Yo!

Okay so my theory is that Kishi always knew that the final villian would be a woman because otherwise Naruto's reverse oiroke jutsu wouldn't have worked. And Naruto was seen flaunting his new jutsu (that he practiced more than Rasengan 😏) from the first chapter of Shippuden. But Kishi took care of not showing it to us. Until Kaguya. Because she is a woman and will only be distracted by naked men. 🙄 And even though war arc was written a bit lazily, he must have known that he will have to introduce a new villian keeping in mind that they had to be a woman. And all the existing villians were men. At least, he must have had the barebones of that idea, even if not fully realized at the time. Kishi mindfully created a situation where Naruto would have to use that jutsu, which really speaks volumes, the jutsu as in. It also didn't escape my notice that Sasuke had to comment on the fact that Naruto's kage bunshin jutsu (often mixed with his oiroke, as was the case when he distracts Kaguya), is an attempt to dispel his loneliness. He distracted Kaguya with his oiroke men, many of whom suspiciously look like Sasuke, and Naruto does think he is cool looking (way more than Sai 😤😂). So that brings us to the conclusion that, Naruto must have practiced making Sasuke looking clones a lot in the blank period. Heheh aww. When Konohamaru makes the reverse oiroke with Sasuke and Sai, Naruto is mad. Because he does feel very very possessive towards Sasuke, as was already established. So he can make Sasuke looking clones to distract women but he wouldn't have Konohamaru making a quite explicit looking reverse oiroke of Sasuke. But again, Kishi guised it under comedy, like usual.

What do you think Kishi's intent here was, throughout? I feel like he played it very cleverly.

Heeeeey! Sorry for the wait, I had a lot going on these past few days.

From my point of view, the author's intent is not so easy to discern. In any piece of media we’ll be reading their work through our very particular perspective, no matter how much we try to be impartial and analytic about it. In the end is going to be OUR reading of the work in question, which often enough aligns with others but not always. Naruto fandom is a pretty good example of that. There are things you can establish as facts (Example: Naruto and Sasuke are important to each other. That’s a fact. Now, the way any fan chooses to interpret the nature of their relationship differs even between fans that ship them romantically) Art is already polysemic, allowing different interpretations of the same work, and I think that in NARUTO’s case Kishimoto tends to be a little (a LOT) ambiguous about some things, be it to have plausible deniability or to touch on themes that he can’t write explicitly.

Kishi mindfully created a situation where Naruto would have to use that jutsu, which really speaks volumes, the jutsu as in.

I’d say that he always had the Sexy Reverse Harem jutsu in mind and was just waiting for an opportunity to put it in the manga. The Last was announced in 2012. Already at that moment in War Arc he had to know how his story would end, and that there would be a sequel and all that entailed. He had plausible deniability if he wanted to try anything “funny”.

As for Kaguya, I really can’t say if he always had her in mind. She’s the most underdeveloped villain in all Naruto, besides maybe Gatou. But hey, he had to create her to make sense of the sequel. Doesn’t mean he can’t take advantage and put something as “questionable” as a bunch of naked men in a shonen manga. And make Naruto say he had practiced it a lot. But of course he’ll never explain that, and will use the plot to distract the reader from those little things he drops now and then. And it works, right? Because the most casual audience has never stopped to think: hold on, is it a normal hetero behavior to obsess over sexy naked men to create a jutsu that Naruto just got to use against one enemy??? Naruto, who wasn’t very good at transforming into other people in the beginning, who failed that first test to become genin, was able to transform himself into Sasuke perfectly in chapter 3? What does it all mean, really? -shrugs- But most people aren’t interested in that part of the story. So Kishimoto can get away with putting very ambiguous stuff into his story as long as he uses a distraction to take the attention from it.

I think the fact that Kishimoto was so insistent on drawing this scene speaks volumes about how relevant he thought it was, or at least how much fun he had doing it. It takes you back to the beginning of the manga, when Naruto used the Sexy Jutsu against his teachers. Sometimes you spend so much time on a story you need to remind yourself why you love it.

But as I was telling you, I don't know to what extent everything was planned that way. Sometimes readers can notice more connections between parts of the story than the author himself, and being a 15 years old manga, we can’t say that something Kishimoto wrote for chapter 3 was intended to have an impact beyond the first arcs of the story. But regardless of Kishimoto's intention, it’s a fact that Naruto spends time and effort on things that interest him, that matter to him in some way. And the fact that he put so much effort into pulling off a reverse harem jutsu with different types of men, all very attractive and different (despite the fact that some have that sexy dark haired look lol Naruto has a type), unlike his sexy harem jutsu which is just clones of his female version, shows how much attention Naruto pays to how other men look NAKED. Does that mean he was ogling guys at the onsen? Did he buy magazines with pictures of sexy men? Did he observe men in the village and practiced how to transform into them? It was something he did frequently, if his comment about how he practiced it more than Rasengan says anything.

It also didn't escape my notice that Sasuke had to comment on the fact that Naruto's kage bunshin jutsu (often mixed with his oiroke, as was the case when he distracts Kaguya), is an attempt to dispel his loneliness.

And you combine that two things, Naruto practicing the Sexy Reverse Harem Jutsu with his clones, his Kage bushin Jutsu being and expression of his loneliness, with this panel from the Road to Ninja Oneshot

...We can take it as canon that Naruto uses that jutsu to play cards with himself, as Kishimoto was the one to draw it. From playing cards to practicing derivations from his original Sexy Jutsu, I’d say it’s not a stretch to think it happened. And since Naruto probably had a lot of time alone in his apartment when he wasn’t on missions…

For the ask thing: naruto, hunter x hunter, one piece?

Hi! Thanks for the ask! I'll put this under a cut so people don't have to scroll through all of it if they don't want to

Naruto: haven’t heard of it | absolutely never watching | might watch | currently watching | dropped | hated it | meh | a positive okay | liked it | liked it a lot! | loved it | a favorite

don’t watch period | drop if not interested within 2-3 episodes | give it a go, could be your thing | 5 star recommendation

I wouldn’t recommend it because it’s so long and has so many problems but obviously I liked it enough to watch it all and obsess over it fav characters: Sasuke!!! (obviously), also I like Naruto in a “I could fix his character arc” kind of way, I also like Juugo and Neji and Konan a lot least fav characters: Tobirama, Hiruzen, Danzo, Jiraiya fav relationship: Well my main favorite relationship is Sasuke and his mom because I think it’s sweet and he deserves to be loved and to be with his family, I find Naruto and Sasuke’s relationship compelling because of how they theoretically could have complemented each other thematically and because of its poignance but I’m also pretty bothered by some aspects of it so I have a love-hate relationship with it, I also like Sasori and Deidara’s banter fav moment: When Sasuke said he would destroy the village after learning the truth about the massacre, also when he confronted the past kages about what a village is headcanons/theories: I like to think that Pein was really uptight about the Akatsuki’s dress code and would get mad if someone showed up to a meeting without nail polish unpopular opinion: Well I think “Sasuke was right” is sadly an unpopular opinion among the general fan base, but within my side of the fandom I guess my unpopular opinion is that I really don’t care either way about Sakura and I don’t understand how people can have so much love or hatred for her. I tend to think people who don’t like her have a better grasp of her character than her stans because they acknowledge her flaws and that's more interesting than making her into a generic girlboss, and I hate it when people use her to hate on Sasuke, but beyond that I just don’t think she’s a particularly relevant character and the discourse surrounding her kind of bores me. how’d you find it: Obviously I’d heard of it but it would pop up in almost every anime-related discussion at some point so I wanted to know what it was like random thoughts: I think it’s funny that so many people are captivated by it in a “this is bad but it could have been good” kind of way but for completely different reasons and with completely different ideas about how to fix it, some of which I vehemently disagree with

Hunter x hunter: haven’t heard of it | absolutely never watching | might watch | currently watching | dropped | hated it | meh | a positive okay | liked it | liked it a lot! | loved it | a favorite don’t watch period | drop if not interested within 2-3 episodes | give it a go, could be your thing | 5 star recommendation I was very passionately hyper fixated on it for like two years prior to watching Naruto, I would watch YouTube reactions and listen to the soundtrack like 24/7 lol fav characters: Killua and Kurapika! Also Pitou is cool. And Alluka/Nanika! least fav characters: Hisoka fav relationship: Gon and Killua fav moment: When Meruem and Komugi die and when Gon and kills Pitou headcanons/theories: idk sorry unpopular opinion: Idk what it was like on other parts of the Internet but when I was into HxH among dudebros a lot of people would refer to it as a subversion of the shonen genre and would just generally be really pretentious about it in a way that was a little bit comical to me even as someone who loved it. I think it has incredibly powerful moments but having the protagonist go too far in a moment of anger and emotion isn’t something new to the genre exactly, nor is having a complex and humanized villain who becomes better, I think Togashi just managed to execute those in a really poignant and original way. It’s like the embodiment of that post that’s like “it subverted expectations by being good instead of bad” lol how’d you find it: I think anime rec lists and really positive reviews when I was first getting into anime random thoughts: I really liked how the story never really felt formulaic or like it was trying to communicate a specific message to you but still managed to convey meaningful ideas and emotions and interesting plot lines

One Piece haven’t heard of it | absolutely never watching | might watch | currently watching | dropped | hated it | meh | a positive okay | liked it | liked it a lot! | loved it | a favorite (I doubt I’ll ever get around to it but I’m not opposed to watching it, also I won’t bother guessing for the questions cause I don’t think it would be very interesting)

Did you see the chapter 306 leaks of mha?

