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monkey-network · 4 years

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Why Sam & Max IS the Best

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

#Sam and Max #sam and max freelance police #freelance police #comics #cartoons #video games #animation #analysis #long post #Good Stuff

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baddyzarc · 4 years

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3/7 Ruins: Legend of Souhachi Kiraku

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So the reason I wanted to group Gilag and Alito together is because Alito has plenty of substance in his ruins while Gilag is just,,, Hnng they would've balanced each other out but nope, heres Gilag's Ruins

So uhh Gilag is supposed to be a joke Barian Emperor. I get that. He’s the first to be fully revealed and he starts off as an imposing threat for, like, two episodes. Then he goes off???? draws manga and watches anime and lives in the school gym and he has no brain cells as clearly evidenced by the Friendship Game episode but also he kills.

Being such, Gilag has the shortest stick of the Emperors (almost on par with Merag but she has a prominent connection to the main Barian Emperor narrative). I’m not being figurative by-the-by. He has ONE episode to cover the legend of his ruins while the others get two episodes minimum, Nasch got like five total or something, so I can see that the writers,,, did not really care about Gilag. Which is unfortunate, but this is going to be my most out-there analysis because of the situation.

Unlike the other Emperors who have new settings for their ruins, Gilag’s ruins is the Duel Lodge.

This isn’t a new location nor does it reveal that much about his character (after all, the Lodge was meant to develop Yuma and Astral’s character during their first visit in season 1 and nothing new happened to this place during the Mythyrian Arc.)

But this means he should have the closest connection to Rokujuro and Yamikawa, but to my knowledge, the writers didn’t do anything with this aside from Gilag being the one who kills them during the Barian Onslaught Arc. Maybe there could be a connection to how Yamikawa felt betrayed by Rokujuro during the first season of Zexal. He attacked him, and then they made up soon after. This is similar to the story of Ponta and Gilag, but there isn’t much parallelism besides “two close persons becoming distant before making up”.

The most important outcome of the ruins is the reveal of the Mythyrian Guardian, Ponta the Tanuki, and Ponta is what this essay is going to be mainly about.

Like most of the Emperors, the Guardians often play a role in their legends. More often than not, the Guardians are the Mythyrian Numbers; they are tasked with protecting the Emperors (Mach, Abyss, and Jinlon are the clearest examples). Ponta is the strangest one because he is the only Guardian to exist as his own physical entity. This is seen in the show’s finale. He’s able to exist as himself without being attached to the Number card, and this may seem strange until you consider what happens in the Legend of Gilag (or Souhachi Kiraku if you want to get technical)

Gilag’s legend is a bit tough to grasp because there isn’t a single narrator.

In the text of the show, Rokujuro reveals that Gilag was a benevolent, smart, and powerful warrior during the Sengoku Era (which is characterized by military and social conflicts). He distributed his wealth from his conquests with the peasants rather than horde it with his vassals.

From Ponta, we find that Gilag found Ponta in the battlefield, saved him, and they formed a friendship. Ponta became his Kagemusha (a doppelganger/shadow warrior) and helped him win his battles. He was the one responsible for all of Gilag’s fame and fortunes. He says that Gilag was jealous of his strength, got rid of him,and then perished in the battlefield. Keep in mind that Ponta isn’t omniscient, and he clearly resents Gilag when he says this, so this source should be taken with a grain of salt (The episode is called “Yuma Confused!? The Unreliable Account of Gilag the Tanuki”).

From Gilag, it was discovered that the vassals were unhappy with him distributing the wealth, and they were going to rebel against him. To protect Ponta, Gilag forced him to leave so he could deal with the rebels. He ends up presumably dying in a burning building.

Finally, upon freeing him from the curse, it is revealed that Don Thousand influenced the vassals to rebel against Gilag, and in order to fill him with hatred over the betrayal, he placed the Over-Hundred Number “Number 106: Huge Rock Palm - Giant Hand” in his heart, allowing him to pass onto Barian World. It ended with Gilag perishing in a burning building with the rebels cornering him.

So what happened here?

With the Emperors, I strongly believe that the personalities they have as Barian Emperors are an extension of true personalities as humans (compare this to when Gilag and Alito got an extra dosage on Don Thousand, for example). With Vector, a major personality-changing curse was embedded into him at such a young age that his evilness is part of his true personality (or as said by Yuma, the “kind” Vector still exists as Rei Shingetsu), while most of the other Emperors inherit their curse shortly before their death. What we see now is most likely how they were originally, plus maybe a thousand years of them as Emperors.

So Gilag is, according to Yuma, “a despicable bastard, stingy, and an annoying jerk”. From his schemes in the show, we clearly see that he is not smart. All of his plans fail, he lacks foresight, and he gets distracted very easily. But he also cares deeply about his bond with Alito. This bond was strong enough to knock Don Thousand’s curse out of him. So this makes it tough to decipher the actual story because the Gilag of the present is nothing like the Gilag of the past.

Using this information, I can say that each narrator has elements of the truth. I believe that Gilag is strong and passionate about things he loves (idols, manga, and his country I presume), but he’s arrogant and has more brawn than brains. Gilag is only as strong as his plans are (under the orders of Nasch and Don Thousand, he usually gets the job done without an issue. When he has to make his own decisions, yikes). Meanwhile, I believe that Ponta is the one holding most of the wisdom, strategy, and brains.

Together with their strength and wisdom, they balanced each other and created the Legend of Souhachi Kiraku.

Also, bear in mind that Gilag has the only legend that has a non-Barian name attached to it (Legend of The Cursed Royal Palace, Legend of the Gladiator, Legend of the Dragons, and Legend of an Ancient Hero). The Legend of Souhachi Kiraku isn’t the product of Gilag or Ponta, but Gilag and Ponta.

From here, the rest of the words spoken by Gilag should be true. He said he “completely made it up”, but he also muttered “how did I know about the legend?” afterwards to tell the audience that what he said is indeed true. The reveal of his actual memories reaffirms this.

So the true story is that Gilag and Ponta worked in unison to defeat their enemies. They distributed their wealth among the peasants. The vassals were angry that they weren’t receiving the spoils from the battles, and with the influence of Don Thousand, the vassals plotted to betray Kiraku (as in Gilag and Ponta). In order to protect Ponta, Gilag banished him and sent him away. Gilag perishes in the rebels’ fires. Ponta later dies of old age.

With Don Thousand, he interjects into the story at two points. First by influencing the vassals to turn on Gilag, then again by placing hatred in his heart.

Why I think Don Thousand comes in twice is because the first instance wasn’t enough to alter Gilag’s fate as a Barian.

For Gilag, the satisfaction of saving Ponta meant he could still ascend into Astral World; as long as his best friend was safe, he was unfazed by vassals rebellion. Don Thousand went in one more time to induce hatred into him, sealing his Barian fate as he perished. This is most similar to the fate of Mizael (influenced the people to turn on Mizael and Jinlon, and then implanted hatred into his heart as he died) opposed to, say, Vector whose single personality swap set him straight for Barian World, or Nasch who didn’t need to be injected with hatred or altered like Mizael or Gilag; his entire life sucked so badly (due to Don interfering with Vector and Merag, yes, but he did not touch Nasch at all) that he chose to go to Barian World.

