RJ Writing Ink

A Review of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Years from now, when I look back on the year 2018, I want to remember it as the Year of the Superheroes. This year saw an unprecedented explosion of superhero films. I even plan on covering them all after Christmas. But this is for me to talk about what is possibly the best superhero film of the year, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.

I thought that Avengers: Infinity War was going to be the cherry on top of a sundae of superhero movies. Though after seeing Into the Spider-Verse yesterday, I realized that it was the hot fudge; Into the Spider-Verse was the cherry on top. Saying “I loved it” would be an understatement. So as I was driving home from the theater, I knew I had to write something about it. I actually tried to last night, but it wouldn’t save. It was already late, so I couldn’t even put up something for my 25 days of Christmas series. My bad

I will get back to the Christmas thing today with a double feature to make up for it. For now, I want to talk about why I think you should go see this film!

The Plot

This is a bare-bones summary of the plot. MINOR SPOILERS AWAIT YOU!

The first thing you should know is that this film is an origin story for a new Spider-Man, Miles Morales. Aside from being incredibly smart, Miles is an otherwise normal teenager. All that changes once he gets bitten by the spider and gains spider-powers. Just as starts to figure out his new abilities, he stumbles across his world’s Spider-Man who’s trying to stop the Kingpin from activating a Super Collider capable of ripping apart reality. While he manages to temporarily take it offline, Spider-Man is tragically killed in the attempt. Before he dies, though, he meets Miles and, sensing he has similar powers, entrusts him with the key to stopping the Collider for good.

As New York mourns for the loss of its hero, Miles is confronted by an older, alternate version of Peter Parker. As a result of the Super Collider, multiple incarnations of Spider-Man were pulled from their realities into Miles’, and unless they get back home, they’re going to die. These Spider-People (who I will refer to Spiders from here on out) must team up to stop the Kingpin from tearing reality apart while also helping Miles embrace his destiny as the next Spider-Man.

The Good

Putting aside the amazing animation, references to Spider-Man lore, and the plot, the main draw is the characters. 

As I said before, this movie is an origin story for Miles Morales as he becomes the new Spider-Man. In that regard, he is very much a fish out of water, even before getting his powers. His parents enroll him in this private academy because they know he has the potential for greatness. Miles would rather be a normal kid, though, and prefers hanging out with his Uncle Aaron and working on his graffiti. 

Miles never asks to be unique or his powers, and while he wants to live up to the Spiders expectations, he doesn’t think he has it in him. As a result, he has a hard time getting his powers to work. A tough time. But once he steps up to the challenge, he is just as capable a hero as the other Spiders.

A Familiar, Yet Welcome, Plot

I’ve seen this kind of story before: normal person gets thrust into an important role, tries to live up to it, fails at first, but eventually turns into the badass everyone knows he can be. Regardless, I still enjoyed watching Miles’ growth because it manages to be told interestingly.

On the other side of the spectrum, we get the alternate Peter Parker. Unlike the one in Miles’ universe, this one has been Spider-Man for twenty years, but he’s kind of washed-up from it. He has already lost his Aunt May, and he and MJ split up because he was too worried for her safety, leaving him at rock bottom. He even cries in the shower with his costume on.

This Peter Parker has apparently lost the drive to be Spider-Man and hates how his life has turned out. He’s so convinced that his life is not worth going back to that when it looks like Miles won’t be ready, he is willing to stay behind to shut off the Collider even though that means he’ll die.

He ends up becoming the very reluctant mentor to Miles in the film, and through him, he inadvertently is able to pick himself out of his slump and reignites his drive to be Spider-Man and turn his life around. It’s a reminder of the positive effects that a good mentor-student relationship can have on both sides. Hopefully, we will see more of his personal life in future films.

The Bad

With every good thing, there is usually a bad thing. This film is amazing, but it did have a few things that bugged me.

In hindsight, I realize that most of this film is not original. As in, it is based on the countless stories and incarnations of Spider-Man over the years. Miles’ origin in the film is similar to his origin in the comic books, down to watching his world’s Peter Parker die in battle. 

The Spider-Verse concept has also been done before. Spider-Man has traveled to alternate realities on several occasions in the comic books. He’s even teamed up with other Spider-Men several times, and not just in the comics. He’s done it in TV shows and video games too. 

