Animation Revelation's Animation Blog

I’m pretty sure somebody at Nickelodeon took a peek at my mind to see what I would want in an episode. This week’s was packed with non-sexual fanservice splattered all over. I knew Wan Shi Tong would appear somewhere in the season, but Iroh’s return instantly brings this episode several levels higher than the rest of this season. It even surpasses the Wan two-parter. Yeah, Iroh’s my favorite character, so this is too heavily biased. For people who couldn’t care less about Iroh or never saw the first show, his appearance seems odd than anything. To a newcomer, he’s just some random spirit mentor who invites Korra to a tea party. This ties the show too much to Avatar the Last Airbender rather than being its own story. But seeing him after all this time just makes me want to forgive any hurdles this episode might have hit.

And if anyone can balance Korra’s emotions out, there’s no one better than Iroh. Her situation—dealing with rogue family members while struggling with her emotions—mirrors Zuko so much that having Iroh appear seems fitting. While she had the supportive friends Zuko lacked, being the Avatar means she can seldom find someone to look up and talk to. As much as Tenzin tries, Korra’s began to outgrow him. Tenzin can look wise by being the leading Air Nomad (out of four), but he can’t test Korra on the level Iroh could with Zuko. Iroh always played with Zuko’s expectations, shifting from a bumbling uncle who sat back and drank tea to an esteemed Firebending master.

And he achieves that by having been on the wrong moral side. Losing the Battle of Ba Sing Se and his son brought Iroh to perspective, realizing if what he’s fought for all this time might not be right. Tenzin hasn’t achieved that yet. He’s shown a few glimpses, like when Kya and Bumi complained about Aang’s favoritism. Then there’s how Jinora’s abduction might bring Tenzin down a few pegs. But so far, Tenzin’s always shown as someone who can do no wrong, while Iroh is someone who has committed mistakes and tries to be a good man in spite of that past. It goes back to that scene in “Zuko Alone”, where Iroh lovingly wrote a letter to his relatives with a joke about burning a city to the ground. Then soon after, he loses his son and throws away his desire for conquest to mourn and realize he’s done the same thing to countless Earth Kingdom civilians, heading the Order of the White Lotus as a form of penance.

But we haven’t gotten that development in Tenzin. He’s always been the good man, raised from birth with Aang’s teachings in mind and very few allusions to any thorns in his past. Tenzin is the source of wisdom because the show says so, with little to establish why we should listen to him other than being Aang’s son. That could be a good character arc for him, where he has to fight from the shadow of his father while having to go through the darkness that requires true astuteness. After a few years of having his messages be unheeded by Korra, as well as having his father’s legacy thrown upon him, perhaps it would be interesting to see how all that works into Tenzin’s psyche.

Last time on Valvrave: Marie died’ya know! …yup I’m not coddling you, she’s dead. Bye bye.

This week’s episode begins with the grieving of the high schoolers over Marie’s lifeless husk of a body. Meanwhile Haruto and L-Elf try to get answers from the now very chatty Pino. We learn that once the Valvrave completely sucks up the pilot’s blood and ragging libido, the brain will go next. And shocker of shocks, Haruto is dead man walking! Yay for that. Naturally he’s unable to think straight while piloting VVVI and this is a concern for L-Elf.

We then move on to the main plot of the episode. The newly revealed Dorssian Royalists want to work with our band of JIOR revolutionaries but not until they blow up some super special submarine… which happens to be pink… yeah. Haruto and L-Elf will sneak into a large castle (that bears a strong resemblence to Cagliostro) while Kyuma defends their stolen Dorssia carrier all by his lonesome. In a potential subplot for next week, Thunder and Akira are sent off to find the still missing Saki who is still hanging around with R-Drei as a hijacked Karlstein kid.

While all this is happening, we have the story of H-Neun and his attempt to figure out if evil green lantern wizard Daisuke Ono (aka Cain) is trying to stage his own minicoup on Dorssia’s lousy and rather uninteresting Emperor Takehito Koyasu (seriously when Daisuke Ono is upstaging Koyasu this government is clearly fucked in the balls). It only earns him five bullets to the shoulder and the shock revelation that Ono loves X-Eins (aka Megane-Guy) more than Neun (way to go genius).