Enough about the other Emperors though, let’s talk about the Guardian of the Mythyrian Number, Ponta.

Like most of the Guardians, Ponta is both the Guardian and the Mythyrian Number “Number 64: Veteran Tanuki Sandayu”. And although I try to keep the discussion in the realm of the original/OCG, it should also be noted that in the TCG, this card’s name is “Number 64: Ronin Raccoon Sandayu”. Veteran means experienced fighter, and Ronin means wanderer, or a warrior without a master. In both cases, it describes what Ponta represents in his relationship with Gilag.

To those unaware, Ponta is based on an extant animal known as the Japanese raccoon dog, or tanuki.

Ponta himself is not a regular tanuki as he is based on the yokai, Bake-danuki. Bake-danuki are known to be the cunning, trickster type whose main trait is transforming into other apparitions. Despite this, they are also associated with good fortune (which they carry in their massive fucking gonads), virtue, and strength. Most of these traits can be seen within the Mythyrian Number that represents Ponta, or more importantly, the tokens that it spawns.

These “Kagemusha Tanuki Tokens” hold most of the Bake-danuki traits which I am now taking from Wikipedia because they summarized better than I can:

These tokens also have the ability to turn into the strongest monster on the field (appropriately transforming with a leaf) too. Anyways, Tanuki legends are really fascinating and there is a lot of information on them, go here if you wanna learn more (this is a really cool site in general, especially if you wanna read about yokai and other neat things).

Despite being his Guardian, Ponta loathes Gilag, blaming Gilag for his own death as well as Ponta’s fate as a Kagemusha. He hates that Gilag got all the credit for the Legend of Souhachi Kiraku while Ponta was banished and locked away in a statue with Gilag’s face on it. All in all, Ponta wants to be his own being. He no longer wants to be a Kagemusha, a shadow, for a man he despises.

Instead, and hear me out, I think Ponta wants to be the actual Gilag.

This can be seen in how he treats the Mythyrian Number as well as his interaction with Gilag. Ponta’s first action upon meeting Gilag was, ironically, stealing his body. This is strange for a creature that doesn’t want to be remembered as someone else, and then he becomes that exact same person. However, it should be noted that Ponta’s name isn't revealed until the very end of the episode, so perhaps he isn’t interested in letting people know that he’s “Ponta” at all.

He was content going forward in life as Gilag.

And remember, Ponta died during the Sengoku Era (1400s-1600s), so he was trapped in the statue of Kiraku for at least 400 years. During this time, he was referred to as only Kiraku, never as Ponta. After so long, after 400 years of never hearing his real name or being recognized as himself, it isn’t a stretch that Ponta doesn’t see himself as “Ponta” anymore. He sees himself as a shadow of Gilag, and so he made it a plan to be the real Gilag if he ever gets the chance, or at least, be in his body. Hence, he took over Gilag’s body.

Even when he hijacked Yuma’s body, he preferred being in Gilag’s body so much that he swapped back after he finished cheating.

You can see this in how he uses his Mythyrian Number, too. Like most of the other Guardians, Ponta is the Guardian and the Mythyrian Number, “Number 64: Veteran Tanuki Sandayu”. During the duel, Ponta utilizes “Veteran Tanuki Sandayu”, the true warrior, while the “Kagemusha Tanuki Tokens” are Ponta’s shadows. This is made more apparent when the tokens (which normally turn into any monster on the field with the highest attack points) turn into copies of “Number 64: Veteran Tanuki Sandayu“, mimicking his relationship with Gilag.

Ponta wants to see himself as an actual warrior with Kagemusha of his own, rather than the other way around. He even becomes concerned when Yuma attacks his Kagemusha.

Personally, I see this sequence as Ponta having a sudden detachment from his dream of “being Kiraku”. Deep down, he still sees himself as a Kagemusha, and so when he sees the destruction of the Kagemusha Tokens, he also sees this as a destruction of himself.

When he finally loses, he mutters, “I’m not a shadow, I’m not a shadow,” almost as though he internalized this perception of himself while desiring nothing more than to reject it.

Ponta knows that he isn’t the true Gilag, but after half a millennium of being a Kagemusha to Gilag, I don’t think he knows who he is anymore.

This changes when Gilag gets his human memories back and approaches him. Upon telling Ponta that “you’re Ponta”, Ponta appears surprised to hear his actual name. By hearing someone speak his name after 400-something years, Ponta finally sees himself as his own person again.

And believe it or not, this idea falls into why he exists as his own raccoon dog after the show ended.

Ponta decides that he can be his own person. He doesn’t need to be tied down by Kiraku or anything else. This is why he willingly leaves Gilag’s body and detaches himself from the Mythyrian Number.

This is evidenced when Astral absorbs the Number first, and then Ponta emerges from the body; at this point, Ponta is no longer a Guardian but simply a Tanuki.

Also, if Ponta is still the Guardian/Mythyrian Number, then Gilag should’ve received the “Number 64: Veteran Tanuki Sandayu” when he eh-hem,

swallows Ponta.

Ponta comes back later, of course. Along with the Mythyrian Number, Alito and Ponta, Gilag’s two best friends are used to free Gilag from Don Thousand’s curse.

They even make up afterwards.

And before anyone starts, I do not know why Ponta is still friends with Gilag after all of this.

Like really im not joking. im not saying that ponta is that type of raccoon, but if my friend ate me, id be kinda pissed ngl

like maybe these scenes?? Gilag sent Ponta away under the pretense of hoarding the fame for himself. After finding out Gilag died, Ponta was devastated. He cried for a moment, saying that Gilag would still be alive if Ponta wasn’t banished. But then he convinced himself that Gilag deserved it.

Ponta obviously cares for Gilag despite how big of “a despicable bastard, stingy, and an annoying jerk” he is. Ponta also says that he would’ve preferred dying with Gilag in battle rather than be sent away. Ponta clearly sees something in Gilag that makes him worth fighting for.

Maybe Gilag has a good heart under his questionable tendencies.

When Ponta loses the duel with Yuma, the immediate reaction of Gilag tells us that he is very concerned over the safety of Ponta, but then he retracts himself, like he remembers he’s supposed to be tough and emotionless.

And to be honest. Ponta could be like, like “hey, my buddy Kiraku, getting mind controlled by Don Thousand really sucks, might eat me because he’s a little grumpy-grump, it happens you know, no big deal”.

They get drunk together.

It’s the Sengoku Period. They probably do a lot of stuff off-screen like Gilag usually does with Alito. Maybe having an occasional fallout or all of that is normal. I truly don’t know.

What I do know is that Ponta is able to complete his arc at the end of the show. Without being tied down as a Kagemusha, a Guardian, or a Mythyrian Number, he is able to exist as a physical being in the modern world.

So Ponta has a complete character arc. Not complaining, but I do wish that the ruins has more to do with Gilag himself. The information on his past life is interesting enough, but the story is more about Ponta than Gilag. And what we found out about Gilag’s current life is... alright.