I AM SO SAD RN!!😭😭😭

HI ANON!!! YES I DID 😭😭😭 PLS I WAS CRYING FOR LIKE AN HOUR AND IT REALLY PUT ME INTO A BAD MOOD

i actually can't wait for all the leaks to come out so that i can finally call it a day because i can't take all these feelings anymore i'm about to combust jsjsjsjsjs 🥺

spoilers below the cut i jus wanna,, talk and scream abt this,,,

worst case scenario, we get a time skip. i'm not ready for the emotions that's going to course through me when that actually happens. but, it's gonna happen sooner or later. and with where the story is at right now, it's most likely to happen. but idk horikoshi really surprises us every single time so i don't think he's just gonna throw that at us just yet.

best case scenario, todoroki and bakugo, or dekusquad, or class 1-A + aizawa follows izuku to wherever the heck he went to. but, i honestly doubt deku would become a morally grey character/anti-hero simply because he dropped out of UA and left. anitwt is even comparing him to the likes of eren, (a character who deserves a literal 20 page essay on his personality and development) even though they have two entirely different personalities, two entirely different character motivations and worlds that they live in. there's nothing to compare between the two of them except that we watched them grow up and mature through the course of the anime/manga. there's such a huge diff between them and i cannot emphasize that enough honestly. 

there’s been this rumor going around tiktok that mha is going to end at like chap 307 and the manga is going to get a new name and a new manga series. signifiying the end of the “academia” arc ????  which is just absolute nonsense LMAO. as far as i know, naruto didn’t have a manga name change when they skipped to shippuden?? naruto shippuden had such a huge tone shift from the original manga. the whole manga when shifting to the time skip was like “awe it’s been a few years anyways naruto’s back from his journey lol they’re young adults now!!” other examples i could think of are death note, bleach, fairy tail, one piece?? (to just name a few!) where there were such huge and significant time skips yet that doesn’t mean that the name of the manga needs to be changed or they’re retiring the “my hero academia title” (i’m not one for business or the copyright stuff, but doesn’t this have something to do with intellectual properties too?? i don’t wanna dwell on that but yes) 

my own dumb theory is that the fantasy au is foreshadowing this new arc we’re about to enter HAHAHAHA it’s super dumb but the fantasy ed has izuku leaving his home and then meeting up with bakugo, ochaco, ilda and shoto!! might just be a weird coincidence.

to add to another one of my dumb theories, i know that horikoshi is a huge star wars fan (i grew up in a home with a father that’s a big star wars fan too and it’s just star wars everywhere around the house i tell u) and like i said, this is going to be a bit of a stretch, but it’s possible that izuku is going to go on this “jedi” journey to discover himself. it’s possible for him to go on it alone i guess, but judging from the star wars films, the main character always has a merry band of other characters to accompany him on this journey! the dreams?? visions?? that izuku has of the past ofa users really remind me of the jedi masters calling out and showing themselves as a sort of guide to the main protags of the star wars films! it just makes a ton of sense!! horikoshi literally named one of the cities as mustafu and tatooine if i’m not mistaken? which are btw, two of the most popular/important locations in the star wars universe!

another plausible theory is izuku going to america to train and just get the heck out now that things about ofa and afo have been revealed which i can see??? seems a bit far-fetched i guess  (since it’s implied that the 3rd movie is going to center around the trio going to the US already, assuming that john cena is gonna be part of the movie.)

ANYWHOOO that’s enough of my rambling! let’s pray and wait for the leaks anonnie!! and alsooo what next week’s chapter has in store for us! this is going to be a long ride :’)

My Hero Academia- My Unwanted, Long Ass Ramble That Absolutely No One Asked For......

So being at home 🏡 due to mostly COVID-19 and a crumbling economy, I decided to rewatch all of my favorite animes, from Bungou Stray Dogs, Inuyasha, Demon Slayer, Fairy Tail and finally My Hero Academia. Once again I was entranced by the bright colors, spectacular animation and lovable characters that Kōhei Horikoshi-Sensei created. But coming to the end of the recent Season 4 a revelation came to me: I just don’t like Deku as the main character 😱.

I know. I know. I must be certifiably insane not to love such a cinnamon roll, with his cute freckles, messy green hair and 1,000,000 megawatt smile. But it’s true. I have no interest with him as the main character. After this new discovery I decided to think why I didn’t like him and the reason was simple: he’s predictable or rather his story is.

From the on set we were told that he’s going to be the greatest hero ever. Every arc that he’s been in he comes out on top with a new increase usage of his power. After finishing Eri’s arc I was just like ‘huh, is it going to be more seasons of this?’ Now for those of you thinking well you just watched the anime, you should read the manga.....I read it religiously every week. It doesn’t matter where I am or what I’m doing you can bet I’ll drop everything I’m doing just to read and re-read that chapter; find myself on tumblr and read all the fan theories and musings about said chapter. So i know what’s going on in the manga and once again I just like meh he’s going to be on top anyways why should I bother getting invested 🤷🏽‍♀️

Dammit Deku don’t look at me like that 🥺.

I still love him and I am proud of how far he’s come but I just can’t find it in myself to get hyped up for him.

So who do I get hyped up for? Well I’m glad you asked ( I know you didn’t but here it is anyway hehe)

Bakugo Katsuki

The gremlin of Class 1-A. King Explosion Murder. Future Number 1 Hero (I wish). Before anyone can finish asking who my favorite character is in MHA I’ll blurt this angry boi’s name. There’s just something about that drew me in from the very first episode/chapter. Yes he was a JERK, bully and ok he was an absolute asshole to Deku but there was something that kept me thinking I want to see more of this asshole. In the beginning, I thought he was going to be another Sasuke type character: join an evil group at the first chance, battle the main character throughout and eventually find his way back to being good and I was like meh. But then the Sports Festival arc happened and I was oh, this boy’s got potential so I took off my Naruto googles and started to really looking at him. If I’m honest, the first time I saw him as a hero was during his fight with Uraraka. I got so hyped during that match that I was standing and cheering, tears in my eyes for the both of them! When the spectators started to complain about Bakugou being too rough with Uraraka I was about to throw hands with fictional characters. Then when Aizawa gave his speech about Bakugo giving his all and respecting Uraraka and I was sold.

Since then I’ve been an avid supporter of his. During the Kamino arc I was worried but also impressed that he was able to go up again members of the League of Villains and was smart enough to realize that he was holding All Might back from going all out again AFO. His fight with Deku was emotional and I was a sobbing mess. Him going through the Hero License arc with all that guilt showed me his determination to being a hero. Even though he wants to portray that he doesn’t care about anyone but himself, he shows time and time again that he cares about Kirishima, Kaminari and Sero. He’s observant with Todoroki and Endevour during the Support Courses. He pushes Deku. He has so many layers as a character that I want to know more about him. Do I think that maybe he should’ve been the main character, yes I do. But I’m ok with him being a support character as well. I can’t wait to learn more about him and to see him be the amazing hero I know he’ll be.

Uraraka Ochako

Ok this girl right here 👆that’s my sunshine girl and no one is allowed to mess with her. Got it?? Seriously, I love this girl. She radiates warmth, hugs and pure unadulterated happiness. Just something about her face just makes me happy and I just wanna squish her round cheeks. Ok ok I’ll stop.

But seriously she is such an underrated character. I know for a fact she gets a lot of unnecessary hate because one: for being Deku’s love interest (I’m not really invested in their relationship tbh but if it happens I’ll be cool with it) and two: her reason for being a hero is to make money. Funnily enough the reason why she’s most hated by fans is the reason why I love her so much. She’s a young girl from a poor family who just wants to make her parents happy and I relate to that so much it made me want to cry when I first learned of her reasoning. Out of all the characters in the MHA world I connected with her the most. In addition, what I admired about her is that yes, she does have feelings for Deku but she’s able to put them aside and follow her goals. Like damn it who wouldn’t admire that? Who can’t relate to pushing their feelings aside to accomplish their goals? I seriously love this girl. Also, I love that she doesn’t limit hereself. When she started U.A. she wanted to be a support hero because of her quirk but after her fight with Bakugo she saw the potential to be more and she took it, trained and made herself better. She really is an inspiration. I hope we get to see more of her in action and maybe even lead a fight instead of being support. I can’t wait to see her grow and blossom into a badass ass woman who kick your ass while looking like an angel sent from above.

Shigaraki Tomura

Finally, this crusty boi gets me so hyped whenever he’s on screen or in a manga chapter that it’s probably unhealthy. From the very first time I saw him at that bar with those creepy ass hands covering his body I was intrigued to say the least. Every time I see him, I’m silently (not really) begging Horikoshi-Sensei to give me more of him. There was just something about him that screams more.

Fast forward to the Villain arc (one of my favorites tbh) and we learn more about his history and what he had to endure and dammit I just wanted to hug him. It’s so easy to hate the bad guys for hurting people but do we stop to think about who hurt them? And my boy was hurt a lot.....from his family (the ones who were supposed to protect him), the heroes (whose literal JOB IS TO PROTECT PEOPLE!), AFO (don’t get me started on that creepy bastard). And then suddenly I was supporting the villain. A part of me wants Shigaraki to succeed because if he does the hero society will admit their many flaws and idk maybe get rid of the hero vs villain Society that caused problems for generations 🤷🏽‍♀️ just a thought. Honestly if Shigaraki was the main character of this story I think it would’ve been much more interesting. I would definitely like to see more of him and I really want him to shake the hero society to the core.

So there it is.... my unwanted, unnecessary (if we’re being honest here) ramble about MHA. What started as a post about not liking Deku as the MC turned into......this. I’m sorry 😭. But once again I’m not hating on Deku. I love my little broccoli boi and I’ll be supporting him until the time he does indeed become Number One (maybe I’ll get myself a pair of red sneakers to match Deku’s before that happens), but there’s so many more characters that hold my interest other than him. I wish I could’ve listed them all but frankly I’m tired and hungry and I need to take a shot of something after this week’s chapter because Oh My God!!

Anyways, if anyone made it this far down my post, thank you for reading, please don’t be mean and have a great week!

[INTERVIEW] An Interview With AleXa: Why This AI “Villain” Is Actually A Down-To-Earth Sweetheart

What The Kpop recently had the opportunity to sit down with K-pop idol AleXa for an interview. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, we held the interview via Zoom. However, even across the internet, AleXa’s warm personality shined through, charming our staff with her down-to-earth way of speaking and thoughtful answers.

The popular solo artist will soon be releasing a new track entitled “Rule The World” on September 4th. The song is a collaboration with gaming music star TheFatRat. In addition, she has confirmed her comeback for October, making fans excited for the news that her title track will be produced by famous hitmakers LDN Noise.

Before her new releases, however, get to know more about this talented artist by reading our interview below! From her tastes in anime to which female role models helped form her into such a strong woman today, read below for questions that she’s never been asked before.

WTK: Hi, AleXa! My name is Amy, and I’m from What The Kpop. First of all, I just thank you for meeting with us today. I know that you’ve got a busy schedule, so I’m glad that you were able to take a few minutes to speak with us.

