RJ Writing Ink

Even before the reboot of Ducktales, Della Duck was a bit of a mystery. She’s rarely appeared in any Disney stories, and the original cartoon never even mentioned her. So, fans were pretty excited when the reboot made it clear that it was going to show us who she was; even Nostalgia Critic got hyped.

The mystery behind Della’s absence was one of the biggest plot points during Season One. We got hints of what happened, but it took Scrooge’s bombshell revelation in “The Last Crash of the Sunchaser!” to give us the whole story. And what a sad story! When it looked like Della might be gone for good, the Season One finale showed us that Della was alive. Alive but trapped on the moon.

The Christmas Special “Last Christmas” gave us some insight into what Della was like as a kid, but she hasnt gotten a lot of on-screen time. Plus there are so many questions. How has she survived for ten years without food, water, or oxygen? How could Scrooge fail to find her on the Moon? “What Ever Happened to Della Duck” answers these questions, while laying the groundwork for future plot lines.

Right off the bat, the writers establish what kind of story this episode’s going to tell: after showing how Della crashed the Spear of Selene on the moon, the next scene shows her waking up with her leg pinned underneath the wreckage and no way to get it out. She knows what she has to do, and her response is classic Donald: “Aw, phooey”. The next scene is two months later, her leg amputated in favor of a robot prosthetic. Then the show’s title appears, no song, no credits. Perfect way to emphasize how serious this episode’s going to be.

It is indeed serious, but it also knows how to balance it with humor. For example, the show explains how Della’s survived without a spacesuit: Gyro’s Oxy-Chew gum. It gives her all the food, water, and air she needs. The bad news: it’s black licorice flavored. Yuck!

To pass the time, Della makes video logs a la Mark Watney. This gives viewers insight into what her boys got from her:

• Huey got her love of being a Junior Woodchuck
• Dewey got the love of adventure. And her recklessness
• Louie got her laziness and sharp mind.

Funny enough, she has Donald’s anger problems. But being stuck on the Moon doesn’t break her spirits.

Things will not go her way, though. She tries writing an SOS message, a creature called a Moon-nite eats it before one of Scrooge’s ships can see it. She tries rebuilding the Spear of Selene, she finds its powered by gold. When it takes her four years to remember she had a gold tooth in her mouth, the Moon-Mite comes back and eats part of her ship!

By the end of the episode, she makes peace with the Moon-Mite after learning it was just trying to feed its kid. The moment could have been a Disney cop-out, but Della’s heartfelt song ensures it’s not. The Spear of Selene’s beaten up real bad, though.

It’s here where things finally go Della’s way. After befriending the native inhabitants of the Moon, they let her stay in their giant city made out of gold. More than enough to fix her ship!

Things seem to be looking up for Della, but a comment from one of the Moonlanders gives the impression that they have ulterior motives. That can wait for another day, though.

This episode manages to go above and beyond answering it’s own question while giving us a great story in the vein of great survival stories like The Martian and Robinson Crusoe. Better still, it sets the show for events down the road. The best part, though, is that it finally gave fans a good look at Della Duck.

I Give This Episode a 4.8/5

Final Thoughts

• That Oxy-Chew was a really good plot device, but I wonder: was Della chewing the same piece of gum for ten years?
  • If Della ever gets back to Earth, I think it’d be funny to see her punch Gyro for the gum flavor. “Best flavor in the world” my butt!
• Wait, how do the Moonlanders breath? There’s no air on the Moon!

Talking about the Trailer for the Final Season of Game of Thrones

Eight years. Tens of millions of fans the world over. A show that helped define a decade of TV. A story that can stand among the greatest in the history of mankind. In just one month, its the beginning of the end for Game of Thrones.

But before we do all of that, I want to talk about the trailer for the final season and what I think it could mean for the characters, while reflecting on how far they’ve come for the GoT Final Season

Arya Stark

Arya Stark is, and has always been, a fighter. From the beginning it was clear that she was not meant to live the kind of life that society expected of her. She’d rather swordfight with the guys than knit or that stuff.

Season one onwards, Arya went through a trauma conga line, losing her pet wolf, her father, mother, and brother, sometimes right in front of her. Seeing all this trauma forced Arya to grow up fast. With the help of the Faceless Men, Arya’s become a skilled fighter and assassin. Not going to lie, watching her kill Walder Frey and most of his sons was a satisfying moment

In the trailer, Arya claims that she looks forward to seeing this new face of Death, most likely meaning the White Walker. As good a fighter as she is, though, she’s never been in an actual battle before. Given how the first shots in the trailer are of her covered in blood and sweat, running through the darkened halls of Winterfell, I fear she may be in over her head.

