Something something the warring emotions of wanting to love the wish fulfillment of seeing Daniel Larusso beat the shit out of his childhood abuser (even if it was corny and dumb because the karate kid has always been corny and dumb) vs absolutely loathing the way this season shit all over the themes of the original movies and went all in on the idea all conflict should, actually, be resolved through violence.

I’m so on the fence about being a Coma!Buck Truther. I agreed with a lot of the things you mentioned around doubts that that’s where the writers are going (particularly the fact that it doesn’t seem to be 911 OG’s style to do a full on coma dream). But the one thread of bts/spoilers that sort of pulls me to the coma!buck side is the ep title “in another life” paired with the BTS (pics/vids?) we saw of Oliver in that very Not Buck outfit. That’s the thing that —to me— is giving the most credence to the Coma!Buck theory, bc I can’t figure another way around that piece that doesn’t indicate someone is dreaming about a “what if” life.

Here, I’ll give you an explanation that makes it work without coma!Buck really easily:

That outfit? Screams “trying too hard.” I would not remotely be surprised to see Buck wear that with his parents, especially if they’re in a weird space with their relationship (likely not only because their relationship is strained and weird to begin with and we know the writers are throwing the sperm donor thing into the mix and that we’re going to find out how the Buckleys feel about it). It’s an outfit that strikes us as wrong and uncomfortable and not!Buck, but that makes perfect sense as reflective of Buck’s emotional state regarding the sperm donation arc and with respect to the complexity of Buck’s relationship with his parents and the way he does in many ways become someone else around them.

“In another life” doesn’t have to be about Buck dreaming about a fantasy life. We can already guess at the underlying theme: in another life, Daniel would have lived, in another life, Buck’s parents would have loved him the way he deserved, in another life, he wouldn’t have ended up the way he is, mired in abandonment trauma stemming from their neglect to the point where he feels like self-harm is the way to get attention and affection, in another life, he would have been a person instead of a collection of parts. Buck dreaming about what that life looks like does nothing—not for him and not for the audience. Instead, arguably the more effective and powerful execution of digging into that is by showing Buck’s reality—because we don’t actually know what their relationship looks like now, post-Love Me Anyway and Buck Begins. And what role does the sperm donation have to play? Will the fact that Buck has maybe been able to give another couple a child when he wasn’t enough to save the child his parents loved most be a positive thing in their eyes? Will it change things between them all for the better? (Or, more to the point—to what extent, even subconsciously, is Buck doing this because he THINKS it might do just that, and might finally get him the love and respect etc they withheld from him for so long?)

The writers have already raised this concept of fantasy vs reality, and even more specifically, the idea of fantasies not measuring up to reality (especially with regard to Buck). “In another life” everything could have been different for him and his childhood and his family—we know that. But there’s an uncomfortable reality that honestly no matter how his parents react to the sperm donor situation (or anything else he might do with his life)—positive or negative—Buck’s never going to be able to have that life, he can’t turn back the clock and magically erase the trauma of his childhood, the damage that his parents did to both him and Maddie. That fantasy isn’t achievable. If there is one thing Buck needs to realize it’s that there is absolutely nothing that is going to “fix him” other than him sitting down and actually doing the messy, painful, ugly work of healing. There is no “other” life—there is the one he has, and accepting that is the first step in his true recovery.

FEATURE: Why Early One Piece Remains So Magical

  If you go back and rewatch episodes from One Piece's early years, there's a vibe that can best be described as "breezy." Not that the series doesn't have its emotional, heartbreaking moments (it has a bunch) but there's a sense of meandering delight. You know when you wake up in the morning on a day that you have all to yourself? That feeling of "Well, what am I going to do today?" That's the feeling I'm talking about. Early One Piece has a lot of that.

  First, I should clarify that when I talk about "early" One Piece, I don't mean specifically pre-time skip. I actually mean the story up until about when the Going Merry gets its viking funeral. The adventure up until that point had been full of hints and nods and little tangents about where it could go, but it's when Garp arrives, reveals his connection to Luffy, and then basically lays out the schematics behind how the world works and who the Emperors are that suddenly One Piece begins to fall into line a little bit.