AleXa: Oh, you’re very welcome.

WTK: Before you were actually a K-pop idol yourself, you did so many different things! You’ve done cosplay in the past, you’ve done voice acting, you’ve been on shows where you tried out for different things, you’ve taken part in long training, etc… all leading up to this point in your career. So, first of all, just to get things started, can I ask you what’s been your favorite part of the journey so far?

AleXa: Let’s see. I mean, from way back until now, I think the thing that I liked the most about my journey is not just one thing. Since it’s still ongoing, it’s just the fact that I get to see myself improve, that’s the thing. So, improvement for me is probably the thing that I really enjoy about this process.

WTK: Since your debut, you have had quite an unusual concept. For those that don’t know, it’s about a multiverse and you’ve had a trilogy of songs: “Bomb,” “Do or Die,” and “Villain.” You’re avatar or AI escapes into a physical body and then goes into the real world, right? We know this suits you really well since you’re a fan of dark concepts and horror and science fiction. So, if this were to ever happen to you in real life and you became an AI, whose body would you want to take over?

AleXa: Dwayne the Rock Johnson! (laughs) Because I just want to be the Rock! I mean, who doesn’t want to be the Rock? (laughs again) So, definitely Dwayne the Rock Johnson! Yeah!

WTK: When we watched the making video for your recent “Villain” MV, we saw you doing the Naruto run and already knew that you’re into anime. I know your schedule probably doesn’t allow you too much time anymore, but are there any animes that you’re into recently? Or are there ones that you’d like to recommend for your fans to watch?

AleXa: I haven’t watched anything recently. The most recent thing I watched was the anime adaptation of some of Junji Ito’s work. If you didn’t know, his collections were turned into an anime. If you like horror, I recommend that. But one of my all-time, go-to shows is always “Death Note” or “Full Metal Alchemist.” So, those are ones I wouldn’t mind re-watching again if I find time.

WTK: Your fans, or AI troopers as they’re called, refer to your music as a cultural reset when it comes to how you’ve changed the game. For you, which artist or even what genre was the cultural reset in your own life?

AleXa: I feel like without a doubt I do have to say K-pop was the cultural reset for me. Had I not stumbled into K-pop, I wouldn’t be doing what I am now. Then there was someone also like SHINee. They’ve been a pivotal group, a pivotal senior for me in my career. So, they were my cultural reset.

WTK: Apart from SHINee, I know that you also got into K-pop after hearing artists like Super Junior. Going from a K-pop fan to a K-pop idol yourself, what has the experience been like? Is is still kind of surreal for you or how would you describe the experience?

AleXa: Oh man, it’s definitely surreal! I never thought that in my wildest dreams I would find myself being an idol for my career. Being able to stand on the same stage in music shows as so many wonderful and talented seniors… like it’s incredible. It’s definitely been very surreal for me thus far.

WTK: Recently, you held your own virtual concert, and you also opened the show for IN2IT in India. How did the two experiences differ as far as opening for one group versus having your own concert? Did it affect you that your first solo concert was a virtual concert? If so, what were some of those challenges like?

AleXa: I mean, it definitely is very different having my own concert versus opening up for a senior group. I will say that being able to open up for their concert two times was a really good experience because I learned crowd management. Also, I learned how to feed off of people’s energy for the concert performance. Then when it comes to my own solo concert, even though it was digital, I could still feel everyone’s love and support through the comments because there was a live monitor where I could read all the comments in real time. So, even though there weren’t people there in person, I still felt the presence of them. I’m an extrovert and I’m someone that draws energy from other people. So, virtual concert or online concert, it’s just both a really fun experience for me.

WTK: So many people did tune into your concert, and I know that a lot of people were leaving comments also, so it was a great success! Do you feel like from here on out that online concerts are going to be more of a staple in K-pop, even once things like COVID-19 slows down and things are as back to normal as possible? Are virtual concerts here to stay?

AleXa: However fast the pandemic does come to an end, I do feel like online concerts, online fan meetings, and everything else that’s been happening in the industry during this time is something that is here to stay. Because you never know what could happen in the future. So, I believe everybody learning the ways of online concerts, the data, the statistics, the reactions, how fans work.. I think it’s something we’re going to wind up keeping in the future.

WTK: You exude this natural charm, charisma and confidence. So, what would you say to younger fans, especially those who are coming up and trying to find their own persona and sense of self confidence? How did you become who you are today and grow into this confident young woman that we know as the singer AleXa?

AleXa: Thank you for that. Let’s see. I don’t know. I would just say, don’t get lost in the crowd I guess. People will always find ways to try to belittle you for ways that you’re different, for ways that you stick out. But embrace those and make those your strong points. Don’t let anybody try to define you as a person. You alone can define yourself. So yeah, take comfort and joy and pride in your individuality.

WTK: Now, I don’t know if you’re familiar much with the Reddit sub-threads for K-pop, but ever since the music video for “Villain” dropped, your fans have been busy analyzing the trilogy and making all these theories about the Alexa universe. I don’t know if you’ve read any of these online, but there is a really popular thread on Reddit and also one on Twitter about the Alexa universe. The summary is that they believe there are different versions of AleXa and that she embodies the different human emotions that each AI version has discovered. What do you say to all of that? Can you give us any hints or have you been able to read any of these fan theories yourself?

AleXa: I mean, I’ve dabbled a bit here and there on Twitter. I’ve been looking at a lot of tweets, and I read the comments. There’s some interesting theories. I mean, when we go into these comebacks and pre-releases and stuff, we know the plot. We know what we’re trying to get into. But then whenever I’m with my staff, we read things in the comments. We’re like, “Oh, well, that’s an interesting take on why we thought of that.” But it’s really cool to see how how imaginative and smart and observant everyone is. Because they catch and piece things together. And I’m like, yes! Those are my smart, beautiful fans! Yes!

WTK: Coming from your label, which is a video production company, have there ever been things that your fans noticed about the videos that maybe you didn’t even notice yourself at the time?

AleXa: Oh, I’m pretty sure I’ve seen some comments noting some things and seeing the background or like they’ll think a certain layer goes with a certain thing. I will say though, this is not something we intended for, but with the release of “Villain”— of course, we do have a small, kind of floating, pyramid-looking thing at the end, and I do this [thing] with my hands. But it’s kind of funny because some people thought we were alluding to the fact that we are a part of the Illuminati! But we are not. (laughs)

WTK: Yes, just to make that clarification! (laughs) So your music, like we said, features the image of this strong, independent woman where you are like cyborg, pop, diva (and we love it, by the way). When you were growing up, did you have many strong female role models? Who inspired you?

AleXa: If we’re talking about strong females, then of course, one pivotal character has been my mother. She is honestly one of the strongest women I know. If we’re talking in an artistry sense, since my parents raised me on older music, then people like Cyndi Lauper, Joan Jett, and Whitney Houston. Into the more modern age and as I was starting to grow up a bit, then Rhianna, Brittany, Christina. This is the kind of aura of artists and people that I really looked up to and enjoyed their work.

WTK: If you were ever able to branch out— maybe not on your main comebacks but for special songs or covers— are the genres of music from the artists you just mentioned something you would like to dabble in? Or is there any other type of music that you would like to try for something different?

AleXa: I mean any opportunity I would be given to branch out and just try something that I’ve never done before, I want to try of course. I would love to take the bull by the horns and just go at it! So, whatever and whenever those opportunities arise, yes definitely.

WTK: We know that you have like a “sad boi” playlist when you’re feeling down. When you’re feeling happy or pumped up, however, what do you like to listen to?

AleXa: If I’m having a good mood and I’m just going for a walk or something, I listen to lot of Queen, Fleetwood Mac, some Dolly Parton. Believe it or not, Dolly Parton is the only country artist I will make an excuse to listen to.

WTK: Well, she’s one of the ultimate divas herself so…

AleXa: She really is, she really is! But I don’t know… just kind of like older pop I guess, without all this like synth and heavy bass we have now. Just old style pop music, I guess, is kind of my music sphere.

WTK: I know also that you were a musical major in college, and I am a huge fan of musicals myself. So, I have to know something! Musicals are so popular in Korea, and it’s a big scene there. So, if you ever got the chance and you could work in a musical there, is there a specific musical that you would want to be cast in?

AleXa: A lot! But if I could be cast in any musical I wanted, I think it’d be fun to try Maureen from Rent or Veronica in Heathers. I feel like these both are fun roles [and I’d like] to give it a go.

WTK: One more question! Fans really enjoyed hearing the lyrics you wrote for your last song and are looking forward to hearing more of your work in the future. We know all songwriters have lyrics written in journals, so if you have any saved, do you mind sharing a previously unreleased lyrics with our readers? Just something that you haven’t yet shared with the world?

AleXa: Sure! I mean, I am one of those people that has journals upon journals upon journals of song lyrics. I keep them in my phone as well too actually. If I were to share something real quick, right off the bat, what would it be? What would it be? What would it be? (laughs while looking through phone) See! There’s a lot in here. Yes, yes, yes. Doot, doot, doot, doot. (laughs again) Oh, I don’t know. These are all just kind of… deep. Let’s see. Ok, I’m just going to read these two lines. It’s just something I wrote once. ‘Do I have to rearrange the stars and have them spell our names in the sky?’ That’s it. (smiles)

WTK: Thank you, AleXa! We look forward to hearing how you will use that in a song one day, and we look forward to hearing more from you in both your music and your lyrics too! Before we go, do you have any last words to people that might be reading about you for the first time, as well as to fans that have been with you since the beginning of the journey?

AleXa: Sure! Whether you’ve been with me for a day, an hour, or five minutes, or five years, thank you so much for staying by my side throughout this wild roller coaster journey that has been my career thus far! And I promise to keep working super hard to become a better artist and a better person that you can enjoy in the future. Thank you so much. I love you!

© WhatTheKpop

RWBY - Volume 6, Chapter 4 Production Analysis

Vol 6, Ch 1 Production Analysis

Vol 6, Ch 2 Production Analysis

Vol 6, Ch 3 Production Analysis

Last chapter dropped what is essentially the hydrogen bomb of backstory episodes with the overwhelming amount of blood, sweat and tears from every department in the CRWBY to back it up. Considering that it was only the third of this 14-episode volume, it should come as no surprise that the next episode to follow would be much smaller in scale in terms of production values.

