Hey everyone,

I’m writing this post to let you all know that I will be temporarily stop the blog reviews. I have found my time is too split between daily life, work, a writing opportunity I need to get back on, my YouTube Channel, Dungeons and Dragons, and playing card games—to help the YouTube Channel grow. I am also trying to find my reading and writing habits and get them back to 2020 consistency.

I wanted to try and keep this blog going while doing all of the above, but I found this was something that I could no longer keep up with for the time being. I believe the break will help me mentally as well because finding the simple joy has also been a struggle for me. Trying to make everything I love to do—like playing card games, writing, DnD, reading, etc.—into a grind isn’t 100% healthy.

After a long overdue talk with a good friend from Writers Group, I realized I needed to make time to have simple fun again. The simple joy is what I’m missing. The thrill of a fantasy adventure with no strings attached. I can’t wait to write an amazing story!

Thank you all for understanding. I will eventually return once I take a minute to regather myself. After this post, I will occasionally post at least One Piece manga arc reviews (those are pre-written).

Until we meet again, friends!

Major Spoilers are included in this episode review. Please read with caution.

Episode 41— “Mon-Mon Park in the Fog”—was another filler, but it was a great story. I enjoyed the exploration of TK and Matt’s brotherhood, and how that lead to Patamon regaining his power to become Angemon again. The dynamic between TK and Matt is incredible—a great reminder on why I do see a lot of myself in Matt.

The new digivolution sequence to Angemon was wowowow. I loved it so much. Matt and TK’s resolve to save everyone was also a nice callback to the theme park episode from the original series. This time around, the Reboot just chose to exclude Tai and Agumon. It’s a wise choice to sideline Tai like this after so many episodes of him getting two Megas. The Digimon Writers might be listening to us now.

I don’t have much else to say about this episode other than I really did have a good time with it. The brother-centric episode gets a 9/10 for giving us character development, the brotherhood of TK and Matt, and an amazing fight sequence that brought on Angemon.

Thanks so much for reading this episode review! I appreciate the support! :D

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to update you all on my blog’s progress and growing YouTube Channel in addition to my novel being workshopped with Writers’ Group.

First off, thank you for taking the time to read whatever I publish on this blog. It’s truly appreciated. However, I will be taking a huge step back from this Blog to dedicate that time to focus on my YouTube Channel and a writing opportunity I have accepted.

For the time being, I will only focus on Digimon Adventure Reboot and Falcon and The Winter Soldier. I will also try my best to catch up with unOrdinary and Omniscient Reader Webtoons too. I really am looking forward to reading my favorite Webtoons again. Trying to find the time to read is getting harder, but I will figure it out. Stormlight 4 is also calling my name!

My Hero Academia is also on the list of consideration for the anime’s fifth season.

We shall see. I have appreciated you all so much.

Thank you for your understanding!

Major Spoilers are included in this episode review. Please read with caution.

Falcon and The Winter Soldier finally dropped on Disney+ on March 19, 2021. I have been waiting for this series forever, but the wait was absolutely worth it. This episode had a couple issues, but what show doesn’t?

Let’s dive into what happens with Buck and Sam post-Endgame.

The major downside of the episode was the lack of interaction between Buck and Sam. I understand the reasoning for the split though, as it allowed the first episode to set up its world post-Endgame, and how these two men are navigating through that mess. Bucky’s development in this episode was absolutely perfect, and Sam’s was amazing too with his background grounding him as a character.

The lack of interaction was the only major downside though. I just wanted to address the split, and how that could’ve made some people kind-of upset. I was kind-of upset too. It’s okay though. We’ll see them together by next episode. Hopefully…

The legacy of Captain America also hung over Sam’s head throughout this episode. After Steve Rogers passed the mantle to Sam at the end of Endgame, he decided to keep being Falcon. Sam even donated the shield to a museum because he felt the shield will always belong to Steve. I’m understanding why Sam wouldn’t feel worthy yet, and I’m excited to see this story continue to unfold.

The new “Captain America” plot twist at the end revealed that the US Government will do whatever it takes to push their own personal agenda, which included taking the shield. It hurt seeing that scene. He cannot pose as stoically as Steve Rogers.

Bucky’s scenes in this episode intrigued me because it begged the question, “Who is he without a fight?” The identity crisis is very similar to Captain America’s struggle to find a purpose beyond fighting, but it has added trauma and guilt attached.

Bucky is pardoned and trying to make amends for his crimes as The Winter Soldier. He is also forced to do government mandated therapy, which forces him to face a lot of stuff. I enjoyed the Bucky-Therapist scenes very much. I’m just having a great time seeing Buck hate therapy. Who is Bucky without a fight and his best friend?

Overall, I enjoyed the first episode. I’m looking forward to episode 2! Thanks for reading my thoughts. See you all next time!

Major Spoilers are included in this episode review. Please read with caution.

This was another filler episode, but I enjoyed the hell out of it.

Episode 40—“Strike! The Killer Shot”—readdressed Sora’s love for soccer in addition to her motherly nature. The episode may have also hinted at the Tai-Sora romance as well, but that could just be me projecting my feelings about it from the original series. There were many funny character interactions from Matt, Izzy, Joe, and Mimi as well. Kari and TK were playing the whole time, which was super cute.

The animation for Sora and Biyomon’s evolution / fight scene to Garudamon and Shadow Wing was incredible. Toei Animation loves to use their budget only for certain moments, but it’s amazing when they pull it off. Sora is one of my favorite characters, but the series hasn’t delivered the best writing or development for her until now. Honestly, that fight is probably one of the best ones yet. Garudamon was looking so sick!

The flashback to Sora and Tai playing soccer as little kids had a similar vibe to the original series’ Sora-centric crest of love episode. The present day opening scene with everyone is a nice change of pace as well. Having everyone together again helps the reboot so much. Please do not separate them again. Please, Digimon Writers.

Overall, I had a fun time watching this episode. Thank you all so much for reading this episode review. I’ll see you all next time in the Digital World.

Major Spoilers are included in this episode review. Please read with caution.

Another filler episode that I enjoyed so much. Joe Kido received unexpected character development that made me love his character even more. The eight DigiDestined are finally together, and they are traveling to a rest area. They are lucky the rest area has a restaurant that offers free burgers to all travelers. We also meet a new Digimon called Burgamon.

Joe Kido’s love for fries was a major highlight of the episode. I wasn’t ready for the kid hating all the other Digimon customers for not eating them. Gomamon points out its hard for Digimon to grab the fries is why. Then the context for Joe’s love for fries was a great treat too. The “Entrance Exams Wars” would’ve been a good title to contemplate “Mimi-chan Wars!”. Oh well. The episode was still enjoyable for the quiet moments we were given. The fillers are much needed after so many plot-driven episodes lately. The delay of the plot is more than welcomed at this point.

Joe Kido wielding Hammer Spark had a similar vibe to Captain American lifting Thor’s Hammer. I was going crazy seeing Joe smash the hammer down with all his strength. I couldn’t believed what I had seen. I will never look at Joe the same way ever again. The episode was perfect for him. Then Kari and Angewomon providing support was nice!!!!

Overall, I had a good time with this episode. Thank you all so much for reading this episode review. Please remember to check out my YouTube Channel if you’re a card player too.

Major Spoilers are included in this episode review. Please read with caution.

Last episode we saw a bunch of babies (the new “Big Three”) brought into the world. This newest episode we saw them all get taken home on “The Ride” in both past, present, and future. There are multiple storylines about driving newborn babies home. Let’s kick it off with Jack and Rebecca in the past!

Jack and Rebecca leave the hospital with the Big Three, and this car ride was the most emotional out of the ones shown. They leave the safety of the hospital, become quite overwhelmed, and they must also process the loss of their third child Kyle. So, when a douchebag driver cut them off on the road… let’s just say Jack was about to explode. It took Rebecca begging him to come back to the car to calm him. That, and alcohol. The series continues to dismantle Jack’s “perfect dad” image by showing us that he is like a real person with real issues. He was not perfect. He was amazing, but not perfect.

The quiet car scene—with the Big Three babies fast asleep—was beautiful character development for both Jack and Rebecca. They unloaded on each other their terror of failing like their parents.

Rebecca is processing Kyle’s loss, and fears she won’t be a great mother. Jack fears he’ll become like his alcoholic father, and came too close to unleashing “his dad’s rage”. It’s honest and raw and something the series will likely explore further later on. They have each other though—Jack and Rebecca—and assured each other that they won’t be like their parents. I enjoyed the sitting in car scene. The best conversations happen inside a car for some reason. Don’t ask me why. That’s the way of life.

In the present day, Kevin and Madison are driving with their baby twins home from the hospital. Madison forces Kevin to nap, after noticing he was enraged about a paparazzi following him for pictures.

During the nap, Kevin dreams of his dad Jack and finally lets go of the idea that he must be like Jack. Dream Jack tells Kevin about his fears of becoming like his dad, and all that did was waste time. Then, Dream Jack ends the speech by telling his son to decide what he wants and to go get it. This drove Kevin to propose because what he wants is a family.

We also got a Beth and Randall hospital home trip when Annie was born. Randall was being extra about having another child, which irritates Beth because they literally had one two seconds ago. Randall explaining why he wants to keep his tree growing makes sense, but it was ill-timed. Of course, being ill-timed is something Randall is known for.

This tree metaphor does extend to the flashforward though when we meet Adults Annie and Deja for the first time. Deja is trying to become a doctor, and she is secretly pregnant too! Only Annie knows about it at the moment, but Future Randall is going to be psyched for her—we already know!

The Kate-Toby car ride with Ellie and baby Haley was awkward and sad when Ellie revealed she didn’t want to do open-adoption anymore. It was all too much for her! However, Katie pushed her to reconsider, and that caused Toby to be the calm one. Seriously? Toby was the calm one this time around.

Toby was still calm after he lost his job too. Kate and Toby are in a much better place compared to seasons 3 and 4. But the flashforward scene is telling us this won’t last…

Overall, what an interesting episode centered around car rides. I enjoyed it for the most part. This Is Us is finding its footing again even in a pandemic.

Thanks for reading this episode review, everyone! See you all soon for the newest episode coming out!

Major Spoilers are included in this episode review. Please read with caution.

I didn’t enjoy the “Matt-centric” episode compared to last week’s. The animation was wonky, there was picture play-by-play, and the Matt development wasn’t as strong. It wasn’t even visually appeasing to watch. There was also no “MetalGarurumon” either. WHY DOES NOBODY GET MEGA AND TAI GETS TWO? I don’t understand.

The episode was centered around Gabumon getting kidnapped by a Mephismon, who wanted to sacrifice him and other Digimon to revive Millenniumon. The reboot is on it with the plot-driven task, but the character development needs some support too. The flashbacks to Matt and Gabumon’s first meeting didn’t add much because it played out like Tai and Agumon’s first meeting from the Pilot. I was not really impressed with this episode. Matt is #2, but the series doesn’t have to keep reminding us of that fact.

Joe and Gomamon played a hilarious supporting role in this episode though, which I did enjoy so much. Joe’s exposition from his textbook was hilarious. Joe even performed the Shikamaru pose. How Joe’s textbook chant stopped all the evil Digimon reminded me of “Bakumon lose your power” chant, which was also hilariously amazing. I need more next week with the restaurant filler episode coming up.

Gabumon being trapped like Jesus did inspire a lot of memes though, so that’s pretty cool. Of course, everyone met up by the end too. All 8 DigiDestined are officially back together. These kids need to stop getting separated now, so we can get a move on the Mega-centric episodes for everyone. Tai has two Megas and everyone else has zero. It infuritates me so much. It also excites me because I’m a Tai-Agumon simp. Damn it!

Thanks for reading this episode review! I’ll see you all next week in the Digital World!

P.S. I have officially hit 100 subscribers for my YouTube Channel on my One Month YouTube Anniversary! (Feb 1 to March 1). My giveaway for 2 Yellow Starter Decks is coming to an end on Sunday (March 7, 2021)! Thank you all for your support so far!

Let’s keep it digivolving! :D

Major Spoilers are included in this episode review. Please read with caution.

Episode 37—“Mimi-chan Wars”—gave Mimi the much deserved spotlight. While she didn’t get a Rosemon Mega Digivolution, Mimi did get sweet character development, awesome moments of bossing Tai around, and a brand new Lilymon digivolution. It’s such a refresher to see Mimi get so much attention. The episode was a filler one, but I didn’t care. Watching this episode brought me so much joy.

Patamon and Gatomon had a cute moment. Agumon and Tai did a dumb thing to fall in the river while getting some food. Izzy, TK, and Kari were delayed from coming to Mimi, Sora, and Tai because their ride fell asleep. This was so much fun!!! The reboot series is a funny thing. Episodes like this should’ve been happening from the start. It’s looking like next week is going to be darker though, with Matt and Gabumon getting the spotlight.

I also enjoyed Mimi trying to help the Digimon getting abused because capitalism is wrong. All the Digimon like Golemon and Gotsumon were forced to work in mines so [] can eat all the rubies and sapphires. Mimi naming them all different names was such a cute moment. This episode was all-around amazing (triple A) for Mimi!

Golemon had dialogue too! Wow! He spoke and loved being Mimi’s Servan No. 99! How Sora and Tai got roped into the whole filler plot was so fun. This episode was just so fun! It cannot be stress enough how much fun we needed for this reboot series. The Digimon Writers must love Mimi too, but can only do so much because she isn’t Tai or Matt. But it is sad that Matt does get snubbed too, like he is definitely #2 to Tai’s #1.

However, in this episode, Tai barely did anything. He got bossed around, only got Agumon up to Greymon, and watched in awe of Mimi’s awesomeness. It was cool! Honestly, we need more of Tai being sidelined in future episodes. Mimi is officially immune to Tai’s “main character syndrome”. Even in the original series, Mimi never allowed Tai to push her around. Remember Digimon: The Movie when Mimi went on vacation while Diaboromon threatened the world, thus refusing Tai’s phone calls?

Anyways, this episode was amazing. I’m so glad I stayed up until 2am to watch it… after I watched The Promised Neverland and This Is Us before then. I was doing a marathon catch up night. That’s how I spend my Saturday nights…

Thanks for reading this episode review, everyone! I’ll see you all next week in the Digital World!

P.S. I have started a YouTube Channel for Digimon TCG and my other children’s card game interests in addition to Dungeons & Dragons content once I start getting my Rise of Tiamat campaign up and running again. I’m also running a giveaway contest for 2 Yellow Starter Decks I found at Target. Once I reach 100 subscribers, I will draw a name from those who entered and give that person the two decks (without packs).

Here are the rules:

Major Spoilers are included in this episode review. Please read with caution.

Synopsis: By the end of season one, Emma, Ray, and their 13 siblings escape Grace Field House, a false paradise, hoping for a chance at freedom. Instead, they encounter plants and animals they have never seen before, and are chased by demons. The outside world is so beautiful, but also cruel. However, Emma and the others refuse to give up. They are guided in their search for better lives by a message from Minerva and a pen Norman left behind in order to fulfill their promise to return to the Grace Field House to save those of their family—like Phil—who are still trapped within.

Episode 6 started off with the rushed reveal of Norman being alive and reuniting with Emma and Ray. While I found this reunion ultimately inappropriate, I was crying like a joyous baby at 2am in the morning. I’m blaming This Is Us’ newest episode for my tears because I watched that before The Promised Neverland, and I was already tearing up. It’s not okay at all, but the emotional output of Emma and Ray seeing Norman again was a tearjerker. Ray saying he was glad to be alive did stir my emotions.

Norman’s explanation for being alive was rushed as well, since we weren’t given earlier context on his survival like the manga did. The exposition felt so annoying to hear, plus exposition dumping is just grrrr in general. There was no flashbacks either to Norman’s time at the other farm or his meeting with [SPOILER] from when he got shipped out? If that scene is even canon anymore? I don’t even know anymore.

Norman’s new friends are scary though. Barbara eating demon meat and wanting payback is honestly “reasonable”, but Ray had a point about not being able to stop Norman and his new cronies from hating demons. There is valid reason for it. It’s a horrific system that doesn’t want to break, but Emma won’t give up on her ways of achieving the impossible. Ray thinks she’s crazy, but he’s willing to support her.

This “Norman vs Emma” in terms of ethos is from the manga, so that was something I appreciated. The cliffhanger with Norman’s scary face wasn’t as great as in the manga, but at least the anime was nice enough to include. I’m seeing “why” the anime was put onto this route, but I still don’t like it. “Goldy Pond Battle Arc” shouldn’t have been omit, but that’s the way of anime life. Sometimes, the manga canon needs to be adjusted.

I just hope the anime makes a “what if” movie about “Goldy Pond Battle Arc”. That’d be so great. I wouldn’t mind that at all.

Thanks for reading this episode review, everyone! Let’s keep trying to claim our happy endings! Whatever it takes!

Major Spoilers are included in this episode review. Please read with caution.

Wow. I cried so much watching this episode. I hadn’t cried on that level since season 1. The tears would not stop rolling for all the joy happening. I wasn’t expecting so much joy. The characters honestly deserved this episode of epic joy. The love story of Nasir and Esther Ahmed was also a great one to explore in addition to giving us knowledge of the one who gave us the technology needed to survive this ongoing pandemic. It’s honestly beautiful. The entire episode gets 10/10 for me.

The new Big Three babies are here. Madison gave birth to twins Franny and Nicholas. Katie supported Ellie with the labor, and was gifted a daughter named Hailey Rose Damon. Toby chose “Rose” after a man’s wife who had COVID-19 in the same hospital. Randall and Kevin are also finally ready to make amends, but they plan to wait for the right time. Right now, it’s time to celebrate the joys of life.

The flashback to Jack and Rebecca was also very beautiful, giving us insight on how much Rebecca carries Jack with her in present day. I’m hoping Rebecca and Miguel’s love story gets explored soon because the writers have set something up here with Rebecca’s appreciation speech. Miguel bears everything so differently in his marriage to Rebecca. It’s honestly time to learn how they fell in love.

Thank you so much for reading this episode review. It’s a brief but joyous one. I’ll see you all next time for the newest episode on Tuesday!

P.S. I’m surprised nobody dropped the series’ name “This Is Us” when the painting was shown.

Major Spoilers are included in this episode review. Please read with caution.

This Is Us is back… for the third time since season 5 premiered. The show needs to stop taking so many breaks. Anyway, I got around to watching the latest episode, “There”. I had a great time with Kevin navigating what’s most important to him, and how being there for his kids is more important than his career. After five seasons, Kevin figured it out - “What would Jack Pearson do?”

Picking up where we left off in “Birth Mother”, Kevin is on his way to Madison because she is in labor. Kevin bailed on the movie and realized what really matters to him—his kids. It made me weep seeing Kevin drive quick and getting in touch with Miguel and Rebecca to get a plane ticket. Kevin was putting out all the stops to reach the birth. He does not want to miss it—he refuses because he’ll break if he does.

The B-Plot with Jack and Young Kevin paralleled well with Kevin’s present-day journey to fatherhood because he put Jack on a pedestal. I enjoyed this B-Plot because Young Kevin is still feeling so much pressure from Jack, not wanting to disappoint him at this Football Camp. When Jack hears Young Kevin saying his truth and that the coach calls him stupid, Jack is reminded of his own father and little league experience, which leads to the C-Plot.

I did enjoy the father-son focus, which came directly after the mother-son episode with Randall and Laurel. If it weren’t for the constant hiatuses, the pattern would’ve came off stronger. The cliffhanger with Kevin being unable to board the plane because he left his wallet behind at the car accident, which held his ID. Without an ID, Kevin can’t board the plane. What happens now?

Well, Beth and Randall do appear with a family save. They call Madison to comfort her because she is family now. Wow. Madison. Is. Family. I would have never seen that one coming from a mile away. I’m excited for tomorrow’s episode. For some weird reason, I was bothered by how nameless the car accident victim was. I want to learn more about his character in the near future. I hope he makes it out alive.

Thanks for reading this episode review, everyone! Who else is hyped for a new episode tomorrow?

Major Spoilers are included in this episode review. Please read with caution.

Episode 36—“Operation Satellite Sniper”—was potentially a great Izzy-centric episode idea, but the forced Tai-Agumon love kind-of ruined the overall episode. The “threat to Japan” was finally addressed head-on after episodes of teasing by Izzy, but the episode didn’t give Tentomon his Mega form. The episode teased his Mega form, but it wasn’t a primary thing for Izzy or Tentomon. The “leave a party member behind” trope was also used in a wonky way, with Sora, TK, and Kari getting left behind to give Tai and Izzy the chance to reach the top of the pillar of light.

BladeKuwagamon (swarms) and MetallifeKuwagamon (the boss) were the evil Digimon of the week. The villains were even insect-themed, but Izzy was still snuffed. I was really shocked. This episode seemed so set-up for Izzy and Tentomon, but the writers went, “It doesn’t have enough Tai and Agumon in it. Let’s add BlitzGreymon. People will love that!”

The evil Digimon stood in their way just to stand in their way. I really want the Reboot to give the antagonist Digimon some personalities because making them purely obstacles isn’t working for most of us. The animation was incredibly gorgeous though. However, it gave BlitzGreymon a very poor introduction. Maybe BltizGreymon deserved it for taking the spotlight from Izzy and Tentomon, but the episode could’ve at least introduced Tai’s second Mega as sweet as WarGreymon. I’m hoping to see some Slide Evolution though because that would be lit to see.

Of course, Japan was safe once again. The stakes aren’t anything in this series. However, the next episode is called “Mimi-chan Wars!” and that’s something worth watching. It’s interesting how much more I’m appreciating Mimi’s character lately. I’m excited for the others to have the spotlight, but Tai better not steal from them with another accidental evolution. That would be the absolute worst.

Thanks for reading this episode review, everyone! I’ll see you all next week in the Digital World. Also…

I have officially launched my YouTube Channel for Digimon TCG. Check it out when y’all have a minute if interested in the latest children’s card game. I’m pretty invested for this card game. I’m looking forward to seeing how I can keep it digivolving!

Major Spoilers are included in this manga review. Please read with caution.

Summary: In Fuyuki City, seven Masters have summoned beings called Servants, heroic spirits of historic figures, summoned to the present day to fight to the death in order to obtain the Holy Grail, the ultimate prize. Kiritsugu Emiya, the main protagonist, has summoned Saber to fight for him, but she feels uneasy regarding their relationship and accompanies Irisviel, his wife, to Fuyuki.

Volume 2 picks up where Volume 1 left off, with Saber and Lancer about to battle each other honorably. I enjoyed reading this fight scene because it’s one of my favorites in Fate/Zero, but the gorgeous art couldn’t match Ufotable animation. The exposition in people’s heads was also wonky at times and a mouthful to read. There was too much reading and not enough admiring of the art. The manga followed the anime way too closely when it came down to the exposition.

The amount of info-dumping is worse in the manga than in the anime. That’s the gist.

Overall, the anime is superior. I don’t have much else to say because I covered my main thoughts in my anime reviews (season 1 and season 2). Saber’s character design is very sweet though. I enjoy her suit attire so much. I’ll see you all later when I finish Volume 3!

Major Spoilers are included in this manga review. Please read with caution.

On January 31, 2021, I borrowed Fate/Zero’s first three manga books from a friend at my Digi-Locals, and finished the first volume on February 9, 2021. I was busy with life, work, and Digimon, so finding time to read was a real struggle. Reading the first volume was a great experience. Now I want to rewatch the anime or the very least rewatch the fights.

For my anime reviews on Fate/Zero, the links are here (season 1) and here (season 2).

Summary: In Fuyuki City, seven Masters have summoned beings called Servants, heroic spirits of historic figures, summoned to the present day to fight to the death in order to obtain the Holy Grail, the ultimate prize. Kiritsugu Emiya, the main protagonist, has summoned Saber to fight for him, but she feels uneasy regarding their relationship and accompanies Irisviel, his wife, to Fuyuki.

There’s more to the story than that brief summary, but that’s how it begins. Unlike the anime version though, there were new scenes that added great character depth to the story for Saber, Irisvel, Waver, and Rider. The main issue of Fate/Zero is still the massive exposition dump about the Holy Grail War, but the added characterization was a great touch. I almost cried reading Irisvel and Saber traveling the city, and laughed hardcore whenever Rider slapped Waver across the face.

“YOU FOOOL!” - the artwork whenever this action occurred was also amazing!

Of course, the Ufotable animation is still superior, but the artwork was nonetheless great to watch. The colored page opener was good to look at as well, and a good reminder of its not-so-happy conclusion. The pacing to the story was slow, but at least the view was nice! Everything was just so nice!

The exposition about the Holy Grail War does get really tiresome after awhile especially for Fate fans like myself, so newcomers might not enjoy it very much, but Volume Two is gearing itself up to action-packed with that cliffhanger. The “Saber versus Lancer” battle is one of my favorites from the series.

Overall, I love Fate/Zero and need to rewatch it now. Thanks for reading this manga review. I’m going to keep it reading with Volume 2 and 3s this week.

Major Spoilers are included in this episode review. Please read with caution.

Episode 35—“The Glowing Angewomon”—had great character development for Kari and Gatomon. While the action sequences are consistently amazing with the fan-service, like the underwater battles reminded me of battling underwater in Digimon World 3, the plot needs some work to keep things flowing more smoothly. However, the heartfelt moment between Kari and Gatomon was nice. Gatomon being afraid of digivolving made sense as becoming DarkKnightmon again would be traumatizing. I do like how Gatomon was this evil Digimon the entire time, and how that still affected her mental state for the past two episodes.

Kari and Gatomon were given enough character development though, which made their digivolve into Angewomon feel 100% earned. I also enjoyed the subtle nostalgia of using MarineDevimon as the villain because he was supposed to be the main antagonist of the Dark Ocean from Adventure 02. The Digimon Reboot villains need personalities seriously. The world-building would be so much better if the villains were given personalities and motives for doing what they’re doing.

Do the Digimon Writers even remember Myotismon? Phantomon? Piedmon? Anyone?

The underwater battles were giving me hard Digimon World 3 vibes like I said earlier. How they can breathe and fight underwater made sense. The Digimon Reboot is delivering the exposition more effectively, which I appreciate. Izzy needs to be something other than an exposition dumper. Like I get that he’s smart, but the kid’s more than his brain. There was a whole character arc about it during the “Myotismon Arc” of the original series. I’m being mean. I should stop.

The cliffhanger made me wonder if Izzy was getting his Mega-centric episode next week, but apparently BlitzGreymon is going to make his debut. I’m not extremely happy about that. Yes. I’m a Greymon-simp type fan—give me anything Tai, Agumon, Greymon, etc … but I hate how it’s making the overall story suffer. The special “Tai” treatment feels like an unnecessary thing right now because he just got WarGreymon 5 episodes ago. Tai doesn’t need two Mega forms when everyone else didn’t get even one yet. Matt Ishida didn’t even get MetalGarurumon yet. Tai does not need all this attention, but BlitzGreymon is HYPE!!

Being both an objective reviewer and a simple fanboy is so hard sometimes.

Overall, I enjoyed the newest episode but find the reboot’s usual issues too annoying at this point. I’m interested in what’s going on next, but the BlitzGreymon will both amaze and annoy me at the same time. Izzy deserved his HerculesKabuterimon first, but the B-team characters will never get the love they deserve. They deserve it so much, but I have faith that the series will deliver. The series did a good job on Kari and TK’s introductions and development though, so that’s a good start.

Thanks for reading this episode review. I’ll see you all next week in the Digital World!

P.S. I will be competing in my Digi-Locals Tourney this weekend (the 14th) on Valentine’s Day, so wish me all the luck and love for the new deck I’m trying to build. I also created a new Digi-YouTube Channel as NGO DM AA, where I talk about Digi-Deck Profiles, Attack on Target videos, and potentially Digi-Matches. Check it out when y’all have a second. I’d really appreciate it!

Major Spoilers are included in this manga review. Please read with caution.

Synopsis: By the end of season one, Emma, Ray, and their 13 siblings escape Grace Field House, a false paradise, hoping for a chance at freedom. Instead, they encounter plants and animals they have never seen before, and are chased by demons. The outside world is so beautiful, but also cruel. However, Emma and the others refuse to give up. They are guided in their search for better lives by a message from Minerva and a pen Norman left behind in order to fulfill their promise to return to the Grace Field House to save those of their family—like Phil—who are still trapped within.

I tried to give you the benefit of the doubt, The Promised Neverland, but you crossed the line with your rushed pacing and rushed [SPOILER] reveal.

Season 2 Episode 5 is clunky with its six-month time jump, which skipped over the “Goldy Pond Battle Arc”, and put the series on the path to end on season 2. The anime might end on season 2… or a quick season 3 that won’t feel earned. The time jump was also not done correctly as a result. Without the adventures of “Goldy Pond Battle Arc” and [SPOILER], time jumping didn’t make sense.

How did the kids survive for six whole months in a temple? How did Emma and the other kids not get noticed in that demon town throughout all that time? These questions were racing through my brain, and the plot convenience made everything worse. However, I’ll say this: Emma’s quiet emotional moment did feel powerful. The moment could’ve been stronger though if Emma had gone through the “Goldy Pond Battle Arc”. We’re missing a lot of character drive in this series for the sake of accelerating the plot, which is a concept I will never understand. We watch stuff for characters, not plot.

There isn’t much else to say other than the impact of Norman’s return fell flat. Emma and Ray gasped and cried, but I went “ugh”. After reading the manga and falling in love with a great arc called “Goldy Pond Battle Arc”, I’m just so disappointed that I’ll never see it in all of its glory. I cannot believe we’re in the “King of Paradise Arc” already. Then, next week is the recap episode apparently, so I’ll be sharing more specifics on how everything is going wrong in that review once it airs next week.

I thought season 2 was going to end with the “Norman is alive” reveal, but we’re getting it at the halfway point. And the reveal was supposed to be earlier than the reunion, so… this story is not looking good right now. The storyline is getting clunky, Emma is not receiving proper character development, and the erasure of “Goldy Pond Battle Arc” is a bad move!!

I feel so betrayed. This isn’t The Promised Neverland anymore. My friend who also read the manga called it the “un-Promised Neverland”, and he isn’t wrong. No matter what though, we must claim our happy endings. Maybe “Goldy Pond Battle Arc” will be a movie in the future?

Thanks for reading this unpleasant episode review, everyone! I’ll see you all next time for that recap episode. Season Two is like watching The God of High School and Digimon Reboot. I didn’t think The Promised Neverland Season 2 would turn on us like this. It hurts so much.

Major Spoilers are included in this manga review. Please read with caution.

One-sentence summary: Written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda, the series follows Monkey D. Luffy traveling to the Grand Line—with his pirate crew—in search of the world’s ultimate treasure called “One Piece” in order to become the King of Pirates.

On November 2, 2020, I started and finished One Piece’s “Loguetown Arc”—the final canon story arc in the East Blue Saga. The first six days out at fictional sea reading One Piece’s first 100 chapters had been an amazing journey to get on the journey toward Grand Line.

The short arc centered around Luffy and his Straw Hat Pirates—the official name—stopping at Loguetown to gather supplies before finally going to the Grand Line to fulfill all their individual dreams.

While a short arc—five chapters—it was a necessary one to tie up all the loose-ends before heading into the Grand Line. Luffy also gained an official bounty on his head for all the trouble he caused in the previous arcs, and old enemies like Captain Buggy and Alvida also made a comeback in this arc wanting revenge against Luffy. Seeing Cabaji the Acrobat and Mohji the Beast Trainer again was also awesome—their names are so entertaining and memorable. It’s good to see Buggy and his pirate crew again for sure!

Alvida has a new sexier character design—skinny figure, showing bra, and no more freckles—as she ate a Devil’s Fruit. Of course, Luffy wouldn’t recognize you, Alvida—I didn’t recognize you. This abrupt change with design on female characters is something I mentioned in my last manga review—the “Arlong Park Arc”—when Oda changed it up with Nami. At least in this case, Alvida had a “plot” reason by eating the Devil’s Fruit, but I do feel it sends the wrong—maybe, harmful—message about beauty standards.

Marines Smoker the White Hunter and Tashigi are some new antagonists introduced in this arc, with Tashigi bearing a great resemblance to Kuina—Zoro’s childhood friend who died going down some stairs. I will never get over her needlessly fridged death—Tashigi could’ve easily been his friend instead of doing this lookalike approach.

I also did enjoy how Luffy couldn’t beat Smoker the White Hunter—who is also a Devil Fruit user—and had to run away with the boys—the storm that saved him was pure Deus Ex Machina but it was still pretty cool to be honest. Luffy being ready to die on the same execution stand as Gol. D Roger and then he didn’t is plot convenience in plain sight.

Shanks and Mihawk making cameos in the arc to celebrate Luffy’s official bounty was also a great full-circle moment in addition to revisiting Luffy’s hometown when they heard the “great” news. Shanks is looking forward to Luffy officially entering the pirate scene. Similar to Tower of God’s first season—in both Webtoon and anime—One Piece was just setting up the world, plot, and characters for the real pirate story to come with its first 100 chapters.

How all the characters stating their dreams for the Grand Line—Luffy wanting the “One Piece” to become King of the Pirates, Zoro wanting to become the “World’s Greatest Swordsman”, Nami wanting to draw the world’s map, Sanji wanting to find “All Blue”, and Usopp wanting to become a brave warrior of the sea—was an amazing way to conclude the arc and its 100th chapter in addition to establishing these five as our main protagonists going into the Alabasta Saga.

Thanks for reading this manga review, everyone! Let’s keep it sailing! After six days out on this fictional sea, I’m finally heading into the Grand Line! After I read another 100 chapters, and I’m buying myself an awesome Luffy Figure! Believe it!

Major Spoilers are included in this manga review. Please read with caution.

One-sentence summary: Written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda, the series follows Monkey D. Luffy traveling to the Grand Line—with his pirate crew—in search of the world’s ultimate treasure called “One Piece” in order to become the King of Pirates.

On November 1, 2020, I started One Piece’s “Arlong Park Arc”—the fifth story arc in the East Blue Saga—and finished on November 2, 2020. In the aftermath of the “Baratie Arc”—after Nami steals the Going Merry pirate ship from Luffy and the crew—Roronoa Zoro and Usopp give chase, with Luffy, Sanji, Johnny, and Yosaku following as well after they resolved the previous arc’s storyline.

Similar to the previous arc’s character focus on Sanji, this arc gives us greater insight into Nami, her tragic background, and her motives for stealing from Luffy and the other pirates. Going into this arc, I felt uncertain about why she did what she did, but seeing her cry quietly to herself made me think she must’ve had a sympathetic reason. Then we meet the main antagonist—Arlong—the leader of the Arlong Pirates.

Arlong is a horrible Fishman—part human, part fish—who believes his species is superior to humans, which means all humans must bow and serve them. He is the ruler of Nami’s hometown—the entire island—and rules with fear and intimidation.

If the villages didn’t pay their “tributes” or chose to fight against them, Arlong retaliates with mass murder and decimation of said village. Reading the decimation of the Gosa Village was heartbreaking and effective in establishing Arlong as this pure evil villain ready to put those he deems below him “in their place”.

This is the villain Nami has been working for this whole time—eight years of her life—to secretly protect her village from suffering the same fate as her mother and the other villages. She also worked for him in order to buy her village back from Arlong—but to do so, she had to betray her mother Bellmere’s memory.

In the flashback story, Arlong killed Nami’s mother because she didn’t have enough money to pay the hefty “tribute” fee, having used the last of her savings to save her daughters Nami and Nojiko. The fee was 100,000 bells for an adult and 50,000 bells for a child. Bellmere only had 100,000 in her savings, so she used it to save her two daughters—people who didn’t share her blood, but they were her family nonetheless.

Bellmere’s death had a huge impact on Nami, and it affected all her decision-making moving forward—to make up for what Nami said about wanting to be adopted by a richer family. Despite this, Bellmere’s final words proved her parental love for Nami and Nojiko was truly unconditional. It was honestly a very dark moment when Arlong executed her with a headshot.

Then Nami was made into a slave after Arlong learned about her natural ability to draw maps—something he exploits to hunt more villages and to subjugate them under his rule similar to Nami’s hometown. Arlong promised that if Nami could amass 100,000 bells though from her pirate-hunting thievery, he’d let her buy the village back.

This background explained why Nami has a strong opinion about money and hating pirates: she grew up with very little, lost her beloved mother because not enough money, and she must now depend on money to survive and earn her freedom one day. This is a lot to put on a child going into adulthood.

Of course, Arlong lied and had a corrupt Marine Navy team raid Nami’s stash, stealing 93 million from her. Arlong wasn’t going to lose his precious slave, not until she drew all the maps for him, which would take decades—maybe even the rest of her life.

This results in all the villagers gathering and marching to their deaths for Nami sacrificing herself for nothing. Nami begged them to stop—wanting to keep them alive—but a riot was inevitable. After all, rioting is the language of the unheard.

The major theme of oppression resonated strongly with the villagers, giving them great “crowd development”—a term I picked up from Haikyu!! regarding groups of people developing together—throughout this arc on why they didn’t act against Arlong’s oppression out of fear and secretly relying on one person to save them instead of saving themselves.

Reading Nami repeatedly stab her shoulder—where her Arlong Pirates tattoo was—was definitely uncomfortable but necessary to tell the reader, “Nami’s currently at her lowest point.”

“When we reach our lowest point, we are open to the greatest change,” Avatar Aang, The Legend of Korra.

My brain is on The Legend of Korra, and it’s pretty relevant to this particular arc of One Piece and Nami’s character development.

Luffy eventually shows up in this arc, and stops Nami from hurting herself further. After repeatedly telling him and the others to leave the island, Nami breaks—crying in front of him and breaking her vow as a kid that no one would see her cry nor would she ask for help—and tells Luffy, “Help me.”

In response, Luffy gives Nami his straw hat—his most prized treasure—to protect, symbolizing how he has absolute faith in her as a navigator unlike everyone else in her life, albeit for good reason. The epic scene where Luffy walks up to the boys—Zoro, Sanji, and Usopp—was a great hero moment honestly. These moments have a similar emotional vibe to “Fairy Tail” but not overly spammed to the point of annoyance—at least not yet, I’m only 95 chapters into the series after all.

The action sequences were also excellent—my favorite is Zoro for the injuries he had taken during the “Baratie Arc” in his fight against Mihawk and still suffering from in his fight against Hachi—the Octopus Fishman with six swords. I do enjoy “underdog” fights, watching the hero achieve victory despite the clear disadvantage. Those injuries also added to Zoro’s badassery and his tendency to keep it moving regardless of handicaps that would kill the average human.

Sanji had a disadvantage too with his fight moving from land to sea, so he could save Luffy from drowning. This arc also gave him enough space to show the reader what we can expect from him moving forward in terms of fight scenes. I do love his kicking technique, and how strong he actually is without using his cooking hands. He seamlessly established a great dynamic with Zoro, Usopp, and Luffy with ease—and his crush on beautiful women like Nami is pretty Brock-like behavior (Pokemon). So, it’s kind-of gross.

My only dislike with the arc is Usopp and his comedic cowardice. I initially liked him during the “Syrup Village Arc”—his debut arc—but his constant running away was really annoying. I did like how he thought about Nami’s pain, and what would happen if he kept running though, which made him fight and defeat one of Arlong’s pirates.

When Luffy destroyed Nami’s room though—the “prison” where she was constantly drawing maps—it proved how much Nami meant to him as a crewmate and friend. The ending moment with Nami getting a new tattoo—a pinwheel for her father figure Genzo and an orange for her mother Bellmere—was beautiful and symbolic of the parental figures who tried to keep her smile alive.