What’s more, since the focus is mainly on Peter and Miles, the other Spiders do not get as much time to shine. They do get their own moments in the spotlight, but the focus is on these two.

Take Spider-Woman, AKA Gwen Stacy/Spider-Gwen. If you know your comic history, you know the original Gwen was Peter’s girlfriend. What happened to her? Look up the ending to The Amazing Spider-Man 2. That’s what happened to her in the 1970s. 

Spider-Gwen

This version of Gwen ended up getting the spider-powers instead of Peter. She only appeared four years ago, but she’s already proven fairly popular with fans. That just makes it more of a disappointment that her character doesn’t get more time in the spotlight. She’s the first of the Spiders that Miles meets, before he even gets his powers, actually. She doesn’t seem to get as many moments, though, as Peter and Miles do. Plus, there is a sub-plot about a romance brewing between Gwen and Miles, though nothing ever comes of it onscreen. With sequels already planned, this hopefully be explored some more.

Then we have the other three Spiders: Spider-Ham, Peni Parker, and Spider-Man Noir. They don’ have as much of an impact on the plot other than providing backup in fights. They still get their moments to shine, but the film doesn’t have enough time to develop their characters. Their vignettes (which each Spider-Person gets) are even shown simultaneously to save time. Missed opportunity, as Spider-Man will be interesting no matter what version it is. Or will they?

The Buzz About Peni Parker

Outside of Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy, I think the Spider that has the best chance of succeeding in a spin-off film is, ironically, the one with the least written material: Peni Parker. Of all the Spiders, she’s generated the most buzz. See?

Next to the Goku float at Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, I think this is the best example of anime going mainstream. 

She doesn’t have that many appearances in comic books, but her story is pretty interesting. She’s from the 32nd century, she doesn’t have powers, uses a mech powered by a radioactive spider that helps to power it. It’s like what would happen if Spider-Man met Gundam. Since she’s proven to be so popular, I think she has the best chance at a spin-off. I want to see a Spider-Mech fight crime. I just hope fans don’t go overboard with fan art.

As for Spider-Ham and Spider-Noir, I’m not so sure. They are interesting characters, but I don’t think they could get their own spin-off films. They seem to work best when used as part of a group. Spider-Noir’s dark and serious attitude is played off for laughs, while Spider-Ham.. well, he’s just plain silly. Don’t underestimate him, though. He’s still Spider-Man (sort of).

The Conclusion

In conclusion, I still think that this movie is awesome and the best superhero film of the year, regardless of the faults. Yeah, the story is not exactly original, but since this is based on a comic book, that can be expected. Fans don’t mind, myself included. As for the lack of screen time the other Spiders get, that can easily be corrected in sequels or spin-offs, which I hear Sony is already playing. This may be the best Spider-Man film that we have gotten thus far, and that’s saying something!

One reason why I liked this more than even Infinity War is because of who it focuses on. Spider-Man is Marvel’s best hero for a reason. It’s not because he’s the strongest or the smartest, but the one that fans can emphasize with the most. He’s the most human of them. 

More than that, though, every time I see him, I am reminded of the lesson behind the character. At the memorial for the Peter Parker of Miles’ world, MJ says it, and Miles echoes it at the end of the film: anyone can be a hero, if they’re brave enough and willing to stand up for what they think is right. That’s the lesson that Stan Lee and Steve Dikto taught us.

Remember the Creators

Speaking of which, this film marks the first Stan Lee cameo since his passing last month. Steve Dikto had died earlier this year, and fans are still getting over the fact that Stan Lee is now gone as well. I just hope that, wherever they are, they are looking at the movie and feeling proud of what they created. The world wouldn’t be the same without Spider-Man in our lives, and this film reminds us of how much he means to us.

If you haven’t got any plans to see this film, then I recommend that you make them. It is worth the money and time to see the best superhero movie of the year.

I Give This Film a 5/5

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Hey everybody, it’s J here. Sadly, there will be no 25 Days of Christmas Article today. I was originally going to be doing a review of the new movie Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, but then I somehow lost that post before it could be published. At any rate, I am too tired to do anything else tonight. To make up for it, I will be doing a double feature for the 25 days of Christmas tomorrow, along with the review of Into the Spider-Verse. So sorry, guys!

South Park and Christmas

Howdy-ho, people! It’s time for another 25 days of Christmas. Since South Park will be wrapping up its 22nd season, I thought it would be appropriate to cover one of their Christmas specials.