That being said, some fans have still expressed some disappointment that chapter 4 would only be a mere 13-in-a-half minutes. Whether this is considered obvious or not, animation as a professional medium with multiple stages involves quite a bit of scheduling and management, especially for a serialized series. What I’m about to say had already been touched on in the last production analysis, but to reiterate, chapter 3 was one of the most difficult episodes to make thus far, through the script and every other department according to Miles Luna and Kerry Shawcross. It was the longest episode to date (excluding ending credits), meaning that there were likely more cuts in storyboards than the average one. Roughly 30 different character models were created which had to be rigged and animated, over a dozen environment models were built, all to present the passage of time for this one episode. This is not even counting the quantity of visual effects utilized, including 2-D effects from Myke Chapman which were new to RWBY.

Having one episode with that amount of time and skill poured in would naturally follow a more conservative episode in some regard. This can be seen all the time in anime TV series depending on their production scheduling. Bleach’s 166th episode was considered a spectacle in its animation through the destructive fight between the characters Ichigo and Grimmjow only for episode 167 to follow with a cool down. Any episode of Naruto, Naruto Shippuden and Boruto that featured extraordinary animation and storyboards throughout like are almost always going to have an episode following with a more standard, run-of-the-mill staff. Even My Hero Academia, despite having various memorably-presented moments such as episode 11 of season 3 will follow with whole episodes lacking in action before picking things back up at a much later one. While this practice may not necessarily be ideal to anime fans, this is how productions of long-running anime are usually kept from falling apart which is especially important in an industry where the amount of anime projects being green-lit increase each year.

Though unlike most anime that are bound to a weekly, 30-minute run-time, RWBY at Rooster Teeth Animation has a bit of a weird advantage as web series by sometimes (though not always) using minute-length to help manage how ambitious or conservative an episode can be. Though narrative beats always play a big factor, this chapter of volume 6 is a classic example of needing to take a breather though its length being roughly half of chapter 3. Pretty much everyone fans know take up screen time this episode, meaning there aren’t new models aside from probably Tyrian with a modified tail. In terms of set pieces, only two new environments were fully designed, one being the trail to Brunswick Farms while the other was the hanging bay outside of Salem’s palace.

One fascinating bit of observation was comparing certain footage this episode to the volume 6 trailer. With one clip so far having not been shown as of the time this analysis will first be posted, every other teaser footage had been in the episodes proper. However, the moments in chapter 4 are the most different. In the moment with Emerald and Tyrian, the setting itself and the lighting changed whereas in the snow trail scene, certain characters are not previously seen carrying their luggage in the trailer. And then there’s Salem delivering the same line with lip-syncing being precise but the camera shots are very different. It’s possible that by the time the trailer needed to be made to show to be publicly available on October 16th, they were not one-hundred percent done with the episode and needed to adjust things in post. which would make sense considering the overwhelming scale of chapter 3′s production. That or they were done and simply omitted moments such as the Grimm arms binding Hazel to avoid teasing too much. Either theory is likely honestly and the latter wouldn’t be the first time Rooster Teeth has done this with RWBY trailers if one were to think back to the second and third volumes. 

Moving on, let’s touch on a bit of something that admittedly has not been highlighted that much in the past couple of posts: the animation. When checking the ending credits, you won’t see the usual names that have been prominent up until now. Whether this is due to them working on later episodes or juggling between working on Gray Haddock’s mecha show, Gen:Lock at around the time this chapter was in production, animators like Asha Bishi, John Yang, Matt Drury or Will Sherburne are not credited here. This is not to raise a concern or to scare fans so much as it is to provide an opportunity for newer names that may not have had a chance to show a bit of what they can do. Luckily, Kaitlin Petras is one such name, who confirmed to have done animations for some of the antagonists, including Tyrian. Combined with animation director, Joel Mann returning to do motion capture for the lovable psychopath who had not done so since chapter 11 of volume 4, fans get to see some delightful character acting. If it hasn’t been clear in previous scenes that Tyrian is the kind of character that tries to earn brownie points from Salem at other’s expenses, his moments here should cement that. The way his eyes and mouth read that he hates to see his leader displeased but loves to watch others get in trouble just emphasizes his rather childish nature. It’s too soon to fully say which sequences in particular were done by Kaitlin, but considering every second of Tyrian was pleasing to watch, her name is worth bearing in mind.

That being said, other characters were given great character acting according how they also channeled fear. Emerald has been put in a difficult state without having Cinder immediately besides her, providing an opportunity for her to feel frightened through her body language and the way the pupils in her eyes shift. There’s even a shot where she feels submissive through the way she slouches but subtly clenches her fist after she and Salem briefly face each other. Hazel was also another character to display fear but channeled it through the need to be stoic, humble and even protective. Even when pinned down, his facial expressions suggest he’s reluctantly willing to accept being punished. And then there’s Salem herself who subdues her anger and channels it into discipline by the way her teeth stay clenched. Though more of a secondary highlight, the animation on the protagonists’ scenes were also done well with Qrow and Ozpin/Oscar in particular expressing vulnerability, bitter anger, shame and helplessness.

Moving on, the storyboards and camera layout were once again a good highlight in both the protagonist and antagonists’ scenes. Although there’s no confirmation and no clear way to tell who did what, the various choices of composition are still noteworthy. In scenes with the antagonists, there were some great establishing and wide angle shots to help fully present the spacial aspect of Salem’s palace and the area surrounding it. The scene also helped to highlight how much Salem’s authority and wrath puts everyone in an inferior and frightened position, despite her not even being on screen in certain shots. This includes Hazel, who is often framed as small in one shot or being towered by her in another. Staying on the subject of Salem’s palace for a second, it’s nice to see how despite being in the Maya and 3DS max animation softwares for a third volume now, it’s fascinating how the meeting room alone has gone through multiple tweaks through the lighting and compositing. Switching gears back to storyboards with the protagonists this time, shots of Ozpin and Oscar are the highlight, with the former being isolated and towered by those opposing him and the latter feeling isolated due to a responsibility placed on him without a choice. Ruby of course is the only one to attempt to comfort Oscar by walking past the one tree that figuratively separates them.

As much praise as there has been given, the last bit to talk about with this episode is unfortunately critical and relates to a debate that has stood out among fans since this episode first premiered. For the record, I’m not the kind of viewer whose ability to enjoy a story is determined by how likable or unlikable characters come off. Moments where characters are in an unusually negative state are welcoming in my eyes so as long as the narrative beats warrant it. Presentation can either add to making bitter sides between characters more understandable and sympathetic or it can hinder all of that. It all ultimately depends on execution. This brings me to the way the main cast responded to Ozpin in the beginning of the episode. When taking not just the events of chapters 1 & 2 of this volume into account, but also select episodes in volume 5, it’s not impossible to see the train of thought behind the collective cast. Everyone at varied points expressed doubt and frustration with Ozpin’s roundabout way of having others involved in his agenda. Yang getting annoyed over promises broken in front of her would naturally lash out the most, with Weiss sharing similar sentiments in a more subdued manner. Blake would be upset but also much more quiet. Ruby firmly asks about the task ahead as her way of keeping her chin up and Oscar is deeply anxious and depressed.

On some level, the reactions in this episode make sense. But the reactions seem to result exclusively in the period in the sentence last episode, being that Salem can’t be killed (or that Ozpin can’t be killed or whatever potential loophole there could be, but this is not the place to debate about that) and not how Ozpin was burdened with the task he was given. The responses could have benefited from being slightly more varied when taking that to account while still expressing anger and anxiety, depending on the character. Speaking of which, Qrow was probably the biggest issue with the execution of the reactions. Never-minding for a moment that a grown man punched a 14 year-old in a manner that kept reminding me of the way Junior got clocked in the Yellow trailer, the behavior itself felt too abrupt. Up until this point, the audience was mostly oblivious to how Qrow was taking all of this in. There was one brief moment where Qrow saw Ozma for the first time in the last chapter and Qrow shaking his head in disbelief in the chapter before that. But otherwise, his anger and resentment, while very sensible in regards to his overall character story as he expressed through dialogue, lacked the proper set-up and leans a bit too heavily as being shocking.

An extra bit of the scene indirectly presenting Qrow’s psyche before and maybe even after he punches Ozpin can go a long way. If say, as he walks towards Ozpin, cuts to still arts in the form of memories of Qrow and Ozpin’s interactions such as a small tease of how they met and what was the turning point that made Qrow be so dedicated can help better sell his anger. This is the kind of thing seen in anime adaptations of popular, long-running Shonen manga and as much as the idea of cutting to flashback clips are subject to ridicule and criticism, there is a valid rhyme and reason for why those techniques are applied in visual direction. It’s also important to time tension or a particular character being emotionally charged through some sort of build-up in a scene. An example that can help illustrate my point would be a scene in One Piece:

  What may seem like a straight-forward argument seen out-of-context is actually considered a fan-favorite moment in the One Piece anime. A big reason for this has to do with the contextual set-up between the straw hat captain, Luffy and injured marksman, Usopp. The latter fought tooth and nail to get the earned money stolen from him to fix the ship he and his crew ridden on until now, only to fail to do so, hence why he’s injured. Meanwhile, at a slightly earlier point, Luffy is told by the shipwrights he consulted with that their ship won’t last another voyage. Luffy initially refused to accept that, but then reluctantly comes to terms with the reality. However, Usopp doesn’t realize that Luffy reacted as strongly as he did and instead sees Luffy casually talking about getting new ships through a catalog and then acts sternly as a captain about getting a new ship. This only comes off as insensitive to Usopp after the trouble he went through to get the stolen money back. All of this results in the scene seen in the above video. And yet even with all of this set-up, the scene doesn’t start immediately with things getting physical. Usopp and Luffy’s argument escalates before it reaches that point and it’s made clear through the choice of music, lighting, and framing. While a one-sided punch is not exactly the same as an argument, the sense of anger built between Qrow and Usopp’s characters are similar enough to draw comparison to and it’s how both characters’ negative emotions are fueled and lashed out through execution. Whether or not this was something considered or doable during the production of this episode is unclear and honestly a whole other can of worms that can be speculated on at another time.

That marks the end of chapter 4′s production analysis which did admittedly bring things down somewhat with the bit of criticism at the end. But that shouldn’t take away from an otherwise well executed transitional episode. When looking at things that way, the events here did what they needed to do and the presentation and production mostly helped to present that to the best of their abilities. As for what is in store next episode, the relatively small credits among the animation team make hint at bigger things to come somewhere down the line. We’ll just have to wait and see.

