This episode picks up slightly after where the last one left off, with Eren now en route to the scout regiment's old headquarters. It turns out to be an abandoned castle. It's remote location meant that it wasn't very practical as a base of operations, but makes it a perfect setting to see what Eren (and his titan form) can do.
We never actually see any such exercises or simulations as the elite team of titan killers spends a majority of the episode...tidying up. Not joking at all.
Again, we're introduced to a new batch of characters, only a couple of whom leave any sort of lasting impression. Petra, a young female scout is at least somewhat amiable. Beyond that, I really couldn't tell you anything about any of them. Eren goes through a mental roll call, listing the scouts' names and their respective stats, so we know that they are, at least, good at killing titans.
Hange, who was introduced in the last episode, probably leaves the most lasting impression, as she tells Eren about the experiments that she has been performing on the titans that were captured after the Trost battle.
You'd think that the people would have no sympathy for the test subjects, but Hange goes out of her way to try and reach them. She talks to them, names them, even gets within chomping distance. Yeah, the monsters are tied and nailed down, but she still has a few close calls.
Even when the experiment is to determine if titans can feel pain, Hange shows a surprising amount of empathy, screaming in anguish as if she were on the receiving end of it. Considering how easy it would be to dehumanize these things, I suppose it's to her credit that she carries herself the way she does.
Her experiments aren't without results either. She explains to Eren that titans feed on sunlight and become lethargic if they are deprived of it for substantial amounts of time. Incidentally, the titans themselves are much lighter than their immense size would seem to indicate. Hange notes that the creatures shouldn't even be able to walk upright. It does add an extra alien element to these creatures, as they seem to defy conventional science.
Alas, the experiments are cut short, as somebody has murdered the two captive titans. Not only is this a blow, as humanity is deprived of the chance for further study, but Hange takes it especially hard. As if that weren't enough, one of the scouts suggests an intentional act of sabotage from somebody within.
Sadly, this episode really didn't bring much to the table. It dragged and there wasn't enough to keep the viewer engaged. I found my attention wandering elsewhere rather frequently and was rather glad to see the "to be continued" card finally pop up on the screen.
I don't expect every episode to have a big action sequence, but you have to bring something to the table. Have the characters do something notable or brainstorm or have a philosophical debate. This episode did next to nothing and the result is a chore of an episode. I could easily see this being the weakest episode of the entire season. To its credit, it wasn't painful like the Arale episode of 'Super', but still, this was not a pleasant viewing experience.
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Monday, January 30, 2017
Sunday, January 29, 2017
'Dragon Ball Super' episode 76: 'Beat the Fearsome Foes! Krillin's Fighting Spirit Returns!'
This episode is largely action centered, as Krillin and Goku fight against the ghostly doppelgangers of past foes, which now include Dabura and Raditz (and later, Bulma..for some reason.) Sadly, none of the "returning" villains talk at all. I can understand why, but it still seems like a missed opportunity for some psychological warfare.
Given the Krillin-centric nature of these episodes, I was expecting the antagonists to comically ignore Goku and zero in on the weaker opponent. That doesn't actually turn out to be the case. The villains are numerous enough that both are kept pretty busy. The fact that straight combat or brute force isn't what ultimately wins the day helps address any power imbalance issues between the two fighters.
A lot of focus is put on Krillin's fear, as he is brought face to face with opponents who had killed or humiliated him in prior encounters. In some regards, this feels like rehashed territory, as Krillin's arc in the "Resurrection F" story line seemed like it covered this, but this was still done pretty well. It was a nice way to incorporate some flashbacks from earlier series. Not only did it build emotional tension and show just how many times Krillin has suffered over the years, but it was a nice follow up, considering how nostalgia driven the last episode was.
Oh, speaking of nostalgia. The flying nimbus cloud makes a return appearance here. I was never crazy about that thing for some reason, but bringing it back here was a nice touch.
I was hoping to see 18 show some remorse for her rhetoric in the last episode, but alas, that never comes to pass. The closest thing we see is her tussling Krillin's hair and giving him a hug after the pair return with the herb. I don't know if that's pride or an indicator that, contrary to her lines last episode, she hasn't lost that lovin' feeling. I guess the fact that both she and Marron show concern over his well being is going to have to be enough.
Still, it would have been nice to see her acknowledge that she was inching dangerously close to emotional abuse and promise not to resort to such dirty pool again in the future.
On the flip side, Goku does a pretty decent job of reassuring and encouraging Krillin when it looks like the latter is starting to lose his nerve. Granted, Goku never gets a clear idea as to why Krillin was freaking out, but he never got annoyed or anything like that.
Of course, the two do get separated in the latter half of the battle. It felt natural and it did allow both fighters to figure out how to win on their own, which I think benefited both characters.
I was surprised to see that the "paradise plant" wasn't what I thought it was. I can understand Roshi not smoking it as a way to keep the show kid friendly, but the effects are completely different. Considering how riled up he became, I suppose you could still make some sort of drug parallel, but it isn't what I thought it was going to be.
In any event, much like Gohan before him, Krillin finds a reason to start training again. Also, much like Gohan, said reason is based on his daughter. He also says that he's doing it for himself, which is nice too. To further indicate that he's back, Krillin shaves his head again, going back to the iconic look that he had been rocking in both "Dragon Ball" and "Dragon Ball Z".
Overall, this episode wasn't quite as strong as its predecessor. It was entertaining, to be sure, but it didn't quite pack the same punch. Still, it's nice to see Krillin back in the game. He and Gohan may never hit god-tier like Goku, Vegeta, or kinda/sorta Future Trunks; but at least they are readying themselves so that they can be better prepared to deal with future threats.
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Given the Krillin-centric nature of these episodes, I was expecting the antagonists to comically ignore Goku and zero in on the weaker opponent. That doesn't actually turn out to be the case. The villains are numerous enough that both are kept pretty busy. The fact that straight combat or brute force isn't what ultimately wins the day helps address any power imbalance issues between the two fighters.
A lot of focus is put on Krillin's fear, as he is brought face to face with opponents who had killed or humiliated him in prior encounters. In some regards, this feels like rehashed territory, as Krillin's arc in the "Resurrection F" story line seemed like it covered this, but this was still done pretty well. It was a nice way to incorporate some flashbacks from earlier series. Not only did it build emotional tension and show just how many times Krillin has suffered over the years, but it was a nice follow up, considering how nostalgia driven the last episode was.
Oh, speaking of nostalgia. The flying nimbus cloud makes a return appearance here. I was never crazy about that thing for some reason, but bringing it back here was a nice touch.
I was hoping to see 18 show some remorse for her rhetoric in the last episode, but alas, that never comes to pass. The closest thing we see is her tussling Krillin's hair and giving him a hug after the pair return with the herb. I don't know if that's pride or an indicator that, contrary to her lines last episode, she hasn't lost that lovin' feeling. I guess the fact that both she and Marron show concern over his well being is going to have to be enough.
Still, it would have been nice to see her acknowledge that she was inching dangerously close to emotional abuse and promise not to resort to such dirty pool again in the future.
On the flip side, Goku does a pretty decent job of reassuring and encouraging Krillin when it looks like the latter is starting to lose his nerve. Granted, Goku never gets a clear idea as to why Krillin was freaking out, but he never got annoyed or anything like that.
Of course, the two do get separated in the latter half of the battle. It felt natural and it did allow both fighters to figure out how to win on their own, which I think benefited both characters.
I was surprised to see that the "paradise plant" wasn't what I thought it was. I can understand Roshi not smoking it as a way to keep the show kid friendly, but the effects are completely different. Considering how riled up he became, I suppose you could still make some sort of drug parallel, but it isn't what I thought it was going to be.
In any event, much like Gohan before him, Krillin finds a reason to start training again. Also, much like Gohan, said reason is based on his daughter. He also says that he's doing it for himself, which is nice too. To further indicate that he's back, Krillin shaves his head again, going back to the iconic look that he had been rocking in both "Dragon Ball" and "Dragon Ball Z".
Overall, this episode wasn't quite as strong as its predecessor. It was entertaining, to be sure, but it didn't quite pack the same punch. Still, it's nice to see Krillin back in the game. He and Gohan may never hit god-tier like Goku, Vegeta, or kinda/sorta Future Trunks; but at least they are readying themselves so that they can be better prepared to deal with future threats.
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Friday, January 27, 2017
Stephen King bibliography: 'The Regulators'
This was an interesting writing experiment. Take the same cast of characters, put them in a similar scenario, and then write the story under two different personas. As I briefly mentioned when discussing "Desperation", this is a "mirror" novel that parallels its "twin".
Don't worry, this isn't the exact same book with slightly different wording. The plot does differ significantly in many respects. We do see the "return" of some characters from "Desperation", but in true "parallel world" fashion, they aren't exactly the same as the ones seen in the other book.
You might think that this parallel connection would make for an ideal back to back read with its counterpart. Honestly, I'd suggest putting some space between reading the two books. Sure, the nods and parallels are easier to catch, as it's still fresh in your mind, but the aforementioned differences are initially rather discombobulating.
The mirror aspects don't stop there, though. In an oddly meta-sense, the books mirror each other in terms of strengths and weaknesses. This book "addresses" many of the criticisms I had regarding "Desperation". It is scaled back, both in terms of length and scope. Tak is also much more clearly defined, having a clearer objective, modus operandi, and notable personality. Some horror fans might argue that evils like this need to be kept vague so that the reader's imagination can do the work, but I think the more concrete approach worked to the villain's benefit here.
Yet, ultimately, I found this to be the weaker read. It doesn't have the same "unputdownable" quality that "Desperation" had. I chalk this up to the writing style. It's not as smooth, which results in a messier read.
The way the book is structured also leaves quite a bit to be desired. Characters are rarely where you left them, meaning that you have to do a round of mental catch up at the opening of every chapter. Other times, you'll think that a character would be in one location, but than they're somewhere else. It makes it hard to follow. It works in some scenes, such as chaotic shootings; but other times, it just comes off as jumbled.
The characters themselves also get a weaker showing here. The "returning" characters largely run on what the reader knows from the first book. I did like seeing the more heroic Entragian in action. We didn't really get to see him before he got possessed by Tak in the other book, so that was probably the standout reprisal.
As to the new characters, most of them fall flat. It was a strange move, adding several more characters in a book that doesn't have the space that the other book did. It could have worked, but it doesn't here. Never mind how well the characters will hold up in the long run, you'd be hard pressed to remember some of these characters as you're making your way through the book.
Seth, the young boy now taken over by Tak, and his aunt Audrey are probably the two strongest characters in this book overall. Unlike Entragian in "Desperation", we see the inner conflict between the host and possessor. Seth's general goodness gives him a degree of sympathy and connection that Entragian didn't have. Audrey is also put in a tight spot and is put through the ringer, garnering her more than a fair share of sympathy. Odd as it may sound, you probably could have scaled this book down even further and just focused on the family's dealings with the now possessed kid. Though, in fairness, that probably would have just been "The Exorcist".
Honorable mention also goes to "Rooty". The events in this book rely on fictional franchises, as such, parts of the book are script excerpts. You could argue that it's padding and I still maintain that scripts aren't meant to be read in this fashion, but I get why it's there. One such franchise, "Motokops" (which bears some similarities to "Power Rangers" and was alluded to in "Desperation") features a robot sidekick named Rooty, who communicates in beeps. It becomes something of a running gag that whenever Rooty pipes up, all the characters yell at him to shut up. Having grown up with shows that featured annoying comic relief sidekicks, I found it both amusing and cathartic.
I have a feeling many readers are also going to groan when the heroes' plan to defeat Tak starts off. The revelation regarding what keeps Tak out of Seth's body comes out of nowhere, doesn't make any sense, and is rather face palm inducing. Thankfully, the book does subvert it somewhat, but I still think it's safe to say that that plot point was...a load of crap...eh? You're only going to get that if you read the book, but it had to be done.
I wouldn't say that the book is so bad that you have to avoid it altogether. It has its moments, but it isn't an entry that you have to rush out and read immediately either.
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Don't worry, this isn't the exact same book with slightly different wording. The plot does differ significantly in many respects. We do see the "return" of some characters from "Desperation", but in true "parallel world" fashion, they aren't exactly the same as the ones seen in the other book.
You might think that this parallel connection would make for an ideal back to back read with its counterpart. Honestly, I'd suggest putting some space between reading the two books. Sure, the nods and parallels are easier to catch, as it's still fresh in your mind, but the aforementioned differences are initially rather discombobulating.
