RJ Writing Ink

One Piece Chapter 932 Review/Recap

I miss Luffy. To be honest, I can’t remember the last time we’ve gone so long without seeing him. To be fair, though, I was expecting this when I saw how the Wano Arc was being split up into Act.

If we follow the structure of your average play, or even action movie, then Act 1 was the introduction. Act 2 is going to be the part where we see everyone getting put into position for what’s to come. Act 3 will be exciting climax where everything comes to a head in a clash of awesomeness. Then there’s the epilogue to wrap everything up. Same principle applies here.

Back to the action. This chapter focuses on Robin’s infiltration of Orochi’s caste. Last chapter saw her get caught snooping around by the tyrant’s ninja squad. But she manages to get away when it’s revealed that “Robin” was actually a flower clone

Very clever of her. But it doesn’t change the fact that she’s potentially been compromised. Despite this, she decides to continue her mission before making her escape.

Very clever of her. But it doesn’t change the fact that she’s potentially been compromised. Despite this, she decides to continue her mission before making her escape.

Orochi Is Paranoid

In the banquet hall, we see more of how paranoid Orochi is over the prophecy of Oden Kozuki’s late wife, Toki: twenty years after her death, Oden’s retainers would come to claim his head. He’s terrified of this.

Most, if not all, of the people present think Orochi’s nuts. Readers know, though, that his fears are justified. Toki had sent several of Oden’s retainers 20 years into the future, while the rest went into hiding to wait for the moment to strike. None of the bad guys know that, though, which means their guard will be down.

I noticed that Orochi let slip a very interesting piece of information: no one knows that Oden’s retainers or his son, Momonuske, are alive. Orochi is convinced they are since their bodies were never found, but everyone else thinks they’ve been dead for years. Thank goodness they don’t know the truth.

This chapter also helped better develop Komurasaki’s character. When her kamuro, Toko, started laughing about Orochi’s paranoia, the man went ballistic

When tried to kill her though, Komurasaki stepped in and proceeded to slap him across the face!

That one act made her go up in my book, but when she then says she’s the daughter of a warrior and will never bow to anyone, she earned my respect. I admire those who stand up to jerks, especially when those jerks are in power over everyone. Even when Orochi turns into his mythic namesake, she doesn’t flinch!

Remember My Theory

If you read a few entries back, then you may remember my theory, about Komurasaki really being Momonuske’s sister, Hiyori. This may have lent further credence to that concept. Regardless, looks like the banquet is turning into a brawl, and Robin is using that as a chance to slip away.

The Straw Hats have come close to blowing their cover several times now. No one but Orochi suspects that the incidents they’ve caused are linked, and it needs to stay that way. But once Luffy breaks out of prison with everyone else in tow, then that’s not going to be an option. I can’t wait to see where this goes, though! Until the next One Piece

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Why I Like SAO

I am about to say something that could destroy my blog and marginalize me within the community of fandom: I like Sword Art Online. In English Dub.

Put. The Pitchforks. DOWN. Let me explain myself.

I know a lot of people like to tear this anime to shreds and act like its the worst anime of all time. It has had its fair share of moments where it ended dropping the ball, whether its with the characters or the writing. Even so, I think that, when done right, Sword Art Online is an amazing franchise.

I had refrained from watching the new season thus far, but with the English dub of Sword Art Online: Alicization (try saying that five times fast) now airing on Toonami, I thought that now’s a good time to get into it. First, though, I wanted to talk about why I like SAO, and give my thoughts on what I hate about it.

Why I Love SAO

#1- The Premise

For as long as I can remember, I have been a gamer. Growing up, there were never that many kids in my neighborhood that I could or wanted to hang out with, and I wasn’t always motivated to play outside. So to pass the time after school, I’d play video games. Some of the best memories I have from my childhood were playing video games.

I don’t remember exactly when I was introduced to the concept of Virtual Reality, but I think it was a Season One episode from Fairly Odd Parents, “Power Mad”. Timmy wishes for the ultimate video game, but Cosmo and Wanda end up using most of the city’s power to make it. His friends Chester and AJ start playing it without him, but if they lose their lives in the game, they’ll die.

