RJ Writing Ink

The Owl House Episode 15 Review

If I had to choose the most interesting character on The Owl House, I wouldn’t choose Luz, King, or Eda. Instead, I’d choose Amity Blight. At first, we thought she was a condescending jerk. Then we learned that she was more complex than that. She puts a lot of pressure on herself, her older siblings can be a pain, and her “friends” are shallow as they come. The only real friend she had was Willow, yet she broke that off years ago. We had our theories as to why she ended her friendship with Willow, but it’s this episode that confirms them.

Amity Scrambles Willow’s Brains

While Luz learns how to turn memories into photo’s using Willow as her subject, Amity sees an old memory-photo of her and Willow as kids. So, she tries to burn her face out of the photo. But then the other photos catch fire, and since they’re linked to Willow, it scrambles her brain. It leaves her as a babbling moron.

I don’t know what’s more surprising: the fact that Amity resorted to such drastic measures, or the fact that, for once, Luz is only partially at fault. I say partially because Luz didn’t hide the photo’s from Amity.

There’s only one way to fix Willow: Luz and Amity go inside her to fix her memories and set things right. It’s a mind-scape episode!

Don’t You Just Hate Nasty Parents?

The resulting trip down the literal memory lane shows us that Amity and Willow were about as close as friends could be. They played together, got in and out of trouble together; they were inseparable! Until Amity’s birthday, when she broke off their friendship. As a result, Willow’s got a lot of repressed rage and bitterness over it that manifests as a fiery spirit trying to burn Amity alive. However, we then learn that this decision was not of her choosing.

As many people predicted, Amity’s parents are complete jerks who care nothing for their daughter’s happiness; only that they remain in good social standing. So they gave Amity an ultimatum: break off her friendship with Willow and hang out with the friends they chose, or they make sure Willow would never get into Hexside.

I’ve seen a lot of abusive parents in fiction before, and while they may not be the worst I’ve seen, Mr. and Mrs. Blight are pretty high up there. There’s just something about watching parents treat their kids like tools that angers me beyond reasoning. More so because of the knowledge that the kid is often unable to do anything to stand up for themselves. This revelation manages to calm Willow down and restore her damaged memories, though.

Where Does Amity Go From Here?

So we know for a fact that Amity’s actually a good person. It’s just that her parents toxic influence molded her into what we first saw. That’s because she was a kid who couldn’t stand up for herself. But things are different now.

Amity and Willow aren’t helpless kids anymore: they’re teenagers, able to make their own decisions and stand up for themselves. While it may take a while to mend their friendship, I think they’re already on the road to doing so. And if Amity’s parents try to object, Amity will need to stand up for herself; with some help from her real friends, though.

I doubt we’ll see this sub-plot resolve itself in the month left of Season One, but I know this isn’t the last we’ll see of Amity and Willow’s character development. Plus, if there’s one thing I love, it’s seeing children standing up to abusive parents. Sue me, I’ve got a rebellious spirit at times

I Give “Understanding Willow” a 4.5/5

Stray Observations

• Willow seems to have two dads! Can we all stop to appreciate how far the portrayal of same-sex relationships have come in kid’s shows in just a few short years?

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Amphibia Season 2, Episode 4A/4B Review

You know what I consider to be one of the staples to a great show? Is it the plot; the music; the action and drama? All of these are considered, but one factor that I feel gets overlooked is the relationships between characters. As a show progresses, we expect to new dynamics in the relationships between the characters as they grow and change. And in this week’s episode of Amphibia, two relationships that have not gotten much focus take center-stage in two delightful episodes.

Quarreler’s Pass

Even thought they’re siblings, Sprig and Polly didn’t get a chance to establish a good sibling dynamic in the first season. That changes in this episode, though. Fed up with the two always arguing, Anne and Hop Pop leave them for a team-bonding exercise at a place called Quarreler’s Pass. If they want to get through it in one piece, they have to look past their faults and work together.

I’m no stranger to getting into fights and arguments with siblings. It’s a common trope in western shows that include siblings as the main characters. More than that, though, I found Sprig and Polly’s arguing remind me of my own relationship with my own sister. We didn’t always get along growing up due to different interests, but no matter how much we may have annoyed each other, we’d always make up. Thankfully, Sprig and Polly figure this lesson out before they get eaten by a pair of siamese worms. Thank god, too, because I’d hate for them to be like when they grow up.

Toadcatcher

This is the episode everyone’s been waiting for: the return of Sasha and Captain Grime, and the first appearance of that newt with Wolverine claws! Considering how season one ended with Sasha and Grime retreating to lick their wounds from the loss of Toad Tower, there was a lot of anticipation for this episode. It did not disappoint, either.

Ever since Anne beat her, Sasha’s thrown herself into training to get stronger to get revenge on Anne and the Plantar’s. As a result, she’s a total beast when it comes to fighting. She’s more driven than ever and at the top of her game.

Grime, on the other hand, has let himself go. A lot. Ignoring the fact that he’s gained weight and a beard, I thought the biggest change was in his personality. He’s lost a lot of the blood lust that made him so scary in Season One. Though given the fact that Newtopia’s labeled him a criminal and all but two of the Toads have abandoned him, it’s not surprising.

What was surprising, though, is how hammy the new character, Yunnan. Every time she appears, she insists on introducing herself with grandiose titles. I don’t know who it reminds me more of: Mina or the Ginyu Force.

That said, the episode does have a purpose beyond showing us what the two have been up to. In order to defeat Yunnan, Sasha and Grime end up calling each other out on their current behavior. Sasha calls Grime out for letting his defeat break him, while Grime calls her out on how she lost Anne as a friend. The experience makes the two better friends. Still evil, though.