Arya Stark is a survivor, but not even she may be ready for the White Walker. But remember what Syrio Forel told her all those years ago about they say to Death: “Not today.” Whatever comes next, she’ll go down fighting.

Bran Stark

You can barely even recognize the bright and energetic young boy that Bran Stark was at the start of the show. He lost the use of his legs thanks to Jaime throwing him out of the tower, and was ready to give up on life. Then he discovered his warging and greenseering powers, which gave him a new purpose in life.

After journeying Beyond the Wall, Bran trained under the Three-Eyed Raven to become his successor, and it shows. The experience of viewing so many past events has left him with few emotions. When Sansa tearfully hugs after seeing him for the first time in years, he didn’t even react.

Even so, I think that Bran still cares about his family. He certainly cares about the well-being of mankind, as he seems to be ready to use his powers to fight the White Walkers. I only hope that he can make it through the Long Night that is to come.

Jaime Lannister

There is no getting around it: when viewers (and book readers) first met him, Jaime Lannister came off as an arrogant pretty boy. Who was also in an incestuous relationship with his sister. While he is pretty arrogant, it’s not unjustified given his skill as a swordsman.

The events of the show, though, took him down several pegs. Losing to Robb Stark and enduring captivity at the hands of the Northerners, and then getting his hand cut off by the Boltons stooges. It humbled him a lot. It also revealed that he’s not as bad as everyone thought.

His infamous betrayal and killing of the Mad King was explained in a way that was not only understandable, but could even be justified. The events of the show, particularly his friendship with Brienne, steer him to becoming a man who keeps his promises. It’s this new outlook that leads Jaime to finally leave Cersei out of disgust for her actions. And I think that it’s about time.

As we see in the trailer, Jaime has kept his promise to fight for the living. Alongside the Northerners, Unsullied, and Dothraki he’s fought against, no less! And from the look of things, he’s going to be fighting right in the middle of the war against the White Walkers. He’s still one of the best swordsman in Westeros, but I fear that he’ll be vulnerable fighting with one hand. Jaime’s already come this far, but this fight may be his last.

Cersei Lannister

I’m going to be blunt here: I want Cersei to die. I’ve only been watching the show for two measly years. Other fans have had the show’s entire run to hate her; two decades if they started out reading the books. She is one of the few fictional characters that I loathe with every fiber of my being.

Cersei has always been a bad person, but she’s somehow gotten even worse during the show’s run. We could devote an entire list of all the horrible things she’s done, but near the top was blowing up the Sept of Baelor and killing hundreds of people. Not even the threat of the White Walkers is enough to curb her selfish narcissism. She plans on sacrificing half of Westeros to the Army of the Dead if it means she can keep her throne.

It seems that she’s holding true to her intentions in the trailer, remaining in King’s Landing where her only allies left are Qyburn, her Queensguard, and Euron. Euron seems to have hired the Golden Company like they planned, so she’s going to sit in King’s Landing and drink her wine while Westeros fights for survival.

Cersei Lannister’s managed to outlive most of her enemies and allies, but with Jaime gone, she has so few left to her. A lot of people are hoping to see her die, but the Mad Queen has cheated death before. I still hope she dies, though.

Rhaegal and Drogon

Considering how they’re dragons and not humans, it can be easy to forget how Drogon and Rhaegal are as much of characters as the rest of the cast. Since they hatched at the end of Season 1, the two dragons have grown from adorable little lizards into young adults ready to fight and die to protect their mother, Daenaerys.

The dragons are nigh unbeatable opponents, but as everyone learned last season, they’re not invincible. Viserion’s death at the hands of the Night King was a shock to the audience and to those present to witness it. If Daenaerys is mourning the loss of one of her children, then imagine how her two remaining dragons must feel.

Viserion’s death would have been the first time the dragons would know what it means to be truly powerless. They can wipe out entire armies, but they couldn’t save their brother. Now that brother has been reanimated as a wight to serve the Night King. They must be furious.

The two dragons are seen several times throughout the trailer, driving home the point that they will play a major role in the Great War. Both of them seem eager to fight, but will they be able to defeat their own brother, if necessary?

Daenaerys Targaryen

Daenaerys Targaryen has come so far since Season One. Gone is the timid girl who cowered under the yolk of her abusive older brother. In her place stands a proud Queen who’s determined to take back the Iron Throne, and will use everything she has to do so. At least, that’s how it was at first.

