Chainsaw Man Chapter 178, Gun Goddess Review: A Grim Reminder.

In almost every review I do for a Chainsaw Man chapter, I talk about my complete inability to predict what Tatsuki Fujimoto will do next.
Well, in a nice change of pace, I actually got two of my predictions right, both of which played out in horrifying ways.
In my previous review, I joked about a Titan breaking out of the Statue of Liberty.
Well, Chapter 178, “Gun Goddess”, begins with exactly that happening.
A massive, skeletal monster holding a gigantic rifle emerges from the statue, once again proving Fujimoto’s skill when it comes to monster designs.
This monster was probably created from fragments of the Gun Devil, and Yoru uses it to attack Pochita.
In a moment eerily similar to other Gun Devil attacks, the monster fires on Pochita, absolutely decimating the city around him and no doubt taking hundreds, if not thousands, of lives.
And so, my second prediction comes true, as we see Asa’s horrified reaction to what Yoru has used her body to do.
In my previous review, I said Asa had an expression which screamed, “Oh, yeah, Yoru’s a Devil!”
Well, this is almost word for word what Asa thinks as she looks on in horror, while Yoru laughs behind her.
The sight of the destroyed city is certainly terrifying, especially given how fantastic Fujimoto’s artwork is this chapter.
He not only gave us a terrific design for the Statue of Liberty monster, but also plenty of cinematic panels of the destruction Yoru wreaths.
It is kind of funny because, for the past few months, some readers have been complaining about Fujimoto’s artwork not being as good as Part One.
Now, with this chapter he has, in my opinion, delivered some of his best work.
Yoru’s attack on Pochita leaves only his head and chest area remaining but, luckily for him, the Aging Devil is there to help him out.
Unluckily for many children in Japan, the Aging Devil is only doing so because, if Pochita eats him, then that means a lot of these children will die because of the Aging Devil’s contract.
The creep even has a window open up so he can get a front row seat of the children dying while Pochita eats him.
Honestly, though, I don’t think Pochita will eat him.
He will probably just ignore him, like he did Yoru last chapter.
Although that could be just wishful thinking on my part.
Hey, I don’t want to see a bunch of children die, sue me.
“Gun Goddess” is a fantastic Chainsaw Man chapter.
The artwork is incredible, and the reactions to the horror they have unleashed from both Yoru and Asa are great.
It would not surprise me if Asa started working against Yoru starting next chapter.
She was orphaned in a Devil attack so there is no way she is okay with Yoru orphaning others in her destructive attempt to kill Chainsaw Man.
Way back in my review of Chapter 146, I said that Part Two had crossed the precipice into Fujimoto’s brand of insanity.
Looking back with the benefit of hindsight, I can definitely say I said this way too soon.
The actual crossing of the precipice came with Nayuta’s death (if she really is dead) in Chapter 170.
Ever since, every chapter has been insane moment after insane moment.
Ears and mouths were erased and returned, the entire concept of aging is at risk of disappearing, Yoru got two new arm gauntlets, and now, in Chapter 178, Yoru has launched an attack of Gun Devil proportions while using Asa’s body as an unwilling host to deliver it.
I expect things will only get crazier next chapter.

Spice and Wolf: Merchant Meets the Wise Wolf Review: Wholesome Economics.

Spice and Wolf was one of those anime I heard a lot about, but never really got around to checking out.
So, when I learned there would be a reboot, Spice and Wolf: Merchant Meets the Wise Wolf, I figured watching it would be the best way to introduce myself to the story.
And I am very glad it was my introduction.

The reboot is a great way for new viewers to first experience *Spice and Wolf.*

Based off the light novel of the same name by Isuna Hasekura, Spice and Wolf begins with Kraft Lawrence, a travelling merchant who encounters a wolf deity named Holo.
Taking the form of a young woman, Holo makes an agreement with Lawrence.
As the two travel together, Holo’s knowledge helps Lawrence grow his profits, while he helps her find information about her mysterious hometown, which she wishes to return to.
Over the course of their 25-episode journey, Lawrence and Holo grow closer, often bickering like an old married couple.

Watching these two characters together is never boring.

Their chemistry is sold both through the solid animation and the excellent work done by their voice actors, Jun Fukuyama and Ami Koshimizu.
The latter in particular does an excellent job, with Koshimizu bringing Holo’s charming cheekiness to life.
Lawrence and Holo play off each other so well that I would say the weakest part of the show is the arc where they are separated and we have to spend a long time with Lawrence alone.