    For me, that's where early One Piece definitively ends. I'm not saying that the stuff to come after it is worse in any way. Far from it. There is so much joy and cool stuff to be found in arcs like Thriller Bark and Sabaody and Marineford and Whole Cake Island and Wano. One Piece is still an engaging, enrapturing story, and I sincerely doubt that I will ever quit it. It's just a different kind of story.

  A lot of this has to do with how the series allocates its goals. In early One Piece, the main overarching goals are "find the One Piece" and "ensure Luffy becomes King of the Pirates," and both of them are approached very loosely. There's a real "We'll get there when we get there" attitude. In fact, most of the major arcs from this time period — Arlong Park, Alabasta, Enies Lobby — don't take place due to any grand plot machinations. The story does not push them to the forefront. Rather, they happen due to the Straw Hat Crew wanting to take care of one of their own. They are the main thing going on, yet they are totally character-based, and in that way, almost happenstance. Luffy does not strive to take down Arlong or Crocodile or Rob Lucci. Rather they get in the way of his beloved crew member's happiness, and he can't abide by them.

  Also yes, Vivi is a Straw Hat. 

    Fast-forward about 15 years and we're dealing with the team-up to take down Kaido and the discovery of the Poneglyphs. These have personal ramifications, but they're very narrative-based. Definite things in the plot will happen when they are completed. For me, this is exciting in, again, a different way. For a long time, the Straw Hat Crew was kind of aloof to their accomplishments. They stopped a warlord from over-throwing a kingdom and released a sky nation from the grips of a megalomaniacal tyrant and declared war on the World Government just so Robin could live freely. Then they sailed away like "Yeah! That was fun! Break out the meat n' booze!" Now, they're very aware of their impact on the world. They are major players who recognize their roles.

  In the first Wano opening "Over The Top," the wonderful Hiroshi Kitadani croons, "I have to get there because I want to get there first." But in "We Are!", the first-ever One Piece opening, he sings, "Compasses and such will only hold us back." Obviously, I doubt this was deliberate, but it's kind of indicative of the aims of these two sections of the One Piece timeline. One is about explicitly getting somewhere. The other is about getting somewhere ... sort of.

    Of course. none of early One Piece would be possible without the talented folk behind it. Having previously directed on Sailor Moon, series director Konosuke Uda oversaw the series until midway through the Enies Lobby arc, during a time when the character designs were often less formal than they are now. Noboru Koizumi's beautiful characters seemed to burst with enthusiasm and feeling, their faces tailor-made for the expressiveness required of the series.

  The late Michiru Shimada worked on many scripts and her work remains consistently underrated for just how well she translated Eiichiro Oda's big character moments to the screen. Nami's "Help me?" Luffy waving the flag for Wapol and Chopper to prove that it didn't break? Zoro declaring that he will never lose again after his loss to Mihawk? Shimada had a hand in turning all of these from unforgettable manga scenes to unforgettable anime scenes. 

    Meanwhile, directors like Hidehiko Kadota, Junji Shimizu, and many others ensured constant energy. And finally, you had Shiro Hamaguchi, who after composing the score for a little game called Final Fantasy VII, gave One Piece its iconic music. Early One Piece is full of wonderful anime creators and I implore that you look them up and see what they each bring to the table.

  I think early One Piece's mix of playfulness and amazingly touching emotional moments is why it remains so rewatchable for me. At the point of this writing, it's almost 1,000 episodes long. Under most circumstances, that would be too high of a hill to climb. But those first few arcs present a world I want to be in, a world so comfortable and exciting that the episode number doesn't matter anymore. It's a testament to their power that so many fans have stuck around this long. Early One Piece, y'all. There's just something about it. 

      Daniel Dockery is a Senior Staff Writer for Crunchyroll. Follow him on Twitter!

  Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features.