So yeah what about that sub? Well it appears its actually a storage device powered by several semi-naked women with wires going into their heads. Yup, Dorssia has apparently discovered how to harvest Runes on their own (no doubt in order to fuel VVVII). This little factoid upsets Haruto so deeply that he proceeds to trash several of the storage containers before getting bitch slapped by L-Elf over the futility of what he’s trying to achieve. Eventually it leads to a decent (if incredibly brief) mecha fight that results in a volcanic eruption because… I don’t know… Valvrave.

The theme of this week’s episode is about doubt and the impetus to act. Haruto’s in the dumps after the shock death of Marie proved the Holy Spirits actually can kick the bucket, and thus its L-Elf’s job to break him out of that funk the only way he knows how… slut shame! But really can you blame the guy? He’s the only character in the show would be able to use the Valvrave in a constructive manner but can’t because it’ll just kill him on the spot (its revealed this week that ONLY JIOR high school students can use Valvraves for some reason). The subplot with H-Neun is somewhat interesting but only goes so far, primarily because H-Neun just isn’t that decent of a character (only X-Eins is less developed than he was of the Karlstein bunch).

Ultimately while this episode does continue the surprisingly grim and somber direction the series has been headed in since three weeks ago, it doesn’t quite work as well. I chock it up to trying to do too many things at once without much narrative flow leading to a rather disjointed feel. It seems all that time wasting stupidity in Season 1 is finally starting to take its toll since the writers now have way too much story to tell and only six more episodes to spit it out. Tsk Tsk.

6/10

The first season of Valvrave was one of the bombastic, reprehensible, and bizarre shows to air this year. Despite the story having more holes than a spider’s nest, the show’s drive to be serious in light of rampant fanservice and bizarre character interactions made it quite memorable. As if someone looked G Gundam and believed that was too subtle, we were given a hodgepodge of anime tropes molded into something claiming to be a show. But that’s not to say the show didn’t put effort in being mindless. Nobody could unintentionally come up with such a mess. Only a passionate writer could create a show this idiotic. Sunrise whipped up a comedy of errors with shameless disregard for subtlety.

But then season two happened, and the series has stopped being as moronic. On the surface, this sounds like an improvement for a show. Yet I do not enjoy this show as much as I used to. The bouts of insanity have been swept under the rug, with any mishaps being too few to truly appreciate. By removing some issues with the first season, Sunrise took some of the charm from the as well. Imagine if someone had made a sequel to Plan 9 from Outer Space that proved to be a decent, but unmemorable movie. While the movie could be objectively better than its predecessor, it would express apathy rather than mindless aspiration. Rather than being a laughably insane space opera, Valvrave has become a mediocre space opera. I’m expected to care about Haruto’s plight instead of see his character as a punch line to a accidentally labyrinthine joke.

I know some people see differently. They wanted a mecha series with genuine plot instead of fumbles that snowball into lunacy. But when the show introduces vampire wizards from space, any sort of low-key storytelling gets thrown out. This second season fears being bombastic, in favor of portraying scenes where Haruto and L-Elf goes in espionage to attack Dorssian bases. Valvrave’s become a clown trying to do understated humor. This could have worked if the show had done this from the start, but a season’s worth of nonsense weights that ambition down. The show ignores established rules, expecting the viewer to have forgotten the odd parts of the first season in order to stand out as a legitimate show instead of unintentional parody.

And that could have worked too if the second season’s writing was pristine enough to redeem the previous psychosis. While this is entirely subjective, the writers don’t have that ability to manipulate the show like that. They can’t make their own Catch-22 by making the audience laugh one minute and cry the next. These are people who forgo being excellent comedians by becoming lackluster dramatists as an alternative. Their hearts are genuine, but are put in the wrong place. Perhaps the show will prove me wrong by having Saki turned out to be the new Jesus or something, but I have resigned in seeing this slapstick become a half-hearted tragedy.

Sorry this one is so late. I’ve had a very interesting week, and personal issues prevented me from working on it much until today. Part 6 should still be posted today or tomorrow, on schedule. Also, I no longer think mini-recaps of the episodes are necessary, so I’ll try to avoid them from now on. You should be watching them before reading my ramblings anyway!

Let me tell you two useful pieces of information. One: This episode is goddamn amazing. Two: The title of this blog is an unfunny reference to the name of the episode which is also the animation studio’s name and a word people use online to describe things that could potentially upset others. Internet humor!

