House of the Dragon Season Two, Episode Two, Rhaenyra the Cruel Review: The Best Acted Episode Yet.

“A Son for a Son” was a really good start to Season Two of House of the Dragon, but Episode Two, “Rhaenyra the Cruel” is even better.
Directed by Claire Kilner, the episode has the best acting across the board out of any episode in the series so far.
Beginning immediately after the horrifying events of “A Son for a Son”, we see the impact the loss of Aegon’s heir has had on the Greens.
Aegon is, of course, distraught over the loss of his son, destroying the model of Valyria Viserys spent all of last season building.
Otto, on the other hand, is already looking for a way to play this tragedy to their advantage, proposing that they have a funeral procession to show the small folk what Rhaenyra has done.
Aegon is spared from having to go through the spectacle, but Helaena gets no such consideration.
She is paraded through the streets, her sorrow used as a political tool, while Aegon takes his revenge on Blood in the cells.
Her situation gets even worse when the cart they are riding gets stuck in the mud.
I’m pretty sure we were all scared that Jaehaerys’ body would fall off the cart in the attempt to get it moving again but thankfully the showrunners were merciful enough to keep that from happening.
Following this gruesome scene, the episode cuts to the Blacks, who are learning of the murder.
Rhaenyra is understandably shocked when she learns she is being blamed for it, and offended when some of her lords suggest it may have been her vengeance for Lucerys.
However, all it takes is one look at Daemon for her to know the truth.
The following scene between the two is expertly acted by both Emma D’Arcy and Matt Smith, as we see the complete breakdown of any trust Rhaenyra could have had in Daemon.
Matt Smith is especially threatening, as we see the Rogue Prince has to physically restrain himself from grabbing Rhaenyra’s throat, like he did in the Season One Finale.
Their argument ends with Daemon leaving on Caraxes, and Rhaenyra deciding sending Baela (Bethany Antonia) on her dragon Moondancer to keep an eye on King’s Landing.
Back with the Greens, we see the impact Jaehaerys’ murder has had on Criston Cole.
He watches the young boy’s room being cleared out and, based on his expression, he seems to feel quite a bit of guilt for what happened.
He was supposed to be on watch, but instead was sleeping with Alicent and, because of that, Jaehaerys died.
Watching this scene made me wonder if it was possible for me to feel some sympathy for Cole… then the next scene happened, and it made me hate him even more.
Rather than decide to change for the better, Cole instead doubles down and projects his guilt onto Arryk Cargyll, someone who holds no blame for the murder.
Watching Cole bully Arryk into going to assassinate Rhanerya at Dragonstone by posing as his own brother made my hatred for him increase tenfold.
One character I definitely do not hate, though, is Addam (Clinton Liberty), the brother of Alyn, who is introduced this episode.
I will not get into his role in the story, I will save that for the book spoilers section, but I will say that he is one of my favorite characters in the Dance of the Dragons, so it is good to see him.
What is also good to see is how much better Sonoya Mizuno’s performance as Mysaria is now that her accent is much more subdued.
It really allowed her acting ability to shine through in her scene with Rhanerya.
But by far the best acting in this episode is hands down done by Rhys Ifans.
The scene where Otto berates Aegon for killing all of the Rat Catchers is excellent.
Otto’s rage and exasperation is both engaging and hilarious.
It is even emotional when he brings up Viserys, and we see that he really did care deeply about the old king, even if he did manipulate him constantly.
Otto ends his beratement of Aegon by revealing to him that Viserys really did not want his son to be king.
This appears to be the final straw for Aegon, who fires Otto as his Hand and gives the job to Cole.
The guy just keeps failing upward, doesn’t he?
To be fair to Cole though, his crazy plan of sending Arryk to kill Rhaenyra would have probably worked had it not been for Mysaria spotting him.
She alerts Erryk just in time for him to intervene and what results is a tragic fight to the death between twin brothers.
Elliot and Luke Tittensor do excellent jobs as Erryk and Arryk, both in their fight choreography and in their grief at having to fight, despite still loving one another.
The brutal duel ends with one twin killing the other, only for the remaining twin to kill themselves out of grief.
As foe which twin was which, it feels kind of ambiguous.
Either Erryk apologizes to Rhanerya before committing suicide, or Arryk acknowledges her as the true queen before killing himself.
Either way, it is one of the most tragic scenes in the show thus far.
Following the duel of the brothers, the episode cuts to the Greens for the final time.
We see Otto talking with Alicent about his firing, and he brings up Daeron, Alicent and Viserys’ youngest child.
Daeron was not seen or mentioned in Season One so many of us book readers were afraid that he had been cut.
It is good to hear that he exists, even if his introduction in this scene comes out of nowhere.
The conversation between Otto and Alicent ends with Alicent trying to admit to her affair with Criston, only for Otto to say he does not wish to hear of it.
This perfectly highlights the generational family neglect going on within the Green side.
Otto neglects Alicent, who then neglects Aegon when she refuses to comfort him.
Instead of mourning with him, Alicent instead chooses to sleep with Cole again, showing that neither of them has learned their lesson.
In my review of Episode One, I said I had mixed feelings about the two of them hooking up because it felt like it went against both characters.
However, I did say that the hypocrisy of it may be the point.
After watching Episode Two, I can say with absolute certainty that it was.
Both characters are very hypocritical, and their hypocrisy will probably only grow as the season progresses.
Overall, “Rhaenyra the Cruel” is a great episode, with the best acting of the series, so far.
Matt Smith, Emma D’Arcy, Rhys Ifans, Elliot and Luke Tittensor, Tom Glynn-Carney, Phia Saban, and Sonoya Mitsuno all give their best this episode, and I cannot wait to see how their performances continue to improve as the season progresses.

