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So on one side of the coin, we have Kurapika, who is basically the main character of this particular story arc. In that case, what exactly is his character arc? Well, at the start of the series we learned that he was a man out for blood on those who had wronged him. Aside from that, he was a pretty calm-natured dude. He was thoroughly stubborn in his viewpoints and rather naïve at times (not as much as Gon, of course, but he was still young, nonetheless), but otherwise he was a real stand-up, straight-forward fellow. A lot of this, as we learn, was mostly brought out when he was actually with Gon, Leorio, and Killua. Once they go their separate ways, though, it’s goodbye nice and cheery blonde kid and back to what I assume Kurapika was like before he met Gon: a bitter sour-pus, hell-bent on vengeance. Starting from the flash-back of Kurapika’s training, we realize that Togashi has given him a primary character-flaw to work out. In one word, it’s obsession. He is obsessed with his revenge on the Phantom Troupe so much so that I don’t really believe he stopped to think about what he would do when he found them. Togashi really goes out of his way to use all sorts of symbolism to drive this point home. For one thing, when Kurapika finally develops his own Nen ability, which is reflective of its own user in some way, his master asks him why he chose to conjure up chains, to which Kurapika answers that he wants to bind the Phantom Troupe, as if they were a pack of chaotic beasts (which may even be putting things lightly). Hell, Kurapika even has an attack named Chain Jail, if that wasn’t made obvious enough. It’s clear that his ability is the raw, physical materialization of his greatest desire.

Of just as much importance is how Kurapika even attained the power to fight on even terms with a group of individuals who, by all means, SHOULD be leagues above his level. Well, rather than wanting to draw things out for himself (as well as the audience) with a few boring training-arcs, Kurapika instead exploited another flaw of his, which is strikingly surprising for such a calm character. He is rather impatient. At the end of the day, Kurapika is a rash, young guy, and he is driven far too much by emotion. So exploiting some of his own unique abilities, as well as the principles of Nen, he realizes that he can increase his power proportionally to the degree of restriction he places on himself and the use of his ability. He sets the condition that his power can only ever be used on members of the Phantom Troupe, and that if he were to try and break this condition, the cost would be his own life. I trust I don’t need to explain all of the shit that can go wrong with such a bold (and idiotic) condition if anyone were to find out about this (Killua even scolds him for so much as telling his own friends about it later on). That also sort of indicates, when you stop to think about it, that Kurapika was fully prepared to die from the get-go. Having such a plan would crush his abilities as a Hunter in the future, which by all means indicates that he wasn’t planning that far ahead. So, yeah, the kid’s kind of wreck-less in that way, isn’t he?

And touching back on that one element of comradery, how exactly does it relate to Kurapika’s character? Well, the whole point of this arc is getting Kurapika to understand the importance of the connections that he makes with other people. I once mentioned Melody, a bit earlier, saying that she was the only other important character among the bodyguards of the Nostrade family. What I mean is that she is essentially 90% of the freaking reason that Kurapika is still alive by the end of this arc. Melody is very much Kurapika’s calming agent. Her ability is even to use music to manipulate her surroundings. In this case she can play music to sooth the soul, which is precisely what she does during Kurapika’s first sighting of the Phantom Troupe. Had she not intervened, Kurapika would have darted straight for Uvogin without a plan and gotten his ass ambushed.

Furthermore, Kurapika gets the assistance of his old friends later on in the arc. What I like about this dynamic is that, while most other writers would try to have Kurapika’s friends steer him away from the dark path that he is going down, over here the characters have clearly read enough fiction (I would assume) to know that shit like that usually only makes things even worse, despite best intentions. Rather, they go in with an attitude of “well, if you’re really going to do this, then we might as well make sure that you do it right.” I think Togashi handles this element of characterization pretty well. Kurapika is initially reluctant towards getting his friends involved. Not because of some silly pride, but because he doesn’t want them to get killed at his expense. But then Gon slaps him with the typical “what are friends for” shtick, and Kurapika easily gives in, which surprised me at first, but the more I think about it I believe that this is the true nature of his character when he’s not just obsessing over the tragedies of his past.

The final element of Kurapika’s character arc is simply him coming to terms with the path that he has chosen to walk down. The instance in which we truly get to see this is when Kurapika pierces Uvo with his chain. This is of course after he tried brutally beating an answer out of the guy to divulge the whereabouts of the rest of his gang (to Kurapika’s own self-disgust). When that doesn’t work, he essentially gives him an ultimatum of “answer me or die,” to which Uvo tells him to go to hell with a smile, as the sharp end of the chain pierces through his heart, leaving him to crumble at Kurapika’s feet. For being Kurapika’s first real kill in the series, the guy is obviously a bit distraught, but it’s not merely jut because he took a life.

