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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.

Issue #8 or “The End of Equinox!”

 

The Equinox arc is one of the most memorable in the series, starting in an earlier cold open when Batman saved the Question and Gorilla Grodd from being killed by the diabolical villain who was obsessed with equality. This episode is his first full appearance and is one of the most memorable episodes in the series for it.

In this issue you will see a knock down drag out war on evil on quite a grand scale. Villains that have lost themselves to blind rage, secret organizations battling against each other, a hero that learns how to be one, and a hero that learns he already was one. But most importantly, it ends with the one act that Equinox cannot figure out how to balance self-sacrifice on his warped scale of good and evil. As far as superhero stories go, they rarely come as pure as this one, neither are they as explosive at the same time.

Suffice to say, we are dealing with one of the best in the show’s run. Can OMAC, Batman, and Buddy put a stop to Equinox’s manipulation- or is this the end of the world? Well, sit tight. It might not be as easy going as you think.

This is the Silver Age at its best folks, so let’s get to it!

 

#8 – When OMAC Attacks!

Written by: Stan Berkowitz

Directed by: Brandon Vietti

Principle Cast:

Diedrich Bader as Batman

Jeff Bennett as OMAC / Buddy Blank

Oded Fehr as Equinox

Greg Ellis as Kafka / Shrapnel

Dee Bradley Baker as Brother Eye / Operative

Keone Young as Operative

 

The GPA (Global Peace Agency) has called Batman in to help them with a special case but not is all what it seems. It seems that a foreign dictator has overstepped his bounds and is declaring war and they want to send Batman in to deal with the situation. They had hired Batman for reconnaissance but his work is not up to their standards and they aren’t above telling him so. Though they have it out for Batman, and are rather rude at the same time, they claim that our hero is the man for the job- he just needs a partner to help.

Cue Buddy Blank, janitor at the GPA, who is called in to clean up a mess before being angrily turned away for incompetence. He looks up to Batman and other heroes and longs to be one himself, but he’s far too weak and clumsy for that.

He seems like a nice guy, far too nice for the GPA, but there is more to him than meets the eye.

Despite being turned away, the operatives inform Batman that Buddy Blank is the very partner they were referring to. All it takes is a little zap of the “Brother Eye” satellite and Buddy Blank becomes “OMAC” (One-Man Army Corps.) who is a whole separate personality. It’s an odd way to power a hero, but it sure is fascinating to think about.

It’s a shame that the only drawback to this power is as large as it is.

He can get sent upgrades from Brother Eye that beams down into him, as well as advice, but doesn’t know anything about Buddy just as Buddy knows nothing about him. He’s strong, but he might not be enough for this mission.

Nonetheless, Batman and OMAC take off to find their enemy’s secret base. Batman prefers the stealthier approach, but OMAC bats him off saying that he doesn’t need tactics when he has upgrades and storms the base on his own. Though clearly outnumbered, OMAC easily thrashes the enclosing army and chides Batman about how easy it was.

From here it should be clear sailing to the General and stopping his insane planning. What can stand against a One Man Army Corps, after all?

“You know, not everything requires excessive force.”

“Hit hard or not at all, I always say.”

“Words to live by.”

But when they meet General Kafka, everything changes. He is planning to use a “grey goop” to “level the playing field” against the GPA but doesn’t exactly explain why. Mainly, he just wants revenge for some undisclosed discretion.

But as OMAC moves toward the General, something in the shadows catches Batman’s attention.

The villain, Equinox steps from the shadows as OMAC begins his assault on the General’s base and takes Batman aside. He won’t take to having Batman interfering with his quest for balance in the world and prevents him from interfering with the battle using his odd powers. Equinox is a madman obsessed with balance between chaos and order to the point where even good and evil pale in comparison with the two.

Batman is too much of a wildcard to be let free, but before he does anything, OMAC has already reached a decision of his own. The only way to stop the General from getting his mad revenge on the world is to kill him. Apparently, the living weapon has decided that the easiest way to solve a problem is to incinerate it. But they were supposed to take Kafka alive! What is wrong with OMAC!?