Book Spoilers Section:
Once again, the main topic of discussion for the spoilers section is the Dragonseeds.
First there is Addam of Hull.
As I said, he is one of my favorite characters in the Dance of the Dragons.
We get foreshadowing for him eventually claiming the dragon Seasmoke, when he sees him flying overhead.
I am curious to see what the explanation for this will be, since Laenor is not dead in the show, at least as far as we know.
I am also curious to see how Rhaenys will react to Addam and Alyn’s existence.
Does she already know that Corlys fathered bastards, or will it be a shock?
It would be pretty tragic for it to cause a rift between the two, only for them to never reconcile because Rhaenys dies at Rook’s Rest.
Then there is the other Dragonseed, Hugh.
We see this episode that he has a family, which is struggling due to the conditions caused by the coming war.
His story is already very different from the books, where he was pretty much just a scumbag with no family, so I am interested to see how he will get to that point, if at all.
In any case, we should get our first dragon action in the next episode, as Daemon will be capturing Harrenhal, and the trailer makes it look like Baela will run into some trouble while watching Kings’ Landing.
We are getting ever closer to the actual dragon fights, and I could not be more excited for that.

Chainsaw Man Chapter 168, Kiss, Love, Sperm Review: An Ominous Name.

Chapter 167 was a big chapter for Chainsaw Man.
It pretty much set the fanbase on fire, with debates raging over Yoru’s actions.
I decided to see the fallout until I judged, and we got that fallout with Chapter 168, “Kiss, Love, Sperm.”
The chapter begins in the immediate aftermath of Denji and Yoru’s sexual encounter, where Yoru cleans her hand and then insists she only kissed Denji because it felt good.
All well and good, Yoru, but you did quite a bit more than just kiss him.
To make matters more confusing for Denji, Yoru then kisses him again and continues to insist she doesn’t like him.
“Only the other me likes you,” she says. “Her feelings flowed into me.”
Yoru stating this makes me believe that her and Asa’s personalities are merging even more.
By the end of their story, the two may very well become one.
As for Denji, this line is the first hint he gets at what is actually going on with Asa.
He is undoubtedly still confused but the building blocks are there for his eventual revelation.
Yoru then leaves Denji in the alley, and the page of him sitting alone and dejected is just depressing.
The poor guy just wants to be loved.
Asa is in just as much turmoil, as she runs up behind Yoru and takes over their body to slam her head into a wall and then punch her in the face.
Asa’s biggest concern over this whole debacle is that Denji will think she is a slut.
She clearly still likes him and is obviously scared he will not want anything to do with her because of what Yoru did.
I, for one, think Asa and Denji just need to sit down and have a calm conversation about this whole mess… oh, who I am kidding?
Fujimoto’s just going to give them more trauma, anyway.
Speaking of which, the final panels of the chapter show the emotionally drained Asa and Denji on a train to a sushi place ominously titled “Death by Sushi.”
What a terrible name for a sushi restaurant.
Seriously, if I want sushi, the last place I’m going is one where the name implies I’m going to die because of the food.
Although, maybe this is Fujimoto implying that the Death Devil will be at the sushi restaurant?
Hey, it could happen.
All we can really do is hope that Asa and Denji at least get to have some good sushi, before the story inevitably throws more trauma at them.
Chapter 168 is a short but well done follow up to the previous chapter’s events, and sets an ominous tone for the next storyline with the “Death by Sushi” title.

House of the Dragon Season Two, Episode One, A Son for a Son Review: The Dance Continues.

