RJ Writing Ink

My Hero Academia, Season 4, Episode 3 Review/Recap

In order to do a work study under Sir Nighteye, all Midoriya had to do was get him to laugh. However, it looks like his impersonation of All Might only offended the older fanboy. The meeting of the ultimate All Might fanboys shall commence!

Recap

Despite failing to make Nighteye laugh, Midoriya manages to turn things around by demonstrating his knowledge of All Might. Yet Nighteye refuses to let him do a work study because he thinks he has nothing to offer. So the man gives Midoriya a test: if he can get the stamp out of his hands in three minutes, then he’ll sign off on his work study.

Midoriya gives it his all, but his training’s no match for Nighteye’s Quirk. By touching his target and making eye contact, Nighteye can see someone’s future actions for up to an hour. He effortlessly dodges Midoriya’s attacks. When the test is over, though, Nighteye realizes that Deku never damaged any of his All Might memorabilia. He held back and dodged it all. Impressed, he approves Midoriya’s work study, though makes it clear that he doesn’t approve of him being All Might’s successor.

With his work study secure, Deku begins his first mission. Nighteye’s agency is investigating Overhaul’s actions and needs more intel. However, not long after heading out, Deku runs into a terrified young girl, with Overhaul in tow.

Review

I, for one, found the dynamic between Midoriya and Nighteye to be very humorous. The way that they both fanboyed over their shared love of All Might was funny, even if it wasn’t intentional. Having been a fanboy of multiple things myself, I understand how much fun it is to talk to someone about what you love with someone who loves it as much. That’s how friendships are forged.

All fanboy stuff aside, I think it’s unfortunate that Nighteye doesn’t see Midoriya as a worthy successor to All Might. In the older man’s eyes, Mirio Togata fits all the qualities of the next Symbol of Peace. Midoriya may need to work on his confidence a lot, but for all his faults, we know he has the heart of a hero. That’s why All Might chose him.

The next episode is going to see Midoriya face his biggest test yet, and I think fans have a lot to look forward to. That little girl fleeing from Overhaul is very important, and saving her is the key to stopping the plans he has in store. If Deku can’t save a single girl who’s crying, then he’ll never be able to call himself a hero.

I Give “Boy Meets…” a Solid 4.5/5

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Jay’s Month of Screams, Day 27- Regular Show, Terror Tales V

With Halloween nearly upon us, I’m closing in on the last of my picks for the month of screams. Since I’m such a big fan of Regular Show, I’m going to finish my review on the Terror Tales of the Park series, and this next one may be my favorite. It’s got Steve Blum in it!

The episode starts off with Benson throwing a Halloween party that the gang agrees is awesome. The centerpiece to it is Racki the Wishmaker, a mechanical genie voiced by Steve Blum. Legendary for his baritone voice, Steve did a lot of the extra voices for Regular Show. I love the guy, and this episode has him at his finest as Racki. He can grant people visions of whatever they wish, but it’s made scary! One by one, the park gang tries it out.

Mr. Bossman

When Benson wishes to motivate Mordecai and Rigby at work, he gets a vision of him getting a dummy named Mr. Bossman to yell at them. The duo are so creeped out that it actually works. Then one night, Mr. Bossman comes to life and tries to kill Benson and take his job!

When I tried writing that FANDOM article on Terror Tales, I included this in my five favorite stories. I thought that Mr. Bossman reminded me of Slappy the evil dummy from R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps series. I’ve seen reruns of the show on TV, and that’s one of the best episodes.

Werepops

Pop wishes that he could travel more, so Racki gives him just that. In his wish, the entire park gang’s doing jury duty on Halloween, with an actual werewolf as the defendant. When the criminal attack Pops in the bathroom, Pops turns into a werewolf and is left to take the rap while the real guy escapes. So Pops has to run all the way to London.

Steve Blum’s famous for the hundreds of roles he’s done, with some of them being in the same show. This story’s one such example, with him voicing the Werewolf and the man’s lawyer. Steve Blum aside, I enjoyed this story because it ends with the song “Werewolves of London”.