It's funny cause fire force being a soul eater prequel doesnt only hurt the later but the former. Even I as an example only really started giving a shit once the theory got steam and only looked at it trough that lense. Any genuine merits fire force had, I just skimed over and probably many others did the same only knowing it as "the secret soul eater prequel". All the ending discussion, even those that praise it, only seem to look at how it connects and how "mindblowing" that is.

I’m struggling to remember what it was like first getting into Fire Force, where you didn’t have obnoxious people, like the last month, shouting, “LOL you people thought they were references but it was really foreshadowing!”

No. It was not foreshadowing.

How come Maki’s little flame buddies have Maka and Soul’s faces if that is “foreshadowing” and not a reference to “this is what Maka and Soul’s souls looked like in their first fight with Stein way back in Chapter 2?” I saw Akitaru’s mask and was like, “Oh, it looks like Eibon’s mask,” I didn’t think, “Wait, is this going to be proof Akitaru is really the original Eibon?” Those aren't all establishing this is the pre-Soul Eater world, they are more likely allusions.

(Also, I am laughing my ass off at the fans who for the past week said, “We will see proof that Akitaru is really Eibon!” or “Akitaru is really Free!” or “Akitaru is really Stein!” and just getting it so freaking wrong. Seriously, we already saw Stein as a child–how would that track if 800 years pass between Akitaru in Chapter 302 to Stein in Chapter 1?)

But at least when I first picked up Fire Force to read, I felt like this was engaging my attention because it was a new thing. Yes, it retained Ohkubo’s visual style, in-jokes, and plenty of references (see Maki’s flame buddies). But it never felt like it was a story that depended on Soul Eater or Ohkubo’s association with it: I was honestly giving it as fair a shake I could because it was holding my attention. This is a story about a boy trying to find out what happened to his brother and mother. Then it became a story about people hiding the truth of that night. Then suddenly some cult shows up to really keep things quiet. And then Sho appears–and things should really get excited!

…And instead, Shinra fails to retrieve Sho because we need to drag this plot out longer, Tamaki becomes a joke, we get the dumbest gags related to Assault (by which point I largely dropped much attention to this story), then somehow Shinra loses his body and just is largely fine despite learning his body was commandeered by someone else, then we just barrel into a final arc that decides “This is a Soul Eater prequel” now.

This is like the gag on the Watchtower Database YouTube channel where they talk about the DCAU and warn “Don’t spoil the episode ‘Epilogue.’” That’s kind of what you are getting at: imagine you read Fire Force–only to have its ending spoiled. Or you only read Fire Force because someone spoiled it for you–and you may not get anything out of it with regards to Soul Eater?

Me, personally, I love spoilers, so I would really hope, if I had never watched any DCAU show, that learning what happens in “Epilogue” would just make me more excited to see how that episode ties together so many different elements of the DCAU but in service to telling a story about characters, not just “ooo, a reference, oh, an Easter Egg, thanks for making me feel smart!” For this final arc, I didn’t feel like I was with these characters to share their victory: this felt like a protracted exercise in bringing back some piece of Soul Eater instead of just letting the series retain some dignity. It’s not that Soul Eater is dead or that we are trying to freeze it in amber–but it definitely doesn’t need some cynical tease to get people’s nostalgia worked up.

And it doesn’t even seem like a tease to get people reading Soul Eater: “Hey, what’s the deal with that drooling bowtie kid, that girl reading the fire book, the Naruto boy with the tattoo on the wrong side, and the tiny boy with three stripes?” I think it’d be more interesting, if still freaking annoying, if the series had just ended with a fast forward of Maka and Soul about to face off against Jack the Ripper and a caption “The Adventure Continues in Soul Eater,” so that you are just honest about why this cynical commercial ends this series.

Once the novelty wears off, will this hype remain around Fire Force? Honestly, I just don’t get the fans: the latter half seemed like an unfocused story, and it didn’t have the benefit of a character design style that was as unique and weird as that of Soul Eater, especially its anime.

Metal Gear Solid Remake Rumors Breathe Life into Konami, Even as eFootball Dies

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In the last decade, Japanese publisher Konami has largely moved away from AAA video game publishing in order to focus its development arm on its much more profitable pachinko machines. It’s been an unfortunate pivot for fans of Konami’s games, to say the least, since the publisher happens to be sitting on some of the most highly-regarded gaming franchises of all-time. Among Konami’s biggest properties are Metal Gear Solid, Silent Hill, and Castlevania, most of which have spent years collecting dust in the publisher’s vaults except for the odd remastered collection or…themed pachinko machine. 2018’s Metal Gear Survive, a massive failure of a cash grab both critically and financially, was the last major AAA game released by Konami not titled Pro Evolution Soccer, which has also been phased out in 2021.

But all that may be about to change according to new reports from Video Game Chronicle and Eurogamer, which claim that Konami is now full steam ahead on “bringing back its biggest brands to the premium games space,” according to VGC. Chief among these new AAA projects is a remake of Metal Gear Solid 3, which is reportedly being handled by Virtuos, the studio largely known for Switch ports of titles like Dark Souls Remastered, The Outer Worlds, and The BioShock Collection, as well as for its support work on Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and Uncharted 4. VGC says that Konami is also planning to remaster the original MGS games for modern consoles ahead of the remake, which is reportedly in early development.

Meanwhile, a new Castlevania title described as a “reimagining” of the series is “currently in development internally at Konami in Japan, with support from local external studios,” according to VGC. It would be the first major installment in the 35-year-old series since 2014’s Lords of Shadow 2.

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Then there’s Silent Hill, which has been the subject of much speculation and reporting over the past few months. At least two games in the horror series are said to be in development, including one from Bloober Team, makers of the excellent Layers of Fear titles. The other game is reportedly being outsourced to a Japanese studio, per VGC. It’s long been rumored that Kojima Productions is working on a Silent Hill — rumors that have devolved into conspiracy theories involving “hidden messages” and another mystery horror project called Abandoned that you can read more about here. But the hearsay hasn’t uncovered much truth. (And Hideo Kojima infamously exited Konami on bad terms in 2015, so a renewed partnership seems very unlikely.)

All of this is very good news for long-suffering Konami fans, who’ve had to subsist on smaller offerings like Super Bomberman R, a game that launched with the Nintendo Switch in 2017, and 2019’s Contra: Rogue Corps. But the less said about the latter, the better.

In truth, the only fans who could at the very least feign happiness with Konami were those playing yearly installments of Pro Evolution Soccer, which had been the publisher’s most reliable video game franchise for the past few years. In fact, it’d risen the ranks to become a worthy competitor to the FIFA series, Electronic Arts’ international sales behemoth which largely controls the digital pitch. Those days seem to be over for Konami, though.

This year, the publisher has rebranded Pro Evolution Soccer as eFootball, a free-to-play online title that ditches the premium price tag for more microtransactions. It also does away with the series’ old Fox engine in the hopes of bringing a fresh, next-gen experience to diehard fans. The results have been disastrous.

Just a day after eFootbal 2022′s release, the title has become the most poorly reviewed game on Steam, according to Kotaku. As of this writing, only 9% of the title’s over 12,000 reviews are positive. Major complaints cover everything from the game’s questionable graphics, to incredibly buggy gameplay, to a serious lack of content. Of course, Konami was transparent about the latter when it announced the game’s roadmap earlier this year, describing the launch version of eFootball 2022 as more of a “demo” that would receive additional content in the coming weeks and months.

At the moment, players can only choose from eight soccer clubs for online and local matches. While the choices are slim, this should have been the ideal content with which to showcase the new engine, but uh…

Thanks for kill my fav game @play_eFootball #efootball2022 here is a Video with Ansu Fati running like naruto pic.twitter.com/JQ2KRr2RwC

— Ricardo Bassricky (@BassRicky_) September 30, 2021

Konami you really shouldn't have released this in this state. This is bad… I mean really bad.. Like bad bad bad #eFootball2022 pic.twitter.com/6YYDR8XnmT

— TheTrueBrits🎙️⚽️ (@_TheTrueBrits) September 30, 2021

The player is happy because the referee is dead #eFootball2022 pic.twitter.com/ijtxkhrJ9k

— Walidben (@Walidbe77643234) September 30, 2021

To be fair, FIFA ships with hilarious bugs every single year, but eFootball’s drastic drop in quality from Pro Evolution Soccer is a sight to behold. Perhaps its biggest crime is its rendering of soccer superstar Lionel Messi (bottom left in the tweet below) who also happens to be on the game’s cover. Konami has the exclusive rights to Messi’s likeness, and even 3D scanned his face for eFootball 2022, something EA couldn’t do for FIFA, and yet he doesn’t fare much better than Cristiano Ronaldo’s truly terrifying visage. Is this supposed to be the other Silent Hill game?

This really makes it hard not to love #FIFA22 😔..#eFootball2022 #efootball #pes2022 I love you FIFA22 . pic.twitter.com/I7lEIlC84T

— Epic Player (@EpicPlyer) September 30, 2021

Konami wasted no time trying to get the Steam fire under control, putting out a statement on Twitter, promising updates in the coming weeks to fix the game’s most glaring issues as well as add more content.

“After the release of eFootball 2022, we have received lots of feedback and requests regarding game balance that includes pass speed and defense operation. We would also like to acknowledge that there have been reports of problems users have experienced with cutscenes, facial expressions, movements of players, and the behavior of the ball,” reads the statement. “This work will be continuously updated, quality will be improved, and content will be added consistently. From next week onward, we will prepare for an update in October, while receiving further opinions through questionnaires to our users.”

Important info for #eFootball fans pic.twitter.com/Tp9RFhmXp9

— eFootball (@play_eFootball) October 1, 2021

Of course, issues are par for the course during the launch of a new live service game. Just look Amazon’s new MMO, New World, which is facing many of the same complaints as eFootball, including countless bugs, on top of its own server issues. Like many live service games that have come before — with the exception of massive disasters like BioWare’s Anthem — eFootball will continue to evolve over time. And at least it’s free. The question is whether longtime PES fans will stick around long enough to give this new brand a second chance.