More than any other show on TV, South Park has a strong connection to Christmas. The whole reason the show even exists is that Matt Stone and Trey Parker made a short film in their college days called “The Spirit of Christmas” that parodied Frosty the Snowman

Then that Executive from Fox asked them to make a sequel for a video Christmas Card called “Jesus vs. Santa”

The rest is history. Rather than argue about which South Park Christmas Special was the best, I’m skipping that and going with the one I loved the most: Woodland Critter Christmas

A Twisted Woodland Critter Christmas

This is one of the funniest and most original Christmas Specials I have ever seen, and I love every minute of it! It starts off like a simple Rankin/Bass special, with a bunch of cute little animals who “befriend” Stan Marsh and get him to kill the mountain lion that keeps eating the chosen mother of their savior. 

Since it’s South Park, though, nothing is ever that simple. The writers make everyone feel bad when it’s revealed the lion had three cubs. But then they pulled a plot twist on us by revealing the critters are Satanists giving birth to the Anti-Christ! I wasn’t sure if I should be laughing or just saying “Stan, dude, you f***d up big time”.

So even though Stan just wants to forget about everything, the Narrator forces him to go back and stop the critters. That goes about as well as you think, so he has to take the lion cubs to learn abortions so they can kill the Anti-Christ.

Oh, and the critters kidnap Kyle to use him as a vessel for the Anti-Christ.

So the Anti-Christ is born, and now the only one able to stop the madness is Santa, who rides in on his sleigh with a shotgun and kills them all, only for Kyle to let himself be possessed. PLOT TWIST!

Cartman’s Story

The best part, though, is when it’s revealed that everything that’s happened was part of a story Cartman made for class. Kyle tries to stop it, but everyone wants to know what happens next. If I were his teacher, I know I would be curious myself. This was a good story. It also explains why there is another son of the devil. Damian hasn’t been seen since Season 1, but he’s still there. Also, the Satan in South Park can be a chill guy.

So the Mountain Lions abort the Anti-Christ, though how, I don’t know. All that matters is that it’s dead. And as a reward for Stan, Santa uses his magic to bring back the mountain lion mom. 

I have been a fan of South Park for years, and I always look forward to seeing what they make fun of each week. I especially love their holiday specials, and this was one of their best ones ever. After this, there was nearly a ten year gap in Christmas Specials for South Park, so if this was going to have been their final one, they went out with a bang. It’s a great parody of Christmas Specials, though of what, I don’t know.

Who cares? Cartman probably got an A+, Christmas was saved, and everyone lived happily ever after… except for Kyle, who died of AIDS two weeks later. I knew Cartman would jab at Kyle. MERRY WOODLAND CRITTER CHRISTMAS!

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Eden’s Zero Chapter 24 Review/Recap

Picking up right where we left off, Witch confirms our worst fears about Chronophage: 

• There’s no way to stop it.
• There’s no way of telling how many years it will eat.
• Depending on how much time is set back, anyone who wasn’t on a planet at that point will cease to exist.

The people of Guilst only have 60 minutes to get off, or they’ll die or be trapped there forever.

Planetside, while Jinn does show off some new tricks, it looks as though Shiki has him outmatched. The fight is interrupted by the arrival of Sister and Ganoff, who tell him to kill Illega and take everything he owns. But Illega seems to have fled amidst the commotion.

So, Shiki decides to just fight all three of them at once, because, why not? He’s a Shonen protagonist.

Meanwhile…

Meanwhile, Rebecca got her clothes back, so that’s a start. She and the other B-Cubers are looking for a way out, but one of them goes missing (I wonder if that has anything to do with Illega’s flight?) Despite Pino saying it would be inefficient to do so, Rebecca goes back to look for the missing B-Cuber (Copa, they said her name was?) 

Back at Rogue Out’s Church, Weisz and Homura continue their stand-off, until they both hear a noise coming from the basement. They head down to find a woman trapped in what I assume are cables meant to drain one’s Ether. The chapter then ends with Homura stating that the woman is none other than one of the Four Shining Stars of the Demon King, Sister Ivry.

This is merely a theory I am working with right now, but it might have some plausibility. The Sister that we see trapped in the basement is, in fact, the real one. The one who is leading Rogue Out could be an impostor or a duplicate. This is just speculation, though. Only time will tell if anything comes of it. That is, if the Chronophage doesn’t kill them all.