The mirror aspects don't stop there, though. In an oddly meta-sense, the books mirror each other in terms of strengths and weaknesses. This book "addresses" many of the criticisms I had regarding "Desperation". It is scaled back, both in terms of length and scope. Tak is also much more clearly defined, having a clearer objective, modus operandi, and notable personality. Some horror fans might argue that evils like this need to be kept vague so that the reader's imagination can do the work, but I think the more concrete approach worked to the villain's benefit here.
Yet, ultimately, I found this to be the weaker read. It doesn't have the same "unputdownable" quality that "Desperation" had. I chalk this up to the writing style. It's not as smooth, which results in a messier read.
The way the book is structured also leaves quite a bit to be desired. Characters are rarely where you left them, meaning that you have to do a round of mental catch up at the opening of every chapter. Other times, you'll think that a character would be in one location, but than they're somewhere else. It makes it hard to follow. It works in some scenes, such as chaotic shootings; but other times, it just comes off as jumbled.
The characters themselves also get a weaker showing here. The "returning" characters largely run on what the reader knows from the first book. I did like seeing the more heroic Entragian in action. We didn't really get to see him before he got possessed by Tak in the other book, so that was probably the standout reprisal.
As to the new characters, most of them fall flat. It was a strange move, adding several more characters in a book that doesn't have the space that the other book did. It could have worked, but it doesn't here. Never mind how well the characters will hold up in the long run, you'd be hard pressed to remember some of these characters as you're making your way through the book.
Seth, the young boy now taken over by Tak, and his aunt Audrey are probably the two strongest characters in this book overall. Unlike Entragian in "Desperation", we see the inner conflict between the host and possessor. Seth's general goodness gives him a degree of sympathy and connection that Entragian didn't have. Audrey is also put in a tight spot and is put through the ringer, garnering her more than a fair share of sympathy. Odd as it may sound, you probably could have scaled this book down even further and just focused on the family's dealings with the now possessed kid. Though, in fairness, that probably would have just been "The Exorcist".
Honorable mention also goes to "Rooty". The events in this book rely on fictional franchises, as such, parts of the book are script excerpts. You could argue that it's padding and I still maintain that scripts aren't meant to be read in this fashion, but I get why it's there. One such franchise, "Motokops" (which bears some similarities to "Power Rangers" and was alluded to in "Desperation") features a robot sidekick named Rooty, who communicates in beeps. It becomes something of a running gag that whenever Rooty pipes up, all the characters yell at him to shut up. Having grown up with shows that featured annoying comic relief sidekicks, I found it both amusing and cathartic.
I have a feeling many readers are also going to groan when the heroes' plan to defeat Tak starts off. The revelation regarding what keeps Tak out of Seth's body comes out of nowhere, doesn't make any sense, and is rather face palm inducing. Thankfully, the book does subvert it somewhat, but I still think it's safe to say that that plot point was...a load of crap...eh? You're only going to get that if you read the book, but it had to be done.
I wouldn't say that the book is so bad that you have to avoid it altogether. It has its moments, but it isn't an entry that you have to rush out and read immediately either.
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Wednesday, January 25, 2017
'Legends of Tomorrow' season 2, episode 9: 'Raiders of the Lost Art'
The second half of the season for "Legends of Tomorrow" kicks off...on a new night for some reason. I'm not going to lie, I don't understand the logic behind that. I know CW has a new show, but it seems like it would have been simpler to have it on Tuesday night. "The Flash" is a pretty solid lead in and having it this way seems like it throws everything out of whack. I'm sure it's temporary, but still.
In any event, where the last episode showed the heroes getting played and bested every turn, this one veers more towards lighthearted comedy.
Even the villains, the newly named Legion of Doom come off as more lighthearted. It's odd, given that they spend the episode ruthlessly hunting down George Lucas (it makes sense in context) but while the witty banter is enjoyable, it did seem to undercut their menace to some extent.
While we're on the topic of "Legion of Doom", I did like how the debate on how effective a name it was became something of a running gag in the show's early scenes. It would have been interesting to get the villains' take on the name, but that could come later. I could see Darhk or Thawne embracing it, to be honest.
The only thing I didn't get was the Hanna Barbera cartoon nod. I have no idea how "Super Friends" can exist in this reality. The writers' hearts were in the right place, and it was just a one-off gag, but it stuck out to me. Having Ray say that Kara looks like his cousin was a meta-nod, but it still felt like it could fit. Mentioning a DC superhero cartoon in a show about DC superheroes, not so much.
If ever the line was going to fly, it would be in this episode, which does get a bit meta at points. We get some self-deprecating whacks at season 1 and its lackluster villain. The fact that the spear of destiny is a complete macguffin also gets lampshaded.
The real highlight of the episode turns out to be the return of Arthur Darville. We do get an explanation as to what happened, though, as we saw in the finale, Rip isn't quite as we remember him. Of course, he doesn't remember either. It leads to a rather stark contrast in personas.
While his pitiful state is largely played for laughs, you really can't help but feel for the guy. His reactions can sometimes come off as exaggerated, but it still feels like how anyone would react under those circumstances. Not only does it seem like Darville is having fun with it, but it adds a layer of humanity to everything that's going on.
Between the episode title and the aforementioned fact that George Lucas plays a somewhat prominent role, you can figure that this is largely an homage to him and his work. The two villains wield lasers and one scene even has the heroes trapped in a closing trash compactor. Really, though, the tribute plays out most prominently in Ray and Nate, who have their histories rewritten when their actions cause him to drop out of film school and pursue a different career.
It was well executed, with both characters suddenly stammering over words with seemingly no explanation. When Ray flat out wonders why people expect him to understand some piece of future tech, you know something's up. It only goes downhill when it results in the literal negation of their powers and abilities.
Actually, this episode nerfed a lot of the cast, didn't it? Considering the villains were two badass normals, it's understandable from the writer's perspective, but it gets taken to extremes. Ray loses his suit, Nate loses his powers, Vixen has her necklace stolen (a bit too easily, if you ask me), and Firestorm is more or less sidelined due to Stein being busy tending to Mick, who is intent on figuring out why he's seeing Snart.
That's more muscle that the team was lacking, but it did result in a rather entertaining subplot. It turns out that Mick and Stein have a fun dynamic. I'm kind of surprised that the show hasn't really utilized it yet, but hopefully these two share more scenes because it resulted in some of the episode's highlights.
One downside is that it took a long time to go an obvious route. The microchip implanted by the time masters was a nice red herring, but ultimately, it was a psychological effect due to both grief and cognitive dissonance over Mick's current state vs who he was. You don't even need to be a therapist to figure that out.
I know some were guessing that the visions of Snart were intentional gaslighting on the villains'. Maybe that was too much of a stretch?
It doesn't help the pacing issues. While there clearly wasn't enough plot to make this a 2 parter, parts of this did feel rushed. It seems like the team puts the pieces (almost literally in the case of the amulet) together a bit too easily. The fact that the two biker thugs that Darhk and Merlyn kill turn out to be major figures in the automotive industry, resulting in a time aberration was also a bit too convenient.
Still, the episode was quite a bit of fun. The humor is really what helped carry it. The over arcing story is advanced to some extent, but I think the jokes are going to be what sticks out to viewers in the long run when looking back on this episode.
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In any event, where the last episode showed the heroes getting played and bested every turn, this one veers more towards lighthearted comedy.
Even the villains, the newly named Legion of Doom come off as more lighthearted. It's odd, given that they spend the episode ruthlessly hunting down George Lucas (it makes sense in context) but while the witty banter is enjoyable, it did seem to undercut their menace to some extent.
While we're on the topic of "Legion of Doom", I did like how the debate on how effective a name it was became something of a running gag in the show's early scenes. It would have been interesting to get the villains' take on the name, but that could come later. I could see Darhk or Thawne embracing it, to be honest.
The only thing I didn't get was the Hanna Barbera cartoon nod. I have no idea how "Super Friends" can exist in this reality. The writers' hearts were in the right place, and it was just a one-off gag, but it stuck out to me. Having Ray say that Kara looks like his cousin was a meta-nod, but it still felt like it could fit. Mentioning a DC superhero cartoon in a show about DC superheroes, not so much.
If ever the line was going to fly, it would be in this episode, which does get a bit meta at points. We get some self-deprecating whacks at season 1 and its lackluster villain. The fact that the spear of destiny is a complete macguffin also gets lampshaded.
The real highlight of the episode turns out to be the return of Arthur Darville. We do get an explanation as to what happened, though, as we saw in the finale, Rip isn't quite as we remember him. Of course, he doesn't remember either. It leads to a rather stark contrast in personas.
While his pitiful state is largely played for laughs, you really can't help but feel for the guy. His reactions can sometimes come off as exaggerated, but it still feels like how anyone would react under those circumstances. Not only does it seem like Darville is having fun with it, but it adds a layer of humanity to everything that's going on.
Between the episode title and the aforementioned fact that George Lucas plays a somewhat prominent role, you can figure that this is largely an homage to him and his work. The two villains wield lasers and one scene even has the heroes trapped in a closing trash compactor. Really, though, the tribute plays out most prominently in Ray and Nate, who have their histories rewritten when their actions cause him to drop out of film school and pursue a different career.
It was well executed, with both characters suddenly stammering over words with seemingly no explanation. When Ray flat out wonders why people expect him to understand some piece of future tech, you know something's up. It only goes downhill when it results in the literal negation of their powers and abilities.
Actually, this episode nerfed a lot of the cast, didn't it? Considering the villains were two badass normals, it's understandable from the writer's perspective, but it gets taken to extremes. Ray loses his suit, Nate loses his powers, Vixen has her necklace stolen (a bit too easily, if you ask me), and Firestorm is more or less sidelined due to Stein being busy tending to Mick, who is intent on figuring out why he's seeing Snart.
That's more muscle that the team was lacking, but it did result in a rather entertaining subplot. It turns out that Mick and Stein have a fun dynamic. I'm kind of surprised that the show hasn't really utilized it yet, but hopefully these two share more scenes because it resulted in some of the episode's highlights.
One downside is that it took a long time to go an obvious route. The microchip implanted by the time masters was a nice red herring, but ultimately, it was a psychological effect due to both grief and cognitive dissonance over Mick's current state vs who he was. You don't even need to be a therapist to figure that out.
I know some were guessing that the visions of Snart were intentional gaslighting on the villains'. Maybe that was too much of a stretch?
It doesn't help the pacing issues. While there clearly wasn't enough plot to make this a 2 parter, parts of this did feel rushed. It seems like the team puts the pieces (almost literally in the case of the amulet) together a bit too easily. The fact that the two biker thugs that Darhk and Merlyn kill turn out to be major figures in the automotive industry, resulting in a time aberration was also a bit too convenient.
Still, the episode was quite a bit of fun. The humor is really what helped carry it. The over arcing story is advanced to some extent, but I think the jokes are going to be what sticks out to viewers in the long run when looking back on this episode.
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Monday, January 23, 2017
'Dragon Ball Super' episode 75: 'Goku and Krillin: Back to the Old Training Grounds'
It really is impressive how well this show handles "filler" episodes. I remember "Z" didn't thrive on this front, but this show has managed to produce some highly enjoyable episodes between the big story arcs. Much like its predecessor, this episode has an endearing balance of heart and humor.
The plot hook is simple enough: Goku is looking for a sparring partner. Piccolo and Whis both have business matters to tend to and Vegeta just glared when Goku asked him. I'm not sure why Vegeta would turn down a chance to spar with his rival. I know, part of it is plot necessity, but it still felt strange. Maybe after all the time training with Whis, Vegeta needed a break from Goku for a while?
In any event, Gohan agrees. He tries to employ loophole abuse by sparring, not as mild-mannered Gohan, but as "the Great Saiyaman". Hilariously, nobody buys it. I did get a kick out of Gohan singing his own praises about how great he is under the guise of his alter-ego. We don't see the other characters' reactions, but I could imagine Goten or Goku rolling their eyes at that bit.
Honestly, Gohan does pretty well. You might have expected another curb stomp battle akin to Future Trunks' sparring match with Vegeta, but all things considered Saiyaman fared pretty well. Now, Goku doesn't go blue, but even with that, you can see the fruit of Gohan's off screen training with Piccolo.
It is pretty much the show's only action beat, but it was well done. You can tell that both participants are having fun and that transfers to the viewer.