The “Arlong Park Arc” is the absolute best One Piece story arc I’ve read so far. Eiichiro Oda did a fantastic job with this arc in terms of plot, character, world-building, action, and the major theme of oppression weaved into the narrative. Having recently finished The Legend of Korra’s Book 4 at the time, I was clearly prepared for this type of story arc based on the Avatar Aang quote I used earlier.

I hadn’t talked much about Oda’s artwork—I don’t think I would be fair since this art style is late 1990’s / early 2000’s—but the character design on Nami abruptly changed into an hour glass figure, which matched her sister Nojiko’s body as well. I’m not sure how I feel about it quite yet, but it doesn’t currently feel good that he did that.

Oda did do a great job on making Nami a sympathetic character, but sexualizing her design shouldn’t be the price for that development; its kind-of setting the wrong beauty standard especially with a lack of female characters in the series so far. It’s also abrupt and distracting for those who were used to her old design from the previous arcs.

Hopefully, Oda introduces more significant female characters in the future—since I realized Nami is the only major female character on Luffy’s crew and the series overall—but I wouldn’t be surprised if the same issue arises again since this is a 1990’s manga that was released alongside Dragon Ball Z.

Regardless of those issues though, I still highly recommend y’all getting into One Piece for the world-building and its exceptional emotional moments, but you must be prepared for the long-game. Thanks for reading this manga review, everyone! I’ll see you all on the Grand Line soon enough! I’m getting there—full speed ahead for the precious “One Piece”!

Major Spoilers are included in this manga review. Please read with caution.

One-sentence summary: Written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda, the series follows Monkey D. Luffy traveling to the Grand Line—with his pirate crew—in search of the world’s ultimate treasure called “One Piece” in order to become the King of Pirates.

On October 30, 2020, I started reading One Piece’s “Baratie Arc”—the fourth story arc in the Blue East Saga—and finished on November 1, 2020. This arc had everything with plot, setting, characters, tragic backgrounds, great comedic moments, and awesome fight scenes.

I have been shedding a good amount of tears the first five days reading this massive ongoing manga, but this arc had me super emotional for Sanji and Owner Zeff. There was also an excellent foreshadow moment with Nami, which gave us a good hint on what the next arc will be about. I’m looking forward to getting to know her better.

Even Zoro had a moment confronting Dracule Mihawk—the one holding the title of the “World’s Greatest Swordsman”. Honestly, seeing the vast difference between their power levels during the one-sided fight scene had me terrified for what’s to come on the Grand Line, and how the slow build-up is honestly necessary before Luffy and his incomplete pirate crew even attempt to head over there.

Zoro’s emotional resolve to never lose again made me shed tears for him, and how Mihawk acknowledges Zoro to keep training so they can fight again someday was amazing. Zoro is easily becoming one of my favorite characters when it comes to his resolve to obtain that title for the sake of his dead friend, but I still hate that they fridged her—she could’ve been an amazing support character or a future antagonist. It’s such a damn shame.

Sanji, the newest recruit, is a cook with the most tragic backstory introduced so far. As a child, he was shipwrecked with Owner Zeff—at the time, an active pirate—on a small rock, where they were stranded together for several months. They lived on opposite sides of that rock and barely spoke to each other for most of that time. We also learned the true origin story of how Owner Zeff lost his leg—having been forced to amputate and eat it so he wouldn’t starve because he gave all the food to Sanji. After this, Sanji felt indebted to Owner Zeff and worked with him at their ship restaurant called the Baratie.

As a result of this gratitude, Sanji initially refuses to join with Luffy, a recurring trope at this point, as all the previous members initially refused too—but after the events of this arc, Sanji relents to pursue his dream—Owner Zeff’s original pirate dream—for the “All Blue” hidden somewhere at the Grand Line. I’m so excited for Luffy and his pirate crew to hit the Grand Line at some point.

The character—and villain of the arc—Don Kreig also represented how dangerous the Grand Line truly is. This villain had an entire fleet of pirates, he was known as the “strongest in the East Blue”, possessed rare weaponry, but he still failed—and on the first day out there! However, Luffy still smiled and declared he’d find a way. That’s my boy!

Luffy’s fight scene with Don Kreig was honestly pretty good—action sequence and artwork. How Luffy kept jumping from driftwood to driftwood while dodging Don Kreig’s cannonball attacks without falling into the war was superb. I hadn’t talked much about the artwork, but I do love the character designs especially Luffy’s.

Luffy’s “main protagonist” moments whenever he declared he would become King of the Pirates were classic—the originator of the “classic”—and epically drawn. Not a real fan of Luffy’s role in the story—idiot who cares only about meat—but I do love his great design and simple-minded determination to a certain extent. There are times when he’s kind-of a distraction to the other interesting things going on, but I guess that’s something I have to get used to—I’ve heard Luffy doesn’t change all that much throughout the series either when it comes to his simple-mindedness. I won’t weigh in on that yet until I’m further into the story.

Overall, I’m having a great time reading Big Daddy One Piece. I’m honestly surprised at how well I’m receiving this manga. I would recommend those who are hesitant to jump on board with me—I have a feeling the story will pick up once Luffy has his whole crew officially together. Thanks for reading this manga review, everyone! Let’s keep it reading with the “Arlong Park Arc” next!

Major Spoilers are included in this manga review. Please read with caution.

One-sentence summary: Written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda, the series follows Monkey D. Luffy traveling to the Grand Line—with his pirate crew—in search of the world’s ultimate treasure called “One Piece” in order to become the King of Pirates.

On October 29, 2020, I started reading One Piece’s “Syrup Village Arc”—the third story arc in the East Blue Saga—and finished on October 30, 2020. For those who don’t know, this is my first time experiencing Big Daddy One Piece, and it has been a wild first experience so far. I enjoyed the first two story arcs, and while this third story arc had a lot of emotions written into it regarding Usopp’s past, I found the arc falling short in a lot of areas.

Picking up where we left off in the previous arc and after a confusing opening chapter, Luffy, Zoro, and Nami arrive at Syrup Village looking for a pirate ship and meet Usopp—the village liar. After conversing with him and learning about his past in addition to Captain Kuro—the villain—making his move against Usopp’s friend Kaya, they decide to intervene and help.

Let’s talk about that confusing opening chapter first. Luffy, Zoro, and Nami actually ended up traveling to an island first and met with a guy stuck in a treasure chest named Gaimon. This chapter functioned more like a one-shot chapter, as it didn’t add anything to the rest of the arc—like we could’ve skipped chapter 22 and started with the following chapter. Unless that Gaimon character plans on making a comeback down the line later…

Usopp is the village liar who plays pranks on the villagers and has his own “pirate crew”, telling tall stories for entertainment purposes—not to hurt people. This character reminds me of Naruto Uzumaki. Like, I wouldn’t be surprised if Masashi Kishimoto actually drew inspiration for Naruto’s character from Usopp. I mean, Usopp plays pranks to get villagers’ attention, the villagers hate him—but he loves the village and is willing to die for them, and his kid crew is basically Konohamaru and friends with their own dreams. There are way too many similarities going on.

I am excited that Usopp ended up joining Luffy’s crew though—following the pirate’s dream—as their fourth member, and they have a ship now! Luffy is making progress, baby! Usopp will likely add more comedic moments into the group’s dynamic.

The fight scenes were pretty solid between Luffy, Captain Kuro, Zoro, and Janga. However, I felt this arc wasn’t as strong as the “Orange Town” Arc despite having a strong villain in Captain Kuro. I think the convenience of the whole situation—how Luffy and friends happen to show up when Captain Kuro was about to put his three-year plan into motion—was hard to get onboard with. The emotional moments were top-notched though, so that aspect of the arc pushed me through during the reading experience.

Overall, I’m going to keep it reading toward the “One Piece” alongside Luffy and his growing pirate crew. While this arc wasn’t as strong as the first two story arcs, I’m trusting the almost 1,000-chapter manga to “wow” me at some point.

Thanks for reading this manga review, everyone! I appreciate y’all support. Let’s keep it sailing for that “wow” factor!

Major Spoilers are included in this manga review. Please read with caution.

On October 28, 2020, I started and finished One Piece’s “Orange Town” Arc. After reading the first two story arcs in one day, I decided to keep it reading to catch up with whatever the latest chapter will be in addition to watching only the anime’s exclusive filler arcs—of course, in chronological order—for that “extra content”. Based on my efforts with Tower of God—38 days to read 485 episodes—I should ideally be caught up with One Piece by the end of 2020 or January 2021 at the latest. Now that you have a clear idea on how far I’ll go with this ongoing manga entourage, let’s get started!

One-sentence summary: Written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda, the series follows Monkey D. Luffy traveling to the Grand Line—with his pirate crew—in search of the world’s ultimate treasure called “One Piece” in order to become the King of Pirates.

Unlike the first story arc where the stakes didn’t feel imminent—no offense Alvido or Morgan, but y’all weren’t exactly scary—the “Orange Town” arc upped the terror with Clown Pirates, also known as Buggy’s Pirates. The arc kicked off with Luffy and Zoro lost at sea without proper navigation or food essentials, showing us comedically how inefficient they are as pirates. After Luffy tries to knock down a bird and crash lands in Orange Town, he meets Nami—a pirate-hating thief who only steals from pirates—who is after Buggy’s precious treasure and a map to the Grand Line. Nami is an interesting character—the third member and second recruit—of Luffy’s growing pirate crew. She is the much-needed “brains” the crew was lacking.

The “Orange Town” Arc also delivers on great action, with Zoro having a swordfight and Luffy facing off against Captain Buggy. Zoro cutting himself where he was already wounded was such a badass moment. I also enjoyed how Luffy and Buggy didn’t “power-up” to see who would win the fight, and there was strategy involved. I just assumed “powering up” was going to be a thing since this is an OG manga that came out around the same as Dragon Ball Z.

Maybe I’m not giving One Piece enough credit? It’s too soon to tell.

The Clown Pirates aspect definitely leaned into the self-awareness of how bizarre and weird everything is—to the point Luffy and Nami pointed out how weird that pirate crew was; Mohji the Beast Trainer, Cabaji the Acrobat, and Captain Buggy himself were memorable characters based on their names alone. The bar scene where the Clown Pirates and Nami were drinking to their heart’s content was pure pirate nonsense. I loved every second of that scene until it came time to execute Luffy.

In an interesting way, Cabaji and Buggy were used as great character foils for Zoro and Buggy in terms of their abilities and goals. Cabaji’s sword skills are great but clearly not refined like Zoro’s, and Buggy’s Devil Fruit abilities—breaking his body apart into moveable pieces—are only being used to pursue riches as opposed to Luffy’s sense for adventure.

Wait a hot minute. Am I seriously being thought-provoked by One Piece?

The flashback with Buggy and Shanks—Luffy’s source of inspiration—added great depth to the fight scene, and the constant belief clash regarding what it means to be a pirate in this day and age. I’m understanding why Kohei Horikoshi loves One Piece, and how he heavily drew from the manga while writing and drawing My Hero Academia.

Honestly, I’m seeing more potential than actually getting my mind-blown. Adding Nami to the team—bringing the pirate crew to the standard trio quota—will likely speed things along for the long game. With almost 1,000 chapters currently out with no sign of stopping—anytime soon, anyway—I’m sure the “wow” moment will hit soon enough. Then it’ll likely drag sometime after that. I’m setting myself up for realistic expectations.

Thanks for reading this manga review, everyone! I appreciate y’all reading along with me on this epic journey! Let’s keep it sailing for the Big Daddy “One Piece” treasure!

Major Spoilers are included in this manga review. Please read with caution.

On October 28, 2020, I started and finished One Piece’s “Romance Dawn Arc”—the first story arc of this massive ongoing manga. After catching up with the Tower of God Webtoon—all 485 episodes—as a “warm-up” to this series, I found myself quite excited to read this manga—having never read it or watched the anime during my childhood.

One sentence summary: Written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda, the series follows Monkey D. Luffy traveling to the Grand Line—with his pirate crew—in search of the world’s ultimate treasure called “One Piece” in order to become the King of Pirates.

The “Romance Dawn” Arc is made up of three main stories. The first story is Luffy’s origin story, giving us context the driving force behind his dream to become a pirate and why he has the Devil Fruit—“rubber man”—abilities. The second story takes place ten years later when he sets off on his epic pirate adventure and meets Koby, helping the boy escape from an evil female pirate named Alvida. The third and final story is about Luffy recruiting his first crewmate named Roronoa Zoro and fighting against Marine Captain Axe-Hand Morgan.

I was surprised at how well each story transitioned from one to the other, and how simple-minded Luffy is, despite him being one of the original Shonen protagonists.

How Luffy approaches life is incredibly simple-minded—something I had been trying to embrace in my own life—and makes the arc’s three mini-stories so enjoyable to follow. Luffy doesn’t see titles and labels the way most people do, which contrasted well with the villains introduced—like Alvida and Morgan—who care about their titles and privileges for the power it provides them; they also boasted how great they were before getting their asses handed to them by Luffy.

Oda seemed determined to deliver the idea of simplicity—something I had been thriving for as well—through Luffy’s character, and these villains becoming lost in their privileged identities strengthened that message when confronted with someone they couldn’t control or take down. Overall, Luffy is a simple character, and his dream to become King of the Pirates is fun for him—it’s honestly as simple as that. Sometimes, people tend to forget we can do things just for the fun of it.

Rorona Zoro is similar to Luffy as being simplistic but in a different way. Zoro wants to become the World’s Greatest Swordsman because he made a promise to do so, but he also knows his limitations regarding that goal. However, he—along with those limits—can evolve over time. LIMIT BREAK!

Zoro doesn’t care much about titles either—similar to Luffy—and doesn’t mind “being below him” because the only title he cares about is “World’s Greatest Swordsman”. However, Zoro and Luffy do hold a mutual respect for each other that contrasted well with how Alvida treated Koby like dirt in addition to Morgan treating his son the same way; the villains didn’t care about the people working for them. Also, Rorona Zoro is a badass character.

The only thing I didn’t like about the arc was the fridge trope on Kuina—Zoro’s childhood friend. She was a powerful swordswoman in their youth and beat Zoro 2001 times with him not having won once. Then she died falling down some stairs after being denied her father’s dojo for being a woman. They had the potential to have a Guy-Kakashi type relationship—I guess Guy and Kakashi are like them since One Piece came out first, but the point is I hated how she died for his character development.

Yes, it was 1997, but using the fridge trope is still unacceptable, and I’m calling it out.

Koby was a great character too, with his dream of being a Marine being acknowledged by Luffy despite Marines and pirates being natural enemies. However, Luffy is a simple-minded character—again, not caring about titles—and saw their dreams as being equal, something I had been trying to instill in my current Writers’ Group, as we all have different goals and approaches that deserve the same level of respect. That’s why Luffy punching Koby in the face was great! Everyone’s goals are worth pursing, no matter how stupid it may seem or like. Have y’all seen the Hunter x Hunter meme about being able to go far if you don’t care how stupid you look? Let me drop that gem below for context.

Overall, I still found a way to enjoy One Piece for its simplicity. It was surprisingly simplistic. Simple plot. Simple characters. Simple goals in nature—not easy to obtain—but they know what they like and are working hard to get it. Simple, right? It’s hard, but it’s what they love to do. Nothing wrong with that whatsoever. While the arc lacked high stakes, I’d still recommend giving One Piece a try because I have a feeling it’s about to get more complex moving forward.

Thanks for reading this manga review! Let’s keep it sailing toward the “One Piece”.

Major Spoilers are included in this episode review. Please read this with caution.

Episode 34—“Hikari and Tailmon”—was structured similar to TK and Patamon’s centric episode from two weeks ago, which I enjoyed so much as it allowed both character and plot to develop organically. The relationship between Kari and Gatomon was definitely explored very similarly to TK and Patamon’s relationship, but there was more emotion involved with Kari and Gatomon’s since they’re still getting to know each other. Kari’s a great character still, and her loving nature shined bright.

After the events of the previous episode, Tai, Sora, TK, and Kari are heading toward FAGA, the location of Millenniumon’s largest piece. The goal of the reboot series is to ensure the evil Digimon doesn’t revive while putting the group back together. However, the kids had arrived in an underwater city first to eat a delicious meal. The kids and their Digimon had something to eat FINALLY! Eating and pooping is a big deal in Digimon Adventure! I mean, of course, but the reboot hasn’t been addressing that aspect, like at all. Let them eat food and poop, Digimon writers! It’s only natural!

MarineAngemon and Gatomon were being utilized to explain the Holy Digimon, and the aspects of the underwater city. You know, that was pretty neat. The reboot series needs to explore the quieter moments more often. For example, Kari snuggling with Gatomon is a moment that has to happen a lot more often. I do hope they explore how Gatomon was a DarkKnightmon at one point. Yeah, Tai said in the recap that they’re the same Digimon. I dig it. Some won’t. That’s okay too. Either way, it’s canon.

The action sequences with Gatomon were pretty fluid and flex, and how she tried to keep Kari from joining the battles for her own protection fit well. I enjoyed watching the series utilize her Champion status more rather than trying to nerf her like they had done in Adventure 02. The moment when Kari received her digivice did feel earned, and that gave Gatomon the push she needed to achieve victory. The villains still need personalities, but whatever. Let’s beat the bad guys down and call it a day.

I don’t have much else to say about this episode except that I’m hyped for next week’s official debut of Angewomon. Once that’s taken care of, the episodes will likely move similar to this format.

#35 - Angewomon debut

#36 through #40 (?) - Matt, Mimi, Sora, Izzy, and Joe receiving Mega-centric episodes.

Around #40 or #41 range, we’ll likely get another Omnimon appearance or upgrades for Matt and Tai. Maybe both in consecutive episodes because that’s happened before too. The plot is following a predictable pattern to me, but we shall see how everything goes.

Thanks everyone for reading this episode review! I appreciate it! I’ll see you all next week in the Digital World!

Major Spoilers are included in this episode review. Please read with caution.

Synopsis: By the end of season one, Emma, Ray, and their 13 siblings escape Grace Field House, a false paradise, hoping for a chance at freedom. Instead, they encounter plants and animals they have never seen before, and are chased by demons. The outside world is so beautiful, but also cruel. However, Emma and the others refuse to give up. They are guided in their search for better lives by a message from Minerva and a pen Norman left behind in order to fulfill their promise to return to the Grace Field House to save those of their family—like Phil—who are still trapped within. Do they have what it takes to claim their happy endings?

This episode left a sour taste in my mouth. Let’s start with the good stuff first like Emma picking up the phone call from William Minerva and the beautiful quiet scenes with the kids living for the sake of living. While the phone call isn’t supposed to happen until post-Goldy Pond, the voice of William Minerva was still effectively poignant . Minerva has also revealed his real name as James Ratri, which was the first sign of legit concern, due to the potential change-up from [SPOILER] taking up the identity later in the manga. However, Emma and the others continued keeping hope because they refuse to break the promise they made to Norman.

So. Much. Hope.

The characters have never sunken into despair. They have each other to rely on, after all. All they have to do is keep trying to escape a world of demons that see them as nothing but food. The children make a routine in the shelter where they wake up, eat, take turns cleaning the shelter, train, and then settle down to Nat playing the piano. This life is the best they can do, and it’s truly beautiful what one can accomplish under the darkness of the world they live in.

That’s the first half of the episode…

The second half shifted gears fast, making me tweet “What’s happening?” multiple times throughout my viewing of the episode. The humans in gear breaking into the shelter had elements of the “Cuvitida Arc”, but it didn’t provide any context for the human invaders. It might not matter anyway because those invaders were killed by demons later on. They’re supposed to be working together, but I guess those demons were wild ones.

The episode deviated heavily from the manga’s storyline at this point, which might be a sweet or terrible thing depending on where the story goes next with its anime exclusive content. I won’t say much about the deviation, except they might not cover “Goldy Pond Battle Arc”. If they actually skip that arc and [SPOILER], then season two is going to sink. This is NOT what we signed for up.

We also saw the unexpected return of Mama Isabella in this episode, which seems to be setting up her eventual return in a future arc. Mama Isabella’s unexpected return is also too soon, and fuels the terrible idea of season two skipping over “Goldy Pond Battle Arc”. I’m trying not to worry too bad, but if the anime does go down this routine, there will be no coming back from this colossal failure.

Overall, what a great TPN episode, but the deviation from manga source material could spell doom for the rest of the season. Next week’s episode will confirm the direction the anime will officially take, which is technically halfway point since season two has eleven episodes. I guess we will have to wait and see next week.

Please prove me wrong, TPN. This feels like The God of High School and Digimon Adventure Reboot. I don’t like that feeling.

Regardless, Promised Neverlanders, let’s claim our happy endings!!!

Major Spoilers are included in this manga review. Please read with caution.

Synopsis: The Chaldea Security Organization is a group made up of high-level mages and brilliant scientists dedicated to preserving mankind’s history. One day, the organization learns the timeline had been changed and mankind is now set to become extinct by the end of 2016. After a horrific accident, one Master, Ritsuka, and one Demi-Servant, Mash are left humankind’s last hope. Do they have what it takes to save the future?

After the events of Volume 1 (Prologue), Mash and Ritsuka are forced to travel to 1431’s France. History has said the country should be at peace, but there are dragons flying in the skies. Also, Jeanne has resurrected after being executed like Jesus Christ and is now evil. Jeanne has become Jeanne Alter the Avenger. In addition, there are more Servants summoned but no Masters around. That’s an unusual subversion for Fate, but a normal thing for Fate / Grand Order. Ritsuka is the only Master these Servants need.

Released in November 2020, this volume struggled with the same issues as Volume 1 in regards to the breakneck pace. There is no time for emotional moments to truly express themselves organically or for the new characters to grow either. Ritsuka and Mash aren’t given much time to breathe either. Although, the character designs were still beautiful. The only issue was evil characters being in sexy outfits—like Jeanne Alter—but that’s a trope that must be met for the fan-service.

The only character’s design I truly enjoyed was Chevalier d’Eon, a transgender French spy and soldier. They are gender fluid in design and mannerisms, which is welcomed for that representation. The character uses “they / them” pronouns in the Fate / Grand Order game, so those are the ones I’ll use when referring to the character. I loved d’Eon’s character and abilities in the mobile app, and the commitment to their historical roots was also a great way to honor the real person.

The background designs are still too bland or plain, so I never got a feel for the setting. I addressed this issue as part of the plot pacing issue in my Volume 1 Review, and it’s such a disappointment honestly. However, the anime adaptation might be better. Fate is that series I watch for the animation and fight scenes. You know, similar to Digimon Adventure Reboot.

Volume 2 ends in the middle of an arc, so hopefully Volume 3 doesn’t take three years to get released. I wouldn’t mind waiting personally because I played the game, but Fate GO readers who don’t play the game might get impatient. So, yeah, maybe they should play the game. I found Volume 2 more engaging than Volume 1, but not by much. I am going to watch the anime because I read these volume books and already watched the movie, so that counts for something. Right?

Thank y’all so much for reading this manga review! I appreciate it! Let’s keep it reading! I’m going to finally read manga books, My Hero Academia Volume 26, My Hero Academia: Vigilantes Volume 8, and then Digimon V-Tamer Manga online!

I’m trying to go into FEB 2021 strong! Reader strong!

Major Spoilers are included in this Webtoon Review. Please read with caution.

From October 1, 2020 to January 7, 2021, the “Tyrants Arc” of the Webtoon unOrdinary—written and drawn by uru-chan—rampaged like a magnificent wildfire dancing through the halls of Wellston Private High School. The events of this arc were a long time coming. Now without further ado, let’s dive into my thoughts on unOrdinary’s “Tyrants Arc”.

After episodes on episodes of build-up, the arc blasted off with the exposition, character development for Blyke, John, Seraphina, Remi, Arlo—and strangely Zeke—and how the world of unOrdinary truly functions as a society that values the strong over the weak. Let’s start with Arlo’s role in this arc, and I’ll keep it moving from there.

Arlo had a supporting role in the arc, setting up a meeting between Remi and his Aunt Valerie, a member of the Authorities. Arlo is resisting the truth of what’s going on with EMBER because of his trust in the Authorities, his Aunt Valerie, and the structure of the hierarchy or it would mean accepting what he was taught growing up was a lie. It isn’t going to be easy on Arlo once his world falls apart.

Things got tense when Remi recognized Aunt Valerie as Volcan, the villain she faced off against in the epic climax of the “Vigilante 2 Arc”. Volcan was also the one who killed her older brother Rei. The tension became more palpable when Remi decided to debate with Aunt Valerie, believing the Authorities and the Vigilantes should be working together against EMBER instead of being enemies.

Arlo is offended by Remi’s behavior, and reveals Aunt Valerie’s ability is Barrier like his. This new information catches Remi—and all us readers—off guard, as it apparently is debunking the fan theory. However, we’re not going to rule out someone having more than one ability or ability swapping or borrowing similar to John’s ability.

So, Aunt Valerie is probably (100%) Volcan, and the Authorities are obviously corrupt.

After Remi excuses herself early from the conversation, Arlo and Aunt Valerie have a conversation about him needing to focus on his studies instead of the Authorities. It honestly was a form of gaslighting to distract Arlo. Of course, it worked because Arlo neglected his duties with the Safe House and formally quits the club as well. He’s the kind of character who needs a structure and/or hierarchy to follow, even if it’s broken. Sound familiar?

As a result of doubt and uncertainty, Arlo is conflicted on what to do throughout this arc. Seraphina’s note and Terrance’s mysterious new mission aren’t making things any easier for him either. Arlo doesn’t make a decision until the end of this arc, so let’s discuss some exposition in the meantime. unOrdinary doesn’t usually give us this much information in one arc, so this was a real treat.

Thanks uru-chan for that spicy exposition!

After the events of the “Vigilante 3 Arc”, the story also addressed the teachers’ response to John’s tyrannical reign over Wellston. Apparently, they know about it but are ordered not to interfere whenever John attacked people. I questioned this “plot hole” a lot more while reading the “Vigilante 3 Arc”, but uru-chan took care of that problem quickly with that information. So, the teachers knew about John and did nothing to stop him. Worse, they are intentionally doing nothing. That sounds as real as it gets.

Headmaster Vaughn and Head of Wellston Security Keene have a meeting to discuss why Vaughn hasn’t taken any action to stop John. Vaughn is intentionally not taking any action because he prefers the students resolve problems on their own. His reasoning is like, “we must prepare them for the harshness of the world”. Vaugh is also treating the mess as an experiment because he has invested in John and his unique experience as a late bloomer, which caused him to embody the parasitic hatred, the cancer of today’s society. Allowing John to rampage like a magnificent wildfire dancing through the school is meant to show everyone the consequences of today’s society.

… I won’t argue with that one. This is true.

Let’s move onto Blyke and his character development in this arc, starting with how Remi and Isen reacted to his activities as a vigilante.

Remi, Isen, and Blyke are my favorite trio of unOrdinary, the true main protagonists in my opinion. At least I believe Remi is the true heroine of the series. Anyway, while they were out celebrating their first day of opening Safe House at a restaurant, Blyke was exposed—to Remi and Isen—on TV as “Nobody”, a new vigilante. Remi was deeply hurt by Blyke lying, going out, and the hypocrisy behind it after he instructed her to quit. In response, Blyke promised to quit, but he still had the ability drug amplifier.

Blyke was conflicted whether to use the drug or not against John throughout the whole arc. I didn’t want Blyke to turn into a drug user, and agonized for weeks about it. Luckily, Blyke realized he couldn’t allow himself to use the drug and accepted an ass beating by John instead. That decision made me so proud of Blyke. Like Blyke would rather take an ass beating over doing something he believed was the wrong move for the right reason. He refused to go down to John’s level.

I also enjoyed Blyke’s struggle to understand John and his valid reason for hating him, being the audience stand-in for those who have also lost sympathy for John. It’s really hard to root for / have sympathy for John right now, the alleged “main protagonist” of unOrdinary, but Seraphina is making it easier by explaining and understanding John’s side of things a bit.

Seraphina represented the opposite stance, who was still holding onto hope that some part of her friend was still in there somewhere. Unlike most other Shonen protagonists though, Seraphina does seem open to the idea of giving up on John. When Seraphina called John out on his hypocrisy, inability to reason, and his overall toxic behavior, boy was that satisfying. She ripped him a whole new one, and John wasn’t man enough to handle that look in the mirror. Not going to lie to y’all either though, I miss Seraphina and John’s close friendship, but I don’t think they can go back to that. The damage has been done, and that’s not easy to forgive or fix.

The action sequences in this arc were incredibly well-drawn and coordinated, more than usual with its DBZ-like atmosphere. The “Blyke versus John” battles were on par with the “Joker Arc’s” Royals versus John battles, the season one finale. John and Blyke’s epic blast struggle wave was essentially two Kamehameha Waves clashing with each other. John is insane for trying to blow up part of the school, but that’s where the arc began to close out with a full circled vibe. Headmaster Vaughn had to intervene and stop John from beating Blyke further.

Like we need to gel John’s hair stat! This kid tried to blow up part of the school!

Headmaster Vaughn was disappointed in the results of this experiment, and he also ordered John to stop attacking the Safe House. And that was it. I mean, Headmaster Vaughn did give John a lecture, but no suspension? No detention? No, nothing? Sera received worse for reading unOrdinary, a book written by John’s father! Like I—

Moving on here, Headmaster Vaughn also found Blyke’s ability drug amplifier, and plans on investigating this further. This will likely get readdressed in the next arc, hopefully, as it seems like the series is heading into a direction that will tackle this plot point directly.

unOrdinary’s “Tyrants Arc” was an amazing kickoff to answering all the burning questions we’ve been wondering about since the very beginning, or at least addressing them when it came to Terrance and those he worked for in addition to Volcan and Aunt Valerie being the same person. The ending of the arc, with Arlo deciding to accompany Seraphina for a meeting, was also effective in keeping us wanting to read more in the next arc. The latest arc is only two episodes at time of publication (213 + 214), but it’s already so good. There’s always more to explore in the world of unOrdinary. Episode 215 is going to be a great one!

The “Tyrants Arc” also started off with its 200th episode. Making 200 Webtoon episodes is a great accomplishment! unOrdinary deserves all the love in the world. Thank you very much, uru-chan, for doing the work to share this amazing story of yours with us readers. It’s one of my favorite Webtoons of all time. I’m consistently inspired and intrigued by the plot, characters, and themes. The “Tyrants Arc” exploring the tyrants in the story—Valerie, John, and Vaugh—and their strong reasonings for “maintaining the natural order” was also a major highlight of the arc.

Three different stories tied together by three different types of tyranny.

This 13-episode arc was one of the best storylines uru-chan delivered in a long time. The build-up is interesting and slow at times, but the payoff is always literally explosive 100% of the time. The context on the teachers not interfering with John’s tyranny, John’s desire to destroy the Safe House out of toxicity, Aunt Valerie’s harsh conversation with Arlo and Remi, Seraphina and John’s talk, the fight between John and Blyke, and Blyke’s character development were my personal favorites.

Thanks so much for reading this unOrdinary Webtoon Review, everyone! I appreciate the time y’all take out of your day to read them. I highly recommend checking out uru-chan’s Webtoon if you hadn’t done so already!

Let’s keep it reading! I’ll see you all when the next arc finishes out.

Major Spoilers are included in this episode review. Please read with caution.

Episode 33—“The Hikari of Dawn”—gave me video-game vibes similar to episode 20 of the reboot series. In other words, it’s action-driven, but with more exposition about the villains’ main goal. The followers of Millenniumon want to resurrect him using Hikari as the sacrifice. The reason Hikari willingly followed DarkKnightmon is also answered, but I’ll get around to that in the end. Let’s start with how amazing the video game boss fight was, and how it was a better version than the one against Velgamon from episode 20.

The animation of the action sequence was amazing. The blue Ultra Instinct aura on Hikari and DarkKnightmon were incredible. I wished DarkKnightmon had gotten a personality, or the one he had in Xros Wars.

The video game vibes when DarkKnightmon turned into a giant from absorbing Hikari. TK and Sora also joined the battle fighting the lower-level Vilemon (Blockers!). I’m very happy TK can fight more in the reboot series because of Pegasusmon. The Digimon TCG will make the Pegasumon card anti-blocker for sure based on that board-wiping scene. The fight scenes are always top-notch, but I didn’t want the storyline to suffer for it.

Also, instead of Matt trying to save his younger brother, it was Tai determined to save his younger sister. I wished Tai’s character development was better. Tai didn’t really grow up or anything from all the milestones. It’s similar to Shirou Emiya from Fate / stay night and the relationship he shared with Saber, minus the romance. They only win fights because they are the main pairing of the series.

The same setting from the final battle against Devimon looked like it was recycled too. You know, similar to what happened in episode 19, when Leomon first appeared in the series. If the reboot continues these patterns once Hikari gets Angewomon, the Mega-centric episodes will be coming next for the other characters. Joe, Sora, and all of them keep getting screwed over. That’s so damn upsetting.

The Greymon to MetalGreymon to WarGreymon digivolution sequence was aesthetically pleasing as always, but the added “Tai” introduction would’ve been so much better if the series dedicated time to developing Tai and Kari’s relationship. The original series did an amazing job with this part when Kari got ill in the Digital World, which forced Tai to face trauma about the last time she had gotten ill. Having that character development for Tai in the reboot would’ve helped upped the stakes more, and allowed us to invest in them outside of the nostalgia. It’s difficult to invest in the reboot without the nostalgia factor.

Watch the video above. Then watch this episode again and notice the difference. If they added something like this into the “Rescue Kari Arc”, or just make it similar to that small arc by threatening to kill Kari off, then the stakes would mean something. But the stakes aren’t anything.

We’ve reached the halfway point of the series and it just feels like the Digimon writers are only interested in creating story that will lead to the action sequences. Maybe that’s their goal. If it is, it’s working.

We also learned in this episode why Kari followed willingly with DarkKnightmon at least. It’s because DarkKnightmon had Gatomon absorbed inside his core, and that is why Kari chose to leave her older brother behind. However, she pulled the “I had faith you’d come save me, older brother” line. Tai and Kari have one of the best sibling bonds, so I’m still in the “keeping hope” mood right now regarding the reboot series but that could definitely change if Matt and the others get crappy Mega-centric episodes.

Only time will tell.

Thank you so much for reading this episode review, everyone! I’ll see you all next week in the Digital World!

Major Spoilers are included in this episode review. Please read with caution.

Synopsis: By the end of season one, Emma, Ray, and their 13 siblings escape Grace Field House, a false paradise, hoping for a chance at freedom. Instead, they encounter plants and animals they have never seen before, and are chased by demons. The outside world is so beautiful, but also cruel. However, Emma and the others refuse to give up. They are guided in their search for better lives by a message from Minerva and a pen Norman left behind in order to fulfill their promise to return to the Grace Field House to save those of their family—like Phil—who are still trapped within. Do they have what it takes to claim their happy endings?

Hey Promised Neverlanders,

The Promised Neverland Season 2 Episode 3 started the transition into their next arc. However, the transition will either go into the “Search for Minerva Arc” or an anime-exclusive arc based on how things are being changed up from the manga. Initially, I worried that the anime was going to rush the story to reach “Goldy Pond Battle Arc”. Based on the ending, the lack of [SPOILER] being inside the shelter, and the lack of foreshadow from Mujika that was in the manga, ‘the anime series is gearing up for potentially uncharted territory. At least this means “Goldy Pond Battle Arc” is being reserved for season 3 (hopefully).

Thank the anime Gods.

The kids exploring the empty shelter was a great sequence of joy and comfort. After everything they’ve been through, they all deserved to shower in hot water. We must claim Happiness whenever the opportunity arises. That’s what 2020 taught us to do anyway. It also taught me to Proper Noun, “Happiness”.

I did like how Sonju went off about hunting “wild humans” someday. I don’t recall if it was in the manga, but his “thirst for humans” rant stole my attention wholeheartedly because I was expecting Mujika to foreshadow the important plot point. Three episodes with them is enough in hindsight though. I don’t mind “The Promised Forest Arc” being only a three-episode arc. That’s honestly understandable. Excluding the important foreshadow might not be understandable, but we’ll see where the anime goes from here on out. To give y’all more context: manga writer Kaiu Shirai is involved in the “original anime content”, which may be coming sooner than we expected based on what I had brought to the table in the episode review. So, this next episode will determine whether season 2 will be really good or really questionable. Maybe it’ll be both.

Thank you, Promised Neverlanders, for reading my episode review, and my thoughts on where the anime might be going next based on that “William Minerva” cliffhanger.

I, for one, am excited to claim my happy ending. How about y’all?

Yeah! Let’s claim our happy endings! I’ll see you all next week!

Major Spoilers are included in this Webnovel Review. Please read with caution.

On November 24, 2020 to December 22, 2020, I read Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint chapter 6 parts 1 through 5. Chapter 6 followed the aftermath of Dokja defeating The Warden of the Dark and completing the sub scenario. Dokja refused to kill the monster off though despite the huge reward attached. This allowed Myeongoh Han to step in and finish off The Warden of the Dark, claiming Dokja was a fool for not believing in killing in this type of new world. However, this was where things became twisted.

Myeongoh Han quickly discovered that there was a horrific curse attached to killing The Warden of the Dark, and that was why Dokja didn’t kill it. Myeongoh Han was officially cursed, becoming a target of the Demon King’s hatred. As a result, Han suffered through his greatest nightmare. Dokja simply grinned, and asked the others if they were ready to open the treasure.

They earned some items from the chest, ate some cooked rat meat, and Sangah questioned how Dokja knows all about this new world they’re living in. In the end, Sangah assumed Dokja’s excessive reading of fantasy Webnovel series was the key to his knowledge. She wasn’t technically wrong, but they quickly moved on to her knowledge of foreign languages being useful in this new world as well.

Dokja also managed to combine items with the treasure chest, creating a brand-new Constellation Artifact called Unbreakable Faith. Reading Dokja pull a new powerful weapon gave me Genshin Impact vibes on a meta level. The joy was snatched away though when Gilyeong sensed another insect, which caused him to zone out and bleed from his nose. Chapter 6 Part 1—Episode 22—ended on an intense cliffhanger, which effectively kicked off the chapter with high-stakes tension.

Episode 23—Chapter 6 Part 2—showed Dokja assessing the situation and trying to stop Gilyeong from summoning the Monarch Insect. Luckily, Gilyeong managed to stop his skill before burying everyone alive. Dokja told Gilyeong not to use his skill again unless he says so, which is lowkey controlling, but they’re in a life-or-death situation so maybe a little control is okay?

Since Gilyeong is unable to properly use his skill to guide them out of the cave, Sangah revealed she had a skill similar to Gilyeong’s that could guide them out using a thread. Dokja, along with the rest of us readers, are still curious about the Constellations Sangah signed on with. This mystery is something that will likely not be disclosed for some time, especially with Dokja’s character profile skill not working on Sangah.

Everyone meets up with each other at this point, and they all love the delicious chicken. Huiwon Jeong eating the chicken with such glee was fun to read. However, the reunion and return to Geumho Station is met with pure desperation. The people there are freaking over the 100 coins survival fee, and asking others for coins to spare them from death. Inho Cheon worsens the situation with his incite skill, manipulating the people to turn on Dokja for having the most coins.

Dokja Kim processes the situation, realizing he’ll lose 2,000 coins if he helps the people, and if he doesn’t, he’ll be the villain. However, Dokja Kim also questions if these people deserve his actual help and reflects on the theme of the first scenario: original sin. Dokja also acknowledges the hypocrisy of these people for not even taking accountability for killing others in the first scenario, which does remind me of the Trump Supporters attacking the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. No unity without accountability.

As a result, Inho Cheon and the growing mob attack Dokja for his coins when he refuses to hand them over. Dokja, in response, cuts one of the enemies’ arms and declares them pathetic for putting all the blame on him for the mess they made. Chapter 6 Part 2 ended on such an intense cliffhanger.