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Christmas can be just as big a holiday in Japan as it is in other parts of the world, but not for the reasons you would think. There are not that many Christians in Japan, so they don’t celebrate for the religious aspects. It’s celebrated more for the romantic aspect, decorating trees, and eating KFC. That is, in fact, a thing in Japan, thanks to a promotional campaign KFC did in the 1970s. 

After reading D&A Anime Blog’s post about anime Christmas Specials, I decided I wanted to do more myself. So I went online and found a Christmas episode for an anime I’ve been meaning to watch, Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid.

Here’s the synopsis first. This office worker named Kobayashi rescues this dragon from another dimension named Tohru, causing Tohru to fall in love with her. She (Tohru) then reveals she can turn into a human and starts living with Kobayashi as her maid. Then she gets joined by Tohru’s friend, Kanna, who is probably the winner for cutest anime character in 2017. It’s a cute slice-of-life anime, and the dub by Funimation is fairly good. If you like anime that are more laid-back and not as heavy on the action, I’d recommend it. Now onto the episode!

When one of Tohru’s friends from the town mall injures himself practicing for their annual Christmas Eve show at the local retirement home, she volunteers to put it on. So she gathers her friends, which include other dragons living on Earth, a young mage named Shouta, and Kanna’s classmate Saikawa who has a massive crush on her (as you can see in the above video at 1:50).

After trying to think up a bunch of ideas, they settle on a play of The Little Matchgirl. They try getting Shouta to dress as the matchgirl, but he’s too embarrassed. So they settle for Kanna, who is already cute enough (again as seen in the video)

We also get this cute little subplot during this whole thing. When Kanna gets worried they won’t be visited by Santa because they don’t have a chimney, Tohru…installs one for their apartment, right into Kanna’s room. That makes it hard for Kobayashi to give her her present without being caught. The struggle of every adult, I guess.

So Christmas Eve comes, and the play is performed, but it’s not the same as the story. The group ended taking some creative liberties with the story. The next thing I know, Shouta shows up as an old man selling straw hats (have to find out what story that’s from) and they turn into Magical Girls fighting alongside the 47 Ronin. That is literally what happens!

Fortunately, the elders love it, which is the whole point of the thing, so the play is a huge success. They then all head back to Kobayashi’s house for a Christmas Party, and the episode ends with Kobayashi and Tohru going for a ride in the night sky for Christmas. Well, the whole “Santa” thing happens after that, but that’s not the point. 

Overall, this was a nice Christmas episode. Like I said, Christmas isn’t as big a deal in Japan as it is to America, so there are not many anime Christmas specials. I loved this one, though, hilarity and all. Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid is a fun little slice of life.

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One Piece Chapter 927 Review/Recap

Having spent much of my life watching anime, it may have been inevitable that I would gain an interest in Japanese mythology. I eventually started to branch out into that after seeing little references sprinkled in some anime/manga that I read. From there, I gained at least a basic understanding of Japanese myths and culture, which I think will be a big help in the Wano Arc for One Piece.

As we saw briefly in the last chapter, Sanji opened a soba noodle stand to help gather allies. At this point, though, he just seems to attract girls, which Robin, Usopp, and Franky note. That changes, though, when three shady looking men that I can only assume are part of Wano’s equivalent to the Yakuza show up.

They demand “protection money” from Sanji to keep running, which is a common tactic of organized crime groups. Sanji refuses, and when they trash his food, he beats the stuffing out of them.

Glimpse of Beauty of Komurasaki

Everyone clears out, except for a little girl named Toko who didn’t get any soba, which Sanji happily gives. The Straw Hats quickly take a liking to her as she runs off to work in the Courtesan’s procession. She is an attendant to the most famous Courtesan in Wano, Komurasaki. They say she is a woman beautiful enough to topple a nation and the perfect woman. We don’t see her face, but if that’s true, the list for the most beautiful women in One Piece may need to be reworked. She’s enough to make all the men fight over her just by passing through.

The procession is headed to a banquet with the Shogun Orochi, and Robin has also been invited. This will go a long way towards helping their rebellion, though I hope that Robin will not be caught.