After a long wait, House of the Dragon Season Two is finally upon us with its first episode, “A Son for a Son.”
Directed by Alan Taylor, the episode is a solid start to the season, ending with a gruesome moment that book fans have been waiting to see for a while.
“A Son for a Son” begins in the North, where we finally get to meet Cregan Stark, played by Tom Taylor.
Taylor does a good job in the role, as does Harry Collett as Jacaerys.
The two meet atop the Wall and discuss the Starks bending the knee to Aegon the Conqueror over a hundred years ago, leading into Jace asking Cregan for men to support his mother’s claim to the Iron Throne.
There are a few details that stood out to me in this scene, one of which is that Collett got to show off his actual hair, rather than the horrible wig of Season One.
This is good because now he actually resembles Harwin Strong quite a bit.
As for the second detail, Cregan states that when King Jaehaerys and Queen Alysanne visited the Wall, their dragons refused to fly across it.
This is book accurate and does foreshadow the White Walkers, but it also does not really mesh well with the Game of Thrones show because Dany’s dragons flew across the Wall just fine.
The scene ends with Cregan promising some of his fighting force, and a message arriving with news of Jace’s brother’s death.
From here, the episode transitions to the fallout of Luke’s death, where we learn Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) has flown off on Syrax to find his body, leaving Daemon (Matt Smith) to brood.
The Rogue Prince attempts to convince Rhaenys (Eve Best) to help him take down Vhagar, but she is able to easily take Daemon down a notch.
Although Daemon is still right when he says that Rhaneys could have ended the conflict by wiping out Aegon and the rest of the Greens in Episode Nine of Season One.
As for Rhaenys husband, Corlys (Steve Toussaint) is speaking with one of his men, Alyn (Abubakar Salim), who was the one to save his life during the fighting in the Stepstones.
This scene is actually one of my favorites in the entire episode.
It is tense and has lots of subtlety, but to explain those subtleties would be to spoil future reveals so I will save my deconstruction of this scene for the spoiler section down below.
Following the scene between Corlys and Alyn, we see what the Greens are up to and, unfortunately, do not see Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) revealing that he killed Lucerys.
I was quite looking forward to seeing Alicent’s reaction to learning her son had ruined any chance of peace.
What I was not expecting to see was Alicent (Olivia Cooke) getting it on with Criston Cole (Fabian Frankel).
Yep, those two are a thing and this definitely did not happen in the book.
To be honest, I have mixed feelings about the two of them getting together.
Alicent is a religiously devout person, so I’m not sure how she justifies having sex out of wedlock to herself when she judged Rhaenyra for it so harshly.
She went on and on about “honor and decency” in the first season, yet now she’s seemingly going against this.
As for Cole, his entire reason for turning against Rhaenyra was that sleeping with her made him feel like he had “soiled my white cloak.”
But he is suddenly okay with soiling it again with Alicent?
Maybe this is the point that the writers are trying to make; that these two are hypocrites, but them being together still feels a little out of character to me.
I will have to see how their relationship is portrayed in future episodes to decide if I completely dislike it or not, though.
Alicent may have a thing for Criston, but she definitely does not like Larys (Mathew Needham).
Unfortunately, she feels she has no choice but to work with him, as he reveals to her that he has got rid of staff who could be spying on her.
Don’t worry, he replaced that staff with his own.
It’s totally not creepy!
Well, Alicent is justifiably worried about Larys’ new staff keeping an eye on her, since she decides to bathe alone rather than have her new servants help.
Speaking of creeps, we also get to see how Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney) is handling his role as king.
He is pretty much like what if a frat boy became king, with his own fraternity following him around.
Surprisingly, though, he does seem to be a good dad, as he is preparing his son for council meetings.
I say “surprisingly” because Aegon was revealed to watch his own bastard children in fighting rings last season.
I do think it was a bit of a mistake to go so extreme with Aegon’s depravity last season.
The marketing for Season Two has set it up as Blacks vs Greens.
The problem with this is that it is extremely hard to get on board with Team Green when their king is a rapist who watches his own kids fight to the death for his amusement.
At least Tom Glynn-Carney does a great job as the character.
Back with the Blacks, we see Erryk Cargyll (Elliot Tittensor) find Mysaria (Sonoya Mizuno), who expectedly survived Larys’ attack on her base of operations last season.
In my reviews for Season One, a common complaint I had was Mysaria’s accent.
It was so bad that it took me out of every scene she was in.
Well, I am happy to say, the accent has been severely toned down this season.
You can still hear it, but it is slight.
Most importantly, it no longer sounds like she is attempting a terrible Jamaican accent while drunk.
Following her capture, Rhanerya returns after retrieving Lucerys’ cape, and speaks her only line of dialogue in the entire episode, “I want Aemond Targaryen.”
Emma D’Arcy is an absolute powerhouse this episode.
They deliver an emotional performance which tugs at the hear strings, all without speaking.
The emotions only heighten when Jace returns and attempts to give his report to his mother, only to break down.
The two embrace as they mourn the loss of Luke in one of the episode’s most tragic scenes.
Not the most tragic, however, because that distinction comes for the one immediately after Lucerys’ funeral.
Daemon arrives in King’s Landing wearing his crime hoodie, and we all know that means nothing good.
He recruits a Gold Cloak named Blood (Sam C. Wilson) and a Rat Catcher named Cheese (Mark Stobbart) to assassinate Aemond Targaryen.
“A son for a son,” Aemond for Luke is the plan.
Or, at least, one of the plans.
The lack of a response from Daemon when Cheese ask what to do if they can’t find Aemond speaks volume.
Daemon is fine with killing any of the Greens’ sons as revenge.
Blood and Cheese then enter the Red Keep, encountering hurdle after hurdle, leading to Cheese eventually kicking his dog in frustration.
It is kind of funny that more people seem upset over the kicked dog than the later murdered child.
In a morbid sort of way, I mean.
The two are unable to find Aemond, which is probably good for them because, let’s face it, Aemond would have wiped the floor with them.
It is less good for Helaena (Phia Saban) and her children, however, because Blood and Cheese find them.
And so, another of Helaena’s prophecies comes true.
She told Aegon earlier in the episode that she was afraid of the rats and now they have found her.
She attempts to placate Blood and Cheese with her necklace, but they take it anyway and still demand “a son for a son.”
In the end, Helaena has to point out which of the twins is her son, Jaehaerys.
The boy is then murdered, thankfully off screen.
We can still hear the sounds of Blood and Cheese taking his head, however, as Helaena takes her surviving daughter and runs to Alicent and Cole, ending the episode with the statement, “they killed the boy.”
I do have to woner if this line is a reference to Aemon telling Jon to “Kill the boy… and let the man be born.”
If it is a deliberate reference, then perhaps this is foreshadowing that this horrific act will cause Aegon to go on a vengeance streak.
He was shown to care a lot about his son this episode, after all.
Back to the Blood and Cheese scene itself, one thing that drew me out of the scene is how there were absolutely no guards defending the royal family.
There may be a combination of reasons for this, however.
For one thing, Larys said he halved the staff earlier in the episode.
For another, Criston Cole could have sent the guards away so no one would know about him sleeping with Alicent.
In this is true then, yeah, Cole is definitely one of the worst Kingsguard to ever Kingsguard.
As for how the Blood and Cheese scene compared to the book, it was actually much tamer in the show.
That is not meant to be a criticism, however, because I think if it had played out exactly as it did in the book much of the audience would be traumatized.
The scene was brutal enough as is, and the writers thankfully did not take it too far.
It is a horrific end to the first episode, which is a solid start to House of the Dragon Season Two.
The fallout will certainly be interesting.