Oh my gosh, I just realized that that’s the same premise behind SAO. No wonder I like it so much! It also gave a glimpse into the idea of setting foot in a virtual world.

My interest in Virtual Reality has carried over into adulthood. I even wrote a research paper for my college on the possible applications of VR in education; specifically, teaching history. That led me to becoming very familiar with the history behind the technology and the concept that powers it, and everything about it is interesting.

Interesting Concept

Given the premise behind it, it makes sense many of the portrayals of Virtual Reality involve video games. VR may even be the next evolution in gaming, like SAO and Ready Player One say. The concept just appeals to my love for both technologies and fascinates me to my core. It’s why I like the show so much!

As I said before, the idea of the death game was not new to me; I had seen in The Fairly Odd Parents years before, but it remained a fascinating and terrifying concept. How would people really react if they found out a game they were playing became a battle of life and death? What they do to survive and get out? It leaves me on the edge of my seat just thinking about it!

#2- The Voice Actors

Kirito

I’ve never taken sides in the sub vs. dub debate of anime. Honestly, I like both; they both have their merits. I think it comes down to preference. In this case, I like the dub.

Choosing the right voice actors for characters in animation can make or break the show, and I think that Aniplex made some good choices for its two main characters.

For Kirito, we have him voiced by Bryce Papenbrook, who does the voice of Eren Jaeger in Attack on Titan. I don’t know much of his other work outside of this, but he does a good job as Kirito. He manages to bring out all of Kirito’s main qualities. From his cocky attitude in a battle to his incredibly strong will, Bryce brings out the best in the character. He even manages to tick me off when Kirito messes with his friends. Getting someone to feel genuine emotion is a sign of a good actor, in my opinion.

Asuna

Then for Asuna, we have Cherami Leigh. I had seen Cherami’s work a couple times before, most notably as Lucy Heartfilia in the dub for Fairy Tail. I don’t know what it is, but something about her voice just draws me in and makes me want to hear more of it. Lucy is the role I knew first as, but her work as Asuna is what solidified her as one of my favorite voice actresses. I enjoy hearing her voice on screen, no matter who she’s playing; and she’s played a lot.

Even the other main characters are played by noteworthy talent. Yui’s voiced by Stephanie Sheh, Sinon gets her voice from Michelle Ruff (given her role as Yoko, it’s not much of a change), and more. The cast is great! Except for Todd Haberkorn as Sugou. I love Todd too much to see him play as a scumbag villain.

#3- Fights and the Soundtrack

A show is only as good as its best scenes. Say what you will about the writing, but the fight scenes are monumentally dope. Case in point:

I get goosebumps every time I see that. Just listening to that music alone is enough to make me pumped for what’s to come!

The music used in a scene can dictate what emotions the audience will feel. Something sad will make us want to cry, while something exhilarating will make us feel pumped for what’s happening. SAO understands this quite well knows just what to play to match its action sequences. Look at the movie Ordinal Scale:

https://youtu.be/F1DXmmQJzww?t=64

The timing and pacing are perfect, the emotion is real. It has all the hallmarks of a great story!

What I Hate About SAO

#1- The Way they Treat Their Characters

One of the stumbling points in the franchise is how they treat some of the main characters at times. Case in point is Asuna herself. In the first half of Season One, she was this badass swordswoman who helped lead the charge in clearing SAO. She was good enough to fight evenly against Kirito. She wasn’t just another love interest, but someone who stand side by side with Kirito in battle and in life. It was perhaps inevitable that they became close friends, and then, lovers.

Then, came the Alfheim Arc. I hated this arc, but I will get to that later. The thing I hated most about it, though, was seeing Asuna sidelined as a character. She spent the entire arc trapped inside Alfheim Online as a prisoner of Sugou so he could marry her in real life. I hated seeing her like that, and I can’t even look at episode 24 without cringing in disgust. Thank god that didn’t break her at all.