By: Daniel Dockery

Reviews 298: Afrodesia

It began with a phone call between then Best Record label manager Marco Salvatori and Dario di Pace, a producer well known for his esoteric grooves as Mystic Jungle and his work with Raffaele ‘Whodamanny’ Arcella and Enrico ‘Milord’ Fierro in freakadelic collective The Mystic Jungle Tribe (as well as their record labels Periodica and Futuribile). The two were discussing a brief yet magical period in the 80s referred to as the “Afro-Italian movement,” one specifically centered on Les Folies Studio in Milan and artists/producers such as Daniela Paratici, Ennio Ronchelli, Daniele Losi, and Roberto Barocelli, which saw forward thinking combinations of analog synthesis, vocal exotica, machine drumming, hand percussion, and live instrumentation used to craft expansive adventures in paradise disco and fantasy jazz fusion (prime examples of which are Roberto Lodola’s Marimba Do Mar, released by Best Record earlier this year, Helen’s Zanzibar and Tunis Tunis, and Losi’s Tom Tom Beat). Yearning for the timeless groovescapes of these productions...especially Lodola’s far out “Afro” mixes...and seeking to bring the same exploratory spirit into modern times, Salvatori, Mystic Jungle, and Whodamanny decided to join forces for a project called Afrodesia: an ambitious undertaking marrying the interstellar groove and future funk mastery of Mystic Jungle’s and Whodamanny’s synths and drum machines with a cast of live musicians featuring Giulio Neri, Andrea Farias, Davide “Duba” Di Sauro and the late Italo-Nigerian percussion master George Aghedo, who appeared on many of the original recordings from which this project takes its inspiration.

Simply titled Episode One, the Afrodesia 12” marks an exciting new chapter for Best Record Italy, as it is the first release of original material from the label since the early 90s. After having closed shop during that time due to poor sales, Claudio Casalini’s influential label reformed in 2014, with Salvatori joining the operation and helping it ascend towards the upper echelons of Italo reissue quality. And now, having rescued an almost unbelievable number of obscure or rare dancefloor treasures, at least a few of which have become all time favorites, change is in the air, for Salvatori is embarking on his own new venture called Spaziale Recordings, while Casalini will continue leading Best Record as always. As well, the Afrodesia 12” sees Periodica and West Hill Studio main men Mystic Jungle and Whodamanny further refining their already sorcerous production skills, this time augmenting their Casio, Yamaha, and Roland synths and old skool rhythm boxes with saxophones, guitars, and perhaps most arrestingly, dreamy Afro atmospherics and heavenly voice harmonies from Arcella and Neri. But if you’ve been following the West Hill crew as closely as I have, these forays into worlds of African and Italian pop romance are hardly as surprising as they seem, for both Whodamanny and Mystic Jungle have been increasingly experimenting with vocal and pop textures to great effect, whether through Marcelo Antonio’s JKRNDA 7” on Futuribile Record Club, the vocoder sexualities of Mechanismo, di Pace’s co-production on Modula’s deep soul groover “Argonauta (I’ve Been So Lonely)," or Arcella’s journeys into vocal sensuality and synth-pop ecstasy on The Dance Sucker.

Afrodesia - Episode One (Best Record Italy, 2019) Helen’s “Zanzibar” is referenced directly by Afrodesia’s “Deep Down in Zanzibar,” which re-purposes lyrics and licks from that classic into a joyous new form. Snake tails introduce a low down disco beat, with cowbells ringing, güiros scraping, and timbale fills crashing through the stereo field. Hats and snare hold down the groove while cymbals generate waves of static and as the kick drum cuts away, claps delay into the void. All of a sudden, a greased up funk riff enters, with Duba’s bass guitar slithering around the fretboard, all fat-bottomed warmth walking through a tropical paradise. Quacking wah guitars percolate in as the kick drum returns to guide us through Afro-Italo dream worlds, with wiggling synth leads crawling across the sky and e-pianos generating balearic atmospheres. At some point, synths tuned like 60s psych organs scream while guitars work between hypnagogic riffscapes and bluesy acid solos and if that weren’t already perfect enough, Neri and Arcella descend upon the mix with their joyous croons…the vibe whispered and sensual…fragile and warm…with a voice in each ear singing softly and trailed by synthetic pianos and saxophones that skip across sunbeams. Sometimes the vocals fade away, leaving space for wailing saxophonics and clattering percussion cascades that seem to fill up the spectrum. Elsewhere, we move into a freaky funky riff jams before devolving into pure rhythm, with minimal and mechanized beats spreading further out as claps echo and laser blast oscillations morph into galactic fluids. And from here, Whodamanny and Mystic Jungle continue leading their session players through a coastal landscapes of African fantasy…a world of bass guitar sexualisms, joyous vocalisms, balmy synthesis, fusion guitar freak outs, and screaming tenor refrains.