Episode 24—Chapter 6 Part 3—picked up on that cliffhanger, with Dokja telling the people off about Inho Cheon killing others for power during patrols. The ones who didn’t come back weren’t killed by monsters; they were killed by Inho Cheon and his gang. Inho exposed himself when he told the people that killing Dokja will grant them coins. How could Inho Cheon possibly know that?

The truth caused everyone to turn on each other. Then Huiwon Jeong delivered a sword in the mouth to her attempted rapist. Huiwon Jeong awakened her demonic power and slaughtered many people in this violent action sequence. I added Attack on Titan OST to my reading experience, which heightened the graphic violence displayed by Huiwon Jeong. The art and dark red color scheme enhanced the gore and slaughter.

The name of the chapter, Time of Judgment, is also the name of Huiwon Jeong’s personal skill. She’s easily becoming one of my favorite characters in the Webnovel.

“It’s almost hard to believe that we were sharing food and joking around just moments ago” is how the slaughter scene ended. Then the collecting of the survival fee is what killed everyone who couldn’t afford to pay, leaving only Dokja and his team, in addition to some other survivors, alive by the end of this part.

After all, the main scenario had only just begun.

Episode 25—Chapter 6 Part 4—covered the aftermath of the Geumho Station incident. The survivors decided to leave Geumho Station and separate from the main group. Huiwon Jeong was also officially the newest member of the group, which was already a given like Dokja said. She effortlessly became a part of the gang, and I’m excited to see what the story does with Huiwon Jeong next.

She also gifted everyone what she deemed was a fair share for all the coins she earned from slaughtering people. I liked how Dokja admitted he wouldn’t have done the same, but Huiwon didn’t care and gave him coins anyway. I do like the character dynamic unfolding between Dokja and Huiwon.

Myeongoh Han survived the Geumho Station incident as well, but he disappeared without a trace afterward. I’m sure he’ll come back to the main story someday, but the curse is not going to give him a good time.

Moving along here, Dokja had started using the coins to upgrade his stats for the next destination. Dokja wants to increase his earnings by increasing Bihyeong’s channel and drawing more constellations to watch. Dokja is leading the team to the perfect destination for that goal, Chungmuro Station. After passing a few stations though, Dokja advised everyone to rest in case they aren’t able to upon arrival.

Monsters aren’t the only things we need to watch out for in this world.

During the break, everyone looked around for supplies and bathroom break. Dokja, on the other hand, used this opportunity of rest to be productive. Honestly, I can relate to that kind of behavior. Dokja headed outside, where there was poisonous fog, to go on a pilgrimage for the Great Monk Statue of Samyeong. Of course, Dokja was lying when he told the others so shamelessly where he went.

Dokja destroyed an idol of a constellation, the Great Monk Statue of Samyeong, for a skill in order to enter the Chungmuro Station. Reading Dokja Kim lie to the others is interesting because he is doing it for their own good, but he’s also being very controlling in order to keep them alive. Dokja is also effortlessly lying, showing no shame for saying he prayed in front of the statue and the items just fell out of the sky. I was also impressed though like the other constellations.

Huiwon Jeong looked so annoyed like she can see through Dokja’s bullshit.

Chapter 6 Part 4’s ending also established the new sub-scenario.

The sub-scenario begins in Chapter 6 Part 5—episode 26—which is to escape an illusory prison within the time limit. The time limit is one hour. Reward is 300 coins. The penalty is “???”. Dokja almost fell into the illusory prison, but he used his Fourth Wall powers to negate the effects. In other words, he broke the illusory prison, a zone that triggers your trauma to drive you insane.

Hyeonseong Lee was having army flashbacks, Huiwon Jeong was fighting off “sons of bitches”, Gilyeong kept saying “I’m sorry, mom”, and Sangah was left unaffected by the illusory prison due to the Praying Beads of the Great Monk Samyeong item.

With Sangah covering him, Dokja plans to destroy the zone. The facial expression of Sangah nodding and looking nervous added to the suspense into the scene. Clearing this sub-scenario was the reason Dokja destroyed the statue. Dokja used a dispel evil skill to destroy the illusory prison, freeing everyone from its effects. However, Huiwon Jeong activated Demon Slaying and went berserk. Dokja knocked her out fast in order to deal with the Specter Ghosts.

The moment between Dokja and Gilyeong reminded me of how I feel about children and protecting the innocent. Gilyeong was most likely going through the most traumatic experience, so Dokja was doing everything he could to preserve it. Gilyeong hugging Dokja after the pat on the head was heartwarming.

The last pages of Chapter 6 Part 5 were also pretty amazing with Jihye Lee, the sole survivor of Taepung Girls’ High School, appearing because she is a main character from Dokja’s favorite Webnovel. She’s going to be important later for some Naval Battle that will go down later. The meeting also closed out the main scenario, and chapter 6. I’m so blown away by this chapter as a whole.

I’m so in love with reading Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint. I’m learning so much about the real world and myself through this Webnovel. Thanks for all your support so far, everyone. I’ll see you all later when chapter 7 concludes!

Take Care,

NGO DM (Dokja Master) AA

Major Spoilers are included in this Webnovel Review. Please read with caution.

On November 3, 2020, I started reading Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint Chapter 5: “Warden of the Dark” and finished the last part of Chapter 5 on November 17, 2020. I’m adjusting to reading this Webnovel weekly—without using Free Pass to stay consistent with readers who don’t use Free Pass either for the sake of these reviews—and it’s a bigger struggle than reading unOrdinary Webtoon weekly without Free Pass.

Chapter 5 followed Kim Dokja and his main team— Yoo Sangah, Lee Hyunsung, Han Myungoh, and Lee Gilyoung—in addition to Huiwong Jeong going monster hunting to complete the next scenario. Inho Cheon accepted Dokja’s group of going on this monster hunt only if Han Myungoh was allowed to join as a representative of his group. This caused some things about the “old world—our world” needing readjustments to fit the new world.

For example, how everyone thinks women and child are physically weak. This issue came up when Lee Hyunsung suggested that Gilyoung, Sangah, and Jeong get sent back if things become too dangerous. Dokja Kim, however, states that shouldn’t be a problem—adding that “saying women and children are weak is prejudice”—because anyone can become strong if they just increase their stats high enough.

Gilyoung revealed his ability to communicate with insects as proof of Dokja’s claim about raising one’s stats to become strong. I liked how brave Gilyoung was being in this crisis, but at the same time, it was sad to see how his childhood innocence was taken away so he can better handle this situation. Dokja rubbing the top of his head felt appropriate.

Dokja also revealed realistically he doesn’t expect everyone to survive, but he hopes everyone does their best to stay alive. Dokja didn’t want to sound cruel—he did—but he was also being honest with them, as the added “Please” indicated that he wished for them to survive.

The action sequence that followed with everyone hunting monsters with crafted weapons was awesome. Dokja’s “gamer player” envy of Lee Hyunsung’s premium starter pack after the action sequence was also a realistic reaction to learning why someone is pretty strong without trying.

I have also felt this level of envy when playing gacha games, and seeing everyone with awesome stuff using little or no money while I spend a fortunate—like Dokja—on getting those stats powered up. Moments like these where Dokja is allowed to be lighthearted are good reminders that he hadn’t sacrificed his humanity yet.

The self-aware moment at the end of Chapter 5 Part 1 though, when everyone questioned Dokja if he knew anything about the situation they’re currently in and how Dokja knew—from a Reader’s Viewpoint—that he needed to be put in a situation where he didn’t have answer any questions was a such brilliant scene. I do love how Dokja keeps using reading skills to predict what’s going to happen next.

Chapter 5 Part 2 deals with Han Myungoh and Yoo Sangah getting taken by a monster. Dokja and Gilyoung decide to follow after them, but they left Lee Hyunsung and Huiwong Jeong behind because Jeong was “tired”, which might be connected to her murderous tendencies manifesting. Either that, or Dokja was being a jerk. Sometimes, that dude is a jerk. Gilyoung also called Dokja out for intentionally letting the monster take Myungoh and Sangah instead of helping them when he had a clear chance to do something about it.

Gilyoung also showed maturity when he learned from Dokja that he allowed the capture to happen because he needed the ground rats to dig a hole for him to follow; he also believed the ground rat would take only Myungoh and not Sangah too. Gilyoung accepted this reasoning because he believed in Dokja, and my heart went thumping of awe! Dokja, on the other hand, is worried that evil adults will take advantage of the boy’s maturity in the future.

Gilyoung’s kiddish optimism was still intact though, when he asked whether Dokja was a God or a Protagonist. He wanted to believe there would be a wish or reward at the end of this mess, choosing to believe this will all eventually end once they claim the prize. Holding onto that last shred of hope was likely Gilyoung’s last connection to his childhood innocence. Dokja’s response—without showing his “bad liar” face—was that he felt lucky Gilyoung couldn’t see the expression on his face right now when he said, “You’re right.”

Han Myungoh and Yoo Sangah’s gross situation was next, with their issues from the old world coming up when Myungoh revealed himself to be a creepy “nice guy” stalker.

The Warden of the Dark—the villain of the scenario and a Tier 7 Demonic Species—was also drawn quite menacing. Gilyoung’s reaction—taking mental damage—to the villain’s appearance and his bugs exploding in its presence was portrayed realistically. I added dark Attack On Titan OST music to the epic cliffhanger showdown between Dokja and The Warden of the Dark. Listening to Attack On Titan is making me want to rewatch that anime soon.

Sangah’s ability to understand the Warden of the Dark was revealed in this fight scene. Dokja was amazed at how Sangah’s natural abilities—being able to speak Spanish and Demonic Language—shined even during Apocalyptic times. The graphic animation of the Warden sticking a tentacle deep in Han Myungoh’s mouth was also amazingly drawn, and also super disturbing when you realize the Warden of the Dark forcibly impregnating Myungoh is lowkey anal rape.

Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint’s art style imitating Persona 5 / Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth animation—and now resembling NEO: The World Ends With You video game coming out in summer 2021—worked especially brilliantly in these fight scenes. Adding OST music makes it super easy with this Webnovel due to Sleepy-C’s style; being able to set the dark tone to my liking is something I’d only recommend if one can handle the immersion.

I also enjoyed the investments Dokja made in Chapter 3 coming into play for this scary action sequence, with Dokja crafting his new sword weapon to fight the Warden of the Dark not as a swordsman, but as a reader.

“A reader should fight like a reader”—finally someone’s talking my language.

The animation art style of Lee Hyunsung’s shadow overlaying Dokja was gorgeous, and something I’m excited to keep seeing in future fight scenes. I really do enjoy this aspect of Bookmark, and how Dokja borrows from others to achieve proficiently like a true reader.

“How did you know where I’d attack…?” The Warden of the Dark asked in his dying moments.

“You just… have to read a lot,” Dokja answered, sounding like a Protagonist.

That’s the most outstanding line to end the chapter on. I’m stealing that line in the future. What an epic way to conclude Chapter 5. This was a beautiful and tight chapter with great character development for Gilyoung, Dokja, Myungoh, and Sangah. The other characters—Lee Hyunsung and Huiwong Jeong—were utilized creatively in this chapter as well to explore realistic themes and situations that will thought-provoke IRL Webnovel readers.

Thanks for reading this Webnovel chapter review, everyone! Let’s keep it reading carefully into Chapter 6.

Take care,

NGO DM (Dokja Master) AA

Major Spoilers are included in this Webnovel Review. Please read with caution.

On October 30, 2020, I started and finished Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint’s Chapter 4: “Better to Be a Hypocrite”. This chapter followed the aftermath of Kim Dokja successfully escaping the sea serpent and reentering the city. He ends up saving a hurt woman and gathering food, only to run into stereotypical villains and later must deal with living in this new Apocalyptic World alongside other survivors. Kim Dokja also undergoes a dark phase, where he must act like a hypocrite in the name of survival.

Kim Dokja is beginning to understand why humans act like monsters, and how the Apocalypse is simply an excuse to exercise the darkness inside people. Given what’s going on with the world and the 2020 presidential election, I must agree with the conclusion Kim Dokja made about humans.

How can humans, who are so weak… be so cold-blooded and cruel?

It’s not because of his instinct or nature. There’s despair in his eyes that was there before the world had ended.

JUST LIKE ME.

“Maybe we aren’t all that different,” Kim Dokja says before he killed the “bad guy”, realizing he has to adapt to this new world.

Opening chapter 4 like this—with episode 16—set the tone for the rest of the chapter, and how people are quickly reverting to evil instincts—“to do what’s best for themselves and not others”—in order to survive the new world order.

Episode 17 reunited Kim Dokja with his original group Yoo Sangah, Lee Hyunsung, Han Myungoh, and Lee Gilyoung, and getting an update about Junghyeok Yu leaving the Geumho Station earlier than expected, derailing the original story. This episode also set-up the new norm and introduced an antagonist named Inho Cheon, whose working alongside Han Myungoh—the one who grabbed Yoo Sangah to save her and abandoned Kim Dokja earlier in the story.

The world-building of the new world—specifically the Geumho Station people being divided into Major and Minor Group—was established in this chapter, and the hypocrisy behind it. The uncomfortable “everyone is a murderer” was also addressed when nobody addressed it, but everyone knew because killing on the subway was a test. Also, survival of the fittest mentality kicked in with this division between the strong and the weak.

The hypocrisy was directly addressed with Lee Hyunsung, who joined the Minor Group despite qualifying for the Major Group. Hyunsung felt like a real hypocrite for worrying about right and wrong after everything that’s happened. However, Kim Dokja hit him with a quote that moved Hyunsung—and me—to absolute tears.

“It’s better to worry about right and wrong as a hypocrite than not at all. Don’t ever forget that.”

Just because the situation was unavoidable doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. And it mustn’t be forgotten that what happened can never be justified.

I won’t, Kim Dokja. I promise you that.

The food shortage was also addressed, and how to fairly share it with others. In terms of fairness, there wasn’t any fairness. As Inho Cheon proved with his manipulation of the people and Kim Dokja, “the most dangerous type [of people] is the type that uses other people’s despair as a fertilizer for power”. Inho Cheon provided an impossible choice for Kim Dokja to either be the hero or the villain, with no clear right answer in sight.

Then episode 18—the ending to chapter 4—swings in with Kim Dokja charging everyone for their share. We also officially meet Huiwong Jeong—the woman Kim Dokja saved at the start of episode 16—who is the first to pay for her share of the food.

The logic here is that Kim Dokja isn’t a charity case, and that everyone should pay for their own share instead of waiting for free handouts. This logic is hard to understand especially during times of desperation, but it’s also the right way to be “fair” because Kim Dokja risked his life, and people shouldn’t rely on others like that. This logic also makes the Major Group look bad for actually monopolizing the food and forcing the Minor Group to scavenge the food like cattle being led to the slaughter.

Huiwong Jeong also subverted the audience’s expectations, as most would’ve assumed that she was a frail woman for getting herself kidnapped, but she’s actually the opposite—tough, caring, and assertive—and has a vengeful goal against the guy who tried to rape her. How they handled this topic was uncomfortable but not cringey if that makes sense—given that it’s “attempted” and we weren’t forced to watch it happen. Her attributes are also potentially powerful enough to evolve into legendary status, but they could also turn her into a murderer.

The ending to the chapter 4—the Dokkaebi—raised the stakes as well, with food being no longer allowed to be stockpile. In addition, the food people currently had was vaporized. A survival fee was also added—student loans in other words—with 100 coins being withdrawn at midnight, and those who can’t pay it will die. This reminds me of that one movie where people used their lifespan as currency. Things are getting darker from here on out. Like Kim Dokja, I smiled when comparing the new dark scenario to a relatable fictional story.

This chapter did tap into self-aware Apocalyptic stereotypes, but Kim Dokja also made a stunning remark about those stereotypes being used, “Real humans are even more evil than the clichés in those stories”. Clichés are clichés for a good reason—they were so good to the point of being overused, and it also directly points out the hypocrisy in human beings especially with what had happened during the week of the 2020 presidential election. I reread Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint Chapter 4 during that week for those confused about the first sentence saying, “On October 30, 2020…”

Rereading Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint during that dark, stressful period—the 2020 presidential election—helped me escape reality and prepared me for my eventual return. I highly recommend getting into this Webnovel, but I also advise great caution when reading it. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this Webnovel review, everyone! Let’s keep it reading carefully into chapter 5!

Take care,

NGO DM (Dokja Master) AA

Major Spoilers are included in this Webnovel Review. Please read with caution.

On October 30, 2020, I started and finished Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint Chapter 3: Contract. This chapter followed the aftermath of Yoo Joonghyuk feeding Kim Dokja into a large sea serpent, where he is to escape and “prove” that he’s worthy of being partners with the “main protagonist”. Kim Dokja thinks Yoo Joonghyuk’s a bastard for pushing him into a fish, but Dokja understands the callous action because he read his life’s story before.

This chapter centered around Dokja needing to escape with Bihyung’s help. The negotiations between Dokja and Bihyung were hilarious and terrifying at the same time, but they delivered the best dialogue—most natural and meta exposition delivery—I have ever read. The artwork was magnificent whenever Bihyung was terrifyingly furious and dumbfounded. The “How do you know all this?” question kept popping up!

The video game aspect is beautiful to include, and how Dokja’s knowledge of the world and mechanics came in handy during the tense negotiations, showing he’ll be a major threat to those who seek to control this brave new world. Dokja was at his most confident—and also most terrified—during that scene especially when he pulled a
Izuku Midoriya” and worried about his mother’s safety at the end of the chapter.

The world-building is incredible through the dialogue regarding the constellations, streamers, channels, etc., and how it naturally came into the plot due to Kim Dokja having prior knowledge and utilizing that knowledge to make the most coins possible while also spending the least amount when buying materials to escape the fish’s stomach. The constellations—sponsors—are clearly audience stand-ins for the best and worst kind of fans out there.

The constellation complaining about everything Kim Dokja does, and him responding, “Nobody’s forcing you to watch this”, is pure meta. Seriously, haters don’t make sense. You don’t actually have to keep watching unless you just love to hate on stuff. Then I guess it’s okay as long as you’re truthful about it?

The ending to the chapter was pure horror though. While Dokja was a fully confident person while negotiating with Bihyung, when he actually executed his plan revealed how most heroes feel: scared.

Circling back to what I said about Dokja and his mother, main protagonists are usually misconstrued as being fearless in the face of danger most of the time—I just started reading One Piece and met Luffy, so that’s why I say most of the time…—but they are actually the most scared people and summon great courage to defend others.

Dokja—means “Reader” in Korean—resonated with me on the Eve of Halloween. How I would respond to a fictional situation like ORV also resonated with me, especially since I play D&D and do battle with my players on a regular basis. This won’t make much sense, but “the surge is surging.”

If this Webnovel is going to be dark and self-aware in the story, then I’m going to be goofy and self-aware in these Webnovel Reviews moving forward. Let’s get started on the concept of the “Equivalent Exchange” from Fullmetal Alchemist. What do you think of me ending it on that philosophical note, blog readers? Chew on that question until y’all read my next review.

Thanks for reading this review! I’ll see you all on the other side.

Take care,

NGO DM (Dokja Master) AA.

Major Spoilers are included in this Webnovel Review. Please read with caution.

On October 30, 2020, I started and finished Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint Chapter 2: “The Protagonist”. Chapter 2 begins to fully set-up the apocalyptic world, giving us an episode or two dedicated to some exposition. After defeating Namwoon and letting him die because he failed to kill anybody, Kim Dokja and four other survivors—Yoo Sangah, Lee Hyunsung, Han Myungoh, and Lee Gilyoung—officially passed the first scenario in the subway.

The characters were given choices on constellations—sponsors—to help them on this journey through the apocalypse, with Kim Dokja having a distinct advantage because he’s the sole reader of the Webnovel. So, he considers constellations carefully—giving us exposition on who these people are—in addition to planning out what to do next as the plot continues.

Since Dokja rewrote some of the plot—“changed the future”—by killing Namwoon Kim, he’s being cautious of what the plot could look like now in addition to them being players instead of readers. This Webnovel is similar to the concept of Dungeons & Dragons—one player is prepared for the epic adventure ahead of them, but the others have a hard time grasping their character sheet. This Webnovel is completely meta.

The artwork on the violence is my favorite part of this Webtoon—reminding me of Fate/Zero and all the death and gore that came our way. The disclaimer at the top of every episode is definitely important though, so if you’re not comfortable or would get nightmares from these triggering scenes, I would seriously advise taking your time on the Webnovel. I blasted through all 18 episodes in a three-hour sitting, but I’m like Kim Dokja and found “[our] hearts beating with joy in this precarious situation?”

I would also recommend playing dark OST while reading this Webtoon—not for those who get triggered—but for those who need the full experience of an anime while reading a Webtoon or manga. I used Attack on Titan OST for the “main protagonist” scene between Kim Dokja and Yoo Joonghyuk—the best moments of the chapter. I loved their dynamic, and how Yoo Joonghyuk went “brooding protagonist”. I loved the dark tone surrounding those scenes—it gave off such a Batman / Arrow vibe especially with the chokehold and punches to the gut followed by the classic, “talk!”

Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint is a fast-paced Webnovel—as it should be, its’ a novel—that makes me click next without really thinking about it. If I were a causal reader and not blogger who needed to stop at the end of every chapter arc to write these reviews—I love you all—I would just keep on reading nonstop. The cliffhangers urge you to turn the page to see what happens next. Thanks for taking the time to read this Webnovel Review, everyone! I really appreciate the support.

I’ll see you all in my Chapter 3 Webnovel review!

Major Spoilers are included in this Webnovel Review. Please read with caution.

On October 30, 2020, I started and finished Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint Chapter 1: “The Beginning of the Paywall”. Chapter 1—broken into five episodes—set up the story with how the world is suddenly becoming like Three Ways to Survive in a Ruined World, the Webnovel Kim Dokja just finished. This is another Writers’ Group Book Club selection—and our first Webnovel one! We usually selected physical books that aren’t manga or Webtoon based, but it’s always good to change things up.

Picking up where we left off—Kim Dokja riding the subway with his coworker Yoo Sangah—a monster Kim Dokja appears and imposes a test on all the passengers onboard. The test is to kill a living organism

The self-awareness is being utilized differently—as it’s mostly goofy when self-awareness is being implemented, but the violent realism behind it works just as effectively with the dark tone. The disclaimer is also used in every episode to warn readers about the triggering content. Like Kim Dokjia, I was smiling and feeling pretty excited about the whole thing.

“Why [are our hearts] beating with joy in this precarious situation?”

On Eve of Halloween, I realized I was Kim Dokja and myself at the same time. It was quite the exhilarating feel—something I needed to feel to pump myself up for what was to come November 3, 2020. Anyway, back to Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint—a fictional self-aware Webnovel—that doesn’t really help you escape reality and gives people nightmares.

Wait. Why am we reading this Webnovel again?

In my Prologue Webnovel review—the link is here—I mentioned Digimon Adventure Last Evolution Kizuna feelings were resurfacing, and this chapter gave me clearer context on why that was. When the video game aspects kicked in to enhance the amazingly drawn action sequences, I found myself being reminded of Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth’s design and gameplay as the pop-up windows looked similar to each other whenever level-ups, rewards, and attacks happened. Since Persona 5 and Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth video games have similar designs, story, and gameplays, this makes a lot of sense.

Kim Dokja developed well during this chapter in terms of motive, morals, and the instinctive need to survive and protect others. The Webnovel tackled these aspects very early on, as Kim Dokja revealed his high IQ and ability to search his favorite Webnovel for clues to survive and understand the fictional characters coming to life. He also tackled a serious writer’s problem when he considered his interference with the Webnovel’s plot, and how it could skew what he knew in order to survive. I don’t know who needs to hear this, but it’s perfectly okay to rewrite if it makes the story better in the long run, and that’s exactly what Kim Dokja does in his fight against Namwoon—an edgelord character who had a big role to play in the novel. Well, he did until Kim Dokja decided to kill him off.

Overall, I would highly recommend reading Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint. There are 551 chapters total—not translated into English yet, not sure how many episodes will be broken out of those 551 chapters either—so the apocalyptic journey will be quite long but rewarding like Tower of God and One Piece. Similar to my unOrdinary Webtoon Reviews, I will be doing arc reviews whenever a set number of episodes have concluded a chapter.

Thanks for reading this Webnovel review! Let’s keep it reading, everyone—another Webtoon has joined Aaron Ngo’s weekly schedule and long-game blog schedule. My new whiteboard calendar is looking beautifully filled for the months to come!

Major Spoilers are included in this Webnovel Review. Please read with caution.

On October 30, 2020, I started and finished the Prologue of Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint. Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint—often referred to as Omniscient Reader—is an ongoing English translated Webnovel by Singshong and Sleepy-C .

The story centers around the main character, Kim Dokja, being tossed into his favorite Webnovel, Three Ways to Survive in a Ruined World. A true fanboy’s dream come true turned realistic nightmare. However, the plot doesn’t kick in until 7am on the day the final chapter is released.

Episodes 0 and 1 are dedicated to building Kim Dokja’s character, his love for the Webnovel, and being a stand-in for the reader who likely feels the same way. Kim Dokja’s feelings and dedication to a certain series reflects how I am as a fanboy except I do have an outlet with my Writers’ Group, friends, and family members with similar interests.

Sadly, Kim Dokja doesn’t have friends who share his interest—or anybody on the Internet—since he’s literally the only reader of the massive ongoing Webnovel. That’s straight-up depressing; it’s like being the only person who’s a fan of One Piece. The first two episodes even dedicated a surreal moment where he felt bad about not being able to donate to the author—something I’ve also brought up in my Writers’ Group too some time ago about supporting the artists who are working hard to get these amazing stories out there for us fans.

Like, I owe so many authors my life at this point, and they will just have to find a way to share it when they come to collect someday. But, it’s a price I’m willing to pay them for always being there for me, and that’s the same exact feeling Kim Dokja’s experiencing when he’s preparing himself to read the Epilogue. Saying goodbye to something that’s been there for you since eighth grade isn’t an easy thing to do. Why are my Digimon Adventure Last Evolution Kizuna feelings coming back? Why am I crying now?

The artwork is gorgeous and reminds me of styles from Persona and Psycho Pass—more on Psycho Pass because I’ve seen that anime, but I’ve seen others compare it to Persona as well. The artwork is trying to emulate clean animation, and it’s working beautifully especially with the small intricate details in the background.

Overall, I’m going to keep it reading until I catch up. I would recommend y’all do the same and give this Webnovel a chance. The entire Webnovel is completed, but the English translations are being worked on and new episodes are posted every Wednesday. Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint is currently on episode ??? at time of publication. Thanks for reading this Webnovel review, everyone! According to my Writers’ Group, I might get nightmares! Let’s go, monsters! I’m already comfortable with being uncomfortable!

Major Spoilers are included in this episode review. Please read with caution.

Episode 32—“Soaring Hope”—gave me hope. This episode had good character moments, amazing action sequences, and more foreshadow on the Holy Digimon lore. The episode was what I wanted the reboot series to be from the very beginning.

The opening scene showed TK and Patamon getting hunted by a Fangmon, a coyote-wolf type Digimon. The reboot using different types of Digimon will always be a plus, but they need to have personalities. The lack of characterization for the evil Digimon is something that needs to be fixed at some point in the series, starting with DarkKnightmon.

Patamon tried to digivolve into Angemon to fight Fangmon, but he was too tired to do it. The “too tired to digivolve” aspect is making its way back. This is something that needs to happen a lot more often for the second half of the reboot series. Like seriously, when was the last time anyone ate or drink anything? This is what I want to know, Digimon writers!

Back to the Fangmon attack, Tai and Sora came in with Birdramon and Greymon to save TK and Patamon. The quick real-time digivolution orb sequence was sweet and saves us time for more quiet character moments between TK and Patamon later on. The episode was not playing around with the character development. There was awesome character development! Also, Tai and Sora were giving commands to their Digimon like Pokemon Trainers. Adding battle tactics and coordination was nice as well. Future episodes got to do this stuff more often.

I was having a good time with episode 32 “Soaring Hope”. I was feeling so much hope.

After Tai, Sora, and TK escape the Fangmon, they check in with the other children. After a few episodes of not mentioning the other children in my previous episode reviews, I’m so happy we’re finally checking on their current status. Mimi and Togemon are digi-fighting with a Golemmon in front of a Gotsumon crowd. I actually laughed when the episode did this reference from Digimon Adventure 02.

Joe was being harrassed by a CherryBlossomon… and Izzy is traveling on Kabuterimon over some metal Digimon territory. Izzy is on his computer, looking up the situation in the Human World about fake news and the “dire threat” heading toward Tokyo. Either blow something up or kill someone off. I think I need to see the kids fail at least once. I think it just helps elevate the stakes of the story.

Matt was on his way to Tai and the others, but he did give TK some nice brotherly advice about taking care of Patamon. He also told Tai to take care of his little brother. Of course, Tai agreed. Again, the character moments were amazing because this reboot didn’t give us any of these moments until now. The reboot is showing promise for the second half. I am allowing myself to have hope.

Another nice character moment was Lopmon visiting Patamon’s dream. So, remember what I said about evil Digimon needing personalities? At least the good Digimon have personalities like Lopmon, Ogremon, and Leomon. I certainly like it, so that’s all I’ll say about it. I think it might be too early to give out an opinion right now on Lopmon’s role moving forward in this arc. Anyway, these quiet character scenes are a must!

I want to see more character-driven scenes MORE often in the reboot series.

Keep doing this type of writing, Digimon writers! You’re almost there!

TK and Patamon’s emotional scene about their struggles was one of the best scenes the reboot has ever delivered. Patamon is feeling down about not having the power to keep everyone safe. Then TK asked Patamon if he can swim.

TK told Patamon a story about not being able to swim and having a weak body, but Matt assured TK that he’d be able to swim someday and stayed by his side until TK could swim on his own. So, TK says he’ll always be by Patamon’s side in the same way. I was so moved by that cute story. After 32 episodes of watching Digimon Adventure Reboot, I finally saw a real effort to build the human-Digimon bond. I was running low on digi-nostalgia fuel. If that ever run out… Let’s keep it digivolving!

The final boss action sequence was amazing. Two Fangmons and Cereberumon attacked the group and Komondomon they were riding on, and Sora ended up hurt protecting TK. Then Tai is knocked off the Komondomon, but he’s hanging on.

TK and Patamon had a moment that allowed a new evolution to be unleashed. ‘Soaring hope, Pegasusmon has come as Patamon’s alternative Champion. I loved the change up from needing to Armor Digivolve, and making Pegasusmon such a monster during that fight scene. Now we know for sure Gatomon is going to get her armor digivolve at some point too! When Pegasusmon spinned into a wheel, I was concerned for TK’s safety. The Rodeo Gallop attack should’ve made TK’s head explode at the very least from whiplash.

I didn’t like how Sora had to get hurt—screwed over (!)—again for the plot. Sora deserves so much better as leading female character. The writers need to stop putting her down at every corner. Tai, Matt, and Sora are the Holy Trinity of the DigiDestined. That’s how I see the group, but Sora is never treated like an equal with Matt and Tai. When Sora’s episode for Biyomon going Mega happens, she better have a good story to go with that.

The ending with TK and Patamon was so cute. I can’t wait to see how the others’ Mega-centric episodes play out. However, the series is choosing to resolve saving Kari first. In the upcoming episodes, Kari will meet Gatomon. Next episode is 33, which is half of 66. We’re at the halfway point, fellow Digi-Destined! The series is getting so good now. We have to keep this excitement going!

Thanks so much for reading this episode review, everyone! I appreciate the time y’all are taking to hear my thoughts. Remember I have a Twitter and Instagram account that will cover more Digimon content regarding the card game. Y’all should check it out if y’all are interested in playing the DCG (Digimon Card Game). I have big plans for my growing digi-channel. I’ll see you all next week in the Digital World!

Major Spoilers are included in this episode review. Please read with caution.

Synopsis: By the end of season one, Emma, Ray, and their 13 siblings escape Grace Field House, a false paradise, hoping for a chance at freedom. Instead, they encounter plants and animals they have never seen before, and are chased by demons. The outside world is so beautiful, but also cruel. However, Emma and the others refuse to give up. They are guided in their search for better lives by a message from Minerva and a pen Norman left behind in order to fulfill their promise to return to the Grace Field House to save those of their family—like Phil—who are still trapped within. Do they have what it takes to claim their happy endings?

Hey Promised Neverlanders,

I changed the synopsis to match what season two is all about. New Year, new challenges to overcome. Am I right?

Also, my Season 1 Episode 1 Anime Review is here for those interested in giving that a read as well.

Watching season 2 episode 2 had everything I liked from reading “The Promised Forest Arc” like how “[Mujika and Sonju] ended up training the children in survival skills—like fighting, hunting, and cooking—in addition to explaining the unknown world to them” (Ngo, “The Promised Forest Arc”). The episode also symbolized what unity is, a concept the United States is having a hard time understanding at the moment in the aftermath of last week’s attack on the US Capitol.

The demons, Mujika and Sonju, aren’t able to eat humans due to their religious beliefs, and instead, they decide to care, cook, and train the children. Emma and Ray’s terrified expressions were also on point, bringing to life what I most enjoyed about the manga’s artwork.

The exposition and world-building were also great in this episode. When Ray and Emma asked Sonju why the world was the way it was, the answer was pretty dark. Thousands of years ago, the humans and demons made an agreement—a promise,—to separate their worlds from each other. Thus, Emma and the other children were trapped in the Demon World, as there was no known way to cross over. However, Emma is a “I never give up no matter what” type of protagonist, and was elated to hear there was a chance at freedom. Ray felt the same way, and joined in the excitement. I was so touched by that moment.

Hope is one of The Promised Neverland’s centric themes, and it truly does shine in the unity shown between the demons and humans. When Mujika helped a kid up a ledge, and then Emma gave her a hand afterward… my heart sunk. I was being floored with a reminder of how much I invested in Emma and Mujika when I first read the manga.

Then we’re given Emma and Sonju going on a hunt outside. Emma learned a hard lesson about survival of the fittest, and how they will need to kill animals if they were to survive. This caused Emma some internal turmoil because she’s still a child who can’t bear to hurt others. Learning about the flower, Vida, was also a traumatic moment for Emma because she started to wonder if Connie and Norman suffered. When Emma used the Vida on the bird she shot with an arrow, she irrevocably changed.

Overall, season 2 episode 2 had decent plot development, but the heart of what makes this episode great rests with the characters. Watching Emma and the other children go from being scared to becoming friends with Mujika and Sonju was heartwarming. The plot has a long way to go regarding William Minerva and Norman’s pen, but it’s a story worth knowing.

Thanks for reading this episode review, Promised Neverlanders! I’ll see you all next week for episode 3! Let’s keep fighting to claim our happy endings!

Major Spoilers are included in this thought piece. Please read with caution.

December 16, 2020 to December 24, 2020

¾ Saga (?)

2 and ½ Manga Arc

9 DAYS

140 CHAPTERS

(Chapter 859 to Chapter 999)

Happy New Year, everyone!

I survived 2020 and caught up with Big Dad D. One Piece’s first 999 chapters by Christmas Eve night. It has been an amazing journey with Monkey D. Luffy so far. I’m excited to read a 1,000 more chapters to see how the story will finally end.

I also apologize for the unintended delay for this thought piece. The attempted coup on January 6, new writing opportunity that I restarted on, and finishing my novel by the end of 2020 were all big factors for the delay. However, the delay did give me more time to truly reflect on my epic reading journey with Big Dad D. One Piece as a whole.

In addition, I did read chapter 1,000 on January 3, 2020 as well, and that milestone chapter was an amazing payoff to the investment I put into the manga series. Luffy will become the King of Pirates someday! Believe it!

Honestly, I’m glad I read Big Dad D. One Piece during the last two months of 2020.

Thank you, Oda, for a great pirate story with huge issues that haven’t aged well over the past twenty years. However, your messages on real world issues have allowed me to see things in a whole different light. On that note, let’s dive into my general thoughts—non-spoiler to the best of my ability—on the “Whole Cake Island Arc”, “Levely Arc”, and the ongoing “Wano Country Arc”. I’ll discuss chapter 1,000 towards the end of this thought piece. If y’all hadn’t heard yet, Shanks will be making a power move soon in 2021!

One sentence summary: Written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda, the series follows Monkey D. Luffy traveling to the Grand Line—with his pirate crew—in search of the world’s ultimate treasure called “One Piece” in order to become the King of Pirates.

Here is also a list of my previous One Piece thought pieces. I’ve come a long way:

1. East Blue Saga

2. Alabasta Saga + Sky Island Saga

3. Water 7 Saga + Thriller Bark Saga

4. Summit War Saga

5. Fish-Man Island Saga

6. Dressrosa Saga

7. Four Emperors Saga Part 1

“Whole Cake Island Arc” centered around the Sanji Retrieval Team—consisting of Luffy, Nami, Chopper, Brook, and the minks Pedro and Carrot from the “Zou Arc”—heading to Whole Cake Island to rescue Sanji from his arranged marriage with Charlotte Pudding.

In my Week #7 Thought Piece regarding the first part of “Whole Cake Island Arc”, I discussed how Sanji’s background as a Vinsmoke was explored. I also enjoyed how willing he was to sacrifice himself for others, and the twist delivered on Charlotte’s wicked third-eye nature. How Charlotte eventually fell in love with Sanji was great initially, seeing how he was the only person to compliment her third eye, but it got tiresome after a couple pages. The “lovestruck gag” was too similar to Boa Hancock whenever she acts lovey dovey with Luffy.

I also noticed the “Whole Cake Island Arc” was similar to Water 7 Saga’s “Enies Lobby Arc” in terms of structure, but with a huge difference that made it a different kind of monster. Speaking of monsters and the huge difference in manga arcs, let’s talk about Big Mama, the main antagonist of “Whole Cake Island Arc” and one of the Four Emperors. She is one of the strongest characters introduced in the series so far, and someone Luffy wasn’t able to defeat outright. The “running away” is something One Piece isn’t shameful about, but it also changed up the stakes a bit.

Jinbe also made his grand return in the “Whole Cake Island Arc”, only to stay behind with his old pirate crew, the Sun Pirates, by the end to give the Straw Hat Pirates a real chance to escape from Big Mama. Luffy allowed Jinbe to stay behind on the promise that he join the Straw Hats in Wano Country. Of course, Jinbe accepted those terms.

The ending to the “Whole Cake Island Arc” was symbolic, with Sanji and his adoptive dad cooking the same food dish for the people they care about. I liked the whole circle ending with Sanji’s character, and how he was finally able to find closure with his Vinsmoke past. Hopefully, Sanji’s family comes back in future arcs.

The “Levely Arc” was a grand reunion of all the fan-favorite characters like Princess Vivi from the Alabasta Saga, Princess Rebecca from the Dressrosa Saga, Princess Shirakoshi from the Fish-Man Island Saga, the CP7 group from the Water 7 Saga, etc. They have all gathered for a special meeting that set up the rest of the Four Emperors Saga. Honestly, seeing all the fan-favorite characters again from the previous manga story arcs was the best part. There was payoff on top of payoff in that mini-arc.

Now let’s discuss the “Wano Country Arc”, the current ongoing story arc of One Piece. I was so hyped reading this manga arc based on hearing things like “best arc yet”. After reading up on the latest chapters, I can confirm that this story arc is the best One Piece arc yet. It’s a fascinating one too that matches with today’s ongoing issues. For example, the citizens of Wano are starving to death and forced into a cruel capitalist economy to earn themselves the bare minimum.

Some were blind to the system, and how their prison system was just a different version of slavery. The little girl broke my heart when she gave all her rice to Luffy when she had nothing to eat for weeks. She broke my heart further when she revealed she knew Ace. I miss Ace so much. This current manga arc shined a light on the real-life issues regarding the US’s broken system, and their inability to see or care about the lower class’ sufferings. Yeah. I said it. Now what?