Since she arrived in Westeros, Dany’s learned of the ancient evil that’s threatening to overrun all of Westeros, and that she may be one of the people prophesied to save humanity. Now she’s seen the White Walkers, and watched as one of her beloved dragons was slain like it was nothing. Not even she can fight them alone, and will stand with those she once fought for the sake of the Seven Kindgoms.

The trailer seemed to be vague about how she will fight in the Great War, but it is certain that she will fight. Whether she will survive, though, is another matter entirely. People are saying that either she or Jon will end up dying in the fight against the White Walkers. And that doesn’t even bring up the elephant in the room..

Jon Snow

From the Bastard of Winterfell to the Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch to the King in the North. Jon Snow has been through a lot over the show’s run, and has come into his own as a leader. More than anyone, he knows how dangerous the White Walkers are and what is at stake, and has devoted himself to defeating them. But there are things about Jon that not even he knows.

The end of Season Six confirmed the longtime fan theory that Jon was actually the son of Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen. The end of Season Seven built on that even further by revealing that Lyanna was never kidnapped. She and Rhaegar had fallen in love and secretly gotten married. Jon’s no bastard: he’s the rightful King of Westeros.

As shown in the trailer, Jon is going to be fighting on the front lines alongside his allies. If anyone can defeat the Night King and save the Seven Kingdoms, its Jon Snow. Even so, fans are worried that Jon may end up giving his life in order to save Westeros from an eternal winter. That, and there’s the fact that he and his aunt Dany are in love with each other. And that’s just history repeating itself.

In Conclusion

At this point, I think it’s fair to just put every character left alive on the chopping block. As we have seen in Game of Thrones, no one, not even a main character, is safe from death. And now death is at the gates of the living.

There are plenty of other characters that I did not have time to cover in this, but I had to limit this to the ones who were most prominent in the trailer. Whatever happens in April, history will be made.

Click here to see my GoT Page.

One Piece Chapter 935 Review/Recap

Oh, come on, Luffy! You were this close to getting out of prison, and then this happens! Things are only going to get crazier from here on out.

In this chapter of One Piece, Raizo was able to get the key to Luffy’s handcuffs, and is already on his way. I like how silly Raizo’s method of getting the key was. Tricking a dim-witted grunt is always an enjoyable experience.

Too bad that Luffy just kicked the snot out of that jailer. Now he’s facing the death penalty. While everyone else is acting like Luffy’s as good as dead, we know better. Luffy would get out of this even if he didn’t have the plot armor of being the main protagonist.

What’s more impressive is how he’s able to move around so easily with those seastone. When Ace was wearing them, it looked like a struggle for him to move. They say it has something to do with the amount he has on him, but according to the head jailer, it’s his willpower.

Luffy, though, reveals why he’s being so nonchalant about it: he’s pulling a Goku. He sees this as a way of training himself to get stronger. With his defeat at Kaido fresh in his mind, that’s expected. But it does raise an interesting possibility.

What if Luffy were to keep those those seastone handcuff as a training tool? Would that actually help him get stronger? As a devil fruit user, the ocean and seastone his two biggest weaknesses. He can’t get rid of the fact that he can’t swim, but he could train to the point where he could use his raw strength even with seastone on him? Good lord, I don’t even know how strong he’d be.

For now, Luffy has bigger problems. Queen of the Beast Pirates has shown up, and he’s… doing a song and dance number?

Only in One Piece.

In Ebisu Town, Franky, Law, and Usopp are lying low. Zoro ran off saying something about his sword getting stolen. As for Sanji, he’s being Sanji.

All right, cue the fanservice.

What, did you think I was going to show them outright? Not happening. But while the girls are bathing (and being oogled), Shinobu talks about Hyogoro, the former head of the Yakuza in Wano.

He ran the Flower Capital’s underworld and had influence over the heads of each village. But unlike Kyoshiro, Hyogoro represents the noble side of the Yakuza. He was kind to the people and was honorable. Even Lord Oden admired him. According to rumors, though, Orochi and Kaido killed him when they seized power. We know that he’s still alive, though, and he’s taken a shine to Luffy. Orochi and Kaido tried to get Hyogoro to join them, but he refused, and now he’s a tired old man. But if her were to get out, he could rally the Yakuza to join the rebellion.

Easier said than down. Queen has Luffy and Hyogoro at swordpoint, while Raizo’s hiding nearby with the key. Freedom is so close! But fate seems to smile on Luffy, as Raizo seems to have reunited with an old friend and fellow retainer to the Oden Clan: Kawamatsu. Kaido’s kept him locked up in Udon for years, feeding him poisoned fish to try and kill him, and he lives.