The story is definitely better with Lawrence and Holo together rather than apart.

This is only one arc, however, and the payoff to it is pretty good.
Speaking of, charming moments between Lawrence and Holo are not the only payoff we get because Spice and Wolf also does an excellent job of making the economic elements of Lawrence’s trade interesting.
It was always interesting to see how he and Holo would work around their monetary and debt issues with corrupt officials, which constantly plagued them throughout the season.

A lesser show would have struggled to make the merchant aspects interesting, but this is half the fun of *Spice and Wolf;* the other half of course being the relationship between Lawrence and Holo.

What also helped is that the characters the two meet on their journey are likeable, or at least understandable in their motivations.
The real focus is on Holo and Lawrence though, as it should be.
Watching their bond grow, along with their clear romantic feelings for one another, made for a fun watch.
It is clear that many others agree because, immediately after the finale aired, a Season Two was announced.

I look forward to seeing more of Lawrence and Holo’s adventure in the future.

If Season Two is anything like the first, it will be more than worth the watch.
Spice and Wolf: Merchant Meets the Wise Wolf has a fantastic dynamic between its two romantic leads and does a great job of explaining and making its economic nature entertaining.
If, like me, you had not experienced this story before, I would recommend this series as a great way to introduce yourself.

Chainsaw Man Chapter 177, Trigger Finger Review: A Possible Return Hinted?

I ended my review for the previous Chainsaw Man chapter by saying, “I do not know how the fight between Yoru and Pochita will progress, but it is sure to be epic.”
Well, for what feels like the hundredth time, Fujimoto pulled the rug out from under me, this time by having Pochita not fight Yoru at all.
Yeah, he just leaves the fight as if Yoru is not even worth his time.
Where does he go?
To take part in a blood drive.
He was even kind enough to give the girl advertising it a break.
It was kind of rude of her to run off screaming, though.
As for why Pochita is taking part in a blood drive, I cannot help but wonder if Fujimoto is hinting at the return of Power with this?
I mean, she asked Denji all the way back at the end of Part One to find the Blood Devil and turn them back into Power.
Of course, as Fujimoto proved this chapter by having Pochita run off instead of fight Yoru, it is almost impossible to predict what crazy thing he will write next, so I am probably reading too much into this supposed Power hint.
As for Yoru, she does not take Pochita’s refusal to fight sitting down.
Instead, she uses her newfound strength in typical Devil fashion, by destroying the index fingers of 400,000 NRA members.
She appears to be sacrificing these fingers to awaken some kind of power inside the Statue of Liberty, which cracks at the end of the chapter.
What, is a Titan about to emerge from it?
My best guess for why Yoru is able to affect the statue is because it was a gift from France to the USA after they won the American Revolution which, as a war, Yoru undoubtedly benefited from.
We will see whatever she plans to use the statue for next chapter, along with probably more disturbed reactions from Asa about Yoru’s attitude.
She looked pretty horrified when Yoru was so nonchalant about turning her children into weapons.
It was like she remembered, “Oh, yeah, Yoru’s a Devil!”
I do believe Yoru had to feel some guilt from the sacrifice because, as has been explained before, powerful weapons are created by guilt.
Given that Yoru’s new hand gauntlets were able to wound Pochita, I imagine the guilt would have to be pretty strong.
Yet it is not Yoru destroying 400,000 index fingers, cracking the Statue of Liberty, or her possible guilt over weaponizing her children that is getting the fandom talking about this chapter.
No, it is Yoru’s other asset… Yes, I know, I am ashamed of myself for making that pun too.
It is kind of funny though that this became the main talking point of the chapter, rather than all of the other crazy stuff that happened.
I guess people are just used to whatever insane concepts Fujimoto comes up with.
I certainly expect we will see more insanity next chapter, as Fujimoto reveals what Yoru is doing to the Statue of Liberty.
As for Chapter 177, “Trigger Finger” is another blast to read, with great comedy and typical Fujimoto craziness, among other assets… I know, I will stop now.

Spy x Family Code: White Review: A Fun Forger Family Adventure.

Tatsuya Endo’s Spy x Family is one of the manga industry’s most recent successes.
I have enjoyed both reading it and watching the anime over the years, even if I never did get around to reviewing the second season.
Well, with the show’s success, it was only a matter of time before it got an anime original movie.
Code: White is the first of potentially many such movies.
Having recently released on Crunchyroll, I decided to give it a shot and, as expected, had a lot of fun.

Like *My Hero Academia, Spy x Family* could be getting a lot of anime original movies in the future.