In true saiyan fashion, the two do get carried away and end up destroying the field that Goku was supposed to be tending.
You'd think simple relocation would have solved this, but for some reason, Gohan decides to wander off, leaving Goku needing to find another person to spar with.
As such, he turns to his old buddy, Krillin. Much like Gohan did before, Goku barges in while Krillin is in the middle of police business. To Goku's credit, he handles it much better than Gohan did and Krillin gets to keep some of his dignity, though he does end up getting grazed by a bullet.
Krillin is, of course, skeptical about training with Goku (largely due to the vast difference in strength,) but 18 goads him into it. I'm sure she was just trying to motivate him, but her rhetoric came off as unnecessarily harsh to me. I could see "Z" era 18 talking to him in that fashion, but it seemed like she grew past that.
It works, so I guess there's that. Krillin does make it clear, though, that he's not interested in martial arts anymore and just wants to get stronger in order to become a better police officer.
Much like the Freeza invasion, you're left wondering why 18 isn't the one sparring. The idea is never brought up. Considering she's super saiyan level, you'd think Goku would at least try and ask her. But Goku and Krillin have been best buds for decades now, so you understand the episode wanting to get to that.
It pays off as the scenes between the two make for some of the show's highlights. Even though Krillin is nowhere close to Goku's level, the saiyan is still excited to be training with him again. When Krillin looks like he's starting to get down on himself, Goku shows genuine concern and tries to figure out what's bothering him. Even though Goku isn't the moral paragon that he was in "Z", it shows that he is still an all around good guy.
With the two training again, they both get the natural idea to go to Roshi for training again. It was a nice touch. While I never got into "Dragon Ball" itself, I still liked that development. Fans of the original show should appreciate the throwback even more. Heck, fortune teller Baba makes a return appearance!
Hearkening back to his old training methods, Roshi sends the pair to get him...some weed? OK, he calls it a "paradise plant" and he says that it isn't sold in stores. Maybe I'm jumping to conclusions, but I got the impression they were implying marijuana. Honestly, Roshi being a pothead doesn't seem like that much of a stretch.
The two are supposed to be racing, but it seems like the two don't take that aspect too seriously. They casually stroll alongside each other for the most part. You get more banter, but it doesn't seem like they're taking the task too seriously.
The race does take them into a strange and spooky forest. You'd think that having Goku there would all but remove any potential tension, but the atmosphere still works well enough that you can see why Krillin would get unnerved.
In a scene reminiscent of Luke's training on Dagobah, strange phantoms appear and take the form of their old enemies. It allows for "cameos" from Cell, the Ginyu Force, Nappa and a few others. Sadly, no Radditz. I'd wonder why he was excluded, but given that Radditz has become something of a "Dragon Ball" butt monkey, maybe his exclusion is perfectly in character.
This marks the episode's cliffhanger, as the pair are surrounded. Given Goku's presence, you could argue how effective this is, but it seems like this is more about Krillin getting his groove back. It's kind of strange how the show has to get a lot of the supporting cast back in the game like this. We saw it for Gohan, and now Krillin. I wonder if Tien and Yamucha will get similar character arcs.
I'm kind of surprised this is a 2-part plot, but we'll see how the second part fares. Considering how well the last 2 part episode worked, I'm looking forward to seeing how this decides to wrap up.
As noted in the article's open, I really enjoyed this episode. It was nice to see Goku and Krillin bonding again and getting back to their roots. I had some minor quibbles, but all in all, I highly recommend giving this episode a watch.
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The plot hook is simple enough: Goku is looking for a sparring partner. Piccolo and Whis both have business matters to tend to and Vegeta just glared when Goku asked him. I'm not sure why Vegeta would turn down a chance to spar with his rival. I know, part of it is plot necessity, but it still felt strange. Maybe after all the time training with Whis, Vegeta needed a break from Goku for a while?
In any event, Gohan agrees. He tries to employ loophole abuse by sparring, not as mild-mannered Gohan, but as "the Great Saiyaman". Hilariously, nobody buys it. I did get a kick out of Gohan singing his own praises about how great he is under the guise of his alter-ego. We don't see the other characters' reactions, but I could imagine Goten or Goku rolling their eyes at that bit.
Honestly, Gohan does pretty well. You might have expected another curb stomp battle akin to Future Trunks' sparring match with Vegeta, but all things considered Saiyaman fared pretty well. Now, Goku doesn't go blue, but even with that, you can see the fruit of Gohan's off screen training with Piccolo.
It is pretty much the show's only action beat, but it was well done. You can tell that both participants are having fun and that transfers to the viewer.
In true saiyan fashion, the two do get carried away and end up destroying the field that Goku was supposed to be tending.
You'd think simple relocation would have solved this, but for some reason, Gohan decides to wander off, leaving Goku needing to find another person to spar with.
As such, he turns to his old buddy, Krillin. Much like Gohan did before, Goku barges in while Krillin is in the middle of police business. To Goku's credit, he handles it much better than Gohan did and Krillin gets to keep some of his dignity, though he does end up getting grazed by a bullet.
Krillin is, of course, skeptical about training with Goku (largely due to the vast difference in strength,) but 18 goads him into it. I'm sure she was just trying to motivate him, but her rhetoric came off as unnecessarily harsh to me. I could see "Z" era 18 talking to him in that fashion, but it seemed like she grew past that.
It works, so I guess there's that. Krillin does make it clear, though, that he's not interested in martial arts anymore and just wants to get stronger in order to become a better police officer.
Much like the Freeza invasion, you're left wondering why 18 isn't the one sparring. The idea is never brought up. Considering she's super saiyan level, you'd think Goku would at least try and ask her. But Goku and Krillin have been best buds for decades now, so you understand the episode wanting to get to that.
It pays off as the scenes between the two make for some of the show's highlights. Even though Krillin is nowhere close to Goku's level, the saiyan is still excited to be training with him again. When Krillin looks like he's starting to get down on himself, Goku shows genuine concern and tries to figure out what's bothering him. Even though Goku isn't the moral paragon that he was in "Z", it shows that he is still an all around good guy.
With the two training again, they both get the natural idea to go to Roshi for training again. It was a nice touch. While I never got into "Dragon Ball" itself, I still liked that development. Fans of the original show should appreciate the throwback even more. Heck, fortune teller Baba makes a return appearance!
Hearkening back to his old training methods, Roshi sends the pair to get him...some weed? OK, he calls it a "paradise plant" and he says that it isn't sold in stores. Maybe I'm jumping to conclusions, but I got the impression they were implying marijuana. Honestly, Roshi being a pothead doesn't seem like that much of a stretch.
The two are supposed to be racing, but it seems like the two don't take that aspect too seriously. They casually stroll alongside each other for the most part. You get more banter, but it doesn't seem like they're taking the task too seriously.
The race does take them into a strange and spooky forest. You'd think that having Goku there would all but remove any potential tension, but the atmosphere still works well enough that you can see why Krillin would get unnerved.
In a scene reminiscent of Luke's training on Dagobah, strange phantoms appear and take the form of their old enemies. It allows for "cameos" from Cell, the Ginyu Force, Nappa and a few others. Sadly, no Radditz. I'd wonder why he was excluded, but given that Radditz has become something of a "Dragon Ball" butt monkey, maybe his exclusion is perfectly in character.
This marks the episode's cliffhanger, as the pair are surrounded. Given Goku's presence, you could argue how effective this is, but it seems like this is more about Krillin getting his groove back. It's kind of strange how the show has to get a lot of the supporting cast back in the game like this. We saw it for Gohan, and now Krillin. I wonder if Tien and Yamucha will get similar character arcs.
I'm kind of surprised this is a 2-part plot, but we'll see how the second part fares. Considering how well the last 2 part episode worked, I'm looking forward to seeing how this decides to wrap up.
As noted in the article's open, I really enjoyed this episode. It was nice to see Goku and Krillin bonding again and getting back to their roots. I had some minor quibbles, but all in all, I highly recommend giving this episode a watch.
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Friday, January 20, 2017
'Attack on Titan' episode 14: 'Can't Look into His Eyes Yet: Eve of the Counterattack part 1'
Eren takes central focus, as the remnants of humanity have to decide just what to do with him. It's true, the scout regiment is willing to enlist him and use his abilities to their advantage, but the military police are adamant that Eren has to die, as they think he poses a potential risk to humanity.
As a viewer, you will probably find some red flags, as the court procedure is much different than what you might expect from a traditional civilian, or even military court; but the hearing manages to avoid becoming the kangaroo court that it could have been. Eren doesn't have an attorney, but both groups are heard, Eren himself is allowed to weigh in, and even Mikasa gets to recount her experiences with Eren's alter-ego. As for the judge himself, he presents a stern, but fair mindset. All in all, the cards aren't all as stacked against Eren as you might think.
Even taking that into account, this isn't a cut and dry issue. It's true, Eren's transformation did help them reclaim the second wall (a fact that many oddly gloss over), but there is still legitimate reason to be wary of this plan. After all, Eren's titan was also willing to attack soldiers. The titan transformation ability really loses its asset status when you can't trust or control it.
When Mikasa presents a clear, no nonsense recount of her experiences with the titan, the opposition is able to undercut her credibility, citing both their familial relationship and the violent encounter with robbers during their youth.
Of course, any sympathy the anti-Eren crowd may have had goes out the window when they display an odd eagerness to cut him open. It's for science, but still. They even (rather nonchalantly) suggest dissecting Mikasa too.
It isn't helped when one decides to just up and shoot Eren anyway.
This action results in one of the weirder plot resolutions I've ever seen. In response to the gun being drawn, Levi leaps out and starts beating the crap out of Eren. Now, keep in mind, Eren is on his knees, chained to a pole, and has his hands cuffed behind his back. This isn't exactly a fair fight. It makes it that much harder to watch. Even the people in the courtroom seem shocked and appalled by this turn of events.
It's never made clear what Levi's logic was, but it works as the court agrees to let the scouts have Eren, at least for a provisional trial period.
It was kind of hilarious how everyone shrugs it off. Levi even sits down next to Eren and asks if Eren resents him. I suppose getting pummeled is better than dying (something even Levi states as justification for his assault,) but I wouldn't mind seeing Eren dish out some payback later on. Even if he wanted to keep it more amicable, Eren could have suggested a rematch after the titans were defeated. Of course, given the look on Eren's face, it seems like he's scared of Levi. Really, it just makes you want to see Eren give him his comeuppance that much more.
All in all, this was a solid episode. It had its fair share of tension, weighs all the angles regarding Eren, and acts as a nice transition episode. It picks up on what happened in the last "arc" but uses that as a springboard to move to the next chapter.
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As a viewer, you will probably find some red flags, as the court procedure is much different than what you might expect from a traditional civilian, or even military court; but the hearing manages to avoid becoming the kangaroo court that it could have been. Eren doesn't have an attorney, but both groups are heard, Eren himself is allowed to weigh in, and even Mikasa gets to recount her experiences with Eren's alter-ego. As for the judge himself, he presents a stern, but fair mindset. All in all, the cards aren't all as stacked against Eren as you might think.
Even taking that into account, this isn't a cut and dry issue. It's true, Eren's transformation did help them reclaim the second wall (a fact that many oddly gloss over), but there is still legitimate reason to be wary of this plan. After all, Eren's titan was also willing to attack soldiers. The titan transformation ability really loses its asset status when you can't trust or control it.
When Mikasa presents a clear, no nonsense recount of her experiences with the titan, the opposition is able to undercut her credibility, citing both their familial relationship and the violent encounter with robbers during their youth.
Of course, any sympathy the anti-Eren crowd may have had goes out the window when they display an odd eagerness to cut him open. It's for science, but still. They even (rather nonchalantly) suggest dissecting Mikasa too.
It isn't helped when one decides to just up and shoot Eren anyway.
This action results in one of the weirder plot resolutions I've ever seen. In response to the gun being drawn, Levi leaps out and starts beating the crap out of Eren. Now, keep in mind, Eren is on his knees, chained to a pole, and has his hands cuffed behind his back. This isn't exactly a fair fight. It makes it that much harder to watch. Even the people in the courtroom seem shocked and appalled by this turn of events.
It's never made clear what Levi's logic was, but it works as the court agrees to let the scouts have Eren, at least for a provisional trial period.