The connection between his Mythyrian Number and Over-Hundred Monster is minimal. Aside from being both Earth Monsters, I do not see any connection between the two nor why its a giant hand. “Number 64: Veteran Tanuki Sandayu” kinda features Gilag and Ponta as a warrior and a Kagemusha, which I thought is neat.

The most disappointing thing is that the writers didn’t do anything with the concept of Gilag being possessed by Don Thousand. I mean, Alito went absolutely berserk. Like from baby child to unhinged bloodlust. Gilag is—he’s just Gilag, that’s just regular Gilag i swear. Like, maybe Gilag on steroids the second time, but Don Thousand looks at this guy eating live raccoons and said “ssssshyyeah, I don’t need to fix this one.”

#long post #my hc is that don was supoosed to grab ponta but he made a mistake and ended up with gilag #like that raccoon wouldve wrecked as an Emperor #zexal #gilag #girag #dyzarc writes #barian biology

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buffster · 5 years

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The Yoko Factor (BTVS 4.20)

This is part of my ongoing Buffyverse Project, where I write notes/meta for every episode in an attempt to better understand the characters and themes of the shows. You can find the BTVS list here and the ATS list here. Gifs are not mine.

All I remembered about the Scooby fight was that it happened. I had forgotten how, and I actually do think it makes more sense now. It wasn’t about their friendship, it was about attacking each of their insecurities and making them feel that everyone else in the group had noticed them too. This was possible because the friendship has been so fractured that no one feels supported or even seen. They have no reason not to think they’re being judged.

Unfortunately, the resolution to all this never really comes around. There is a ton of good stuff here--Buffy’s increased reliance on herself, Willow’s moving away from her computer skills and into witchcraft as a solution to everything, Xander not feeling respected and seeing Anya as an extension of that, Giles losing his sense of leadership and importance--but we never really get an acknowledgement of any of that until much later. And the real problem that Spike landed on--that the Scoobies aren’t paying a bit of attention to one another--gets a quick patch over but continues to be a problem. Yes, Buffy isn’t judging Willow, but is that a good thing or just a symptom of her ignoring her entirely?

Spike is the one who comes up with this plan to incite drama, which I do feel makes sense for his character. He’s insightful and incredibly good at stuff like this. It’s also fun to see his perspective on Buffy and how fascinated/afraid of her he is. He keeps insisting to Adam that he needs to consider her a bigger threat. You can sense the admiration beneath the irritation.

Adam: You feel smothered. Trapped like an animal, pure in its ferocity, unable to actualize the urges within… Clinging to one truth like a flame struggling to burn within an enclosed glass… That a beast this powerful cannot be contained. Inevitably it will break free and savage the land again… I will make you whole again. Make you savage.

This is the episode in which Forrest is killed. He claims his problem with Buffy is that Riley is willing to commit treason over her and turn against their “family”. I would have loved to see some more backstory on Forrest: either have him be an orphan who found his family through Riley and now he feels abandoned or have him have a romantic interest in him. Then you could even have had him join Adam willingly as a way to get his family back.

Angel’s return also doesn’t fit into the story well. I covered over in Sanctuary why his coming here made no sense, and his drama with Riley was nothing but fan-baiting. It also felt like a bit of a step back for Angel’s character; he always seems less mature over on Buffy. On Angel he seems sad but resigned to the fact that he can’t have Buffy and she comes off as wanting more than he can give. But here he seems like a petty, jealous ex. I don’t see a scenario where he would like Riley, but beating him up, refusing to explain he’s not evil, and insinuating he might have slept with Buffy is ridiculous. The end scene where he says “I don’t like him” in a tone of resigned sadness makes more sense than everything before it.

Buffy: Look, I… you weren't entirely wrong, what you said in L.A. We don't live in each other's worlds anymore. I can't just barge in on yours and make judgments.

Angel: I'm still sorry.

Buffy: Thank you.

Xander is the one who gives Riley the information on what turned Angel evil. Why does he have this habit of venting inappropriately when it comes to Buffy’s boyfriends (here, and when he tells Dawn Spike tried to rape Buffy)? In the script Xander decides to tell Riley even though it’s clear Buffy doesn’t want him to know, but in the episode it plays like Xander accidentally spilled the beans.

As far as Buffy’s decision on this, I get it. It’s a bit easier for Willow, for example, to be totally honest with Tara about her past with Oz. She loved him, the wolf thing became a problem, he left. Angel will always hold power over Buffy and she will always have feelings for him, and basically the only reason they’re not together is because they can’t be. How do you tell a boyfriend that if your ex suddenly became human you’d be tempted to run right back into his arms? It’s unresolved and messy.

Riley: I went a little nuts, you know? I mean, on the one hand, I should believe in us. But, on the other, sometimes things just happen between ex's and then I saw he was bad

Buffy: He wasn't bad.

Riley: Seriously? That's a "good" day? Well there you go. Even when he's good he's all Mr. Billowy Coat King of Pain and girls really-

After their talk they say I love you to each other and then Buffy has to tell him about Forrest. He abruptly leaves, and the cliff-hanger is that he goes to Adam.

Let’s get in to the Scooby drama. It’s clear Buffy, Willow, Xander, and Giles haven’t been paying much attention to each other lately, but you know who has been paying attention? Spike.

Spike: Think you're neglecting the past tense there, Rupert. Besides, she barely listened when you were in charge. I've seen the way she treats you.

We’ve seen a few hints that Giles is insecure about losing his job as librarian and, more importantly, Watcher. He was fired way back in season three, but when Buffy belonged to the Council she continued to look to him for guidance and ignored the replacements. When she decided to drop the Council and stop taking orders she also stopped looking to him. She’s the leader now.

Xander: This is so like them lately. It's all about them and the college life. You know what college is? It's high school without the actual going to class. Well, high school was sort of like that too but the point is, I'm the one working hard to earn a living and it's a huge joke to them.

Anya: They look down on you.

Xander: And they hate you…

Anya: But they don't look down on me.

Xander is struggling to find his footing post-high school, which we actually have seen hints of throughout. The ironic part is Buffy and Willow will be in the same place after college, but by then Xander is finding a place in construction and doing a bit better. Spike suggests they mentioned him going to the military, which was a strange choice. It would be fairly easy for them to shut down having ever said that if it came up. Spike only gets away with it because the fight is so chaotic.

Willow: I am a whiz!

Tara: She is a whiz.

Willow’s insecurity is about her new relationship with Tara and her friend’s feelings about it. Spike slips up here; he says Xander said she was being trendy but Xander doesn’t even know about the relationship at this point. Spike points out something interesting here--Willow isn’t as focused on her computer skills lately. But that’s not something she or anyone else will be concerned about for awhile.

Spike doesn’t say anything to Buffy, which makes sense because she’s sort of the center of this whole universe. Buffy has a lot of concerns, but her friends not liking or needing her isn’t one of them. The interesting thing about all this drama is that none of the friends care a bit about what the others are going through; they’re too focused on their own drama. Buffy and Willow don’t think about Xander’s employment issues, Buffy and Xander don’t think about Willow’s sexual preferences or her obsession with wicca, and Buffy, Xander, and Willow don’t think about Giles’ lack of employment in any real way.