To recap, Spy x Family is set in a cold war between two rival nations, Ostania and Westalis.
Top Westalis spy Twilight (Takuya Eguchi) has to forge a fake family in the hopes of getting close to a man who could bring both countries back to the brink of war.
Taking on the persona of Loid Forger, Twilight adopts a little girl named Anya (Atsumi Tanezaki), gets into a marriage of convenience with a woman named Yor (Saori Hayami), and adopts a dog named Bond (Kenichiro Matsuda).
However, everyone in this family has a secret, not just Loid.
Yor is an expert assassin named the Thorn Princess, Anya is a telepath, and Bond can see the future.
The only member of the family who has any knowledge of this is Anya, due to her telepathy, resulting in many hilarious moments in the series where she tries to help her adoptive family while keeping up appearances.

Each of the Forgers have their own advantages, which is always hilarious to see Anya play off of.

This is the setting Code: White emerges from, as Twilight takes the Forgers on a trip to a place called Frigis, where he hopes to find a dessert to give Anya an advantage in a cooking competition, which will also hopefully help his own mission.
But, of course, this simple vacation takes a turn when Anya accidentally eats a chocolate containing a microfilm, which in the wrong hands could start the war again.
Code: White’s story is a pretty standard Spy x Family experience, and is used as a vehicle to bring the audience great animation, fun action and wholesome moments.
The latter takes up at least half the movie, with a large amount of focus being centered on the fun the Forgers get up to before the action takes center stage.
This is most apparent with Yor, whose storyline centers around her concern that Loid has a mistress, leading to lots of great humor.

Yor can go from sweet and loving wife and mother to dangerous assassin at the mere hint of danger.

The comedy also continues into the action portion of the movie, with Anya’s being particularly funny, while Loid and Yor get all the cool fight scenes.
All three of their storylines get fantastic animation, creating an especially fun third act.
The only issue I had with with this is the logic issues.
I know Loid and Yor are pretty dense when it comes to recognizing one another’s true identities, but the plausibility that they would not be at least a little suspicious of each other in this movie is stretched a little.

The extent of Loid and Yor’s awareness of each other was a little too oblivious in this film.

Still, this is only a minor problem, in a good filler movie.
Throw in a few cameos from Frankie, Yuri, Fiona and other characters, and you pretty much have a Spy x Family episode, only extended to movie length.
Code: White is a fun experience with a lot of good humor and action, along with excellent animation in the third act.
I hope we get more of these.

Chainsaw Man Chapter 175 and 176 Review: A Literal Call to Arms.