It was kind of hilarious how everyone shrugs it off. Levi even sits down next to Eren and asks if Eren resents him. I suppose getting pummeled is better than dying (something even Levi states as justification for his assault,) but I wouldn't mind seeing Eren dish out some payback later on. Even if he wanted to keep it more amicable, Eren could have suggested a rematch after the titans were defeated. Of course, given the look on Eren's face, it seems like he's scared of Levi. Really, it just makes you want to see Eren give him his comeuppance that much more.
All in all, this was a solid episode. It had its fair share of tension, weighs all the angles regarding Eren, and acts as a nice transition episode. It picks up on what happened in the last "arc" but uses that as a springboard to move to the next chapter.
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Wednesday, January 18, 2017
'Attack on Titan' episode 13: 'Primal Desire: Battle of Trost part 9'
This episode is one of very bizarre contrasts. On one hand, we see humanity score its first major win against the titans. On the other, I'm not sure they deserved it in this instance. You'd think after all the grim brooding, that seeing a moment of triumph would be a breath of fresh air, but the characters weren't exactly on the top of their game here.
I was surprised to see Eren-titan wake up. I figured that Armin's intention was to pull Eren out, but instead, the monster is revived. The good news is that Eren is back in control of his faculties and he is able to focus enough to pick up the boulder and carry it to the giant hole in the wall.
In the meantime, it's up to the others to keep the titans away from Eren and keep his path clear. You'd think that they would be slicing and dicing, trying to take down as many monsters as humanly possible, but only two characters (Mikasa and Levi) come away with titan kills when all is said and done.
It isn't due to lack of opportunity either. Characters are repeatedly presented with chances to slice at the monsters' necks, but seem to go out of their way not to attack the titan weak point. Characters will zip behind a titan's head and leave it unscathed; one character swings into another titan in order to kick it in the head; and in yet another instance, characters who have the titans' backs to them yell out and draw the creatures' attention as opposed to shooting themselves up in order to bring the monsters down. It's also brought up that the fighters are most vulnerable on the ground, so of course, that's where everyone goes. You really start to see why humanity is on the losing end of this war.
Now, the animation and the choreography help make up for this a little. It is cool seeing people zip around the city in highly stylized fashion. I just would have liked to see there be a bit more of a payoff.
Questionable tactics aside, the day is won and the wall is sealed. Sadly, there isn't much time for celebrating as the team still incurred heavy losses, with over 200 dead and almost 1,000 injured.
The somber scenes of soldiers mourning the loss of their friends were well done for the most part, though not really being connected to the characters is a detriment. It's strange that we're 13 episodes in and I still have this problem. I really don't think that should be the case. I have no idea how they did that.
The episode also plants some potential plot seeds for future episodes. The potential health risks of leaving dead bodies undiscovered is brought up. It would stand to reason that at least one episode deals with some sort of plague outbreak. There is also talk of restoring Wall Maria, the first outer structure that the titans broke through.
Maybe my memory on it is fuzzy, but I thought there was more damage done to that wall. It seems like it would take more than one giant, conveniently sized boulder to succeed on that front. Do they even have another giant, conveniently sized boulder? I guess they do.
It was nice to see the elite scouts covering their bases when it comes to Eren. Levi agrees to go along with the plan, but lets Eren know that if his titan goes crazy again, Levi's going to kill him. It's the sort of blunt, no nonsense mentality that you'd expect from a long time war combatant.
I am a bit surprised that Levi still has faith. Even going beyond the initial snafu regarding the rogue titan, Eren's disposition during that interrogation hardly did him any favors. That look on his face and the way he talked about killing all of the titans made him look more than a little out of his mind. Maybe repeated transformations degrade your mental stability? Honestly, I could see the logic in that; though I guess we'll have to find out.
It seems like the characters themselves might be finding out some things about the titans. One other side effect of the victory is capturing two alive. We (the viewers) also learn that, as titans have no digestive tract, the humans they eat are just clustered into some sort of weird, crystalline hairball and vomited out.
It's a weird enough image on its own, but it does add an element of pointlessness to everything. It doesn't seem like the titans even gain any sort of nutritional value from eating people, so you get the impression that they're doing it just for the sake of doing it. In some ways, it's even more unsettling, but you could also argue that it makes them one-dimensional antagonists...not that they were ever that complex to begin with.
This episode wraps up a 9-part arc and, alas, it's not as satisfying as one would like. I think having it go this long was a mistake. It probably sounded epic, but really, I think it just resulted in pacing issues. Maybe the future arcs, which only go 4-6 episodes from here on out, will be able to move things along at a brisker pace.
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I was surprised to see Eren-titan wake up. I figured that Armin's intention was to pull Eren out, but instead, the monster is revived. The good news is that Eren is back in control of his faculties and he is able to focus enough to pick up the boulder and carry it to the giant hole in the wall.
In the meantime, it's up to the others to keep the titans away from Eren and keep his path clear. You'd think that they would be slicing and dicing, trying to take down as many monsters as humanly possible, but only two characters (Mikasa and Levi) come away with titan kills when all is said and done.
It isn't due to lack of opportunity either. Characters are repeatedly presented with chances to slice at the monsters' necks, but seem to go out of their way not to attack the titan weak point. Characters will zip behind a titan's head and leave it unscathed; one character swings into another titan in order to kick it in the head; and in yet another instance, characters who have the titans' backs to them yell out and draw the creatures' attention as opposed to shooting themselves up in order to bring the monsters down. It's also brought up that the fighters are most vulnerable on the ground, so of course, that's where everyone goes. You really start to see why humanity is on the losing end of this war.
Now, the animation and the choreography help make up for this a little. It is cool seeing people zip around the city in highly stylized fashion. I just would have liked to see there be a bit more of a payoff.
Questionable tactics aside, the day is won and the wall is sealed. Sadly, there isn't much time for celebrating as the team still incurred heavy losses, with over 200 dead and almost 1,000 injured.
The somber scenes of soldiers mourning the loss of their friends were well done for the most part, though not really being connected to the characters is a detriment. It's strange that we're 13 episodes in and I still have this problem. I really don't think that should be the case. I have no idea how they did that.
The episode also plants some potential plot seeds for future episodes. The potential health risks of leaving dead bodies undiscovered is brought up. It would stand to reason that at least one episode deals with some sort of plague outbreak. There is also talk of restoring Wall Maria, the first outer structure that the titans broke through.
Maybe my memory on it is fuzzy, but I thought there was more damage done to that wall. It seems like it would take more than one giant, conveniently sized boulder to succeed on that front. Do they even have another giant, conveniently sized boulder? I guess they do.
It was nice to see the elite scouts covering their bases when it comes to Eren. Levi agrees to go along with the plan, but lets Eren know that if his titan goes crazy again, Levi's going to kill him. It's the sort of blunt, no nonsense mentality that you'd expect from a long time war combatant.
I am a bit surprised that Levi still has faith. Even going beyond the initial snafu regarding the rogue titan, Eren's disposition during that interrogation hardly did him any favors. That look on his face and the way he talked about killing all of the titans made him look more than a little out of his mind. Maybe repeated transformations degrade your mental stability? Honestly, I could see the logic in that; though I guess we'll have to find out.
It seems like the characters themselves might be finding out some things about the titans. One other side effect of the victory is capturing two alive. We (the viewers) also learn that, as titans have no digestive tract, the humans they eat are just clustered into some sort of weird, crystalline hairball and vomited out.
It's a weird enough image on its own, but it does add an element of pointlessness to everything. It doesn't seem like the titans even gain any sort of nutritional value from eating people, so you get the impression that they're doing it just for the sake of doing it. In some ways, it's even more unsettling, but you could also argue that it makes them one-dimensional antagonists...not that they were ever that complex to begin with.
This episode wraps up a 9-part arc and, alas, it's not as satisfying as one would like. I think having it go this long was a mistake. It probably sounded epic, but really, I think it just resulted in pacing issues. Maybe the future arcs, which only go 4-6 episodes from here on out, will be able to move things along at a brisker pace.
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Monday, January 16, 2017
'Attack on Titan' episode 12: 'Wound: Battle of Trost part 8'
Despite what the cliffhanger from the last episode may have suggested, Eren's rogue titan form going...rogue...again isn't quite the problem that you'd think it would be. It does seem to signify the failure of the plan, but all hope isn't lost yet.
Mikasa does make a valiant effort to make "Eren" see reason and gain some measure of control back, at least enough to attack the titans and not the humans like he did before, but it doesn't work. On the plus side, her position and rogue-titan's attempted attack results in said titan knocking himself out by punching himself in the face. Personally, I found that rather hilarious. I'd love to say that it was the highlight of the episode, but this one delivers quite a lot. I suppose it will have to settle for being a highlight, as opposed to the highlight.
In the aftermath, not only do we get some solid action, as the troops try to fend off the horde of titans that they have drawn; but we also get some tense drama, as characters decide what to do with Eren.
Some want to abandon him, seeing as his titan form isn't the table turning weapon that they thought it was. They're not wrong, but it does seem like they're forgetting that Eren's human body is still in there somewhere. Even if he never changes into that form again, he's still a capable soldier.
Others argue that, despite the shortcomings, it's still the best weapon they have and their only hope of ultimately winning the war.
Both sides raise valid points and it makes the scenes that much more engaging and thought provoking as a result.
Speaking of engaging, Armin's role in the plot proves to be another highlight. He doesn't bring any tactical advantage to the table this time, but he does make an attempt to remove Eren's body from the titan husk.
Some blind surgery is involved, as Armin has to guesstimate where Eren is before plunging his blades into the beast's back, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. We see that Eren is in some sort of drugged, dream-like state. His memories of the real world are fading and, as far as he's concerned, he's reunited with his family.
It leads to a nice internal struggle that acts as a counter-balance to the chaotic external struggle going on with the titans. Big, epic action beats are nice, don't get me wrong; but adding this brings some emotional weight to the proceedings that makes it a much more memorable episode.
You could argue that it wasn't given enough time. It doesn't take a whole lot for Armin to start to snap Eren out of it and we don't see much of the dream world, but I thought they did a good job with what they had. While making this plot point the focus of the episode would have likely paid dividends in the emotional resonance department, there was a strong risk that it would hurt the show's pacing. At least here, we get a fairly decent balance of both.
I quite liked this episode. Like this week's episode of "Dragon Ball Super", it provided a nice balance of everything. It was well paced, the plot moved along nicely, and there was plenty to enjoy on both the action and character front.
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Mikasa does make a valiant effort to make "Eren" see reason and gain some measure of control back, at least enough to attack the titans and not the humans like he did before, but it doesn't work. On the plus side, her position and rogue-titan's attempted attack results in said titan knocking himself out by punching himself in the face. Personally, I found that rather hilarious. I'd love to say that it was the highlight of the episode, but this one delivers quite a lot. I suppose it will have to settle for being a highlight, as opposed to the highlight.
In the aftermath, not only do we get some solid action, as the troops try to fend off the horde of titans that they have drawn; but we also get some tense drama, as characters decide what to do with Eren.
Some want to abandon him, seeing as his titan form isn't the table turning weapon that they thought it was. They're not wrong, but it does seem like they're forgetting that Eren's human body is still in there somewhere. Even if he never changes into that form again, he's still a capable soldier.
Others argue that, despite the shortcomings, it's still the best weapon they have and their only hope of ultimately winning the war.
Both sides raise valid points and it makes the scenes that much more engaging and thought provoking as a result.
Speaking of engaging, Armin's role in the plot proves to be another highlight. He doesn't bring any tactical advantage to the table this time, but he does make an attempt to remove Eren's body from the titan husk.
Some blind surgery is involved, as Armin has to guesstimate where Eren is before plunging his blades into the beast's back, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. We see that Eren is in some sort of drugged, dream-like state. His memories of the real world are fading and, as far as he's concerned, he's reunited with his family.
It leads to a nice internal struggle that acts as a counter-balance to the chaotic external struggle going on with the titans. Big, epic action beats are nice, don't get me wrong; but adding this brings some emotional weight to the proceedings that makes it a much more memorable episode.
You could argue that it wasn't given enough time. It doesn't take a whole lot for Armin to start to snap Eren out of it and we don't see much of the dream world, but I thought they did a good job with what they had. While making this plot point the focus of the episode would have likely paid dividends in the emotional resonance department, there was a strong risk that it would hurt the show's pacing. At least here, we get a fairly decent balance of both.
I quite liked this episode. Like this week's episode of "Dragon Ball Super", it provided a nice balance of everything. It was well paced, the plot moved along nicely, and there was plenty to enjoy on both the action and character front.