Luffy impressed me so much in the “Wano Country Arc”, reminding me of how he was in previous arcs whenever the people were oppressed in those countries. Luffy hated Kaido for starving the people, and vowed that he would ensure everyone got to eat before he’d leave the country. This kind of determined mentality is what everyone needs to fight for, especially with today’s events regarding the $600 stimulus checks and the people of this country needing more than what we’re getting to survive the ongoing pandemic. The US has officially failed us, and that’s something Luffy wouldn’t have tolerated.

Since this manga arc is still ongoing for the time being, I won’t go into the specifics of the story yet. However, chapter 1,000 is something I do want to talk about because it ties into Luffy and his dream to be the Pirate King. There was also an emotional flashback Portgas D. Ace scene that may or may not have made me cried. Ace, even before Luffy went out to sea, always believed his brother could become the King of Pirates. I also believe Luffy will achieve the goal someday, and he will bring about great change in the Pirate World. I’m a firm believer in Luffy’s dream. After reading a 1,000 chapters, how can I not believe in the Captain of the Straw Hat Pirates?

Thank you all so much for taking this reading journey with me. I’m so appreciative of those who have been rooting for me since October 28, 2020. Reading 1,000 One Piece Chapters in two months wasn’t an easy feat. I’m also slowly recovering from the long-winded reading journey, but I’m getting stronger everyday. Soon enough, I’ll “keep it reading” again.

Who’s hyped for chapter 1,001 coming out on January 15, 2021?

*Sigh* I’ll get the sail ready. Endings are hard.

Major Spoilers are included in this episode review. Please read with caution.

I’m surprised the title of the episode wasn’t New Orleans. I’ll start there. The episode felt like an unofficial part two with season one’s “Memphis”, which centered around William and his life prior to dying in the same episode. Season one is the absolute best season, so this episode didn’t top that one for me, but there were definitely similarities. The biggest difference between William’s episode and this episode—Laurel’s—was the work needed to build Laurel up as a loveable character.

Season one did a great job on building William’s character and his story starting from the pilot episode and ending on the “Memphis” episode. There was payoff for the investment in William’s character and story. Laurel Dubois, on the other hand, needed to be officially introduced, developed, and made sympathetic all in one episode. Good thing the writers know what they were doing because they nailed this episode so well. Laurel was formally introduced, she was developed over time, and the reasons why she didn’t look for Randall were sympathetic.

Hai is also a brilliant storyteller. Beth is right. This man should try to sell off this story, but Hai is a humble Vietnamese man with the greatest love story on par with The Notebook. It didn’t matter. Hai was already more than grateful to tell Laurel’s story to Randall, her son.

Side note: Randall and Beth own a farmhouse now. Also, everyone quarantined and took COVID-19 Tests before making the road trip to New Orleans. The COVID-19 pandemic IRL is also still ongoing.

This episode was a beautiful story about Randall’s birth mother Laurel, and the life she led prior to Randall and William. And of course, the life she led after she gave birth and came back to life. The mystery is officially solved, and Randall has closure with both his birth parents. The screaming in the ocean will be a thing I do someday. It sounds like an amazing way to relieve some stress. I mean, those screams did sound amazing!

So here’s Laurel Dubois’ story:

Laurel grew up in a prominent New Orleans family, but she only liked her older brother Jackson and Aunt Mae, who had been disowned by the family. Then Jackson died in the Vietnam War, which caused Laurel to swallow her grief in an unhealthy way. Then Aunt Mae advises Laurel to let it all go, and that lead to Laurel swimming in the lake.

Then the amazing “let it all go” scream began. This also was the start of Hai and Laurel’s love story. Hai, a refugee from Vietnam, became a fisherman to support his family. One day, Hai heard Laurel screaming and dove into the lake thinking she was drowning. She wasn’t.

They met later on at farmers’ market, where Hai said, “I cook. You eat.” Laurel and Hai fell madly in love with each other. However, Laurel’s father told Laurel she must marry a man named Marshall from the bank he worked at. As a result, Laurel decided to go to Chicago in order to escape. Hai, on the other hand, had to stay behind for his parents. Present day Hai was holding back serious tears when telling this part of the story. The “what-ifs” were definitely getting to him.

What if I went with Laurel? What if we stayed together? What if…?

Laurel didn’t make it to Chicago, but she did arrive in Pittsburgh. This part of the story was already covered earlier from William’s story. The ending where she overdosed on drugs was reused, the part of the story that Randall wants to know the most. Why did Laurel never look for him or William? What stopped her?

Prison. Prison stopped her. Hai explains that Laurel ended up in the hospital, where she was arrested for drug possession. Laurel pledged guilty to the crime, and was sentenced to five years in prison. She couldn’t call William because they didn’t have a phone in their apartment, so she calls her dad. When the dad whispered her name, the tears spilled out.

To make the story even worse and sadder, because the prisons were overfilled, Laurel was sent to serve her time in California. After getting released in 1985, Laurel goes back home to New Orleans because she doesn’t think she deserves to be Randall’s mother, and didn’t go looking for him. Laurel lives with Aunt Mae and spends most of her life receiving small snippets of happiness from Hai waving and saying hello in the farmers’ market. Hai had a wife and kids now during that time, so it was all he could give to his true love.

After his wife passed away and the kids have moved out, Hai noticed Laurel had stopped coming to the market. Hai stopped by Laurel’s home out of concern, where he learns she has terminal cancer. They spend the next two years together, until Laurel passes away in May 2015. In her last dying moments, Laurel confesses her biggest regret: not being able to tell her son that she loved him.

Randall and the imaginative scene with Laurel was one of the best This Is Us moments ever. I cried so much watching him scream and speak with his mother. The “I love you” moved my heart and soul to realms I didn’t know existed.

So, this whole story is incredibly sad and tragic. You have done yourselves a good job, This Is Us Writers. You have, once again, made a lot of people cry. At least you made me cry. It’s not nice to make people cry like this on a regular basis.

After five seasons, Randall finally gained closure on his birth parents. They are just two imperfect people who loved him. He went on the journey for his origins, and the payoff was more incredible than he could have ever imagine.

Randall doesn’t want to hold onto bad stuff anymore. And the first thing he does is call Kevin to make things right.

However, Kevin is still a mess and went to Vancouver for the movie instead of staying with Madison. Now Kevin’s freaking out because Madison went into labor. Kevin had made a mistake in choosing his career over his family. The same mistake Kevin made with Sophie, his first wife. This cliffhanger was a good one to leave us on.

Thank you so much for reading my thoughts on this This Is Us episode! This was one of the best ones I had watched in a long time. I loved the season one vibe I got from it. The show needs to recapture that vibe more often. Like every episode more often. I’ll see you all for the next episode! Let’s keep the tissues coming. I’m crying a bit from writing this review.

Major Spoilers are included in this manga review. Please read with caution.

After discovering volumes 1 and 2 at Barnes & Noble, I chose to make Fate / Grand Order: mortalis stella my first manga read of January 2021. I was pretty excited to read physical manga again. I also felt that “must read it” feeling. After reading 1,000 chapters of One Piece from October 28, 2020 to December 24, 2020, I have been feeling low on-and-off levels of reading fatigue. Reading this manga was a great reminder on why I enjoy Fate and the mobile app game. The manga was also a straight retelling of what occurred in the movie, Fate / Grand Order: First Order.

Synopsis: The Chaldea Security Organization is a group made up of high-level mages and brilliant scientists dedicated to preserving mankind’s history. One day, the organization learns the timeline had been changed and mankind is now set to become extinct by the end of 2016. After a horrific accident, one Master, Ritsuka, and one Demi-Servant, Mash are left humankind’s last hope. Do they have what it takes to save the future?

The first volume covers the entirety of the story’s Prologue, but it was rushed even faster. The characters felt underdeveloped, plot points were rushed from one point to the next without giving any of them time to breathe, and the main relationship between Ritsuka and Mash was rushed as well.

Shiramine did the artwork for the manga, which was consistent all the way through. I did enjoy looking at the unique character designs of Ritsuka, Mash, and the other characters as well. The backgrounds were drawn too plain at times, but the plot’s breakneck pacing could have affected that aspect due to how fast everything was moving. To be frank, y’all would be better off trying to watch the movie. The action sequences in this manga aren’t drawn the greatest, and the ones that do look good come off as boring sometimes.

Fate is a better anime experience.

For those interested in my thoughts about Fate / Grand Order: First Order, the movie review link is here.

Thanks everyone for reading this manga review! I appreciate the support!!! I’ll be reading my FGO Volume 2 book next, and then My Hero Academia Volume 26 afterward. I’m slowly making my way back to “keeping it reading!”

See you all next time!

Major Spoilers are included in this episode review. Please read with caution.

Episode 31—“A New Darkness, Millenniumon”—is an interesting episode that covers the aftermath of WarGreymon’s appearance in addition to filling in the context that was set-up from episode 5: “Holy Digimon”. A Lopmon revealed himself to be a reincarnated Holy Digimon, Cherubimon, and that his memories were awakened when WarGreymon made his epic appearance. Lopmon also revealed the disturbances in the Human World have been caused by remnants of Millenniumon, an evil Digimon the Army of Light had defeated many years ago in the Ancient War against the Army of Darkness.

The exposition was so nice honestly, especially since they picked up on the information we already knew from episode 5. The Chosen Digimon like WarGreymon were an Army of Light that defeated Millenniumon all those years ago, and they must reunite in order to defeat him again. The six warrior Digimon and two Holy Digimon are the partners of the DigiDestined. Lopmon didn’t explain why the 8 kids were chosen quite yet, but that might come later. I’m happy that the new story arc is expanding the main plot, lore, and the Digimon’s backgrounds. It’s the story bones of Digimon Frontier’s plot and lore minus the Human Digimon versus Beast Digimon aspect and different Digimon enemy.

The action sequences involved groups of Bakemon digivolving into MetalPhantommon, and then one went into Gokumon, a Mega Digimon. The battle scenes have been one of the few positives from the reboot, as the battle went like this:

1. Greymon versus MetalPhantommon

2. MetalGreymon versus MetalPhantommom into Gokumon

3. WarGreymon one-shotting Gokumon with Kamehameha Gaia Force Rasengan.

WarGreymon took down Gokumon, and became an overpowered Shonen Protagonist. The Reboot WarGreymon is much stronger compared to the original WarGreymon and huge! The WarGreymon versus Gokumon fight is also a direct reference to a video game, based on what I heard from social media. Despite being a Digimon fan, I haven’t actually played the video game during my childhood. Sorry for not knowing everything like Izzy. I’m only a Human DigiDestined.

Speaking of Izzy, he was present in the episode for the exposition dump. Izzy revealed all the satellites are converging into a meteor that will strike down Tokyo. The stakes for this aren’t really anything anymore to be honest. This is another recycled story trope that will keep happening, I suppose. I think I’ll take it seriously when Tokyo actually explodes or if someone dies.

I wish Sora had more screen time in this episode, but I liked how she was there with Tai for the exposition backstory. You know, similar to episode 5 “Holy Digimon”, when I last discussed anything related to the main story. The digivolution sequences are becoming clearer and smoother as well, but I hope Sora and the others get pretty Mega sequences too.

After Kari and Gatomon become a pair in episode 34 / 35 range based on episode titles, I think the series will repeat the Ultimate-centric episodes for the other kids except Mega. I do want to be wrong, but the repetition and clear story formulas are hard to ignore. Big Dad D. One Piece improved my ability to see through the fourth walls of other anime and manga. Thank you, Oda. I still don’t like you, sometimes.

Overall, I’m hyped for the next few episodes to see where Digimon Adventure Reboot goes next with the plot and characters. Also, I will be participating in a in-person Digimon TCG (Trading Card Game) local tournament on January 17th, 2021, the first in-person event of 2021 since like… I want to say early November 2020. The Digital World is starting to open its gates to us… very slowly.

Thanks for reading this episode review, everyone! I also created a new Twitter account, @ngo_dm_aa, that will mainly cover my Digimon TCG, Cardfight!! Vanguard, my Genshin Impact content, and these episode reviews too of course. Please follow if you’ve been liking the episode reviews so far. We’re also almost close to the halfway point of the series (31/66)!

What a year, y’all. See you all in the Digital World next week.

Major Spoilers are included in this episode review. Please read with caution.

This Is Us Season 5 made its grand return on January 5, 2021, and boy was it glorious in so many ways. Randall learns more about his biological mother, Kevin is dealing with some life changes with Madison and the children vs career, and Kate gains closure after twenty years. These are the reasons why we stick with these very damaged characters, y’all. Let’s start with Number #3 Kate and go reverse order from there (Kate to Randall to Kevin).

Kate discloses her past with Marc to Toby, and reveals she had an abortion and dealt with it all alone. This sad situation was likely the start of Kate shoving her emotions post-Jack’s death, but I’m glad she’s confronted Marc in present-day. The casting for This Is Us when it comes to older and younger versions of characters is always on point. While traveling and tracking down Marc might seem excessive, at least Kate can finally stop letting Marc have all this power over her. No matter what you may think about her method, I’m glad it’s put to rest.

Kate has a supportive husband, a beautiful son, and a great life. I did really enjoy how Kate gave it everything she had though when she lectured Marc on the age difference, abuse, and how he crushed Kate’s self-esteem like it was nothing. I hope Marc is never seen ever again. We don’t need him. Not now. Not ever.

The present-day scene also meshed well with the flashback scene showing young Kate realizing how toxic Marc actually is. Watching young Kate leave his apartment to get the abortion was incredibly satisfyingly but also sad when she chose to keep it all to herself.

I’m glad Kate is finally moving forward.

However, the flash-forward scenes are still canon, which means Toby and Kate still aren’t together. In fact, Kate still hasn’t been seen in the flash-forward scenes yet. Things aren’t in the clear. Let’s put this on the backburner for now and move onto Number #2 Randall!

Randall has a new Black Therapist and is making great progress with him, but his striptease video is still going viral. I’m surprised the show downplayed that whole situation. I mean, people would have “meme” him already with Kevin’s Manny but instead it’s treated as a gateway to Randall’s biological mother. The man from the previous episodes—Hai—sent Randall a letter about his biological mother, and it became really heavy for Randall again when he learned his bio mom died in 2015.

As a result, Randall spiraled because it must mean William lied about Laurel—bio mom—dying when she gave birth due to a drug overdose. While we, as the audience, knew he didn’t lie, but Randall still was freaking out because he did not have fourth wall powers.

Randall wanted to deny the horrible scenario he had created in his head, go for a run, and then eventually he would’ve had an anxiety-induced mental breakdown. However, since Randall is improving, he calls his therapist instead to process. After being reminded that he gained something from William, his bio dad, why couldn’t he gain that same “something” from Hai, the man who knew his biological mother.

Randall and Beth talk it out, and they decide to call Hai from New Orleans. Hai does tell Randall that William thought he was telling the truth about Laurel. Randall’s single-tear moment was beautiful. I was praying he learned the truth about William quickly. This is such a huge relief because now Randall and Beth are going to New Orleans. They’re on a journey to learn more about Laurel! In the middle of a pandemic! Woo hoo!

Number #1 Kevin is also in a pickle! Kevin and Madison have a talk about traveling for his work all the time, and how that will affect their family. Kevin assumed Madison and their kids will just go with him, while Madison thought they’d settle down in a house and grow a normal life together. The flashback scene on how Kevin chose his career over Sophie is a clear indication on which choice he should make this time.

How Randall gave Kevin some advice in both flashback and present day is also a nice touch. I hope they make up soon. What would Randall do?

Random Side-Note: What happened to Madison’s character? She’s not weird or goofy anymore.

Thanks for reading this episode review, everyone! I’m excited to keep watching This Is Us throughout 2021. We need to start crying again! I’ll see you all when the next episode is out!

Major Spoilers are included in this anime episode review. Please read with caution.

On January 7, 2021, The Promised Neverland officially released its season 2 premiere. I don’t know why it was released a day early on Hulu—the 6th—but with the attack on the US Capitol occurring on that day, it was a much-appreciated distraction even if it only lasted twenty minutes. Witnessing the siege that befell the US Capitol was heartbreaking, and it was a good reminder on why I say, “Let’s claim our happy endings” whenever I discuss The Promised Neverland.

This anime is an amazing Shonen series about the unfairness of the characters’ fictional world, and how everyone is treated differently based on a clear division of race, religion, and purpose. These are also real-life issues—excluding the fictional demons’ aspect of the series—that needs to be addressed and handled without relegating it to “we couldn’t have seen this coming” or comparing it to the Black Lives Matter 2020 Movement.

I couldn’t have continued this anime episode review without at least mentioning the attempted coup that occurred just a few days ago. I didn’t want to pretend it didn’t happen. Thank you for your understanding, and let’s move forward with my thoughts on The Promised Neverland’s season 2 premiere.

Synopsis: The story began in an orphanage called Grace Field. We meet a twelve-year-old girl named Emma, who guides the reader—using exposition—through the orphanage and her typical day there doing chores, taking tests, and playing games—like tag. There are also over forty kids at this orphanage, all taken care of by a woman known as “Mama”. However, once Emma and another kid named Norman learn the twisted dark truth about the orphanage, they make a hasty plan to escape with their friend Ray.

This synopsis is definitively out the window going into season two. While season one—consisting of the “Introduction Arc” and the “Jailbreak Arc”—was a psychological thriller that pitted the children against Mama Isabella in a game of cat and mouse to avoid becoming a demon’s meal, season two became a survival game.

The opening scene with Emma, Ray, and the other children running from the demon and pretending to play tag set the tone for the new challenges they’ll face on the outside in addition to their sense of dread going from “we have to save ourselves before a set date” to “we have to run or we die NOW”. Kicking off the episode with this scene threw me off as a manga reader, but it was a welcomed change of pace as we’re flashed back to see how the “running away from demons” situation actually happened.

The animation and action sequences involving two new characters, Mujika and Sonju, were incredibly gorgeous. As an avid manga reader, watching these characters get animated was a true blessing. These two characters managed to save Emma and Ray from certain death, and took care of them in their cave. The cliffhanger also left us on the reveal of them being demons, with neither the characters or the audience having the slightest idea if they are friends or foes. While I already have the answer, sensing the terror on Ray and Emma when they learned the truth about their saviors was still giving me pure chills.

Overall, The Promised Neverland Season 2 had a strong opening episode. There are going to be 11 episodes total in the season, so there will be 10 more episodes, which is one less than season 1, but we’ll take anything we can get—especially with how 2021 is going right now. Based on the pacing as well, this season will likely only cover the “Promised Forest Arc” and the “Search for Minerva Arc”. I want “Goldy Pond Battle Arc” for season 3. That’s all I’ll say about it to spare the anime-only fans.

Thanks for reading this anime episode review, everyone! I’m excited to keep it watching to claim those happy endings! We got this! I’ll see you all next week!

Major Spoilers are included in this manga review. Please read with caution.

On January 3, 2021, The Promised Neverland released the “Special Pilot Chapter: We Were Born”. This special chapter didn’t explore a character’s background like the last three chapters did on Ray, Krone, and Isabella, but it did show us the first draft version of what would become The Promised Neverland. There were no demons, Sisters or Mothers, but there were corrupt humans and wicked Fathers that played along the same core themes seen in The Promised Neverland.

Let’s dive into what happened in this “Special Pilot Chapter”.

First, there are two distinct protagonists named Leo and Rita.

Leo is an adult gang member who has seen the darkness of the world, meeting Rita when he is badly hurt. He is a grumpy adult who only sees violence and death in the world because that’s all he’s ever seen. Based on what I learned about his character from this original pilot chapter, Leo was likely the original inspiration for what would lead to Yugo and Lucas later on. It’s interesting as a writer to notice and discuss these things in my manga review.

Rita is a cheerful orphan who was abandoned at a church, and she is about to get adopted by a foster family. She helped Leo recover from his injuries because she is always willing to help others. Rita was likely the original inspiration that would lead to Emma’s existence. The premise had shown that Rita’s would-be foster dad only wants to adopt her in order to harvest organs for his daughter Margo. What’s worse is Father—the pastor of the church—knew along and sold Rita for a bunch of money.

Then, Father gaslit Rita using religious propaganda to convince her that this is her life’s purpose and whatever. It almost worked too until Leo came to rescue her from the evil human beings. The theme of a life’s purpose resonated strongly in the ending, as the characters Leo, Rita, and Margo pondered their purposes and why they were born—the title of the chapter—if it all leads to death in the end.

Rita’s “I want to live” scream gave me strong One Piece vibes though, but that’s only because I recently finished out the manga’s first 1,000 chapters. I enjoyed reading that message so much, as we’re still in the early phase of 2021. Honestly, that’s a strong vibe to go off on regarding anime and manga entertainment. Season two is going to be so good on January 7, 2021.

Overall, I recommend investing some of your free time in The Promised Neverland—either reading the manga or watching the anime—at some point. This series is an amazing one on par with Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba. I will be writing weekly episode reviews for TPN’s second season as well, so do keep a lookout for those in the near future. Thanks so much for reading this manga review, everyone! I truly appreciate it!

Happy 2021! Let’s go claim our happy endings, starting on January 7, 2021!

Major Spoilers are included in this episode review. Please read with caution.

Episode 30—“The Mega Digimon, WarGreymon”—kicked off with Garudamon fighting off a couple Megadramon. I was loving the Sora-Garudamon attention, but it also made me worry for her safety. However, Sora survived when Garudamon was blasted with fire from the Megadramon so maybe I should trust the plot armor surrounding these kids.

Izzy was the exposition dumper as usual, but he did drop that a friend was helping with the computer stuff. So, that friend might be Willis from America, a main character from Digimon: The Movie. That reference made me think twice because Lopmon is also here in this episode. Lopmon is the Rookie form of one of Willis’ twin Digimon.

After Tai and Sora regroup, they decide Tai will “stall” the enemy Digimon while Sora leads the Woodsmon and Lopmon away to a cave. This was a recycled plot thing that already happened in episode 10 when MetalGreymon made his debut. I’m afraid the recycled story elements might be a recurring thing. Also, Tai and MetalGreymon are absolute monsters on the battlefield. They were not stalling. They were kicking ass!

MetalGreymon versus Parrotmon was nostaglic, but I wished these Digimon enemies have personalities. I’m realizing most of the Digimon enemies aren’t actual characters, just monsters that need to be put down for the fight scenes. The only enemy Digimon who showed a personality was Ogremon, but then he died.

Parrotmon digivolved into Crossmon, a Mega-level Digimon, and proceeded to wreck MetalGreymon and Tai, knocking them down to the ground and nearly killing them. I wasn’t surprised, but I really did enjoy the emotional Tai-Agumon payoff that built up WarGreymon’s official debut. The flashbacks to Tai and Agumon’s friendship could’ve been better if the Reboot invested more time into character development for all their characters rather than this breakneck pace of a plot, but I’m also a big simp for Tai and Agumon. Damn my Digimon childhood memories, you’re clouding my judgement.

After Crossmon wrecked MetalGreymon Alteros Mode’s arm, Tai and MetalGreymon are on the verge of death. Then Tai asks MetalGreymon if he can go on, and unlocks the digi-power to unleash WARGREYMON! The Veggiemon freaked out, and I do hope he’s given some English Dub lines once the Reboot gets an English Dub.

WarGreymon’s debut was gorgeous, and he’s way bigger compared to the original series. The animation was slicker than the MetalGreymon debut back in episode 10. This entire episode’s animation was much better compared to the previous episodes. WarGreymon used his brave shield in such a creative way; they launched off his back and protected his body immediately—similar to Gaara’s absolute sand defense. I liked that very much.

Honestly, I was fanboying very hard for WarGreymon showing up in the Reboot series. Episode 30 concluded with WarGreymon defeating Crossmon and all the other enemy Digimon in one shot—GAIA FORCE!

I loved the episode, but it also followed the usual issues previous episodes had. I hope Sora and Biyomon get a bigger role moving forward. Hikari and SkullKnightmon were also briefly seen. Hikari (Kari) asked where they were going, but he didn’t answer. This episode was good for the official WarGreymon debut, but I’m not liking how the plot is wash, rinse, and repeat. Hopefully, when Gatomon shows up, things get better. We’re a little too close to the halfway point of the Reboot series…

Thanks for reading this episode review, everyone! I’ll see you all next week in the Digital World!

Major Spoilers are included in this episode review. Please read with caution.

Episode 29—”Escaping the Burning Jungle”—centered around Tai and Agumon deciding to go after Kari while everyone else regrouped. The first opening minutes of the episode established Tai separating from the others, which made me initially frustrated. Splitting the party is a good tactic, but Digimon stories are more fun when the group is together. It doesn’t really work when everyone’s separated all the time. I made similar remarks about Big Dad D. One Piece recently in my most recent thought pieces about the “split the party” trope, so watching it infect Digimon too makes me sad.

Tai and Agumon hurry through a burning jungle, which was caused by SkullKnightmon when he escaped with Kari, in order to catch up with them. The concept of eating other Digimon—digi-cannibalism—to gain more Digi-power is an interesting one to explore, as wild Digimon began eating each other to stay alive or to prove they are the strongest Digimon in the jungle. The Survival of the Fittest mentality kicked into overdrive.

Tai and Agumon ended up protecting a Lopmon and a group of Woodmon from enemy Digimon trying to eat them. I’m enjoying the world-building that’s been done with the Digital World so far, but I do wish the Digimon Writers expanded more on the lore. Also, Lopmon showing up in this episode could be an Easter Egg, or actual foreshadow to the Holy Digimon being fleshed out later. Remember, Gatomon still hasn’t appeared in the reboot series.

I will not discuss the other Digi-Destined’s locations due to how irrelevant it is right now with the story. However, I will discuss Sora and Biyomon because they showed up to save Tai and Agumon from trouble. I do appreciate Sora not listening to Tai, and deciding that saving Kari is more urgent than the plot-driven stuff that Izzy blabbed about. The Rescue Kari story arc is also the more interesting one because of the digi-potential it has.

The cliffhanger was interesting, with Tai, Agumon, Sora, and Biyomon about to battle a second wave of evil Digimon trying to kill them. I don’t think I’m liking the attention Tai has been getting lately, but his sister got kidnapped, so maybe I’ll give him a pass. I will see this arc through either way.

Thanks so much for reading this episode review, everyone! I hope y’all had a Digi-Holiday with your loved ones! I’ll see you all next week in the Digital World. Let’s hope this arc is a good one!

Major Spoilers are included in this episode review. Please read with caution.

Episode 28—“The Children’s Fight For Survival”—separated the group as they just got back together, but at least Kari is with her big brother Tai. I wished the Digimon Reboot allowed everyone to stick together for one episode—to really form the group—before separating them again. This vibe is similar to how I’m feeling about Big Dad D. One Piece right now, but that’s a overall writing discussion for another time. Let’s dive into what actually happened in this episode.

Picking up with the Angemon vs DarkKnightmon from episode 27, Angemon managed to drive DarkKnightmon off—reverting him to SkullKnightmon—but it caused everyone to separate from each other for some reason. I’ll explain where everyone went when the clash happened another time when it’s relevant, as this episode chose to focus on Tai, Kari, and Agumon. Everyone else is on their own, but Tai managed to stick with his little sister lucky enough.

The episode implied Kari’s special digi-power could be the key to helping Agumon digivolve into WarGreymon regularly when the Mega Digivolution made a reappearance in a fight against Volcodramon. I wished the episode explored this aspect further, but it might also be a part of the Kari mystery for this next arc.

SkullKnightmon kidnapped Kari, but she willingly went with him to who knows where. She had a choice to try and run away, but she went with SkullKnightmon instead. Tai watched—in shock—as Kari and SkullKnightmon leave the scene, having no power to stop her from leaving especially with Agumon exhausted from fighting against Volcodramon.

 I’m curious to see what SkullKnightmon’s role will be in this new arc moving forward, as he fits the recurring villain role at the moment. He seemed to be an underling of Devimon, but now his position seems to be above Devimon in the evil Digimon hierarchy. I do wonder what he wants with Kari, and if it’s connected to TK as well.

If the Digimon Writers decide to go the evil or brainwashed Digi-Destined route with Kari, that’s something I wouldn’t mind watching just because it’s a different route and similar to what happened in Digimon Xros Wars with DarkKnightmon and his tamer. I’m also excited to see what the series does with Gatomon if Kari does indeed team-up with DarkKnightmon first.

I don’t want to go over where all the Digi-Destined ended up yet, but Matt fighting his way back to TK reminds me of Matt trying to find TK from the original series. Matt is always trying his best to protect his little brother. Then there’s TK and Patamon putting on their brave faces moving forward to the parts unknown. Everyone else I’ll discuss once the episodes swung back on them, but mentioning TK and Matt first did seem important because it does connect with my feelings on Tai and Kari.

Overall, the new arc took a few steps backwards by separating everyone, but let’s hope the separation isn’t too long.

Thanks for reading this episode review, everyone! I truly appreciate it! I’ll see you all next week to watch episode 29 in the Digital World!

P.S. Playing Digimon TCG is going great over Discord! I am hoping to show y’all some cool card stuff in 2021.

Major Spoilers are included in this manga review. Please read with caution.

On December 13, 2020, The Promised Neverland released another one-shot chapter— “Special Side Story: A Mother’s Determination”—centered around Mama Isabella during her time as a Grandmother, prior to the children’s epic comeback during the “Return to Grace Field Arc”. I enjoyed reading this amazing one-shot chapter for filling in the necessary context on how Isabella actually orchestrated the rebellion from within to help the children defeat the demons once and for all. While it already made sense why Isabella would betray the demons and humans working with them, this bonus chapter also gave us something else regarding four Sisters.

The chapter kicked off with the four Sisters she recruited for the rebellion—Matilda, Sienna, Jessica, and Scarlet—discussing how to take down Grandmother Isabella because they were jealous of how she actually got away with letting all the children escape during the “Jailbreak Arc”. As a result of Grandmother Isabella being smarter than most characters, she gathered the Sisters to disclose how she was already onto them. However, instead of turning the Sisters in for the betrayal, Grandmother Isabella decided to offer them a chance to break the cycle of humans being eaten by demons.

Knowing Emma and the others will return in two years—to rescue Phil and the other younger children they left behind—Grandmother Isabella wishes to destroy Grace Field from the inside with the other Sisters’ help. When we learned Isabella loved the children in her own way was already heartbreaking, but when this bonus chapter revealed the Sisters were also mothers… boy I wasn’t ready.

Furthermore, the Sisters’ children were from Grace Field House. Isabella had been raising them all this time without the Sisters’ knowledge; they believed their children were killed and eaten already. The most powerful emotion we humans have is love—the most dangerous emotion—and that love for their children overwhelmed the Sisters. My fan theories on who’s kid is who’s based on physical appearance alone and nothing else:

1.     Matilda is Norman’s mother

2.     Sienna is Emma’s mother

3.     Scarlet is Don’s mother

4.     Jessica is Gilda’s mother

There is no confirmation one way or another, but who else could the Sisters’ children be other than the actual main characters? I do hope this concept is explored further someday. Despite the manga being over, there is still so much story left to explore.

The Sisters agreed to help Isabella rebel against the system, but they wanted collateral as leverage in case things go wrong or a way to effectively trust Isabella. Of course, she agreed and gave the Sisters a note she got from Ray, her biological son—solid proof they could use against her.

The ending to the one-shot chapter was devastating, as we’re flash forwarded past the “Return to Grace Field Arc” with the four Sisters gathering around Mama Isabella’s grave to pay respects and to honor her sacrifice. I was instantly reminded how all the children grieved her despite what she did to them, ultimately still seeing her as the mother who cared and loved for them in her own way.

Overall, I did cry again. The Promised Neverland is an amazing manga. Thank you, Kaiu Shiri and Posuka Demizu, for bringing this story to life with your words and art. It will always be appreciated. Thanks for reading this manga review, everyone! I also appreciate your support! The Promised Neverland Season 2 drops on January 7, 2021! I’m so hyped for it! How about y’all? Let’s keep fighting for those happy endings!

Major Spoilers are included in this book review. Please read with caution.

On October 10, 2020, I started reading The Black Kids and finished on October 16, 2020.

My Writers’ Group and I had been overwhelmed lately—mentally—with everything currently happening in the United States in addition to personal shifts in both our lives. So, doing Book Club felt appropriate.

Our latest selection was The Black Kids—an official debut novel—by Black Writer Christina Hammonds Reed. With everything—ongoing coronavirus pandemic, toxic presidential election 2020, and the Black Lives Matter Movement 2020 with all the recent protests, riots, and looting related to Breonna Taylor and all the other murders—going on right now, reading this novel also felt appropriate.

Published on August 4, 2020, The Black Kids follows Ashley Bennett and her friends celebrating the end of senior year going into summer and college. The novel is set in Los Angeles 1992 when Rodney King was nearly beaten to death by four officers, which is the main driving force of the novel. The riots and protests that followed the verdict shattered Ashley’s “charmed” life—exposing her to the harsh reality of America.

Christina Hammonds Reed—since this is her official debut into the writing world—will go far in this world as long she keeps sharing that beautiful vivid imagery with us in future novels. The vivid imagery was easily the strongest aspect of the novel—which also set the overall tone of the story—with Reed providing a strong attention to details about the city of LA and the time period of 1992.

The only main issue I had with the writing was the transition between past and present scenes that occurred; they weren’t always consistently smooth—some were actually structured great like chapter 9’s “Me and Kimberly: A Friendship in Three Parts”—but I also might be unfair since I’m comparing it to The Bonesetter’s Daughter’s flawless transitional scenes. However, that was the only major issue I had with this novel. Everything else in the novel was pretty darn spectacular—starting with the book cover.

In Reed’s Acknowledgements, she admitted the book cover made her “shed the happiest of happy tears the first time [she] saw it”, and I’m not remotely surprised (Reed, page 361). The Black Kids’ book cover is a stroke of genius—a subtle sneak peek—that brought Reed’s vivid imagery to life before even hitting the first page. I enjoyed taking a minute to admire the cover before diving back into the story.

Incredible artwork has been a major thing for me lately—as I’m also an avid manga and Webtoon reviewer—so examining the cover and how it conveys the plot of the story was pretty noticeable to me right off the bat. Also, the book cover is also super gorgeous, so The Black Kids had that going for it too on a simplicity level—and perhaps a marketing level because it is definitely an eye-catcher.

Christina Hammonds Reed also did a fantastic job on building her main protagonist Ashley and her struggle to identify as a Black person. Ashley’s best—and only—friends are all White girls, and she grew up wealthy and privileged with them from childhood to senior year of high school. Ashley doesn’t associate with the other Black kids at her school, which makes herself question her own Blackness and Anti-Blackness at various times throughout the novel.

Ashley grappling with her identity throughout this novel is likely relatable to other Black readers—I am not Black, so I cannot say I totally relate—and how Reed conveys the microaggressions and direct racism through Ashley’s perspective does help the reader fully understand her hurt, confusion, and fear that comes from every incident she encounters, even if Ashley doesn’t fully realize it herself at first.

I would boil with intense rage whenever one of Ashley’s White friends made a micro aggressive comment or use the n-word like it was a joke. How Ashley never held them accountable—at least not right away—was infuriating in addition to her own Anti-Blackness affecting another character named LaShawn through a thoughtless rumor, but she did undergo character development to “make it right”—something that is said throughout this novel regarding everything she had done wrong.

The “I miss us” remark was also a powerful quote in this novel, relating to Ashley and her White friends’ friendship and “normalcy”—a status quo that allowed racism to continue unchecked. I use “normalcy” because “I miss us” is equal to what people are saying about “going back to normal” regarding all the awful things—all the stuff I mentioned earlier—ongoing with 2020.

Going back to normal—or neglecting to hold people accountable because “it won’t change their minds”—will definitely not solve anything and allow history to repeat itself. The story was set in 1992, but it holds a frightening resemblance to what’s been going on with today’s world—which obviously strengthens my point to hold people accountable.

Ashley’s family life was also explored, and how she was vastly different from them—particularly her older sister Jo in terms of personality and their opinions on the riots, protests, and looting happening throughout LA. The class and social difference between Ashley and her immediate family to her cousin Morgan and Uncle Ronnie was also explored through their Grandmama, a family-owned store, and a gun-related incident with the racist neighbors.

Overall, The Black Kids was a powerful—but heart-wrenching—debut for Christina Hammonds Reed. She tackles the subject of racism and all its different forms with such substantial relevance—ensuring the readers remain aware of what’s been happening in this novel—the past—and how it’s not all that different from current state of the United States now with the Black Lives Matter Movement 2020.

I would highly—wholeheartedly—recommend reading this novel at some point in your life. I’m also looking forward to seeing what she writes next. I have no doubt that she’s only getting started. Thanks for reading this book review, everyone! My Writers’ Group and I had ourselves an educated time with this one.

Major Spoilers are included in this thought piece. Please read with caution.

December 9, 2020 to December 15, 2020

¼ Saga

1 and ½ Manga Arc

7 DAYS

57 CHAPTERS

(Chapter 802 to Chapter 858)

Hi everyone,

I survived Week #7 with Big Dad D. One Piece, but I didn’t finish a Saga this time. In fact, it would’ve been impossible for me to finish this Saga because the Saga isn’t done. I’m currently reading a Saga that is ongoing! I’m excited to catch up with the series and to read the currently ongoing “Wano Country Arc” because it’s being praised as the best story arc of One Piece yet—at least the best one in a while. Personally, I think the Alabasta Saga is the best Saga / arc out of One Piece right now, but I’m open to changing my mind for the “Wano Country Arc” based on how everything’s going right now.

The Big Dad D. One Piece reading experience blew my mind because it took only seven weeks to get this far, and there was still plenty of time in December 2020—16 days—to catch up with the last 140ish chapters. As a result of me not finishing the “Whole Cake Island Arc” by the end of Week #7, this thought piece will mainly focus on the “Zou Arc”—the first story arc of the Four Emperors Saga—and Sanji’s character development during the “Whole Cake Island Arc”.

I’ll also discuss Trafalgar D. Law’s character too before diving into the Week #7 material because I forgot to talk about him in the Dressrosa Saga Thought Piece. That was a clear mistake because of his significant role in that Saga. As one can read based on what I just said, there is plenty of One Piece story material to go over. Are y’all ready to fan-geek out with me? Let’s do it.

One sentence summary: Written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda, the series follows Monkey D. Luffy traveling to the Grand Line—with his pirate crew—in search of the world’s ultimate treasure called “One Piece” in order to become the King of Pirates.

Let’s start with Trafalgar D. Law’s character first, despite him not appearing in this Saga yet. I should’ve mentioned his character in the previous thought piece, but he somehow slipped my mind. I’m blaming Sabo’s epic return for why I neglected to discuss Law and his significant role in the Dressrosa Saga. Not mentioning Law made it seem like he wasn’t important, but you’d be wrong to make that assumption, and it’d be my fault for that assumption being made.

Law was first introduced during the Summit War Saga, and he helped Luffy escape from the war after Ace and Whitebeard’s deaths. He returned in the “Punk Hazard Arc” with a plan to defeat Kaido, and he wanted to make an alliance with Luffy to achieve this goal. I loved the rapport established between Luffy and Law, as their personalities clashed on a regular basis throughout the Dressrosa Saga. I did enjoy his background that was explored during the “Dressrosa Arc”, his familial connection to Doflamingo and Doflamingo’s brother, and the significance of his “D” name.

Law’s devil fruit power to take hearts from people’s chest and control them is very overpowering in my opinion and very Once Upon A Time as well, but I did like how eating the fruit saved his life at the cost of his father-figure. Those are my simplified thoughts on Trafalgar D. Law, but I’m sure his role will expand in future arcs. Right now—where I’m currently at in One Piece—Law is not in either “Zou Arc” or “Whole Cake Island Arc”.