This Last week’s installment of Kill la Kill is yet another fantastic departure from the status quo (though really, is there ever much of a status quo in an Imaishi anime?), opting more for world-building and character development than in your face over the top humor. It’s still funny, and action-packed, but I felt this episode actually had quite a bit of heart to go along with the usual antics. Ryuuko’s friendship with Mako is deepened, and the former starts to see Senketsu as a partner rather than an object; by the time the credits roll, he is no longer simply a means to an end or an “it.” I must admit, after episode 1, I never expected to like him as a character, but I think I do now. As expected, Mako delivers another crazy speech, but this one is not just humorous – it’s also a little saddening. It was always in the back of my mind that she probably never had any real friends before Ryuuko, but the way she actually comes out and says it here is pretty heavy and took me off-guard. Maybe I’m just a sentimental bastard, I don’t know.

Friendship often seems to be a major theme in anime these days – overblown buddy-buddy speeches empower the shounen hero to defeat villains, and you’ll probably get stuck in a murder-filled time loop if you can’t trust your pals – so it’s no surprise to see it used to this extent in Kill la Kill. As a whole, I consider this series similar to something like Hot Fuzz in concept (if not writing). It makes fun of other action anime, but it does so lovingly. It’s filled with scenes of parody, but also of homage. KLK never states or implies that the anime tropes it incorporates are bad, it just points out how silly they are, and then continues on to use them in more exciting ways than a standard boilerplate TV show would. This is comparable to how Hot Fuzz, despite being a comedy at heart, is also a better action and slasher film than the majority of its contemporaries.

A lot of people like to dog on Nakashima’s writing for not being particularly deep or layered, but I think he’s actually a very talented screenwriter when it comes down to it. Within a span of just five episodes, I’ve already grown to care about the central characters despite their archetypical ways and lack of backstory. They all speak with their own distinct voices, and many scenes feature little nods that constitute subtle character building. The dialogue never meanders for too long, exposition is delivered naturally, and the pacing (while perhaps too quick for some) is pitch perfect. Now, I’m not saying he’s up there with the best of the best, but Nakashima clearly knows his craft well. He has the intricacies down and deftly avoids fat. Because of this, I think his script composition is infinitely superior to that of many other anime writers, even if his stories aren’t that complex or meaningful.

I’m glad Trigger has humorously managed to sidestep the villain-of-the-week concept thus far. I mean, I have no problem with that kind of show, but I love how Kill la Kill continues to completely defy my expectations week after week. This installment sees the introduction of a new character, Tsumugu Kinagase, a guerrilla manly enough to have the same voice actor as Kamina. His fight with the gardening club at the beginning of the episode sports some top notch animation, and his theme tune(?) is appropriately badass. I must say I was a bit disappointed by how easily he was able to defeat Ryuuko, but their fight was fantastic and ended with some nice character/plot development, so I’ll let it slide. Plus, I’m sure if they ever do battle again, she’ll be able to take him down. We get some legitimate world-building this time around as well. Aikurou continues to be mysterious as hell, but this time we found out who he works for. And let me just say that “Nudist Beach” is by far the greatest name you could ever give a guerrilla organization.

Once again, the direction is extremely well-done. This episode’s presentation is a lot more subdued than usual, though of course “subdued” for KLK can probably be interpreted as “batshit insane” in reference to almost any other TV series. I loved the cool usage of color in the scenes with Aikurou and Tsumugu, and the big battle in the middle of the episode was a lot more artistic than I’d come to expect. This tonal shift from the previous installment is jarring in a good way, proving that Kill la Kill is capable of tackling multiple genres and styles without losing steam. The eclectic talent of Trigger’s staff has been showcased very well by this series so far, and I can’t wait to see where they take the story next. Apparently pre-orders in Japan are quite high, so I’m glad to see their effort is paying off.

Episode 6 is already out as of this posting, so I think it’s time I go watch it! See ya in a few.

Issue #5 or “The Owl Laughs At Midnight!”

 

When we last left our cornered caped crusader he was surrounded by the police after returning from his doppelganger’s devious dimension filled with villainous villains. Though we spent the previous episode with Batman in Owlman’s twisted world where the villains had beaten the heroes, the biggest issue to deal with is that the world’s worst villain from there is now running free in Batman’s world. Not only that, but he’s turned Gotham upside down bringing in outside heroes to help fix the mess! Owlman is almost as good at being bad as Batman is at being good! Our hero might be in over his head this time.

What we have here is the classic villain twist episode, but with a very special… twist to it. Though Red Hood in the previous episode isn’t here to help, Batman instead receives help from someone he thought completely impossible. What results is a very unlikely team up, and one of the most memorable in the series.