At least Konami may have other projects on the horizon…

The post Metal Gear Solid Remake Rumors Breathe Life into Konami, Even as eFootball Dies appeared first on Den of Geek.

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Pudding For Fools

I’m a huge fan of Tsugumomo. With the release of the second anime season, Tsugu Tsugumomo, i wanted to look back on how far this story has come and kind of reflect on my reasoning for being so attached to what, at first glance, is a generic School yard, battle anime, with eechi service sprinkled in for good measure.

My initial interest stemmed from the overwhelmingly gorgeous art. I men, have yo seen the lines in these pages? They’re exquisite! Before anything, i am an appreciator of art. When i was young, i voraciously read any book i could get on art theory or history. As i got older, i sought out How-to-Draw and figures studies. I’ve been drawing and developing my own style since i was six-years-old. Literally, the first thing i ever drew, was a copy of the cover to Venom: Lethal Protector. My best friend in the entire world and i, Rest in Peace EddyLee, bonded over our very distinct artistic disciplines. When i came across Yoshikazu Hamada’s intricately detailed, wildly distinctive, art style, i was immediately hooked. It was like seeing the work of Kubo Tite, Yoshiyuki Sadamato, Masamune Shirow, or Yoshitaka Amano for the very first time. They way he draws suck intricate detail in the world around his characters, while keeping the design of said characters so streamline, really resonated with my, own personal take. It reminded me a lot of the art style of Katsuhiro Otome, the creator of Akira. High praise, i know, but the pages of Tsugumomo illicit that same feeling i got, reading Akira for the first time.

Gorgeous art can only carry you thorough a manga for so long. I can’t tell you how many books with exquisite art i ended up dropping because the narrative was balls. Naruto immediately comes to mind. I know everyone wanks that series hard, like it’s the new Dragon Ball, but Naruto’s narrative is kind of mundane. The way Tsugumomo started, i thought it would turn out the same way but, unlike Naruto, the character writing saves this series. From the onset, Kiriha is far more dynamic than most shonen protagonists and she’s not even the lead. Kazuya is and,in the beginning, he was you’re cliche, harem lead, weenie. All of that “Preserve the friendship as is” shtick when absolute bombshells are literally grabbing his dick on the regular. However, over he course of 128 chapters, he’s become more Ichigo Kurosaki than Rito Yuki and i adore that. To see a male protagonist, evolve as an actual male in real life, is always awesome. He’s still hesitant to do the actual deed, but dude isn’t as averse to the occasional eechi romp as before and that makes the character feel real. I wish more books had this level of development but same evolution isn’t limited to just the main characters. Tsugumomo has some of the best supporting casts i have ever read in a manga.

If you know me, then you know i have a special place in my heart for tsunderes and Tsugumomo has one of the best. Sunao Sugaragi is absolutely adorable. In a lot of ways, she mirrors Kiriha who, herself, is mildly tsundere, but our my darling redhead takes that sh*t to a completely different level. She went from rival to unrequited lover but never loses her agency. She’s still as independent and powerful as she was during her bad ass introduction. She’s kept pace with Kazuya’s power wank, which is exceedingly rare for a supporting character in a shonen rag, even if she is the second love interest. I have a special place in my heart for Kazuya’s second Tsugumomo, Kyouka. Watching her develop from overwhelmed villain to jealous third wife has been fun to watch. She became one of my favorite characters, overall, during that whole tournament arc deal. I enjoy Kukuri, Oriobana, Kokuyou, the rest of the Mayoiga Tsugumomo, and especially Kazuya’s sister, Kasumi. She is a bro-con bad ass and i don’t think i have ever said those two things in the same sentence.

The narrative is a real slow burn, but when it starts cooking, it gets hot. You think you’re walking into a rather generic harem story but it opens up as you go along, meeting new characters, and learning about Kazuya’s pat. There is this entire subplot about his mom that comes to a head in an amazing battle and crushing defeat. Characters die and you’re left reeling. The reveal that Kanaka is the man antagonist and that Kazuya, himself, gave her means for resurrection, was a twist that rivaled Tobi being Obito. What i mean is, when it was sprung, you were mad surprised, if you weren’t paying attention. Kanaka is a beast with an underlying sadism that occasionally peeks through. That little glimpse is all you need to know she might be more cruel than she lets on. I n a lot of ways, she mirrors Goku; Way too strong for her own good and wildly listless without a challenge. Also like Goku, she will do ANYTHING to sate that apathy with a fight, leading to a choice that will have potentially, world-ending ramifications in the future because, at the end of the day, Kanaka and Goku the villains of their own stories. That nuanced writing, the ability to infuse such palpable emotion with foreshadowing and dread while delivering a lighthearted, titty romp, is quite entertaining. Lure them in with the boobs and dope art, reel them in with incredible action scenes, and land them with surprisingly endearing characters, heartfelt interactions, and an emotionally resonate plot that hits hard.

I cannot sing the praises of the Tsugumomo manga enough. It’s an amazing read filled with outstanding art, compelling events, wonderfully developed characters, and the most eechi fan service i’ve seen in a long time. it can be crass and a little juvenile at times but, at the end of the day, it’s a really heartfelt story that is driven by and emotional core. The anime does an interesting job of translating that feeling to screen and, at times, i think it falls short. The things chosen to be adapted, the cuts made to the narrative, i think does a disservice to he overall story but it was popular enough to get a second season. The fact that said season was mostly crowdfunded says that there is a growing audience for Kiriha and Kazuya’s adventures, for which i am very thankful. I love this book and i want more people to experience it. I think it’s one of the best out there and it deserves as much shine as it can get.

Ocean Stars Falling Chapter 20 Preview

Working on four different things at once has a tendency to turn actual progress speed into a mess, so here, have a reward for your patience!

Eventually shit hit the fan, because of course it did. Or the midden hit the windmill, or whatever other old-timey variation anyone around me would have understood. The point is that, much like a world populated by ninja and samurai rather than everything under the sun (and a few that were not), peaceful days never lasted among an oceangoing world of pirates. Back in Konoha, managing to get three or more months’ reprieve from the rigors of random S-class threats wasn’t uncommon, because it was an established village and ANBU didn’t need to yell “Constant vigilance!” in the Hokage’s ear when he was at least as wary and watchful as they were. The village’s reputation generally did the rest, which meant most Konoha shinobi could generally expect to still be able to go home at the end of a mission and have the apartment still there. I knew I did.

Now, Whitebeard was more widely feared than the Yellow Flash, even if he hadn’t personally visited death upon many of the people who trembled at his name. Their world was just too big for that kind of personal touch, and shinobi were basically confined to one continent on ours. Harming a Whitebeard Pirate was verboten, and the authority people would answer to was the man himself.

This did not stop complete assholes from causing trouble. Namur was the one to ask about it, after the fact.

Because the Whitebeards were in a town under their protection, they tended to spread out and act like tourists as much as anyone else did, with the bonus that they were effectively pickpocket-proof by virtue of also being a bunch of scoundrels. With escorts from an older and more powerful crew, the Straw Hats and the Cobalt Lionesses had effective free reign as long as they were courteous. Some of Yugito’s followers may have forgotten a few of their basic manners due to their time in prison (like remembering the buying power of beri as opposed to a grasping hand), but a few quick reminders from the locals and their pirating senpais smoothed the way. There weren’t as many punches as one would expect.

The Straw Hats fanned out all over the place. While Zoro was busy challenging Vista to a fight—because of course he was—Nami, Sanji, Gaara, and Brook went shopping, and Robin took Fū, Usopp, Franky, and Chopper to find the Poneglyph, only Luffy stuck by the Moby Dick at all. Part of it was that Ace was introducing Luffy to all of the Whitebeard Pirates. The other consideration was a very protracted (and distracted) discussion of crew strength relative to the challenges of the New World. As guests of the Ryugu Kingdom, we hadn’t technically wandered back into the nastiest ocean on the planet just yet. Luffy, as the Straw Hats’ captain, had to make the call for his crew in the end. I was still concerned that, aside from Gaara and perhaps Fū, none of them were really ready for the nearly vertical difficulty curve that awaited them past the Red Line. Actually explaining that to him, though, was going take all day.

Then Ace threw Luffy hard enough to put a crater in the seafloor, which I considered an issue between siblings and left alone.

Jinbe disappeared, taking Koala along with him to meet the Sun Pirates when they docked a few hours after “dawn” broke. Sabo followed, with a token reassurance to Ace and Luffy that he wouldn’t get lost or kidnapped or set on fire again—or at least not without them to either act as backup or point and laugh. The rest of the Revolutionaries decided to spread out, with Ivankov at the head, and descended on the highest-end fashionable shops they could find. I wasn’t sure if they expected a discount or not, but perhaps it was just as well that they explored.

Anyway, that was the gist of the situation after breakfast. It seemed peaceful enough. With the Tailed Beasts floating around, even after their second and then third Bubbly Coral purchases, Fishman Island was effectively our new field trip destination.

As a result, Yugito, Naruto, Utakata, and I all decided to travel together. With no pirates (other than our friends) to worry about, we could go as fast or slow as we wanted, with no concern for anyone else being able to keep up.

“What’ll happen after this?” Naruto asked, after we’d stopped our meandering around Coral Hill for a little bit.

“After what?” Utakata didn’t appear to be paying particular attention, more preoccupied by the fraying of his coat sleeves, but none of us were fooled. Naruto had a way of worming into people’s hearts.

“After whatever we’re doing here.” Naruto lifted both his arms to effectively encompass the entirety of Fishman Island, or perhaps the world. “Like, Kei-sensei told me we’re gonna help you with your revenge, and once we meet up with Mom and Octopops, it’ll be a piece of cake. But no one’s found the Four-Tails anywhere and we’re still running with pirates and Revolutionaries and stuff.” He let his arms drop. “And I think the Straw Hats are gonna need to take a training mission for like a year if they wanna keep up with the rest of us. That means Fu and Gaara aren’t going to be doing much if we don’t go home.”

“And to be honest, it was only ever a theory that we would go home once our task was completed,” Yugito remarked, in a tone that was rather grim.

Not that I blamed her. “Or a hope,” I agreed, looking down at the tops of my shoes. I crossed my arms over my chest and sighed. “I still miss everyone back home too much to feel like Gaara and you do, Yugito, but…”

“It’s not worth worrying about now,” Utakata said firmly. When I looked at him, his level stare gave way to something deliberately cold. He broke eye contact first, saying, “We’ve left an imprint here, but until we progress further, there is no way to know what the result may be. And I refuse to panic until we have something real to fear.”