There were other aspects from the “Punk Hazard Arc”—the first story arc of the Dressrosa Saga—that came back into play during the “Zou Arc” and the “Whole Cake Island Arc” as well, since Caesar Clown made his overdue comeback alongside Nami, Chopper, Brook, and Sanji. I understand taking turns with the characters since they’re separated, but I wish Oda didn’t separate them at all. This is my biggest issue with One Piece—splitting the party—and it’s something Oda won’t budge on, so it’s something I will have to keep dealing with for the next hundred-ish chapters.

The “Zou Arc” was a messy flashback / catch-up arc with Nami, Chopper, Brook, and Sanji. I didn’t particular enjoy it aside from the world-building with new characters like Pedro and Carrot, but the arc’s ending was amazing with Princess Vivi making a comeback for the story. Princess Vivi and the other royalty characters like Rebecca are returning for a special event, so that’s likely set-up for a long-game arc because I haven’t gotten anything from that since, but I’m still excited to see Vivi reunite with the Straw Hats! Also, we learned what happened to Sanji during the “Zou Arc”.

Sanji’s background was explored further in the “Whole Cake Island Arc”. I won’t go into the full details of this arc because I hadn’t finished it yet at time of writing, but I will discuss Sanji’s character development. Learning about his history in North Blue as a Vinsmoke—his privileged last name—made me feel sympathetic for his character, and what it truly meant for him to have a great father-figure like Zeff from the Baratie Restaurant.

While Sanji’s character story had familiar story beats with the other Straw Hat Pirates’ character stories like Nami and Nico Robin—the “please don’t help me” martyr talk—I will always enjoy Luffy ignoring that nonsense in the name of Nakama! Luffy had refused to eat anything until Sanji came back and fed him was both reckless and loyal because Luffy loves to eat, but he was willing to starve for the sake of a friend.

Honestly, that’s beautiful and a main reason for why I keep it reading with Big Dad D. One Piece. The awesome character development doesn’t excuse the transphobia Sanji displayed in earlier arcs, but it’s a start at least as long as Oda doesn’t bring it up again.

Trans women are real women, Sanji and Oda.

Since I haven’t finished the “Whole Cake Island Arc” yet, I’ll leave y’all with these closing thoughts. I am looking forward to seeing how everything will play out with Sanji’s wedding, his family, and everything else going on with Big Mom, one of the Four Emperors and the main antagonist of the “Whole Cake Island Arc”.

I’ll give y’all more specifics once I actually have them in next week’s thought piece! The links to my other Big Dad D. One Piece thought pieces—Weeks #1 through Week #6—are listed below if y’all want to check them out and my overall Reading Journey with the Straw Hats so far:

1.     East Blue Saga

2.     Alabasta Saga + Sky Island Saga

3.     Water 7 Saga + Thriller Bark Saga

4.     Summit War Saga

5.     Fish-Man Island Saga

6.     Dressrosa Saga

Thanks so much for taking the time to read my thoughts, everyone! I truly do appreciate it! I’ll see y’all next week—Week #8—once I’m done with “Whole Cake Island Arc” and whatever is coming next!

P.S. Chapter 999 is looking to be FIRE! I read spoilers because why not? Chapter 1,000 is on the horizon in 2021!

Major Spoilers are included in this thought piece. Please read with caution.

December 2, 2020 to December 8, 2020

1 Saga

2 Manga Arcs

7 Days

148 Chapters

(Chapters 654 to 801)

Hello everyone,

I finished Week #6 of reading Big Dad D. One Piece. Starting with Week #6, I’m changing the name slightly from Big Daddy One Piece to Big Dad D. One Piece to keep up with my growing “D” interest. After finishing up the Dressrosa Saga and seeing myself going into the current Four Emperors Saga so close to the beginning of December and end of 2020, I must reflect on my time with One Piece as a whole again.

I feel like many readers don’t reflect enough on what they actually read—for example, reading something and asking “what did I just read” moments happen to me way too often—but with reading massive ongoing sagas like One Piece, it’s an essential active reader technique that will prevent burnout from occurring while also allowing the reader to retain as much information as possible. Having people with similar interests to discuss reading or viewing experiences is also helpful.

Dressrosa Saga was the perfect Saga to snap me out of the “burnout” mentality that almost caught me in its grasp. Lately, I had been overwhelmed with my day job, a new paid writing opportunity, Writers’ Group, getting into a new Digimon TCG Card Game, finishing up my novel’s sixth draft by the end of the year too, and life struggles with this ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Reading Big Dad D. One Piece should’ve been the very last thing on my mind—at least, according to society—with everything else going on in my life, but to me, it was still an essential thing on my list in addition to playing Digimon TCG. The sparks of pure joy I get from reading One Piece was the only thing keeping me sane from everything else going on—why would I stop, slow down, or run away from it? In fact, knowing that life was short drove me to read the Saga faster—Ngodokja Original: Fast Reading Speed-A!

Anyway, let’s dive into what happened during the Dressrosa Saga.

One sentence summary: Written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda, the series follows Monkey D. Luffy traveling to the Grand Line—with his pirate crew—in search of the world’s ultimate treasure called “One Piece” in order to become the King of Pirates.

After the conclusion of the Fish-Man Island Saga, Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates finally ventured into the New World. Soon after arriving and surviving the New World’s constant weather changes though, the Straw Hat Pirates received a distress signal from an island called Punk Hazard. As a result, Luffy formed an alliance with Trafalgar D. Law to dethrone Kaido from the Four Emperors, but they had to defeat Caesar Clown and Doflamingo—the main antagonists of the “Punk Hazard Arc” and the “Dressrosa Arc” respectively—first.

The “Punk Hazard Arc” wasn’t the best One Piece arc I read. The arc was slightly better than the “Thriller Bark Arc”, but most of it did drag on even toward the end. Also, Caesar Clown wasn’t the strongest person and his role diminished from main villain to a plot device once Luffy, Law, and the Straw Hats captured him to bait Doflamingo into giving up his rule over Dressrosa. Although, the nostalgic character dynamic between Smoker the White Hunter’s Marines and the Straw Hat Pirates was a much-welcomed return; I kind-of wished they continued that dynamic going into “Dressrosa Arc”, but Smokey needed to get those kids back home.

“Punk Hazard Arc” did have a strong theme on child trafficking, and how they are used for inhumane purposes. Caesar Clown kidnapped and experimented on children to create the perfect weapons for anyone with the money to afford it. Nami and Chopper were the ones who wanted to save the children the most, which was how mostly everyone got entangled with Caesar Clown’s evil plans before the alliance officially happened.

The “save the country” plotline in the “Dressrosa Arc” centered around slavery, capitalism, family, and royal bloodlines. Doflamingo oppressed the innocent people of Dressrosa, enslaved those who opposed by turning them into toys, and the memory wipe was a cruel touch. Whoever gets turned into a toy is erased from people’s memories, so nobody would even notice that person was gone. There were many sub-stories in this arc—ranging from the story about toys, a tournament to win Ace’s devil fruit, dwarves wanting to overthrow Doflamingo, etc.—that somehow all connected by the arc’s climax.

There were strong parallels between Dressrosa Saga and Alabasta Saga as well, with the story of Rebecca and her father playing out similar to Vivi and her father. They had the same story beats to each other regarding how the father failed the country, and it became up to the daughter to save the country. However, Rebecca’s father was written stronger than Vivi’s father in my personal opinion because Rebecca’s father—Kyros—was not the king. Kyros failed the country as a godly solider, not a beloved king like Vivi’s father, is the key difference. There was a beloved king, but that was a grandfather.

The Dressrosa Saga also reintroduced Sabo, showing him inherit Ace’s devil fruit and becoming the next Fire Fist! Sabo as a child survived the attack on his boat, and was found by Monkey D. Dragon. Sabo had memory loss, so he moved on with his life and become a pirate under Dragon without knowing anything about his past. It wasn’t until Ace died that Sabo’s memory came flooding back at the worst possible time. This memory loss explained why Sabo wasn’t present at the Marineford Battle, but he vowed not to make the same mistake with his other brother Luffy.

I cried hardcore when Sabo came back, ate the fruit, and showed great mastery of the Fire Fist powers. Sabo left by the end of the arc with his team—which included Koala from the Fish-Man Island Saga’s flashback story—but he promised he’d come running whenever his brother needed him. Sabo being alive is bringing me so much joy for One Piece right now. I want Sabo to come back as soon as possible.

The Dressrosa Saga gave me a much-needed hype boost—a reminder on why I keep it reading in the first place. I’m looking forward to catching up with the rest of Big Dad D. One Piece by the end of 2020, and seeing where the story goes from there. Thanks for reading my thought piece on the Dressrosa Saga, everyone! I’m looking forward to seeing where I end up with the manga going into Week #7!

Major Spoilers are included in this manga review. Please read with caution.

On December 6, 2020, The Promised Neverland—written by Kaiu Shirai and illustrated by Posuka Demizu—dropped another special one-shot chapter centered around Sister Krone’s background prior to her introduction in the series. Similar to Ray’s special one-shot chapter that dropped on October 4, 2020, this chapter peeled back the layers on Krone’s characterization. To refresh your memory a bit, Sister Krone was one of the primary antagonists recruited by Mama Isabella—during the “Jailbreak Arc”—to help stop the children from potentially escaping Grace Field.

However, while we were given glimpses of what Sister Krone’s background was in the main series, her untimely death and sacrifice to help the children escape didn’t allow us to explore it further. This is what made this latest special one-shot chapter so special—a gift for the most dedicated The Promised Neverland fan. Without further ado, let’s dive into my thoughts on this special one-shot chapter titled “Special Side-Story: Seeking the Sky of Freedom”.

The chapter kicked off with a young Krone becoming a mom in-training and reuniting with a friend from the same farm she was at, Cecile. They are happy to see each other, but Cecile does warn Krone that they cannot show weakness if they are to survive in this world and become a Sister, then hopefully Moms in the near future.

Krone is frightened to keep going with the mom in-training, clearly having no coldness in her heart to hurt others. Then the class is informed only one girl in their class will advance to being Sister, and the others will be shipped off and killed. As a result of this madness, Krone and Cecile plan to escape using a map created by the previous generations. When they see another girl in their class try to escape without a plan and getting killed for it, Krone and Cecile are officially ready to enact their plan.

Things became twisted once their plan inevitably fell apart due to obvious continuity. Allegedly, Cecile had betrayed Krone to Grandmother, which caused Krone to grow a coldness out of this betrayal, and twisted the same betrayal back on Cecile using the generations-old map that only Cecile could know about. Then Cecile is killed, and Krone eventually rises to Sister. The one-shot chapter looked to have ended with Krone’s official introduction into the main series meeting Emma and the other children, but then we’re given a few more pages of Cecile revealing she planned the whole betrayal thing to give Krone her best chance at surviving in this world.

Cecile and Krone’s friendship was the heart of the one-shot chapter, and the ending with Krone dying—reusing the same death scene from the main series—and meeting Cecile in the afterlife was a tear-jerker. I loved how they were finally “free” to run off into the heavenly sunset together. This was a beautiful ending for Sister Krone, and it brought closure to her background that we knew wasn’t 100% explored. Krone’s motives to help Emma and the others were also given full context, and how she was only self-serving to become a Mom because that’s what Cecile taught her out of love. That’s so damn tragic.

I have high hopes for the future one-shots like Mama Isabella’s one-shot chapter coming next week! Kaiu Shirai and Posuka Demizu are hyping us up for the anime’s second season, which is coming out on January 7, 2021.

Thanks for reading this manga review, everyone! I’ll see you all next week for Mama Isabella’s one-shot manga chapter! I’m going to cry again, aren’t I?

Major Spoilers are included in this season review. Please read with caution.

On November 19, 2020, Supernatural concluded Dean and Sam Winchester’s 15-year-old journey of picking up where their dad left off, “saving people, hunting things, the family business”. Looking back, I started watching Supernatural myself a decade ago—2010—when it was still airing its fifth season. I fell in love instantly with the themes of brotherhood, family, and fighting for your own free will. Watching this series until the end was honestly one of my greatest joys from that decade, and an effective way to say goodbye going into the next phase of my 2021-Era life.

The link to my Supernatural Season 15 Part 1 Review is also here if y’all want to check that out first. Otherwise, here’s a recap:

Season 15 is about Sam and Dean going up against their strongest opponent yet, God Himself. The stakes are higher than ever, with death being not the worst possible thing that could happen to them—especially since they’ve died more times than I can count. With the help of their Angel Castiel and Nephilim child Jack, the boys prepare for the greatest challenge of their mortal lives.

Season 15 Part 2 kicked off with a slow pace, as the second half decided to have filler episodes three weeks in a row—having sprinkles of plot development within those episodes though—before diving into the endgame.

Once the endgame got rolling though, with Chuck destroying all the alternate worlds except the Main Universe, it all seemed rushed. While I did enjoy certain aspects and the initial ideas of what happened—like Michael and Lucifer coming back, Death Billie having an ulterior motive for wanting Chuck off the board, and Sam wanting to find another way to stop Chuck as a result of this ulterior motive—a lot of it was indeed rushed when it was crammed into one or two episodes instead of it playing out over a course of episodes.

Finding out Death Billie wanted Chuck and Amara—The Darkness and Chuck’s sister—off the board so she can become the New God was an interesting twist, but then she was dealt away in the following episode alongside Castiel, who made the ultimate sacrifice to save everyone. Establishing Castiel’s queer feelings for Dean and killing him off for the final time was genuinely heart wrenching, but it also played into the “bury the gays” trope.

Amara and Chuck’s sibling dynamic could’ve been explored more, as their roles were effectively switched from Season 11, when Amara was the main antagonist trying to destroy her brother’s creations. Now it was Chuck who wanted to break his own toys, and Amara was trying to show him what he showed her during Season 11—that humans were imperfect but beautiful and whatever. However, this was also rushed in a single episode and ended up with Amara choosing to merge with Chuck because Dean Winchester planned on betraying her. This resulted in an odd non-closure between Dean and Amara, who had a weird thing going on since Season 11.

There were a lot of things being crammed as we reached the series finale.

The penultimate episode also functioned like a series finale, concluding the 15-year-old journey before the actual series finale took place. The return of Michael and Lucifer played out in this episode, rehashing what season 5 was all about with two brothers fighting over their love for dad.

While I liked the idea of Michael and Lucifer coming back for the ending, their return and final deaths also felt rushed because it happened in the same episode where God was finally defeated. Everything being crammed into a single episode made it feel rushed and not fleshed out to its full capabilities. I’m honestly blaming the COVID-19 pandemic for screwing with production.

Although, the ending with Chuck being left powerless, sad, and alone was incredibly satisfying to watch. He betrayed his “fictional” characters—Sam and Dean—so they left him to live, rot, and die a boring human life where nobody will remember his name. Sam and Dean finally achieving free will after so many years of fighting was an amazing payoff to behold. Now they can write their own story moving forward into the series finale—one of their own making.

Jack also became the New God, having absorbed Chuck’s powers, and left Sam and Dean because he wants to be “hands off” in order to avoid Chuck’s mistake of messing with people’s free will for his own amusement. I enjoyed this ending for Jack because he grew to understand what it truly meant to be human since his introduction—and birth—in Season 13, but he promised to be watching over everyone as they establish this “new normal” moving forward. Castiel was also helping Jack, having been resurrected off-screen in the series finale.

I wished Cass stayed dead, or showed up in the series finale.

The actual series finale had rough spots to be honest, but it had the best intentions. I did enjoy the ending itself—with Dean dying while on the job and Sam dying of natural causes—but I found the lack of fan-favorite cameos the biggest downside to this Epilogue conclusion.

Back to COVID-19 pandemic ruining everything, I’m blaming the pandemic because it shut down production and likely put in restrictions, so there couldn’t be too many people on set, thus the lack of our fan-favorite character cameos. I really did want to see how everyone else was doing after the show ended, to see who was actually alive after Jack became New God, and maybe reunite with some dead character cameos when Sam and Dean made it to Heaven—like what LOST did. Yes. Bobby Singer, their dead father-figure, cameoed in the series finale, but he was literally the only fan-favorite character.

Not even Jack or Castiel made appearances in the series finale. It’s all understandable when you factor in the currently ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the restrictions it likely imposed on television production sets, but it’s still all really sad. For example, character Kevin Tran was confirmed to be in the series finale prior to pandemic, but then he didn’t show up. Supernatural deserved a better, planned out series finale, but everyone did the best they could with the cards they were dealt with.

Dean’s emotional death speech was incredibly moving though, despite how he died being not the best way to go out; he was impaled by a nail when a vampire pushed him into a board rafter. The full circled callback to the pilot’s iconic “Dad had gone on a hunting trip, and he hadn’t been home in a few days” scene hit me hard. When Dean confessed in his last dying moment that he waited hours outside Sam’s house because he was scared Sam would turn him away was pretty surreal. Then Sam confessing he knows he can keep going without him, but he doesn’t want to…

My heart just fell completely apart.

I’m sad to see Supernatural end, but it was time to move on. Sam and Dean Winchester have greatly impacted me physically and mentally since I started watching in 2011; physically with the Anti-Possession Tattoo I got on my chest—in 2014—in honor of my chosen brother’s untimely death during 2011 and mentally with how much it helped me grieve his passing and the other challenges in my life that happened along the way.

I owe this show a life debt I can never repay in full, but all good things must come to an end. I’m also entering a new phase of my life going into the Holiday Season and 2021, and watching Supernatural end made me see how much my life had truly changed since I started watching this show sophomore year of high school. Now, I’m an adult in the midst of taking on a new writing opportunity while trying to finish my sixth draft novel manuscript and still finding the time to level up this blog into “Ngodokja Era”.

Fun Fact: #ngodokja has God in the middle. Unlike Chuck, I do not want to repeat things hoping for better outcomes—what he did throughout Supernatural when he tried to get his “perfect” ending of Sam and Dean killing each other. That’s the definition of insanity—especially for writers. Maybe, it’s time to try something new.

Let’s break the cycle.

Thanks for reading my Supernatural Season 15 Part 2 Review, everyone! I really appreciate the time y’all took to read my thoughts. Now… Carry on, my wayward son. There’ll be peace when you are done. Lay your weary head to rest. Don’t you cry no more.

P.S. Congrats to Neoni for having their song cover of “Carry On Wayward Son” play for the series finale’s last moments—our last moments—with Sam and Dean. Neoni’s version made the ending have a similar vibe to The Vampire Diaries’ series finale, which is a huge accomplishment, and a big reason for why the production team chose their song cover.

You earned it, Neoni. I listen to your version all the time now. You really encompass what Supernatural is all about with your version. Thank you. Thank you so much.

Until we meet again, SPN Fandom.

-       Ngodokja

Major Spoilers are included in this Webtoon Review. Please read with caution.

On October 27, 2020, I started and finished Genshin Impact Webtoon’s Chapter 13: Dual Recurrence. This was the latest chapter translated on the Webtoon site, with there being at least three more chapters out there. Apparently, there are a total of 16 chapters in this mini-series. I’m hoping the rest of them get translated soon, but the video game will be more than enough Genshin Impact to keep me going.

Chapter 13 converged all the convoluted plots together in a quiet scene between Kaeya and the diplomat who lost two of his people in the Black Fire Incident. Kaeya told the diplomat that the Ordo Favonius is doing everything they can to capture the criminal and the traitor—Amber—helping her escape. Based on the last chapter, we know Kaeya is secretly trying to help Amber and Collei, using Diluc—disguised with a mask—as a distraction to give the girls time to seal the demon away.

The artwork was incredible with the demon sealing—giving me Naruto vibes—when Collei started showing black marks on her neck that resembled the Cursed Mark. Amber’s subtle nervousness was also conveyed subtlety—gripping her bow—through the artwork. The story and characters were finally getting somewhere on the latest episode available; why does this keep happening to me?

(My Hero Academia’s Chapter 288 and Tower of God’s Season 3 Episode 68).

The cliffhanger—on a literal cliff—made the story so interesting. While the plot was very difficult to follow since the beginning, how everything came together in this chapter to make sense helped a bit. Unfortunately, the “it’s all coming together” moment came too late especially with this being the last episode with no new one coming in sight. If you’re a fan of playing the Genshin Impact video game, I would still highly recommend reading this Webtoon for that beautiful fan-service and to grow closer to the characters.

Thanks for reading this Webtoon review, everyone! I really did enjoy my time reading this awesome Webtoon. Now I feel more informed and motivated to play Genshin Impact. Please let me know if y’all play the video game, blog readers. Maybe we can co-op together, sometime?

Major Spoilers are included in this Webtoon Review. Please read with caution.

On October 27, 2020, I started and finished Genshin Impact Webtoon’s Chapter 12: Unshrouded Resolution Parts 1 and 2. The chapter gave a clear focus on Amber and Collei’s relationship now that the truth is out there. The chapter also focused on Kaeya and Diluc in the second part, revealing they have a plan for the Fauti—the true enemies.

While Collei admitted to causing the Black Fire Incident—acting “evil” in front of Amber—Amber didn’t buy it for a second and refused to give up on her new friend, remembering how Collei was willing to die by Kaeya’s ice to stop the demon within. My heart was being tugged in this moment, cementing my thoughts about these two girls being the main protagonists.

Amber and Collei went to Lisa for a solution, where they met with a new character—Lisa’s assistant from Academia—who has a plan to make the demon dormant within Collei. While not exactly the plan they were looking for—Amber was looking for a way to separate them—but Collei agreed to keep people safe.

On the Kaeya and Diluc front, there was a lot of exposition regarding the enemies and Collei’s demon, but it also proved Kaeya was a good guy the whole time. How they were drinking pure juice instead of alcohol was also hilarious. Diluc owns a tavern, but he hates alcohol.

I’m actually excited to see Kaeya and Diluc fight together soon. They’re going to make the Fauti pay for messing with their home. The artwork on both A and B plots were gorgeous, with Amber’s new design look growing on me. Like I hope the video game allows us to change their outfits at some point, so my Amber can wear the outfit she wore to the festival. It’s such a cute look on her!

Thanks for reading my Webtoon review, everyone! I’m looking forward to reading the latest chapter. Let’s keep the Genshin Impact love going!

Major Spoilers are included in this Webtoon Review. Please read with caution.

On October 27, 2020, I started and finished Genshin Impact Webtoon’s Chapter 11: Serpent’s Dance. Picking up where we left off in the last chapter, Kaeya revealed to have lied to Amber about finding devices to eliminate Collei without interference. While the previous chapters confirmed that Collei was responsible for the Black Fire Incident, there was more confirmation regarding the evil spirit possessing Collei—the true monster responsible for the incident.

The action sequence between Kaeya and Collei was beautifully drawn, with Kaeya’s abilities from the video game being used effectively to take down Collei. The ice was gorgeous. While Kaeya’s intentions were noble, I still didn’t like how he lied to Amber.

Collei’s flashbacks to the good times with Amber—contrasting with the demon tempting Collei to give into the darkness—were getting to me though. The demon is also being developed as a legit character, so I’m hoping Amber finds a way to separate Collei from it to save her.

The Webtoon is doing a fantastic job on developing their friendship—making them the heart of this amazing series. Collei opening herself up to die was heartbreaking to say the least—even Kaeya hesitated when Collei suppressed the demon and stopped fighting back. Luckily, Amber made it back in time and escaped with Collei.

I was so happy to see them escape from Kaeya, and the cliffhanger with someone watching the fight was also ominous. The chapters are getting shorter as the series progressed—compared to the long Prologue—so the pacing seems breakneck with all the wonky plot developments. I am looking forward to seeing what happens in chapter 12 though.

Thanks for reading this Webtoon review, everyone! Let’s keep it reading—and obsessively playing—Genshin Impact!

On October 27, 2020, I started and finished reading Genshin Impact Webtoon’s Chapter 10: Fools’ Trick Parts 1 and 2. This chapter had a focus on Collei and her traumatic past being triggered during a magic box trick. While I would normally be annoyed with the distraction from the plot, this Webtoon did the right thing with finally giving us more attention to the characters. Amber and Collei’s friendship was also being more established—hopeful airhead with traumatized brood.

Collei was triggered into a panic attack when she was stuck in the magic box, and would’ve killed Amber if the knife wasn’t a prop. The artwork had been so consistent with this Webtoon, so the moment felt pretty surreal. I honestly thought Collei had stabbed Amber, and the emotional moment with Amber telling Collei that she’s free to cry and be happy—to feel whatever she wants—was also profound. I’m liking Amber’s character so much, which makes me even more furious that her gameplay is below D-tier in the video game.

The ending to the chapter felt abrupt when Amber left Collei for the mission, having left Collei alone with Kaeya. I didn’t particularly like this plot development, but it doesn’t seem like Collei has abandonment issues—as far as I can anyway—so I guess it’s okay? Kaeya is also taking a weird interest in Collei, and I have no idea why.

Overall, this Webtoon seems geared for fan service especially with the video game growing more popular with each passing day. I’m not sure what’s going on with the plot anymore, but as long as the artwork is consistently enjoyable, I will keep it reading until the end. Thanks for reading this Webtoon review, everyone! Remember to keep logging in everyday with Genshin Impact too—collect those daily rewards!

Major Spoilers are included in this Webtoon Review. Please read with caution.

On October 24, 2020, I started and finished Genshin Impact Webtoon’s Chapter 9: Ludi Harpastum Parts 1 and 2. This chapter acted like a side-quest—distracting Amber and Collei from the main quest assigned to them by Jean—for the characters to have fun during the Ludi Harpastum: a yearly carnival to celebrate songs, wine, and flight. They didn’t really dive into why the people celebrated Ludi Harpastum, but the great character moments between Amber and Collei were more than welcomed. I’m hoping this means the Webtoon has officially decided to make Amber and Collei the main protagonists.

I’m really not liking how there’s a real debate / confusion on “who’s the main protagonist of this series?” This shouldn’t be a thing, but it is what it is. At least in the video game, we know the main protagonist is us—the mysterious Traveler and our companion Paimon. I do wonder if they will eventually show up in the Webtoon as well. Also, I really want Venti the Bard to come back to the Webtoon. He was so cool!

Anyway, the chapter was pretty fun. Amber is really brainless about the carnival game schemes, but she is trying her best to show Collei how to have fun. Collei also got wrapped up in the games because she couldn’t stand Amber easily falling for the obvious schemes. Seeing them interact and having a good time at the carnival was needed for the establishment of their character dynamic.

The artwork was consistently gorgeous, especially with Amber changing her outfit for the special occasion. The carnival games and the other people were also drawn brilliantly, with a clear focus on their designs and the setting—which is the prime reason for me continuing onward with this Webtoon. The montage of Amber playing the games was my favorite part of the two-part chapter.

There was no plot development for once—which was nice—as I have been saying the Webtoon needs to focus on their characters more. They’re cute, adorable, and fun to watch so I’m not understanding why the Webtoon’s been neglecting them so hard. Without the characters, there is no story! It’s as simple as that!

I think I’ll close out the review with that. Thanks for reading my thoughts, everyone! I’ll see you all in Chapter 10: Fools Trick!

Major Spoilers are included in this Webtoon Review. Please read with caution.

On October 21, 2020, I started and finished Genshin Impact Webtoon’s Chapter 8: Final Clue Parts 1 and 2. The story was beginning to feel messy and convoluted again, but at least we learned why Diluc quit the Ordo Favonius—the famous knight order. This was a good payoff and nice context if you’re a Diluc simp like myself. As of October 21, 2020, I have not pulled Diluc in the video game (yet), but I’m hoping to have him at some point if the Genshin Impact Gods have mercy.

Anyway, I enjoyed learning Diluc’s tragic background and why he quit the Ordo Favonius. Apparently, Ordo Favonius refused to acknowledge Diluc’s father as the hero who saved everyone because it’ll make the knights look bad. Diluc took offense when they called his father a “mere businessman” and quit out of disgust.

Amber—in the flashback—happened to hear all this go down as a kid because she was hiding in the closet to scare her grandpa. So, this incident is connected to the Black Fire Incident in present day, and there are other missions happening too in order to avoid disrupting some festival. Again, the plot got convoluted and they only have three days to get the job done before some important people show up and ruin everything.

The artwork was consistently gorgeous in this chapter, so please forgive me for suspending my displeasure for the sake of simple enjoyment.

This chapter also didn’t follow up on the cliffhanger regarding how the power Diluc’s father used backfired, so that was super annoying. Amber and Collei are teaming up for the mission they’re about to embark on though, so hopefully the next chapter or two goes back to focusing on them. They have a clear dynamic that could be further explored, if the story does decide to make them the main protagonists. The lack of clarity for a main protagonist is still an ongoing issue.

Overall, Genshin Impact has some great characters, but the writer is heavily focusing on the story—the plot delivery—more than the great characters like 99% of the time. I’m going to keep it reading, but this is something I will keep noting in my reviews if this issue keeps coming back up. Thanks for reading this Webtoon chapter review, everyone! Let’s keep it reading, Genshin Impact players!

Major Spoilers are included in this episode review. Please read with caution.

Episode 27—“To The New Continent”—brought all eight DigiDestined together. Kari, following the instruction of an unknown voice, summoned the B-Plot DigiDestined to where Tai, Matt, and TK were to save them. This latest episode had a lot of stuff going on with both character and plot, but we really needed a fast pace episode after a few bad episodes. I did like how everyone had a moment to catch up with each other regarding the plot, and the animation was beautiful. This episode had a few bad spots, but then there were super good moments especially when everyone went ultimate.

How the episode handled the digivolution sequences was brilliant. The Digimon Writers did what I wanted them to do with the special digivolution orbs. It’s faster and it makes everyone feel like equals. Watching all of them fight together against a Cordramon was beautiful.

The “Kill Leomon” trope happened in this episode too. He sacrificed himself to give the DigiDestined their chance to reach the new continent. Leomon, his Digi-Squad, and Eldradimon disappeared into a huge black vortex that appeared in the ocean. So, they might honestly come back to the series at some point, but for now, they are presumed dead. Even if Leomon did survive and comes back stronger, he’ll likely still die since killing Leomon is such a solid trope.

The ending with DarkKnightmon was unexpected. I loved how DarkKnightmon came back so early to finish the DigiDestined off, and right after the DigiDestined already defeated Cordramon. In some of my earlier episode reviews, I mentioned TK was the bravest kid ever, and this fact is still holding up. TK stepped up to protect the others because he and Patamon didn’t participate in the previous fight.

TK whipped out his Digivice and digivolved Patamon into Angemon. The digivolution sequence into Angemon was heavenly. The animation was incredible, and it was an effective cliffhanger. I was hyped to watch Angemon versus DarkKnightmon. Next week’s promo showed everyone getting separated again too, but at least it’s part of a survival game scenario where they have to meet up again or die trying.

Honestly, I was losing my patience with Digimon Adventure Reboot for a while, but this episode gave me some much-needed hope for the rest of the series. The series truly does shine when all the DigiDestined are together, but separating them and bringing them back together for the final fights seems like the route the writers want to take. I think I can make peace with that. I had to make peace with something similar happening with my One Piece manga reading.

Kari’s role in the series is currently unclear. She has no Digivice or Gatomon yet, but she kept sharing looks with TK throughout the episode. I think the Writers are planning to explore some connection with TK and Kari moving forward in the series, which is a good thing because their friendship is one of the best ones in Digimon Adventure. I’m looking forward to seeing how the upcoming arc will handle Kari’s gradual transition into official DigiDestined.

Overall, I’m loving Digimon Adventure Reboot’s current direction for the plot and characters. DarkKnightmon is looking to be a personal Digimon antagonist for TK and Angemon, so I’m excited to see how this interesting rivalry and unknown history will affect the upcoming arc.

There is a lot of potential here for a better arc than the “Devimon Arc”. My growing interest in the Digimon TCG Card Game might also be affecting my judgment, but I think I would’ve still loved this episode anyway because everyone came back together.

Thanks everyone for reading this episode review! I really appreciate the support. I’ll see you all next week in the Digital World!

P.S. Let me know if any of y’all are trying to play Digimon TCG or want to chat about learning how to play! I will likely write a thought piece on the game regarding mechanics and general deck building.

Major Spoilers are included in this episode review. Please read with caution.

Episode 26—“Break Through the Sea Monster Barricade”—continued Tai, Matt, and TK plus Leomon and his crew crossing the ocean. They ran into Seadramon and Ebidramon. The Seadramon defeated Ebidramon and ate them to digivolve into WaruSeadramon. A MegaSeadramon joined the WaruSeadramon and attacked everyone.

Tai and Agumon—digivolving into Greymon—battled the Seadramons underwater. This was where things started to surprise me because everyone was losing this battle. Matt, Gabumon, and Leomon joined the battle, but they couldn’t overcome the two Seadramons. They were losing a battle they shouldn’t have started.

I liked the next part though. The B-Plot officially ended, with Izzy figuring out a way to stop the boats from crashing into each other. Kari is still there, and nobody cares except for Sora. Then they sort-of cared when Kari started hearing a voice calling for her. She did a cool plot thing, transporting everyone back to the Digital World to save Tai and Matt from the Seadramons.

The animation was beautiful for Sora and Izzy’s comebacks with Garudamon and MegaKabuterimon! Sora and Garudamon’s crimson wing entrance was fire! The B-Group saving everyone from the Seadramons with their Ultimates caught me off guard!

It was an effective way to end the episode. There wasn’t much that happened except Kari has brought everyone back together. Tai is shocked to see his little sister in the Digital World, so that was our cliffhanger. Having everyone brought together helped reignite my excitement going into the upcoming arc. I’m really happy all eight DigiDestined are tackling this next arc together. Please don’t separate them for a while, Digimon Writers.

Thanks for reading this episode review, everyone!

P.S. For your information, blog readers, I started getting into the Digimon TCG Card Game that came out as a “giant sneak peek” on Black Friday 2020. It’s a really fun game—a simplified chess version of the Pokemon Card Game! I’ll likely review and post about the new trading card game when it officially comes out on January 29, 2021. I’m also learning how to play the game myself, but I wanted to bring it to your attention.

I’ll see you all next week in the Digital World!

Major Spoilers are included in this Webtoon Review. Please read with caution.

On October 21, 2020, I started and finished Genshin Impact Webtoon’s Chapter 7: Dusty Chest Parts 1 and 2. This chapter took the time to cover Diluc’s background, and how it is connected to the current case being investigated. Chapter 7’s Parts 1 and 2 were also short, so this was a fast-paced one that allowed us to understand why Diluc is the brooding bartender he is today.

Told from both Kaeya’s perspective to Jean, Amber, and Collei and Diluc’s perspective to Lisa, we learned about Diluc as a young boy and the close relationship he shared with his father. We also were given context on how his father was killed three years ago, and the effect it had on Diluc when Kaeya and the other knights came too late to save his father. The flashback also revealed that Diluc’s father was a capable fighter who sacrificed his life to protect his son, but how he actually died even though he won the fight was unknown.

That is until…

Let’s talk about the awesome cliffhanger from Chapter 6: Wind and Fyre first. Kaeya asking for the mysterious young girl’s name—was actually addressed before we dove into Diluc’s tragic background story. The mysterious young girl’s name is Collei. I did like the interaction between her and Kaeya, and then how lighthearted it got when Amber showed up. The chapter 7 cover also confirmed that Amber and Collei will be treated like the protagonists moving forward.

Collei revealed—setting up a cliffhanger going into Chapter 8—that the power Diluc’s father used actually backfired on him during the battle to save young Diluc. The context to what she means by this was the cliffhanger, so we will be learning more about what she means in Chapter 8. There wasn’t much else going on in this chapter, as y’all know at this point—if y’all had been following my earlier Webtoon chapter reviews—that Genshin Impact focuses more on plot delivery than character development.

Thanks for reading this Webtoon review, everyone! I really appreciate it! I would recommend this Webtoon for those still playing the video game. Let’s keep it reading into Chapter 8: Final Clue!

Major Spoilers are included in this Webtoon Review. Please read with caution.

On October 13, 2020, I started and finished Genshin Impact Webtoon’s Chapter 6: Wind and Fyre. The chapter followed up on Jean saving Amber as they face off against a powerful monster after Amber’s artifact. I enjoyed the artwork on their unison attack—the namesake of the chapter—and how they combo attacked to defeat the monster. Amber is easily becoming the main protagonist with how silly she is, which makes Jean act less serious as a result.

The artwork on Jean’s elemental burst is beautiful, and the video game animated that attack with such justice. It’s one of my favorite moves in the entire game. Reading the Webtoon is making me so happy to be playing the video game, and lowkey angry that Amber and Jean don’t have that combo move available in the video game. Amber would be so much better if she had that combo move with Jean—or at least more useful beyond the story mode.

The character interactions are becoming more common in this Webtoon series, which is refreshing given that there hadn’t been too many of them until Amber became our main protagonist. Basically, not every interaction is connected or moving the plot anymore, so that’s nice. Jean’s character is also getting developed—subtlety—through her interactions with Amber and Lisa, showing that she does have a lighthearted side.

The cliffhanger with mysterious young girl and Kaeya was pretty fascinating to say the least. When Kaeya asked, “What’s your name?”—putting the pieces together with her and the black fire incident—I was pretty excited to say the least. I have been wondering about her name for the longest time, but none of the characters bothered to ask her. The writer gave us all this background on mysterious young girl except the name. Here I thought Yami Yugi—Atem—was the only character with such a background.

Overall, I’m excited to keep on reading with Genshin Impact Webtoon! The story is finally getting somewhere now that we have an established main character—Amber—a few consistent supporting characters like Jean and Lisa, and a more centered mystery plot regarding the mysterious young girl. I can’t wait to learn her name.

Thanks for reading this Webtoon review, everyone! Let’s keep it reading!

Major Spoilers are included in this Webtoon Review. Please read with caution.

On October 13, 2020, I started and finished Genshin Impact’s Chapter 5: Dangerous Grounds Parts 1 and 2. The story is actually becoming easier to follow along with Amber being established as the main protagonist. This chapter is centered around Amber going after Il Dottore and running into a camp of hilichurls.

Parts 1 and 2 were action-driven, showing how well Amber can fight—which isn’t too well—with a bunch of rocks. This action sequence and how she fought reminded me of her awful gameplay in the video game. The artwork had been a consistent highlight throughout the reading experience, and seeing Amber fight and move and run was pretty entertaining.

I also did like how this Webtoon showcased the action, and how the video game took inspiration from it to create the gameplay. I have no idea why Amber doesn’t have her bow, but it is what it is—at least the story is getting better to read. Maybe she isn’t strong yet, which she herself admitted when contemplating whether or not she should fight.

The mysterious young girl—having fallen asleep in the library—was briefly seen with Jean and Lisa at the start of the chapter. Jean and Lisa discussed the girl’s condition, and how they hope she will find peace and love in the city someday. Then the Vision starts lighting up, which indicated Amber being in danger.

Jean saving Amber with her elemental burst was a great piece of artwork, which made the cliffhanger all the more amazing. I love Jean’s character design—obviously due to her Saber resemblance—and how her elemental burst was drawn to knock back Il Dottore’s latest monster creation. The story elements are getting simpler, easier to follow, and more interesting now that we have a main character to follow.

Chapter 6: Wind and Fyre should be a good time with Jean joining the fight! I’m finally seeing a brighter side in reading this Webtoon. Thanks for reading this Webtoon review, everyone! Let’s keep it reading! Jean is about to kick some ass!

Major Spoilers are included in this Webtoon Review. Please read with caution.

On October 13, 2020, I started and finished Genshin Impact Webtoon’s Chapter 4: Surprise Finding Parts 1 and 2. I’m going to assume Amber is the main protagonist for the time being, given she’s been given the most consistent screen time. Picking up where we left off in Chapter 3: Lost and Found, Amber and mysterious young girl—she still has no name—have run into Jean and Lisa, who are also investigating the black flame incident that occurred during chapter 2.