Our hero stops his fatal blast at the last moment, but it sends the resulting shot into the ceiling and unleashing Kafka’s own poisonous medicine out on himself instead as his base is flooded. Though OMAC doesn’t intentionally kill General Kafka, he is definitely responsible for what comes of his rashness.

The pair flees from the building as it crumbles under them to reveal what still exists of the twisted remains of General Kafka. He calls himself “Shrapnel”, and now he will personally use his own body as a weapon for revenge. His new look isn’t just for show either, with his rock hard body and ability to throw out actual shrapnel- he is a living weapon himself.

Shrapnel isn’t all talk, either- he easily takes down OMAC and transforms him back into Buddy leaving Batman with a narrow escape while the villain cries that he will kill OMAC himself.

Out of the frying pan and into the fire, as it were.

Back at GPA headquarters, the operatives are chiding Batman for his failure at stopping Kafka’s advance, and that he let a monster like Shrapnel loose. He retorts that if OMAC had more of Buddy’s heart then OMAC would be far more powerful and effective as a hero. He would be a solider instead of just a weapon. They shrug him off as useless.

Not only that, the GPA has no record of an “Equinox” and believes Batman is making the villain up as an excuse to cover for his failure. They only see the surface problem of Shrapnel, and are uninterested with anything else.

Meanwhile, Buddy is disappointed with his uselessness when Batman arrives to cheer him up. He’s a better hero than OMAC is, even if he doesn’t have the chance to show it. But his speech is cut short with knowledge that Shrapnel is in town and he’s madder than ever. Why won’t this guy just give up? Well, there’s a reason for that.

Batman warns OMAC to think before charging into their enemy’s waiting fists, but his words have no effect.

“Brainless fool! You didn’t just create Shrapnel; you brought this entire war upon yourself. The Global Peace Agency came to my country to stop a war but destroyed an innocent village in the process. Crops, farmland, all gone. The farmers survived to tried to rebuild, but I survived to get revenge!”

OMAC’s headstrong attitude and fighting style is not enough to catch their enemy off-guard, and he tells them exactly why he’s so angry towards the GPA. The organization may say they want peace, but they do not stop to think everything through- much like OMAC. If it wasn’t for their interference, Shrapnel would not exist, and neither would the city have to be destroyed in retribution. Shrapnel has gotten so strong that he punches OMAC straight through three stories of a building and chases after him into the next city block.

It’s an eye for an eye.

But before Batman can give chase he is visited by the mastermind once again. That’s right, it’s Equinox coming to tell Batman that he has no right to interfere with this fight. One country gets plowed into, it’s only fair that another gets plowed in retribution.

“The scales of justice… balancing right and wrong… it seems our goals are really quite similar.”

“We are nothing alike.”

“They say the flapping wings of a single butterfly can stir a wind on the other side of the world. Ever wonder what impact your little bat-wings have on this world?”

If it wasn’t already clear before, it is clear now. Equinox has no moral center anymore (if he ever did), his powers to hold balance between chaos and order has melted down into seeing good and evil as their counterparts (or the reverse depending on how it suits his strange ideas) completely unaware that he has fallen into evil himself by validating population control via genocide and making sure that the cycle of violence and hatred would always continue and cause more carnage. Equinox is far more dangerous than Shrapnel. He’s probably more dangerous than any villain Batman has fought so far.

And there’s the exact problem. Batman can’t fight him.

His powers of balance makes it so any force Batman uses is rendered harmless and any movement Equinox causes is rendered harmful toward him. It’s a futile battle, but then again- Batman never gives up. But how can he defeat an enemy he can’t hit?

However, the battle with Shrapnel might be going worse as the villain slams OMAC through a nuclear power plant and sets off a meltdown sequence. OMAC still can’t appear to smash through the former General, who only appears to be getting stronger and stronger with every passing moment. He’s so strong, in fact, that OMAC gets an idea. Maybe there was something to Batman’s advice of paying attention to his enemy’s movements.

