RJ Writing Ink

Sword Art Online: Alicization War of Underworld, Episode 26 Review/Recap

After a quiet prologue to show us what’s happened to Underworld, SAO begins to ramp up once more. The war between the Humans and the Dark Territory’s on the horizon, and the latter’s already make the opening salvos. Rulid Village is under attack by the Dark Territory, and the only one who can stop them is Alice? Although, can Alice regain her warrior spirit, though, and what’s happening in the real world?

LINK START!

Recap

Alice races on her dragon Amayori to Rulid Village, finding that her worst fears have been realized. A vanguard of goblins and other beings from the Dark Territory are invading Rulid. In addition, the greedy Master-At-Arms refuses to let anyone evacuate. Enraged and inspired by Kirito’s resolve to help even in his state, Alice reveals her status as an Integrity Knight and orders everyone to retreat. Afterwards, she proceeeds to drive back the invaders on her own. However, knowing that war’s inevitable, Alice chooses to return to the capital with Kirito to prepare for the upcoming conflict.

Meanwhile in the real world, the Ocean Turtle’s under attack by an unknown assault team. It doesn’t take long for RATH to figure out their objective: to get inside the Fluctlight Cubes and acquire Alice for themselves. Much to Asuna’s fury, the only person in any position to stop the enemy is Kirito, and he’s in a coma within a coma. However, Asuna refuses to stand any longer and demands that Kikouka do something as she comes up with her own idea.

Review

I considered the first half of this episode to be a warm-up for the war that’s coming to Underworld. More importantly, I consider it an important moment in Alice’s character development. We’ve seen her go from a proud knight blindly following the Axiom Church to someone broken by the loss of her childhood friends. Add on the revelation that everything she was told was a lie, and she lost her resolve to fight. In this episode, though, we see her regain that fire she had as she takes up a new cause. This time, though, its worth fighting for. Additionally, I thought the restoration of her eye, while not explained very well, was a symbolic rebirth for her.

As for the second half, though, it represents the shortcomings of adapting a light novel. Exposition dumps are necessary to move the plot along, but I think the show didn’t need to spend so much time explaining it. The long and short is: Kirito’s self-loathing over losing Eugeo+power surge= frying his mind and sense of self. As for who these intruders are, it’s clear they’re working for another government that doesn’t want Japan to create a bottom-up AI. We also got a big reveal in a post-credits scene of the assault team’s leader. Remember this guy, because he’s going to be one of Kirito’s biggest enemies.

The main draw to the real world remains Asuna. She’s running out of patience and, by the looks of things, is ready to dive into Underworld to find Kirito herself. Considering how strong-willed she and Alice are, there would be sparks flying if they met.

Buckle up, people, because things are going to get really crazy from this point on. Crazy even by SAO standards.

I Give “Raids” a 3/5

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My Hero Academia, Season 4, Episode 2 Review/Recap

With the recap episode now out of the way, My Hero Academia can get into the meat of the season with its new villain. The deadly supervillain Overhaul makes his anime debut, and right off the bat, he show’s he means business.

Recap

At the League of Villains hideout, Tomura meets with a man called Overhaul, a member of the Yakuza gang Shie Hassakai. Despite trying to recruit him into the League if Villains, Overhaul lambasts Tomura for having plans, and that he intends to become All for One’s successor. When the League tries to attack him, he shows his power by brutally killing Magnus and somehow shutting down Mr. Compress’ Quirk.

Meanwhile, Deku tries to further his hero training by doing a work study at a hero agency. At Gran Torino’s and All Might’s suggestion, he decides to go to Mirio Togata, who’s studying under All Might’s former sidekick, Sir Nighteye. The first thing that Midoriya must to get Nighteye to acknowledge him, though, is to make him laugh. In addition, this is what he sees when he first walks into his office:

Recap

I won’t beat around the bush: I liked this episode. It manages to effectively introduce our newest villain and a major hero in the same episode, as well as give us insight into their characters. If you read the manga, then you know that Overhaul’s Deku’s toughest foe yet. Worse, unlike Tomura, he has a plan that could shake up the world of heroes.

As for Sir Nighteye, I’m looking forward to seeing him in the anime. Despite his stoic appearance, he considers laughter and humor to be one of the biggest weapons a hero can use. Given how nervous Midoriya can be, we know that he’s going to have a hard time with Nighteye. The end results, though, will be worth it. I’m honestly looking forward to seeing this season. In addition, the fact that it’s simuldubbed the same day it comes out in Japan gets my hyped! Go beyond, plus ultra!

I Give “Overhaul” a 4/5.

Also, can we talk about the video Nighteye was watching. Look at all those dislikes!

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Jay’s Month of Screams, Day 21- The Simpsons

I promised that I would be doing the 30th Treehouse of Horror for my Halloween entry today, and I’m standing by it. Even if I think that it was boring. At this point, Treehouse of Horror’s less about the horror and more about cutting loose from the restraints of canon. Nonetheless, I’m ready to deliver my verdict on the big XXX/666.

To start us off, I enjoyed the opening segment that led into the episode. I thought it was a neat little parody of Omen, even if American Dad did it years ago. What got me laughing was “the mark of the beast.”

I love Disney, but I’ve made my concern about the Mouse’s growing power clear. Even so, I liked that joke. Firstly, I thought the Mickey Mouse Mark was a cheeky jab by Fox at their new Disney overlords. Second, it was one of the funniest jokes of the special.

Danger Things

The first segement’s a parody of the hit Netflix series Stranger Things, which I admit I’ve never seen before. I had to look up what it’s about, and it seems like the kind of thing I’d love to watch. My lack of knowledge didn’t stop me from enjoying the special. I did, however, recognize the E.T. Game. It’s a cautionary tale about the dangers of trying to rush a video game for profit.

