needed someone to set off all the bad things, but this boy doesn’t have an evil heart. Just say....like a darkened heart or whatever because if he was evil he wouldn’t get a redemption arc like that. He’s just a proud asshole who believes in strength over friendship.

Honestly, true antagonist is Marshadow because WOW SOMEONE NEEDS TO COOL THEIR JETS. I was also incredibly confused as to if Marshadow was good or bad.... Like they say its a guide and someone who restores the balance or fixes the Ho-Oh feather, which sounds like a good guy, but this little bitch was stirring up all the trouble and ends up being the main villain like good lord what is going on.

The animation, the colors

Damn I forgot how good the battles look. Like DAMN. So much tension for a battle I know Ash is gonna win. So much hype when LITERALLY NO ONE UNDERSTANDS TYPE MATCHUPS LIKE A PIPLUP VS A PIKACHU THE PIKACHU WILL WIN IDIOTS

Ahem. But I'm probably thinking too much like the games and not the show which kind of throws the games out the window so whatever.

But yeah, man, I forgot how beautiful something can be when it goes onto the big screen. Like, the Pokémon anime has always had a certain look, a certain charm to it (yes, even in the Sun and Moon series), but it just looked so great and beautiful and gorgeous and lovely on the screen and I’m honestly excited for it to come out on DVD/BluRay whatever so I can see it again.

Ok...it’s not Your Name or a Ghibli film. But...it’s still a very pretty Pokémon movie and it touches my nostalgic, nerdy heart.

ALL THE NOSTALGIA

You read my complaints above, but I will admit that, while it was a bit ridiculous to cram the entire first season into one movie, I enjoyed that it was a celebration of sorts of the show from its beginning? Which was honestly great. They had all of the best, most memorable moments from the show (the pilot -- obviously, finding Charmander, Bye Bye Butterfree). I was near tears a few times with all the nostalgia, guys.

I wish they had brought back Misty and Brock if they wanted to really really celebrate the first season, but c’est la vie.

AND THEN THAT THEME SONG GAVE ME LEGIT CHILLS. I DON’T CARE THAT IT WAS REMIXED. I HAD CHILLS. GOOSEBUMPS E V E R Y W H E R E.

I saw the theme song remix on YouTube prior to seeing the movie and I felt all the nostalgia then, so you’d think I wouldn’t get chills when I saw it.

Welp, we’d both be wrong then. Because ALL THE CHILLS. ALL THE HYPE FOR THE REST OF THE MOVIE. IT WAS GLORIOUS. (imma put it on repeat after i post this, tbh.)

Other things that don’t really have a place elsewhere

Also, this was pretty much the X-Men days of future past of Pokemon. Tbh. Because, unless this is just AU first season? (I can’t remember if this was confirmed to be just the alternate universe first season), it’s like they’re saying well, here’s the NEW beginning of the show so now we can do whatever we want woo! (Jesus I sound like Kukui)

Speaking of doing whatever they want...

PIKACHU SAID WORDS??? ENGLISH? WHYY???????????? I WAS SO CONFUSED AND WONDERED IF MY SODA HAD BEEN SPIKED

I know they were trying to do the throwback to Mewtwo Returns (BECAUSE WE ALL KNOW THAT WAS ONE OF, IF NOT THE, BEST MOVIES AND SO DOES THE POKÉMON COMPANY) and we all want to remember why we love Ash and Pikachu so much and why THEY care about each other so much. But....that was.......strange. Maybe the Japanese audience liked it more because that seems to be the only opinion they really care about, but I know I wasn’t the only one in the theatre just staring at the screen in confusion asking what the actual f u c k was going on.

Last things

I may have my complaints -- that I’m throwing out into the ether just to get them out of my head -- but that doesn’t mean I disliked it.

It’s still Pokémon and I’m still a fan and everyone will still be fans regardless of any issues with the movie, any story problems, any characters featured (or lack thereof **MISTY AND BROCK).

With its beautiful animation, particularly in the battles, and gorgeous set pieces, because WOW did you say some of the views they had?, it was nice to see Pokémon celebrated with an old story told with a fresh coat of paint.

This movie may not be the best. It may not be Pokemon: The First Movie Mewtwo Strikes Back (honestly, most movies aren’t that, so that might be a bit unfair to say.) But it’s still got that Pokémon charm we all know and love and has some pretty cool characters along the way. It’s definitely something that every Pokémon fan, young or old, new or a veteran, should watch and enjoy. Because, despite its flaws, it reminds you of better times, nostalgic times.

It reminds you of that first time you played the game or watched the show, when your biggest choice was your starter Pokémon and adventure was just outside the door, waiting for you to take the first step.

(Yes, I’m basically saying nostalgia is what powers this movie, but we’re celebrating the 20th anniversary, so of course there will be nostalgia.)

Some fandoms can’t say they’ve been around for over 20 years -- but Pokémon, with its die-hard fans and ever-growing fanbase who will support just about anything that comes out relating to the games/show, can. And the movie understands that. It understands that just about everyone who sees it will put on their hat, grab their Pokémon, and sit in those theatre seats like we’re all excited 10 year olds waiting to go on our own journeys, waiting to revisit the world of Pokémon regardless of how good the movie is. And that, the strength of the fans and the perpetual love of the series, in my opinion, is the greatest strength.

#pokemon the movie: i choose you spoilers #pokemon spoilers #review #rant #or something like that #nostalgia #animation #sorrel #verity #new characters #ash #pikachu #pokemon

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