He calls for support from Brother Eye to up his defense at the cost of his offense, and his brother complies. Still, Shrapnel isn’t impressed with his righteous new glow as he knocks him through the power plant and back into the parking lot with ease.

That was a close one.

Batman arrives at the plant with the intent of stopping the meltdown, but Equinox won’t have it. He engages Batman in a fight our hero can’t win in order to stop him from ruining his perfect “balance”. Batman still fights back, despite the thrashing he receives even though he has no chance against powers of this level.

But the Shrapnel threat is also still at large.

OMAC lands in the parking lot and thanks Brother Eye for the support- otherwise he would be road kill. He asks OMAC if it was a smart idea, and as Shrapnel arrives to finish him off, he tells his brother that it definitely is. Shrapnel wails on the one man army to less and less effect with every blow, as it appears Shrapnel only runs on the rage dished out to him like a twisted version of Equinox and is eventually unable to even budge OMAC’s cheek with a punch.

Eventually Shrapnel runs out of energy and falls over himself and OMAC seals the destructive deviant with a large steel beam. The threat has been neutralized, but OMAC is now out of power as Brother Eye informs him and transforms him back into Buddy Blank. So now what can he do being that he has no idea where he is or what he’s doing?

Well, Buddy Blank stands in the middle of the remaining chaos of OMAC’s battle, but that isn’t what draws his attention.

Over in the plant he sees Batman being knocked around by Equinox and decides to help. He throws the balance of the fight off by tackling the enemy when he is ready stop Batman and gives our hero the second he needs to escape into the radiation and put a stop to the deadly meltdown.

Buddy takes a heavy beating of his own to prevent Equinox from stopping Batman from stopping the countdown, but our hero has no time to stop now. Though the radiation beams down on him, Batman continues to fight back and brings the meltdown to a stop, but it comes at a price. As the heat levels drop, Batman falls to the ground dying. Because of Equinox’s interference, he had no time to get a protective suit, and has paid for it.

Despite all of the villain’s scheming, it was all brought to a stop by one heroic sacrifice. So much for an eye for an eye.

But again, Equinox won’t have it.

“Looks like your flapping wings stirred up a hurricane that even I didn’t foresee.”

Batman’s self-sacrifice might have stopped his plans for “equality”, but the villain would certainly not let his death be on the “impartial” Equinox’s hands. Though that isn’t the reason he gives for saving his life (He wants to choose when Batman dies), given his obsession with being the equalizer, it makes sense.

But now he’s at a crossroads. He can’t play favorites, so how does he fix the balance that he threw our of whack in the first place? Well, he has to erase his own interference. He can’t be personally responsible for pushing for the direct shift of the balance of chaos or order, leaving him with only one option- but it involves admitting defeat.

There’s only one thing for him to do to Batman.

“You can’t control my fate, Equinox. My life- mine to sacrifice.”

“I beg to differ.”

He removes the radiation from Batman’s body to keep the balance and tells our hero that he hasn’t won yet. Though Batman tells him that his own life is one he chooses to give when he wants to give it, Equinox fails to understand. His direct involvement is what threw the balance off in the first place- it was Batman (not OMAC or Shrapnel) that set it right again.

He leaves Batman behind, failing in his attempt at balance, to find something a mere mortal like Batman can’t even stop. But that’s for another day.

Batman is the one element Equinox could not account for- not knowing if he was chaos or order because of the way he deals with criminals and uses him to bring the balance to his side. But he also forgot a second thing, he might have taken into account how hard-headed OMAC was, but he never even gave Buddy Blank a second thought. Who would have thought a janitor could have merit?

Not Equinox, that’s for sure.

Buddy arrives and carries Batman out of the plant, worse for wear. Equinox gave him one crazy beating, but he still wouldn’t let the villain free to stop Batman’s heroic move. He’s quite ecstatic that he was able to not only save Batman but also stop a super villain’s scheme- maybe he really is a somebody after all. Batman and Buddy make such a fantastic team that they should be able to take on any threat!

Surely Equinox won’t mess with them again?

Batman isn’t so sure.