Tensions escalate when they all convene at Giles’ house because everyone is overly sensitive (Buffy is totally lost).

Giles: You never train with me anymore. Adam's gonna kick your ass.

Buffy: Giles?!

Giles: Sorry! Didn't mean to be so honest. Terribly sorry.

After seeing Forrest die, Buffy isn’t eager for anyone to come along with her. And that just further taps into their feelings of inadequacy.

Xander: And if I did join the army I'd be great. You know why? Because maybe they'd give me a job that couldn't be done by any well-trained Border Collie.

Willow: Sure, you'd be wonderful in the army -- you think the umbilical cord between you and Anya would stretch that far?

Xander: I knew it. I knew you hated her.

Willow: Hey, I'm not the one being judgmental, here. I'll leave that territory to you and Buffy.

Buffy: Judgmental? If I was any more open minded about the choices you two make my whole brain would fall out.

Xander: Oh. And superior. Don't forget that. Just because you're better than us doesn't mean you can be all superior.

Buffy: Guys, stop this. What happened to you today?

Willow: It's not today. Buffy, everything's been wrong for a while. Don't you see that?

Buffy: Willow, what do you mean things have been wrong? Things don't have to be wrong, do they?

A major problem with the Scooby friendship is that Buffy is the leader--and she is both too distracted and too inclined to ignore emotional issues to lead effectively. Buffy is an avoidance type and so the entire group avoids talking or working through their feelings with each other. This is something Giles noticed in Once More With Feeling but it never gets fixed. The group is missing someone like Faith or Spike...someone who would be more willing to call out issues and bring them out in the open. Buffy hates that, but sometimes it’s necessary. Just look what happened to everyone in season six...

Character Notes:

The Initiative: They want Riley back. They (correctly) realize they can’t harm Buffy if they ever want to bring him back into the fold. When the relationship between them ends they do eventually lure him back, so good call there.

Spike: We learn he can’t even point a useless gun with the chip in his head. It appears to be activated by intent to harm rather than ability, which makes sense. He lists his past fun night outs as deflowering a virgin princess, killing a minister mid-sermon, and seeing the Sex Pistols in ‘76.

Adam: His favorite Beatles song is ‘Helter Skelter’.

#theyokofactor #doug petrie #buffy summers #willow rosenberg #xander harris #rupert giles #spike #anya jenkins #angel #buffy/angel #riley finn #buffy/riley #xander/anya #tara maclay #willow/tara #forrest gates #adam #buffy/spike

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toastydoodles · 6 years

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(Art Blog) | (Twitter) | (Instagram) | (Storenvy)

((Had to get in one last post before the new year!))

I HAD THE MOST STRESSFUL FUN THIS OCTOBER doing these three conventions three weeks in a row, not to mention doing multi-day conventions for the first time! There were ups and downs but I had so much fun and by the end of my con season my brain was utterly fried!!

Thank you so so much to everyone who stopped by, and to those who followed me here sometime in the past couple months: Hello!! Thank you for supporting my art and I hope you enjoy your stay!!

That said, I’m gonna talk a bit about this con season. GET COMFY, ITS LONG

So con prep started in late August when I learned that I actually got into Kumori after having been on their waitlist for a while. I knew then that I REALLY had to kick my ass into gear lol

At this point, I was still in the middle of my 40 hr (+ 12 hr travel time) a week summer internship, so I didn’t have all day to work on my prints until the weekend, but my weekends were usually taken up spending time with loved ones and friends. Or gaming, since I didn’t have the time during the weekdays >_>

Then college came back around, giving me 4 classes, a student job doing graphic design, and club activities + homework! When I thought I’d have more free time, I actually had less! But with cons approaching, I drew more than I would have if I didn’t have cons AND found myself improving when it came to doing prints again.

The biggest issue popped up a week before BCC. LONG story short, I suddenly did not have a button maker to borrow anymore. I weighed my options: either lose money on potential button sales (which made up most of my sales in previous years) and shelf my button designs, or drop $500 on a button maker set to make them in time for Kumori and Jet City. This is also keeping in mind that I might not be able to do too many cons in the future.

I bought the button maker. But, since I am the luckiest daughter in the world, my parents swooped in to pay for it as an early Christmas present. I will be making so many wearable memes with this gift and I am GRATEFUL.

Another issue I ran into the WHOLE MONTH was not being able to take card. I’m forever rejected from Square (tl;dr, my phone glitched during signup and shredded through all the signup attempts I can possibly have. Customer service basically said “welp, sorry!”) and Paypal Here was entirely unhelpful, so I had to go the season as cash only. I won’t actually know how much this hurt sales, but it definitely hurt turning down some big purchases because I was one of the few vendors that didn’t take card!

I’ll definitely be looking into the alternatives for card readers soon! There’s a lot out there.

This year, I kept track of my sales and stock with excel sheets with formulas! It definitely kept things organized and helped me keep track of stock and see where patterns were, if any. It wasn’t perfect, but it helped immensely. I also kept very VERY close track of what my spending was like.

I’m spoiling it before the end, but I was about $200 from breaking even. Luckily I’m not in a position where this loss impacts significantly, but it still stings! It could have been a result of multiple things, such as the hotel for Kumori being 1/3rd of my expenses ALONE, my choice of products/fandoms, not having ability to take card, and general attendee interest.

Let’s take a brief look at each con!

Bellingham Comicon

Glad to be back!

Bellingham Comicon has once again, been a joy. It’s a small convention but excited attendees pack the place and sales were good. A couple people recognized me from last year and I recognized a couple people too! I didn’t have my button maker yet but perlers seemed to be decently popular. I even made a custom Witch Mercy perler that sold 40 MINUTES INTO THE CONVENTION. It sold so quick that I didn’t even get to take a table picture until after I sold it! (I will say, when I put up that custom Sentai Genji, I upped the price a bit lmao)

I met a lot of amazing artists and got to do a bunch of art trades as well, something I haven’t really done in previous years! I was happy to see a couple familiar faces and meet some new artists too!! BCC is small enough that walking around and chatting to other artists and vendors is on the easier side.

I got a couple weird looks dressed as IT Damien from Dream Daddy, but was glad some people recognized me! I made some first impressions on some very cool artists in that cosplay haHA

While BCC is a comic convention, I didn’t feel out of place. There were lots of attendees that I would consider in my target audience and I didn’t feel like it was taking away from business. BCC is very much a comic and pop culture convention, with fans looking for all sorts of things!

Kumoricon

GOD WHAT AN ADVENTURE

Kumori was my first multi-day convention, and the farthest I’ve travelled for a con! Needless to say, I was anticipating this con since August, but didn’t know AT ALL what to expect.

We ended up driving down on Thursday and setting up that night, which definitely took a lot of the stress away. I also managed to compact my table and merch into a single tote, a print box, a bag to hold the wire cubes, + personal bags for miscellaneous stuff. So that was less stressful too.

