Tag Archives: anime

The White Lotus S2 E4, E5

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“In the Sandbox”

“That’s Amore”

It was two interesting episodes that seemingly flipped my opinions on some of the characters from the first three shows of season two.

This was the first time that I was interested in the two prostitutes who had been hanging around the White Lotus, Mia and Lucia, had been a distraction for much of the first three episodes, but, for some reason, I started to enjoy their presence in these two. Mia’s relationship with Albie felt sweet. I was a little uncertain because it felt like she might be taking advantage of him. Then Lucia’s accidental poisoning of the piano player led to her to gt a chance to play the piano.

Tanya, whom I already like, was able to get out of her depression over Greg’s leaving when she came across a group of gay men who invited her into their circle. I’m still not sure about the overall positiveness of this though. The end of episode five made me wonder. Still, it was nice to see Tanya apparently happy for a bit at least.

I was rooting for Portia, but her hooking up with Jack felt beneath her, and I was not sure I liked that storyline piece.

This was also the first time that I got into the story with Dominic and his father Bert. There was a scene between the two of them at dinner that brought this troubled relationship to light, making me understand these two way more than discussions of The Godfather ever did.

Aubrey Plaza’s Harper, who had been my favorite character up until these episodes, found a condom wrapper in the apartment and became extremely unhappy with Ethan. This entire arc has done nothing but make me dislike Harper and make me feel sorry for Ethan. It feels at this point that Ethan is way better than any of the people he is with, whether it be Harper or his best friend, Cameron, who is just a creep.

I do think that the show has begun to hint at who the bodies are going to be and we had a couple of characters go out to the water in moments of melancholy and close their eyes. It was both Dominic and Harper at different points during these episodes. I do not know if this is meant to be red herrings, but these two are easily the most depressed characters on the canvas right now, even lower than Tanya.

Two more episodes to go before I start season three.

What If … ? S3 E1

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“What If the Hulk Fought the Mech Avengers”

I am very happy to have What If…? back once more over holiday break, releasing daily for my entertainment pleasure. I love this release schedule which they started last year. They are releasing the eight episodes daily, starting on December 22 and running through December 29. It gives me something to look forward to every day.

What If…? has been a fairly consistent show over the three seasons. It has been enjoyable, but perhaps not outstanding. It is typically really good, fun and entertaining. This first episode feels like it falls right into that category.

The What If the Hulk Fought the Mech Avengers episode had a new team of Avengers with their giant mech technology, much like Voltron or the Power Rangers, and they took on some gamma beasts created in the Gamma War.

One of the best parts of What If…? is the use of the actual live action actors for voices in the animated shows. This episode included Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson, Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambeau, Oscar Isaac as Moon Knight, Simu Liu as Shang-Chi, Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes, and David Harbour as Red Guardian.

The first half of this episode felt as if it had too much exposition and, despite having a series of cool animation styles during the period, I thought there was too much telling and not enough showing. This is one of the overall issues with What If…?. Episodes are kept around 30 minutes and sometimes feel as if it is too short. This one felt like it would have been more compelling if it had been an hour. Maybe we could have seen some of the Gamma War instead of just using it as set up.

However, the second half of the show was solid and included some awesome giant robot vs. Kaiju type action, including Bruce Banner transforming himself into a gigantic Godzilla-like creature, I dubbed Hulkzilla as soon as I saw the scene. This was fun and an enjoyable action piece with a decent theme working.

Admittedly, after seeing some of the outstanding animated TV shows this year such as X-Men ’97 and Batman: The Caped Crusader, What If…? feels like a step down. That may not be fair, but when the genre is elevating its game, you expect other shows to step up too. What If…? episode one of season three was fine, but probably not as memorable as it could have been.

Shrinking S2 E10

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“Changing Patterns”

Okay, so perhaps this is not the season finale after all.

I really thought that this was the season finale. But when I pulled up the show on Apple TV +, I saw episode 11 listed for next Wednesday. So I guess this is not the final episode of the season. I do not know how many there are.

That does not bother me much because Shrinking is consistently one of the best written and entertaining shows on TV.

I had been wondering where this show was going as it seemed like most of the storylines were wrapped up over the last couple of episodes, but there were a couple that came raging back into the forefront.

In particular, the whole Louis/Alice friendship came back hard and heavy this week. Alice found out that Jimmy had told Louis to not see Alice again and that crushed her. Apparently, there are more legs to this as Alice told her father that he ruined another birthday.

Oh yeah, it was Alice’s 18 birthday. She was a little unfair in this situation in my opinion. I mean, Jimmy did find her a car just like his wife. Sure he can be blind in a lot of ways, but to say that he ruined the birthday felt a touch harsh.

There are some great development with all of the other characters too. Paul, Liz, Derek, Julie, and Gaby had solid arcs within this episode, but they all paled in comparison to the birthday escapades.

I wonder how many more episodes the season has for us?

Cobra Kai S6 Part 2 E6, E7, E8

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“Benvinguts a Barcelona”

“Dog in the Fight”

“Snakes on a Plane”

I watched the first three episodes of the second part of season six of Cobra Kai that came out on Netflix this weekend. The show had split into three sections for the final season. This middle part deals with the Sekai Taikai tournament in Barcelona, Spain.

Among the first three episodes, I thought there was one good one, and the other two were disappointing.

I thought episode seven was pretty good, as Daniel gets kidnapped by Kreese and put in a dog cage. The questions surrounding Miyagi’s past, which was a distraction in the first half of the season, was actually the only thing here that was interesting at all.

The rest of these episodes have so many immature, dumb moments. The first one started out with fart jokes. It went downhill quickly. The childish arguments between characters were meant to be conflicts, but they instead just seemed annoying. The conflicts were either easily resolvable, or not even worth the time.