Upon reading Chapter 175 of Chainsaw Man, “Both Hands”, I decided to delay my review until the following chapter.
I decided to do this because I knew I would have little to talk about, since the characters in the chapter do not talk either due to… well, having no mouths.
Little did I suspect that Chapter 176, “Two Children”, would drop yet another bombshell.
As for “Both Hands”, it begins with Pochita being attacked by a mob of civilians.
Unfortunately for them, Pochita is not some regular Chainsaw Man Devil, but the real deal.
Easily killing the civilians, Pochita is then attacked by the Aging Devil, Katana Man, and Yoru all at once.
But Pochita, being the all-powerful Devil that he is, easily fights off the attack, seemingly with a single strike.
He cuts off the Aging Devil’s hands, temporarily kills Katana Man again, and removes Yoru’s remaining arm.
Pushing Katana Man’s body off her, Yoru then marches towards Pochita, still determined to fight him, despite having no arms.
However, as she reaches him, she falls to her knees, with the chapter ending on a panel of her wild, spiral-like eyes.
This ending was pretty confusing, when I first read it.
It turns out that a character having a mouth helps when trying to read their facial expression.
Who knew?
The look in Yoru’s eyes could have been shock, anger or denial for all I knew.
I never would have guessed what her expression actually meant though, and I am willing to bet no one else did either.
Chapter 176 begins with a flashback to Yoru and Asa bathing.
Yoru makes a weapon out of soap without naming or touching it, confirming that the fear of war has made her powerful enough to make weapons without speaking or making contact.
However, because this war is against Chainsaw Man Devils, the fear is also making Chainsaw Man stronger, lessening Yoru’s chance of beating him.
Asa suggests burying the hatchet, but Yoru wants to free her comrades who were eaten by Chainsaw Man.
If you will recall, one of these comrades is definitely the Nuclear Weapons Devil, as Yoru said she would make Chainsaw Man vomit it up all the way back in Chapter 98.
This would definitely be a bad thing.
I mean, I think we can all agree that world-ending nukes are a concept better left erased, right?
But, if Yoru gets her way, they will not be erased for long.
This will not come without sacrifice for her, however, as Yoru will have to weaponize two things she cares about to have a hope of defeating Chainsaw Man.
Although Yoru admits to Asa in the bath that she would give anything to defeat Chainsaw Man and prove herself to be the most fearsome Devil.
The chapter then cuts to the present, where Pochita is seconds away from killing Yoru.
It is revealed that the things she has to weaponize are her own children, but Yoru is willing to make that sacrifice.
“Come to mother,” she calls in her mind. “Tank. Gun.”
And with that line, another bombshell is dropped.
It makes complete sense that Yoru would be considered the Gun Devil’s mother, considering that guns are a weapon used in warfare.
The Gun Devil’s return could also make the fight between her and Pochita more personal, since the Gun Devil was involved in Aki’s death which hurt Denji.
As Yoru calls for her children, they are ripped free from their prisons across the world and attach themselves to Yoru, becoming her and Asa’s new arms.
Her literal call to arms complete, Yoru uses the power of the Gun Devil to shoot Pochita, freeing the Mouth Devil from his gut and returning mouths to the world.
The final panel shows Yoru sporting a victorious look, as she prepares to take on Pochita with her Right Gun Gauntlet and Left Tank Gauntlet, the Mouth Devil’s decapitated head falling in front of her.
This cliffhanger makes for a great final panel that hypes up the coming fight between Pochita and Yoru, which is one I think will be on much more equal footing now.
Sure, Yoru will still probably struggle, but she will have more of a shot now, especially since there is probably a lot of guilt involved in weaponizing her children, making them much more powerful weapons as a result.
After reading Chapter 175, I wondered how Yoru was supposed to fight in the series with no hands but now we know.
“Both Hands” is a good chapter, which shows off the power of Pochita in complete silence.
It has nothing on “Two Children”, however, as Fujimoto dropped yet another plot twist with the return of the Gun Devil as Yoru’s right arm, along with the Tank Devil as her left.
I do not know how the fight between Yoru and Pochita will progress, but it is sure to be epic.

Chainsaw Man Chapters 173 and 174 Review: Fumiko is Irredeemable.