Once again, think a bit closer about what just happened here. He essentially took a member of the Phantom Troupe down for good. What’s to be upset about? Maybe because it’s not quite what he expected. Kurapika clearly wanted, and fully expected, a total scumbag who would bend to his every whim and submit to him before dying. Instead Uvo dies gracelessly, yet somehow manages to seem more dignified than Kurapika himself in doing so. In response, Kurapika manages to sum up his feelings in just a look (without needless exposition to explain how he’s feeling; I’m looking at you Chimera Ant arc). Here’s how I interpret it: it’s at this moment that Kurapika realizes something. Basically, he really derived no pleasure from killing this guy, and taking down the rest of the troupe will make him feel no different. There is no satisfaction to be had. Kurapika is doing dirty work. He also realizes that he feels that he needs to do this stuff, as if it’s the last duty he has to his fallen people. So at this point, he’s reached the point of no return, and must keep going on anyways, and he takes that moment to come to terms with the fact that, while he doesn’t regret what he has done or what he will soon do, he is also going to find every moment of this affair to be painstakingly miserable. That, more than anything else, is what I consider to be the true tragedy of his character.

For all of the time that Togashi spends fleshing out Kurapika, he does inevitably have to scale back on almost everyone else in terms of protagonists. Don’t be mistaken: Gon, Killua, and Leorio, along with the other supporting characters have a ton of bearing on the plot, but from a character stand-point there is much more going on in terms of how they affect Kurapika’s development rather than their own. This may be viewed as a flaw, but personally I find it to be a wise writing-decision on Togashi’s part. Choosing to focus most of his time on a single character rather than multiple personalities manages to create some interesting drama without hampering the pacing of the story. Gon and company do get a sizable chunk of this arc to themselves, but a good portion of it has to do with building up to a future arc rather than progressing these individuals as characters. That said, it should be noted that both Gon and Killua had ongoing character arcs that were somewhat put on hold here, yet they each receive some development along the way. With Gon, we start to get an idea of both the positive and negative aspects of his overly-optimistic attitude towards most scenarios, and with Killua we get a deeper sense of how his history as a cold-blooded assassin has left him rather desensitized to the type of carnage he witnesses here.

Well, all of that stuff is fine and dandy regarding the so-called “heroes” of our story, but what about the other side of the coin? After all, I did say that this arc comprises two-sides, so in Part III (the final part) of this feature, I will be delving into just what makes the villains tick, and then bring everything together to sum up my overall feelings on this piece of fiction.

For those of you just tuning in…

The most peculiar thing about Hunter X Hunter is that it’s a series that is consistently….inconsistent, in regard to its tone and narrative. While I like the idea of having varying different styles of story-telling coming into play to keep things fresh, it is not without it’s flaws. However, what it does allow for is to give Togashi a bit of a clean-slate to work with-in each new story-arc, so by the time he got around to the masterpiece I will be gushing writing about today, he had apparently found his stride with this series, and was able to bring out his A game in creative writing and just general mastery of integrating awesome ideas and concepts with excellent characters to experience them all. So, let’s break it down with a little background, shall we.

Gon is a spunky, naïve, seemingly typical shounen protagonist who wants to become a Hunter which basically is a vaguely defined status that gives you a license to basically do almost anything, all for the sake of….wait for it….ADVENTURE! Oh, and he wants to find his dad who is a legendary Hunter as well, which may or may not be his main goal in the story….just thought it’d maybe be worth mentioning. Anyways, he makes it to the Hunter Exams, and makes 3 friends there: Leorio (the hot-head of the group who….surprisingly doesn’t quite fit the stereotype as much as you’d expect), Kurapika (The smart dude in the group….who also is also on a totally not smart, wreck-less vengeance quest for some other dudes who killed his clan) and Killua (the bat-shit crazy member of the group….who is disappointingly too calm and level-headed most of the time). These 4 guys become the closest of friends through their adventures in the Hunter Exams, and through their bonds, they become completely inseparable and would never leave each other’s side for anything…

…Except for Leorio and Kurapika who leave Gon and Killua after the second arc to go pursue their own interests like normal selfish human beings. Why can’t they have no life and pointlessly stick around at points in the story where they aren’t actually necessary for the pl—-Oh, I see what you did there, Togashi. Well, at least they all vow to meet again in 6 months at the titular York New City, where Kurapika wants to attend an auction that may carry some of the stolen “goods” from his fallen brethren. Speaking of which…