I do like the awkwardness Amber had encountering her mentor Lisa and officially meeting Jean—who had gotten her official introduction as a highly respected knight of the Favonius who works directly under the Grandmaster. The mysterious young girl and the black fire incident are also connected—she’s the indirect cause—to remind y’all, so the two plot points are starting to come together.

Also, Jean also looks like Saber from Fate/Zero and Jeanne—who looks like Saber—from Fate/Apocrypha. Given the name similarities too with Jean and Jeanne, I believe this character design was heavily based on those two characters. Jean’s character is also a noble and duty-bound knight similar to Saber, so of course she became a fan-favorite character—at least for me—instantly.

Amber, Lisa, Jean, and mysterious girl head to the library to do more research.

Amber’s personality and character motive to not be treated like a rookie—by Kaeya—is explored more during this chapter. However, she had little to no information about the black fire incident—having been asked by Jean to share intel—since she got occupied with helping the mysterious young girl. The focus on Amber could make for a great story moving forward based on the cliffhanger, assuming Genshin Impact is going to stick with her as the main protagonist.

The exposition delivery was handled better in this chapter through the entertaining character interaction and dialogue since Lisa is a librarian magic-user who loves books. Lisa is a sexualized character—and a huge flirt in the video game adaptation—so that definitely got people’s attention, but she’s the only character shamelessly sexualized in this chapter.

In my personal opinion since we’re on that particular subject, everyone—including the male characters—are definitely pretty to look at but not outright sexualized. Based on what I’ve seen so far in this Webtoon, I only noticed Lisa and Venessa with sexualized outfits. Amber definitely had some close-up shots around the thigh area—and shameless ass shots—in the artwork, but her outfit isn’t scandalous or skimpy at least.

I thought I’d point that out with Lisa officially being in the narrative. Also, she makes an interesting moaning sound when she climbs in the video game that you should be alone for. You’re welcome, Genshin Impact players!

Thanks for reading this Webtoon Review, everyone else! Let’s keep it reading into Genshin Impact’s Chapter 5: Dangerous Grounds.

Major Spoilers are included in this Webtoon Review. Please read with caution.

On October 13, 2020, I started and finished Genshin Impact Webtoon’s Chapter 3: Lost and Found” Parts 1 and 2. This chapter—shorter in both parts compared to the previous chapters—focused on Amber helping the mysterious young girl she found at the end of Chapter 2.

While the exposition was handled somewhat better in this chapter than the previous ones, I thought Amber’s character and motives could’ve been explored more. I did like how Amber and the mysterious young girl were the only characters in chapter 3, but how they ended up working together seemed rushed and lazy.

The chapter mainly focused on the mysterious young girl and her tragic backstory to explain why she was acting the way she was throughout both parts of this chapter. While the artwork continues to impress me and the world-building of the video game was heavily present with extra details I wouldn’t have gotten otherwise, I still feel as though the story could use more work. Also, Jean and Lisa made appearances at the end of this chapter, but the story hadn’t properly introduced them yet.

I’m thinking Amber should be the main protagonist based on this plot direction, but right now the chapters seem more designed to be short stories with weak connections to each other in the world of Genshin Impact. So, Amber might phase out of the story soon.

I am curious to learn more about the mysterious young girl’s story—beyond the exposition dump we were already given—but it is what is, since this series was released back in 2018. I’m hoping more chapters will be released in the near future, but the video game is already making up for a lot of my displeasure with the Webtoon series. So, like I said in my Chapter 2: Flame Born Webtoon review, it’s an interesting mixed bag for me.

Thanks for reading this Webtoon review, everyone! Let’s keep it reading and keep it playing too for those Genshin Impact players!

Major Spoilers are included in this Webtoon Review. Please read with caution.

On October 13, 2020, I started and finished Genshin Impact Webtoon’s Chapter 2: Flame Born Parts 1 and 2. The story kicked off with an exposition dump about Kaeya and Diluc’s brotherhood, which I found annoying as it breaks the “show, don’t tell” rule. The information was placed simply to be there, when it should’ve been shown through their scenes or dialogue.

At least the story continued with the same characters—Kaeya, Diluc, and Amber—from chapter 1. Jean showed up in this chapter too, but she wasn’t given a proper introduction. Speaking of these characters, the Webtoon has failed to make any of them a distinct main protagonist. While all three have potential to become the main protagonist moving forward, the Webtoon hadn’t made a clear decision on that front yet. It’s a bizarre thing to critique about, but yeah Genshin Impact currently has no clear main protagonist.

The story was also difficult to follow—and it also dragged when I eventually figured out what the storyline was. I listed the creator’s note on the synopsis below:

Synopsis for Chapter 2: Il Dotorre left Mondstadt and withdrew his envoys, but a freak accident threatened to break the peace. Sir Kaeya of Ordo Favonius suspected an old friend to be behind this while his young aide Amber the Outrider made a chance discovery.

Kaeya’s exposition dump kind-of makes sense as inner thoughts, if I were to reach for reason and just assume he was trying to convince himself that Diluc wasn’t behind the freak accident. Amber’s storyline on the other hand is her just whining about being treated like a rookie, but we’re given little to no information on why she shouldn’t be treated this way other than… don’t treat people horribly. Like there’s no background on how skilled Amber really is as an Outrider.

Overall, Chapter 2: Flame Born had too much exposition dump on Kaeya and Diluc’s bromance but not enough information on Amber. What an interesting mixed bag this chapter had going for it. The good news is that the chapter did leave us on a cliffhanger, so chapter 3 will follow up with Kaeya, Diluc, and Amber. Also, I would still recommend reading this Webtoon for those playing the video game. It’s very nice for the beautiful artwork and character / world background.

Thanks for reading this Webtoon Review, everyone! Let’s keep it reading!

Major Spoilers are included in this Webtoon Review. Please read with caution.

On October 10, 2020, I started and finished Genshin Impact Webtoon’s Chapter 1 “Bad Wine” Parts 1 and 2. Playing the video game and reading this Webtoon at the same time has made the experience pretty outstanding and easier to swallow with fan-favorite characters showing up in this chapter—since the storyline is somewhat difficult to follow since it didn’t follow up the Prologue too well.

Synopsis for Chapter 1: Many years have passed since Venessa took the keys of Mondstadt and founded the Ordo Favonius to watch over her beloved city. But a new power appeared, spreading its dark influence across the lands and imposing a "blood tax" upon its subjects. New heroes must step forward to protect all that is dear.

My biggest issue was the transition between Prologue and Chapter 1. Aside from the synopsis and maybe a short conversation that took place in Chapter 1 Part 1, the story kicked off like it was beginning a brand-new tale with little connection to what we already read.

There should’ve been more talk about Venessa and how she exactly built this new city of freedom, and how this “blood tax” went against everything Venessa tried to destroy in the past. The story standing on its own isn’t too bad though, as it properly introduced new organizations, characters, and how the world currently functions.

Genshin Impact appears to be too focused on delivering the plot than developing the characters as well. While I enjoy the characters—due to my video game experience—and the beautiful artwork, all of it seems to be in service of the plot. Adding new terms and organizations—making sure the reader is familiar with those than the characters—makes it difficult to immerse in the world and story as a result.

Like Kaeya and Diluc are amazing fan-favorite characters in the video game, but they are given little to nothing to do in the Webtoon story—except for that one awesome fight scene with Diluc, but that didn’t really give us anything other than, “wow, what a beautiful fight scene”. For me personally and probably most other players reading this Webtoon, “wow I want to roll Master Diluc so bad.”

Even the cliffhanger at the end of Part 2 with Amber is more “I want to know the mystery behind the cool fire God item she has” than “I want to know that character” type cliffhanger.

Overall, I’m sticking with the story for the artwork and to understand the video game’s world better—which adds to my argument about this series focusing more on plot than characters. I’m not a huge fan of plot-driven series, so I do have a bias there, but I’m still going to keep it reading anyway. I would also still recommend reading the Genshin Impact Webtoon for those very same reasons. Thanks for reading this Webtoon review, everyone! I’ll see y’all later in the next chapter review.

Major Spoilers are included in this Webtoon Review. Please read with caution.

On October 8, 2020, I started and finished the Webtoon Genshin Impact’s two-part “Prologue: Songs of the Wind”. To be clear, this isn’t a review on the video game that had recently come out a few months ago—this is a review on the Webtoon series.

Synopsis: Aeons ago, the elder elemental gods granted civilization to the human race, but the world soon splintered as corruption and greed grew without check. Can the forces holding this world together be balanced against human desires, or is everything ultimately doomed to end in destruction?

After playing the video game for a few days though and being immersed with the storytelling, my brother told me this was based on a Webtoon, so that was likely the reason for my odd fascination with the video game’s story.

Here are my thoughts after reading the two-part “Prologue: Songs of the Wind”.

First of all, that’s a beautiful name. The story centered around a slave girl named Venessa, who’s forced to fight against her owners to free her enslaved tribe. Now, the story was fascinating and the artwork was beautiful—incredibly gorgeous like the video game did the artwork justice. The world-building was outstanding too—delivering the exposition about the characters, the current social classes, and their world through fairy tale storytelling.

I just felt like the pacing of the story suffered due to the long length and hasty pace whenever Venti saved the day—he acted like a Deus Ex Machina whenever Venessa was in trouble. Having two long chapters and trying to rush the story at various times made the experience exhausting, but the consistent artwork made the climb sort-of worth it. I did enjoy the character dynamic between Venti and Venessa.

Venti the Bard’s character design and personality shined throughout the two-parter, easily making him one of my favorite characters in this series—putting aside the bias of me rolling him out in the video game. I enjoyed learning about Venti’s background and seeing him as a super entertaining character. Venti and Venessa appear to be set-up as the two main protagonists of the series.

Overall, there were a few storytelling issues in “Prologue: Songs of the Wind”, but the beautiful artwork held my attention. I would recommend checking out Genshin Impact if you’re playing the video game. I think you’d appreciate the mini-series. The series only has 13 chapters that are split into 26 Webtoon episodes, so the reading journey wouldn’t take too long. Just something to think about.

Thanks for reading this Webtoon review, everyone! Let’s keep it reading!

Major Spoilers are included in this thought piece. Please read with caution.

November 25, 2020 to December 1, 2020

1 SAGA

2 MANGA STORY ARCS

7 DAYS

56 CHAPTERS

(CHAPTERS 598 to 653)

Hello everyone,

I finished Week #5 with Big Daddy One Piece on December 1, 2020. This means I have 30 days left to catch up with the latest chapter—which is Chapter 997 at time of this thought piece’s publication. I have been hearing Chapter 1,000 might be delayed to January 2021, so “failing” the goal of reaching 1,000 chapters is Oda’s fault. That’s why the goal has slightly changed to “latest chapter”. Reaching the latest One Piece chapter was technically always the main reading goal, but I had to make it official to make things clear with myself. I have an overthinking issue that I’m currently working on right now.

By the end of Week #5, I have read a total of 664 chapters; 664 chapters since I started reading Big Daddy One Piece on October 28, 2020 (Week #1). I’m currently on the “Punk Hazard Arc” of the Dressrosa Saga, but since I’m in the middle of reading a Saga right now, I’ll mainly focus on the Fish-Man Island Saga and my general thoughts—non-spoiler to the best of my ability—on how I’m feeling about One Piece’s time jump Era. My other Big Daddy One Piece thought pieces are listed below if y’all want to check out “The Reading Journey So Far”.

• Week #1 - East Blue Saga Thought Piece

• Week #2 - Alabasta Saga + Sky Island Saga Thought Piece

• Week #3 - Water 7 Saga + Thriller Bark Saga Thought Piece

• Week #4 - Summit War Saga Thought Piece

One sentence summary: Written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda, the series follows Monkey D. Luffy traveling to the Grand Line—with his pirate crew—in search of the world’s ultimate treasure called “One Piece” in order to become the King of Pirates.

Fish-Man Island Saga takes place two years after the Straw Hat Pirates are separated in the aftermath of the Marineford battle, which resulted in Whitebeard and Ace’s deaths. After reuniting at Sabaody Archipelago, Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates finally set sail to Fish-Man Island in order to enter the New World. I found this Saga troublesome for how Oda approached the Straw Hats reunion and their journey toward Fish-Man Island.

I found there was little payoff to the time skip happening, aside from mostly everyone’s negative traits blown out of proportion. Luffy acted more toxic masculine, Sanji’s transphobia was tied to literally everything about him now, Nami’s new character design is more annoying, and characters like Franky and Brook aren’t clicking with me as much. Brook is my least favorite character. Aside from Luffy sometimes, Chopper, Zoro, Usopp, and Nico Robin are the only characters I tolerate on the crew now.

The Fish-Man Island Saga did have a “save the country” plot that conveyed a certain life lesson message, which is similar to previous arcs like the Alabasta Saga and Sky Island Saga. The theme of this “save the country” plot was racism, the cycle of hatred, slavery, and oppression. There was also payoff from the “Arlong Park Arc” with Arlong and what he did to Nami was readdressed.

Let’s talk about how this significant moment from One Piece came into play, but Nami wasn’t given a huge role. The “Arlong Park Arc” covered Nami’s background, and what Fish-Man Arlong had done to her mother, sister, and village. Arlong executing Nami’s mother with a headshot is still considered one of the darkest moments from One Piece.

I’m disappointed Nami didn’t have a huge role in this arc. She deserved to do more in this Saga. Also, Nami’s sexualization is more apparent now with her bikini top and breasts being drawn bigger. The fan-service has been amplified on all female characters.

The Humans versus Fish-Man debate was thought-provoking especially with today’s times—2020—and the ongoing Black Lives Matter Movement. How the World Nobles were responsible for the slave trade was interesting because it made the Fish-Man afraid of all the humans. Reading these chapters made me understand better how stereotypes are formed, and how races are pitted against each other because of how the rich upper class treat the common class of all races. The World Nobles enslaved and oppressed the lower class humans too.

As a result of this lack of understanding, Fish-Man people blamed all humans for their racial problems, which is where cycle of hatred comes into play and both sides hating each other. I did enjoy the real-world lesson, and how it was conveyed well with the flashback story. One Piece is always consistent with its flashback stories.

Arlong’s character in the flashback story peeled back the layers on why he did what he did to Nami and her village during the “Arlong Park Arc”, and how that also formed the main antagonist Hordy Jones, who considered himself Arlong’s successor. Hordy Jones was a great villain, but it took a while for his character to build up.

Overall, I’m feeling less hopeful going into the post time-skip arcs. One Piece usually gets better after a bad arc or two—a consistency for Oda—so it does feel good knowing a good arc will eventually come around. Oda seems to follow a story formula with One Piece’s story arcs, and I’m not sure how to feel about that yet. I do love the consistency, but it does get repetitive at times.

I’m hoping future arcs will cover more backstory on what the other Straw Hat Pirates were up during the two years of training because I really do want to know what they actually did to get stronger. Zoro’s swordsman training with MiHawk and Nico Robin’s travels with Monkey D. Dragon are the ones I want to read the most. Zoro and Nico Robin are definitely on my favorite One Piece character list. I’ll rank my favorite One Piece characters after I catch up with the manga series.

Thanks for reading this One Piece Thought Piece, everyone! I really appreciate the time y’all took to read what I think about One Piece so far. 2020 has been a tough opponent, but I will succeed in reaching the latest chapter by New Year’s Eve!

BELIEVE IT!

I’ll see y’all next week for One Piece Thought Piece Week #6. I’m off to finish the Dressrosa Saga!

Major Spoilers are included in this thought piece. Please read with caution.

November 18, 2020 to November 24, 2020

1 Saga

5 Manga Story Arcs

7 Days

108 Chapters

(Chapters 490 to 597)

Hello everyone,

I survived Week #4 with Big Daddy One Piece. While I wasn’t as fast as Week #2 or Week #3—back on Week #1’s pace due to more than half the arcs dragging out—I believe this was the Saga I needed to take my time on anyway. The Summit War Saga is probably my favorite Saga yet with everything that went down from the world-changing plot developments with an Era truly ending and Luffy’s character development. Also, I have made it close to 600 chapters, so I will be buying two One Piece figures as my reward.

Since I started reading One Piece on October 28, 2020, I set-up a reward system—milestones—every time I read 200 chapters. For reaching 200 chapters, I got a Luffy figure. Reaching 400 chapters was a Nami figure. Reaching 600 chapters is upgraded to getting two reasonable priced figures, and one of them will definitely be Portgas D. Ace.

Anyway, here are my general thoughts—non-spoiler to the best of my ability—on the Summit War Saga.

One sentence summary: Written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda, the series follows Monkey D. Luffy traveling to the Grand Line—with his pirate crew—in search of the world’s ultimate treasure called “One Piece” in order to become the King of Pirates.

The Summit War Saga kicked off with the first arc separating Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates from each other, sending them off on their own mini-adventures that were likely covered in an anime filler arc(s). This was a downside to the Summit War Saga—having the Straw Hat Pirates separated—but it was honestly necessary for the story.

As a result, the Saga mainly focused on main protagonist Monkey D. Luffy and his valiant efforts to save his older foster brother Ace from being executed by the World Government. The public execution also forced Whitebeard and his pirate crew to enter an Era-ending war with the World Government to save Ace, which was orchestrated by Marshall D. Teach—more commonly known as Blackbeard—when he defeated Ace at the end of the Water 7 Saga.

Honestly, the first two arcs—“Sabaody Archipelago Arc” and “Amazon Lily Arc” and parts of the third arc, “Impel Down”—dragged the plot momentum in regards to saving Ace from being executed. The “Marineford Arc” and “Post-War Arc” are my most favorite arcs out of the Summit War Saga for eventually delivering the payoffs that were set-up in the literal beginning of the story. Those last two arcs made “The Reading Journey So Far” worthwhile and worth sharing with y’all One Piece fans or those wanting to give the series a chance.

I was also inspired by Luffy trying to save Ace and his childhood history with both Ace and other “eldest” brother Sabo. I wasn’t ready for Sabo’s introduction, and how Luffy and Ace were originally a trio with their other brother. I immediately wanted figures where all three of them posed together.

Reading how Luffy met Ace, how they formed the brother bond with Sabo, and how Sabo’s death influenced Ace and Luffy in present day was truly astounding—a full circled vibe. However, I also noticed toxic masculine traits expressed in Ace and Luffy.

As a child, Luffy cried a lot over everything. Reading Kid Luffy cry 24/7 made it very clear where Kohei Horikoshi found his inspiration when writing Izuku Midoriya for My Hero Academia. Deku’s physical design was clearly more drawn from Hunter x Hunter’s Gon, but certain personality traits were mixed of Gon and Luffy with added intelligence. The flashback story also made it very clear though, why present-day Luffy stopped crying all the time as he grew up until his older brother Ace died right in front of him.

Throughout their childhood, Kid Ace would berate Kid Luffy for crying and later for worrying about Sabo when he was forced back to his Noble family, saying they needed to forget him and suppress their emotions. The scenes also showed Ace doing the same thing—trying not to worry about Sabo when he was taken back to his Noble home by acting “like a man”. The toxic male behavior was very subtle, but it was definitely there.

The Summit War Saga was also structured interestingly, with the Saga starting out with an arc that explored Nobles embracing the human slave trade and ending with the flashback arc involving the world of Nobles and their privilege through Sabo’s amazing character. The themes of the Nobles abusing their power also came full-circled.

Exploring Sabo’s character, background, and history with Ace and Luffy was my absolute favorite part of the “Post-War Arc”. How he ran away from his Noble family because he didn’t believe in being used for political gain or their treatment of the common people, how he was abused whenever he went against his parents’ best interests, and then finally, the annoying adopted sibling who was everything the parents wanted forced me to see why Sabo clung onto Ace and Luffy as brothers.

Reading how Sabo died because his small boat, on route to escaping the Noble life and living freely as a pirate, was in the way of the Noble’s ship—a minor inconvenience—made me sadder than I already was, given that Ace died not that long ago in present day. Sabo never earned his freedom, according to Luffy and Ace, so they had to become pirates and live his dream of being free on his behalf.

While One Piece has clear storytelling issues on hyper sexualized female characters, toxic masculinity, transphobia—there are instances of that throughout this Saga with Luffy and Sanji, but it’s not worth going deeper yet—and homophobia with the Okama character returning in this Saga to fill the “bury the gays” trope, there are moments where Oda does deliver awesome payoffs and character development. Although, these story arcs dragging on-and-off are getting on my nerves, but I felt that way when reading Tower of God Webtoon too, so it should be okay…

Of course, great storytelling isn’t an excuse to sweep those ignorant issues I just listed away, but… maybe this is why people skip around One Piece instead of reading or watching it all the way through. I’m starting to understand why a lot of fans are reluctant to keep going or join onboard the massive, ongoing One Piece train. I get it now.

Thanks y’all for reading my Big Daddy One Piece thought piece, “The Reading Journey – So Far”. I really needed to read the Summit War Saga that week because personally, an era in my life is coming to an end in favor of the “Ngo Dokja Era” planting its roots.

I’m currently making space for some changes in my life, gradually getting closer to putting my “Straw Hat”—my novel treasure—away for a bit like Luffy did at the end of the Summit War Saga. Anyway, I’ll see y’all next—Week #5—with my thoughts on the Fish-Man Island Saga. I’m heading into the post time skip arcs!

Major Spoilers are included in this season review. Please read with caution.

Originally, I had been watching this series weekly since its premiere last year—October 2019—but then I took a break from it after the Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover event concluded. Picking it back up on October 22, 2020 and finishing on October 24, 2020, I decided to finish to prepare myself for season two despite Ruby Rose having exited out of the title role.

Initially I had my reservations about this series upon learning it was green-lit during the Elseworlds crossover event, but the main characters—and certain aspects of the plot—ultimately grew on me.

One-Sentence Summary: Three years after Batman and Bruce Wayne have disappeared from a struggling Gotham, Kate Kane (Ruby Rose)—his younger cousin—returns to defend her city as Batwoman.

While nothing was wrong about this show’s premise, the main issues actually lay in the poor execution of the story idea. One of my favorite sayings, from The Vampire Diaries’ Damon Salvatore, is, “There’s no such thing as a bad idea, just a poorly executed one”. A lot of the early season one episodes suffered severely from a poor execution of its story elements. In my opinion, the first major mistake was the show circling backwards from her character introduced in Elseworlds instead of picking up where we left off with her.

The show could’ve easily picked up where we left off with Kate Kane in Elseworlds—instead of playing unnecessary catch-up with an origin story startup—and fill in the gaps when necessary as the story progressed further.

Batwoman also followed the Arrow formula way too closely with its character types and certain story elements. For example, Luke Fox (Camrus Johnson) playing funny smart guy against Kate’s dark brooding type personality is overdone at this point in the Arrowverse, then Catherine (Elizabeth Anweis) and Mary Hamilton (Nicole Kang)—her step mother and step sister—really resembled Moira and Thea Queen from Arrow. Even their drama and secret-keeping had familiar story beats with those characters’ personal arcs.

Honestly, saying Arrow was too Batman before made sense, but saying “Batwoman is like Arrow” just feels both interesting and confusing to say the least. Aside from the exhausted superhero tropes though, Batwoman did have an issue with one character in particular. Kate’s ex-girlfriend Sophie (Meagan Tandy) is a badly written Black character, and I’m starting to believe—after watching countless The CW shows at this point—that it’s a Writers’ Room issue with a lot of The CW shows in general.

Kate and her father Jacob Kane (Dougray Scott) felt like a huge opportunity missed. I heard the comics made them partners—her being the crusader while he provided backup with his military support—and that kind of dynamic actually would’ve been really awesome if they had tried to recreate that on the television. The one they have on the show is the typical police-superhero one—the “vigilantes are a menace, so I’m going to hunt them down” type dynamic.

It’s a shame Ruby Rose had exited the series, because she was perfectly casted as Kate Kane and made the show worth watching. Most of Kate’s character arc centered around the struggle to live openly as who she is, and how keeping her secret identity affects how she feels about hiding it from others. The arc also connects with how she views herself as a hero, and how she’s careful never to cross the thin line between hero and villain.

Of course, I should mention Batwoman does improve over the course of the first season—mostly after the Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover event concluded—with more compelling storylines being introduced and organic connections to the other Arrowverse shows like Supergirl. However, I must say the “villain of the week” wasn’t the best with the lower-tier villains they used, with only Alice—the main antagonist—being a consistent player due to her personal connection with Kane.

Alice is the Joker to Kate’s Batwoman. She was also a hit-or-miss for me throughout the first season, but the hits consistently happened whenever the story decided to focus more on her tragic background rather than her supervillain performance. Learning what she had to go through, how she adopted the “Alice” personality to survive a hellish abusive situation, and why she abandoned her innocence as Beth Kane—twin sister of Kate—was when she was the most compelling.

Overall, Batwoman had a rough first season given a second chance to do better with a new Batwoman taking over for Ruby Rose. Javicia Leslie had been casted as the new Batwoman named Ryan Wilder, so I’m looking forward to seeing how season 2 handles Kate’s exit and Ryan’s introduction. Season 2 still has a chance to be amazing with this switch-up, especially with all the other major characters still involved for next season.

Thanks for reading this season review, everyone! Batwoman returns in January 2021 alongside the rest of the Arrowverse shows. Are we excited? I know I am to see how the superhero show will change with this new main protagonist inheriting the Bat-mantle.

Major Spoilers are included in this episode review. Please read with caution.

This Is Us brought much needed levity in this episode, just in time to go on hiatus until January 2021. Curse you, best television drama! I was getting used to watching you every week! Let’s talk about the storylines in this episode, starting with Randall Pearson and his embarrassing viral video.

Having agreed to allow his daughter Deja’s boyfriend Malik to job-shadow him at City Hall, the boy came late, fell asleep during a conference meeting, and then he forgot to turn off the live feed when Randall finished his zoom morning announcement to the city. Believing the live feed had ended—Malik’s one job, you seriously only had one job—Randall started to change out of his clothes and dance in his office for his morning run.

Malik lowkey pulled the “I’m a teenage dad” excuse, explaining how his daughter will always come first. Like yes that’s very noble and mature for a kid, being a single parent must be so hard especially at a young age, but I don’t know any other single parents who accidentally exposed their boss on the Internet. Apparently, Randall isn’t as mad as he should be, because he offers Malik an internship after this incident.

Then Randall passed on some fatherly advice to the young Malik. He should not have to make his dreams smaller for his family because that’s what he did when Jack died. Good work in therapy, Randall. You are now “dad bros” with a teenager.

The viral video also showed the audience how small the world really is, with Randall’s embarrassing video reaching the old Vietnamese guy. The old Vietnamese guy kept repeating Randall’s speech—before the humiliation—about William Hill, having recognized the name. Thanks to Malik messing up on the live feed and Randall being a natural embarrassment on the Internet, Randall will finally get some answers about his biological mother coming 2021. This is so funny!

Kate is next. She and Toby are officially too attached with Ellie, the surrogate mother. They even picked out a name for the baby. When Kate called the baby “Chloe” though during an ultrasound appointment, Ellie looked uncomfortable about it. Kate and Toby think they blew it, but Ellie explained that a girl from her high school was named Chloe—a bitch who told awful lies about her. The name just threw her off, so Ellie isn’t having second thoughts. Ellie also told Kate how she almost had an abortion, and wondered if Kate was judging her.

Kate said no judgments, but it did cause her to tell Toby a story from her past—something she never told anyone in her family. Then we’re flashbacked to 18-year-old Kate. Apparently, after she broke up with the jerk named Marc, and Rebecca and Randall left the house to visit Kevin in NYC, she found herself pregnant. I’m pretty certain we’re heading into an abortion storyline in 2021.

Kevin’s background is explored more than the others this week, and his history of being coddled by his parents. The baby flashback to Jack and Rebecca—sleep depraved—trying to get Kevin to cry himself to sleep instead of them running to him every time, the teenage flashback to him wanting to quit the football team, and how both ultimately connect to his present-day storyline about his new film role fleshed out more of Kevin’s character.

Kevin is struggling to impress the film director, who offers little to no feedback but continues to interrupt Kevin’s performance—while praising the female lead at the same time—during rehearsal. When Kevin eventually asks for some feedback on what he’s been doing wrong in rehearsal, the film director said he didn’t realize Kevin was someone who needed a “attaboy!”

While the film director was kind-of rude, Kevin’s need for approval does get addressed, and it connects back to eighth-grade Kevin having a rough time with football and wanting to quit. Then he overhears Jack and Rebecca’s argument about Kevin being soft and quitting everything. I didn’t like the argument, but it made sense that it happened as the show continues to dismantle the myth of Jack being the perfect father.

There was toxic masculinity happening in this episode—and the previous one with the workout, which lead to this incident—with how Jack treated Kevin wanting to quit the team, but it also came from a place of love.

So, it’s honestly a conflicting situation because Jack was doing his best to avoid making the same mistakes his dad made with him. Jack wants all three of his kids to know he does see greatness in all of them and that’s where we’re reminded that Jack may not have been the perfect dad, but he was a dad who always tried his best; he also wanted his kids to do their best, and that doesn’t mean quitting when the going gets tough.

As a result of Jack and Rebecca’s loud argument and Kevin overhearing it, he goes to his brother Randall’s room for help in studying football gameplays using his note system. When Rebecca goes upstairs to tell Kevin to quit football and sees the two brothers get along—a truly rare moment—she can’t help but be happy like the rest of us.

The nice brotherly moment also made me sad knowing Kevin and Randall currently have unresolved issues to deal with, but also hopeful when Kevin uses the same note system Randall taught him in present day to prepare for rehearsal. There’s still hope the brothers will fix their relationship.

Although, Kevin did show some Anti-Black behavior when he—over a phone call with Kate—dismissed Randall’s Black experience growing up in a White family, saying Randall was loved by both parents like that parental love had the power to protect Randall from experiencing life as a Black person or something.

Kevin’s behavior in this episode made me see what This Is Us was trying to teach us about his character. This wasn’t an episode dedicated to peeling back the layers to understand how Kevin became this person. Rather, this episode showed us how Kevin was always this type of person—a white cis man with no honest understanding of his Black brother’s experience because of his own personal daddy issues.

I’m truly hoping Kevin gets “the talk” from Randall as well at some point—better yet, Kevin needs to learn some other way that his Anti-Black behavior isn’t actually okay. It isn’t Randall’s job to educate his two White siblings—he made that very clear in the season five two-hour season premiere with Kate already.

Let’s be real here since This Is Us is forcing my hand. You can fight and disagree with your siblings over a lot of stupid things, that’s normal I suppose, but don’t be Anti-Black—or racist—about it. Don’t be Anti-Black, Kevin. That’s still your brother. Do better.

Overall, I’m loving the direction This Is Us is going this season with all the storylines, but the hiatus until January 2021 killed the vibe. I’m really excited to see what happens next with the Pearson family. Thanks so much for reading this episode review, everyone! I’ll see you all next year!

Major Spoilers are included in this episode review. Please read with caution.

Episode 25—“Dive To The Next Ocean”—marked the beginning of a new arc. While the major issues of what the series has done so far are still in effect, I am going into this next arc somewhat hopeful that the villain will be at least Myotismon. I have set the bar lower for the upcoming arc like, “Please let it be Myotismon! He’s one of the best Digimon villains, we can skip Etemon!”

The earthquake from the previous episode broke the ground beneath Tai, Matt, TK, their Digimon, and Eldoradimon, revealing they have fallen from the Cloud Continent—which is the sky to them now—and they are now heading for the ocean below. Then Eldoradimon is attacked by a swarm of Mamemon and BigMamemon, which caused Tai, Matt, and TK to fall off the gigantic Digimon. Luckily, Leomon, Falcomon, and Spadamon show up on flying Peckmon to save them. I’m so glad Leomon and his Digi-Squad came back.

Patamon and Leomon then explain how Eldoradimon used to be a slave via the miasma, and that Eldoradimon will die if Mamemon and BigMamemon swarms continue invading his body at that fast rate. TK wants to save Eldoradimon because he wouldn’t have met Patamon without him. This does sound like the TK I remember from the original series, so I’m on board with that too. Let’s save Eldoradimon!

I didn’t enjoy the “tired aspect” being brought into play—where Digimon are usually too exhausted or hungry to digivolve—only for it to be ignored later in the episode, when Tai and Matt did a “run together moment” to digivolve Agumon and Gabumon, who were supposed to be exhausted, into Greymon and Garurumon. The “exhaustion” part is more towards Agumon honestly because of the whole “dark digivolving” and “WarGreymon sneak peek” moments he went through, but whatever; when the evolution music plays, you gotta evolve!

In the end, Eldoradimon is safe and sound on the new ocean, the Mamemon and BigMamemon were taken down, and Tai and Matt high-fived. They won. What an interesting way to kick off the new arc… by making it the “Tai and Matt” show…

The B-Plot with the sidelined DigiDestined—gosh, this might be an ongoing thing—was something at least. The boats crashing into each other is a bigger issue than I thought it was. Joe, with his years of studying, drops some exposition about the collision and how there’s already tension between the USA and Iran. So, since the Human World doesn’t know anything about Digimon or the Digital World, this incident could lead to a war. It’s getting serious over here.

Kari also randomly appears and asks what the group is up to. Sora gives a weak excuse. Izzy also has a plan to stop the In-Training Digimon from flooding the Network World, which is what’s causing the boat tanks to crash into each other. Nobody else really cares that Kari is just randomly there. Hopefully, Kari doesn’t randomly appear in the Digital World next—I have a feeling this will happen though for the plot. I’m not understanding the point of the separation, other than “Tai and Matt” show.

This episode was a decent start into the new arc. I’m hoping the other DigiDestined return to the Digital World someday, but I highly doubt it. Once again—in Bernie Sanders meme form—I’m asking the Digimon Writers to prove me wrong. Being right like 94% of the time about the reboot series is making me sad. I don’t want to be sad and right. I’d rather be happy and wrong. Please do better in this upcoming arc.

Major Spoilers are included in this episode review. Please read with caution.

Episode 24—“The Final Stage, DoneDevimon”—brought the “Devimon Arc” to a close. I do want to say that I am disappointed on how Devimon was handled—he barely felt like a character; he seemed more like something the DigiDestined had to beat down. There was no Dialogue exchange, or the usual “let me explain why I’m doing this”. The original series kind-of did this too with Devimon, but at least the original series built him up better using Leomon and Ogremon as characters.

Although, DoneDevimon’s personality did feel super Venom and Carnage from Spider-Man. I enjoyed seeing him go mad, with Tokomon explaining that Devimon sacrificed his sanity for more Digi-power. Also, Tokomon digivolved into Patamon at the end of this episode and into Angemon briefly when MetalGreymon went through a dark, corrupt digivolution. Even Tai went through a dark transformation with those red devil eyes and then getting swallowed by DoneDevimon.

MetalGreymon dark digivolving into Mugendramon was gorgeous. I was expecting SkullGreymon, but this was a welcomed change of pace. I didn’t like how it was rushed into the episode, but the idea of this happening was pretty cool. Seeing two insanity-driven Digimon duke it out is always fun to watch. Needing Matt and WereGarurumon to get knocked out to achieve the moment wasn’t so fun. They looked dead to be honest.

The sneak preview to WarGreymon though, when Angemon brought MetalGreymon back to his senses was really nice. It’s good foreshadow for the Mega Digimon coming in the next arc, and an effective way to defeat DoneDevimon. The rush to get to that conclusion wasn’t cool—made the whole thing feel anticlimactic without the other DigiDestined there—but the “Devimon Arc” is finally over.

The other DigiDestined in the B-Plot were losing, despite defeating the main Digimon who was giving Devimon his source of Digi-power. The virus hordes of Digimon weren’t stopping, and a lot of the boats in the Human World crashed into each other. Their role in the “Devimon Arc” is setting up the cliffhanger that the digital crisis isn’t over yet even with Devimon defeated.

In the Digital World, there’s an earthquake in the aftermath of defeating Devimon, so the next enemy and threat are likely coming next week. There are still a lot of issues with the reboot series, but I am enjoying the new digivolutions being introduced, the Tai-Matt moment when Tai pushed him off MetalGreymon so he can protect TK, and then of course the dark digivolution that wasn’t SkullGreymon.

The next set of episodes have an opportunity to keep the momentum going into the next arc, whatever it may be about. According to official sources though, Kari will be coming on board to the Digital World soon enough around episodes 25 to 27 range. I’m excited to see what kind of role she’ll play and the dynamic that will unfold with Tai, Matt, and their siblings. Hopefully, the other Digi-Destined will join them as well. We have to get the team back together! I’m hoping Myotismon is next. Thanks for reading this episode review, everyone! I’ll see you all next week in the Digital World!

Major Spoilers are included in this season review. Please read with caution.

On October 30, 2020, I started watching The Legend of Korra Book 4: Balance—the final season—and finished on November 1, 2020. I consider this season the “Epilogue” season to resolve Book 3—and not the actual ending to the overall series—where things had to be set right. In this season, we learned what the characters have been up to over the past three years—a time skip—with a new threat rising, and how all that ties into Korra’s healing and return to her Avatar duties. Korra’s character arc was the heart and soul of the final season—which was perfectly fitting given how the series concluded.

Going off that “Epilogue” to Book 3 statement, I thought that made the season amazing. The overarching storyline—Kuvira’s campaign to unite the Earth Empire—wasn’t as strong as the previous storylines in my opinion, but it was definitely interesting and relevant in light of the upcoming presidential election at the time.

There were moments when the season felt like it was dragging its feet—the recap clip episode for example—but the major themes on PTSD, trauma, allegories on war, dictatorship, and weapons of mass destruction were explored perfectly. Also, the giant weapon of mass destruction—the giant robot—was terrifying. The Legend of Korra also didn’t shove the content down our throats—the subject matter simply clicked into place with the great writing and how the writers chose to handle Kuvira’s characterization.

Kuvira was a great villain—the opposite of Zaheer’s approach to “chaos is order” with her plan to unify the Earth Empire—and the perfect foil for Korra. They were two sides of the same coin, with the few scenes they shared together being major highlights of the final season. The duel they had in “The Battle of Zaofu” was exceptionally well-done with stunning action and raw emotional content.

Like I mentioned earlier, Korra’s emotional journey was the heart and soul of this season—the entire series. How the series tackled her trauma, PTSD, loneliness, and the emptiness she felt inside due to the events of Book 3 was well done especially for a kid’s animated series. The “Korra Alone” episode brought all that to the forefront—making it a great spiritual successor to the “Zuko Alone” episode from Avatar The Last Airbender.

I really enjoyed the analogy with the leftover metallic poison being left inside Korra, and how Toph couldn’t help get it out of her because Korra was indirectly keeping it in as an excuse to quit—“to stay in control”. The metallic poison represented trauma, and how only you can to be your own savior regarding the issues, doubts, and insecurities mentally poisoning our physical and mental states—nobody else can bend that stuff out of you. When Korra finally metal bended the metallic poison out of her—releasing the fear of Zaheer—it was such a potent emotional moment.

The other characters had interesting storylines throughout the season too, but some like Tenzin, Bumi, Lin, Opal, and Kai were underutilized—Kya didn’t even show up in the end to help out. Where was she, seriously? Did the writers forget about her? The writers certainly didn’t forget about Prince Wu though.

Prince Wu’s catchphrase “Wu down” gets me comedically every time. What does that say about a character who has a catchphrase whenever he falls down constantly? His final moments in the last two episodes of the season were pretty strong though—he got considerably better over time. The same with Varrick and his assistant Zhu Li—the most complex romance to have ever graced the Avatar universe.