When Pochita ran wild back in the final arc of Chainsaw Man Part One, Fujimoto released a whole lot of chaotic insanity.
Somehow, things are getting even weirder now that Pochita has returned in Part Two.
Chapter 173, “Hard of Hearing”, and Chapter 174, “Ayyy, Aging”, do an excellent job of showcasing the might of Chainsaw Man’s power, while also showing the true extent of government corruption.
Starting with “Hard of Hearing”, the chapter begins by revealing the consequences of Pochita eating the Ear Devil.
We see people dropping their phones, and animals like cats and elephants without ears, showing that Pochita’s power truly has a worldwide reach.
Upon confirming that the Ear Devil has been eaten, Public Safety begin their operation to get Pochita to puke it up.
They do so by contacting what is later revealed to be the Aging Devil, a Primal Fear.
The way that they make a contract with the Devil is disturbing, as three Public Safety Officers amputate one of their fingers using scissors, before writing the word “HIT” on a mirror.
The Aging Devil, who has a great design by the way, then attacks Pochita, giving Yoshida enough time to use the Octopus Devil to wrap around him, forcing Pochita to vomit up the Ear Devil.
This returns ears back to the world, as seen by the final panel of the chapter where an elephant has its ears returned.
“Hard of Hearing” does a great job of showing the consequences of Pochita’s power and sets up the following chapter perfectly.
“Ayyy, Aging” is definitely the superior chapter of the two, showing the corruption of the government and the irredeemable nature of Fumiko.
The chapter is set in a government meeting, where the officials are mostly elderly.
Using the temporary erasure of ears as proof of Chainsaw Man’s power, Fumiko states that the Aging Devil has agreed to let itself be eaten by Chainsaw Man, which will remove aging.
Because a lot of the government officials in the room are facing their own mortality, they are eager to see this deal happen.
There is a catch, though.
Before it dies, the Aging Devil wants to murder 10,000 children in front of mirrors.
The use of mirrors in this disturbing demand really ties into the nature of the Aging Devil.
In the previous chapter, the Public Safety Officers had to amputate their fingers in front of a mirror, and now the Aging Devil wants to kill thousands of children while looking through them.
Mirrors are the way we tell our own age because, each time we look, we know that we are closer to death.
Wow, I made myself depressed just writing that.
Anyway, this is why it makes perfect sense for the Aging Devil to use mirrors in its contracts, especially the horrifying ones like this 10,000 dead children deal.
The old officials in the room view this as a necessary sacrifice to remove aging, with the oldest official in the room stating that, “Ten thousand lives is a small price to pay for the future of Japan.”
Of course, this is just the way this selfish geezer justifies the monstrous act to himself.
He, and every other official in the room, clearly just want to live longer, even ignoring the potential consequences of aging being removed.
There is one government official who at least has a conscience, but he is threatened into submitting when his own children are mentioned.
The only person left in the room who could stop the order being given is Fumiko, but she suggested the whole thing.
It is funny how I thought Fumiko could have a good side back when she brought up her backstory to Denji.
Ever since then, she has only proven herself to be a terrible person, abandoning Denji and Nayuta, wanting to collect a piece of Denji before he gets dissected, and now helping plan the murder of 10,000 children, all with a smile on her face.
She is truly one of the most despicable characters in the manga, at the moment.
I have even heard some theorize that she is the Death Devil but I am not sure how this would work, since her eyes are different from Nayuta and Fami’s, and she told Denji her backstory earlier… if that was even true.
As for the government officials, they are all corrupt scum and, watching how selfish they are, it is no wonder Makima turned out the way she did.
If the Prime Minister in this chapter is the same one Makima had a contract with then she would have had a front row seat to all of the corruption in Japan.
It adds a lot to her motivation of wanting to use Chainsaw Man to make the world a better place, along with highlighting how great of a job Denji did raising Nayuta.
And now I just made myself feel depressed again by reminding myself how Nayuta died… if she did die that is.
There is a theory that the decapitated head Barem showed Denji was actually not Nayuta’s because there was a mole missing.
However, this could be because Fujimoto just forgot to draw her mole.
Honestly, I would be happy if Nayuta survived somehow or got revived.
God knows Denji needs some happiness in his life after all of the misery he has been through.
If Nayuta really is dead, though, then that makes me hate Fumiko all the more for abandoning her.
Unless she has some sort of major turnaround soon, her character is pretty much irredeemable to me at this point.
I thought we might actually get this turnaround, when Fumiko appears to hesitate before making the call organizing the deaths of 10,000 children.
In some masterful paneling from Fujimoto, we see sweat building along her face, making us wonder if her conscience is making her hesitate, only for the next page to reveal Pochita has eaten the Mouth Devil, removing the concept of mouths entirely.
Now Fumiko cannot make the call, meaning that Pochita just saved 10,000 children.
Chainsaw Man really is a hero, even if the act was unintentional.
In the final panel of the chapter, we see that Pochita has also eaten the Snow, Bitterness and Octopus Devils, meaning Yoshida lost the fight.
I doubt Yoshida is dead though.
It would be weird for him to die off screen after so much buildup.
Of course, Fujimoto also supposedly killed Nayuta off screen so we should at least consider it a possibility.
As for Pochita, him removing the Mouth Devil means that he cannot erase any more concepts, since he does not have a mouth to eat Devils.
It also theoretically means no concepts can return because Pochita can no longer vomit their Devils back up.
I say “theoretically” because of course mouths are going to return, like ears did.
Could you imagine if Chainsaw Man continued without the characters having any mouths?… wait, no, I shouldn’t give Fujimoto any ideas.
In all likelihood, I suspect someone will cut Pochita open to return Devils like Mouth back.
And what character better than the War Devil, who has been powered up over the fear of war?
I am still looking forward to the fight between Chainsaw Man and the War Devil, and I am interested to see if this will bring nuclear weapons back as well.
“Aaay, Aging” is a fantastic Chainsaw Man chapter, and “Hard of Hearing” builds into it well.
Both show off Pochita’s powers, while Chapter 174 alone shows the corruption and irredeemable nature of the government and Fumiko.
The battle between Pochita and Public Safety will continue in Chapter 175.

Alien: Romulus Review: Great Moments Weighed Down by Nostalgia.

Despite being the most renowned sci-fi horror franchise of all time, the Alien sequels have yet to live up to the excellence of its first two installments.
This was something I hoped would change with Alien: Romulus.
Directed by Fede Álvarez, one of the best horror directors working today, the first teaser for the film truly gripped me, getting me more excited for an Alien movie than I have been in years.
So, the first chance I got, I made my way down to the theater and sat down to watch it.
Unfortunately, I left that theater disappointed.
That is not to say Alien: Romulus is a bad movie, don’t get me wrong.
But the film is simply no better than the many average sequels which came after Aliens.
There are times when the movie is great, but those moments are undermined by a lot of bad.