So slap on a cap, sit back and relax, it’s time to tackle this episode!

 

#5 – Game Over for Owlman!

Written by: Joseph Kuhr

Directed by: Ben Jones

Principle Cast:

Diedrich Bader as Batman / Owlman

Jeff Bennett as The Joker

Tom Kenny as Plastic Man

James Arnold Taylor as Green Arrow

Will Friedle as Blue Beetle

 

After we are first reminded of what occurred in the previous episode, we are brought back to Batman’s predicament. However, since this is a written series and not a visual medium that airs an episode a week, if anyone wishes to see what happened in the previous episode they only need to go to the previous entry.

Read it if you dare, it’s a great episode.

Though Batman is surrounded by the police he quickly uses a smoke pellet to escape from their custody because he’s Batman and the police quickly begin pursuit across the rooftops and the streets after him. Since he is the legendary hero, they’re probably going to need an army to stop him. But Gotham doesn’t have the resources for such high scale measures, instead using the help of other heroes that have volunteered their help.

However, because of Batman’s adventure in Owlman’s world, three weeks have now past and our hero’s reputation is at an all-time low. Luckily, in his hidden perch he spots the doppelganger robbing a bank and begins pursuit after him. Unfortunately, his physical skills are still as sharp as ever.

Of course, it is Owlman is wearing a Batman disguise and is intentionally wrecking our hero’s good name. Noticing that Batman has most likely defeated his allies and freed the heroes in his home world he decides instead to make Batman the greatest villain in this world, thereby wrecking the Caped Crusader’s entire career of crime-fighting and wrecking his biggest obstacle to returning home again. Yes, Owlman really is just that petty for losing a fight.

After slipping out of Batman’s hold, the other heroes arrive to find Batman literally holding the bag. After some speeches about how disappointed they are with Batman’s behavior, he gives them the slip and escapes into one of his many hiding places he has planted around the city. Yet no matter how far Batman runs, he can’t seem to shake them. How can he clear his name if his own allies won’t help?

He’s quickly cornered as Owlman has reprogrammed the Batmobile and his other vehicles, leading him with limited means of escape. It doesn’t take much time for him to simply run out of running room. The world’s greatest hero- taken down by his own allies. How can it get any worse for him? Well, the thing is… he’s not alone.

When suddenly-

Batman is rescued by some stranger. Pulled into a warehouse, he stumbles alone in the dark desperately searching for his rescuer. In the darkness of the warehouse he comes upon the voice of somebody Batman knows all too well, and someone who is disappointed about the supposed crime spree our hero is on most of all.

But that might be for far different reasons. As he steps out of the shadows he reveals his intent:

“Our game was so simple. Brooding hero; dashing, devil-may-care villain. I strap you to a drill press; you lock me in a rubber room. And it’s fits and giggles until Aunt Fanny comes home!”

“But if you think you can switch sides and out-criminal the clown prince of crime, it’s only fair to warn you- I always blow away the competition!”

The Joker.

But despite his words, more than any other person Batman knows, the Joker is the only one who believes that there really is an impostor in town smearing his good name. Batman would never smash the natural order for personal gain; neither would he lower himself to robbing banks. Someone else must therefore be ruining things.

Now here is where the kicker comes in. The Joker offers to strike a deal with Batman in order to take down “Bat-fake” to set everything right again. But why would the Harlequin of Hate do this? Apparently he feels he owes it to Batman, of all things, for reasons he doesn’t quite know. Could Red Hood’s words be true after all? Does this mean that the Joker is-

Of course Batman flat out rejects his proposal; until Joker reminds him that if the new one is as good as being bad as the old one is at being good then neither of them could beat the other without help. It would make more sense if the Joker wasn’t the one saying it. But Batman knows he has a point since in their early scuffles they were evenly matched and he can’t rely on a slip of ego to take his advantage every time. There’s only one thing he can do so he reluctantly agrees.

Unfortunately, before a plan can be made, our hero’s friends have caught up to the pair in pursuit and after a narrow escape, Batman finds himself riding in the Batmobile with the Joker. It really is a sight that needs to be seen.

“Joker, if we’re going to work together, I need your word that you won’t hurt anyone.”

“Hmm, not really me, but what the heck. I’m in!”

Here’s the really weird part about this odd promise-

The Joker keeps it.

He in fact does not hurt anyone intentionally throughout the episode and plays the part of hero well… surprisingly well. For whatever reason, the Joker is almost as good a hero as Batman. What is it that really keeps the Joker from being a hero? Maybe he could turn a new leaf after all! If only it wasn’t for that pesky insanity issue.