 

York New City – The General Story:

So, Kurapika’s two goals in the series are basically this: A) He wants revenge on the Phantom Troupe, who murdered his entire clan while he was away exploring the outside world; B) He wants to collect the scarlet eyes that were ripped right out of the sockets of his fallen brethren, and presumably burry them where they belong, because the bottom line is that he considers it a disgrace for something so sacred to become the mere commodities of novelty collectors. So, how does he go about doing this? He goes to an agency, of course. Unfortunately, despite having a Hunter license, the agent informs him that he does not meet the minimum qualifications for any of her jobs on offer, and he is not a true Hunter yet. So what does that mean? Training time!

Luckily Togashi covers that part fairly quick: Kurapika learns the use of Nen and he develops his own ability involving a chain (I know every single one of you just chuckled at the idea of that). So Kurapika goes back to the agency. This time he passes the requirements and chooses to work for none other than a flesh collector who is the most likely person to know, or have connections to people who know about the whereabouts of the Kurata clan’s scarlet eyes. So, he’s hired as a bodyguard after proving his skills, and it turns out said flesh collector is also a highly influential Mafia crime boss of the Nostrade family with a daughter (Neon) who makes him a fortune by well….having the ability to read other people’s fortunes with insane accuracy.

Kurapika and the other bodyguards (only one other whom has any significant importance to this arc, Melody) escort Neon to York New City and then prepare to guard the auction-house on auction-night, which just so happens to be auctioning off a pair of scarlet eyes very relevant to Kurapika. It also happens that the Phantom Troupe is after the entire auction-house goods, and they don’t exactly intend to pay for it. So, naturally, chaos ensues, a bunch of people die, and Kurapika now has the perfect opportunity to attempt revenge on the very group he has sought to take down for so long. The key word there being attempt.

 

So, what makes it so special?

First I just have to say something you all may find a bit surprising: I didn’t care for this story arc the first time that I watched it. In fact, I was kind of underwhelmed by this series as a whole on my first viewing of it. That’s because Hunter X Hunter is a series that is less about the broad picture, and more about what’s happening with its characters in any given moment. It’s something that’s more enjoyable if you follow it at your own pace, and occasionally pause to reflect on what’s really going on from a character stand-point, rather than trying to view it as a junk food blockbuster series that unfortunately encompasses quite a large portion of shounen manga/anime.

So, on my second viewing, why did I go from being disappointed by this series to suddenly thinking it was one of the greatest modern shounen to ever be created? I’d say that it was because I started to notice something that I wasn’t really paying attention to the first time around. Each arc had a theme (as in something more shounen series should do more often). It wasn’t just fights connected by story and plot-points leading up to the next fight, but rather a story that felt like it naturally progressed as it should given the actions taken by the characters. So then, what be the theme of this here arc? The way I interpret it, the central theme of this arc is comradery, which admittedly is just a more acceptable way of saying FRIENDSHIP without sounding like an annoying little prick. Essentially, there is a huge importance in this arc stressed on the bonds that characters have with one another. The Phantom Troupe are such a formidable threat because, albeit being evil, they’re a family that can work together, gosh darn-it! Likewise, Kurapika constantly ends up relying on the help of his friends and allies, and in return does what he can to help them as well.

In fact, take notice to what’s going on when you read or watch this arc. Which characters usually end up getting the worst possible outcomes in this story, regardless of which side they are on? The isolated ones, that’s who. A member of the Phantom Troupe dies when he breaks off from the group to fight Kurapika, just because he’s too damn pissed off and prideful to have been chained up by him (stop snickering back there!) and unable to escape the bind despite using all of his strength, and is ultimately only rescued by other members of his group (see, there’s that comradery again). So, he opts to fight alone, believing that he will not need help to squash this chump, and because he wants to prove that he is ultimately stronger. And then he fights, loses, and gets killed. You want another example? What happens to Dalzollene? Well, when the guys came to rescue Uvo after getting captured, who do you think the one guy who volunteered to stay behind and guard him was? Poor bastard. Yet another example, you ask? Well, apparently leaving Dalzollene alone worked so well that they decided to do the same for Squala, and the dude kind of ended up having his head rolling (literally). Other poor bastard. He even had a love interest! And yes, there are exceptions to this rule. People who work in teams or just stick together can still die if they get overwhelmed by brute force.