Going Up

Hi-Five Ghost wishes that he could visit his girlfriend Celia in Prague, so Racki grants his wish. Unfortunately, Fives makes the mistake of taking the elevator rather than walk 36 flights of stairs. Only he gets stuck inside the elevator!

While it doesn’t seem too scary at first glance, its the ending that makes this segment scary. Celia reveals that the elevator’s been broken for years, and the repairman for it died a long time ago. Except Hi Five Ghost was talking to him right before he went inside the elevator. It’s creepier when you watch it.

Chocolatitude

In a change of pace, the special has four stories instead of three. When Rigby wishes to be popular as a kid, his vision shows him just that. After some kids make fun of his costume, Rigby accepts a dare to take candy from a creepy old house. When he tries taking more than one, though, he incurs the wrath of the witch that lives inside.

This segment, in hindsight, feels similar to the wizard one in the original Halloween special, but it’s got a few good differences. Instead of turning Rigby into a house, the witch turns him and Mordecai into chocolate to eat. That was disturbing, but I already saw a villain do that in Dragon Ball Z, so the effect gets diminished. I actually forgot about this story until I saw the special again.

Oh, and I think Steve Blum voiced one of the other kids.

Steve Blum Strikes Again

The Terror Tales almost always has a weird ending, but this one takes the cake. Racki the Wishmaker tries to make off with the Park Gang’s valuables, only to fail and get destroyed. He gets the last laugh, though, since Benson won’t get his security deposit back.

In a twist, the entire episode’s revealed to be a vision from Benson at the Halloween Party shop. He wanted to see his wish for the best Halloween party ever, and Racki’s powers turned him off altogether. At least Steve Blum sounded like he was having fun.

This was probably my favorite of the Regular Show Halloween episodes. The stories were fun, I enjoyed the pop culture references, and, of course, Steve Blum giving a hundred percent. I loved it, and I think you will too! 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 26- The Cabin in the Woods

I normally don’t go for horror films, despite my love for Halloween. Irony aside, when I do watch a horror film, I enjoy making fun of the cliches found within. Maybe that’s why I took to The Cabin in the Woods so well

Released in 2012, this film was directed by Drew Goddard and produced by Joss Whedon. Whedon’s famous for creating Firefly, the Buffyverse, and doing The Avengers movie and his run on Astonishing X-Men. Goddard wrote on Buffy, so the two worked well together. Needless to say, this film had talent working on it, so I gave it a shot.

Horrifically Hilarious

The film follows the standard American Slasher film plot. A bunch of archetype young adults alone in an isolated area, then get embroiled in a supernatural horror show.

Unlike slasher films, though, the whole thing’s planned out. A secret global organization plans out scenarios every year where people are killed as sacrifices to eldritch gods called the Ancient Ones. If the ritual fails, they destroy the world.

I couldn’t help but laugh at the plot of the movie: it intentionally follows the tropes of classic slasher films and makes no effort to hide it. The reasoning behind this is that Whedon and Goddard wanted to draw attention to what they see as the problems with horror films these days. Primarily, they’re mad about how the characters seem to make the absolute dumbest decisions possible!

I mentioned it a little in my post on the Total Drama Island episode, but I hate seeing the stupidity of people in horror movies. It irritates me to no end. You shouldn’t make out in the woods, you shouldn’t split up, and always carry something for self defense. In addition, The Cabin in the Woods also makes viewers ask an important question: why do we like watching attractive people die in the worst ways possible?

We Are the Ancient Ones

An interesting thing about this movie is the concept of the Ancient Ones. While they’re treated like something out of a Lovecraftian novel, I interpreted them in a more meta fashion. The Ancient Ones are essentially the viewers and fans.

The whole purpose of the Ritual is to appease them so they won’t destroy humanity. They require the Ritual to be done in a specific fashion with an ending in mind. That’s pretty much every fan possible. As for the Ancient Ones destroying the world, it’s like angry moviegoers unsatisfied with what they watched.

A Great Horror Deconstruction

The Cabin in the Woods is a great movie. It not only includes all the cliches of horror movies, but revels in them. It enjoys them while bashing them at the same time. I love The Cabin in The Woods, and even if you hate horror movies, you can love it, too. 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.