Friday came and I was cosplaying Taako (which, as I found out, is 150% more fun to wear than IT Damien oops). The day was on the slower side, and some of my friends came by to say hi and ended up helping out at my table, giving me time to check out the artist alley!

Kumori’s artist alley was HUGE. And even more jarring: so many of the artists I follow on twitter/insta/etc were there. Somehow. Good lord, how many of you live in the PNW that I didn’t know about? I recognized an artist who’s art I love in line while waiting for badges and almost had a heart attack. Over the weekend, I met a lot of artists but it was only a fraction of the entire artist alley. I didn’t even get to meet all the artists I recognized!

So. Profit-wise, the con was kind of a disappointment. Oh boy, here’s a stat: I made about as much at BCC as I did at Kumori. In three days.

Again, this could’ve been a number of things. A lot of artists (many more experienced than me!), general interest, things I chose to sell, etc. But even so, many of the returning artists I talked to said it was slower than last year and some said the con is usually pretty dang slow.

But the con was fantastic in other ways. It gave me valuable big-con experience, some new art friends/mutuals, a fun time at the con and in Portland (good food!), and again, my favorite part, meeting a ton of cool, amazing artists and being able to make some art trades or to buy from them!

I definitely needed rest after this one. My brain was absolutely FRIED by the time we finally got back home and ate a late dinner at Shari’s.

Jet City Comic Show

Not even gonna lie, it was EMPTY most of the weekend!

I ended up having to table by myself, which wasn’t a problem with how lax it was. I even had time to doodle as well as finish a pen drawing! And I live pretty close to the show, so I could just head home once the days ended.

My table neighbor was super cool and I met a bunch of cool artists from all over the artist alley as well! This alley was pretty massive too, so I didn’t get to check out all of them. Being a comic convention, most of the artists were comic-based, with maybe a hand full of anime-styled artist from what I could see.

Many artists had their own published comics, and I enjoyed listening to their pitches (and took some comics home too!!).

My row didn’t seem to get a lot of foot traffic, but neither did the majority of the artist alley. And Sunday was even slower! Talking to other vendors, I found out Jet City is usually slow, but this year was slower than the last.

All in all, it was a nice quiet weekend and I was happy to meet more amazing artists at this con, as well as happy to get home and REST!

Overall...

This season was rewarding. Not in the money way, unfortunately. I’m lucky to be a position where it doesn’t affect me in a major way. But I’m always so excited to go to cons, and just being around fellow fans and creative minds is rewarding in it’s own way. I’ve also learned what to do and what not to do for future conventions should I continue to do them!

the real profit was the artists we met along the way

#artist alley #artist alley recap #long post #toasty post #i actually wrote this is november and havent finished it til now lmao #portfolio

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colitisandme · 3 years

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Firstly Hi again. I am sorry I have been absent for the past few months. Truth is, I have been feeling rougher than a badgers arse and keeping myself away from people with eyes for their own good. The last few months have been particularly tricky to navigate after my last surprising hospital stay. It did not go well. But I wanted to start this year off by doing a year in review... looking back at what’s happened and try to find a Kum by ya moment in a sea of well of just waaaaaaaaaaaah and arrrrrrrgh! So journey with me through the past 12 months of life, love and quite literally the pursuit of toilet roll.

I greeted January with a hi five and with eternal optimism of what this year could bring, “ This was going to be our year” we said with proud and happy voices, only later sadly discovering my optimism had clearly been marinading in all the new years alcohol, and so drunk, incorreherent and nearly blind stumbled into a ravine where it bobbed about helplessly in a sea of tears before plunging into the abyss. Ideal.

In February, Phyllis Fibro barged her way past my defence system, and squeezed her fat behind into my life and with no warning announced she was going to be here for the duration, turned my limbs to jelly, gave me chronic insomnia, ate all my happy snacks, and let her cats scoot in the trifle of my life. Phyllis is like the relative who turns up for a ‘short surprise visit’ sets up camp in your spare bedroom, deletes all your favourite shows off your tv planner, eats your food out of the fridge, steals your favourite clothes then proceeds to stretch them out and give them back to you when they look like overstretched scrotum... all the time finding new and inventive ways of irritating you on a daily basis. That short stay turns into you finding a truck has turned up at your house bulging at the seems of boxes, clothes 13 clothes horses, giant ball of string, bag of costumes for cats and a yearly subscription to ‘football hooligans and where to find them in your neighbourhood’ in your name. We are not friends, I do not like her and wish she would vacate my body as there is simply no room for her and I think her merely being there is catapulting useful stuff out of my ears and filling the space they used to be with goo. I am sure she takes great delight when I try and blindly grasp for the correct word in a sentence and sweating and stammering exclaim ‘ it’s very nice to meet your umbrella/ sandwich/ watering can’ when I meant to say BROTHER. I am sure she cackles heartily whilst they back away with panic on their faces ... it’s an ideal way to make friends and influence people.

Due to the fact Phyllis was turning my brain, legs and general well being into jelly, I was given medication.... have you ever heard your own heart beat? I have. I have also had the pleasure of replaying the lyrics to a Mcfly song in my head for 8 hours straight.... (am 35 years old and so teen pop should not be the automatic thing my drug induced brain turns too) and had a continuous plot line to ‘How I met your Mother on’ repeat.... These are not brilliant side effects to have at 2 in the morning whilst your husband is blissfully slumbering away in the background and your so tired that you want to chew the pillow and cry. So after several weeks of this, it was decided by everyone within a global radius that that particular medication was not for me. Probably for the best as it felt like my heart was going to explode out of my ears and my pupils were the size of saucers. But after they removed it I realised was just going to be little me vs Phyllis, a battle still going on to this day.

March/April brought the beginning of Lockdown and that endless pursuit of well-being, equilibrium, sanity and toilet roll. A shopping trip was like witnessing snarling animals over a territory dispute...strangers with eyes staring, yelling, barging, arguments over who had the bigger trolley every time we want to a supermarket... People scrabbling to get that last pack of baked beans, bowling grandmas down the isles, sending shoppers flying like bowling pins, climbing over children, ripping open packs of spaghetti then proceeding to stab people’s eyes with it, just to get the last bag of cheesy snacks on the shelf... incoherently grunting at the cowering till workers. Like a scene from Shaun of the Dead. I hoped that a crisis would bring out the best in us, that we would all come together and support and look out for our fellow man but no such luck there. And when you are already battling several illnesses all trying to set up a commune inside your body, the thought of going out into the madness that was unfolding all around us was terrifying.