True force, balance, good and evil, and saving the world. Surely heroes have to deal with such things on a daily basis, but it’s everywhere in this encounter with Equinox. However, mostly the episode is about discernment above all. OMAC has the heart of a hero but doesn’t use it, the GPA has a trusted hero in Batman and doesn’t listen to him when he tells them what they need to know, Buddy Blank is more than a loser but nobody gives him the chance, Equinox has no understanding of good and evil but thinks he can control order and chaos, and General Kafka truly believes as Equinox does that an eye for an eye will fix all of his problems and make his country a better place but it instead turns him into a living weapon.

Nobody sees the forest for the trees and it almost costs them the world.

But Batman’s self-sacrifice was the game changer and the one thing Equinox could not manipulate to his own gain. His life to give could only be for a noble cause worthy of giving himself up, and it was to stop Equinox’s plan when he knew full well it was too late. But Equinox still didn’t see it coming, and that is what was most infuriating. Despite all of his manipulation, he is still just a petty schemer with incredible powers; he cannot truly stop those with free-will from being who they are and choosing to do the right thing even when it might be too dangerous or life-threatening. Equinox is just a villain like the rest of them, and that is simply not good enough for him.

Not yet.

But the evil equalizer will not give up just yet, as we will see in the next episode. Equinox isn’t one to take defeat lying down. No, his quest for perfect balance has only just begun!

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

Time to hold your breath and count to ten, I guess. At the time of this writing, Nick had recently released four episodes in one day. Ignoring the whole “Does Nickelodeon have any issue with Korra” controversy that’s been making the rounds, this proves to make the blog more challenging to write than usual. One episode allows a central topic to form. Four at once means that it’s hard to write something cohesive without rambling in the middle. In fact, you may insist that I’m rambling right now. But in any case, the show’s season finale gives me as good a chance as any to do appraisals of the characters. Legend of Korra makes an interesting case for this due to some characters like Korra and Bolin arguably changing over the course of the show while others like Unalaq and Tenzin remain stagnant for the season. The show can’t tell whether it wants the characters to drive the plot or for the plot to drive the characters, and that seemed to be what drew criticism toward the second season from many dispirited viewers.

So for a word on the plot, I wasn’t that impressed. Yeah, I know. I’m complaining about the plot in a Nickelodeon show, but the Unalaq arc stalled while taking over screen time from other stories like Tenzin’s family dilemma. The writers wanted to make his plan a twist, but the whole “Fuse with Vaatu to become Dark Avatar and take over the world” scenario became too by-the-books. Once Vaatu got introduced, we knew where we going with this plot. The writers really wanted to play with this yin-yang concept, but didn’t seem to understand how it worked. Chaos and order don’t automatically equate to evil and good, respectively. Chaos can lead to freedom while order can be corrupted into totalitarianism. And yet, the chaos Vaatu promised was shown as unambiguously evil whereas Raava’s energy was taken as absolute good. The finale never questions whether Unalaq’s truly evil. However, I did not expect Korra keeping the spirit portals open. I liked that part. Though given the show’s attempt to progress as the early 1900s did—with filmmaking, automobiles, and capitalism taking over—I’m more than a bit intrigued as to how Bryan and Mike will deal with that certain part of the 20th Century. But enough with speculation, time for characters.

Bolin: I remember reading from a source I can’t find right now—so what I’m talking about right now might be hogwash—that Bolin would get a bigger piece of the pie this season, story-wise. Instead, Bolin was still the series’ monkey. I like how his character arc was woven into the world-building, but it didn’t really inspire my interest. The Nuktuk scenes were hilarious, but there was no meat to Bolin’s development. He becomes corrupted by the prospect of stardom, only to immediately realize that it’s lonely at the top. And then he saves the President from Varrick’s mercenaries while winning Ginger’s love. There was no pacing to any of that, with little time for Bolin to breathe.