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Sunday, January 15, 2017
'Dragon Ball Super' episode 74: 'For the Ones He Loves! The Unbeatable Great Saiyaman!'
Where some 2-part story conclusions fail to follow through on the build up of its predecessor, this episode does the exact opposite. It took everything that worked about the first part, did more of it, and threw in a tense, well done battle to cap things off.
While the confrontation between Jaco and the Great Saiyaman is anti-climactic, the scene does make up for it with humor. I did like Jaco mistaking Gohan's name for food. Considering that's the basis for most saiyan names, that bit was a long time coming, but I thought it was a nice touch. Jaco's repeated potshots at the superhero getup also drew a laugh.
We don't get an explanation for how Jaco jumped to the conclusion that Saiyaman was Watagash (maybe he did that off screen?) but he does give both Gohan and the audience a bit more background on how Watagash operates.
Much like Babidi's magic, Watagash latches on to the darkness in a person's heart and provides a subsequent boost in strength. Jaco explains that while the parasite is harmless on his own, in the right host, he can do a lot of damage, having wiped out entire civilizations in the past.
Enter Barry Kahn. Now, given what we saw last episode, his being the host seemed inevitable. He was smug, uncaring, and had a beef with Gohan. However, this episode takes what was once an unlikable dick and turns him into an oddly cartoonishly sinister menace. The way he talks when it's revealed that he set up Cocoa (the idol co-star of the film) to go out with Gohan in order to stir up scandal and disgrace Gohan and his family, it almost sounds like how Freeza or Goku Black would talk. It worked for the most part, the scenes were fairly chilling in their own right and it does make you hate him even more, but it still seemed like a radical left turn for the character.
As bad as Kahn is, he's even worse when he's "possessed" by Watagash. Not only does he surprise clothesline Gohan through a wall, he kidnaps Pan! That's going too far.
Alas, Gohan doesn't follow this by yelling "KAAAAHNN!!" He does, however, accept the challenge to fight and settle the score once and for all.
We saw last episode that a Watagash-fused human could give Gohan a good fight, but this goes above and beyond what we had seen previously. Kahn turns into a bona fide Kaiju. It was an interesting turn and it did add an element of excitement that probably wouldn't have been there had he just stayed in Barry's human form.
I was hoping for a Saiyaman/Jaco team up, but this episode averts that and lets Gohan take the spotlight. Honestly, it worked better this way in many respects. Jaco does try to take out the parasite with his BFG, but Gohan intervenes, reminding him that there's still a human there. On the one hand, you could understand Jaco's logic, thinking big picture, but it was still a nice moment for Gohan.
I do wonder why it took Gohan so long to go super saiyan. Yeah, it makes for a pretty engaging fight, as he spends a good chunk of time on the losing end, but the question still nags. To be fair, it was a thing that happened a lot in "Z" a lot as well.
A part of me wants to say that he was taking a cue from Black and intentionally letting himself get smacked around a bit for the sake of the zenkai boost. The problem there is that Gohan never actually saw Black, so wouldn't know that that was a thing. Although, Goku and Vegeta kind of sort of brought it up during their team meetings, so maybe there is something there.
Just as the last episode did, this one really puts a lot of emphasis on the strength of Gohan's family unit. Videl doesn't flinch when Kahn presents a photo of Gohan kissing (or to be more accurate, being kissed by) Cocoa, as she knows Gohan's faithful and she doesn't waver when it looks like he's not going to make it during the fight as she knows that he'd never let Pan see her superhero dad lose. Where the last episode's title was a bit of a misnomer, this one fits rather perfectly. Not surprisingly, these scenes are quite heartwarming.
Really, this episode was a joy to watch. Pretty much every element worked and it delivered a bit of everything. There was heart, humor, and a great fight. Really, you can't ask for more than that from a 'Dragon Ball' episode.
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While the confrontation between Jaco and the Great Saiyaman is anti-climactic, the scene does make up for it with humor. I did like Jaco mistaking Gohan's name for food. Considering that's the basis for most saiyan names, that bit was a long time coming, but I thought it was a nice touch. Jaco's repeated potshots at the superhero getup also drew a laugh.
We don't get an explanation for how Jaco jumped to the conclusion that Saiyaman was Watagash (maybe he did that off screen?) but he does give both Gohan and the audience a bit more background on how Watagash operates.
Much like Babidi's magic, Watagash latches on to the darkness in a person's heart and provides a subsequent boost in strength. Jaco explains that while the parasite is harmless on his own, in the right host, he can do a lot of damage, having wiped out entire civilizations in the past.
Enter Barry Kahn. Now, given what we saw last episode, his being the host seemed inevitable. He was smug, uncaring, and had a beef with Gohan. However, this episode takes what was once an unlikable dick and turns him into an oddly cartoonishly sinister menace. The way he talks when it's revealed that he set up Cocoa (the idol co-star of the film) to go out with Gohan in order to stir up scandal and disgrace Gohan and his family, it almost sounds like how Freeza or Goku Black would talk. It worked for the most part, the scenes were fairly chilling in their own right and it does make you hate him even more, but it still seemed like a radical left turn for the character.
As bad as Kahn is, he's even worse when he's "possessed" by Watagash. Not only does he surprise clothesline Gohan through a wall, he kidnaps Pan! That's going too far.
Alas, Gohan doesn't follow this by yelling "KAAAAHNN!!" He does, however, accept the challenge to fight and settle the score once and for all.
We saw last episode that a Watagash-fused human could give Gohan a good fight, but this goes above and beyond what we had seen previously. Kahn turns into a bona fide Kaiju. It was an interesting turn and it did add an element of excitement that probably wouldn't have been there had he just stayed in Barry's human form.
I was hoping for a Saiyaman/Jaco team up, but this episode averts that and lets Gohan take the spotlight. Honestly, it worked better this way in many respects. Jaco does try to take out the parasite with his BFG, but Gohan intervenes, reminding him that there's still a human there. On the one hand, you could understand Jaco's logic, thinking big picture, but it was still a nice moment for Gohan.
I do wonder why it took Gohan so long to go super saiyan. Yeah, it makes for a pretty engaging fight, as he spends a good chunk of time on the losing end, but the question still nags. To be fair, it was a thing that happened a lot in "Z" a lot as well.
A part of me wants to say that he was taking a cue from Black and intentionally letting himself get smacked around a bit for the sake of the zenkai boost. The problem there is that Gohan never actually saw Black, so wouldn't know that that was a thing. Although, Goku and Vegeta kind of sort of brought it up during their team meetings, so maybe there is something there.
Just as the last episode did, this one really puts a lot of emphasis on the strength of Gohan's family unit. Videl doesn't flinch when Kahn presents a photo of Gohan kissing (or to be more accurate, being kissed by) Cocoa, as she knows Gohan's faithful and she doesn't waver when it looks like he's not going to make it during the fight as she knows that he'd never let Pan see her superhero dad lose. Where the last episode's title was a bit of a misnomer, this one fits rather perfectly. Not surprisingly, these scenes are quite heartwarming.
Really, this episode was a joy to watch. Pretty much every element worked and it delivered a bit of everything. There was heart, humor, and a great fight. Really, you can't ask for more than that from a 'Dragon Ball' episode.
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Friday, January 13, 2017
Stephen King bibliography: 'Desperation'
After the "Night Angel" trilogy omnibus, I was hesitant to dive into another door stopper of a book. As such, I was surprised at how quickly I tore through this one. I don't know if it was a result of being back in a familiar setting or the fact that it was work related that gave me extra incentive to pick this tome up, but despite clocking in at almost 700 pages, I found this to be a very fast read.
That being said, I don't know if this needed to be as thick as it was. I know, there's an eldritch abomination and God plays a role, so the length implies a sense of "epic!" But this probably could have been scaled back a bit. It isn't like "Insomnia" where there was one specific and obvious albatross that you could cut from the plot, but it seems like some nickel and dime cuts could have condensed this one significantly.
Still, the plot does move along quite well. It never dragged and I wouldn't go so far as to say that the book is bloated, but it doesn't seem like it needed as much space as it had.
Really, the best part of the book is the early portion when it was a group of characters dealing with an unstable cop. It's one of the reasons why I would be OK with the book scaling back a bit. Now, part of this is due to Entragian, he's both a fun and unsettling villain. There's a sort of bi-polar element to him, where he'd go from cheerful and friendly to violent and enraged on the turn of a dime.
His initial encounter with John Marinville strongly suggests that the friendly disposition is an act, and given his actions, it makes perfect sense; but I think it's scarier if you read it as completely genuine.
Not knowing what he was going to do added a good deal of suspense to his portions of the book. Of course, the reading also helps when you have the mental image of Ron Perlman in your head for the character and read all of his lines in Perlman's distinctive voice.
Once Tak, the aforementioned eldritch abomination, jumps bodies and finds different hosts, the villain loses a lot of its luster. It serves its purpose of being a great evil that has to be stopped before it's too late, but it's probably going to get buried among King's more memorable antagonists. I suppose that's fitting in its own way.
The protagonist characters are solid. The book struck the right balance in terms of number of characters to follow. There's about a dozen, so there's room to move around, but it doesn't get to the point where you start losing track of who is who. Much like Tak, I don't know how well they'll stand the test of time over the long term, but you definitely root for them and want to see them make it as you're making your way through the book. They "did their job" on that front.
As always, I got a kick out of the nods to King's earlier works. The Tommyknockers get mentioned, but alas they are talking about the original nursery rhyme imps and not the aliens. Admittedly, that makes sense, as no one outside of Haven knew what happened on that front, but still. The reference was still a nice touch in either case. "Pet Sematary" gets a more subtle nod when the narration suggests that dead is better. John also alludes to twinning at one point. This last one is especially amusing given the "mirror" aspect this book has to the subsequent book, "The Regulators". I'll probably talk more about that in the second review. Having just read the first of the set, all I can really say is the fact that there is a link.
The book invokes a lot of common King tropes. If you're a fan, you'll either like this or think that it was just being phoned in. I do think that the book loses something when you've read a lot of King's other books, but I'd still recommend giving it a read. It's thick, but you can still finish it in a week with no real trouble.
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That being said, I don't know if this needed to be as thick as it was. I know, there's an eldritch abomination and God plays a role, so the length implies a sense of "epic!" But this probably could have been scaled back a bit. It isn't like "Insomnia" where there was one specific and obvious albatross that you could cut from the plot, but it seems like some nickel and dime cuts could have condensed this one significantly.
Still, the plot does move along quite well. It never dragged and I wouldn't go so far as to say that the book is bloated, but it doesn't seem like it needed as much space as it had.
Really, the best part of the book is the early portion when it was a group of characters dealing with an unstable cop. It's one of the reasons why I would be OK with the book scaling back a bit. Now, part of this is due to Entragian, he's both a fun and unsettling villain. There's a sort of bi-polar element to him, where he'd go from cheerful and friendly to violent and enraged on the turn of a dime.
His initial encounter with John Marinville strongly suggests that the friendly disposition is an act, and given his actions, it makes perfect sense; but I think it's scarier if you read it as completely genuine.
Not knowing what he was going to do added a good deal of suspense to his portions of the book. Of course, the reading also helps when you have the mental image of Ron Perlman in your head for the character and read all of his lines in Perlman's distinctive voice.
Once Tak, the aforementioned eldritch abomination, jumps bodies and finds different hosts, the villain loses a lot of its luster. It serves its purpose of being a great evil that has to be stopped before it's too late, but it's probably going to get buried among King's more memorable antagonists. I suppose that's fitting in its own way.
The protagonist characters are solid. The book struck the right balance in terms of number of characters to follow. There's about a dozen, so there's room to move around, but it doesn't get to the point where you start losing track of who is who. Much like Tak, I don't know how well they'll stand the test of time over the long term, but you definitely root for them and want to see them make it as you're making your way through the book. They "did their job" on that front.
As always, I got a kick out of the nods to King's earlier works. The Tommyknockers get mentioned, but alas they are talking about the original nursery rhyme imps and not the aliens. Admittedly, that makes sense, as no one outside of Haven knew what happened on that front, but still. The reference was still a nice touch in either case. "Pet Sematary" gets a more subtle nod when the narration suggests that dead is better. John also alludes to twinning at one point. This last one is especially amusing given the "mirror" aspect this book has to the subsequent book, "The Regulators". I'll probably talk more about that in the second review. Having just read the first of the set, all I can really say is the fact that there is a link.