June/July/August was the summer of isolation. Now I deal with isolation on a daily basis but even when your illnesses do a fabulous job of isolating, you find things, tiny things to focus on, enjoy and look forward to. First good thing in this period of isolation, was that I found out I was nominated for an award FOR MY LITTLE BLOG!!! (Victory cookies, trumpets sounded, woo hoo noises) This was a huge surprise and completely awesome. I was so blessed and felt incredibly honoured to even be considered. I truly think that this was one of the proudest moments and achievements in my life and it’s something I remain hugely proud of. Secondly early during this time myself and my dear friend who runs a hugely successful FB group supporting those who have Microscopic Colitis, decided we were going to come together and write a book about living with Microscopic Colitis including my blogs and stories. This makes me go eeeeeeeeeeeeeeep and almost wee myself with excitement. We can’t wait to put it all together for you all. And thirdly my very clever, very awesome husband had passed his last ACCA exam (Yaaaay) and our bubble was holding strong, Me and my husband were adapting to lockdown life and enjoying our time together. All was good.

For a few months, I ignored my raging body, put my fingers in my ears and loudly sang ‘la la la la’ everytime one threatened to ruin my day... ‘I will just try harder’ I would say or ‘it’s not effecting me’ or ‘it’s not beating me’ ... blindly ignoring the fact that my body was screaming at me... because I am stupidly stubborn. I refuse to let anything beat me... especially illness. However an unfortunate event happened around this time, and after it happened, my illnesses must of all had a pow wow, came together by torchlight and all decided that with no warning they were going to barge past my defences, clobber my Arsenal, scratch their eyes out tromp up and down my body yelling “Na na na na na we told you so” in my ears, whist Phyllis stomped on my limbs. She then got out her mallet, whacked my hands so they blew up, and then proceeded to harness her artistic side and paint my hands blue just coz she thought regular skin colour was ‘so last season’ and using a giant straw sucked all the colour out of my face. Miss Anxiety who was usually fairly quiet in her zen garden of peace, decided now was the perfect time to start learning Death Metal music without wearing earphones, whilst reading me my favourite novel ‘100 reasons why you failed’ at in oppertune hours of the morning. Slowly Colin the colon began blowing himself up like a balloon, and built a giant wall so I couldn’t poop and I shook like a vibrator on setting 4. And I couldn’t stop it... it completely swamped me. All that ‘it doesn’t matter it’s not beating me’ was hogwash all the ‘you’re defying what you should be doing’ from my doctors went out of the window.... I was struggling and I knew it and so did my body and once more I had nothing outside my little bubble to distract me from it.

Which leads me to the worst 3 months since I first had the symptoms of Microscopic Colitis and Colin the Colon began behaving like an uncooperative toddler hyped up on sweeties. I kid you not. Brace yourself.

Now firstly I want to firmly state I am used to pain. I am aware that It’s better to be used to daisies or marshmallows, or stroking puppies but sadly I am used to pain. Phyllis gives me a lot of it on a daily and nightly basis. I also have a high pain threshold. No honestly I do. I can be stoic when in pain. Which is useful. You won’t often know I am in crippling pain unless I tell you. So when I say September was the month we refer to as ‘agonising pain month’ you can be sure it really was. A niggle in mid September, which naturally I ignored, turned into ‘HOLY CRAP WHY IS THE DEVIL DOING A CAN CAN ON MY BACK WHIST INSERTING HOT POKERS THROUGH MY SIDE??’ (Insert 39 creative swear words) I tried to go to my happy place which was replaced by fire and knives, deep breathing techniques, which when applied felt like I was breathing in acid’ and positive thoughts were replaced with demons in a conga line singing a rousing rendition of “boiled and roasted, lightly toasted, fricase and lit and flambéd” in unison. Cue paramedics, more swearing, being sent to hospital via ambulance, sucking gas and air, been given a plethora of drugs, poking, needles, and my right hand side feeling like all my nerves were being forcibly twanged like the strings in a guitar. The pain would not go, it did not change, it didn’t ease, it led to 5 days in 3 different wards where it was too painful to touch my skin, mind numbing exhaustion where it felt like my legs were encased in lead and taking a few steps felt like I had run up a mountain, and showers where I would be huddled over in tears trying to wash myself, keep balance and not shout obscenities at my wash cloth.

When you have on your notes that you have a chronic illness resulting in widespread pain, and you end up in hospital trying to explain your body is trying to leave its self forcibly and quickly through a firery tunnel of woe, guess what happens? They assume it’s the chronic illness. Yep. You are immediately bundled into that catorgory without a second thought. Doesn’t matter the pain was on my right hand side, felt like I was being stabbed through my lung, and have never had anything like it before. Nope. And throughout my whole stay I felt like an imposter. Like I shouldn’t be there. Even though I was in so much pain I couldn’t stand and even lying down made me go cross eyed it felt like I was being judged. Scruitinised. They knew I needed to be there. But somehow made me feel like it was all part of my condition. It wasn’t. The stay was also traumatic. There were some very very poorly people on my ward, having incredibly tough conversations with drs, family, hospice and my heart broke more than once during my stay. And my pain team who I have been under since I was introduced to Phyllis, did not come and see me once. Not cocking once, despite being asked to several times. I was not impressed to say the least.

Once I returned home, (still in sodding pain I might add) I had multiple attacks. One attack was so bad my wonderful best friend had to come and rescue me as I had dropped to the floor and couldn’t get up again... and I was completely on my own at the time so thank Christ she did, or Kyle would have come home to me lying on the floor surrounded by a puddle of wee and tears with chew marks in the carpet, where I have tried to propel myself across the room by my teeth. And the thing about consuming more meds than a pharmaceutical trade convention, is that it effected Colin. He declined to let anything pass, like a hulky bouncer at a club... He denied ANYTHING to go through, for 9 days... after 9 days sweating, cramping, hobbling due to back spasms, red faced eyes bulging and dizzy I presented again in casualty .... so off balance in fact I dropped my phone down the loo in a&e and then panicked trying to scoop out the urine sodden device attempting to drying it out under a dryer... sigh. And would they help with Colin, even though I have a bowel disease? NO! “Wait until you reach 11 days, and if no movement then, then we will intervene” I was told. 11 COCKING DAYS!!!! If there was no movement by 11 days they would not have had to intervene, they would have found me on day 11 swearing, full of a combination of laxatives, prunes and other such things scooting on their bloody floor shouting obscenities at the toilet bowl, trying to get my colon out with a spoon. This bout of constipation led to tearing so much i lost so much blood I filled a toilet bowl and consequently 3 more weeks of hydrocortisone suppositories, laxtatives and pain killers and it’s still effecting me now. Colin is most certainly not my friend at the moment. During this time feeling thoroughly abandoned I sought advice in private health care who discovered during a scan that I had a new resident in my right lung... I call him Filbert the lung goblin. He is a small undertiminable mass and is also not bloody welcome. There is no room. I have made it clear to him that he is not staying long but he ignores me and likes to find ways of stomping on my lung in his big Goblin boots at various times of the day causing me to yell out in surprise and pain.