Speaking of romances, Korra and Asami’s romantic ending was so well-done. The kiss shouldn’t have been cut out—Netflix didn’t add it back either, so I was disappointed when I didn’t see it—but that’s just how it was at the time. Showing queerness isn’t appropriate for children for some reason.

Overall, finishing the series made me want to rewatch the entire The Legend of Korra series after I finished or backtrack to Avatar The Last Airbender. These are such timeless shows that are worth reexploring for the life lessons we’re going to need for the uncertain future ahead—kid’s shows that allow us to “escape reality” while also “preparing us to go back after we’re done” instead of a pure joyful experience.

Thanks for reading this season review, everyone.

And also thank you so much, Avatar Korra for helping me and others through the darkness of 2020. It was good to see you again, old friend. May we meet again in the Spirit World. I hope you and your beautiful girlfriend Asami had a great vacation.

Major Spoilers are included in this season review. Please read with caution.

On October 26, 2020, I started rewatching The Legend of Korra Book 3: Change and finished on October 29, 2020. I consider this season my favorite for consistently delivering great character stories—with a great plot tying them together—and showcasing great character development for everyone involved.

Korra had demonstrated incredible growth as the Avatar when it came to counseling others, making group decisions with Team Avatar, and considering the consequences of her actions more often. New Team Avatar found their footing this season, with my D&D players even seeing how they acted like Bolin and Mako sometimes during our sessions.

The quiet moments where Korra expressed her doubts to Tenzin also humanized her, reminding us that she does feel uncertainty especially with her connection to the past lives gone. Allowing Korra to also develop a “close friendship” with Asami was honestly my favorite character dynamic to watch; the line “I never had a girlfriend to hang out and talk with before” hits different now.

The female characters this season—Korra, Asami, Jinora, Lin, and Suyin—were also given breakout roles, which is still refreshing to see. The only character who got snubbed in this season was Opal—daughter of Suyin and granddaughter of Toph—who faded into the background after she left for the Northern Air Temple for Airbending training.

The villain this season—Zaheer—is definitely going down as one of my favorite villains alongside Azula and Fire Lord Ozai. Zaheer is a non-bender and a member of the Red Lotus who tried to kidnap Korra when she was a child and failed, being imprisoned for 13 years. After Harmonic Convergence at the end of Book 2, non-benders around the world—including Zaheer—became Airbenders. With his new bending abilities, Zaheer escaped his prison and broke out his other associates to resume their 13-year-old plan.

I was surprised we didn’t get a flashback story regarding how the Red Lotus tried to kidnap little Korra. Similar to how Book 2 told Avatar Wan’s origin story, a two-part episode with Tenzin, Zuko, Sokka, and Korra’s father being fleshed out and fighting against the Red Lotus would’ve been awesome to see. We did a flashback story with Lin and her sister though during the Zaofu arc, but I think I would’ve preferred the other story for the grander scheme. The main story with the Red Lotus ultimately still worked out, but that flashback idea would’ve been great to see.

Zaheer made great arguing points about government constructs being forms of oppression, and how no authority figure in Korra’s life—President Raiko, her uncle Unalaq, and most recently the Earth Queen—has done her any favors. Also, the whole disorder is order philosophy does make sense when thinking about today’s times, and what we experienced these last few months of 2020.

I enjoyed how all the storylines transitioned and interconnected consistently from start to finish regarding Zaheer, the return of the Air Nation, and the Zaofu arc as well. The connection issue was solid, and the pacing worked great as there was little to no filler as each episode passed. Even Mako and Bolin were given moments to shine in this season.

The animators did a fantastic job with this season, showing the most visually striking action sequences I had ever seen from an anime—the fight scenes were incredible. Even the causal scenes appeared stunningly animated compared to the last two seasons.

This was easily the darkest season yet regarding the outcome and Korra’s broken state. The ending of Book 3—and its title—echoed Avatar Aang’s last words to Korra, "When we hit our lowest point, we are open to the greatest change." The ending also added fuel to Zaheer’s philosophy about not being able to stop change from happening—something that echoes today’s current events.

Obvious to say but it needs to be said, no matter what era it is, Avatar The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra will always be relevant and worth rewatching for the life lessons learned. The Legend of Korra also officially proved itself to be Avatar The Last Airbender’s successor. Thanks for reading this season review, everyone! I’ll see you all in my Book 4 review. I have to see Korra’s journey conclude.

Major Spoilers are included in this season review. Please read with caution.

On October 24, 2020 I started watching The Legend of Korra’s Book 2: Spirits and finished on October 25, 2020. The Legend of Korra follows Avatar Korra, Aang’s successor, as she deals with political and spiritual unrest in a modernized world.

After finishing my rewatch on Book 1: Air back during the month of August 2020 when it dropped on Netflix, I took a long break from the show due to other commitments like reading My Hero Academia manga and Tower of God Webtoon, playing Genshin Impact, etc. Luckily, my leisure time schedule had finally discovered the precious time needed to get back on track with The Legend of Korra.

Originally conceived as a mini-series with its first season given a second chance at life, The Legend of Korra writers were given a blessing and a curse. While being able to keep going with Korra’s story was an amazing gift, it also meant the writers weren’t fully prepared to deliver the most perfect season. Unlike its predecessor—Avatar The Last Airbender, where they had everything mostly planned out from start to finish—The Legend of Korra had to carve its own path with trial and error.

The main positives were the political themes weaved into the season’s first half. The Northern and Southern Water Tribe’s civil war added great political drama for Avatar Korra, who couldn’t find a way to stay neutral during the very personal conflict. The second half kicked off with Avatar Wan’s origin story, a great standalone story with superb animation that slowed the season’s plot momentum a bit, but it was necessary for Korra’s overall growth as the most recent Avatar.

Tenzin also had a great character story regarding his family life, and how he carried the burden of being Avatar Aang’s son without realizing he neglected his siblings—who had different perspectives on how their childhood actually went. While some fans took offense to Aang being called a “bad dad”, it also made sense given how Aang dreamed of rebirthing the Air Nation, and how that dream—while a noble one—also caused harmful ramifications on his children’s mental states.

Mako was a cop this season, but at least he was trying to be likeable this season with his viewpoint versus Korra’s Avatar stance. Their “epic” romance didn’t last long either, and how he went back to Asami—for a moment—felt more natural compared to last season. Also, the current portrayal on police officers are still relevant for today’s times.

I wished they used Asami more, but she was a bit sidelined throughout Book 2. Bolin is a classic hoot, with his movie role and twisted relationship with Eska—Korra’s cousin—was something to behold. Bolin has no type whatsoever when it comes to dating. He just likes women.

The main villain—Unalaq, Korra’s Uncle—was weak this season though. He was another evil Waterbender with a serious brother complex, which wasn’t much different from Amon and Tarrlok’s villainy when you seriously think about it. I liked Vaatu as the “final villain” though, but he seemed more like the face of evil than a breathing character we can invest in.

Honestly when I was younger, I trashed Book 2 for not being the best season in terms of story and animation. After the rewatch and seeing its relevance to today’s times, I feel generally the same, but I was more appreciative about the positives more often especially toward the end. Like I’m still upset it took nine episodes to get into the Spirit World, but I did enjoy Korra’s character development.

Thanks for reading this season review, everyone!

I’m back on the Avatar train—when the world needed [her] most […]”, she came through for me. Thanks, Korra. I’ll see you later in my season 3 and 4 reviews. We have a lot to catch up on, old friend.

Major Spoilers are included in this season review. Please read with caution.

On August 14, 2020, The Legend of Korra—sequel to Avatar The Last Airbender—dropped on Netflix. Originally created and developed as a mini-series, The Legend of Korra is set 70 years after the original series in Republic City, a place founded by Avatar Aang and Fire Lord Zuko where benders and non-benders can live together in harmony. In many ways due to the time jump, the steampunk genre, and industrialism elements being incorporated into the narrative, The Legend of Korra surpassed Avatar The Last Airbender. Now before the haters start… well, hating on my opinion, let me explain what I mean please.

First, the animation improved for the character designs, the setting with all the technological advances, and the fluid movements regarding the action sequences. These helped add to the “Equalist storyline”, which centered around the relations between benders and non-benders, and how Amon—the main antagonist and Equalist leader—declared he’ll make everyone equal by taking away bending forever.

Amon was the perfect first villain for Avatar Korra to face off against, having multiple layers and redeeming qualities due to his relatable cause for equality. Also, he was an intimidating and badass villain in his own right. I remembered watching him in high school and being terrified for Avatar Korra whenever they fought each other.

Don’t worry, ATLA fans. There was enough humor to balance out the Equalist darkness. The characters—especially Tenzin’s children—brought out immense joy whenever they came on screen. Everyone on Team Avatar also worked well together in terms of personality types. Korra was the fiercest leader, Mako was resident bad boy Firebender with a heart of gold, Bolin was the funny Earthbending guy, and Asami was the beautiful non-bender with a brilliant mind.

The downfall of the team dynamic—and the first season—was the love triangle between Korra, Mako, and Asami. While I felt the love story told between the three characters was rushed and a waste of screen time, there’s another “love story” worth mentioning, and that’s between Lin and Tenzin. The writers did an amazing job on exploring Lin and Tenzin’s former romance and how they navigate their professionalism with so little words. The moment when Lin sacrificed herself for Tenzin and his family spoke volumes.

The first season also failed to make the Pro Bending aspect compelling, mostly because they attached that subplot to the love triangle subplot. While I liked it as a one-episode story, the way the writers extended the Pro Bending was kind-of repetitive and something Korra found fun. I was really happy that the series dropped the Pro Bending at the first season’s halfway point.

Honestly, I thought The Legend of Korra was a great successor to Avatar The Last Airbender. I’m not here to tell you which one is better—that’s up for debate—but The Legend of Korra did the Avatar job in her own way. Book 1: Air delivered on an adventure with high stakes and good humor. A worthy successor. What more could I want?

Major Spoilers are included in this movie review. Please read with caution.

On October 26, 2020, I watched the movie Yes, God, Yes. Starring Natalie Dyer from Stranger Things, the movie is set in the mid-2000’s and centered around the main character Alice’s sexual awakening and religious suppression.

Alice is a junior in high school navigating life and growing more curious about sex—having piqued interest when she watched the sex scene from Titanic. She is a good-hearted teenager, but she’s also very horny. Shortly after, a false rumor goes around saying Alice “tossed salad” with a boy named Wade, which everyone—including the teachers—believe is true for some reason. Alice doesn’t even know what the term means—which is where the comedic aspect kicks in—and is desperate to find out.

Honestly, the movie is really about Alice wanting to masturbate for the pure pleasure of it, but she keeps being told that it’s a sin and “God’s always watching”. She also seems to be watched constantly by her classmates, teachers, and parents. Her self-consciousness is also bogged down by the constant pressure to never “sin”.

The camera angles are used effectively whenever she is “caught” thinking about doing it or doing it with a broom—rubbing it against herself for a clear visualization on what I mean by that—in the kitchen by a nun. This also added to comedic aspect of the movie, especially when she found another use for her vibrating cell phone.

After discovering it was this kind of movie, I decided to keep going for how the movie handled the idea of wanting to masturbate and what most children experience when they’re dealt an “abstinence only” education instead of learning how to use condoms and protected sex. Also, she learned her friends and teachers were deep hypocrites regarding the lessons, sins, and pressure they were forcing upon her. While what she learned was indeed valuable, I felt like the ending was rushed—Yes, God, Yes, she can masturbate without feeling judged— but I did like the open interpretation on how the world changed for her.

Overall, I would recommend watching Yes, God, Yes for a quick laugh and interesting life lesson on how masturbating is good for you. It’s currently streaming on Netflix and was in the Top Ten at one point—the reason I decided to even watch it to begin with. Thanks for reading this movie review, everyone! I really do appreciate the support!

Major Spoilers are included in this anime review. Please read with caution.

On October 8, 2020, I started watching Tower of God’s first season—13 episodes—and finished on October 27, 2020. Having caught up with all 485 episodes of the Webtoon, I decided to give the anime a try, which covered the Webtoon’s first 78 chapters condensed into 13 twenty-four-minute episodes. While the rush to hit major plot points and story revelations left a bad taste in my mouth, I still had a better time watching this Webtoon anime than The God of High School.

One-sentence summary: The story is about a girl named Rachel who wishes to climb the Tower and see the stars, and a boy named Baam who needed nothing but her.

Based on this one-sentence summary and the title—Tower of God—one can assume a basic fantasy story about boy—with his group of friends—chasing the girl up the Tower by fighting monsters and overcoming obstacles. While that assumption is somewhat true, there is indeed more to the story regarding politics, class struggles, friendship, and betrayal that blends together into the greater narrative.

The world-building is also the series’ greatest strength and weakness—a true double-edged sword regarding the mystery aspect of the series. The intricate design of how this world works—relating to how the story works—and leaving out unimportant details made the exposition feel imperative and less decorative.

The characters—aside from Baam and Rachel—are also fleshed out similar to how My Hero Academia handles their ensemble cast, with the Princesses of Zahard being the show’s breakout characters. Yuri, Androssi, and Anak Zahard also managed to steal my attention like 24/7 throughout the Webtoon too—they are amazingly explored characters with two out of three having a romantic interest in Baam—it was love at first sight.

Out of the three princesses, Anak’s backstory was explored the most, with Androssi’s second regarding how she used to live in poverty, and then the mysterious Lady Yuri. I found Anak’s the most compelling and the most tragic, as we learn more about her need for revenge.

Honestly, I invested heavily in the Zahard’s Princesses lore and the 13-month series weapons when I read the Webtoon, so revisiting it in the anime reignited my interest. The Princesses are a group of women—none of them biologically related—chosen by King Zahard for their incredible skills, power, and beauty.

They play an important role during season one, and Androssi and Yuri’s romantic inclinations toward Baam give off more than just sexual tension, as the Princesses aren’t allowed to marry, make love, or have children. Knowing Anak’s backstory make these rules carry serious weight. There are indeed consequences to breaking these rules.

Baam’s character is very similar to Izuku Midoriya and Tanjiro Kamado from My Hero Academia and Demon Slayer respectively—a kindhearted main protagonist to a fault. While initially a vanilla throughout the first season, Baam’s concern for others does grow on you when you realize his intentions are just too innocent and pure. His companions Khun and Rak are also great to watch, making them an awesome trio.

The action sequences were pretty good—keeping in tone with the Webtoon style—but this was where The God of High School had the upper hand in terms of animation. Of course, Tower of God isn’t an action-oriented Webtoon, and it did a great job with the fight scenes especially Androssi versus Anak; that particular fight scene is a personal favorite of mine from the first season.

Overall, I would recommend giving the anime a chance. Watching the series is fun, charming, entertaining, heartwarming, heartbreaking, and causally thought-provoking on its fantastic world-building—to the point where I would compare it to Brandon Sanderson’s ability to world build, and I don’t make comparisons like that lightly.

Since this series came out April 1, 2020 in the middle of an ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Tower of God didn’t get the official renewal for a season 2 (yet). I’m really hoping it does get renewed, as first season was just Prologue for what’s to come. Season 2 is when the true story begins. Thanks for reading this season review, everyone! Let’s hope the renewal comes—with more than 13 episodes—so we can keep on climbing the Tower!

Wait for us, Baam! We’re coming with you!

Major Spoilers are included in this thought piece. Please read with caution.

November 11, 2020 to November 17, 2020

2 Sagas

5 Manga Story Arc Reviews

7 Days

187 Chapters

(Chapters 303 to 489)

Hello everyone,

I have finished my third week with Big Daddy One Piece. I didn’t double my speed like I did during Week #2—only being able to read 187 chapters—but I am progressing faster than Week #1. At this point, I have decided to do these “The Reading Journey – So Far Thought Pieces” once a week until I reach the latest chapter. Since I’m already close to the halfway point—500—and it’s not even Thanksgiving yet, I truly do believe I can make it to 1,000 chapters by the end of 2020. Honestly, I’m questioning if the 1000th chapter will be out or not by the time I catch up. At time of writing, there are currently 996 chapters out on VIZ manga’s site. Anyway, here are my general thoughts—non-spoiler to the best of my ability—on the Water 7 and Thriller Bark Sagas.

One sentence summary: Written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda, the series follows Monkey D. Luffy traveling to the Grand Line—with his pirate crew—in search of the world’s ultimate treasure called “One Piece” in order to become the King of Pirates.

Water 7 Saga

After the events of the Sky Island Saga, Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates have landed back on the sea, ready for their next adventure. The Saga kicked off with a “Prologue” type arc, where Luffy and the others play against Foxy the Pirate, the leader of the Foxy Pirates in Davy Back Fights—a pirates’ game that puts crewmates on the line. I found this arc okay-ish and incredibly Anti-Black when they introduced Afro Luffy.

Apparently, Usopp explained that afros will give Luffy great primal power because “Blacks are Champs” or “Afros are Champs” depending on the translation. I found this whole situation Anti-Black because of that quote, and how Luffy is sort-of a monkey, and that just doesn’t look good overall. Reading the final fight scene between Luffy and Foxy was uncomfortable as a result, but I also liked the arc for making Nami useful and less of a hyper sexualized damsel in distress. So, let’s just stick with “okay-ish”.

The “Water 7 Arc” of the Water 7 Saga was the most perfect arc of One Piece I had read so far, and its unofficial part two “Enies Lobby Arc” was also a great follow-up arc that ended the story about CP9 and the World Government. Since week #1 taught me about pursuing impossible dreams and week #2 taught me about saving one’s country and how to do so by honoring the ancestors, week #3 is about the government oppressing people and censoring history. Why is One Piece teaching me so many things at such relevant times?

During the week I read this, a lot of Republicans in the United States were making it very clear—in the aftermath of Trump’s decisive defeat in the 2020 presidential election—that their way of doing politics goes hand-in-hand with political corruption. Some have even admitted that their politics will never work without corruption, choosing to undermine our democracy rather than enforce it. So, reading One Piece and the way the fictional World Government works felt appropriate.

The World Government was seen here and there throughout One Piece—mostly through the Marines—but this arc gave us a deeper insight into how corrupt they are through their stances on absolute justice, suppression of history made clear through Nico Robin’s tragic background, and the selfish motives of their high-ranking officials. When Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates declared war on the World Government—by attacking their flag—to save Nico Robin from the Gates of Justice at Enies Lobby, that was an inspiring scene because it was a reminder to keep fighting for the sake of others even if the whole damn world is your enemy!

The theme of Nakama also factored into the Saga when Usopp and Nico Robin temporarily left the Straw Hat Pirates. Usopp left the crew over a heated disagreement with Captain Luffy about Going Merry, their pirate ship. After learning Going Merry’s life was practically over, Usopp refused to get a new ship because Going Merry was their Nakama too. This was also one of the rare moments when Luffy acted like a real Captain by making this not-so-easy decision, and this caused Usopp to be kicked out of the crew for most of the Water 7 Saga. Nico Robin also left the crew to protect them from the World Government, choosing to die as a martyr in order to protect their lives.

Reading Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates overcome the impossible odds—fighting for what’s right—and rebuild their Nakama is something I needed to experience in 2020. Along with Nico Robin and Usopp rejoining the team, Franky—a cyborg shipwright—and their new pirate ship Thousand Sunny had also come onboard for fun adventures!

The “Post-Enies Lobby Arc”—the Epilogue arc of the Saga—was also fantastic on the plot developments in addition to delivering great payoffs regarding Luffy’s family, the Marines, and checking in with everyone’s hometowns when all Straw Hats had officially gained bounties on their heads. The cliffhanger with Ace and Blackbeard was probably my absolute favorite moment in the entire manga series so far. I’m hyped for Luffy and Blackbeard to eventually clash.

Thriller Bark Saga

Unfortunately, Thriller Bark Saga didn’t follow up on the Ace and Blackbeard cliffhanger until the end of this Saga. This was a short Saga—the shortest one—compared to the other Sagas though because it only consisted of one arc—also called Thriller Bark. This whole adventure was a horror-driven story, with zombies and ghosts running all over the place trying to steal everyone’s shadows.

While everyone had a role to play in this arc, Nami’s character arc was pure fan-serviced again. She was targeted by one of the zombie general villains who fell in lust with her beauty and wanted to marry her. The villain had the ability to turn invisible, so he stalked her in the bathroom, sexually assaulted her while showering, kidnapped her in the middle of a fight scene, drugged her to sleep and made her wear a wedding dress, then he tried to kiss her while she was asleep to seal the deal.

I did really enjoy how Nami eventually woke up and saved herself from the forced wedding with Lola’s help—a zombie-hog obsessively in love with the villain similar to how the villain was in lust with Nami. The growing friendship between Lola and Nami was really sweet though after they resolved the misunderstanding of Nami “stealing” her man. The “women supporting women” character dynamic also led the pirates off to their next adventure, with Lola advising the pirates to meet her mother using a special piece of paper.

We also met newcomer Brooke, a living skeleton with an unexpected connection to Laboon—the big whale from the “Reverse Mountain Arc”. Brooke is also a musician swordsman who died and came back to life, wanting to fulfill his promise to reunite with Laboon someday. Luffy really wanted Brooke to join and become their Nakama because he wanted a musician on board since the beginning of the series. Brooke is okay so far; his tendency to make skull jokes is fine, but I do wish he’d stop asking Nami what kind of panties she’s wearing. The sexual harassment disguised as sex jokes wasn’t working with me.

Normally, those storytelling tropes would be dealbreakers for me, but I made a promise to catch up with Big Daddy One Piece, and reporting these inappropriate moments of this amazing story seems like the right thing to do for those wanting to hop on the ongoing One Piece train. Y’all should know what you’re getting into.

Overall, this was a productive Week #3. I’m excited to dive into the Summit War Saga next and seeing how the massive story continues toward the “New World”. Thank you so much Oda for such a great story so far, even if we don’t see eye to eye on certain things. Thank you everyone else for reading this thought piece. I’ll see you all next week!

Major Spoilers are included in this One Piece Thought Piece. Please read with caution.

November 3, 2020 to November 10, 2020

2 Sagas

3 Anime Filler Arcs

7 Manga Story Arcs

8 Days

202 Chapters

(Chapters 101 through 302)

Hello everyone,

I have concluded my second week with Big Daddy One Piece manga, and somehow doubled my speed—going from reading 100 chapters during week 1 to reading 202 chapters during week 2. In my previous One Piece thought piece—the link is here—I wasn’t sure if I’d continue doing these weekly “The Reading Journey – So Far” nor did I think I’d hit two Sagas in one week. So, here I am writing to y’all again about my general thoughts—non-spoiler to the best of my ability—on the Alabasta and Sky Island Sagas.

One sentence summary: Written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda, the series follows Monkey D. Luffy traveling to the Grand Line—with his pirate crew—in search of the world’s ultimate treasure called “One Piece” in order to become the King of Pirates.

Alabasta Saga

The Alabasta Saga follows Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates helping Princess Vivi reach her homeland of Alabasta to prevent an all-out war from breaking out. The Baroque Works Organization—the main antagonists—are doing whatever they can though to ensure the pirates don’t make it there in time. Overall, I had an amazing time with this Saga, finding its amazing world-building, great humor, stellar character development, and the dynamics between heroes and villains being quite terrific.

The themes on war, corruption, fighting for your country, what it means to have a country, and the relevance those themes still has on today’s times made the reading experience feel essential. Riots and rebellions were also used in this Saga to create distractions. Based on the dates I listed, you could figure I read this arc during the stressful 2020 Presidential Election—sorry for getting political here, but it’ll connect to how I felt about the 20-year-old story. This arc came out in 1999 and ended in 2002.

Those relevant themes were tied nicely together through the significant characters involved in this arc: Vivi, her father, her childhood friend, and Crocodile—the main antagonist of the Alabasta Saga.

Vivi is a Princess and the most caring person in this arc—someone who’d rather die to save her country if it meant nobody else had to. Her naïve idealism is challenged throughout this Saga by both allies and enemies alike. While Crocodile called her foolish and naïve for holding onto such silly notions, Luffy gave her a wake-up call—saying it was offensive to not ask for help from the crew or anyone else because they’re also willing to risk their lives to help a friend out. It’s selfish that she’s the only one risking her life.

I found the Alabasta Saga very inspiring for what it taught me from those emotional character interactions, how Alabasta became corrupted through manipulation of the common people and making them turn on each other, and how Luffy and the crew were willing to risk it all to save Vivi’s country simply because they’re friends and helping each other out—asking them to risk their lives—is the least Vivi can do.

Some things are just worth fighting for, and the fight doesn’t end if the corruption is seemingly defeated—the fight will always continue to save one’s country, and how one must always remember that the country is not a place but it’s the people living there. Think Thor: Ragnarök if you need another example. Do what’s best for the people of your country, not what your country can do for you. My own version of the famous JFK quote.

The one major downside to One Piece right now though, is the sexualized female characters and their same hour-glass, big boobed figures. Well, at least the “beautiful” characters have this specific design. While I understand this is just something anime and manga will always do no matter what I say, but how Oda does female character design—three circles and an “x”—is lazy and formulaic. Like having a template emphasizes how much he doesn’t care enough about making unique designs for his female characters.

Nami is the biggest victim of this approach, with her design going from average “not hyper sexualized” in the beginning of One Piece to following the hyper sexualized formula the most out of all the female characters especially during the “Alabasta Arc”. I loved Nami in the beginning, and seeing her get fan-serviced on a regular basis hurts—her backstory is still honestly one of my favorites, and I hate that her sex appeal is being prioritized more than her actual character development.

The hyper sexualization doesn’t change going into the Sky Island Saga either—it’s a lot less in my opinion—but let’s talk about that story in general first. I know my words technically “don’t matter” given it’s been 20ish years—give or take—since One Piece came out with the arcs I’m on, but I wanted to call it out anyway. Saying something is always better than staying quiet, even if it doesn’t change anything in the moment.

Sky Island Saga

The Sky Island Saga follows Luffy and the crew—with newcomer Nico Robin—from Jaya Island to Skypiea Island in a two-part arc to the skies! Similar to the Alabasta Saga, the characters get involved in a massive war that could spell the end of the country.

This Saga also had plot developments with the World Government trying to fill Crocodile’s Warlord of the Sea position in the aftermath of the Alabasta Saga, Ace—Luffy’s older brother—meeting Buggy, and Shanks contacting Whitebeard. There were also plot developments for the overarching story towards the end of the “Skypiea Arc” as well, but I won’t get into that just yet. Either read the manga or wait for my manga arc reviews coming in 2021.

There were many things that I didn’t like about this arc, but the theme about the ancestors and fulfilling promises on their behalf hit it home for me. The reason I also called this Saga a two-part arc is because the “Jaya Arc” does set-up the “Skypiea Arc” with astounding payoffs involving Noland the Liar and his history with the Golden City that affected his descendant in present day. Noland’s character being truly known as the “God-Slayer” blew my mind, and his relationship with Calgara is one of the best bromances I have ever seen in anime and manga.

The misunderstanding between Noland and Calgara was also thought-provoking and filled with uncertainty. During the days leading to Noland’s departure from Skypiea, Noland and his crew had cut down trees filled with some poison that could kill all of Calgara’s people if left alone. What they didn’t know when they cut the trees was that it was where the souls of Calgara’s ancestors lived.

This action caused Calgara to shun Noland and his crew until they left the island out of the little respect Calgara had left for Noland. However, Calgara forgrave Noland before he left and made the promise to ring the golden bell for him someday—a promise left unfulfilled until the end of the arc. This was my favorite part of the “Skypiea Arc”.

The “Skypiea Arc” did drag during certain parts while getting to those payoffs, but I believed the wait was seriously worth it for those life lessons about keeping the fight going for your ancestors.

Let’s go back to the hyper sexualization for a second, and how that also goes hand-in-hand with Nami’s damsel-in-distress issue too. Nami has been playing damsel-in-distress for most of One Piece so far—often being paired up with Usopp as a result, so the trope is more obvious when she’s placed nearby him—and I really don’t like how she’s been utilized in that stereotypical manner.

Nami’s primary role in the Sky Island Saga was go somewhere she shouldn’t have, draw trouble for the others, lose her shirt, get kidnapped, and then finally she’s rescued by Luffy from the bad guy. She has the potential for so much more, and it’s just such a shame that her character gets fan-serviced on a grotesque level. I’m honestly trying to adjust because there’s nothing I can do about it right now, but it’s still really sad.

Anime Filler Arcs

I watched a few anime filler arcs to get a feel of what the anime is like, but I decided to stop watching them because One Piece is about to hit 1,000 chapters before 2020 ends. So, similar to SIU making a comeback with new Tower of God Webtoon episodes in mid-November 2020, I’m trying to catch up by the end of 2020 to read One Piece’s 1,000 chapter. I’m calling it my transition into “Ngo Dokja”. Dokja means Reader in Korean—I’m not Korean—but I have been channeling Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint lately because I read the newest episode when I wrote this thought piece up from start to finish.

Anyway, I didn’t care for the anime filler arcs except the “Warship Island Arc” and the “Ruluka Island Arc”. Those arcs were fun for a filler one—there were dragons in the “Warship Island Arc” and the “Ruluka Island Arc” had a Neverland-type story that I resonated with. Other than that, I don’t have much to say about filler arcs other than if you enjoy extra content, feel free to go and watch them—it’s not a total waste of time—but I personally have a big goal to reach.

Overall, this was a productive week #2 of reading One Piece manga. Since I’m on chapter 302 at time of writing, I have 698 chapters to go before catching up with the most recent chapter. Hopefully, the most recent chapter is 1,000 by the time I get over there. If not, I’m truly a demonic speed reader that has no idea how to quit. Thanks for taking the time to read this thought piece, everyone! Until we meet again next week, I’m off to sail the “Water 7 Saga” now! Where will week #3 take me? I do wonder sometimes. 😊

Major Spoilers are included in this Webtoon Review. Please read with caution.

This Is Us returned with a whole new episode on November 10—a week after the 2020 Presidential Election—about the Big Three’s present-day struggles connecting back to their time in the eighth grade. While this flashback story about the Big Three going through puberty might seem minor on the surface, in true This Is Us fashion, we’re shown the origin story of the Big Three’s present-day struggles.

Let’s start with number one Kevin, who has a workout addiction. His portion of the flashback story revealed when he and his dad started working out together, and how that lead to him getting addicted to working out—how he can’t go a day without getting a second workout in there. He also clearly told Madison with so much honesty, “I’m an alcoholic and workout addict with daddy issues.”

Kevin’s shared this with Madison because she disclosed her eating disorder and how that’s affecting her pregnancy—with how everyone’s telling her how big she’s getting and the pounds she has to gain due to eating more. She had to put the babies’ ultrasound on the refrigerator to remind herself to eat for their sake. Honestly, Madison’s character development was so unexpected whose been in the show since the “Pilot”, but I’m not 100% convinced that Kevin’s married to Madison in the flashforward just yet.

Let’s get moving onto Number 2 Kate. The flashback story about Kate was about liking a boy who joined her Group Project. She assumed the boy joined her group because he liked her, but it turned out that he liked deserts. Kate called him a “desert groupie”, and I’m thrown back into Pen15 mentality. Middle school was the absolute worst, seriously who invented that awkward era?

This connects to Kate’s present-day storyline because she’s getting too attached with Ellie, a birth mother that she and her husband Toby matched with through an adoption agency. While things seem to be going well with Ellie, Kate, and Toby, it was getting problematic with how Kate bonded with Ellie over Buffy and texting her right away when they got home from visiting her. Toby cautioned Kate not to get too attached because Ellie could still change her mind at any time. In the flashforward, we know Toby and Kate have a daughter named Hailey, but there is no indication that this could be her origin story. This could blow up in their faces. Knowing This Is Us, let’s also have caution going into this storyline.

Number 3 is Randall Pearson. He is on the hunt for Black therapists, and he landed on the one who gave him homework. Randall sure does love doing some homework. The new therapist instructed Randall to write down a childhood story for next session—something Randall wants him to know about.

Then Randall and Beth had to deal with their oldest daughter Tess posting a profane video with another student telling their teachers to screw off because they wouldn’t stop touching Black students’ hair. Tess views the situation as standing up for herself and not staying quiet whenever she sees injustice like that happening to her or to others.

Beth and Randall are of course angry with Tess for handling the situation the wrong way, but Randall does admit he’s a little proud because when he was younger and something Anti-Black happened, he’d stay quiet and bury it—which is why he’s in therapy now. The conversation led us to his flashback story and the story he will write down for his therapist to learn.

Kate’s eighth-grade friend Tanya—from her Group Project—was putting the moves on Randall. When he rebuffed her advance to kiss him, she told him that she always wondered what it’d be like to kiss someone like him. When his mother Rebecca asked how his day was after and what he thought about Tanya, Randall told her that Tanya was nice and buried what he actually thought. Randall even admitted in the writing that he never told this story to anyone before too. Randall is going to make great progress in therapy. We believe in you, Number 3!

This Is Us is also continuing to tease us with Randall’s birth mother being alive, and how it’s connected to a story about an old Vietnamese man and his granddaughter that bookended the episode in the beginning and the end. The time period is still unclear for this storyline, but it’s connected to the old Vietnamese man who was a former lover of Randall’s birth mother. I have no idea what this means, but I’m ready to get answers like right now!

Overall, I enjoyed this episode of This Is Us. I’m so happy this show is back and ready to teach us more uncomfortable lessons about life and the new normal regarding the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and Black Lives Matter 2020 Movement. Yes, those things are still happening—don’t let your guard down, y’all. Keep being safe out there.

Anyway, the fans need to hear this stuff more than ever—to cry, relate, and learn through the power of storytelling. Thanks so much for reading this episode review. I’ll see y’all when the next episode drops!

Major Spoilers are included in this Webtoon Review. Please read with caution.

On October 7, 2020, I started and finished Tower of God Volume 3’s seventeenth—and latest completed—story arc: “VS Kallavan”. I have officially caught up with this massive Webtoon. What a great “warm-up” for my eventual read of Big Daddy One Piece manga.

My epic hero’s journey up the Tower—August 30 to October 7, 2020—was pretty outstanding. What a great way to spend the last 7 weeks—38 days. September 2020 will be highly remembered as that one time I decided to climb a Tower up to its highest point.

BELIEVE IT!

Let’s talk about the events of the latest completed story arc in Tower of God and episodes 67 and 68—the start of the “The Second Defensive Wall” story arc. Baam’s new power-up and using the souls he took from White back during Volume 2 was an awesome payoff. Volume 3 had a lot of payoff regarding all the powers Baam accumulated over the course of the series, and seeing him shoot that powerful arrow into the wall was out of this world. Yeah, Baam’s an archer now.

The “VS Kallavan” arc seemed set-up to continue the Baam-Karaka-Kallavan battle, but White disrupting the fight and challenging Kallavan was a great rematch with both fighters at full power! Kallavan removed the restraint on his other arm!

White and Kallavan fighting each other was drawn with great detail and mastery—SIU knows how to grab the reader’s attention with his artwork. The background story of Kallavan and wanting his commander status back made me sympathize with why he was doing these awful things—believing it was the only way to unite everyone in the Tower under a single ruler for the sake of peace. How Kallavan refused to use his own soldiers as cannon folder—and how he reacted when the higher-ups did the plan anyway—spoke volumes about his noble character.

Khun and Baam had a deep talk—and hugged—at the end of this arc, with Khun supporting Baam with being himself and not being like him or White—who didn’t care about the dead people on the battlefield and saw them as a convenient way to gain an advantage. I did like how SIU addressed the differences between them and their solid friendship, and how Khun was self-aware about not being known for his cool speeches unlike Yuri Zahard. Khun is the only true “bae” for Baam.

More background was revealed for another member of Dowon and Cha’s group, Khun Hynd Luch, and how he was effectively blackmailed—using the other members of their group as hostages—into working for Zahard’s army as a squadron leader under Lyborick Khun. I felt devastated when I read his background, and how he only wanted to live out his days with the group. Dowon, Cha, and Luch and her group deserved better than this.

Also, the simple idea—coming from Baam and Dowon—about wanting “normal” lives where they could travel, hang out with friends, and call their parents once in a while was too surreal. Their stances on “normal” lives convinced Dowon to not kill Baam.

Kallavan is also going after Lyborick—and indirectly Luch—because he holds his commander status, and Kallavan wants it back after Zahard’s Army heartlessly sacrificed their own soldiers in an attempt to take out the Cage and the canine people. Do not piss off Kallavan, seriously.

Evankhell also dealt with the sniper who shot her in the head—revealing her new bulked out form. I am so happy Evankhell didn’t die from that bullet. Rak also needs something more to do. I’ve been saying this for too long, but Rak needs a substantial storyline once SIU returns from hiatus—this is sort-of unacceptable given how little screen time he gets in every episode.

The cliffhanger with Baam—getting through The Second Defensive Wall—was set-up well, allowing us readers to steer directly into the next story arc. I am looking forward to seeing what happens next with this ongoing story arc, and I will now share my thoughts on what happened with episodes 67 and 68—which kicked off the latest arc.

Episode 67 reignited my passion for Tower of God. The episode centered around my favorite designed character Love—the fried chicken eater from Volume 2—who made me truly see the shift in SIU’s artwork. I started crying upon seeing him—it was like seeing an old friend again—and losing my mind over how much this character means to me. This episode was tightly written—reintroducing us to the character, his past with Jue Viole Grace, his personal conflict and motive, and his purpose for the next story arc.

Love getting blackmailed for buying fried chicken with company money—saying its embezzlement—and also getting an insane amount of money for joining the fight made me laugh so hard, but his need to get revenge for his parents’ death humanized him.

I love Mule Love’s character design and personality, and his personal fight with Jue Viole Grace—originally hating him for being FUG’s Slayer Candidate—was a turning point for my opinion on the artwork. Now I’m realizing I associate his character with my first taste of SIU’s improved artwork, and how it was becoming completely different from the old Webtoon art style during Volume 1.

Episode 68 followed up with Love entering the battlefield on behalf of his boss Augustus. The introduction of Sophia Tan’s Disciplines—Sola and Namo—was also sweet as they helped Love protect the Needle from enemy attacks. Sola and Namo have interesting personalities and seem pretty likeable so far; I can’t wait to read more about them someday—when the newest episodes return on Mondays.

The latest episode brought all the storylines—all the powerhouse characters from the “canine people” storyline, the “Dowon” storyline, and the feline people—in one area, where Lo Pio Bia Yashratcha told everyone, “we’re gonna play a game”. I became furious. I was caught up but stuck on an amazing cliffhanger. Honestly, this is probably one of the best cliffhangers to be stuck on—there’s so much discussion on what could possibly happen next with this mysterious game and who could fight against whom.

Overall, I would highly recommend reading Tower of God. The massive Webtoon is outstanding with its plot, artwork, characters, setting, and lore. I’m excited to read the next episode, and I have decided I will be doing weekly episode reviews on this Webtoon once SIU returns. Thank you so much for reading this Webtoon review, everyone! I appreciate y’all for following me to the Tower’s highest point. The link to my other Tower of God Webtoon reviews is here. I’ll see you all when the next episode drops!

Major Spoilers are included in this Webtoon Review. Please read with caution.

On October 7, 2020, I started and finished Tower of God Volume 3’s sixteenth story arc: “A Rough War”. The war has indeed been rough on both sides. Team Baam is trying to break through the Second Defensive Wall to save Ha Jinsung, but Baam had a run-in with Kallavan sooner than expected. Cha—who had accompanied Baam—reunited with his former love Dowon at the worst possible time. I’m feeling less optimistic about Dowon saying “yes” to going out with Cha at this point in time.

The action and emotional payoff were splendid during this arc, with Evankhell revealing her “true” form and Karaka’s character background as Ha Jinsung’s student was explored. I didn’t know there was an origin story regarding Karaka’s armor, but I loved it—which may tie-in with Ja Wangnan later on. The action sequence development between Karaka, Baam, and Kallavan—all former students of Ha Jinsung—fighting each other was masterful.