Still, I do genuinely believe that signifying what it means to trust in others who are willing to help you (and in some cases genuinely care about you), as opposed to working as a solo act, is something that Togashi was going for to some degree.

Of course, the heart of this arc is in its characters. To me, it is the very definition of a character-driven arc. The characters move the plot (through their actions), not the other way around. So, in regard to discussing why I find this to be such a grand story arc that deserves a bit more attention than it gets, I would assume your next question would be: which characters are important to this arc and what makes them so special?

Great question, you pestering ass-wipes! If we break this arc down to its core, it is essentially about Kurapika and his vendetta with the Phantom Troupe, and all of the shit that goes wrong because of this little feud. In that case, let’s start by covering Kurapika’s side of the story for our next installment.

There were two Valvraves previously. One the batshit stupid waste of time that baffled and infuriated me last spring. The other was the borderline ok, mostly mediocre show the series had turned into in season 2 this fall. When things stood out they were either decent or downright horrifying. Nothing so far has made me go “WOW SHIT FANTASTIC!” Nothing… until episode 21.

HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO BOY!

So yeah that douchenozzle ARUS president? Well now that he’s got footage of Saki getting impaled as well as the lead reporter dude from last week just COINCENDENTALY stumbling on the Rune harvester ship, he’s ready to ally himself with Dorrssia and declare New JIOR as enemies of the universe! Now if anybody had a brain in Valvrave, they would call ARUS’s sudden jump to hostility out as the bullshit that it, but we long passed that point. Not like New JIOR cares, they’re being shot at left and right!

With 2/3rds of the background characters Swiss Cheese, our lead characters prepare to flee Module 77 on a mass driver. The Valvraves (which are all the cause of this problem in the first place) attempt to defend the survivors but stray laser fire damages Shoko’s shuttle (OH NOES). What’s worse, the rune drain is finally taking its toll on Haruto as he loses a memory of him and Shoko hiding in a cave. This comes at a rather inopportune time for him as the other students (Shoko included) try to sell him out to ARUS to save their own butts. But ARUS being the American scumbags that they are plans to blow the shuttle anyway. In the end all parties are saved by Kyuuma, who sacrifices himself to save Haruto from being sliced and diced by Cain. RIP buddy… I guess.

Elsewhere R-Drei continues to interrogate Saki over why she didn’t kill him when she had the chance (this storyline is probably going somewhere but the show never gives us enough time to care); the twitter feeds demand blood (hey remember when this show was all about Facebook feeds?!?), and someone bothers to drag the semi-catatonic L-Elf out of the broom closet. Next week… nothing. No preview.

A simple article can’t do this episode much justice, it is that batshit insane. While I’ve chided Sunrise for ripping themselves off with this show, this time they’ve elected to rip something far different as this week’s episode is a near shot for shot remake of the legendary Episode 25′ (“Air (Love is Destructive)”) of Neon Genesis Evangelion with its breakneck pace and over the top body count. Ever since episode 5, I’ve wanted to see these snotty stupid kids get whats coming to them and the bloodbath this week was the payoff. Of course that kinda makes me a bad person in a way and I’m not surprised Daisuki has delayed this episode for perhaps that very reason (this week’s caps come from GG again). Kyuuma’s death at the end is kind of an afterthough (as was Kyuuma as a character in general) but it makes sense in the long run as he dies doing what he wanted to, save people when he couldn’t save glasses girl from last season.

Valvrave’s got three more weeks. All bets appear to be off.

9.5/10

So this episode gives us two fights, with Ryuko going at it against Inumuta and Jakuzure. Inumuta, in particular, was a character we knew the least about. The rest of the Elite Four have their personalities established right off the bat, but Inumuta remained an enigma. He still is after this episode; with the only sure thing we know is that he has a damning interest for information. He reminds of Colress from Pokemon, due to how he only allies with Satsuki out of wanting data than wanting to be stronger. Add that with how he forfeits, and you wonder if he’s playing his own game within Satsuki’s.

For Inumuta’s strategy, his deal is that he’s a chameleon. If you want symbolism, this probably indicates how Inumuta subverts the exhibitionist themes by trying to go incognito than out and proud like other characters. He prefers being stealth over the larger-than-life bravado the Goku uniforms usually bring. He won’t do something bull-headed like consume Ryuko into his own armor. Instead, he’s the assassin where the rest of the Elite Four are warriors. And unlike Gamagoori, he’s smart to know when the battle’s lost. He’s accumulated enough information about Senketsu, so the battle proves to give him some gain while getting away undamaged. He has that “war is based on deception” logic going on. You know from his face that this guy’s a two-faced bastard. I bet he’ll play a bigger part in the future.