Book Spoilers Section:
Just like last season, my reviews for every episode will come with a spoilers section at the bottom, where I discuss how scenes compare to the book and what may happen in the future.
For starters, I will talk about how the book handled Blood and Cheese to show you just how brutal it was.
In Fire and Blood, Blood and Cheese kill the guards and Alicent’s handmaiden, before tying her up and holding Helaena and her children at swordpoint.
They then cruelly demand that Helaena choose which one of her sons will die (she has two sons in the book).
A distraught Helaena chooses her youngest son, only for Cheese to tell the boy that his mother wants him dead before Blood decapitates the older boy instead.
As you can see, the scene is much more horrifying in the book, but it is good the show played it safe because we did not need to see a kid decapitated.
Now, I will go back to discussing the Corlys and Alyn scene, one of my favorites of the episode.
The reason the conversation between the two was so tense is because Alyn is actually Corlys’ bastard son, along with his brother Addam.
So, when Alyn offers his condolences for the loss of Lucerys, Corly’s heir, he is actually showing quite a bit of understandable bitterness.
Alyn and his brother are bastards, so are not acknowledged, while a bastard who was not even related to Corlys was elevated as his heir.
I love how subtle this scene is, and it makes me excited to see more of Alyn and Addam, the latter of whom is one of my three favorite characters in the Dance.
One of my other favorites is Daemon, and the other one is a character I will discuss in a bit.
For now, though, I want to talk about another new character, Hugh (Kieran Bew).
He gets a small appearance in this episode, while Aegon is holding court in King’s Landing but, if I am right, he is the Hugh Hammer character from the book.
Him being in King’s Landing is especially interesting because he later joins Rhaenyra’s side as Dragonseed, a bastard with Valyrian blood who tames a dragon, alongside others like Addam.
Hugh eventually betrays Rhaenyra, so him being in King’s Landing makes me think that maybe the Greens will send him to spy on Rhanerya, once they learn she is recruiting Dragonseeds.
This would certainly be an interesting change from the book.
What would definitely be a worse change from the book, however, is the potential removal of one of the Dragonseeds.
This Dragonseed is named Nettles and she is the third of my three favorite characters of the Dance.
There have been leaks going around that Nettles has not only been cut but replaced by Rhaena (Phoebe Campbell).
If these leaks turn out to be true, then I am going to be pretty mad.
Not only would removing Nettles from the story be a big mistake but replacing her with Rhaena would completely miss the point of Nettles’ role in the story.
I just wanted to get this concern out there, in case the leaks turn out to be true.
If they are true, then you can probably expect a rant about it in the review for the episode where it happens.
Just a heads up.
Although, if this were to happen, it would not kill the season for me.
Would it be a big negative?
Sure.
But Episode One was great and, if the quality keeps up, then Season Two will be a more than worthwhile watch.
There is only seven episodes left and I hope the rest are just as good, if not better

Arcane Season Two, Teaser Trailer Breakdown: The Final Chapter?

I still remember the first time I finished watching Arcane Season One.
I immediately started screaming “10 out of 10!”
No one was there to hear me, but I was screaming with glee over how fantastic this show was.
I had been initially reluctant to watch it, and yet Arcane delivered the best first season of any series I have ever seen.
So, naturally, I was already eagerly awaiting the second season after finishing, even though I knew that season would be years away.
Well, those years have passed, and we now have our first teaser trailer for Season Two, which I will attempt to breakdown and predict what happens to the best of my ability.

This disturbing poster speaks of an even darker season than the first.

The teaser begins in the wreckage of the council room, with what appears to be a POV shot from someone beneath the rubble.
We then hear voice over from Ambessa saying, “Your council is dead. Wrath must be met with wrath. You will have justice.”
So, we know that some characters survive Jinx’s attack, and some do not.
I am confident that Jayce, Viktor and Mel will survive, due to whatever magic we saw Mel utilizing at the end of the first season.
As for the rest of the councilors, they’re probably dead since they do not add much to the story.
The one of them who does is Caitlyn’s mother, Cassandra, who I am also confident is dead.
When Ambessa says, “You will have justice,” the shot focuses on a determined looking Caitlyn, implying she lost her mother.
The other reason I am confident Cassandra died in the attack is that apparently, in the German dub of the teaser, Ambessa tells Caitlyn, “We will avenge your mother.”
Cassandra dying would certainly throw a wrench in Vi and Caitlyn’s relationship, especially since Vi stopped her from shooting Jinx right before she blew up the council chambers.
As for Vi herself, we see her emerging from the darkness in an Enforcer uniform, which she looks entirely uncomfortable in.
Her joining the group who killed her parents so she can stop her sister will put a massive weight on her shoulders.