Everyone’s headed to Newtopia

So, two major relationships have been mended, and everyone’s headed to Newtopia. Yes, Grime and Sasha are now headed to Newtopia, but not to get Grime’s job back. They’re gonna conquer it, and Sasha wants to settle things with Anne. In other words, the two parties are on a collision course in the near future.

We still have a month and a half of new episodes in store. Plenty of time to see more amazing things. Next week, though, we have something big to look forward to: GRAVITY FALLS CAMEO!!!!!!!

I Give “Quarreler’s Pass” a 4/5 and “Toadcatcher” a 4.5/5

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Sword Art Online: Alicization- War of Underworld Episode 40 Review/Recap

Griefers: a person who harasses or deliberately provokes other players or members in order to spoil their enjoyment. Why am I bringing this up, though? Because after seeing all the suffering PoH’s inflicted on the heroes over the course of the anime, I’d say he counts as one. As Asuna, Sinon, and the others try to hold off the foreign players, PoH’s griefing reaches new heights of jerkdom. Kirito, please come back and kick his butt.

LINK START!

Recap

All across the Underworld, chaos reigns. Sinon is all that stands between Gabriel and Alice. However, she’s horrorified to learn that Gabriel’s also Subtilizer, the sadistic player who beat her in the last Bullet of Bullets Tournament. Only now, he tries to use the STL to steal her soul. It nearly works, but thanks to a good luck charm she got from Kirito, Sinon’s able to snap out of it. And then she somehow brings in her sniper rifle, Hecate, to the game, ready to fight.

Back in the real world, the RATH employees realize what was already revealed to us: the guy that went with Higa, Mr. Yanai, is the traitor. He made the eye-code thing and sold them out for the Americans. Why did he do this, though? Three reasons: first, he used to worked for that slimeball Sugou and wanted to carry on his work. Secondly, he somehow managed to come into contact with that other slimeball, Quinella, and helped her mess with Underworld. Lastly, he wanted Kirito dead for killing Quinella, and was going to ensure that Higa didn’t succeed.

Elsewhere, the Japanese and Underworlders are reduced to a handful of people. Leafa and Lillpin manage to show up and save Iskahn and his pugilists. That’s the only good thing, though. Meanwhile, the Sleeping Knights try to reason with the Korean/Chinese player, but PoH (being a griefer) keeps them all from listening. Overwhelmed, the surviving players and Underworlders are forced to surrender to PoH, who enjoys rubbing it in to Asuna. Then, just to hurt her even more, he finds Kirito and prepares to torture him in front of everyone.

Review

I don’t know which of the three slimeballs we see in this episode is the bigger pervert, sicko, or griefer here. First, we have the scene with Gabriel trying to suck out Sinon’s soul, which is very suggestive in nature. The way he puts his arms around her waist and moves in like he’s going to kiss her made my skin crawl.

Then we have Yanai, who we already met once all the way back in the Fairy Dance Arc. Right when Asuna was about to escape, he’s the one who caught her and proceeded to subject her to tentacle play. I think I repressed the memory of that scene, I was so disturbed.

Then, we have PoH, the biggest griefer and psycho in the series. As if he wasn’t already horrible enough, we learn that he sold out his own guild, Laughing Coffin. Just so he could watch the other players tear themselves apart and become killers! That’s messed up, and Kirito’s still nowhere near close to being awoken.

The good/bad news, though, is that there are only eight episodes left in the season. So, Kirito’s going to have to wake up in the next three or so episodes. And we need him now!!

That aside, I thought this episode was much better than the last one.

I Give “Code 871” a 3/5

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The Owl House Episode 14 Review

Folks, I have no idea why, but for some reason, we got two episodes of The Owl House. But I’m not going to look a gift horse in the mouth, so let’s get this show on the road! In our first episode from last night, King deals with a small problem he causes at the carnival.

King’s Small Problem with Honesty

From the moment we’ve met him, King’s touted himself as the fearsome “King of Demons.” I’m still not sold on that part, but who cares? He’s funny and adorable and one of Luz’s best friends. Yet, he also has a hard time expressing his emotions that make him seem weak and insecure. It’s honestly adorable until it ends up blowing up in his face.

In this episode, Luz has a day off from school due to a pixie infestation, so the Owl House residents head to a carnival for some fun. King wants to spend it with Luz, only to get jealous when she spends it with Gus and Willow. So he “wisely” decides to use a magic potion from a random fortune-teller that manages to shrink them all down to the size of flies.

This is just like “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.”

Revenge Is Best Served Tiny

In a twist that everyone watching saw coming, the guy who sold King that potion is that Tibbles guy whose stand got squashed by Hooty back in episode 6. So he captures the heroes and wants to feed them to his “Tent of Tiny Terrors.” Fortunately, King chooses to step up at this moment and save the day and get some payback on that Tibbles guy.

That’s about it for this episode. I will be honest, people: this episode did not capture my interest that well. We just had a Luz-King centered episode a few weeks ago, after all. And in the grand scheme of things, it does little to advance the plot of the show. However, what I did like was it showing how much King values Luz as a friend. He did all of this in the first place because he felt jealous of how Luz had less time for him. At the start of the episode, he waited at the door like a dog for Luz to come home; it was adorable!

So, this was not my favorite episode of the show, but you’re never going to love every episode of a show. Case in point, “The Great Divide” from Avatar: The Last Airbender.

I Give “Really Small Problems” A 2.8/5

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