Speaking of duality, the Ryuko vs Jakuzure fight intrigues me in a meta-fictional sense. Since Jakuzure’s played by Haruko from FLCL, it’s a bit like the old Gainax guard fighting the new Trigger blood. Plus, she has the Dai-Gurren skull on her shoulder. It’s Imaishi trying to prove that he’s surpassed Gainax while honoring that history. And Jakuzure’s personality works well with that idea. She’s perky and full of herself, basing her loyalty with Satsuki out of seniority than submission. Jakuzure resembles a hotshot you would see in Daicon IV. So in being a symbol of the old guard, it’s natural that she combats Ryuko’s hot-blooded nature with some bombast of her own. After all, a giant stadium speaker that weaponizes the William Tell Overture proves to challenge any audacity Ryuko had up to then. Next to Gamagoori, Jakuzure’s tactics prove to be the most unsubtle. Instead of going for the target, she’ll destroy the entire battlefield if she has to. It shows that Jakuzure is more than she seems, and that she can think outside the box.

And I like how Ryuko’s visual boldness gets contrasted with Jakuzure’s audio overconfidence. The previous Elite Four members have been playing with sense of sight to try and beat Ryuko, while Jakuzure just flips the table and uses a completely different tactic. She uses sense of hearing as a weapon that Ryuko can barely prepare herself for. I wish the show can do more with that. The show can do visually inventive fight scenes, so I would be amazed if Trigger could accomplish a good fight where Ryuko and Jakuzure use music against each other. Still, it’s good enough that the next episode promises to be a dogfight between the two.

Issue #9 or “When Fate Attacks!”

 

Equinox continues his rampage of equality across the world, but Batman has finally tracked him down to a remote area in the middle of nowhere. However, this time, Equinox has finally found the edge he has needed to top our caped crusader, and possibly the entire universe! What is Equinox exactly and where did he come from? Well, in this issue we will learn the answer, bat-fans.

With the world crumbling around them will Batman and his helpful heroes be able to stop Equinox’s vile plans? This time, the brave and the bold heroes of the world might not be enough to stop the evil of our overpowered fiend. As we reach the end of Equinox’s plot, we’ll be able to see just what equality really means in the world of heroes. It just might lead to a battle that decides the fate of the very universe!

So lean back and pay attention, bat-fans. This one could be a real nail-biter.

 

#9 – The Fate of Equinox!

Written by: Joseph Kuhr

Directed by: Michael Chang

Principle Cast:

Diedrich Bader as Batman / Batmonolith(?)

Greg Ellis as Dr. Fate

Oded Fehr as Equinox

John DiMaggio as Aquaman / Typhon

James Arnold Taylor as Nabu

Tom Kenny as Plastic Man

 

Equinox has set an appointed date for meeting with Batman, and our hero can’t be late. There in the middle of nowhere of the Mayan ruins, we find that the villain’s plans are already in motion. It will only take a single sacrifice- an opponent of the balance of chaos and order to give him the power he so desperately desires.

But what is it he wants? That much is not clear, though Batman has his hunches.

In the temple they are standing atop is the very relic of ancient time, the very object Equinox had been searching for. All Equinox needs to do is set it in motion is finish the job he couldn’t in the OMAC event and all will be right again.

“The ancients who worshiped here believed it was the gyroscope that kept the world turning and that if it ever stopped, the world would stop, too.”

“Leave half the world in scorching sunlight…”

“The other half forever in frozen night! Yin and Yang, Order and Chaos- an eternal Equinox.”

Batman’s fears are proven correct. Equinox is moving to the final endgame. All the pieces are in place, and he is more than capable of taking our hero down in a fist fight. However, this time our hero will not be caught off guard. He’s Batman- he has a plan and he’s ready for our erroneous equalizer.

With the final battle, Batman arrives ready for Equinox this time and brings Dr. Fate, agent of order, to help bring some stability to the situation. With the proper back up this time, Batman should now hold all the cards. Certainly, not even an unbalanced villain like Equinox can stand against an agent of order?

But he can, and he does.

Whoever Equinox is, he has the power of both chaos and balance under his control and he is more than enough to take on both Batman and Dr. Fate quite handily. However, just before Equinox is able to end out hero’s life the way he wanted to, he messes up and Batman takes advantage of is ego, sending him down into the device he was to sacrifice our hero into.