I doubt Jinx will take this well either, since this will tie Vi in more with Caitlyn.

A title card then reveals that this season will be the “final chapter.”
However, this is in regard to the Piltover and Zaun conflict, rather than meaning the end of the Arcane universe.
The writers have stated multiple times that they want to explore other characters in this world.
Personally, I am completely on board with this.
Not only is it good to know they have an ending planned for all of the Arcane characters, but I also want to see more of this world fleshed out eventually.
Following the title card, we see Caitlyn holding a meeting with a strike team, explaining their three objectives, “locate Jinx, dismantle Shimmer, and neutralize any agents still loyal to Silco.”
It is interesting that Caitlyn’s plan is to “locate Jinx” not “kill.”
If Jinx really did kill her mother, then Vi must have been incredibly persuasive to get Caitlyn to back off vengeance.
We then see that the strike team does manage to locate Jinx, as Vi wanders into one of her traps.
The teaser then briefly focuses on the Yordle Chem Baron from Season One, who we see standing before a giant statue of a woman.
At first, I thought this statue was of Jinx, but others have pointed out that it seems more similar to one of the unnamed Chem Barons.
This is the most curious shot of the trailer, for me, as I have no idea what it means.

We also see the Yordle Chem Baron fighting Sevika, who now seems to be working with Jinx.
I say this both because Sevika’s new prosthetic is covered in Jinx’s graffiti, implying she made it for her, and because we can literally see Jinx standing behind the Yordle for a second.
The situation must truly be dire for Jinx and Sevika to be working together.
We all know Sevika is going to be furious when she learns Jinx killed Silco.
Back to the teaser, we get a small look at other characters like Singed, Ekko and Heimerdinger.
There is also a shot of Warwick roaring in shadow.
Warwick is a character I am super excited to see, given theories about who he is, but I will not get into that because of spoilers.
Another mysterious character is a hooded figure we see, who I believe is Viktor, since there seems to be a quick shot of him unhooded, using his new abilities for an unknown purpose.
Vi then says that her sister is gone and that “this has to end”, before Caitlyn fires a Hextech-powered rifle.
The teaser seems to be suggesting that she is shooting to kill at Jinx.
The final scene of the tease shows Vi and Jinx’s long-awaited confrontation.
Vi calls out her sister’s new name in her hideout, and Jinx responds by saying, “Finally got the name right, sister.”
The teaser then ends with a showcase of their upcoming battle.

This fight looks like it will be both emotional and intense.

So, we know the structure of the season, right?
It will all build to this single Vi and Jinx fight.
Well, perhaps not.
There is a popular theory that all the of shots we have seen are only from the first three episodes, meaning the Jinx and Vi confrontation will only be the climax of the first act.
Where the season goes from there is anyone’s guess but there could very well be a timeskip to mirror the one from the first season.
Also, one of the Enforcers in promo material does look similar to Marcus’ daughter and, if it is her, it would make no sense for her to appear that old without a timeskip.
We will have to wait until November to see if any of these theories are correct.
I waited for Arcane Season Two for years, I will have no trouble waiting five more months.
As for the teaser trailer itself, it did a great job of hyping us all up for this final installment.
The animation looks glorious, the soundtrack sounds good, and I am eager to see how these fantastic characters’ stories will end.

Chainsaw Man Chapter 167, Super Smooch Review: Well… That Happened.

Every single chapter of Chainsaw Man, Tatsuki Fujimoto throws the fandom for a loop with the story’s events.
Chapter 167 “Super Smooch” is one of the best examples of this.
It is a short chapter, yet what happens had the entire community freaking out over it.
“Super Smooch” begins with Denji and Yoru in an alley following Yoru’s offer to castrate him at the end of the previous chapter.
Denji, naturally, is not too keen on the idea of having his privates removed so Yoru takes matters into her own hands.
And I mean that quite literally.
It is during their scuffle that Yoru remembers kissing Denji.
Some have speculated that Yoru remembering this means Nayuta has died, but I doubt that.
Yoru is Nayuta’s sister and, as one of the four horsemen, she is probably strong enough to break the memory erasure, which is likely what happened here.
Yoru’s memory of kissing Denji drives her to kiss him, which she immediately pulls away from, a look of shock on her face.
A moment of hesitation follows, before Yoru begins making out with Denji while her hands are still down his pants.
Yoru doing this is interesting when you look at what she says earlier in the chapter: “All I care about is fighting Chainsaw Man for real.”
Yet, as soon as she remembers kissing Denji, it drives her to start making out with him.
To me, this seems like Fujimoto is showing us just how much Yoru’s feelings are being influenced by Asa’s now.
Perhaps the two will truly merge by Part Two’s conclusion which, for all we know, may be a while from now.
Denji certainly does not take long though because the chapter ends with Asa regaining control and finding that Denji has… well, you-know-what all over her hand.
It never ceases to amaze me just what Fujimoto is able to get away with in Shonen Jump.
First there was the Quanxi sex scene in Part One, and now he’s gone full End of Evangelion.
The ending to this chapter has sparked a lot of debate online, mostly surrounding the consent aspect of this scene.
Some have said Denji was assaulted, others have said Asa was as well, since she was not in control of her own body.
Personally, I do not feel like touching that subject with a ten-foot pole until we see how the characters react next chapter.
That being said, Asa will probably be disgusted since Denji saying he wanted to have sex grossed her out earlier in Part Two.
Denji will also be incredibly confused since, in his eyes, Asa went from wanting to castrate him to giving him a hand job in an alleyway.
Maybe this will finally lead to him learning that Asa has the War Devil inside her.
Other than this, and the potential implication of Yoru becoming similar to Asa, I once again have no idea where Chainsaw Man is going.
Knowing Fujimoto though, it will probably be somewhere that throws us all for a loop again.
As for “Super Smooch”, it is a good chapter.
Incredibly awkward?
Yes.
But it is undoubtedly a significant moment in Denji and Asa’s relationship, however that turns out.
The fallout between Denji, Asa and Yoru will be quite interesting to see next chapter.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga Review: The Prelude to Fury Road.