Let’s see: Kawamatsu+Raizo+Hyogoro+Chopper’s group+Luffy. The math all adds up: Luffy’s getting out in the next few chapters.

I have been a little critical of the pacing of the Wano Arc over the last few chapters. It’s been all over the place, never staying focused on one group for very long, making it hard to keep up. This chapter was one of the more interesting ones, since we haven’t seen Luffy that much in Act Two. I hope this continues into the next chapter, because I’d hate to end to wait for weeks to come back to it.

Do you guys think Luffy will escape in the next few chapters? Let me know!

What I’m about to say is a little embarassing for me: I didn’t start watching Game of Thrones until the end of season six. I know there are people out there who have been with Game of Thrones since the show began back in 2011. Hell, there have been people that have followed the story since George R.R. Martin’s first book in the series came out in 1996. Me, I didn’t get into it until season six. I had seen friends and family members watch the show, and talk about how good it is. I saw the parodies and jokes, like this little sketch from Robot Chicken:

But my favorite was South Park’s “Black Friday” trilogy. Listen to that intro:

So, after years of hearing about it, and doing a quick read-up on the Game of Thrones wiki to get the gist, I watched it. I got hooked in about two seconds; why didn’t I watch it sooner?

Joined at a Good Time

To be honest, I may chosen a good time to jump in. Season six saw a major injustice avenged and the stakes build for the final battle. Plus, I could binge the series if I wanted to get caught up.

Now that I am caught up on everything, I can say this for certain: the final season of Game of Thrones will be the biggest TV event of the decade. I daresay it, it might be one of the greatest moments in TV history.
So, to prepare for it, I decided that, starting next week, I’m going to be writing about all things Game of Thrones. I’ll be writing my thoughts on each season, the biggest moments, the biggest deaths, and more. It all leads up to my honest reviews of the final season of Game of Thrones, coming the day after every episode.

Until then, be sure to check back tomorrow, when I talk about the trailer for Game of Thrones: Season 8.

I would also like to let everyone know where my loyalties lie: Team Stark-Targaryen for life.

Click here to see my GoT Page.

Eden’s Zero Chapter 34 Review/Recap

Well, things just keep getting crazier and crazier in this chapter of Eden’s Zero. Hermit doesn’t trust humans, for reasons that’ll be revealed later, and now I’m not sure if we can trust Homura.

On top of that, remembering what Hermit said about humans triggers Shiki’s memories of the robots of Granbell and how they said they hate humans.

As the readers, we know that the robots were lying in order to get Shiki to leave Granbell before they went offline for good. Otherwise, he’d be stuck there forever. It was necessary, but I still feel bad about it. I hope Shiki learns the truth one day.

At the moment, though, the crew of Edens Zero seems to have much bigger problems. At that moment, an army of monsters appears outside the village!

And they’re being led by… a talking bird man? What the heck?

This Giron says that he’s working on behalf of that psychotic monster Jaimoff and he’s going to kill every last NPC in town and take it over. Then, Jamioff will kill the monsters so he can level up and gain experience.

Shiki, however, is having none of that.

For a few moments, it looked like Shiki was going to curb-stomp the monster army, but then Happy points out that some of the flying monsters are headed towards the hill where Hermit’s sulking. So Shiki runs off to save her, whether she wants it or not.

As for the rest of the group, they have to face the monster army by themselves. To make things worse, Homura ran off again. According to her conversation with Jesse, she has nothing against the crew of Edens Zero, but they’ve “done their part”.

Strange Development

I still cannot figure what Homura’s real motives. I know that she has some ulterior motive for helping out Shiki back on Guilst, and since she has Valkyrie’s sword, I can assume her connection to Valkyrie of Edens Zero is genuine.

Regardless, the crew of Edens Zero is at a disadvantage. Pino can’t use her EMP generation inside Digitalis or it will wreck everything, and Weisz can’t use his Machina Maker. Right now, Rebecca and Happy are the only line of defense.

Most people would say it seems hopeless, but this is a shonen manga. They’ll pull out some trump card somehow; that’s how shonen’s like to work. And I think I know what it could be. Maybe this fight will be what lets Rebecca master her dormant Ether Gear.

Back at Hermit’s hill, Hermit was about to just let herself be killed by the monsters, but Shiki jumps in and saves her at the last second. The chapter ends at that moment, but I hope that this will be the start of Hermit growing to trust Shiki. At the least, we’ll learn what made Hermit hate humans so much in the first place.