Loosely parodying the first few seasons of the show, Milhouse gets abducted and trapped in an alternate dimension. It ends falling on Lisa to use her psychic powers to save him, only to be saved by Homer. Mr. Burns opened a portal to the other dimension, and Homer got trapped doing clean-up. I thought this was the most interesting of all the segments, and it might be what gets me into Stranger Thing’s.

Heaven Swipes Right

In this next segment, Homer ends up dying in the third most likely way: choking on a hot dog at a game. As it turns out, though, he wasn’t meant to die until later, so Heaven gives him the chance to go back to Earth. Since his body’s useless, they let him pick another person’s body to use, leading him to abuse its power to make Marge happy.

This segment felt a bit like a one-note joke, with the joke being Homer going through every body imaginable. However, that gets old pretty fast. I got more giggles out of the sight of Heaven under new management: Google. Google bought Heaven from God, and while we know it could never happen, I thought it’s funny. It makes you wonder just how powerful Google can get.

When Hairy Met Slimy

Finally, we have a love story between the last people we’d expect: Selma and Kang. Held captive under the Springfield power plant, the two fall in love despite their differences. When Mr. Burns schedules Kang for dissection, Selma enlists Homer on an epic jailbreak to set him free, and be rid of Selma forever.

I cannot lie about this: I hated this segment and thought it was boring. Honestly, I skipped most of it, only stopping to see Kang put on the Infinity Gauntlet.

I am supportive of love conquering all, even species differences; but this was not even remotely fun to watch. I’d rather watch Eclipsa and Globgor, instead: those two are a great couple!

Final Verdict

This was not even remotely scary, outside of Danger Things. I would have had a better time watching one of the Treehouse of Horror episodes from the golden age of The Simpsons than this. Which is a shame, because the 30th special is a big milestone; and it’s the 666th episode, no less!

So, lesson learned, though I’m not entirely sure what the lesson was. At least I know what I’m watching tomorrow is good. Happy Halloween!

Click here to see the FANDOM Article I did for Halloween last year.

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

Jay’s Month of Screams, Day 20- The Simpsons

I’ve spent the entire month talking about the various Halloween specials and movies I’ve watched. Some of them are beloved classics, while others I’ve never seen before. However, there’s one classic series of Halloween Specials that I’ve actively avoided seeing all month, and that’s The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror.

I’m not a big fan of The Simpsons, but I love the Treehouse of Horror episodes. First premiering back in Season Two, the Treehouse of Horror special was so much fun that the show’s done it every year since then. They’re anthology episodes where the show’s cast and writers step away from canon and just make their own scary stories. Often parodies of films and pop culture, the specials are like a Halloween tradition. I’ve seen most of them, and while I have my favorite skits, the special that I love most is Treehouse of Horror V.

With the 30th special airing tonight, I wanted to look back on my Treehouse of Horror V. It’s not only considered the best of the specials, but one of the best Simpsons episodes altogether.

The Shinning

In the opening story, the Simpsons family travels to Mr. Burns secluded mansion to serve as caretakers for the winter. However, Mr. Burns shuts off the cable and takes the beer with him, which cause Homer to quickly go nuts. He’s then persuaded by a ghost version of Moe to “waste his family” for beer.

I laughed so hard when I first saw The Shinning. It’s a hilarious parody of Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining that follows the film almost to a fault. The jokes are hilarious, there are plenty of references to the movie, and it’s simply good comedy. I can also weirdly relate to Homer’s plight, but I’d replace TV with the Internet. I’d go crazy without my streaming.

Time and Punishment

It all started when Homer got his hand stuck in the toaster. His attempts to fix it result in it becoming a time machine that sends him back to the time of dinosaurs. As a result of his mishaps, the present gets altered. Can Homer find a way to return Springfield to what he knows and loves? Probably not, but it will be fun to watch.

While not as entertaining as The Shinning, Time and Punishment was still enjoyable to watch. I found it fun to see someone like Homer, who usually doesn’t think things through, actively try not to mess things up. However, when not altering the past proves too hard, he does what many frustrated people would do: screw it. I had a hard time deciding what was funnier: Homer getting his perfect life only to bail when he learns donuts don’t exist, or James Earl Jones voicing Maggie.

Nightmare Cafeteria

In the final segment, the teachers at Springfield Elementary create a morbid solution to their detention and food problems: they eat the kids. One by one, every student in Springfield gets sent to detention to be slaughtered, with only Milhouse, Lisa and Bart remaining. Can they escape from being devoured by the teachers? Can Willie go a segment without getting axed?

It takes a lot to make my stomach churn and disturb me at times. Of all of the Treehouse of Horror segments I’ve seen, this was the most disturbing one. I can’t even watch the whole segment without getting disgusted by it. That makes it good, though, in a morbid sort of way.

The Best of the Best

There are plenty of great Treehouse of Horror segments out there, but this special is by far the best as a whole. It’s hilarious, disturbing at times, and incredibly imaginative in how it tells it’s stories. No wonder it’s considered to be the best of The Simpsons Halloween specials. Although, if i had to pick my favorite segment, it’sThe Shinning.

The Simpsons may not be as good as it used to be; no one will deny that. Even so, Treehouse of Horror keeps bringing fans back year after year. In other words, it’s a Halloween tradition in all but name. I look forward to a new one every year, and I’m looking forward to the new one tonight. In case you haven’t realized it, I’m using tonight’s special as my pick for tomorrow. Happy Halloween!

Click here to see the FANDOM Article I did for Halloween last year.

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