I can still remember the day I saw Mad Max: Fury Road for the first time.
It was a weekend, and my dad asked me if I wanted to go see it with him in theaters.
I knew of the Mad Max films, but I had never seen any of them.
Still, I had nothing to do that day, so I went with him…and was rewarded with one of the greatest action movies of all time.
Fury Road is a complete adrenaline rush of a film that rarely lets up, and I have returned to it time after time over the years, while I waited for a sequel.
Well, nearly a decade later, we finally have not a sequel but a prequel: Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga.

It took a long time, but we now have the next installment in the *Mad Max* franchise.

Once again directed by George Miller, the film details the life of Furiosa, before the events of Fury Road.
After being kidnapped from the Green Place as a child, and seeing her mother murdered by the warlord Dementus, Furiosa begins a decades long journey of revenge, while planning to find her way home.
Anya Taylor-Joy is excellent as Furiosa, delivering a lot of range with very little dialogue.
When she does speak, however, her voice is so similar to Charlize Theron’s original version of the character that I actually thought they had got her to dub over some lines.

Taylor-Joy was the right choice to play the younger Furiosa.

Just as good is Alyla Browne, who plays the child Furiosa, and has a much larger presence in the film than I thought she would.
The real scene stealer, though, is Chris Hemsworth as Dementus.
This is, without a doubt, my favorite performance of his.
He clearly had a blast playing this character, prosthetic nose and all, delivering an antagonist who is both entertaining, monstrous, and occasionally sympathetic.

Dementus is probably my favorite antagonist of the whole franchise.

So, the movie gets the characters right, but what about the action?
This is a prequel to Fury Road, after all, so the action is part of the package.
Well, the first thing to understand is that Furiosa is structured very differently from Fury Road.
Whereas Fury Road’s simple story is set around one big chase scene, Furiosa is a complicated revenge story with a lot of moving parts.
When we do get the action, though, it mostly lives up to the impact of Fury Road.
I say mostly because Furiosa uses way more CGI than Fury Road did.
The CGI was actually my biggest concern going into the movie because the trailers had made it all look too clean compared to Fury Road’s gritty practical effects.
Unfortunately, there were a few times this CGI took me out of the movie, but it by no means killed the experience.

The CGI is occasionally pretty noticeable, especially when watching the film right after *Fury Road,* which I did.

Besides, the making of Fury Road is pretty notorious for how hellish it was for the cast and crew, so I do understand why they chose the easier approach of CGI rather than practical.
In the end, the CGI is really my only big issues with the movie.
Otherwise, Furiosa is a gripping revenge tale with textbook Mad Max craziness.
I still believe Fury Road is the better movie by a mile, but I knew this would be the case going in since, again, I consider it to one of the greatest action movies of all time.
Furiosa is another enjoyable entry in the franchise, and I would advise everyone to go see it to get the film’s numbers up, since it unfortunately seems to be bombing.
It would be a shame if we did not get another Mad Max movie because of this.
After all, we need more of Mad Max’s crazy to distract us from the craziness of our everyday world.

Chainsaw Man Chapter 166, Rain, Brothel, Removal Review: Post-Nut Clarity, Without the Nut.

In my review of Chapter 165 of Chainsaw Man, I speculated that Denji would be more reluctant to visit a brothel because his sister was missing.
Chapter 166, “Rain, Brothel, Removal” begins with Asa voicing this exact sentiment.
Well, apparently both me and Asa gave Denji too much credit because, after a moment of silence, Denji states, “Now that he mentions it… I haven’t masturbated lately.”
Cue every single character staring awkwardly, while Asa gets into another argument with Denji, who tries to justify visiting a brothel for “science reasons.”
Whatever floats your boat, Denji.
Well, Denji did not even need to bother because the chapter then hard cuts to reveal the brothel has been destroyed in the fighting, with Katana Man looking on in horror.
After the tease of the brothel in the previous chapter, many readers, myself included, speculated about its story potential, with characters like Kobeni possibly returning.
Well, Fujimoto typically defied expectations by having the brothel be already destroyed when the characters get there.
As it starts to rain, Denji collapses, berating himself for being so focused on sex while Nayuta is missing.
“I’m always thinking with my dick!” Denji cries: unironically the most honest thing he has said in the entire series.
We then get the big cliffhanger of the chapter, as Yoru takes over Asa’s body and kindly offers to castrate Denji.
I expect the next chapter will begin with Denji running for his penis’ life.
That is not even a joke.
Asa and Yoru have been looking for a way to convince Denji to fight them and I cannot think of a much better motivation than the threat of castration.
Or, who knows, maybe Denji will submit and allow Yoru to make his penis a weapon.
Wow, there is a sentence I never thought I would write.
Although, while Fujimoto has got away with showing a lot in Chainsaw Man, something tells me that this would be a bridge too far for his publisher.
“Rain, Brothel, Removal” is an awkward chapter, but I mean that in a good way, with the humor being the perfect kind of cringe.
I still don’t have much of a clue where the story is going but I am still interested to see, and I will probably laugh at that too.