Spoken like a textbook veteran shinobi.

I didn’t believe him for a second.

“Kei-sensei,” Naruto interrupted after a second, “isn’t that the place?”

Thatch had said something about a Madame Shyarly and her famous prophecies while handing out fritters at breakfast, and I was enough of a nerd that I wanted to hear the second major oracle of my life in person. Gamamaru was accurate, but vague, and I wanted to know if the mako shark mermaid was any different. Unfortunately, that meant we’d be visiting a hostess club during peak hours, so who knew if we’d ever get a chance to see her.

There was a line going around the block by the time we got there. Naruto craned his neck and stood on the balls of his feet, making a token attempt to see over a crowd that was mostly taller than him or floating in convenient bubble rings if they didn’t have feet for locomotion. Utakata, despite having gotten his customized bubble wand from Usopp a few days ago and being more than capable of outperforming the Bubbly Coral devices we’d seen, left our group’s sole genin to struggle. Yugito looked like she wanted to at least ask how long the wait was going to be, but couldn’t lower herself to actually asking anyone.

I hung back and was going to wait, and then things happened.

“I must lodge a complaint,” Matatabi’s voice said, ringing out across the entire city directly below her. She’d apparently followed us from the Moby Dick, accompanied by a miniscule clone of Shukaku as a passenger.

As everyone looked up, she lifted a rear leg past the bubble ring around her ribs and kicked behind one of her ears, dislodging something the size of a human torso. It crashed into the ground hard enough to imbed itself in the stone, and Yugito was the first to investigate after the crowd cleared out and the dust settled. No one wanted to be in the immediate area if the fire-cat got pissed off enough to put her size and strength to good use, after all.

Yugito, with her eyes flashing Matatabi’s colors for just a second, tore the weapon out of the ground with all the effort she’d displayed when using Minotaurus’s club. She hefted the oversized battle axe one-handed, testing its weight, before saying aloud, “She didn’t see where it came from. Did any of you?”

The Hungry Ghosts: No Face

I first saw this post on Facebook. I found it very interesting that these facts about  Studio Ghibli’s “Spirited Away” are inherent in Japanese culture, but not so obvious to the outside observer. The one thing, I would like to add to this breakdown is that No Face represents a hungry ghost and could literally be anyone, because of the lack of spiritual identity.

Below is  a list of the 6 realms of Samsara- or the Wheel of rebirth, broken down in layman’s terms for easy digestion :D

Deva-gati

In Buddhism there are 26 Deva realms which would be considered heavens to us. But for the sake of separating the different types of beings born into each realm and simplifying understanding a bit, I’m counting all of them as one: Deva-gati- is  the Realm of Devas (gods/angels) and Heavenly Beings. It is considered the most pleasurable. Being populated by godlike beings (the ones with all the arms and stuff) who enjoy great power, wealth and long life. Since they are all happy, secure and content, they have no understanding of the suffering of others, especially in lower realms. So in spite of their long lives, if they are simply born to Deva-gati - like Svargaloka, for example, where Indra is king, they gain neither wisdom nor compassion unless they make it their mission to understand suffering and pain (would you?). They live in splendor and happiness. Yet even the Devas grow old and die, likely to be reborn on the wheel of Samsara, because even in their realm, one’s actions are subject to good and bad karma.

Asura-gati, the Realm of Asura (Titans, Demi-Gods, and Demons)

Or as I like to call it: Aether. If you are a believer, like me, this realm, in theory, would have housed Mt Olympus as well as all the other demi-gods and titans that, to our knowledge, ever became legendary. In Islam, the Djinn are powerful beings that we cannot see or touch. They are said to be made of smokeless fire (so demons, in a fire-natured sense), but they can see us and  interact with us and don’t think very much of humans in general. They have free will, like man, can be good or evil, spiritual or atheist and are said to live in places like high mountains, where human beings would never survive. They too would likely be housed in the realm of Asura. They too are subject to the generation of good and bad karmas, and thus rebirth.

Manusya-gati, the Human Realm

Jambudvipa, or, the Terrestrial world, is probably not just limited to Earth, but I imagine, includes even parallel dimensions in which the carnal/tangible nature of our planet with interstellar coordinates is what defines the matrix for its existing parameters. When I say parallel dimensions, I mean a world very similar to ours that  may be housed in another galaxy and occupies 3-dimensional space. If time and space were folded like a piece of paper, and we could instantly be teleported, a parallel dimension would still be tangible and satisfy the perception of our 5 physical senses. The beings housed in this realm are you and me, obviously, and you know very well the extent of good and evil that humans are capable of - And That’s just counting the last 3000 years of recorded history on *this* rock.

 Tiryagyoni-gati, the Animal Realm

The animal realm is also within Jambuvipa. It includes all the wild and domesticated beasts. In Buddhism, the belief is that animal beings are marked by stupidity, prejudice and complacency. They lead sheltered lives, mainly led by instinct, avoiding discomfort or anything unfamiliar. Personally, I don’t agree 100% with that assessment, mainly because I’ve met and seen some animals have more selflessness, decency and civility than humans on their best day. BUT in terms of rebirth the Animal Realm is conditioned by a sense of ignorance. As intelligent as beasts are and can come to be, their emotional state is driven by instinct. They are sentient, but do not plan for the future or self-reflect, existentially... except maybe dolphins...because dolphins are awesome. But in all seriousness, people who are ignorant and content to remain so (in the human realm) are likely headed for rebirth in the Animal Realm if their karma isn’t great when they die; assuming they aren't there already *coughcough* because willfully and aggressively ignorant people are akin to wild beasts that can form speech *coughcough*

Preta-gati, the Realm of Hungry Ghosts

Hungry ghosts (preta) are pictured in old mandalas as beings with huge, empty stomachs, but they have pinhole mouths, and their necks are so thin they cannot swallow. A hungry ghost is one who is always looking outside himself for the new thing that will satisfy the craving within. So, in laymans terms, they likely reside on the Astral Plane/Limbo/Purgatory. They are constantly wandering, driven by insatiable hunger and craving. They are also associated with addiction, obsession and compulsion, and the real reason I think “Alcohol” is synonymous with “Spirits”. According to the Dhamma,  hungry ghosts and other restless spirits are caused by bad karma of excessive craving and attachments to addictive substances, material wealth and hedonism. They do not have a bodies, are invisible and constitute only "subtle matter" of a being. If you have ever experienced sleep paralysis, where it feels like some invisible force is sitting on your chest, holding you down, it’s likely you’ve met one. If you’ve ever had an out of body experience, there is a feeling that people have named “The witch over your shoulder” in which it feels like some evil invisible force is staring at you hungrily from behind<( this I can personally confirm) and it is because, while you’re out of your body, the being without one, is looking on in a jealous, vengeful, angry or disrespectfully hungry way. As soon as I looked in the direction though, nothing was there and the feeling went away. Buddhist traditions in Asia attempt to care for Hungry ghosts on ritual days every year, by leaving food and drinks out in the open, to feed any hungry ghosts nearby (How sweet is that?). But do not misunderstand, this is a condition of a human being with bad karma who died and ended up in the in-between...when their sentence is up, they can be reborn into another realm, but being that this realm is intangible, lends them almost no options as far as interaction with the terrestrial world, which means their actions (if they wanted to correct their bad karma) are very limited. So in most cases, they are stuck until their time is up and the suffering and discontent of being driven insane with insatiable hunger is, by design, incredibly intense.

One particular type of hungry ghost, that seems to grow in power by gaining the power to feed themselves are classed as No-Face.

No-Face

Remember him? Of course you do. He seemed lonely and innocent. In the movie “Spirited Away”, knowing what I know about the setting of the bathhouse, I would assume that No-Face was a rich pedophile when he was alive. That kind of karma will get you stuck for hundreds of years. So even though the movie is set in the modern era, this particular hungry ghost was likely wandering the spirit realm from the time there were Shogunates and Daimyos who would destroy entire clans villages, while giving orders and permission to rape the women and enslave the children to be sold as sex slaves or otherwise. 

Kaiken, like the above pictured, were pretty knives that women would hide in their kimonos, in the event that such a tragedy would befall them. They would often use them to commit suicide before they could be raped and killed by brigands or mercenaries. It was fucking horrible. Cute knife though.

The “Zero” Tails 

This parasitic abomination somehow made itself at home inside the host of a girl named Amaru in Naruto Shippuden the Movie: Bonds. Without going into too much detail about the plot of the film, Amaru became possessed by this demonic no-face after falling into a deep despair that it used to leech onto. In the end it made her a vessel of a large amount of chakra, comparable to the other Jinchuuriki, like Naruto. BUT the evil force of this powerfully hungry no-face fed on negative emotions, biding its time until it could completely consume its host and overtake her body. It called itself the “zero-tails” which is obviously misleading, because all the tailed beasts,  one through nine, had fucking TAILS. But to move quietly through the world until its endgame was realized, this was the lie it used to convince anyone who could sense its dark presence in a seemingly innocent adolescent girl. In the end, Naruto sensed the leech’s corruption in Amaru, despite the exorcism of it, which was why it had grown to a level of power, even remotely comparable to his own tailed-beast. She and her sensei were feeding it sin, and ultimately, both earned bad karma.

Talk about fucking done-If you are  a fan of Naruto and wonder how he stays so single and ignorantly innocent of the opposite sex for 17 years of his life, watch this movie with abject scrutiny. Actually watch every movie in which he saves the girl and watch how they all slowly disappoint the fuck out of him. Amaru was a piece of work....

Koh The Face Stealer

Koh was a hungry ghost residing in the spirit world of Avatar:The Last Airbender. It would silently stalk its prey and surprise them, using their emotions against them as a way to steal their face. Koh was a very dangerous, powerful and extremely insatiable hungry ghost, as it had a collection of faces that ranged from human to animal alike. The only way to escape it was to keep a stoic expression, no matter how it tried to provoke you. Take notes, kids. If you have shitty karma, you may be fated to wander the hungry ghost realm with debilitating hunger and rage, and if Koh gets the drop on you, no face to feed or express it. 