Varrick: I’ve said this so many times before, but Varrick is love. If he wasn’t in this season, chances are I probably would’ve dropped this show midway. In a sea of characters acting a bit thick-headed, he was the one guy who could pull the strings. It’s a shame that he immediately went with the “kidnap President” plan instead of wait for the war to start, as he was already ensured to reap some profits. Since he already had the President’s good will, kidnapping felt a bit like overkill. He could’ve slowly convinced the President that war might be a good idea through his propaganda rather than simply forcing his way to the top. You don’t win a chess game by using the Queen before the time is right. If you’re going to do that, do it when you’re not already getting the turnover from this relationship. In the middle of the proposed war, when the President decides that he’s had enough with fighting the other side, Varrick could hatch that part of his plan then and there for the best effect.

Asami: Oh, poor Asami. Any character development she gets involved being romantically played with by Mako or economically manipulated by Varrick. I was hoping that they would deal with Hiroshi’s betrayal, but that only gets casually referenced. Asami’s just a satellite this season. When Mako’s not around, she revolves around Bolin. And Bolin gets the tiny subplot, which he resolves by his own will and Earthbending rather than any help from her end. Characters whose only role is to exposit plot to Korra like the President have more impact on the plot than Asami. I am pretty sure that girl who threw a snowball at Korra and called her the worst Avatar had more impact on the plot than Asami.

Mako: That scene where Lin and the rest of the Metalbender Corps applaud Mako while promoting him got to me. Sure, he gets called out on his personal life soon after, but that moment was too congratulatory for his character. So he figured out what anybody who looked further into Varrick’s plan would? Never mind that he thought dealing with the Triple Threat Triad was a good idea. Please forget that he only recently became part of the force. No, he gets a pat on the back from Lin for doing such good police work.

But admittedly, at least the writers did well in finally calling Makorra off. The romance angle never worked for the show. Even in the first season, it was haphazard and only induced wincing than empathy. Everyone, in and out of universe, knew that Korra and Mako had no chemistry together. And so, that had to get cut. Now maybe they can have character interactions that don’t lead to relationship subtext. Who knows? Maybe Mako’s character can develop enough to form believable interactions with everyone else. And this is a good first step in doing so. For all of Mako’s faults, he has the potential to change in comparison to my next subject.

Unalaq: He entered the show as an obviously evil guy with bizarre motives and ended his run as an obviously evil guy with bizarre motives. And he wasn’t even entertaining in his villainy. Instead, every moment he was given was made to show that we were supposed to root against him. That works against his character, because it’s hard to believe he could do any of this and not question a bit of his plan. When the climax of your plan involves transforming into a demonic titan with red tattoos and tendrils bent on taking over the world, it’s a tad hard to find sympathy on your case. You may as well be twirling your mustache if Varrick didn’t already have one.

Unalaq appears to be the case where the mystery is more interesting than the explanation. Like in the first season, where Amon had more sway over the show as a masked man who could take away bending instead of Tarrlok’s estranged brother. The mystery surrounding him gives way for many ideas, so at least a few fans were probably disappointed when he turned out to be a bloodbender instead of something weird like Koh or an aged Azula. I suppose using a mystery might be a double-edged sword, due to no clear way to resolve the mystery without making it less interesting. The reason why people avoid the obvious answer to a question is because they want something that goes against their expectations. I had a faint hope that Unalaq wouldn’t be what he appeared to be because I saw him being a villain as taking the easy way out.

Desna and Eska: Like Asami, the two were just on the side despite being featured a lot in promotional materials. Despite working closely with the main villain, neither of them really offered much for personality. We basically got Mai clones as the henchmen. This showed, as being questioned as to why they follow their father only elicits blind loyalty rather than an explanation. How they got coerced into joining the good guys—through Bolin confessing his love to Eska—felt odd in the wake of previous episodes. We’ve already been through the “I love this guy more than I fear you” schtick with The Boiling Rock. Like, they turn good because of the power of love, making Eska’s heart grow three sizes that day.

I just feel more could’ve been done with these characters. It would’ve been interesting to see their relationship with Korra, and why they adhere to their father’s whim. Instead of doing that, the show reveals about as much of their personalities as we knew when they first premiered. They just came off as Unalaq’s henchmen—to make it seem like Unalaq had more clout to support his cause rather than be a lone madman—so why bother making these characters if you’re not going to do anything with them?