Another, lesser example would be Kirito. People have criticized his character in the latter half of the Aincrad arc for being too perfect: he’s selfless, brave, loyal, and funny. The only complaint that I have, though, is the fact that he enjoys teasing his friends just to get a rise out of them. Especially girls. I find that part of him to be insufferable at times, but not enough to hate him.

#2- The Writing can Stink at Times

The first twelve episodes of the show were some of its best, but then, we got the Alfheim Arc. To be honest, I remember very little about this arc, because I was so focused on seeing Kirito do two things: rescue Asuna, and beat the snot out of Sugou. I’m ashamed to admit it, but I’m glad I watched that season on Netflix. That way, I could binge through the whole thing and get to the end.

Then I sit through that cringe-inducing scene with Sugou torturing Asuna right in front of Kirito. That was one of the worst things I’ve ever seen in my life, and I’ve seen a lot of horrible things in fiction! Thank god that this is never brought up in the story again. Nor do we ever see Sugou again, since he’s rotting in prison for the rest of his life.

The writing gets better, though, once Season Two comes around. A new villain, new location, new heroine that I really like. The Phantom Bullet Arc is my second favorite part of the series behind the original arc. It shows that the creator of the series, Reki Kawahara, was making an honest effort to undo the mistakes he made. For some, though, the damage was already done. I think the hate for the Alfheim Arc is what led to people hating on the show as a whole.

I Still Like It.

So Sword Art Online is not a perfect anime, but there really is no such thing as a perfect anime, is there? I understand why people can hate the show: it has an amazing premise, and it can fail to deliver on it at times. In my opinion, though, when it does deliver on it, it is one of the best anime I have ever seen. I like SAO and I’m not afraid to say so.

Besides, the best part of the entire franchise is being adapted into anime form: Alicization. more than fifty episodes split up between four parts over the course of a year, fans are going to be in for a wild ride. I know I’m late to do it, but since Toonami has started airing the dub, I feel it’s time for me to throw my sword into the fray. I’m going to be reviewing every episode of Sword Art Online: Alicization, starting this week!

Check back in the next few days or so for updates as I work on publishing my review of the one-hour season premiere.

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Eden’s Zero Chapter 30 Review/Recap

Good news is, that little girl the crew of Eden’s Zero saw at that monument is Hermit.

The bad news is…

Wait a second, why does this seem really familiar? Like a certain popular video game series that I like?

So, Hermit is in a coma, and won’t wake up until they heal her heart and mind. And Shiki proposes an idea so crazy that it just might work.

Yep. He wants to go insider and fix her somehow. But Witch thinks he’s on to something and says that there is one place her heart may be.

A virtual reality, huh? According to Rebecca, it was this popular MMORPG called Rogue Fantasia. Somehow, the NPC’s gained sentience and developed their own society in the digital world. But it’s still capable of being accessed from the outside. So all they have to do is dive into the game and fin- wait a second. Something about this seems really familiar. Ahh, it doesn’t matter. Clothes change!

So they put on full body suits to go inside the planet and find Hermit.

Shiki messes with the Avatar controls…

And Rebecca and Happy end up inside Digitalis, and then they meet this guy.

Hiro Mashima is really laying it on thick with the references to Rave and Fairy Tail this chapter, huh. Also, the Virtual World gained sentience feels a lot like Sword Art Online: Alicization. Well, it’s not like the VR World concept is new, so it could be a coincidence.

If they are going to be going in this direction for the time being, I think it’s pretty creative of them to do so. Looking forward to seeing what goes on next chapter.

That said, I don’t think Mashima should be so heavy on the references to his past works. Use them too much and it will feel like he’s just rehashing everything. He needs to try and make Edens Zero it’s own thing that can stand apart from his past work. Only time will tell, I suppose.

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2019 Super Bowl’s Failed Halftime Show

I wanted to write this yesterday, but since the Super Bowl was still fresh in my mind, I decided I would get too emotional to do anything about it. So, I gave it an extra day to let myself cool off.

As many already know, in November, 2018, Stephen Hillenberg, the creator of the famous cartoon Spongebob Squarepants, died from ALS.