So is the fate of Equinox.

His quest for perfect balance ends with his own defeat in a twist of fate he couldn’t have seen coming. But… maybe he did. It was too easy, after all. Why would Equinox have let himself fall?

The pair escapes the burning wreckage of the relic back to Fate’s lair under the impression that it was much too easy to stop the villain. After one meditation session, his worst fears are confirmed. All over the world, chaos and order are swinging violently back and forth like a pendulum and things that should not be, are.

Equinox has won, after all. The world is no longer balanced but in the way Equinox deems it to be he considers it so. Just what happened to him when he fell into that device after all?

There is only one thing Dr. Fate can think of doing, so they head back to the source. That’s right, they must visit the courts of chaos and order to find out who Equinox really is. Surely they can shed some light on how he is such a threat.

Batman and Dr. Fate arrive in front of the masters of chaos and order to try and find exactly what it is Equinox is, and why the balance is so out of whack. It doesn’t take long before we learn exactly who Equinox is and why he has the abilities he has. Though neither lord of chaos or order thought things would ever be this bad, they apparently had their doubts about him from the beginning.

He was a mere orphan that was enlisted to stop the violent struggle between chaos and order that had existed since the beginning of time. His job was merely to balance the scales when one hand got over the other and make sure they were level, but it didn’t take long for him to take it too far. It didn’t take long before he began taking it into his own hands.

“Now neither side could gain an advantage over the other, for if either side became too powerful Equinox would tilt the balance back the other way. Peace at last.”

“But cracking under the strain, he became obsessed. Believing he could do a better job without answering to us. So he left.”

As we have seen back when he tried to kill both the Question and Gorilla Grodd to keep the balance, and when he wanted to obliterate an entire city with a nuclear power plant explosion because another country lost one village of their own in an accident- at some point it ceased being about making sure things didn’t get out of hand and became about encouraging retribution and lumping good and evil as the same basic thing to suit his own chaotic order. In other words, Equinox had fallen apart under the pressure, ceased listening to his masters, and decided to do things on his own.

His quest for balance has come to this. Logically, the easiest way to restore balance between the two is to flatten both, right? Well, Equinox sure thinks so. What occurred in the OMAC event could be much worse now with Equinox’s new abilities, and could level entire planets. Whatever balance there might have been is long gone now.

The result of the villain’s “work” is what we have seen so far, and it is nothing good. Not only is he a loose cannon, he’s a threat to the universe.

With his new powers, Equinox arrives to assault both the lords of chaos and order and drains their agents of all power into his own being. The lords send Batman and Fate away as their only chance left, but it doesn’t take Fate long to realize that he can no longer hear the others anymore when they arrive back in the material world. Equinox has succeeded in taking their powers for himself.

It’s going to take more than one bat-shaped detective and fading agent of order to stop the villain now. When he arrives back into the world with them, he shows them his new form that he had taken for himself. Whatever he had been before, well it is nothing to what he has become now in his powered form.

Things aren’t looking good.

Now that he has both the powers of chaos and order at his disposal, he is nigh invincible. But Batman and Dr. Fate get an idea on how to get an edge against him. Though they cannot beat him alone, maybe there is something they can do to at least slow him down. That is, they need the help of other heroes. What else is there?

Dr. Fate scours the world and teleports in many heroes that we know all too well, who have worked with Batman plenty of times before. From Blue Beetle, to Hal Jordan, and Black Canary, to Aquaman, Dr. Fate has run the gamut. Surely with this many in their ranks they can topple the terror before them?

Instead of leading a full on assault, they explain the plan of combining all their powers and skills into one hero that will lead the charge against Equinox and stop his fiendish plot.

Naturally, Aquaman has the perfect suggestion… but decides that Dr. Fate would work the best after some gentle coaching from Batman. He is the most disciplined, after all.

But Dr. Fate, realizing that Batman, who holds both order and chaos in him, would be a better fit than an agent of order who might be too rigid for the task ahead. Batman accepts and readies to battle with his arch-nemesis, though he might not see the irony. In other words, Equinox will finally get to battle his counterpart on equal ground after all which is what he had hinted at in their previous encounters. And what could the villain possibly want more than that? Well, that’s assuming he still sees equality the way he had before. If there’s one thing Equinox is not, it is predictable.

So, Batm… onolith(?) takes in all the hero’s powers into himself and charges forward into the fray to battle Equinox head on. Whatever he is, it sure isn’t the same Batman we know all too well other than his basic skills and maneuvers.