“Oh, shiny! What does this one do?”

“You really don’t want to touch that.”

“Told you not to touch it.”

When Joker finally awakens he is in… the Batcave. Yes, the Joker is now in the Batcave. While Batman discovers that Owlman has looked up his files on his allies and learned their weaknesses. He now has a clear path to removing all his obstacles and making a bid for control of the city. Owlman really is planning a hostile takeover of Gotham!

All his while Joker has sweet memories of the good old days of almost killing Batman… over and over… it’s kind of sweet to watch if not a little insane.

They need to quickly find his friends and warn them before they fall into Owlman’s traps. So after the Joker puts himself to sleep again, the pair head back to Gotham in order to stop his evil scheme. Batman sends out a signal to try to warn his friends but only Plastic Man responds, and since he’s, well, a bit dense, he refuses to listen to Batman’s warning and is quickly frozen by Owlman. However, he doesn’t have much time to celebrate as Batman and Joker arrive on the scene!

Batman and Owlman quickly resume fisticuffs, while the Joker decides on a course of action. Being the Joker, he of course has many options at his disposal. Naturally, as anyone else in such a situation would do, he chooses the bazooka and aims it at the double Batmen.

“The real one will move.”

“He always does.”

However, the Joker’s gambit backfires as it is Owlman who gets out of the way and Batman who takes the brunt of the damage from falling debris. Maybe Owlman isn’t quite as clueless about the Joker as Batman thought? He is, after all, Batman’s doppelganger, so he knows how Batman thinks just as well as his opposite thinks he knows him. That would make more sense if someone else was saying it.

Owlman escapes into the Batmobile and tries to run them over, but the Joker won’t have it and saves Batman’s life. Batman is just as surprised as everyone else as he swings our hero to safety.

The Joker thinks he could really get behind this hero stuff, though who knows how long that could really last?

Owlman catches up to the pair and offers a trade to Batman. His friends for the phase oscillator, to which Batman (The Joker, actually) refuses due to not making deals with criminal scum. Their foe decides to take it out on innocent pedestrians instead, trying to run them over and blow them up. Batman gives the wheel to Joker, and hops on the roof attempting to swing out and save the pedestrians as the Joker chases after Owlman.

Once again, however, the Joker breaks from the chase to save a civilian from harm’s way. The pair reunites and heads out back after the deadly doppelganger.

The Joker fairly wonders why Batman decided to legitimately give his greatest enemy a chance instead of throwing him back in jail. All he tells him is that it was “something a friend said”, referring to Red Hood. Though his adventure with the Red Hood showed Batman that anyone could be a hero if they wanted to, it’s not quite clear until we learn what Batman already did.

That being that the Red Hood is the Joker’s doppelganger. What a difference between them, yet they can both be great heroes. So what holds the Joker back?

The Owl-signal (!?) lights the sky and we are taken to the Owlman’s hideout where he reveals his elaborate death traps for his captured heroes. There is a lot of exposition so it is easier to just say that these traps make heroes dead- once Owlman hits the switch. Just before he decides to get dangerous with his evil ways before both Batman and Joker show up to put a stop to his dastardly destructive denouement of his captured heroes.

Batman won’t give up the phase oscillator, and Owlman won’t give up his friends, so the villain’s recruited bad guys decide they’ve had enough.

A free-for-all fight occurs and though the pair tries their hardest they are quickly overwhelmed. Owlman reveals the final stage of his plan, and that is to prepare a death trap with Batman’s name on it- but gives the switch to Joker to push. The Joker thinks it over long and hard but decides to be the clown prince of crime once again.

So we get to the point that was first brought up in Fall of the Blue Beetle, that being that being chosen to be a hero isn’t enough. You have to choose it, and the Joker throws his choice away with his own free will. That is what makes Red Hood different from him.

Despite the Joker’s best intentions, he simply refuses to admit that he might be a better hero than villain and pushes the button. With a final button press, the Joker’s new-found hero career dies as Batman is finally dead.

Or so they think.

Batman had actually used the phase oscillator to travel through worlds and recruited his own team of Batmen in the few moments he was gone. It looks like Owlman’s plan was more than a bit short-sighted. He didn’t count on Batman actually using that phase oscillator. There’s that ego at work again!