I fear that the Straw Hats may have attracted more attention to themselves, though. Those Yakuza who Sanji beat up? Their boss decides to contact Queen from the Beast Pirates to send assassins. The chapter ends with the silhouette of Lord Orochi, which depicts an eight-headed serpent, declaring that he will make Komurasaki his.

Japanese Mythology

Now for the mythology, I mentioned coming into play. Orochi is named after the Yamata no Orochi, a legendary serpent from Japanese Mythology with eight heads and eight tails. In the legends, he terrorized a village near the cave he dwelt, forcing a local family to sacrifice one of their eight daughters every year for seven years. Thus, the time has come for them to give up their last and most beautiful daughter, Kushinada-hime.

Then along came a lone warrior on the road: Susanoo, the Japanese god of storms. He had been exiled from the heavens for causing trouble one too many times. When he saw the weeping parents, he promised to slay Orochi in exchange for their daughter’s hand in marriage. Long story short, he did.

I’m bringing this up because it seems like Eichiro Oda is drawing from this and possibly several other Japanese myths. Orochi is, obviously, the eight-headed serpent, but in this case, he’s devouring all of Wano. Could Komurasaki be the daughter? That just leaves us with our Susanoo, the one who will slay Orochi. I have no idea yet, but I am certain it will be either Luffy or one of the Kozuki Clan’s retainers. I’m actually interested to see how it turns out. This is shaping up to be a very interesting arc with Oda going all-out.

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Kneel Before Zim!

Do you remember this show? Invader Zim, the cult classic of Nickelodeon. Created by comic book writer Jhonen Vasquez and premiering in 2001, this show isn’t like other Nicktoons. It was extremely dark for a kids cartoon. Too dark, it seems, for some kids to watch, and it worried a lot of parents.

Me, I didn’t care one bit. I loved Invader Zim because it was dark and different from other Nicktoons. I did think some of the episodes were a little too scary (I don’t even remember the “Dark Harvest” one that well). But it holds a special place in my heart for the amazing use of CGI. It was one of the first times I had ever seen CGI in a kids show, so I was mesmerized by it!

All the love can’t help with bad ratings, though, and the show got pulled in the middle of its second season, with a bunch of episodes remaining unreleased or unfinished. The last episode I ever saw was its Christmas Special, which aired sixteen years ago tonight. In honor of that, I decided to rewatch it for my 25 days of Christmas. So without further ado, I give you The Most Horrible X-Mas Ever.

Zim Ruins Christmas Forever

The entire story takes place in flashback, being told by a robotic snow who is a clear parody of Frosty the Snowman. He explains that two million years ago, Zim discovered the concept of Christmas, and more importantly Santa. 

After seeing how much humanity loved and adored Santa, Zim got an idea. An awful idea. Zim got a wonderful, awful idea. *cue the evil Grinch smile*

Using alien nanotechnology, Zim creates a robotic Santa suit for him to control, then with a flourish, presents himself to the world as the real Santa Claus.

Humanity successfully fooled, he summons them to the North Pole for a huge rally. In hindsight, the decorations, chanting, and the sinister overtones of the song, reminds me of a cult rally. It does give us the most oppressive and tyrannical Christmas Song ever, though. And I loved it!

Zim’s master plan is to build a teleporter and beam humanity to the Irken Empire to use as slaves. The only one with enough sense to oppose him is Dib. But since humans in Zim are stupid, they don’t believe Dib and Zim throws him in Jingle-Jail.

Fortunately, Dib doesn’t have to do anything this time around. Zim made the Santa Suit too good, and it’s started to think it’s the real Santa. Anything Christmas-related makes it take over.

Despite his best efforts, the suit manages to overpower Zim, trapping him inside.

So Zim’s trapped forever and Santa is real. Happy ending for all! Until Dib shows up with a giant robot suit and causes the suit to go berserk. 

The Fight I Couldn’t Show You

After a giant monster fight, Dib weakens the suit enough for Zim to escape, shrink it down, and have Dib throw it into space. There might have been a moral behind all that, but for the life of me, I still don’t know.

But despite thinking him destroyed, the Santa Suit, in fact, survived to gather power in deep space. Now it comes back every year on Christmas and terrorizes the Earth, so everyone has to live inside domes and placate him with milk and cookies. Dark

Dark Show, But I Loved It

Yeah, Invader Zim was a dark and scary cartoon more often than not, but that’s what it was supposed to be. That’s why I liked it so much: it was different, and not seeing it canceled leaves a hole in my heart. I know it’s sounds sappy, but I wanted to see where the series would go. This Christmas Special was the last episode that ever aired; the rest were released years later by Nickelodeon.