The book invokes a lot of common King tropes. If you're a fan, you'll either like this or think that it was just being phoned in. I do think that the book loses something when you've read a lot of King's other books, but I'd still recommend giving it a read. It's thick, but you can still finish it in a week with no real trouble.
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Wednesday, January 11, 2017
'Attack on Titan' episode 11: 'Icon: Battle of Trost part 7'
With nary a moment to lose, Pyxis begins his plan to seal up the wall and retake Trost. On its face, the plan is simple, but even with Armin's insight and analysis improving their chances, it's a long shot.
You'd think that the team would be eager to turn the tide, but instead the opposite is true. Morale still seems to be rather low and there is rampant talk of desertion.
Even the threat of death doesn't seem to deter the rhetoric. Thankfully, Pyxis chimes in with a motivating speech that actually delivers the desired results and gets the troops back on board. Well, mostly.
It seems that even the elite troops sent to protect Eren's titan form (because apparently it needs protecting?) go out of their way to let him know how much the plan sucks and how people are going to die because of him. It's a pretty crappy pep talk quite frankly. It's honest, I suppose, though I don't know why the blame is being put on his shoulders. It wasn't his idea and he didn't choose to be half-titan. I can understand the "don't let them die in vain" thing, but really, if that was meant to bolster his confidence, it sounds like it would do a pretty crappy job of it.
I did find it oddly amusing how the speech put emphasis on how the troops were all individual humans with names and families. In universe, it makes sense, but considering this show has had a problem fleshing out anyone outside of a half dozen or so characters, it's rather ironic from the viewer's perspective. Even the names that get listed aren't people we're familiar with in any sort of fashion. Then again, maybe that was the point. Even if we have no idea who they are, they are still people and not useless titan fodder.
I predicted in the last post that Pyxis' over-eagerness would cause problems, and, sure enough, said problem makes for the episode cliffhanger. Rather than pick up the rock and carry it like he's supposed to, Eren (in his original titan form) turns and attacks Mikasa instead. It might be due to his resentment of her protective nature coming back up, but that's speculation on my part.
I could armchair quarterback and say that the big, mindless brute would have been better utilized on the other side of the wall, punching titan skulls in while it was the humans who put the boulder in place. It doesn't seem like there would be any way to do that, though. Heck, the question comes up of whether even a titan's strength would be enough to move it. As such, you can't really fault the general's thinking here.
Really, there's not a whole lot to this episode. It was just kind of there. I guess they were going for a "calm before the storm" sort of thing, as the team psyches itself up for a big battle, but it still leaves little to talk about when all is said and done.
Even the attempt at existential philosophy falls flat. There's a scene where Pyxis and Eren are talking and the general relates an idea that, while humans frequently fight each other, they'd rally and unite when facing a common foe. Eren rebuffs the idea, citing their current circumstance as proof to the contrary.
The episode never really goes anywhere with it. Maybe it was supposed to parallel the desertion plot point, but that doesn't seem like the same thing. I guess you could argue that it ties in with Pyxis' admittance that people were sent out to reclaim territory after the first wall fell, knowing that it would end in failure because the inner communities couldn't sustain the population numbers, though even that revelation is surprisingly glossed over and nothing is done with that either.
The only real highlight moment was Armin offering his strategic input. I did like how the superior officer actually encouraged him to speak up when Armin started off sheepish and talked about how it wasn't his place to criticize the plan. It's possible he knew about Armin's intellectual prowess, but it seems like he was open to hearing any potentially helpful ideas.
The cliffhanger also worked rather well. A genre-savvy viewer would know that things were going to go awry at some point, but the turn was still sudden enough that it achieved the desired result.
I wouldn't go so far as to call this a bad episode. It's certainly not a particularly strong one. It does advance the plot in some points and it does build up to, what I assume, is going to be a big action set piece, but I doubt it's going to stand out in people's memory in the long run.
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You'd think that the team would be eager to turn the tide, but instead the opposite is true. Morale still seems to be rather low and there is rampant talk of desertion.
Even the threat of death doesn't seem to deter the rhetoric. Thankfully, Pyxis chimes in with a motivating speech that actually delivers the desired results and gets the troops back on board. Well, mostly.
It seems that even the elite troops sent to protect Eren's titan form (because apparently it needs protecting?) go out of their way to let him know how much the plan sucks and how people are going to die because of him. It's a pretty crappy pep talk quite frankly. It's honest, I suppose, though I don't know why the blame is being put on his shoulders. It wasn't his idea and he didn't choose to be half-titan. I can understand the "don't let them die in vain" thing, but really, if that was meant to bolster his confidence, it sounds like it would do a pretty crappy job of it.
I did find it oddly amusing how the speech put emphasis on how the troops were all individual humans with names and families. In universe, it makes sense, but considering this show has had a problem fleshing out anyone outside of a half dozen or so characters, it's rather ironic from the viewer's perspective. Even the names that get listed aren't people we're familiar with in any sort of fashion. Then again, maybe that was the point. Even if we have no idea who they are, they are still people and not useless titan fodder.
I predicted in the last post that Pyxis' over-eagerness would cause problems, and, sure enough, said problem makes for the episode cliffhanger. Rather than pick up the rock and carry it like he's supposed to, Eren (in his original titan form) turns and attacks Mikasa instead. It might be due to his resentment of her protective nature coming back up, but that's speculation on my part.
I could armchair quarterback and say that the big, mindless brute would have been better utilized on the other side of the wall, punching titan skulls in while it was the humans who put the boulder in place. It doesn't seem like there would be any way to do that, though. Heck, the question comes up of whether even a titan's strength would be enough to move it. As such, you can't really fault the general's thinking here.
Really, there's not a whole lot to this episode. It was just kind of there. I guess they were going for a "calm before the storm" sort of thing, as the team psyches itself up for a big battle, but it still leaves little to talk about when all is said and done.
Even the attempt at existential philosophy falls flat. There's a scene where Pyxis and Eren are talking and the general relates an idea that, while humans frequently fight each other, they'd rally and unite when facing a common foe. Eren rebuffs the idea, citing their current circumstance as proof to the contrary.
The episode never really goes anywhere with it. Maybe it was supposed to parallel the desertion plot point, but that doesn't seem like the same thing. I guess you could argue that it ties in with Pyxis' admittance that people were sent out to reclaim territory after the first wall fell, knowing that it would end in failure because the inner communities couldn't sustain the population numbers, though even that revelation is surprisingly glossed over and nothing is done with that either.
The only real highlight moment was Armin offering his strategic input. I did like how the superior officer actually encouraged him to speak up when Armin started off sheepish and talked about how it wasn't his place to criticize the plan. It's possible he knew about Armin's intellectual prowess, but it seems like he was open to hearing any potentially helpful ideas.
The cliffhanger also worked rather well. A genre-savvy viewer would know that things were going to go awry at some point, but the turn was still sudden enough that it achieved the desired result.
I wouldn't go so far as to call this a bad episode. It's certainly not a particularly strong one. It does advance the plot in some points and it does build up to, what I assume, is going to be a big action set piece, but I doubt it's going to stand out in people's memory in the long run.
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Tuesday, January 10, 2017
'Attack on Titan' episode 10: 'Answer: The Battle of Trost part 6'
This episode centers on the trio of Mikasa, Armin, and a newly emerged Eren; as they try to figure out what to do in the wake of Eren's second transformation.
Though, "transformation" is the wrong word. It isn't so much Eren hulking out, as it were, as it is a titan growing around Eren. While the specifics aren't clear, it's implied that Eren's transformations are altered depending on either what he needs or what he's focused on. That's pretty darn versatile, I have to say.
Having the episode focus on the main trio certainly worked to the episode's favor. They're the strongest characters to whom the audience is most connected, as such it makes for a more engaging watch. It's mostly dialogue driven, but there's still quite a bit of tension to be had, as their lives are on the line and they are low on options.
Sadly, this episode does have its drawbacks. For one thing, the time scale is wonky as all hell. It's said that the characters have less than a minute to figure out what to do before the surrounding troops reload and unleash another barrage of artillery fire upon them, but that doesn't stop them from having lengthy discussions about what to do or spend several minutes introspecting on matters.
Yes, they're covered by smoke, but can't the troops outside the cloud still hear them? Eren isn't exactly quiet during several points in this episode, yet nobody on the outside seems to respond. For that matter, why aren't the three of them coughing or making any attempt to cover their mouths? Maybe it's a nitpick, but it still stuck out to me.
I'm also not sold on Armin's self doubt. I kind of get it, given where he was a couple of episodes ago, but while he froze up more than once, he also came up with the plan to steer the rogue titan to headquarters and came up with the plan to retake the fuel depot. As such, his whole "I've never helped" thing rings hollow.
The episode tries to make it into a sort of arc for him, as he is ultimately the one who goes out to plead their case. It's supposed to be a symbol of growth, as he gains some measure of confidence and reassurance, but it seems like he's already gone through that, so it seemed a bit redundant.
Armin did make a good speech, though it does suffer from him having to point out the blindingly obvious. I was under the impression that the troops didn't see Eren's handiwork, taking out other titans, but apparently they did see it. It makes their big revelation seem rather stupid as they had to be told something they already knew.
I noted in the last episode that there was more than just paranoia and panic at play when it came to people's apprehension about Eren's nature. I thought it actually worked in the episode's favor that they had a sensible stance,despite threatening the main protagonists. Sadly, this episode negates that, as the general still insists on blowing the three into oblivion, even after Armin makes his reasoned plea.
It's one of the downsides of military hierarchy. The structure, the chain of command, and the need to follow orders makes sense 99% of the time, but when the commanding officer is clearly out of his gourd and making bad decisions, you'd think that subordinates should be given some flexibility. Apparently, they don't have that, as those who lowered their weapons raise them right back up again when the order to prepare to fire was given.
Thankfully, another general (named Pyxis) appears and negates the order, telling them to stand down. It's an instance where his timing might have been a bit too perfect, but as far as last second saves go, I suppose there have been worse.
I did like the subsequent scene between the general and the trio. The frank honesty on display from Armin and Eren was oddly endearing.
When the general asks Armin if he honestly believed that Eren's titan ability could turn the tide or if he was just desperately trying to keep from getting blown up, Armin answers with "both". That's fair, it really is.
I'm a little surprised that Pyxis shrugged off Eren's "responsible" answer regarding whether or not the rogue titan could fill in the hole in the wall with a big rock. You'd think that Eren's lack of knowledge on his degree of control would be something of a deal breaker, but it turns out that Pyxis just wants to hear an answer in the affirmative, saying that Titan-Eren would rebuild the wall.
I have a feeling that's going to bite them (maybe even literally because, you know, titans.) I could be wrong, but it seems like there's some questionable judgment at play here and that never ends well. Pyxis may not be manic and raving, but he's not the voice of reason that his initial appearance may have suggested.
Technical shortcomings aside, I actually rather liked the episode. The contained, focused nature worked. There may not have been much in the way of action, but it's always fun to see characters who are backed into a corner put their heads together and think their way out. It had its flaws, to be sure, but overall, I'd say this was a pretty solid watch.
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Though, "transformation" is the wrong word. It isn't so much Eren hulking out, as it were, as it is a titan growing around Eren. While the specifics aren't clear, it's implied that Eren's transformations are altered depending on either what he needs or what he's focused on. That's pretty darn versatile, I have to say.
Having the episode focus on the main trio certainly worked to the episode's favor. They're the strongest characters to whom the audience is most connected, as such it makes for a more engaging watch. It's mostly dialogue driven, but there's still quite a bit of tension to be had, as their lives are on the line and they are low on options.
Sadly, this episode does have its drawbacks. For one thing, the time scale is wonky as all hell. It's said that the characters have less than a minute to figure out what to do before the surrounding troops reload and unleash another barrage of artillery fire upon them, but that doesn't stop them from having lengthy discussions about what to do or spend several minutes introspecting on matters.
Yes, they're covered by smoke, but can't the troops outside the cloud still hear them? Eren isn't exactly quiet during several points in this episode, yet nobody on the outside seems to respond. For that matter, why aren't the three of them coughing or making any attempt to cover their mouths? Maybe it's a nitpick, but it still stuck out to me.
I'm also not sold on Armin's self doubt. I kind of get it, given where he was a couple of episodes ago, but while he froze up more than once, he also came up with the plan to steer the rogue titan to headquarters and came up with the plan to retake the fuel depot. As such, his whole "I've never helped" thing rings hollow.