In “Desert Storm,” reverberating hand drums pop amidst rising waves of noise while synthesizer squiggles swim through blasts of granular static. A simple snare beat enters as one of the best basslines all year drops, recorded so hot and up-front that you can practically see the dust snapping off the strings. Double-time hi-hats tick irresistibly as everything builds in anticipation, with the kick drum finally dropping while blasted funk riffs converse ear-to-ear, space age synthesizers weave neon threads, and wah guitars hammer on and scrape. Sometimes the melodic elements fall out and we’re led through rhythmic bridges, wherein the liquid funk basslines of Duba are replaced by that more familiar West Hill synth-bass squelch and screaming voices from the cosmic void descend from a stormy sky. Interstellar noise bursts careen across the mix and chaotic chordscapes bleat over the reverb-soaked disco drum tropicalisms, all while mutant basslines stoke alien dancefloor magic. As we drop back into the live instrumentation, with shakers rattling and bass guitar and six-string working through ultra-tight jam patterns, the terrifying screams still disperse through the stereo field while horror-tinged synthesizers move through gothic themes and rainbow colorations. For most of the rest of the track, we switch off between these two moods: a squelching synth bass groove out awash in Mystic Jungle-style sci-fi boogie sorcery and a stoner groove paradise led by sunshine guitars and funk bass fluidity. During one of the live instrumentation passages, a druggy synth solo drifts into focus, all zoner cosmic magic hovering like an LSD haze…minimal, spacious, and absurdly confident in its wafting, almost apathetic flow. And capping off the track is a baked coda of machine disco rhythmics and fluid funk guitar psychedelics.

The title of “Meet in Tunis” is perhaps another nod to Helen, though the music here seems less referential than in “Deep Down in Zanzibar.” Emotive riffscapes flow over uptempo snare and hat patterns while hand drums and further palm-muted guitar textures billow in from nothingness. The beat sees kicks stomping, snares breaking and gliding, tom fills sucking air out of the skull, and cymbal taps and bell tones ringing all throughout the background...the vibe mysterious and awash in dark disco intensity, though eventually tempered by romantic feedback melodies…as if Arcella’s Casios are mimicking Alessandroni western whistles while synthetic pianos float through golden cloudscapes. The guitars sparkle like Chic and Neri’s sax sounds hollowed out and spectral as it presages the upcoming vocal fantasias and indeed, he and Arcella work through earworm repetitions of “Tunis” before ascending into rapid fires soul verses that overflow with 70’s disco pop perfection…pushing almost towards all out Bee Gees ecstasy, except devoid of overt leads and flowing instead like a closed eye daydream. It’s so ebullient and transportive, with my imagination drifting to a Tunisian beach paradise…some sort of exotic seaside fantasy overflowing with forbidden romance. There are moments where the vocals cut out as we flash into zany percussive storms, with rave whistles flying over psychosonic rhythm cascades. All the while, Duba’s bass continues slipping, sliding, and growling through timeless funk riffs, with shakers pushing the groove euphoria to a maximum. And after another passage of wild percussive ritualism, with snares, bongos, and crashing toms sitting beneath quacking riffs and whistles, we flow through saxophone sensuality into a final “Tunis” vocal refrain, which repeats hypnotically as everything else fades to silence.