Tenzin: I could tell the writers were trying to give Tenzin some character flaws for the finale. That scene where he asks a spider for help, only to get attacked, that was nice. Then it happens again, which seemed a bit stupid. Along with giving him some family drama, they did try. But Tenzin’s character doesn’t change. He only gets affirmed. He reunites with his family by using “I am Tenzin” as a mantra, but who is Tenzin besides the team mentor? How can he transcend from being the static teacher and develop? The show offers points like his relationship with Aang for conflict, but that doesn’t lead to much. The show wants to remind us that Tenzin isn’t Aang, so show why instead of just saying so. Don’t go halfway by giving us a shaky history between Tenzin and his siblings, and have Tenzin simply use an affirmation mantra to make those problems go away. Though given the ending with spirits populating the human world again, this gives Tenzin good enough ground for character growth.

Jinora: So what was with that ending where Jinora makes Raava come out of Vaatu to give Korra an edge in the final fight? I appreciate the writers making sure that Korra’s victory wasn’t just her own but a cooperative effort, though it only raises questions. Jinora goes from being hinted at spirituality to seeing spirits to that. It’s like that scene from Last of the Time Lords where the Doctor becomes almighty and starts wrecking the Master’s plans out of nowhere. Sure, there was some foreshadowing. But there’s no missing link between point A and point B. That’s like if caterpillars instantly became butterflies. Jinora’s moment needed to gradually develop for it to work effectively. Instead, she became Inch-High Wonder Christ out of nowhere. Like Bolin, there’s little time to see her character change. Maybe the second season could have benefited from more episodes to allow a smoother pacing.

Korra: And now we’re at Korra. Now that the dust has settled, I’ve found her character to be a bit more redeeming. I like how she can’t connect to the previous Avatars anymore. She never gave much value to that, so the oncoming season will see how she’ll deal now that part of her is gone. The show never gave her much reason to seek spirituality, and now this rift will do that for her. Though maybe it’ll be botched up and by the start of season three, Korra will be just as flustered as ever. But I give the writers the benefit of the doubt that they have something planned for season 3. After all, season one’s ending wasn’t made with the immediate assumption that more seasons would be made. Plus, I like how her ending this season basically threw out the ending from last season. Last year ended with her talking to Aang and making out with Mako. This year has Aang torn out from her soul and Mako purely on platonic terms. It feels like the writers want to restart with her character and try something else.

But that doesn’t ignore what happened in the finale, where she turned into Dr. Manhattan and had an Ultraman fight with Unalaq. And then she gets saved by the aforementioned Jinora moment. I’m pretty sure that no amount of foreshadowing would have made any of that sensible. There’s something about how activating all seven chakras while inside the spirit tree can do that to Korra, but it’s a moment that gives off confusion rather than awe. The tree was used to seal Vaatu, and it somehow made Korra more powerful despite having Raava taken out of her. Then there’s something about how cosmic energy combined with the harmonic convergence somehow made this all possible. I know someone will use Energybending as rationale, but the entire climax just came off an odd way to resolve the season. Not that I’m complaining, but it could have been structured better.

Or maybe it’s not even a pun at all – just some basic wordplay. I dunno. Screw it, commence the blog entry!

Contrary to the implications of last week’s preview, this episode is actually not about Gamagoori taking driving lessons. In fact, it seems probable that he acquired a license immediately prior to the beginning of this installment. But I think the major thing to focus on with him this week is that he powers up due to the sexual pleasure he feels from being in pain. That’s right, Kill la Kill now officially sports a submissive bara character who channels the erection he gets from having pain inflicted on him into pure fighting spirit. It’s just, like, what. I honestly can’t think of any comments to make about that. Who’s the masochistic exhibitionist now, Hakodate!?