It goes without saying that Equinox and Batman have never been much alike, though Equinox had regularly considered them the same. Equinox came from nothing and was given everything, while Batman came from everything and was left with nothing, albeit in different ways. Equinox has powers that rival both the orders of chaos and order, and Batman has none.

Yet, Batman’s life has been spent doing good over the world, amassing allies, and making sure things never went south or out of hand. He has built up many skills, much knowledge, and a connection with the universe and its inhabitants that Equinox could never dream of, much less understand.

Equinox spent his life in the shadows, avoiding the world, and making sure things went the way he thought they should. Everything was given to him; he never earned anything, and holds no connection with anything. That is what enables the inefficient equalizer to be so unattached to the universe in order to destroy it and start it over. If he blames the universe for being out of order, then it proves it was really him that was in order the whole time. But, clearly, that has never been the case.

Batmonolith(?) and Equinox thrash about in a battle that could level the city, though our hero would never have it that way. Just before the villain begins leveling everything, he transports them both into the outer reaches of space where the fight intensifies even further. Their powers almost seemed matched this time.

He unleashes all the skills and powers he has be given from his allies, but the powers Equinox stole from his masters still add up to more in the end. If something is going to tip the scale in one of their favors, it won’t be through strength, as it never had before. It will have to be with their clashing personalities. Batmonolith(?) is eventually defeatedin the battle and begs Equinox for forgiveness despite the telepathic cries of Dr. Fate to not give in. But our hero always knows when he’s licked, and when it is time to think smart.

Still, Equinox is not really balanced, and he knows it. Our hero prods at him, saying that if he was at peace then why would he be destroying the universe? Doesn’t he know better by now?

Well, that’s easy, it’s because he is so perfectly balanced that he can set it right again by giving it a fresh start! But that’s not the whole story; it’s never been the whole story. The truth of the matter is that it has nothing to do with the universe or anything other than a lonely boy who never thought he was good enough. Equinox already knows that it isn’t that the universe was made unbalanced, it was that it actually was made balanced and it was his own interference mucking it all up. It has and always been about Equinox’s own twisted soul.

In truth, Equinox is not in balance with himself. He was given powers that were too much for him, and he grew to hate the ones who put him charge and everything responsible for his creation in the first place. He has never been at peace, because he has always hated them all and wanted them all to suffer as he had in order to achieve his “true” equality. Everyone could be miserable together. Isn’t that equal enough? Or maybe…

But Equinox knows it not only isn’t balanced- it isn’t right.

“The chaos deep in your heart outweighs the order. It’s why you rebelled against your lords.”

“I rebelled because the type of balancing act they demanded was impossible.”

“And you hate them for it.”

“What do you know about never-ending responsibilities? Of course I hate them! Wait. If I’m not in balance, then this was all for nothing?”

He loses control of himself and his powers, beginning to fracture with his tainted soul, and our hero smashes him to bits with the Green Lantern ring he was given by Hal Jordan (hmm) and sends him into his own ball of disorder that he was creating which wiped his self from the sight of the world. The universe has been put back in its proper place once again.

It has always been about eye for an eye with the poor polarizer, but he never truly let himself believe it until it was too late. As he cracks into countless pieces he still blames Batman, unable to take the blame for his own fall once more.

Now equality can return.

After all of Equinox’s posturing, he was never even close to balanced and he probably never was. The strain of his duties were too much, but yet he never backed down from his job. Instead he warped them to make it easier for him. If there is a viler villain in the universe, we have not met them yet, but Equinox truly was one of the most vicious if not pathetic in his own way. His lonely shell of a boy was fractured at the hands of the truly just to show him just how off base he was.

Batmonolith(?) returns the powers back the heroes and meets them back on Earth once again. The powers of chaos and order are restored and everything can be as it once was and all off Equinox’s strange changes have been reversed. Despite the war with himself, he could never bring things into equality once again. It was because Batman was the true equalizer, after all.

In the end, the fault of Equinox was more than his god-complex; it was his inability to take responsibility for who he was. Instead of rejecting the job he knew was too much for him, he decided to make it about himself instead. The lords of chaos and order clearly gave him free-will in regards to his choices, but he took advantage of their generosity and warped it into being some sort of a curse on his life. He began setting a plot to destroy the very existence that allowed him to be exactly what he was and what he had chosen to be in the first place. Confused self-loathing, sure, but underneath it all, Equinox really wanted balance most of all if only within himself.