In hindsight, maybe it would have been a good idea to just leave Zim trapped inside the suit. It would have been a good way to end the series: Earth saved, Santa is real, and Dib got what he wanted with Zim stopped. At least we still have the comics and the upcoming movie. And even after all these years, I still love this Christmas Special! Ho-ho-ho, Happy Holidays one and all!

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I think that by now, you guys will have noticed a trend behind my choices: several have been from Nickelodeon. That’s what I mainly watched in the first half of my childhood. I didn’t discover Cartoon Network until after I was ten, and I didn’t get into Disney Channel until a year or so later. So, I have a fondness for Nicktoons. That’s not what I’m here to write about. I’m writing about Holidays Specials I’ve watched every day, and I picked an old Nickelodeon one, Holly Jolly Jimmy from The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius.

Jimmy Doesn’t Believe in Santa

The premise behind the special is simple: it’s Christmastime in the town of Retroville, and everyone is getting into the spirit of the Holiday. Everyone, that is, except for Jimmy Neutron. As a boy of science, Jimmy refuses to believe in the idea of Santa Claus, as most of his abilities defy science. When he openly says so in class, it makes his best friend Carl run out crying.

The trope of “the kid who doesn’t believe in Santa” is not a new concept, but I can’t remember where I first saw it. Plenty of kids will go through a point in their childhood when they doubt in the existence of Santa. Almost every special that deals with this trope end up reaffirming the belief in some way. Personally, I don’t care if Santa is real or not. Historically, he was, but that’s a whole other ball game.

At any rate, Jimmy and his friends, Carl and Sheen, go to the North Pole to prove whether Santa is real or not. Despite all evidence saying so, Jimmy refuses to admit the truth out of pride. Then his DNA tracker accidentally “breaks Santa”.

So, now we have a “saving Christmas” story as well. The three decide to deliver all the presents, but fail and end up being rescued by Santa himself, finally affirming Jimmy’s belief in him. Then, in typical Santa fashion, he manages to save Christmas and deliver the boys and all the presents back home.

Simple Premise

Like I said, the ideas in this episode are not new, and while much of the special stands out as particularly memorable. Still, I did like Jimmy Neutron as a kid, and it was fun to see the main character grapple with an idea that went against everything he stands for and ends up accepting it.  I liked it enough, and it was a good reminder of one of my favorite memories: the Merry Nickmas theme Nickelodeon did in the early 2000s. 

Well, that’s about it for tonight. Gotta blast!

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Yesterday, my friends at D&A Anime Blog posted the following: 5 Anime Christmas Specials That Will Get You In The Holiday Spirit! Good post, but it forgot one big anime Christmas Special. When I brought it up, they said the following:

I knew there was one we had missed!

Seeing as how I was planning on doing it already, I got you guys covered. Here’s the one they miss: Fairies’ Christmas from the anime Fairy Tail.

I am a big fan of Fairy Tail, and in my experience, people have two opinions on it: they either like it or hate its guts. Funimation managed to get a lot of talented voice actors to play roles on the show, many of whom fans may recognize for their roles in other anime.

It’s more than the casting, though: it’s the series sense of humor. Fairy Tail can go from being serious to incredibly silly in just a few scenes. It may cram the “power of friendship” down your throat at times, but it has its fair share of moments that are genuinely heart-warming. 

Alright, I am done defending myself. I like the show, and if anyone has a problem with that, I don’t care. On to the special!

Fairies’ Christmas

Wait. I should mention that to mention that this special is going to be a bit… PG-13 and up. If you know Fairy Tail, then you know why.

It’s Christmastime in the city of Magnolia, and everyone is in the process of getting ready for the holidays. The first half of the OVA is of the guild helping set up Christmas Decorations, but that’s not really important. The real fun starts at Lucy’s apartment when Erza invites herself and a bunch of others over for a Christmas Party. Everything is going fine… until the girls start drinking alcohol. No, I don’t know what the age limit is in their world, but it’s probably 18. There’s a bigger concern.