The episode tries to make it into a sort of arc for him, as he is ultimately the one who goes out to plead their case. It's supposed to be a symbol of growth, as he gains some measure of confidence and reassurance, but it seems like he's already gone through that, so it seemed a bit redundant.
Armin did make a good speech, though it does suffer from him having to point out the blindingly obvious. I was under the impression that the troops didn't see Eren's handiwork, taking out other titans, but apparently they did see it. It makes their big revelation seem rather stupid as they had to be told something they already knew.
I noted in the last episode that there was more than just paranoia and panic at play when it came to people's apprehension about Eren's nature. I thought it actually worked in the episode's favor that they had a sensible stance,despite threatening the main protagonists. Sadly, this episode negates that, as the general still insists on blowing the three into oblivion, even after Armin makes his reasoned plea.
It's one of the downsides of military hierarchy. The structure, the chain of command, and the need to follow orders makes sense 99% of the time, but when the commanding officer is clearly out of his gourd and making bad decisions, you'd think that subordinates should be given some flexibility. Apparently, they don't have that, as those who lowered their weapons raise them right back up again when the order to prepare to fire was given.
Thankfully, another general (named Pyxis) appears and negates the order, telling them to stand down. It's an instance where his timing might have been a bit too perfect, but as far as last second saves go, I suppose there have been worse.
I did like the subsequent scene between the general and the trio. The frank honesty on display from Armin and Eren was oddly endearing.
When the general asks Armin if he honestly believed that Eren's titan ability could turn the tide or if he was just desperately trying to keep from getting blown up, Armin answers with "both". That's fair, it really is.
I'm a little surprised that Pyxis shrugged off Eren's "responsible" answer regarding whether or not the rogue titan could fill in the hole in the wall with a big rock. You'd think that Eren's lack of knowledge on his degree of control would be something of a deal breaker, but it turns out that Pyxis just wants to hear an answer in the affirmative, saying that Titan-Eren would rebuild the wall.
I have a feeling that's going to bite them (maybe even literally because, you know, titans.) I could be wrong, but it seems like there's some questionable judgment at play here and that never ends well. Pyxis may not be manic and raving, but he's not the voice of reason that his initial appearance may have suggested.
Technical shortcomings aside, I actually rather liked the episode. The contained, focused nature worked. There may not have been much in the way of action, but it's always fun to see characters who are backed into a corner put their heads together and think their way out. It had its flaws, to be sure, but overall, I'd say this was a pretty solid watch.
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Monday, January 9, 2017
'Attack on Titan' episode 9: 'Where the Left Arm Went: Battle of Trost part 5'
Rather than pick up where the last episode left off, this one decides to open on a completely different squad of soldiers. Rather than cadets, these are the elite scouts, who venture out to engage and investigate the titans.
Despite the title, I was almost convinced that the whole episode was going to follow them. On the one hand, I get it, you want to hold the tension on the big reveal from last episode, but at the same time, this show doesn't really need more characters that I know little about.
While it was certainly nice to see a group of humans winning in a battle against the titans, I'm not sure what it brought to the table. The death of one of the soldiers was poignant enough, I guess. Though the fact that we know next to nothing about him at this point undercuts that significantly.
Speaking of, that image of him getting chewed on was less scary and more hilarious. Once he was actually bitten in half, it got more serious, but early on, it almost looked comical.
This stands in stark contrast to what Eren sees after he gets swallowed. Sure, he's alive, but he's waist deep in a pool of blood, surrounded by floating corpses. It's just as jacked up as it sounds and the scene is accompanied by an appropriately haunting chanting musical leitmotif. The fact that he's able to keep it together as well as he did was commendable. He does start to break down, but oddly, it's less due to what's around him and more due to how he fought so hard and got so far; but in the end it didn't even matter. I know that angsting about that sort of thing in anime is fairly common, but priorities, man.
Eventually, we do cut to the present where, sure enough, Eren has no idea what happened. It was a predictable turn, sure, but it poses a problem as the whole squad is now standing against him, ready to blow him to smithereens with a cannon if need be.
Armin and Mikasa are alongside him, the latter even standing in a badass defensive battle pose between Eren and the army, but it seems like everyone is intent on seeing Eren dead after seeing what happened.
I said before that the characters were oddly unwilling to let the rogue titan kill the titans for them. I still say that this is something they should be cheering for. I want to cite this as another instance of the humans being dumb, but it doesn't seem like these soldiers know the specifics. Eren's unconscious muttering about "wanting to kill them all" (ie the titans) didn't help things either, as they think he's talking about killing and eating all of them.
It leads to a rather tense stand off that takes the focus of the last ten minutes of the episode. This scene is so good that I wonder why it bothered wasting my time with the other stuff.
The back and forth had me hooked and on the edge of my seat. If the whole episode had just been this inquisition, it probably would have gone down as one of the all time best episodes of the show.
You can understand the view of the other troops, but you also feel for Eren, who has no idea what's happening. I also liked how, while the main officer was clearly manic and on edge, others were quite calm and analytical about why Eren couldn't be left alone. It showed that there was more than just human paranoia and panic at play (though Armin tries to argue that this is the case) and it gave the other side a stronger footing.
The episode ends on yet another wham note. We get some hints as to Eren's origin, as he flashes back to his father injecting him with something and making vague statements about a key and a basement, but Eren also decides to intentionally trigger another transformation to save both himself and his friends from the resistance.
I'm not sure how his transformation made for an effective shield, considering we see that he's just the upper half of a skeleton at this point. On top of that, this seems to be a completely different titan form than what we saw last time. Is it in transition, or does he change into a different titan each time? I guess these are things we'll learn later.
I wasn't a fan of the first half of this episode. It didn't really seem like anything of note was happening. Once the ball got rolling and the episode found its focus, though, it became one of the more intense and gripping ones in the series overall.
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Despite the title, I was almost convinced that the whole episode was going to follow them. On the one hand, I get it, you want to hold the tension on the big reveal from last episode, but at the same time, this show doesn't really need more characters that I know little about.
While it was certainly nice to see a group of humans winning in a battle against the titans, I'm not sure what it brought to the table. The death of one of the soldiers was poignant enough, I guess. Though the fact that we know next to nothing about him at this point undercuts that significantly.
Speaking of, that image of him getting chewed on was less scary and more hilarious. Once he was actually bitten in half, it got more serious, but early on, it almost looked comical.
This stands in stark contrast to what Eren sees after he gets swallowed. Sure, he's alive, but he's waist deep in a pool of blood, surrounded by floating corpses. It's just as jacked up as it sounds and the scene is accompanied by an appropriately haunting chanting musical leitmotif. The fact that he's able to keep it together as well as he did was commendable. He does start to break down, but oddly, it's less due to what's around him and more due to how he fought so hard and got so far; but in the end it didn't even matter. I know that angsting about that sort of thing in anime is fairly common, but priorities, man.
Eventually, we do cut to the present where, sure enough, Eren has no idea what happened. It was a predictable turn, sure, but it poses a problem as the whole squad is now standing against him, ready to blow him to smithereens with a cannon if need be.
Armin and Mikasa are alongside him, the latter even standing in a badass defensive battle pose between Eren and the army, but it seems like everyone is intent on seeing Eren dead after seeing what happened.
I said before that the characters were oddly unwilling to let the rogue titan kill the titans for them. I still say that this is something they should be cheering for. I want to cite this as another instance of the humans being dumb, but it doesn't seem like these soldiers know the specifics. Eren's unconscious muttering about "wanting to kill them all" (ie the titans) didn't help things either, as they think he's talking about killing and eating all of them.
It leads to a rather tense stand off that takes the focus of the last ten minutes of the episode. This scene is so good that I wonder why it bothered wasting my time with the other stuff.
The back and forth had me hooked and on the edge of my seat. If the whole episode had just been this inquisition, it probably would have gone down as one of the all time best episodes of the show.
You can understand the view of the other troops, but you also feel for Eren, who has no idea what's happening. I also liked how, while the main officer was clearly manic and on edge, others were quite calm and analytical about why Eren couldn't be left alone. It showed that there was more than just human paranoia and panic at play (though Armin tries to argue that this is the case) and it gave the other side a stronger footing.
The episode ends on yet another wham note. We get some hints as to Eren's origin, as he flashes back to his father injecting him with something and making vague statements about a key and a basement, but Eren also decides to intentionally trigger another transformation to save both himself and his friends from the resistance.
I'm not sure how his transformation made for an effective shield, considering we see that he's just the upper half of a skeleton at this point. On top of that, this seems to be a completely different titan form than what we saw last time. Is it in transition, or does he change into a different titan each time? I guess these are things we'll learn later.
I wasn't a fan of the first half of this episode. It didn't really seem like anything of note was happening. Once the ball got rolling and the episode found its focus, though, it became one of the more intense and gripping ones in the series overall.
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Sunday, January 8, 2017
'Dragon Ball Super' episode 73: 'Gohan's Misfortune! An Unexpected Great Saiyaman Movie!?'
As one might surmise from the title, this episode centers on the production of a "Great Saiyaman" movie. From a meta-perspective, this plot hook makes sense. Superhero adaptations are legion, so you can understand why the writers may want to make a nod to that and poke some fun at the industry in the process. In universe, the logic isn't quite as sound. It does allow for some self-deprecating humor, though, as characters note that "Great Saiyaman" was a little known hero who wasn't particularly popular.
You might expect there to be some degree of "wackiness ensues", but really, the episode is fairly light on that. There's humor, and the whole affair is quite light hearted, but despite the title, things go quite well for Gohan.
He gets a new gig as a stuntman after the main actor, an ego driven celebrity named Barry Kahn, endangers his stunt double with a proposition for a high risk stunt; his relationship with Videl is affirmed when she rebuffs Kahn's advances (an advance even Pan clearly doesn't care for,) and his superhero alter-ego even gets to make a legitimate return. Heck, while everyone else pokes fun, Videl offers reassurance and tells Gohan that she likes said alter-ego.
Now, you could be naive and say that the heart pounding that she says she feels is a result of pride, buuut I don't think that's what it means. Well, maybe a little, but I'm pretty sure it's meant to be something of a more...adult nature.
It was nice to see the show tie back to Z, with the robbers that Krillin and Gohan deal with being the same ones that Saiyaman apprehended in his first outing. Heck, from what MasakoX said in his video recap, Barry Kahn himself was a call back, having made a cameo in the Buu saga. It turns out that he was the up and coming celebrity that Buu idolized and tried to mimic at one point. Totally missed that, but it does make for a nice Easter egg, even after the fact.
While I would have liked to see Krillin follow through on his potential heroic highlight moment in dealing with the criminals, having Gohan barge in and unintentionally knock him out was, admittedly, pretty funny, so I can't fault the writers too much on that one.
Bulma also gets a nice moment when she bails Gohan out with a cover story after it becomes apparent that he is, indeed, the Great Saiyaman. Her timing was a bit too perfect, but it was still nice to see that she had her friend's back. She's good people.
Being such a light episode, it doesn't really have much of an antagonist. Even Barry, being the smug diva that he is, isn't really a villain. He's unlikable, sure, and the fact that he goes out of his way to endanger others suggests a callous persona, but he doesn't hit 80's teen movie bully levels of antagonist. Heck, even the jock/nerd rivalry that could have been sparked with Gohan isn't really played up as much as you might think.
There is, however, an extra-terrestrial threat; an apparently symbiotic (or perhaps parasitic, it's hard to tell at this point) criminal named Watagash that escaped from Jaco's custody. I was expecting the writers to play the long game and leave that plot thread hanging for a while, but he promptly arrives on Earth. We're not sure what his motives are, but he can "possess" people and give them a great power increase. It even allows one of the aforementioned criminals to hold his own against Gohan, albeit briefly.
It also leads to the episode's big "cliffhanger" as Jaco confronts the Great Saiyaman. I was expecting this to be something of a team up, where he enlists the superhero's help in apprehending the criminal, but Jaco is convinced that Saiyaman has been taken over by Watagash and promptly shoots Gohan (as well as the young woman with whom Gohan was flying around) with a giant laser.
I'm not sure how he jumps to that conclusion, but maybe his logic will be elaborated on later. Even Saiyaman's strength and flight aren't particularly good indicators, considering Jaco knows that there are saiyans on Earth. It'll be interesting to see his thought process on that one.
Then again, following on the "team up" element, it is something of a tradition for two heroes to fight each other before putting aside their differences and joining forces against the true villain, so maybe that was an intentional nod to comic book tropes.