Much like Sanageyama in episode 6, it’s nice to see Gamagoori get some real development in this episode. It’s wonderful that the writer(s) are putting effort into making the Elite Four into actual characters instead of just boss fights for Ryuuko. The flashback where he first meets Satsuki is proper excellent, serving only to make them more understandable and perhaps even sympathetic. I struggle to think of any anime with more likeable villains than Kill la Kill. Hell, I don’t even know if I’d call them “villains” at this point. Even though they apparently have no issue forcing the other students to fight to the death, and one of them probably killed Ryuuko’s dad, they don’t really seem like bad people to me. In fact, they mostly come across as honorable and classy so far. I guess that’s what they call “lawful evil.”

Speaking of flashbacks, I love the stylized way in which this show presents them. The washed out colors, the film grain, the 4:3 aspect ratio… it really gives off the feeling of watching an older anime or, due to Satsuki, a classic samurai film. I hope the next episode clues us into more of Gamagoori’s backstory, though – it felt a bit incomplete here. We also learn a little more about Ryuuko’s more vulnerable years, and considering the countless amount of people she appears to have beaten up in the past, it’s a wonder how she’s such a nice person today. But I like that she isn’t an asshole; the whole anti-hero jerkwad thing has gotten really tiresome after being used in so many shows. As I’ve said previously, Ryuuko seems like a protagonist you can legitimately root for, and I’m very fond of that.

There isn’t much of a fight this week, but the action is crazy all the same. I loved when Gamagoori wildly spun his pimpmobile round and round in an attempt to outmaneuver his aggressors during the car chase, clearly showing off his lack of driving skill in another classic moment of that pure Kill la Kill goodness I’ve grown to adore. I also laughed out loud when I realized that the automobile club captain’s goku uniform was, itself, a car. Of course, Gamagoori stole the show with his “punish me more! I unleash my full power when I climax” shenanigans, delivering both ridiculous humor and a display of his fearsome abilities in one fell swoop. I absolutely cannot wait to see his fight with Ryuuko next week. I hope he gets a full sexy transformation sequence like everyone else has so far.

Something I’ve noticed about this anime is that the odd-numbered episodes seem to have much better/more animation than the even-numbered ones. Budget limitations unfortunately restrict the number of scenes that can move as fluidly as the initial prologue at the very start of the series, and I’ve noticed that nearly all of these moments occur in the odd installments. For instance, #5 has Tsumugu vs. the gardening club and #7 has Ryuuko vs. Mako, while #6 only really has the bits where Ryuuko gets launched and this one doesn’t even have any particular standouts. That’s not to say that Kill la Kill ever looks bad, it’s just that it only ever seems to reach that threshold of amazing during the odd-numbered episodes. I assume Trigger purposefully goes back and forth like this to keep up the momentum while also ensuring that their budget doesn’t run dry from overspending. With how well KLK is selling, I can’t wait to see the level of animation they’ll deliver in their second TV anime.

I’m having so much fun watching this show week after week that it’s hard to believe it’s already almost 1/3 over. I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed an anime this much before, especially not one I watched as it was airing. I never want it to end! (Gotta’ give a shout out to the excellent Samurai Flamenco, though. This week’s episode was even better than Kill la Kill‘s! Go watch it.) KLK just hits all the right notes for me in every conceivable way. I can’t explain why, but I have trouble even coming up with one thing I don’t like about it. I can think of some flaws, absolutely, but they just end up endearing it toward me even further. In honor of its consistent greatness, I think I’ll go ahead and do a little “end of act 1” episode ranking:

#7 – Spot on humor, great writing, and some very nice action near the end. The complete package; exactly what I’m looking for in this show.
#4 – The funniest episode I’ve ever seen of an anime, bar none. Masterful usage of budget constraints.
#5 – Excellent action scenes, fun character development, and my favorite art direction so far.
#1 – One of my all-time favorite first episodes of any TV show. Does a good job establishing Ryuuko’s character. I can watch the prologue over and over.
#8 – Fantastic build-up/backstory episode. Gamagoori is one of my favorite characters. So hyped for Thanksgiving now.
#6 – Defining episode for Sanageyama and Satsuki. Succeeded in making me like the antagonists.
#3 – Great storytelling and a very fun battle, though a bit anti-climactic I thought. Hallway fight is short and CG but still legendary.
#2 – I still love this one, but as fond as I am of the tennis battle, Aikurou stripping, and Mako getting blasted with tennis balls, I have to admit it’s my least favorite thus far.