Closer “Orion Beat” comes to life on blasting kicks and rocketing claps before before settling into a slamming electro beat. Burning siren waves arc across the mix, bringing that kind of freaky atonal synth psychedelia that could only come from Mystic Jungle Tribesmen. Growling synth bass lines are smothered in cavernous verb as palm-muted guitars flutter overhead and the drums are so hot and heavy, with cymbals spitting fire and snares and claps cracking through the air. There are moments where the burning synth waves usher in passages of interstellar jam perfection, with guitars holding it down while panoramas of phase-distortion and frequency modulation synthesis generates dial-tone scats and telephone tracers while bleeps and bloops are repurposed into fusion fire. Elsewhere, we move into sections of slinky stoner bass guitar riffing while harmonious pads swim through the sky, their hovering chords of heavenly majesty surrounding an electro-funk zoner jam. Then following a bridge that leans towards progressive rock, the mix reduces to just kick drums and claps before dropping into an amazing passage of Afro-tribal intensity…the vibe like entering an otherworldly jungle, wherein crazed hand drum tapestries flow through deep space reverb tunnels. The groove stutters and stomps before smoothly gliding back into electro breakdance magic…like cruising the cosmos on the tail of a comet with starshine gas trails flowing all around the spirit. And after further burning wavefronts of dissonant synthesis subsume the mind, the Afrodesia crew work themselves into dueling harmony magnificence, with synths and e-pianos descending together in pure retro-funk majesty and bass guitar ripping through romantic soul motions…brief yet so perfect as the heart is carried way to paradise realms far beyond the stars.

(images from my personal copy)

INTERVIEW: Evan Dorkin, Veronica & Andy Fish explain exactly how Re-Animator influenced Blackwood: The Mourning After

INTERVIEW: Evan Dorkin, Veronica & Andy Fish explain exactly how Re-Animator influenced Blackwood: The Mourning After

And just why dealing with magic and resurrection can be so damn hard

Once the black Horse show Blackwood concluded, a path of systems inside her wake, plus it was as much as a reluctant gang of teenagers to create things appropriate at the school. In Blackwood: The Mourning After , author Evan Dorkin and designers Veronica and Andy Fish look after unfinished company, with more secret, mayhem and mysticism waiting for you for the teenage protectors of Blackwood university. They talked into the Beat about their brand new miniseries and why magical spells are this kind of messy company.

Nancy Powell: the complete Blackwood show feels as though this trippy mix that is nostalgic Scooby-Doo, Archie and Harry Potter. Will you be an admirer of those series?

Evan Dorkin: we enjoyed the very first four books within the Harry Potter show, and I’ve read a lot of old Archie comics. I happened to be a scooby-doo that is big as a youngster. But just what I’d at heart while developing Blackwood was 80’s horror comedies like Return regarding the Living Dead and Re-Animator , and school comedies like genuine Genius and Animal House . The comic has a college environment, there’s miracle, and there’s kids that are meddling and so I absolutely have why those actions show up a whole lot.

Veronica Fish: truthful to Jesus, I became never ever an admirer of every of the, haha!

Powell: just How did Blackwood happen?

Evan: i needed to publish more horror-themed material, and I also needed work because Beasts of Burden was for an unscheduled hiatus. I showed Daniel Chabon (Dark Horse Senior Editor) so I started working on some pitches, and Blackwood was the first one. He asked for revisions and provided me with some extremely notes that are specific assist me personally punch it and acquire it to the stage where we needed seriously to find an musician. We saw Veronica’s work while walking the aisles at Heroes Con and thought she’d be a choice that is excellent Blackwood . She consented to can be bought in as co-creator, and Andy arrived on board once we began the very first series. We now have Greg McKenna lettering so Veronica and Andy can spend more time on designs, art and colors. It absolutely was a long procedure getting Blackwood into printing nonetheless it was worthwhile, it is been lots of fun to operate on.

Andy Fish : we saw just just just what Evan and Veronica had been working up and I also blackmailed them into permitting me personally in—this was the style of series i must say i wished to focus on.

Powell: The series includes a nostalgic, psychedelic check out it which comes from the color scheme. Was that something you considered all along? Or was it a pleased scenario?

Veronica: When I paint i love to deposit a hyper-saturated base layer of neon gouache, therefore I genuinely believe that practice is originating through into the comics. Ideally the colors have actually a little bit of a “susperia” vibe.

Evan: I adore the palette. It’s variety of like a candy-coated Giallo approach that offers the show a really distinct appearance and style.

Powell: just What switches into making an issue that is typical of?