So maybe he was the right one for the job after all, yet he made all the wrong decisions along the way. Who is to blame for the fate of Equinox at the end of the battle? It would have to be the one who decided to tip the scales of balance in his own favor for self-gain instead of for the universe, and the only one to blame for that is Equinox himself.

At the end of the day, his fracturing death was his own fault, for rejecting everything Batman stood for, for thinking he knew better than everyone else who tried to set things right, for stealing from the lords who gave him the powers he coveted in the first place, and for deluding himself into being an empty shell of who he could be along the way. Equinox’s tragic end was his own doing.

For now, let us salute Equinox and hope wherever he is now, he will finally be at peace. For now, anyway, the universe is safe and the villain has been vanquished- and that’s how it is and always will be.

“Justice wins the day, thanks to the brave and the bold.”

Well, that’s it for this exciting issue, bat-fans! Though we have dealt with who is probably the best villain in the series, there is still much more to see and many more fun surprises up ahead. Soon enough we will be bidding the first season goodbye (yes, we are still in the first season!) and heading into greener pastures.

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

Sorry about the delay on this week’s writeup. There was this little thing called “Thanksgiving” getting in the way. That said, there was hardly anything to talk about this week, which is a surprise since we’re entering the final stretch.

After successfully disabling the pink space sub from three weeks ago, the kids are finally back home from their little adventure on Earth! …albeit minus Marie, who died ya know (can’t stop abusing that MST3k joke, I’m sorry), and Saki… who they forgot (more on that later). However unbeknownst to Haruto and the gang (and by proxy us since we haven’t seen these characters in a month outside of flashbacks), Shoko has been fighting the war as well, over the airwaves. A tv crew has arrived to make a documentary series about Dome 77 and their struggle to survive cutoff from their home nation. Its really struck a chord with ARUS and now they’re finally ready to ratify an agreement labeling Dorssia as a hostel state. Hooray!

That’s basically all this week’s episode gives us for a plot: characters being interviewed by a tv crew. The exception being L-Elf who’s gone all catatonic after Lieselotte’s death last week and locked himself in a storage closet to reenact the Walenski scene from Dark City. Finally we get to the treaty agreement with only two of the three major powers present (Shoko representing New JIOR and the American ARUS president), only to have Dorssia crash the party with a live satelite broadcast of Cain impaling a certain popular idol with a large saber. And before the captive audience can react to Saki Rikuno’s shock demise… her wounds immediately heal revealing the existence of the Kamitsukis. Well Haruto you got some ‘splainin to do.

Outside of the crucial final minutes (which is basically your “Something horrible happens to Haruka Tomatsu”-moment for this season), very little of anything interesting happened. Well maybe L-Elf’s slow and rather depressing decent into insanity too. I guess the fact that we were finally back home in space would give me the false impression that we’d start returning to the classic Valvrave “Oh dear god why?!?”-style episodes from last Spring, but the episode was almost funereal in its tone making for a rather disinteresting watch. The ending just barely saves it but not by much.

4/10.

I’ve spent many hours this week trying to figure out what to write about episode 9, but all I can think to do is regurgitate the same heavy praise and mild criticism you’ve seen me spout before all over again. At this point, I’ve said my piece on Kill la Kill, and unless it turns into a completely different show at some point (entirely possible knowing Trigger), my blogs are only going to get even more redundant, mundane, and boring. I had some arguments and opinions I wanted to put out there in the beginning, but I’m left with nothing to say now. As many have pointed out, there is a fair deal of symbolism in KLK, but I’m terrible at critically analyzing that kind of thing. I can usually see the symbolism in fiction, and I can understand the points being made by said symbolism, but I can’t write much more about it than that, so I won’t even try. At this point, I’m doing little more than making the year’s most exciting anime come across as procedural and uninteresting. There are many other bloggers talking about this series each week, and they all do a better job than I do.

Honestly, I just don’t like weekly episode blogging very much. It’s been kind of fun at times, and I love Kill la Kill, but this type of thing simply isn’t my forte. Because I’m a perfectionist and usually overthink things, I rack my brain for far too long each week but rarely deliver anything substantial in spite of it. I don’t exactly have a huge amount of time to devote to the blog per week, so this forces me to put the stuff I’d much rather write on the back burner indefinitely because I’m often busy with other things. That’s why you haven’t seen anything else from me in a while, and why I’m giving up. This was a really difficult decision, and I hate giving up like this, but it’s for the best. I may return to writing about Kill la Kill when the series ends to deliver a full review/opinion piece, but weekly episode blogging is not for me. Please look forward to much better features/reviews from me in the near future.