Koh’s full mukade appearance was shocking enough to put anyone into a frenzy, but all it takes is one gasp in a state of surprise and its got you. If I were to speculate on this being’s life before it was reborn a no-face preta, I could only say that this person had the type of greed that he was willing to kill and steal to satisfy. I can assume this much because for a being suffering this realm to become as powerful as this, their greed and hunger never ceased being their drive for existing in the first place. To actively accumulate bad karmas even after being reborn into a lengthy sentence as a hungry ghost, takes an apex predator level of evil. A being such as this could very well spend an eternity in this state unless it was ever destroyed, then would be reborn in Hell.

Which leads me to the lowest realm of rebirth:

Naraka-gati, the Hell Realm

In most every religion there is a Hell. If any philosophy teaches you otherwise, it’s a bold-faced lie *coughcough* Jehovah’s Witnesses *coughcough*. Hell is in the ground, underneath the topsoil of earth and shit. Antarctica is a good prison- not just some old story made up to frighten children and idiots into being good people, but it can be used to that effect. To teach that there is no Hell or divine retribution to that extent of the law and that one will simply cease to exist when they die, after a life of sin and accumulation of karmic debt measured in trillions, is a sin in itself. The one spreading that lie is ALSO subject to bad karma. It’s a slippery slope and all I have to say is some people take advantage of believing there is no Hell by being the worst and thinking the only thing that awaits them after death is a peaceful unconscious lack of existence entirely as literally and figurative pieces of shit. Though that is enough to terrify most people, The mindset of a person who is basically the living embodiment of a hungry ghost is the destructive and contagious equivalent of an evil epidemic to the karma of every person they come into contact with. These are No-Face in real life and they can literally be ANYONE. Beware of those who exercise arbitrary morality by defying labels and use that to the advantage of rationalization to make themselves tolerable, yet have no true identity. (For example somebody who cries the feminist victim, but is truly a  Male to Female Transgender  “woman with a penis” who rapes lesbians and justifies it under some LGBTQA-Z gender assignment label when the true label is actually just Rapist) I’m saying this because I personally know some such evil people, that specifically fly under the banner of “Jehovah’s Witness” and because they think there’s no retribution waiting after they die, there’s no limit to the evil deeds they are wont to commit. Ugh... talk about remedial... Anyway the Buddhist texts vary in their details, but typically describe numerous hellish regions each with different forms of intense tortuous design and suffering, such as eight extremely hot hellish realms, eight extremely cold, being partially eaten alive, beating and other forms of torture in proportion to the evil karma accumulated. If I want to bank on my promotion, personally, when I die and make even more karma, I will be an architect of this realm. Trust me, The former and current Devils or whoever is presiding over the torture designs of this realm cannot fuck your mind and soul like I can. I’ll even let you choose from little staycation packages uniquely designed to fit your individual sins.  But as always, this realm is also designed to be an impermanent state- at some point every soul reborn in the Hell realm *should*, in theory, be able to claw their way up to rebirth in a higher realm after finishing out a long sentence...but that doesn’t mean you can’t end up right back there if you don’t learn your lesson. Unfortunately that seems to be the one design flaw of Samsara. One never remembers their past life, but that’s okay too. Because if you’re reborn in karmic debt, or just starting at 0, all types of misfortune will be reflected  in the life of that Human/Animal/Hungry Ghost and passing those tests will either advance their evolution or trap them in a loop.  So in the end, I guess The wheel of rebirth or Samsara is perfect.

So you better act right.

A depiction of The wheel of Samsara, representing the 5/6 realms of rebirth.

Welp. I think I calmed down enough to say my thoughts on the season.

I enjoyed it a lot. First, I want to do bullet points of what I like and didn’t like...

Likes

Galra Keith

Keith’s mom being the badass Galra rebel and a human father

Blade of Marmora

Pidge geeking out over video games

Hunk being an awesome cook and having a huge line of people enjoying his food

That mall cop in episode 7

Haggar’s reveal (didn’t see that one coming, but still cool)

Prince Lotor being named dropped, making him be a huge player in season 3. Can’t wait to see him in the next one, especially with the show runners being fans of him xP

More clues about what happened to Matt and his whereabouts

More focus on Keith’s past

Diving deeper into Keith and Shiro’s bond

Pidge and Lance spending time together in the mall episode

Keith having a team up episode with Hunk

That tutorial video Coran made back in the day (Am I the only one who thought of Steven Universe when I saw that?)

Lance doubting himself, hinting at more development in season 3

More good Galra

That final fight, yo

Hunk’s   “I think you becoming Galra made you a better Keith” line

Return of Shay and the other Balmara

Shiro finally getting a bayard

"He’s like a second dad to me" So Coran and Alfor were gay lovers?  Nice (I kid, but I can dream)

More character development for Keith, Shiro, Pidge, Allura and Coran

How Shiro escaped the Galra

Lance Naruto running and dolphin jumping in the same scene

The mermaids

Lance praising all of his other teammates, being willing to do anything for them

Dislikes

Hunk and Lance not having as much focus and character development in this season. (fingers crossed for more in season 3)

No Lance and Keith team up episode

Where the hell is a reaction scene to Galra Keith thing to his teammates? Really, nothing?

What the hell happened to the cow?

With that out of the way, now my more detailed thoughts.  Over all, I enjoyed this season a lot, and the positives out way the negatives for me.

The season a bit rushed and more story heavy, instead of balancing characters and story more. Certain moments that should’ve developed a whole lot more got glossed over (hi everyone’s reaction to Galra Keith). I feel like certain characters could’ve got more moments to shine and development like Lance. It should’ve been a couple episodes longer, so they flesh out some of these elements more, since the writers tried to cram in a lot of world building and plot into 13 episodes.  

I think the aftermath of the Galra Keith reveal could have been handled better.  I even went back and rewatched the last bit and the first bit of episode 9 a few times because I thought I missed something or I missed a social cue (I have ASD) or something. While I know most of the fandom saw Galra Keith coming from a mile away for several months now, but come on! This is still a huge reveal and a huge news dropped on his teammates…we never see any of their first reactions to it?! It just seems odd and disappointing.

Pidge’s brother and father were kidnapped by them and Shiro was captured and tortured by them for a year, yet we see no reaction from them.

With the Ford Pines reveal in Gravity Falls, which this reminds me a lot of, was handled a lot better. The Author of the Journals theory, from what I heard, was a huge fanon theory that got the canon seal during Not What He Seems (I was only getting into the fandom when it first aired).  They left us on a cliff hanger for months on end – sure (which I am still salty about). But even with that said, there was a whole episode afterwards where Ford and Stan sit the Pines twins down and talk about what just happened. Dipper is angry about Stan hiding things at first, but then calms down right away, knowing that Stan wasn’t kidding about the, “Everything I worked for and everything I care about – it’s all for this family!” line. He even fanboys over Ford a lot, bonding with him afterwards. Mabel calms down about it too, but then seeds of doubt grow in her heart about her and Dipper growing a part (it’s a long story).

I think Voltron needed an episode like that where Keith and Shiro fill everyone in on what happened with everyone’s reaction. Then Shiro accepts him, calming him down; Lance is fine with it; Hunk is hesitant at first, but grows to accept him; Pidge is angered by the whole thing and a bit distant of him for a bit, but then grows to accept him; Allura is salty af about it, even afterwards. But nope, we get nothing....great...

Like I said before, I wish Hunk and Lance got more focus in this season, especially Lance.

However, I have a hunch that might change in season 3 and Lance will get more development  since the show really hints at Lance having self doubt issues about him being a disposable member of the team. If Shiro is out for the count for the next one, that would mean Keith will pilot Black and Allura would fill in for Blue, making Lance fly Red like in Go Lion. That could make those feelings of self doubt and anger bubble up even more since for him it would come off that anyone could have filled in that chair after all and is not as special. While I know the season made it out that Lance is purged of his doubts, I find that highly unlikely. Trust me. To be a hundred percent honest, one area I can relate to Lance -- among many others -- is the fact  I have self doubt issues. Sure, I panic and do not think straight when I do, unlike Lance, who is a lot more cool headed in those situations, but it is something I struggle with. Not to get super personal, after a certain event in my life, for a long time afterwards I thought I was genuinely stupid and it was pointless to continue writing and drawing since I thought could never compare to my peers. Don’t worry; I am a lot better now than back then, pushing towards my goals more then before.  Not gonna lie, there are moments when I am confident, but those feelings of doubt do came back at times. I think it is the same thing for Lance. Sure, he might have calmed himself down then, but that might not last long and hit him hard in the future.    If my theory about Lotor being Lance’s dark mirror is true, he will have even more moments in the  sun and someone to test him and contrast his personality. I hope to the gods and goddesses so... But hey, I’m optimistic about this since the show staff are talented writers.

With that said, like I said before there are many cool moments in this season and the positives out weigh the negatives outside of what I just stated. My favourite episodes have to be 2, 7 and 8.

Galra Keith is canon now! I  find it cool that it’s implied that his father was the human and his mother was a Galra rebel. Guess those Galra Keith one shots about his mom being a Galra rebel on AO3 were right (um, forget who the author of those were, so if you know, please let me know).

My theory about Keith’s backstory harkening back to Guardians of the Galaxy was also right with it hinting that Keith’s father fell in love with an alien and then got attacked by Zarkon’s forces, killing him. It makes me wonder where his mom is. (Maybe in season 3? ;))

That last fight with Zarkon was intense as hell, but a blast to watch. I still wonder, what the hell happened to Zarkon and Shiro? Personally, I don't think Shiro died and is out of commission...but even that I am wary about. Especially with the show having no problem killing off secondary characters on both sides...

Lotor never showed up in this…I think (I still have hopes he could be that masked dude that Hunk and Keith come across), but he got name dropped and is revealed to be a huge player in season 3 by the show runners. So, is Lotor the villain for the next season? Is Lotor that masked dude that helps out Hunk and Keith in that one episode? (Seriously, who was that?) But hey, at least he’s canon now and will be a main player in season 3. I am super excited about that.  If he’s a villain, I still hope that he is a complex villain like Azula or Yami Bakura and not a piece of cardboard like in Go Lion/the Go Lion dub. And how come I got the feeling the fandom is gonna freak out when Lotor shows up because he is a fan favourite in Go Lion?

Over all, the season is very good, but has a few major flaws. I do have a few gripes with it. To be fair, I think all pieces of media has flaws.