Shortly after his death, a petition began to go around the internet. With the Super Bowl coming up, one fan came up with an idea to create the perfect tribute to Hillenberg: have the song “Sweet Victory” play at the Super Bowl Halftime show.

Sweet Victory

Any fan of Spongebob has heard or seen “Sweet Victory”. At the climax of the Season Two episode “Band Geeks“, Spongebob helps Squidward lead the citizens of Bikini Bottom in playing the song at halftime for a spoof on the Super Bowl, the Bubble Bowl.

That performance and the final shot of Squidward leaping into the air in joyful triumph is legendary in cartoon lore. “Band Geeks” was critically acclaimed and is considered by most fans and critics to be the show’s best episode. I affectionately call it “Squidward’s finest hour.” So when that petition went up to play it at Super Bowl LIII, hundreds of thousands signed it as the ultimate tribute to the late Hillenberg.

In January, it looked like fans were going to get their wish:

Here’s what we got instead:

What. The heck. Was that? Just thinking about it makes me upset!

While some fans were happy that Spongebob got a cameo at the halftime, many were livid, myself included. So, we did what angry fans do: go to social media and spew our bile. Currently, the #1 trending video on YouTube, the Super Bowl LIII Halftime’s overwhelmingly disliked. It stands at 622k dislikes, last time I checked. And the comments are just as bad:

I don’t hate Sicko Mode, i actually think it’s an amazing song. But when you do Spongebob dirty like that, that’s when you’ve crossed the line

Lee Croc, YouTube

“Hey Patrick, what am I now? “”Uhh, stupid? “”No, I’m the NFL!” “What’s the difference!”

Hello, YouTube

We are disliking the video faster than nfl can remove it

Rocky Reyes, YouTube

I could go on! Everyone hated it!

We Got Ripped Off

I am aware that we were never outright promised that “Sweet Victory” would be played at the Super Bowl, but it was implied that it would be, given the footage of Spongebob in Maroon 5’s promo for the Halftime. I know that it can be argued that we should be lucky that we even got that cameo.

I don’t want to argue that, though. Because it felt like the cameo was an even bigger insult to the fans. The people who run the NFL and the Super Bowl thought that fans would be content with a brief cameo, but they underestimated us.

An Insult To the Fans

Having Spongebob reduced to a small cameo not only felt lazy, but disrespectful. Disrespectful to the fans who fought so hard for this, and disrespectful to Spongebob, Hillenberg, and the impact they’ve had on so many lives. Even if they didn’t have the cameo, the Halftime Show would have gotten a lot of hate. It was bland, forgettable, and honestly, it sucked.

At least there are people out there who have tried to do something to correct the NFL’s mistake. The morning after the Super Bowl, the Dallas Stars posted this video on their Twitter feed, giving us the halftime show fans deserve.

There’s no point in dwelling on the past any longer, though. All we can do is make sure the NFL learns their lesson and move on. Maybe someday, we can give Hillenberg the tribute he deserves, and get the sweet victory we deserve. As for Maroon 5, I hate them now. Plus side is, we have our first Dank Meme for 2019.

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One Piece Chapter 931 Review/Recap

We continue with our One Piece double feature with chapter 931.

Sanji really hates his family, and he makes no secret of that. Personally, I hate most his family, too; with the exception of his sister. Yet despite hating the other Vinsmokes, he decides to wear the Germa Suit they gave him before they escaped Big Mom. Cue the anime transformation!

Thus, Sanji dons the Germa Suit of his family!

Germa Suit Powers, Activate!

The cape and mask are a bit too much, and I don’t get how his hair got like that. Not too shabby, though. What’s his superhero name? Soba Mask. That is so lame.

Aside from enhancing Sanji’s physical strength, Stealth Black has a unique feature. Something that Sanji has been wanting to be able to do since he was a kid.

If you recall, he had wanted to become an invisible man so he could become a superhero. Really, though, he wants to use it to spy on girls like a pervert.

To be honest, the only reason I tolerate perverted actions like that of Sanji’s is that they’re done for laughs and not out of genuine malice. So, while “Soba Mask” keeps fighting Page One, Law and the other Straw Hats escape to Ebisu Town. Looks like they will meet up with Zoro.