It doesn’t take long for the skirmish to free the trapped heroes and give the heroes the edge once again, though Joker still spends the entire battle running around with a bomb completely unaware of anything going on. In the fray, we have Green Arrow, Aquaman, Blue Beetle, the Atom, Red Tornado and Plastic Man as well as six different Batmen going up against the villains.

There’s only one way for this to go.

It doesn’t take long for the Joker to arrive at Batman and Owlman with his bomb. When he finally throws it, Batman takes advantage of the two conflicting connivers and their inability to work together and drops Owlman’s own death trap on them (death-free, of course) and gives everyone the immortal image they all love.

“Funny thing about wild cards, Joker- you never know which way they’ll fall.”

The other Batmen take Owlman back through the portal after the villains ultimately fall in battle to which he swears revenge. Batman’s world hopping adventure finally comes to an end as he leaves the phase oscillator with the other travelers. Owlman has finally been stopped. What an ordeal!

But it isn’t over as the Joker admits to Batman that he regrets being a homicidal maniac and wishes he could be the hero he really could be. In some other world, they could have even been friends. But in the end, he would rather be the clown prince of crime and, just like Owlman did, he swears revenge on him. The Joker made his choice, just like the Red Hood did, just like Owlman did, and just like Batman did.

So much for rehabilitation.

And so ends the first two-part episode in the series. We had a fun ride as we visited parallel worlds, battled twisted villains and teamed up with unlikely heroes, not to mention learned a lot about a rather important character and saved two different worlds from an evil version of our hero! All this within the first half of the first season!

We see Batman’s words to Jaime a few episodes ago lived out as we see a hero and villain with the exact same background and origin choose their own fates each as a hero and a villain. The only thing stopping the Joker from choosing to be a hero was his own choice, instead becoming the world’s worst villain while the Red Hood pushed past all his mad inclinations to become the hero he needed to become. Another mirror exposed for the smoke and sunlight that floats somewhere nearby.

Or however that goes.

I would say Batman deserves a bit of a break after such a chaotic adventure, but what comes next might not be as chaos-free as he would hope.

Until next time, Bat-fans! Same brave blog, same bold place!

After a week delay, blogging on an episode feels kind of rusty. So to get back to speed, Korra almost died, Varrick lied, Unalaq’s plotting on dry ice, and Tenzin sighed. That Wan episode really raised my expectations for Korra, so getting back to the main plot now feels like seeing them erode back to before. Sure, Korra’s kept her cool and Varrick’s still a character, but it still feels like we’re back to square one now that Korra finally decided that Tenzin is the best guide for advice. Even that exposition Korra gave reminded me of how that all could’ve avoided if she just stuck to her old mentors than forget what she learned last year. Still, we’ve got at least one piece of development from last episode: That Unalaq’s main plot involves freeing Vaatu.

So I guess he wants to become the Dark Avatar or something. While he gets down to business and tries to release Vaatu with his own hands, Unalaq still needs some personality. Don’t give us more scenes of him pushing around Desna and Eska like they’re Jessie and James. We already know he’s evil. Give us an understandable reason other than a desire for power. Even if it’s something cliché like how Unalaq wants to resurrect his dead wife with Vaatu powers or something, come up with at least one personal aim he’s striving for. At this point, I know as much about his personality as I did during his first episode.

But let’s cut back from the bad points, because Jinora finally gets to do something! She gets to see spirits and be a guide for Korra to the spirit world while the rest of her family just has to sit back and stand watch… yeah. Still, Jinora’s cool. She’s the least annoying of Aang’s grandchildren by a long shot, and seems to be the most level-headed of the gang so far. She’s even more rational than Asami, who iin this episode doesn’t trust Mako’s word that Varrick’s up to something even though she went through the exact same thing last season with Korra and her dad. Varrick’s cool and Mako sucks, but Asami should learn when to be skeptical to both sides of an argument and not just bite the hand that’s been genuinely helping her.

And let’s get down to it. This episode really does a number on Tenzin. He has never been to the spirit world, and likely never will even with his decades of training. His daughter can become a guide simply through natural talent while he struggles and fails. The whole season seems to be dedicated to telling Tenzin he sucks. Bumi and Kya go off on him about how Aang cared more about him than he ever did about them. Korra forgets what she learned from him last season only to come back to him once she realizes she’s goofed. He mispronounces Guru Pathik’s name. And on top of that, some hotshot from the Northern Water Tribe decides to make him obsolete in terms of spirituality. You really have to feel for Tenzin. The guy needs a real vacation.