This chapter didn’t seem quite as interesting as last week’s, in my honest opinon. To be fair, though, the previous chapter had a lot of twists, so maybe I’m still trying to wrap my head around that. What happens next is your guess as much as it is mine, guys! I hope to see you guys next week for another episode of Edens Zero!

Click here to see more animanga stuff

Sword Art Online: Alicization Review/Recap, Episode 4

Remember how I had said that Sword Art Online: Alicization was going to be a slow burn? Well, a slow-moving story can be worth it as long as the payoff is worth it. As this episode of Sword Art Online shows, the payoff comes in the form of epic fight scenes. Say what you will about SAO, the fight scenes are always awesome.

LINK START!!

Recap

We pick up where the last episode left off: a horde of goblins about to fight Kirito and Eugeo, and Eugeo scared out of his mind. Given everything that Kirito’s been through, this is like another day at the office.

Kirito then comes up with a plan: he fights the boss, while Eugeo deals with the small fry. The fight that follows lives up to the standards that the show sets.

Quick note: unlike previous VRMMO’s, Underworld is meant to be as close to our world as possible. That means when people get cut with swords, they bleed. When they get their arms cut off, they bleed a lot. Just like that goblin leader when Kirito cuts his arm off.

Another quick note: pain is very much a thing in Underworld, and Kirito’s at a disadvantage here. He’s been playing VRMMO’s for so long, he hasn’t experienced pain in a while. When that goblin slashes Kirito across the chest, he is in agony.

Fortunately, Eugeo finally finds his courage and distracts the head goblin, but is mortally wounded in the process. Enraged, Kirito manages to decapitate the guy. The rest of the goblins quickly retreat.

After freeing Selka, she then leads Kiritio in performing an incredibly risky sacred art : transfer their life into Eugeo to keep him from dying. It manages to work, but just before Kirito passes out, he hears a voice. It’s Alice, telling him that she’s waiting for him and Eugeo at the top of the central cathedral in the capital of Centoria.

A few days later, Eugeo and Kirito are back on their feet, and Kirito tries out Blue Rose again. He leveled up from that fight before, so now he can use the sword. And it takes a chunk of life out of the Gigas Cedar!

Eugeo then begs Kirito to train him as a swordsman so he can bring back Alice, and he readily agrees. He also dubs his sword style “Aincrad Style”.

One training montage later, Eugeo can handle Blue Rose like a pro, and just like that, that giant tree’s chopped down. The whole village celebrates! And, in a convenient plot device, Eugeo is now free to choose a new sacred task. He goes with the swordsman, and so Kirito and Eugeo depart for Centoria to become master swordsmen and bring back Alice.

Review

As I said before, the fights in Sword Art Online, however brief they may be at times, can be worth the wait. I’ve read the light novels, so trust me when I say that this was just a warm-up. The second half of the season is going to have some Dragonball Z level fighting.

It was a good warm-up, though. The choreography was good, the pacing and animation met the standards the show has set, and the music was on point. You know it’s going to be good when they start using a remix of swordland.

On that note, though, I do have something I want to discuss: are they overusing swordland? I know that it’s one of the best songs in the show’s soundtrack; it always has. When you hear it, it conveys a purpose, letting the audience know that this fight is going to be good. But it seems like they are using it a little too often now. When they were healing Eugeo, I swear I could hear a soft instrumental remix of it playing.

I like the song, but don’t rely on it exclusively or else its going to get really old really fast.

Also, Selka, why would you go into the mountains on your own? I get that you were trying to prove to yourself that you’re not Alice, but trying to do what got her in trouble isn’t going to help that argument. At least she admits tbat she’ll find her own way of surpassing Alice through the Sacred Arts. She’s got latent talent, so I’ll give her that.

The only other gripe I have about this episode is that they missed a few scenes that were in the light novel. They say the goblins were supposed to fight amongst themselves to determine a new leader, but we never see that. Also, I remember reading that Eugeo announces he’s going to be a swordsman, that jerk guard fights him for it. He doesn’t even show up here. I think it was a wasted chance to see a jerk get clobbered. I don’t even remember his name at this point.

Actually, according to the wiki, there was a lot of creative liberty taken with this episode. There are a lot of differences for each of the previous episodes that I never even knew. Them’s the breaks for not reading the first half of the arc.

So, in the end, this episode was at least 40% action, and 60% dialogue and moving the plot forward. Since this is just the first fight, though, I will give it a pass. I just hope that the fights continue to get better as time goes on.

I Give “Departure” a 3.5/5

Click here to see more animanga stuff.