This episode, overall, was light and fun. The moments between Gohan and Videl were adorable, and it's nice to see the prior get a chance to shine. I don't know if Watagash will pose such a threat as to give us a chance to see how far Gohan has come in his training, but it does look like Gohan's going to be the one to save the day, so that'll be nice to see at the very least.
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You might expect there to be some degree of "wackiness ensues", but really, the episode is fairly light on that. There's humor, and the whole affair is quite light hearted, but despite the title, things go quite well for Gohan.
He gets a new gig as a stuntman after the main actor, an ego driven celebrity named Barry Kahn, endangers his stunt double with a proposition for a high risk stunt; his relationship with Videl is affirmed when she rebuffs Kahn's advances (an advance even Pan clearly doesn't care for,) and his superhero alter-ego even gets to make a legitimate return. Heck, while everyone else pokes fun, Videl offers reassurance and tells Gohan that she likes said alter-ego.
Now, you could be naive and say that the heart pounding that she says she feels is a result of pride, buuut I don't think that's what it means. Well, maybe a little, but I'm pretty sure it's meant to be something of a more...adult nature.
It was nice to see the show tie back to Z, with the robbers that Krillin and Gohan deal with being the same ones that Saiyaman apprehended in his first outing. Heck, from what MasakoX said in his video recap, Barry Kahn himself was a call back, having made a cameo in the Buu saga. It turns out that he was the up and coming celebrity that Buu idolized and tried to mimic at one point. Totally missed that, but it does make for a nice Easter egg, even after the fact.
While I would have liked to see Krillin follow through on his potential heroic highlight moment in dealing with the criminals, having Gohan barge in and unintentionally knock him out was, admittedly, pretty funny, so I can't fault the writers too much on that one.
Bulma also gets a nice moment when she bails Gohan out with a cover story after it becomes apparent that he is, indeed, the Great Saiyaman. Her timing was a bit too perfect, but it was still nice to see that she had her friend's back. She's good people.
Being such a light episode, it doesn't really have much of an antagonist. Even Barry, being the smug diva that he is, isn't really a villain. He's unlikable, sure, and the fact that he goes out of his way to endanger others suggests a callous persona, but he doesn't hit 80's teen movie bully levels of antagonist. Heck, even the jock/nerd rivalry that could have been sparked with Gohan isn't really played up as much as you might think.
There is, however, an extra-terrestrial threat; an apparently symbiotic (or perhaps parasitic, it's hard to tell at this point) criminal named Watagash that escaped from Jaco's custody. I was expecting the writers to play the long game and leave that plot thread hanging for a while, but he promptly arrives on Earth. We're not sure what his motives are, but he can "possess" people and give them a great power increase. It even allows one of the aforementioned criminals to hold his own against Gohan, albeit briefly.
It also leads to the episode's big "cliffhanger" as Jaco confronts the Great Saiyaman. I was expecting this to be something of a team up, where he enlists the superhero's help in apprehending the criminal, but Jaco is convinced that Saiyaman has been taken over by Watagash and promptly shoots Gohan (as well as the young woman with whom Gohan was flying around) with a giant laser.
I'm not sure how he jumps to that conclusion, but maybe his logic will be elaborated on later. Even Saiyaman's strength and flight aren't particularly good indicators, considering Jaco knows that there are saiyans on Earth. It'll be interesting to see his thought process on that one.
Then again, following on the "team up" element, it is something of a tradition for two heroes to fight each other before putting aside their differences and joining forces against the true villain, so maybe that was an intentional nod to comic book tropes.
This episode, overall, was light and fun. The moments between Gohan and Videl were adorable, and it's nice to see the prior get a chance to shine. I don't know if Watagash will pose such a threat as to give us a chance to see how far Gohan has come in his training, but it does look like Gohan's going to be the one to save the day, so that'll be nice to see at the very least.
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Saturday, January 7, 2017
'Dungeons and Dragons Player's Option: Heroes of Shadow' review
You can read my review here.
Pros
- Manages to pack in a wide variety of content into a rather average sized book. There are full class builds, added features for other classes, feats, and other bits of information that can help flesh out a character or campaign
- The assassin is the standout class, with some cool abilities and an array of poisons that the player could put to use in a variety of ways.
Cons
- While the book does try to straddle the fence and be compatible with standard 4E and Essentials books, it does lean more heavily towards the prior.
- Assassin is unable to share poisons with the ranger. Yeah, the assassin can use a shortbow, allowing for poison arrows, but you'd think this would be a great way to boost the ranger, a class that seems to be struggling to stay relevant.
Overall
If you already have a few D&D books in your collection, this is a great boost. If you're a new player looking to get into the game, I'd say either of the Essentials player's books or the initial 4E player's handbook would be more to your liking.
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Friday, January 6, 2017
'Attack on Titan' episode 8: 'Hearing the Heartbeat: Battle of Trost part 4'
Sporadic as my viewing of this show has been thus far, there are certain unavoidable patterns that are starting to develop. For one thing, it's fascinating how, in the heat of a large, city-wide battle, the characters all seem to have the luxury to brood and introspect for rather lengthy periods of time. Having some of them go into shock at points makes sense, and I get wanting to flesh out the characters' emotional state, but it gets taken to ridiculous extremes.
There's one scene where a group of titans are huddled around...something and a group of resistance fighters just stand on a rooftop and look at them. You'd think that, with the monsters' weak point exposed, that they would pounce. Maybe they thought it was a trap, but that's never said. It's even weirder when they decide to go somewhere else and kill titans there.
You also can't help but notice that this show loves to show the humans getting what turns out to be a false second wind. There's this great build up as they charge into battle and start taking down titans with ease. You think the tables are about to turn and than, in a split second, a person dies and it all spirals out of control from there. For those who decide to binge watch this show, you could probably make a drinking game out of it.
In any event, Armin suggests using the new "rogue" titan as a way to turn the tide. Surprisingly, characters are skeptical of this. Sure, the "what" and the "why" are intriguing, but as long as the thing is killing titans and not killing you, why look a gift horse in the mouth? If Jimmy wants to crack corn, why do they care?
I was a little unclear on Armin's means of getting the rogue titan to go where they wanted. You'd think that they'd lure him or draw its attention to titans in the direction they're heading, but he says that they should just kill titans and eventually the rogue will move to the capital. It worked, but still.
I do like that this episode shows Armin finding his niche. He seems to be the idea guy. He not only comes up with the idea to sick the titan on the other titans, but he also devises a strategy that allows the group to enter a fuel depot that has been over-run by smaller titans.
I enjoy seeing tactics in action, so the second half of this episode (that largely centers on the attempt to acquire fuel for their equipment) was quite a bit of fun for me to watch. The plan wasn't too terribly complicated, but there was enough coordination and forethought at play that it still worked.
The distinct possibility that the plan could go awry at any second also added a nice bit of tension, allowing the sequence to work on multiple fronts. In fact, it does go awry. All things considered, the plan succeeded, but there was a minute or two where it seemed like that wasn't going to be the case.
There's not much in the way of big action highlights, though we do see enough of the rogue titan pummeling other titans that viewers should be satisfied on that front. The most memorable bit for me was near the end when the titans had actually gotten the advantage and started eating the rogue. The (now armless) rogue titan suddenly gets his second wind and resumes killing his prey, again, with no arms. It's a sight to behold, I tell ya.
While the new titan is clearly one of humanity's more powerful weapons now, it's good to show that it isn't unstoppable. It keeps humans in the fight as, otherwise, they'd just sit back and let it do all the work.
Although, even knowing that the titan is vulnerable, the humans (once again) just stand on a roof and gawk at it. There's no effort to aid it when it looks like its about to lose, despite its presence being a table turner in the overall war. Maybe they thought it was too late, I don't know. Their lack of action still seemed weird to me.
The rogue titan's death does lead to the episode's big plot twist, however. Inside the rogue, is Eren. Not in the stomach, mind you. From the look of it, it seemed like he was embedded in its spine or something. He's alive and the limbs he apparently lost when he got nommed are restored.
You likely knew that Eren was going to return at some point, but credit to the episode, it was a hell of a way to do it. It adds even more mystery to what's just happened and raises new questions. Mikasa's and Eren's joy at seeing their friend again also adds a nice bit of emotional weight to the episode's end. The scene was just well executed all around.
This episode had its fair share of problems. The show's pacing still needs work, characters can become oddly stupid at points, and most still feel flat; but the pros outweighed the cons for me. Once things got rolling, this was a fun ride. The heroes got things accomplished and scored a victory, while the overall plot moved forward with an intriguing twist.
I'd say that I'm looking forward to the next episode giving us some answers, but I can almost guarantee that Eren will have no memory of his time in the titan and will be just as confused as the others. You just know that's how it's going to play out. I suppose that's the fault of narrative structure sometimes.
Still, always forward and all that.
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There's one scene where a group of titans are huddled around...something and a group of resistance fighters just stand on a rooftop and look at them. You'd think that, with the monsters' weak point exposed, that they would pounce. Maybe they thought it was a trap, but that's never said. It's even weirder when they decide to go somewhere else and kill titans there.
You also can't help but notice that this show loves to show the humans getting what turns out to be a false second wind. There's this great build up as they charge into battle and start taking down titans with ease. You think the tables are about to turn and than, in a split second, a person dies and it all spirals out of control from there. For those who decide to binge watch this show, you could probably make a drinking game out of it.
In any event, Armin suggests using the new "rogue" titan as a way to turn the tide. Surprisingly, characters are skeptical of this. Sure, the "what" and the "why" are intriguing, but as long as the thing is killing titans and not killing you, why look a gift horse in the mouth? If Jimmy wants to crack corn, why do they care?
I was a little unclear on Armin's means of getting the rogue titan to go where they wanted. You'd think that they'd lure him or draw its attention to titans in the direction they're heading, but he says that they should just kill titans and eventually the rogue will move to the capital. It worked, but still.
I do like that this episode shows Armin finding his niche. He seems to be the idea guy. He not only comes up with the idea to sick the titan on the other titans, but he also devises a strategy that allows the group to enter a fuel depot that has been over-run by smaller titans.
I enjoy seeing tactics in action, so the second half of this episode (that largely centers on the attempt to acquire fuel for their equipment) was quite a bit of fun for me to watch. The plan wasn't too terribly complicated, but there was enough coordination and forethought at play that it still worked.
The distinct possibility that the plan could go awry at any second also added a nice bit of tension, allowing the sequence to work on multiple fronts. In fact, it does go awry. All things considered, the plan succeeded, but there was a minute or two where it seemed like that wasn't going to be the case.
There's not much in the way of big action highlights, though we do see enough of the rogue titan pummeling other titans that viewers should be satisfied on that front. The most memorable bit for me was near the end when the titans had actually gotten the advantage and started eating the rogue. The (now armless) rogue titan suddenly gets his second wind and resumes killing his prey, again, with no arms. It's a sight to behold, I tell ya.
While the new titan is clearly one of humanity's more powerful weapons now, it's good to show that it isn't unstoppable. It keeps humans in the fight as, otherwise, they'd just sit back and let it do all the work.
Although, even knowing that the titan is vulnerable, the humans (once again) just stand on a roof and gawk at it. There's no effort to aid it when it looks like its about to lose, despite its presence being a table turner in the overall war. Maybe they thought it was too late, I don't know. Their lack of action still seemed weird to me.
The rogue titan's death does lead to the episode's big plot twist, however. Inside the rogue, is Eren. Not in the stomach, mind you. From the look of it, it seemed like he was embedded in its spine or something. He's alive and the limbs he apparently lost when he got nommed are restored.
You likely knew that Eren was going to return at some point, but credit to the episode, it was a hell of a way to do it. It adds even more mystery to what's just happened and raises new questions. Mikasa's and Eren's joy at seeing their friend again also adds a nice bit of emotional weight to the episode's end. The scene was just well executed all around.
This episode had its fair share of problems. The show's pacing still needs work, characters can become oddly stupid at points, and most still feel flat; but the pros outweighed the cons for me. Once things got rolling, this was a fun ride. The heroes got things accomplished and scored a victory, while the overall plot moved forward with an intriguing twist.
I'd say that I'm looking forward to the next episode giving us some answers, but I can almost guarantee that Eren will have no memory of his time in the titan and will be just as confused as the others. You just know that's how it's going to play out. I suppose that's the fault of narrative structure sometimes.
Still, always forward and all that.
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