Kallavan’s stance on Slayers being false Gods and why he refused to become one was incredibly insightful. Kallavan wants “true” peace through Zahard’s rule—the storyline regarding the war is getting Naruto heavy. The alliance between Baam and Karaka reminds me of Naruto and Nagato’s relationship if they were allowed to get along for the sake of Jiraiya. Kallavan represents Pain—the version of Nagato who took the dark route.

Baam and Karaka teaming up against Kallavan also subverted the usual “leave a party member behind” trope that is typically seen in Shonen Jump series. Karaka originally was going to fight Kallavan alone while Baam went over the wall to break the spell and save their master, but Baam saw Kallavan as a “fortress”—another wall—that needed to be overcome first. There was no point in running if Karaka couldn’t win or stall long enough on his own, thus the team-up battle.

Evankhell and Yu Han Sung’s background was briefly explored too in the aftermath of Evankhell getting shot by a high-level bullet. I enjoyed the “early days” dynamic of Yu Han Sung and Evankhell, and how Yu Han Sung talked to Evankhell as an equal despite the vast difference in their power levels.

Tower of God has many amazing characters to keep track of, but I do love a legit 90% to 95% of them.

White was eating souls to gather his strength, with Khun growing impatient with his slow progress. There wasn’t much development on this front—it was more like a “check-in” scene to ensure we didn’t forget this was happening off-screen. This plot seed is still cooking—getting ready for a massacre of a feast!

The canine people were getting vengeance for the genocide, and Baylord Doom and Paul were given substantial character development in this arc. I cannot believe Baylord Doom was originally set-up as a major antagonist, only to become Baam’s ally alongside his other two brothers. Baylord Doom’s artwork stood out—the emotional strokes blended well with the narrative and made the pages stand out with how much he cared about his brothers and their canine people.

Overall, Hell—literal hellfire with Evankhell’s unexpected transformation—broke loose on the battlefield. Baam also powered-up using the fang of the canine people—making it work similar to his thorn. I’m looking forward to reading the next arc “VS Kallavan” (Episodes 60 through 66)—the last completed story arc for the time being.

Thanks for reading my Webtoon reviews on Tower of God, everyone! I appreciate y’all for sticking it with me through this epic hero’s journey through the massive Tower. I’ll see you all for my last Webtoon review—the “VS Kallavan” story arc! Let’s keep it climbing up the Tower—toward its highest point!

Major Spoilers are included in this Webtoon Review. Please read with caution.

On October 6, 2020, I started and finished Tower of God Volume 3’s fifteenth story arc: “The Intrusion”. The bonus chapter at the end of this arc—advertising the anime that came out on April 1, 2020—made me realize I still had Tower of God material to consume after this reading binge was over. Also, I had no idea Tower of God anime’s first season came out this year—on 2020. That blew my mind because April 2020 felt like years ago—legit pre-COVID-19 Pandemic.

Anyway, back to the Webtoon review.

Baam’s character development was outstanding during this arc. When Baam forced himself to look at his dead comrades’ faces—scattered and floating in outer space—I thought about another Naruto scene. Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if SIU had watched or read Naruto—I get occasional Naruto Uzumaki vibes from Baam’s character.

Twenty-Fifth Baam is Naruto Uzumaki but cuter!

He didn’t want to make the same mistake regarding how he approached saving Deng Deng. The way Baam dealt with how he felt about saving Deng Deng was very mature—something Evankhell noted as well. Baam admitted to having a subconscious—but unintentional—selfish reason for wanting to save Deng Deng. Baam going through this moment was something I needed to experience with everything going on lately.

I wrote out Baam’s monologue scene for those who need the context or need a reminder on what exactly I’m talking about. So much happens in this Webtoon seriously, but Baam makes the reading experience worthwhile. I suggest playing Naruto OST when reading this scene. I played “Experienced Many Battles” OST—a personal favorite of mine—when I read this emotional scene for the second time.

SCENE STARTS:

“To those people, I probably seem like a total monster. It’s true, but at least I’m not going to pretend I’m doing this to save everyone like the time I did with Deng Deng. I’m going to face them head-on. I’m not gonna hide or make excuses. I’m responsible from the start and end of this war.” – Baam said.

“Why do you keep fighting? Where do you expect to get to by killing all those innocent people?” Young Baam asked, his conscious.

“I’m moving forward,” Baam answered.

STEP —! Young Baam turned.

“…?”

“I’m moving forward to protect the things that matter to me,” Baam clarified with a smile. “Now… we have a reason to fight, Baam. Let’s keep moving.

“We have so much to protect now. A lot more people may get hurt in the process, but don’t close your eyes or look away. You have to fight. I don’t know what’s waiting at the end of all this, but don’t get too greedy and ask for too much.

“Just pray the people you wanted to protect are still by your side.”

SCENE ENDS.

I couldn’t believe what I read—it made me appreciate my life a whole lot more. Also, this emotional scene was a good example of how one needs to talk and nurture their inner child every now and then—mental health checks but on an emotional anime level. The artwork depicting Volume 1 Baam and present-day Baam showed how much he grew physically too.

The difference between the art styles was also showcased through this scene, giving us a reminder of how far SIU had improved his craft over this past decade—of how much we’ve invested into the story. I’m really proud of the story he’s been making for us, and how he’s been developing Baam for the past decade. The payoff was incredible—easily one of my favorite Tower of God scenes. It was also placed near the end of the arc, so the hype going into the next arc reignited my almost burnt-out passion.

Let’s talk about other characters now.

Khun returned to his smart cunning ways, making a secret deal with White behind Baam’s back and showing complete confidence when speaking with one of the most powerful characters in the series. Khun is helping White power-up—getting him the dead souls from the battlefield—for the fight against Kallavan. Khun wants White to fight Kallavan on Baam’s behalf.

The contrast between Baam and Khun’s treatment toward the dead should also be addressed here. While Baam was respectful of the causalities—making sure to look directly at them, so he wouldn’t forget their sacrifice—Khun was collecting their souls and feeding them to an actual monster for his own selfish reason. I have missed that particular character dynamic between Khun and Baam.

Tower of God is an amazing Webtoon series with great plot, lore, characters, and fantastic world-building on par with Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere Universe. I would highly recommend getting into Tower of God at this point. With SIU currently on hiatus, it’s the perfect time to try and catch up before he releases more episodes.

Thanks for reading this Webtoon review, everyone! I’m thinking about writing a thought-piece character analysis on Baam and his character journey. I think writing that would be a lot of fun. What do y’all think?

Let’s talk while keeping it climbing up the Tower.

SCENE STARTS:

“To those people, I probably seem like a total monster. It’s true, but at least I’m not going to pretend I’m doing this to save everyone like the time I did with Deng Deng. I’m going to face them head-on. I’m not gonna hide or make excuses. I’m responsible from the start and end of this war.” – Baam said.

“Why do you keep fighting? Where do you expect to get to by killing all those innocent people?” Young Baam asked, his conscious.

“I’m moving forward,” Baam answered.

STEP —! Young Baam turned.

“…?”

“I’m moving forward to protect the things that matter to me,” Baam clarified with a smile. “Now… we have a reason to fight, Baam. Let’s keep moving.

“We have so much to protect now. A lot more people may get hurt in the process, but don’t close your eyes or look away. You have to fight. I don’t know what’s waiting at the end of all this, but don’t get too greedy and ask for too much.

“Just pray the people you wanted to protect are still by your side.”

SCENE ENDS.

I couldn’t believe what I read—it made me appreciate my life a whole lot more. Also, this emotional scene was a good example of how one needs to talk and nurture their inner child every now and then—mental health checks but on an emotional anime level. The artwork depicting Volume 1 Baam and present-day Baam showed how much he grew physically too.

The difference between the art styles was also showcased through this scene, giving us a reminder of how far SIU had improved his craft over this past decade—of how much we’ve invested into the story. I’m really proud of the story he’s been making for us, and how he’s been developing Baam for the past decade. The payoff was incredible—easily one of my favorite Tower of God scenes. It was also placed near the end of the arc, so the hype going into the next arc reignited my almost burnt-out passion.

Let’s talk about other characters now.

Khun returned to his smart cunning ways, making a secret deal with White behind Baam’s back and showing complete confidence when speaking with one of the most powerful characters in the series. Khun is helping White power-up—getting him the dead souls from the battlefield—for the fight against Kallavan. Khun wants White to fight Kallavan on Baam’s behalf.

The contrast between Baam and Khun’s treatment toward the dead should also be addressed here. While Baam was respectful of the causalities—making sure to look directly at them, so he wouldn’t forget their sacrifice—Khun was collecting their souls and feeding them to an actual monster for his own selfish reason. I have missed that particular character dynamic between Khun and Baam.

Tower of God is an amazing Webtoon series with great plot, lore, characters, and fantastic world-building on par with Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere Universe. I would highly recommend getting into Tower of God at this point. With SIU currently on hiatus, it’s the perfect time to try and catch up before he releases more episodes.

Thanks for reading this Webtoon review, everyone! I’m thinking about writing a thought-piece character analysis on Baam and his character journey. I think writing that would be a lot of fun. What do y’all think?

Let’s talk while keeping it climbing up the Tower.

Major Spoilers are included in this Webtoon Review. Please read with caution.

On October 6, 2020, I started and finished Tower of God Volume 3’s fourteenth story arc: “The Nest”. I’m starting to hit the story arcs that came out during 2020—so the more recent Tower of God Webtoon episodes. I have 16 more episodes to read until I reach the Webtoon’s highest point—episode 68.

I can’t believe I’m close to catching up to Tower of God. I couldn’t believe what happened to the canine people either during this arc. I was horrified to read Lo Po Bia Yasratcha force them all to kill each other—effectively enacting genocide on half the population.

Baylord Yama’s reaction was illustrated so emotionally raw—almost on par with Wangnan seeing Akraptor get murdered. I miss Ja Wangnan so much. Anyway, back to the senseless death that made Yama rage on Doom for not disclosing canine people originally were under control of the Lo Po Bia Family, which was how Yasratcha was able to control them. I can’t wait for Baylord Yama to have his revenge on Yasratcha—who also took some canine people as hostages to ensure he escaped the battlefield.

The focus on Baam and his guilt about “letting” the canine people die on his watch made him undergo character development. Baam cares too much, and seeing that trait mature over the course of the series was so refreshing to see in this arc.

Baam no longer made decisions without his teammates’ approval—like accepting deals and indirectly coercing them to go along with those deals. I like to think this is due to the “Rachel” chip on his shoulder finally coming off. I hadn’t mentioned Rachel in a while—given that she hadn’t showed up thankfully—so I thought I’d remind y’all how much I didn’t like her. Yeah, that mean comment probably wasn’t necessary but oh well.

Rachel sucks.

The arc also covered a week-long time jump, with Baam—on Khun’s suggestion—defeating a Ranker officially on the record to get everyone’s attention. The whole scene playing out made me seriously laughing out loud—LOL—when Baam easily defeated the Ranker with such ease in front of his secretary.

Hwa Ryun—my favorite beautiful redhead—finally returned in this arc, helping Baam out with his latest suicidal plan to invade The Nest. Khun and Rak were hilarious in adding the propaganda about Baam being stronger than other Rankers—and Rak adding that he was the leader still cracks me up. Seeing the original trio again is giving me hope that they will get satisfying character stories soon—especially Rak who hadn’t gotten anything substantial in the longest time.

The ending to this arc had everyone declaring war on each other. I loved how Baylord Yama and his brothers Doom and Paul have made up—to a certain extent—for the sake of their fallen comrades and to get revenge on the Lo Po Bia Family. Remember when Baylord Doom was the big threat? Remember when White—Hoaqiun—was too? And Karaka? Now all of them are helping Baam save his master from The Nest. I hadn’t seen a huge villain turnaround like this since Naruto.

Thanks for reading this Webtoon review, everyone! Let’s keep it climbing up the Tower!

Major Spoilers are included in this Webtoon Review. Please read with caution.

On October 6, 2020, I started and finished Tower of God Volume 3’s thirteenth story arc: “Dowon”. Picking up where the previous arc left off, Dowon had finally awakened from her slumber. Baam, Khun, and Rak also face off against Daleet, proving how much more powerful they are over Daleet. Dowon also revealed how disappointed she was of the current world, and how they hadn’t managed to achieve true peace in her absence.

Dowon also revealed she had met with Zahard—known to her only as nameless adventurer—prior to her imprisonment, who told her that a boy in the future will spark more war. The boy is obviously Baam, and Dowon immediately attacks him to preserve the future.

I enjoyed this arc for pulling that character twist on Dowon, who had become disillusioned with how little her sacrifice meant to people, and how people will always find reasons to start war and disrupt peace for the sake of selfish desires. How this contrasted with Cha’s awakening—her love interest—was interesting too, given that he also met with Zahard and vowed to defend Baam—the boy who will change the Tower for the better. I’m excited to see if / when Cha and Dowon will meet again.

The short scenes with Cha’s followers trying to wake him up was tragic. Katra—a rebel of The Wall—died before he could see Cha, and I found that so unnecessary cruel.

The canine people aspect—with Baylord Yama and his brothers—came back in this arc, with Baylord Yama being blackmailed to kill himself for the sake of his people. I actually forget this was unresolved until it came back up again in this arc, but the canine people and their free will being manipulated was hard to swallow. This is what actual oppression looks like—being forced to wear facemasks in public spaces isn’t oppression.

The ending to this arc—redirecting Baam to rescuing his master Ha Jinsung—was pretty awesome, with Kallavan and Dowon heading to where Jinsung’s being kept too. I do appreciate Tower of God for its complexity behind the lore and plot, and its consistent ability to keep that momentum going since its debut back in 2010. I’m looking forward to seeing where the story goes next!

Thanks for reading this Webtoon review, everyone! Let’s keep it climbing up the Tower!

Major Spoilers are included in this Webtoon Review. Please read with caution.

On October 6, 2020, I started and finished Tower of God Volume 3’s twelfth story arc: “Kallavan vs White”. This short arc centered around White fighting against Kallavan while Khane went to wake her sister up from her imprisonment. The arc also centered around Team Baam—the original trio—fighting against Daleet, a commander of the wall guards. The latter battle mainly focused on Baam’s newest transformation though, which was oddly Dragon Ball Z.

White and Kallavan’s fight was drawn great, with great detail given to White’s swordsmanship and color scheme. I did like White’s acknowledgement that he couldn’t win the battle against Kallavan without Dowon’s help, and that was the reason why he asked Khane to wake her up—even though the goal was to not wake her up. Basically, the stakes in the fight were kind-of confusing—like both sides seemed determine to wake her, but they fought anyway—but the reasoning behind the fight wasn’t? Kallavan wanted to capture White alive though, so he can be reinstated as Commander.

Learning the key to waking up Dowon—Khane’s memories of her—was heartbreaking to say the least. This would mean that Khane would lose her memories of her sister, but she was willing to make the sacrifice for the sake of others. Khane’s comment about Dowon being cruel to her gave me concern, but at least Dowon’s awake.

The action in this arc was a great read, and it was a fast one too. I’m going to make this Webtoon review short, given that there wasn’t much happening other than the fight scenes, a transformation process that took after DBZ’stransformation process, and Dowon’s epic awakening. Thanks for reading this Webtoon review, everyone! Let’s keep it climbing up the Tower to see what happens next!

Major Spoilers are included in this Webtoon Review. Please read with caution.

On October 5, 2020, I started reading Tower of God Volume 3’s eleventh story arc: “The Wall with a Sleeping Forget-Me-Not” and finished on October 6, 2020. I’m liking the new plot direction and story lore regarding the Dowon—otherwise known as Forget-Me-Not—and her role in the war between Zahard and FUG and The Wall’s origin. The last couple arcs regarding the Cage and canine people felt dragged out at times—especially the Deng Deng and Louie aspect—so this new arc felt refreshing despite the return of extended episodes.

Kallavan’s goal is to wake up Dowon from The Wall of Peaceful Coexistence—where she is trapped alongside other war heroes to “keep the peace”—to ignite war. The flashback story leading up to Dowon’s imprisonment was heartbreaking—making me invest in her story fast. I cried when her companion promised to ask her out on the day she would eventually be released… learning what happened to him afterward made their love story so tragic.

After hearing this story though—through Khel Hellam’s guide So-oh—Baam and the rest of his team decided to stop Kallavan from waking her up. Baam was resistant to the idea—finding Dowon’s story sad too—but fighting against Kallavan was inevitable.

Baam, Khun, Rak, Hatsu, and White officially teamed up. White and Hatsu’s character dynamic was completely unexpected—bonding over swords—but welcomed. I love having White back in the story, and the original trio working together again. They acknowledged—what all the readers were probably thinking—how long it’s been since they fought together, having been paired off differently in the Cage.

Khun and Baam’s combo move to enhance his new transformation was brilliant. Khun looking like Shoto Todoroki from My Hero Academia with his new fire and ice duality nature. Rak is still comedic—still going strong since the beginning—about being the leader and not wanting to be left out of things. Please give Rak a substantial character arc soon, SIU. You know Rak deserves one!

Dowon’s little sister—Khane—and her character arc regarding her big sister’s imprisonment was brilliant. Showing how conflicted she was with Kallavan’s offer and wanting her sister woken up—for selfish reasons—made me invest hard in her story. How she ended up choosing to work with Kallavan—believing her sister Dowon was ultimately sacrificed for nothing—was a good moment for her and the storyline.

This storyline made me think about how “keeping the peace” is truly indeed a trauma response, and how it is relatable given what had been going on in the United States during the month of October 2020 with President Trump testing positive for COVID-19 and continuing to spout his hate in combo with an infectious disease.

The artwork is incredible. I’ve gone into detail many times in previous Webtoon reviews, so I’ll leave it at “awestriking” for this one. The link to my other Tower of God Webtoon reviews is here for those interested.

Thanks for reading this Webtoon review, everyone! The cliffhanger with Kallavan and White about to fight is making me want to keep climbing up the Tower! Let’s see how that fight goes!

Major Spoilers are included in this Webtoon Review. Please read with caution.

On October 5, 2020, I started and finished Tower of God Volume 3’s tenth story arc: “The Wall of Peaceful Coexistence”. This arc resolved plot threads regarding Deng Deng, Louie, and Baam while setting everything else in place for the war happening at The Wall of Peaceful Coexistence, where Baylord Yama was transported to by Khel Hellam. I was having a great time with this arc and the characters—especially Baylord Yama.

My interest in the Webtoon was gradually burning out, but seeing how the story was shifting into this growing war and resolving storylines that needed to end helped reignite my passion. How the story addressed Baam’s guilt and his failing to save Deng Deng showed how much Baam had changed over the course of this series. Baam continues to evolve and change for the better.

Side-note: Rak keeps the huge spear, which is great! He deserves it.

Baam even started questioning his own resolve—believing he didn’t want to save him as much as he thought he did through a subconscious guilt trip—but Louie told him Baam did “save” Deng Deng when he offered the boy his hand. Deng Deng had accepted his death, having left Louie a message about it, but Louie did tell Baam to save everyone else. I liked how SIU handled the resolution of the story, and Baam’s role in it.

Baylord Yama encountered a new villain—Lo Po Bia Yasratcha, a feline person—at The Wall of Peaceful Coexistence. Yasratcha had the ability to mind control canine people for some reason, so he managed to make Yama fight himself to near death and take hold of other canine people when the whole Cage arrived to save him. I loved how much Yama cared about the canine people and how alone he felt in trying to protect them, which contrasted well with them all coming to save their “real king”.

Jordan is also a super fanboy loyalist, and that’s quite admirable. Baylord Doom is also free of the spell keeping him bound to Khel Hellam, thanks to Baam. Khel Hellam’s ability to see Destiny was also challenged by Baam throughout this arc, who was beginning to see Baam as someone who can create miracles and alter other’s destinies—like most other anime protagonists.

The artwork continued to astound me throughout this arc—particularly Khel Hellam’s bull shinsu. The intricate details and the mixture of flames and purple shinsu mashed and blended very well during the action sequences. Honestly, SIU should become that artist who sells these beautifully drawn scenes—like portraits or abstract pieces—in museums. I’d pay good money for the pages he puts out in this Webtoon and put it up all over my walls.

Khun, Rak, Leesoo, and Hatsu fell in the background during these last few arcs, so I’m hoping they receive some screen time with this upcoming arc. Also, Kallavan returned in this arc—being on the other side of The Wall of Peaceful Coexistence. He had been demoted and has one hand tied behind his back as punishment for the events that occurred at The Last Station. Oh yeah… all the pieces are starting to come together!

The Wall of Peaceful Coexistence harboring powerful warriors is the prime reason for Zahard’s Army’s invasion. FUG and the Ten Great Families want pure chaos from this reignited war. Reading about Tower of God’s war during this time—October 5, 2020 and the events surrounding President Trump’s COVID-19 situation at time of writing—made me feel uncomfortable to be quite honest.

Overall, Tower of God is back on track with this war brewing at The Wall of Peaceful Coexistence. I’m excited to see how everything will play out with Baam having so many new Ranker allies—Yama, Doom, Paul, Evankhell, Karaka, etc.—and his usual companions helping him with his greatest challenge yet. Defeat Kallavan and save his master!

Thanks for reading this Webtoon review, everyone! Let’s keep it climbing up the Tower! I’m officially halfway to catching up and reaching the highest point. Thank you, SIU, for helping me get addicted to your story. It’s been a great honor so far.

Major Spoilers are included in this Webtoon Review. Please read with caution.

On October 4, 2020, I started and finished Tower of God Volume 3’s ninth story arc: “Transformation”. The chaos and action sequences in this arc went nicely with each other, but the story was beginning to show more obvious convolutedness.

What do I mean by obvious convolutedness? Please allow me to explain.

The intentional chaos could be misconstrued as unintentional chaos for certain Webtoon readers who are wondering why they have become invested in a storyline about canine people and a war on a wall of peaceful coexistence. The way I see it is… if Baam cares, I care. That’s why we’re wrapped up in this storyline.

The arc “Transformation” went DBZ and focused on transformations. Baam literally started screaming as he tested the new stages of his new power. There were strong DBZ vibes during this arc. Baam was able to face off against Gado and rip a leg off—the main source of Gado’s power and canine transformation. The fight was over after this, with Zon—a canine person—stepping in and exploiting Gado’s leg weakness.

Side-note: I played The God of High School’s latest OST called Young Tiger. I would highly recommend playing OST music while reading certain Webtoon fight scenes. The experience and immersion were more fun for me this way—maybe it will for you too.

Baylord Yama also completed his transformation during this arc. The beauty was unreal, and his character became even more amazing. The flashback in this arc was effective in showing us how he achieved the complete transformation and how it represented how different he was from his younger brother Doom. Baylord Yama trained to protect the canine people while Doom trained the canine people to protect him and his two brothers—the “true” canine people.

Evankhell and Baylord Yama were also a great combo in teamwork and the artwork, with the gorgeous intricate flames working great with Yama’s new transformation. I was surprised the Elder FUG—Khel Hellam—was able to handle them both. The cliffhanger regarding The Wall of Peaceful Coexistence and the chaotic war was effective, but the plot jumped through a few unnecessary hoops to get there.

Tower of God was action-drive in this arc, and that was a great thing! Baam also gained permission from Evankhell to use the Thorn—the training to not use the Thorn was suspended due to the dire circumstances. I’m looking forward to seeing what happens next. Thanks for reading this Webtoon review, everyone! Let’s keep it climbing up the Tower!

Major Spoilers are included in this Webtoon Review. Please read with caution.

On October 3, 2020, I started and finished Tower of God Volume 3’s eighth story arc: “Khel Hellam”. I guess I have to stop calling Khel Hellam “Elder FUG” now that his name is an arc. I’ve been calling him “Elder FUG” or “FUG Elder” interchangeably in the previous Webtoon reviews because I had a hard time remembering his name and didn’t want to look it up.

The link to my other Tower of God Webtoon reviews is here for those interested in reading my thoughts about Tower of God’s other story arcs. With that out of the way, let’s move onto the Webtoon review.

This arc centered around Khel Hellam using the spell on Baylord Doom’s heart to control him, revealing that he planned to use Doom from the start to control the canine people. Since Doom had the power to create and mind-control the canine people, Khel Hellam had effectively enslaved an entire race. While trying to enslave people is indeed 100% wrong, the ending to this arc revealed Khel Hellam did it to gain soldiers in order to protect a peaceful place under attack by Zahard’s forces.

So, the plot is gradually making its way back to Kallavan, Zahard, and the chaotic war that started at the end of Volume 2. The ending to this arc did make me feel some type of way, but slavery is definitely still wrong.

Rak finally got to use that huge Ancient Spear—the one Ruel Mon threw at Baylord Doom’s head in an earlier arc—proving himself worthy! Everyone was waiting for him to finally use it, and the payoff was satisfying.

Baylord Yama’s character is honestly amazing. I love his character work, and the line about Khel Hellam’s destiny “getting its ass kicked” was killer. The transformation mechanic behind the canine people is so well-done too, with Yama showing a level 6 partial transformation. I don’t know how many levels there are, but Baylord Yama reaching level 6 is the highest one so far.

White returned in this arc too, having been woken up by Louie. White’s appetite to eat people fired back up, which was when he joined the battle happening with Yu Han Sung, Madoraco, and Khel Hellam’s guide Soo-oh. At this point and with the recurring theme of sleep, nobody in this Webtoon should ever mess with powerful sleeping people.

Baam and Gado fought each other—finally—with Gado revealing his background regarding Deng Deng and Louie. Turns out, Louie—Deng Deng’s only childhood friend—was Gado’s true son, and that was the only reason he allowed Deng Deng to be friends with him.

I’m not sure how I exactly feel about Gado’s background and motives yet, given how abusive he was toward Deng Deng; tearing his heart out was also another thing that made me hate Gado’s guts. Deng Deng deserved better; he deserves Baam fighting for his life right now. However, learning Gado did what he did to save Louie as a newborn—feeling happy to be able to call him “son” freely—was sort-of touching; it just came at Deng Deng’s expense since Louie has Deng Deng’s real heart.

Baam activating the Red Thyrssa Transformation—something only Hell Joe could do from the Floor of Death—was an amazing payoff. The foreshadow was there like 100 episodes ago during the Floor of Death storyline. I was in awe of this latest power-up, and how that will turn the tide in his fight against Gado. I’m excited to see how Baam uses this new power in the next arc.

Tower of God is getting so much better with the plot momentum redirecting back to the plot about Kallavan and the current war going on inside the Tower. This plot wasn’t bad—it just followed the “do this for me—or win this challenge—and I’ll give you this” plotline that kept adding up over the past 29 episodes.

I’m looking forward to seeing how everything plays out with Baam, Gado, Baylord Yama, Evankhell, Karaka, White, Khun, etc., and Baylord Doom’s fate alongside the canine people. Thanks for reading this Webtoon review, everyone! Let’s keep it climbing up the Tower!

Major Spoilers are included in this Webtoon Review. Please read with caution.

On October 3, 2020, I started and finished Tower of God Volume 3’s seventh story arc: “King of the Dogs”. Something about Tower of God I love and hate at the same time is the investment in other characters. The love comes from getting to know all the characters climbing the Tower and rooting for them to keep going—whatever their reasons may be. The “hate” aspect mostly comes from the hit-or-miss regarding these side-characters like Sachi Faker and Boro.

Volume 3 has done an excellent job on a “soft reboot” with the simplification of the plot, a new world and species, and giving Baam a new goal of saving his master rather than have him chase Rachel through the Tower. This arc delivered a solid arc on Baylord Yama and his position as “King of the Dogs”—something his brother Baylord Doom and the Elder FUG are trying to take away from him. I appreciated the expansion on Baylord Yama’s powers, and why he ultimately will stay above his brothers Doom and Paul.

Baylord Yama’s main strength is fear. Similar to Steelheart from Brandon Sanderson’s The Reckoners book series, Baylord Yama gains absolute invulnerability from anyone who’s scared of him. Baylord Doom knew about this when they fought each before in the flashback, but he couldn’t help but be scared after seeing his “final transformation”.

Baylord Yama has a terrifying fully evolved transformation—something Baylord Doom couldn’t achieve despite being the originator of the canine people—which proved that Yama is the true “King of the dogs”. Baylord Yama had become a fan-favorite rather quickly in these last few Webtoon episodes.

Evankhell and Yu Han Sung were trapped in a never-ending arrow maze—created by the Elder FUG—that was near impossible to escape from. With Yu Han Sung thinking on his feet though, Evankhell burned away certain pathways to open up the specific pathway that would lead them to the Cage. The fire was of course gorgeous—I say this every time in these Webtoon reviews—but it’s so mesmerizing and worth mentioning on a constant basis. I really can’t get enough of that particular artwork.

Side-note: Evankhell is a woman. Yu Han Sung is a man. I noticed the translations get the pronouns wrong once in a while, so I thought I’d clear that up. I’m not sure SIU clarified Evankhell officially yet, but I know he officially clarified Yu Han Sung’s gender when Season 1 concluded.

Now back to the beautiful fire. Apparently, Evankhell possesses a Primeval flame—Yeon Flame—which is why his firepower is on a God-tier level. Khun may also possess the Primeval Flame of healing, so that’s pretty awesome and a good tie-in with what’s been going with Khun resurrecting himself and bringing other people back to life too. I think—hopefully—we’ll get more answers on this at some point in the next couple arcs.

The character dynamic between Evankhell and Yu Han Sung is pretty hilarious too, with how Yu Han Sung can give Evankhell orders despite being lower in rank and power compared to her.

Khun and Rak aren’t getting much screen time either, but I love seeing them run away from Baylord Doom and the other canine people since they have the fang. Also, Rak and Baam briefly teaming up was nice. But, Khun continued running with another canine person to protect the fang. All they seem to be doing is running though, so here’s hoping they get to do something else soon.

Baam was almost turned into a canine person—with Baylord Doom having that ability—but the Elder FUG stopped Doom, having placed a spell on his heart that makes Doom follow his orders or die. Everyone is so obsessed with Baam—except Rachel—but that’s the life of a hero protagonist.

Overall, Tower of God is picking up on the hype! Evankhell and Yu Han Sung have officially arrived in the Cage—ready to face off against the Elder FUG. I’m looking forward to seeing what happens next. Thanks for reading this Webtoon review, everyone! I truly appreciate all your support. Let’s keep it climbing up the Tower!

Major Spoilers are included in this Webtoon Review. Please read with caution.

On October 2, 2020, I started and finished Tower of God Volume 3’s sixth story arc: “Stealing the Fang 2”. I think I mentioned this in a previous Webtoon review, but I’ve been enjoying the shortened arcs. This arc centered around Karaka and Baam wanting to make a deal with Baylord Doom—seeing it as the best way to stop him from taking over and preserving the canine people since Doom’s life is tethered to that whole race.

Karaka even bets his Slayer title to get Doom on board with the deal in addition to pitting Baam against a Ranker. The deal is everyone has to play “Stealing the Fang”, and whoever gets the fang first wins. That’s the whole game with rules that make it difficult for Doom to win outright. Pitting Baam against a Ranker was a way for Doom to get a head start on retrieving the fang.

I loved the action sequence between Baam and the Ranker. The Flare Wave Explosion was beautifully drawn, showing elements of Evankhell’s intricate fire. The attention to detail revealed how much Baam valued Evankhell as his latest teacher.

We also learned that Deng Deng is still alive—needing his own heart to wake him up before he dies for good. Apparently, canine people die slowly when they get their hearts ripped out and not outright immediate. Gado tempted Baam with another fight to save Deng Deng’s life.

Yama was dealing with the Elder’s Envoy, who was buying time for the FUG Elder to arrive. I enjoyed Yama’s demonic character design throughout this arc, and the expansion on his character development. Despite Yama threatening to kill his brother Doom and saying he doesn’t care about the canine people; his actions speak otherwise—especially when Yama eventually bowed to the Elder’s Envoy on their behalf.

Overall, I enjoyed how the stakes are gradually rising. Baam and Gado’s fight should be an interesting one, given how they both expressed their feelings about Deng Deng and how their fight will determine whether the boy lives or dies. I am curious to figure out why Gado did what he did to Deng Deng, and the mystery behind Louie too. There’s more to this Gado, Deng Deng, and Louie that hadn’t been said yet.

Thanks for reading this Webtoon review, everyone. I really appreciate it. Let’s keep it climbing up the Tower!

Major Spoilers are included in this Webtoon Review. Please read with caution.

On October 1, 2020, I started and finished Tower of God Volume 3’s fifth story arc: “Baylord Doom”. I have got to say, I’m loving the consistent short arcs. It reminds me of when I read Tower of God’s Volume 1 during the first week of September 2020. I’ve come a long way since then—climbing the Tower. Anyway, the arc centered around Baylord Doom and his history with brothers Yama and Paul.

Apparently, Baylord Doom is the source of all canine people’s transformations and if he dies, all the canine people die. The stakes change drastically once Baam and Karaka learn about this from Yama, who’s determined to end Doom even if it means his whole race goes extinct. Of course, Baam wants to find another way—literally suggesting a game—using the logic that Doom wouldn’t want to risk a one-on-one fight with Yama given that he lost the last battle.

This arc was excellent with exposition and tying the storylines together. Rak and Khun’s fight against FUG turned into an escape from Baylord Doom—who had just awakened after Gado restored his heart. Leesoo and Hatsu met another one of Yama’s followers—Ruel Mon—who helps them out in exchange for meeting Androssi. This character represented the fans who have “Waifus”. Yu Han Sung and Evankhell encounter an Elder FUG, who point them toward a different path.

The Elder FUG plans to kill Yama and Baam—heading to The Cage now to complete the task—and elect a new Slayer, keeping Yu Hang Sung and Evankhell busy with their “destiny”. I’m enjoying the plot development and longer episodes, but sometimes I have a hard time keeping track of everything going on as a result of the added content.

Of course, I’m binge-reading this Webtoon so that might be affecting my ability to keep track to a certain extent. The Evankhell and Khun sub-plots were the ones I had a hard time keeping up with. Leesoo never fails to keep my attention—seriously, what is it with this guy? He’s like Tower of God’s Sokka from Avatar the Last Airbender.

Evankhell’s fire artwork represents hell on the pages—like the artwork keeps getting better every time I see it. I love the intricate detail behind the fires, making the pages appear so gorgeous. I’m running out of things to say about Tower of God’s artwork at this point other than it keeps getting better and the pure beauty behind every stroke. Thank you so much, SIU. Keep up the good work and your well-earned rest!

Thanks for reading this Webtoon review, everyone else! I appreciate the support. Let’s keep it climbing to the “Stealing the Fang 2” arc.

Major Spoilers are included in this Webtoon Reviews. Please read with caution.

On September 30, 2020, I started and finished Tower of God Volume 3’s fourth story arc: “Heart”. The short arc centered around Deng Deng and his important role as “The Heart” for Baylord Doom—the oldest brother of Yama and Paul. Yeah, Baylord Paul really did draw the short straw on cool names.

Anyway, the reason everyone wants Deng Deng is revealed through Gado’s explanation and defection from Baylord Yama. Gado’s intentions for Deng Deng looked genuine at first as a father-figure, but it’s confirmed that he merely pretended to keep “The Heart” safe. Deng Deng was devastated, not wanting to die for someone else. The backstory for Deng Deng was emotional and tragic, showing Gado had done nothing but control and abuse the boy his entire life. The traumatic bond that formed between Gado and Deng Deng was too real.

The fight scenes were amazing with Jordan showing off his transformations—Frieza-style—and Karaka and Baam teaming up against a sleeping Baylord Yama. The sleeping, and how only Gado barely survived the last time Yama went on a sleep-fighting rampage was made crystal clear in this action sequence. Reading this fight scene also showcased how powerful Yama really is in his sleeping state. I cannot imagine how powerful he’d be conscious. No wonder Baam and Karaka want his help in fighting Kallavan.

Khun and Rak were briefly featured in this arc too. Khun learned he had the ability to heal people back to life—somehow connected to the Yeon flame inside him. They were also trying to fight and escape from the FUG members helping Gado and Paul. Evankhell and Yu Han Sung were also shown during this arc facing off against the “Darkness of the Tower”, which is tied to what’s been going with Baam and the canine people. I’m sure everything will come together.

The cliffhanger at the end was pretty effective in making me want to read more. The two brothers—Doom and Yama—are awake! I loved how SIU pulled off a high-stakes situation of seeing which brother will wake up first—and who’s more terrifying to have woken up at all. Tower of God is still pulling power-moves after a decade! That’s truly awestriking and inspiring. You did good work, SIU! Let’s keep it climbing up the Tower!

Major Spoilers are included in this Webtoon Review. Please read with caution.

On September 29, 2020, I started Tower of God Volume 3’s third story arc: “Stealing the Fang” and finished on September 30, 2020. The contest—Canine Tooth Festival—officially begun, with Khun and Deng Deng getting a head start on the fang. However, old-time characters returned—how the last arc ended—to stop Khun and Deng Deng from leaving with the fang. I didn’t expect the characters who helped Rachel betray Khun back during early Volume 2 to make a comeback with FUG.

Baam finished his encounter with Akryung and meets another Ranker named Jordan, who strangely bond over how strong they are. Akryung and Baam’s fight was drawn magnificently—purple and blue color scheme clashed beautifully together—and ended on an ominous note regarding how Baam still needs to keep getting stronger to defeat Zahard.

Jordan, on the other hand, is a loyalist to Baylord Yama and found betraying him laughable when Baam brought it up. Jordan is also number 8 in Yama’s gang, so his power is pretty high up there. I think Baam and Jordan’s bond will be a masterpiece once it flourishes to fruition. By the end of this arc, they’ve teamed up to wake Baylord Yama before a coup in the Cage—the Canine world—officially kicks off.

Meanwhile, Khun “died” against Yama’s younger brother Paul. This seems to be recurring joke now. Rak found him again—like last time—but now Yeon flames burst out of Khun to bring him back to life. That was a beautiful resurrection—the artwork is simply stunning. Also, Khun might be a phoenix.

The mystery of Deng Deng also deepened in this arc beyond wanting to use him as a slave dog in the arena. Apparently, he’s something called “The Heart” and second-in-command of Yama’s gang. Gado isn’t Deng Deng’s biological father. However, Gado did seem like a loving father—blood related or not—who cared about his son’s well-being.

Having this information leaked out to certain members of Yama’s gang made Gado—one of Yama’s most loyal—betray Yama and team up with his brother Paul. There was also more exposition added in this arc about the canine people being exiled and forced to grow up outside the Cage, making the descendants want revenge. Tower of God is back to owning that nickname—Tower of Betrayal.

Baylord Yama and Madorako—a high Ranker working with Karaka—were revealed to have not been one-hundred percent honest about Deng Deng and Yama’s other brother sleeping underneath the Cage. Karaka is also beginning to show a humorous side during this arc—so that’s something for his character development.

This storyline is borrowing heavily from Christian lore and replacing celestials with canine people. What a brilliant twist. The descendants of the canine people who were exiled want to free that brother and reclaim a home that has been denied to them. Team Baam had no idea what they walked into when they decided to play this game with Baylord Yama.

Tower of God is beginning to ramp up the action, with two brothers currently asleep and two groups racing to wake them up. Baam and Jordan ended the arc with Baam on the way to wake Baylord Yama while the exiled canine people—plus Baylord Paul and Gado—are getting ready to wake up the other brother trapped underneath the Cage. The plot momentum is outstanding in this Webtoon—it’s honestly refreshing how every time I’m on the verge of burnout the series gives me a reason to keep climbing!

Thanks for reading this Webtoon review, everyone! Let’s keep it climbing up the Tower!