Evan: we compose a lot of and everything that is over-explain my complete script, then Veronica and Andy break it down and work out it into comics. Often we deliver guide for particular things. Often I’ll perform a rough design of something because I’m unsure in the event that script is obvious enough—the sketches aren’t a mandate, they’re simply to place the concept over. Things have kicked backwards and forwards at each stage—I’ll have actually notes, Veronica and Andy could have a few ideas, Daniel could have notes. We discuss whatever pops up and then make revisions. A few ideas don’t result from the scripts. Andy possessed an idea that is great Jamar’s character, while Veronica’s designs have actually sparked brand new plot points and changed exactly exactly how some characters are utilized. It��s a collaboration, there’s a complete great deal of back and forth.

Veronica: Evan’s scripts are available and now we have wonderful time reading it, doing thumbnails in the dining room table. We’ll glance at John Carpenter films, some Eisner, Junji Ito, whatever assists resolve a panel. Andy will need an amount of pages and commence layouts that are doing penciling. I’ll start penciling other pages. I actually do completed inks so it can have a consolidated look. We deliver it set for feedback, and Andy will begin color flats. I actually do last colors, Greg letters. We have a coronary arrest over just what else can be carried out to really make it better, and Andy informs me at some true point you must stop tweaking and move ahead. Perform.

Andy: we have been constantly fine tuning.

Powell: The fine can be a plot that is intriguing — kind of like a elixir of youth or even the pensive (the basin that reveals one’s previous memories) within the Harry Potter publications. And I also suspect perhaps maybe not when it comes to good of this college?

Evan: a while I realized it’s a lot like the Lazarus Pit that R’as Al Ghul has, and I got a little bummed out after I put the well into the storyline. We knew through the get-go it wasn’t a brand new concept, returning to the elixir of youth and mythology. I suppose the distinction with your fine is the fact that you’re resurrected into a body that is new which I’m yes in addition has been done. But i believe the interesting angle is its usage happens to be limited by a team of old control-freaks whom didn’t trust handing Blackwood College up to someone else. Each of them shared a really single-minded function, the cause of which we desire to expose in a future tale. And there’s a key towards the fine it self, how it works and what’s within it, that will make it be an issue later on. There should be a resurrection unit.

Powell: The monkey that is two-headed a pretty wicked set of characters. The thing that was the motivation behind that?

Evan: Chimp Ho Tep was one thing we invest the pitch bible as a tale, a campus metropolitan legend. It will be seen afroromance dating site reviews every now and then such as for instance a cryptid, however it wound up learning to be a of good use character.

Pages courtesy of Black Horse Comics

Powell: associated with the primary figures, which do you realy recognize most abundant in and exactly why?

Evan: Stephen, because he’s scared and incompetent but attempts to make a tale from the jawhorse all. Wren, because she’s enraged, protective and abrasive but deep down she wishes everyone else become pleased. And Chimp Ho Tep since it’s a unfortunate baby that is little contends with itself.

Veronica: we just love Jamar and totally get both their exasperation aided by the pupils along with his drive to complete the proper thing.

Andy: my character that is favorite in show (to date) is Professor Mortlake— the man has design and then he appears like precisely the type of man the college requires at this time. Really i prefer so characters that are many the show. Evan is a writer that is incredible.

Powell: of the many characters in Blackwood: The Mourning After, that are your chosen to create and draw?

Evan: i love composing the core students — Reiko, Wren, Stephen and Jamar. Colby is really a complete great deal of enjoyable because he’s miserable. Mortlake is a character that is new this arc that is become enjoyable to work alongside, aswell. And Chimp Ho Tep is enjoyable considering that the relative minds talk to the other person in screwy stunted English. But i love writing pretty much all the cast. Why introduce figures which you don’t enjoy composing?

Veronica: i like everyone, mostly the way they act as a product. Evan includes a gift that is real making individuals distinctive; you can’t simply swap their discussion. And every mix of figures will yield a fresh and result that is interesting. Wren and Colby are enjoyable to draw simply because they emote a great deal.

Andy: my personal favorite character to draw is Colby. Within the series that is first had him standing with a kind of dark cloud over their mind so we made the spots on their top deliberately Charlie Brown like—as sort of “Lucy relocated the football again” kind of thing—perfect character to exhibit feeling with. He’s got an excellent face.

Powell: Which components of the comic would be the most challenging to publish and draw?