Chainsaw Man Chapters 164 and 165 Review: An Upcoming Return?

Chapters 164 and 165 of Chainsaw Man, “Charred Remains” and “Everyday Scenery” are short chapters, which could potentially be building up to the return of a missing character.
Chapter 164, “Charred Remains” begins right after Denji’s balls were attacked by Yoru and Katana Man.
Denji, however, has his priorities clear, being desperate to find Nayuta.
Yoru holds no interest in this, but Denji’s pleading is enough to allow Asa to regain control of her body and ask him what happened.
Denji then takes the group to the remains of his burned down apartment.
We see Denji mindlessly sifting through the rubble like a grief driven zombie, while Asa and Yoru try to coax him into fighting them.
Yoru is blunt and cruel, telling Denji that Nayuta is dead and that he should face reality.
I know Fujimoto likes to kill off his characters, but I cannot imagine he would kill Nayuta off screen.
She’ll show up again.
That way Fujimoto can kill her on screen.
Dark humor aside, Asa attempts to coax Denji into a fight are much more sympathetic.
Although, telling someone, “I know how it feels when a family member dies because of you” is probably not the most sensitive thing to say.
Well, at least she’s trying.
Asa’s earnest attempt to comfort Denji naturally frustrates him, since Asa seems to be acting mean one moment and kind the next.
Denji still does not know about the existence of Yoru but, knowing Fujimoto, he will hit him with that revelation when it is most painful.
Realizing she’s not getting through to Denji, Asa asks Fami for help who, predictably, thinks Denji won’t fight because he’s hungry.
“Hunger makes you negative,” she says and, once again, I have to state how constantly amusing I find it that the literal Famine Devil is such a glutton.
Going along with Fami’s suggestion, Asa tells Denji to name whatever he wants to eat.
However, when Denji decides upon sushi, Asa immediately backtracks, telling him she hates sushi more than anything.
“What a bitch!” Katana Man declares and, when he of all people is calling you that, you know you’ve screwed up.
“Charred Remains” then ends with another prime Asa reaction shot to add to the collection, as she ruefully realizes she’s going to have to get Denji sushi.
Chapter 165, “Everyday Scenery” begins with a perfect juxtaposition of that title.
The “Everyday Scenery” Denji sees is that of dead bodies strewn around, injured people, buildings destroyed, and barely anyone reacting to this.
“That’s just expected at this point,” Asa states, showing just how quickly everyone had become used to the state of the world.
The group pile onto a train, with Fami listing possible sushi places which have not been destroyed by the current war,
Denji, however, wants to know why Asa is out to fight him.
Her response, “Because if I can fight you and win, you’ll be saved,” makes Denji draw the humorous conclusion that Asa has been brainwashed by the cult because, well, what she just said sounded insane.
Fami then explains that she wants to break Denji’s contract with Pochita so he will emerge.
They will then defeat him and transplant a human heart into Denji’s body so he can be normal again.
Honestly, this explanation is just as nuts.
Where would they even get a human heart to transplant into Denji in the first place?
Not only that but Fami absolutely refuses to elaborate on anything when questioned, which basically proves she’s lying here.
In the end, Denji lets it go, saying he cannot live a normal life, talking about how he literally used to eat toilet paper to survive but stopped once he no longer had to worry about being hungry.
Asa, unfortunately, sees this as a weird metaphor rather than the horrible truth it is, and promises to save Denji, no matter what.
Her determination is touching but, even if she can save Denji, there will probably be a whole lot of trauma and heartbreak before she gets to that point.
Asa’s poignant statement is then undercut by Katana Man, who has a rather unique suggestion on how to get Denji’s spirits up enough to fight them.
This suggestion?
Take Denji to a brothel so he can get laid, of course!
Who ever thought that the two of them would become such bros?
In all seriousness, I do have to wonder how enthusiastic Denji will actually be about this.
We know one of his main goals in life is to have sex but, now that his sister’s missing, this has most likely gone way down in his list of priorities.
As for story implications, Katana Man taking Denji to a brothel could see the return of a character who has not been seen since Part One ended… Kobeni.
Way back in the first Eternity Devil Arc, Kobeni said the choice her parents gave her was to either become a Devil Hunter or a sex worker.
We saw that Kobeni left the Devil Hunting profession in the last arc of Part One so, horrifying as it is to think about, her parents may have forced her into prostitution.
Kobeni showing up at the brothel would also be significant because her brother Nobana is with the group, and wouldn’t that just be awkward?
However, although I would love Kobeni to come back into the story, making her a sex worker might be taking things a bridge too far.
Kobeni’s suffering is played for laughs, often quite effectively, but her being forced into sex work would just feel gratuitous.
Of course, if she had not had to serve anyone yet and Denji’s arrival allows her to escape, I would feel a lot better about it.
That is if Kobeni is at the brothel.
After all, there has been wrong speculation about different characters returning at multiple points in Part Two.
Remember the theory that Reze was going to be the one to break Denji out of prison?
Either way, “Charred Remains” and “Everyday Scenery” are both good Chainsaw Man chapters, which provide humorous moments, and interesting interactions between Asa and Denji.
As for whether Kobeni will return next chapter or not, well, we will find out that tomorrow.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes Review: Franchise. Together. Strong.