Chozen arriving at the Sekai Taikai drunk was embarrassing. The whole issue between Hawk and Demetri is unrealistic. The apparent relationship between Chozen and Kim Da-Eun came out of nowhere as she took a totally flipped personality. The issue between Robbie and Miguel felt repetitive. Same with Sam and Tory. Devin’s whole arc is her guilt over giving Kenny a laxative and she drops that news to him over the phone.

There are a bunch of new karate fighters around with zero personality and crammed in stories, including one giant fighter whose sensei uses physical violence to train him.

They explained away Kreese’s availability here as the brushed aside the prison escape. And I guess Terry Silver is back, also somehow out of jail and backing one of the other dojos in the Sekai Taikai.

These have really taken a step back from previous episodes and I hope that it is just a matter of having to many episodes in a season (they have 15 overall, more than they usually have) and that this is not the way the remainder of the season would go, because, right now, I wish this show would have ended after the outstanding finale of season 5.

The Boys S4 E7

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“The Insider”

There is a lot to talk about with the penultimate episode of season seven of The Boys. I do not think that this show can be considered an allegory any longer. With the whole January 6th reference for the planned assassination of the president, as well as the obvious connections to our current political climate, the Boys is anything but subtle. The whole Christmas song, although very funny, might have been on the nose too much.

Sticking with the singing puppets Christmas special, I do love what Ryan does at the end of the episode, stepping up and talking live on the television about how this isn’t right. He felt very sincere and affecting. The only trouble I had with it was that was not the way Ryan seemed to be going last episode. It felt like a very different response and so I am not sure what that character is actually feeling. Maybe it is supposed to be that way considering he is a teen and they can be inconsistent as a rule. I just am having a difficulty with the overall execution for this character.

The Deep, however, is completely different. His arc of the season has been a rough one, messing with his self-image and confounding what he wants. I actually gasped when he crashed that aquarium, which led to the death of his octopus lover. Tilda Swinton was genius level voice over in this episode as she voiced first the anger and betrayal felt by Ambrosius and then the despair as her love Deep allowed her to suffocate to death trapped in a closet. This was very much an allegory for domestic abuse and, because of this, the Deep took a step of a descent into losing what little humanity he had remianing.

What can we say about poor Hughie? He has taken such a beating this season, mostly emotionally. He lost his father. He was assaulted sexually by Tek Knight (and Ashley too). His girlfriend’s abortion is plastered across the TV (something, by the way, that we have not had a reaction from Hughie about. What was his thoughts of Annie’s choice?). And now a shapeshifter comes into his home with Annie and has sex with him in the form of Annie, all to get the info they had on Victoria. I feel so badly for Hughie this season and I think he will have a lot of problems moving forward.

The fight scene between Butcher and Starlight and The Deep and Black Noir in the Boys’ office was tremendous and gave us some cheer out loud moments. The arrival of A-Train to save the day and then the arrival of Mother’s Milk with a Gatlin gun were two amazing moments within this fight that were just sparkling hero moments. I used to hate A-Train, but his redemption is complete for me as I see him as a hero and, perhaps, my favorite character on the show. I hope he survives.

Homelander had a tough emotional episode that will clearly lead into whatever craziness is in store for the finale. Antony Starr’s sly side eye to Firecracker’s breast near the end of the show was utterly perfect. Homelander’s tears at A-Train being revealed as the leak was amazing. It gives you a glance inside the mind of him and his deep neuroses. Then he watches as his son speaks to the nation live on TV. This does not feel like it will end well.

I do not know where this is heading, but it seems apparent that next week’s episode will deal with the plot to assassinate the president on January 6th. That makes sense. How it all falls together, I have no idea. It does feel as if The Deep’s story is wrapping up and I wonder if he will be killed. I hope A-Train makes it through. How will Sister Sage work into this since Homelander fired her? Will Butcher live past this season? He did not look good at the end of E7.

I don’t know how this is wrapped up, but I can see a rocket lashed to this show heading into its final season after this.

Shogun S1 E2

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“Servants of Two Masters”

I got the chance today to watch the second episode of Shogun on Hulu. Both this episode and episode 1 dropped at the same time last week, but it did not fit into my schedule to see them both. I planned on getting to Shogun episode two before the weekend finished, and I was able to get it done. I think I enjoyed this episode more than I liked episode one, and I liked episode one a lot.

John was bounced around to different areas, from the palace to a prison then back to the palace as the people involved tried to determine how they were going to best use this ‘barbarian.’

Interestingly, we get the first interactions between John and Mariko, which I believe will become something much more than expected.

But John… when they offer you a bath… take it. Twice a week is okay.

Lord Toranaga clearly is looking as a mastermind with his machinations.

Next episode of Shogun drops late night Monday on Hulu.

Blue Eye Samurai S1 E2

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“A Unexpected Element”

Second episode was another banger. There is so much action and excitement in each of these first two episodes that I can believe how great this show has been perceived by the public.

Mizu was heading to a town to find a boat so she could pursue Shindo to his island fortress. Ringo had followed her there and, despite her attempts to shoo him away, he continued to follow her, making himself useful.

Taigen heads after Mizu in an attempt to reclaim his honor. He would find her at the end of the episode.

Prior to that, Mizu was confronted by The Four Fangs. She killed three of them, with the one survivor being a man named Chiaki who had come for a sword from Master Eiji. He was an assassin and Mizu had made a sword for him that was broken.

Back in the present, Mizu is able to kill Chiaki, but it nearly ended her. When Taigen approached Mizu, she told him to come on, but passed out. He moved forward, the show implying that he was going deal a killing blow.

Again, animation is gorgeous and the fight choreography is laid out wonderfully, especially with the fight on the cliff with the Four Fangs. That fight was remarkably clever and designed well.

This has been a great start to this season .