So fast forward to the present day, complete with Phyllis, Colin, Filbert and god knows who else. I have been to physio for my back, (my right side of my back is rigid) where each session she either gives me exercises through zoom or she bends me like a pretzel and pulls me in different directions in person, (after making sure I have consumed enough painkillers to take down a fully grown Rhino) making my eyes bulge. I have been having regular sessions with a Psychologist who is helping me work on ... well me, and it’s not easy. This new back complication makes it doubly difficult, as even the smallest movement in my right hand side can set off hours of hell and spasms so I have had to have found other ways of moving, writing, working holding things and generally coping. I lost my dear friend a little while ago so I am also grieving in my own way for her. But I am also acutely aware that we and our family are safe when thousands have not been, We and our families are without COVID and allthogh isolation makes things harder, we are blessed we have what we have. It’s difficult to focus on the positive in a sea of crap, but I try to keep looking on what’s there rather than what’s missing. I try to find joy in the small things and am finally realising that I have to slow down. The realisation that I am ill has been a long time coming, and the further acceptance that comes with that is even more difficult. It’s definitely been a journey and even though it’s still one step in front of another, it’s still steps forward in the right direction, and even if I lose the map and veer off course, that’s okay too. It’s okay not to be okay and it’s okay to adjust to your new normal whatever that might be. It’s just another chapter and I think I am going to try and be more kind and accepting of my new normal moving forwards. So I start my year with a new found appreciation of myself, trying to be kinder to myself and trying to open up more to my loved ones. It’s been one hell of a year, but it’s a year of difficulties we have all shared in our own way. And by sharing we support each other. After all no matter what last year threw at us all and no matter what this year brings. We are all in this together. ❤️

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cherry-valentine · 7 years

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So here’s what I’m watching in the Fall 2017 Anime Season:

Juuni Taisen was the first new series I tried this season and it’s become one of my favorites. It’s an action show that pulls no punches and really enjoys messing with audience expectations. The ending of the first episode was a genuine surprise, and the following episodes have refused to fall neatly into overly familiar or tropey territory. Even when something tropey happens, it happens in a fresh and unexpected way. The art is great, with a nice variety in character designs. I was extremely amused by the fact that the most scantily-clad character is a man (a bunny man at that, wearing almost nothing). It’s little things like this that make the show fun. The opening and ending themes are very catchy (I especially like the art that goes along with the ending theme, showing all these crazy, violent characters in their normal, everyday lives and doing a nice job of humanizing them). High on my watch list. Black Clover is something of a disappointment, if only because it had been hyped up so much in the fandom circles I’m part of. If I had gone into it with zero expectations (and, honestly, if this had been a slower season), I might have liked it a lot. But as it stands, I went in expecting something amazing and was underwhelmed. I’m still watching, don’t get me wrong. The show has its good points and I’ll get to that. But overall I’m not super impressed with it. So the good things are the art, the interesting take on a magic-based society, and Yuno. In that order. My main issue with this series, and this might sound petty to some people, is the fact that the main character, Asta, is so damned annoying. He never speaks. He screams. Constantly. Incessantly. It literally hurts my ears. It’s to the point that I keep the remote in my hand so I can push mute when he starts screaming. It’s that bad. To some people, it’s not that big of a deal and isn’t that bad. But for me personally, it’s a major pet peeve of mine. I just can’t stand the constant screaming. Maybe it’s because loud, abrasive noises trigger migraines for me. Anywho, I’m also a little disappointed that I’ve been able to accurately predict every single thing that has happened in the show. And it’s not that I’m particularly good at predicting things. The show is just that formulaic. Of COURSE Asta is going to be the underdog who can’t use magic. Of COURSE Yuno is going to be a magic prodigy. Of COURSE Asta is going to end up with a grimmoire that’s different from everyone else’s (and probably more powerful). Of COURSE he’s going to end up with the outcast squad of magic knights that no one wants to join. Of freaking COURSE. And oops, I spoiled some things there but not really because anyone with a brain would see these developments coming a mile away. I’m still watching, but it’s dangling from the bottom of my watch list. Sengoku Nightblood is a very pretty otome series that basically takes all the famous warlords and soldiers from the Sengoku period and turns them into clans of vampires, werewolves (pretty boys with cute wolf ears!), and various other mythological creatures. Did I mention the show is pretty? Because it’s SUPER PRETTY. And that’s basically why I’m still watching. The series is a little low on plot and the heroine is bland as hell (to the point that she might as well not even be there) but dang, those vampires and werewolves and fox boys sure are pretty! Not to mention the gorgeous backgrounds and outfits. The show is basically a treat for your eyes, and not much else. But boy is it a tasty treat. Evil or Live is a Japanese dubbed Chinese series that falls in line with previous Chinese series I’ve watched over the past several seasons: an interesting concept, a few cool characters, and subpar animation. This obviously doesn’t apply to all Chinese shows (the amazing Quan Zhi Gao Shou from the summer season is a notable exception), but it’s the trend I’ve noticed, especially among Tencent productions. This time we have a show that’s almost scary in how possible it is to actually happen. It’s about a super strict boarding school where teens are sent when their parents think they’re too addicted to the internet and/or their smart phones. And from the start, we’re not presented with a clear-cut, black and white situation. There’s a huge moral gray area, which is refreshing. The school, and the people who work there, are depicted as ruthless and oftentimes cruel. But at the same time, the students are shown to be no angels. Even the protagonist, whom we’re rooting for, was revealed to be a rude, ungrateful little asshole to his mother in flashbacks (though he does regret his behavior once he’s at the school and has time to reflect on why he’s there). Many of the other students are manipulative or just downright mean, and many do display clear signs of actual addiction, which makes it hard to totally condemn the school as evil. Overall, it’s a compelling setup that makes you think. Unfortunately, the show is marred by lackluster art/design and the typical low budget animation I expect from Tencent. The art isn’t bad. It’s just unremarkable and unmemorable. If you can look over that, however, the show is definitely worth watching. Tsukipro is apparently a spinoff series to the very fun Tsukiuta from a few seasons back. I would have preferred an actual second season for Tsukiuta but oh well. This is better than nothing. Instead of two cute, well-developed boy bands, we get four not-quite-as-interesting boy bands. What I liked about Tsukiuta was that it took a fairly serious, realistic look at what it meant to be in a boy band while also throwing in some light supernatural elements that somehow fit (we had a ghost, aliens, and the fact that band leader Shu is an actual demon lord, albeit a very nice one). So far Tsukipro has had no supernatural elements and is a tad bland. I’m also finding it hard to connect with any of the characters because there’s just too many of them to keep up with and it’s very difficult to keep straight who is who. Some of them even look very similar to each other (and not just the band that has a set of twins). I’m hoping the characters get more development as the series continues, and I’ll be waiting for those quirky supernatural elements. King’s Game was one of my early favorites and is still very high on my watch list. It has a great hook that puts a fresh (and supernatural) twist on the “group of teenagers forced into a deadly game” concept. Instead of being forced to kill each other, an external force does the killing if they fail to obey the orders that are sent to them via text. The series doesn’t shy away from violence or sex (several characters get sex-related orders, including one poor guy who is ordered to have sex before midnight, but the order comes in so late that he only has a few minutes to obey). The show is tense and dramatic, with nearly every single scene having dangerously high stakes. It puts you on edge in the best possible way. There’s also that mysterious, supernatural angle, as the characters try to figure out who the King actually is. The only drawback, so far, is that the art and animation are fairly generic. This is easy to overlook, considering how strong the story is. The music is great, particularly the ending theme. A major contender for favorite of the season (and almost definitely my favorite new show of the season). Kino’s Journey is something I’ve heard a lot about, but I’ve never watched the older anime or read any of the manga/novels/whatever. Still, I’ve been in anime fandom circles long enough to know the basic concept so I decided to try this new series. I was surprised by how pleasant the show is, and also by how violent it is. The series does an excellent job of balancing the (mostly self-contained) stories of each episode between mild, sweet tales and action-packed gun battles. There’s also a very interesting mix of settings, with some “countries” Kino visits being quaint Victorian-esque towns while others are technologically advanced modern cities. I was also surprised by Kino herself. While a generally nice and pleasant person, she can be quite ruthless and often ignores the plights of others. She’s also badass to the point that fights involving her are almost boring. But the show really is about exploration and expanding horizons rather than who wins a shootout. Even the more violent episodes leave you with a sense of comfort and satisfaction. It’s enough to make anyone want to go out and travel the world. Dies Irae is a series I’m conflicted about. It had an “episode zero” prologue that was awesome and made me think this was going to be a favorite, but the following episodes have yet to live up to the prologue’s promise. They’re not bad at all though, so I’m not sure how to judge the show. I’m a bit mad at it for getting my hopes up, but I’m still enjoying it. The art and design are awesome. The characters are cool. The back story for the villains (basically the prologue) is very interesting. The ending theme is badass. My main issue is that it seems to be taking forever for things to get going after episode zero. I don’t know how many episodes this show is going to have, but I’m guessing it’s 12-13, and at this rate, absolutely nothing is going to be resolved. It also occasionally creeps into harem territory (a byproduct of being based on a game, I suppose). So far it’s avoided being an outright harem series but there are a few too many lady characters being flirty with the protagonist for my taste. This is just a persona preference thing though. It still has a solid spot on my watch list. Garo: Vanishing Line is something I was excited about. I’ve watched and enjoyed previous Garo anime (though I haven’t tried the live action shows, sadly). They took place in more historical settings, so in my mind, I tend to associate Garo with that type of story. That’s why Vanishing Line, with its futuristic, sci-fi setting, seemed so interesting to me. It’s a quality show, with some great action sequences and a memorable visual style. My only problem with the show is that I’m just not as into the characters as I was in previous Garo anime. I like the protagonist, Sword (gotta love that name), and it’s nice to have a more cheerful, upbeat hero in the Golden Armor, but I don’t know enough about him to really care about him as a character. We’re almost halfway through the season and I don’t know a single thing about him that I didn’t know at the end of the first episode. The supporting cast isn’t much better. They seem cool and they look awesome but with the exception of the plucky young girl sidekick, I don’t know anything about them. Still yet, the show is a fun, wild ride. Net-juu no Susume is probably my second favorite new show this season behind King’s Game. It’s about a group of characters playing an MMO, but in this show it’s very clear that the game is a hobby that they enjoy, and not a death trap or any such nonsense. We also get a lot of scenes of the characters outside the game, which is nice. It’s basically a sweet and funny love story about a lady shut in (an adult! wow!) playing a young male character in the game and growing attached to a cute young girl in the game, who is secretly being played by a handsome but shy adult man. The show is adorable, and it’s so nice to see a romance anime involving an MMO that stars adult characters. The art is colorful and cute and the music is peppy and fun. It’s very much a feel-good show that’s highly entertaining. Super high on my watch list. March Comes in Like a Lion Season Two was such a nice surprise. I hadn’t even heard that season two was airing this year, so I was really happy to see it pop up on Crunchyroll. This is the show I almost didn’t watch because I didn’t get the first half of episode one. Thankfully I kept watching and realized how amazing it was. This series would be a great example to use to explain how animation can be a powerful storytelling medium, and to demonstrate how animation can accomplish things that no other medium can. The way the show conveys emotions with various color schemes and simple imagery is just beautiful. If you can sit through a whole season of this series and not cry at least once, you might be dead inside. It handles a lot of complex feelings and relationships with care and tact. It’s slow paced and very introspective, so it’s definitely not for everyone. But if you like this sort of anime, you need to be watching it. Code Realize is a steampunk otome series where famous fictional people like Victor Frankenstein and Van Helsing are reimagined as, you guessed it, romantic pretty boys! It’s actually not as stupid as it sounds, and there’s a sense of adventure flowing through the story. The character designs are great and there’s some lovely steampunk scenery. The heroine is actually interesting this time, with a mysterious past you’ll likely want to find out more about and a strange “curse” that makes everything she touches dissolve as if dipped in acid. I also liked that she is taught some basic self defense moves so that she won’t be completely helpless in a fight, something I wish more otome heroines could do, since they tend to get attacked/kidnapped/harassed a lot. It happened in a fairly realistic way too, since it didn’t automatically make her a badass, but she can provide support in a pinch. The guys are a mixed bag, covering some of the usual types but none of them being reduced to JUST their stereotypes. One of the better otome series I’ve watched in the past few seasons. Kekkai Sensen Season Two, or as the much more awesome English title calls it, “Blood Blockade Battlefront & Beyond”, is currently at the top of my watch list (King’s Game is my favorite new show, but overall BBB&B is the best). I absolutely loved season one with its over the top craziness. It had violence and humor and outlandish settings and characters, all grounded by a likable, down-to-earth lead and a fun, casual vibe. Season two has all of that as well. So far this season seems to be avoiding an overarching plot in favor of fleshing out some of the characters who didn’t get enough development in season one (I was so happy to finally get a Chain-centric episode and to find out how awesome she really is). I kind of miss the moments of poignancy that were scattered through season one, but we’ve still got time for some of that to show up in season two. I was also wondering how they were going to top the season one ending theme, which is still one of my all-time favorites. The new theme isn’t as good (though that’s an extremely high standard to meet), but it’s definitely fun and quirky and probably my favorite of the season. And this is something I said about the first season, that still holds true: this show is FUN. It radiates FUN. Even when things get relatively serious or dangerous, it’s FUN. And all that fun is infectious. Gintama is on... what season now? It all gets a bit muddled when the show has been going for this long. There’s not a lot to say about the Gintama series as a whole that I haven’t said before. All I can do is strongly, firmly, with all of my being, recommend it to everyone who likes anime. Gintama is one of those shows that will change your life. It’s a show you’ll wonder how you lived without. That being said, this season is more of the same. I think it could have opened on stronger episodes, but this is a series in which even the weaker episodes are extremely entertaining. My one real complaint is that the stories being animated now apparently came before the major story lines of the last season in the manga, as there are characters in this season that died last season. It was a little confusing, to be honest. I’m not sure what they could do to fix this problem, and I guess most viewers in Japan are familiar with the manga and so it’s not an issue for them. It’s not a huge issue but it was a little jarring. Despite this, the show as a whole is still one of my all-time favorites.

#Anime #Seasonal Anime #Fall 2017 Anime #Anime Reviews #Anime Recommendations #Text

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Cheat Unturned

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