Back at Orochi’s mansion, Robin is continuing her undercover mission when she is found by Orochi’s ninja squad, the Oniwaban.

They buy her excuse that she just got lost, but now that they suspect her, Robin’s mission just got a lot harder.

At Kuri Beach, Momonosuke and Tama are training in the woods with Chopper when they spot someone washed up on the beach. It’s the last person we want to see right now.

The last chapter saw Big Mom end up in the waters around Wano after King capsized her ship. I had hoped that would be the last we’d see of her for a while, but I guess that’s too much to ask for. Things get even weirder, though. Big Mom seems to have lost all her memory!

My gut is telling me that this could very well be a ruse to get at Luffy. Big Mom seems cunning enough to be able to do that. If it’s for real, though, this complicates matters.

As rotten as it is, my instincts are telling me they should kill Big Mom while they still have the chance. Once she regains her memory, she’ll be too dangerous to deal with.

What Could Happen Now?

If Big Mom does have amnesia, though, maybe the Straw Hats can use that to persuade her to help them. It’s a longshot, but if they’re nice to her and she regains her memories, she’ll drop her Straw Hat vendetta. That sounds like something Luffy would do, anyway.

So, the plot is getting more complicated every minute. I have no idea what’s going to happen next, but I am really curious to find out!

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One Piece Chapter 930 Review/Recap

Since I did not do this two weeks earlier, this week is going to be a double feature. Two chapters of One Piece back to back. On that note, let’s look at Chapter 930, Ebisu Town.

Ebisu Town

The chapter starts off with Zoro arriving with his new companion/hype man, Tonoyasu, at Ebisu Town, one of the places surviving off the Flower Capital’s scraps. Despite being so badly off in life, the people of Ebisu Town greet each day with a smile and laughter. They even laugh over the fact that they’re starving to death.

At first, I was a little put off by how nonchalant the townsfolk were about their situation in life. Then I remembered that it’s important to keep a positive attitude in times of despair. Especially in times of despair! Their attitude even manages to make Zoro smile a little.

Backtracking a second, the townsfolk mention how they were visited by Ushimitsu Kozo, the Witching Hour Boy. He’s a Robin Hood figure who steals money from the wealthy to help the poor. Nothing is known about him, but my instincts tell me that we will be seeing more of him soon.

Now to the meat of this chapter. First and foremost, Wano experiences some unwelcome visitors: the Big Mom Pirates, led by Big Mom herself.

I knew that Big Mom hated Luffy for standing up to her, beating two of her sons/top commanders, crashing her tea party and then escaping her territory, but I did not expect to see her again so soon! Or for her to enter another Yonkou’s territory just to kill Luffy!

Kaido’s having none of that, though, and one of his top lieutenants, King, turns into a Pteranodon and sends her ship falling off the waterfalls leading to Wano.

Sanji Stands Up

Back in the Flower Capital, Sanji goes to face Page One in order to protect the civilians he’s attacking. But to hide his identity, he’s got a plan, and it’s something I wanted to see for a while: Raid Suit!

We already know how powerful Sanji is. His physical strength makes him one of the three strongest members of the Straw Hats, and he outclassed his family in their Raid Suits in the Whole Cake Island Arc. So I thought that if Sanji had one, he’d be a hundred times stronger. Looks like I got my wish.

Big Mom is Here

The other big takeaway is the arrival of Big Mom in Wano. Each of the Yonko is on par with the Marines. The Marines had to muster most of their forces just fight one of them, so the idea of two Yonko fighting is catastrophic! If Kaido and Big Mom clash, it could destroy Wano. If they teamed up over their shared hatred of Luffy, the Alliance would be wiped out.

As bad as both scenarios are, I think there’s a third option. If Big Mom and Kaido clash, both will end up being weakened. If the Alliance stays in hiding until the two exhaust themselves, they could swoop in and strike at both. It’s a long shot, but it may be the advantage they need to win.

All I know is that the climax is going to be incredible. Oda is going all out on the Wano Arc, and I am enjoying reading it!

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