The Planet of the Apes franchise has been an icon of cinema for decades.
This is, in my opinion, most encapsulated by the success of the recent Caesar trilogy of Rise, Dawn, and War, which is one of my favorite trilogies of all time.
Despite this, I was a bit concerned when I heard we were getting a follow up to this trilogy with Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.
It felt like the story had been told to completion, and any follow up would be an obvious cash-grab.
Well, after having seen Kingdom, I can gladly eat my words because it is more than a worthy follow up to the iconic trilogy.

*The Planet of Apes* franchise is still going strong.

Directed by Wes Ball, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes follows Noa (Owen Teague), a young ape whose clan trains eagles, centuries after the death of Caeser.
Noa sets out of a journey to rescue his clan after they are violently taken away by the forces of Proximus Caeser (Kevin Durand), an ape ruler who has warped Caeser’s words to suit his own ends.
Along the way, Noa picks up two companions, an orangutan named Raka (Peter Macon), the last of an order who stay true to Caeser’s teachings, and Nova (Freya Allan), a human woman who is much smarter than the feral humans now inhabiting the world.

These unlikely allies travel together to rescue Noa’s clan.

With how great the characters in the Caser trilogy were, I knew it would be difficult for Kingdom to match them, but the movie does an excellent job of setting these characters up for future films.
Noa is a relatable protagonist, starting off naive about the world but slowly growing both in confidence and as a leader.

Teague does an excellent job as the young ape, with the motion capture also being stunning.

Raka provides some good humor and also has great use delivering world-building.
Mae seems to be a bit of a divisive character, given her role in the film, but I personally found her moral ambiguity to be highly engaging, and I especially look forward to seeing how her connection with Noa will evolve.
As for the villain, Proximus Caesar, he makes for a great showcase of one of the film’s main themes, this being the corruption of legacy, as powerful tyrants warp words to suit their own ends.

Durand plays the charismatic, power-hungry ape brilliantly.

These characters are all well done, not just in their writing and in the acting, but also in the visuals for them.
The Caesar trilogy had some of the best motion capture put to film and obviously Kingdom is no different.
There was not a single moment in the movie when I thought the apes were not really on screen.
It is not just the apes, though, because the CGI for the post-apocalyptic world they inhabit is also a feast for the eyes.

You could probably pause any landscape shot in the movie and be met with a sight like this.

As for our ears, the soundtrack is also solid, helping to deliver the impact of various moments.
All in all, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is another fantastic entry in the series.
While I personally prefer the trilogy films more, I feel like my perception of Kingdom could become even better if the sequels continue in quality.
There are certainly a lot of questions I have that I am looking forward to seeing answered in the next film.
Apes. Together. Strong.

Fallout Review: The Latest Great Video Game Adaptation.

Once it seemed unthinkable that any adaptation of a video game could be good.
Now, we’ve had fantastic shows like Arcane, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, and The Last of Us.
Sure, there are still a few duds, but it feels like there are just as many success stories nowadays.
Thankfully for fans of the Fallout series, its Amazon Prime adaptation is one of the successes.
Personally, I have never really been able to get into the Fallout games.
I have tried multiple times but, for whatever reason, the Bethesda style has never really worked for me.
That being said, I loved the first season of Fallout.
It has excellent world-building, a fun and relatable cast of characters, and some of the best dark humor I have seen in a while.

Even for someone not into the games, this season was great.

The show follows four characters, 200 years after nuclear war reduced the United States to a radioactive wasteland full of crazed bandits and mutants.
Our main character is Lucy (Ella Purnell), a naive Vault Dweller who leaves the security of her Vault after an attack, during which her father was kidnapped.
Purnell described her character as “Ned Flanders in the apocalypse” and I honestly could not think of a more fitting description.

Over the course of the show, we see Lucy grow harder to survive, yet never losing her good nature.

Then there is Maximus (Aaron Moten), a recruit for the Brotherhood of Steel who is absolutely horrible at making himself seem innocent, even when he is.
The character most viewers will gravitate to is the Ghoul played by Walton Goggins, whose tragic tale is one of the most gripping of the entire first season.
The story I was most invested in, however, was unexpectedly Lucy’s brother Norm (Moisés Arias).
Norm is left behind in the Vault but becomes suspicious of his its purpose, creating an intriguing mystery which was mind blowing with the way it tied the storylines together in the final episode.

Norm’s storyline is the one I’m most excited to see continued next season.

These great characters and their interesting stories are tied together with a solid old-school soundtrack, fun visuals and, of course, hysterical dark humor.
There was at least one moment every episode where I laughed out loud, and there were quite a few times I felt bad for doing so, given the subject matter.
However, the show is not all dark comedy because sometimes it’s just dark, with a few disturbing moments which will stay with me for a while.
The show does an excellent job of balancing the darkness between making you laugh and making you feel horrified.

The opening scene of the series is one of the most horrifying of all.

There are also a lot of great easter eggs to the games and just video games in general, which also got a good chuckle out of me.
Overall, there’s a lot to love about this adaptation.
It has interesting characters, a fun and disturbing world, and it will make you laugh at the darkest of things.
Fallout has already joined the ranks of great video game adaptations and I look forward to laughing at its dark comedy in the second season.