Never give Erza Scarlet alcohol of any kind. She’s scary enough as it is, but when she’s drunk, RUN. Pretty soon all the girls are drunk, though.

It gets worse. Hiro Mashima, Fairy Tail’s creator, likes teasing fans with shipping couples, so most of the girls (minus Wendy, because she’s a kid) start flirting with their respective ships. Then Erza gets jealous and forces everyone to play The Guild Master Game: they draw sticks, and whoever gets the one with the crown on gets to make everyone else do whatever they say.

Drunken Antics

It sounds fun and innocent, but it quickly gets out of control and Erza’s the only one having fun, since she’s still drunk. They finally end her reign of terror, and I’m not going to say what happens because I don’t want to spoil how. All you need to know is that she leaves the party, still drunk, and then runs into her childhood friend/possible boyfriend (stop teasing us, Mashima.), Jellal

This is where those heartwarming moments come into play. Erza quickly realizes the state she’s in and gets embarrassed. Jellal figures out what was going, and Erza admits that she got out of control because she was jealous of her friends. Jellal just offers her his coat and helps walk her to her home amidst the snow. 

It’s the kind of tender moment that I’ve come to expect from Fairy Tail, and it’s one of the reasons why I fell in love with the series in the first place. For an anime fan, I normally don’t find a lot of anime Christmas Specials because Christmas is not as big in Japan. People there celebrate it, but less for the religious aspect and more for spending time with loved ones. With that in mind, this was a really nice Christmas Special. I liked it, and I know that there are others out there who liked it. Speaking of which, if you want to watch it for yourself, here’s the OVA;

Other Anime Christmas Material

If you want to read D&A Anime Blog’s post, click here. And since tonight was the series finale for Hellsing Ultimate Abridged, here’s a quick Christmas Special they did:

See you tomorrow guys!

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I may not have watched it as long as Nickelodeon, but once I found Cartoon Network, I loved it just as much. But after Ed Edd n’ Eddy came to an end in 2009, it was the end of an era. I mean that both literally and emotionally. It was the last of the 90s era cartoons to go off the air, and the one I loved most on that channel. There was Adventure Time next year, but that was it.

Then, I found Regular Show.

I may not have liked it much at first, but once I warmed up to it, I fell in love it. Watching the surreal adventures of these two slacker best friends, Mordecai and Rigby, something just clicked. It had a great mix of humor for both kids and adults. I loved it, especially the numerous holiday specials. 

Regular Show did a bunch of Halloween specials, and while those are my favorite, I have a great love for their three Christmas episodes. So, why not? Let’s look at a Regular Show Christmas special.

Full disclosure: this one is split into two segments, so I’m going to do each in a separate article. With that out of way, here’s White Elephant Gift Exchange.

The park gang is getting ready for their annual white elephant gift exchange, which everyone despises. Why? Because every years, Muscle Man steals all the good gifts and leaves them with prank ones. And not just used tissues or gum: we’re talking gloves made out of underwear and sweaters with itching powder.

So, Benson and the others decide to rig the game this year to make sure Muscle Man won’t steal their gifts and instead open their prank gift. 

It seems like they went overboard, though, with the prank. Especially when Muscle Man reveals he got them a flat-screen TV to make up for being a jerk.

The gang gets banished to the temple of the White Elephant, who chastises them for not getting the spirit of the game: you give gifts you hate, which makes it fun. So, lesson learned about the spirit of the Holidays, they go home and have a fun time, the end.

PSYCH! Muscle Man pranked them again. Sympathy gone, they go ahead with the plan, leading to what has to be one of the funniest moments I have ever seen in a cartoon:

When I first saw this on TV, I couldn’t stop laughing at how funny it was. Seeing Muscle Man’s reaction to one prank after another in slow motion while everyone laughs at payback was funny enough. But doing it over “Holly Jolly Christmas” sung by Burl Ives had me in stitches! By the time the elf elbows him, I was practically rolling on the floor laughing.

This was comedy gold to me. The pacing, everyone’s reactions to the events, the choice to play it over a classic Christmas song was perfect. Some may say it was still pretty mean, but Muscle Man never knew when to stop pranking others. He needed to be taught a lesson for a while, and I doubt he’d hold any ill will over it. This is one of my favorite Christmas episodes, and I hope you like it as well.

Click here to see my other animation stuff. Or here to see all holiday related posts!