How would you rank them at the moment? Please leave a comment with your favorites and least favorites!

Next week is the showdown with the Elite Four. Or maybe not. These previews keep lying to me. WHY ARE YOU NEVER HONEST WITH ME ANYMORE TRIGGER? I KICKSTARTED LITTLE WITCH ACADEMIA 2 AND EVERYTHING! </3

Last time, Sunrise recycled itself for the umpteenth time. This week… EXPLOSIONS!

We begin with a replay of last week’s cliffhanger featuring L-Elf and Lieselotte where Michael finally confesses his love to his lost amour (well this isn’t going to end well now is it?). The two attempt to flee the palace but are stopped by Q-Vier who challenges L-Elf to a knife fight… or more precisely a “Q-Vier attacks L-Elf with a knife”-fight. Meanwhile, after releasing all the hostages (save for Daddy Tokushima, w ho has Stockholm-syndrome now), Haruto heads off to give L-Elf an escape route, knocking out Q-Vier but ending up with Lieselotte instead as L-Elf goes off to beat up Cain or something.

While all this is going on the Dorssians have figured out that the New JIORians are planning to use an old museum piece rocket to flee back to space and start shelling the hanger containing said shuttle. The resulting battle totals the only available runway and our band of not so merry teens appear to be screwed. As Haruto attempts to rescue them, we get the single largest piece of backstory yet about what the hell exactly is going on in Dorssia from Lieselotte… and its what nearly kills this episode.

As you well know by now the country of Dorssia has had its government recently overthrown and replaced by a sinister Space Nazi regime led by Space Wizards. What we did not know is that the Space Wizards are actually the Magius, incorporeal alien beings who crash landed here 150 years earlier and are currently manipulating empty or possibly dead shells ranging from Cain, the Dorssian Emperor, and even Pino the Valvrave computer. Like the Holy Spirits (whose creation may have been the result of the Magius’ influence), the Magius eat Runes to survive, however their process is far more parasitic having no other body to go back to. To make matters worse, poor Lieselotte is also one of them, however she rebelled and is being tortured in that weird sauna like machine we saw a few episodes ago.

So yeah… Space Vampires Vs. Space Nazi Zombies. Ah Valvrave Idiocy… its good to have you back.

Back to L-Elf on a motorcycle, who is being chased by waffle irons in some of the best animation of the episode. With no runway available, the closest alternative is to use the road out Dorssiana, but the problem is the bridge is out. Somebody has to make it drop and that person is good ol’ L-Elf. After taking several bullets and lowering the bridge, Michael prepares to taste sweet death finally only to get saved by Haruto in the end. The rocket takes off but a stray laser blast causes a rupture in one of the boosters making it descend. While Haruto tries to get back on the rocket, Lieselotte uses her Space Zombie Wizard Nazi powers to fix the damage but not before the process sucks what little life she had left. Naturally L-Elf is more than a little bummed about this and finally breaks out into tears. However Lieselotte’s sacrifice was worth it and the JIORians are finally going home. All in all an one hundered percent successful trip despite losing Marie. I mean its not like they actually forgot to pick somebody up ri-

Oh.

Yup Saki’s still stuck on Earth. WAY TO GO GENIUSES! (then again I kinda forgot about her too judging by these more recent recaps)

This week’s Valvrave is kind of a double edged sword. On one hand, the Magius stuff ranks up with some of the more cockamamie ideas to come of of the first half of the series and quickly derails the episode with its sheer out and out silliness. On the other, the action this week is very top notch and my attempts to summarize it only glaze over L-Elf’s incredibly well done gun battles. One of the things Valvrave sets out to do is make you ignore the rather half-assed/flat out silly plot with balls to the walls action and this episode pulled it off rather well. That being said, with the return to space means a return to Shoko, who has been mercifully absent for the past few episodes for the most part. This does not bode well for me.

6.5/10.