*Romulus* starts off well, but its issues become more apparent as the film goes on.

Set between Alien and Aliens, Romulus follows a group of young adults who board a deserted research station.
Consisting of Rain (Cailee Spaney), her android brother Andy (David Jonsson), Tyler (Archie Renaux), Kay (Isabela Merced), Bjorn (Spike Bearn) and Navaro (Aileen Wu), this group attempts to find a way to make a better life for themselves, only to be met with a brutal fight for survival as they encounter the most dangerous creature in the universe.
Out of every character in the cast, the best are definitely Rain and Andy.
Their bond is the highlight of the film, with David Jonsson being particularly great as Andy.

Jonsson makes Andy endearing, awesome, and off-putting at different points throughout the film.

As for the rest of the characters, they are fine.
A lot of them are just there to die horribly when things go bad.
Speaking of which, these deaths are really gruesome, with a lot of horrifying practical effects.
The effects for the Aliens are also top notch.
They have been mostly CG for the past few movies, so it was great to see Fede Álvarez return the franchise to its practical roots.

Turns out the Alien is much more threatening when it is actually on stage with the actors. Who would have thought?… okay, everybody already knew that.

Along with the practical effects, the set design is also phenomenal, as is the sound design.
The soundtrack is nothing special, but it gets the job done.
All of these settings combine to create some truly great scenes, most notably with the Facehuggers.
Romulus presents the Facehuggers at their most terrifying, while also adding to the lore of how they operate in fascinating ways.

The Facehuggers have not been this scary since *Aliens.*

All of this is great but, as I said earlier, the movie is weighed down by many problems, chief among them being nostalgia.
Whenever a franchise gets rebooted nowadays, the writers will often have characters repeat famous lines from earlier movies, even when those lines make no sense in the context they are repeated.
Romulus is unfortunately no different.
There is an action scene near the third act which is tense, inventive and one of the best scenes in the film… but then they have to weaken it by having a character awkwardly repeat a line from Aliens.

This scene would have been perfect without the unnecessary callback at the end.

The issues do not end there because, without giving anything away, the movie baits nostalgia using CGI for one specific plot point, and it was just awful.
It looked so bad to the point of distraction, especially compared to the many great practical effects throughout the movie.
And then we have the ending.
Oh, boy, that ending.
Going into Romulus, I had heard that the ending was nuts and yep, it definitely is, but not in a good way.
It starts off well enough, being sufficiently creepy.
However, as the scene goes on, the threat just becomes goofy.
It felt like I was looking at something from a cheesy Resident Evil game rather than something from Alien.

The third act will be divisive, I think. Some people will enjoy it, while others, like me, will not.

I can appreciate Fede Álvarez taking a big swing with his idea for the ending, but it definitely missed for me.
Not to mention this final threat feels extremely similar to an idea from a prior Alien sequel which already failed.
It is a shame that Romulus has all of these issues because, like I said, there are a lot of great things about this movie.
Rain and Andy’s bond is a highlight, the practical effects are amazing, and a lot of the horror and action scenes are intense.
It is all just weighed down by eye rolling nostalgia bait, extremely poor CGI at times, and a third act which just feels goofy and honestly too far removed from Alien.
Overall, Alien: Romulus is still a good movie, but best to temper your expectations before going to see it.

House of the Dragon Season Two, Episode Eight, The Queen Who Ever Was Review: Worst Episode of the Series?

I was excited for the Season Two finale of House of the Dragon.
The previous episode, “The Red Sowing”, was one of my favorites of the series, so I was anticipating the season would likewise end on a great note.
Unfortunately, House of the Dragon followed up one of its best episodes with easily its worst for me.
Directed by Geeta Vasant Patel, “The Queen Who Ever Was” not only ends Season Two on an anticlimactic note but also has plenty of poorly integrated scenes, scenes that go nowhere and, worst of all, two cases of extreme character assassination.
The episode begins with Tyland Lannister negotiating with the Triarchy.
Over the course of the episode, we see him struggle, having to engage in a mud fight with Admiral Lohar to win the Triarchy’s support.
These scenes all feel very rushed, considering they are just shoved into the season finale.
If this storyline had been stretched out over previous episodes, maybe it would have been better.
A counter point to this is that Tyland and the newly introduced Lohar are just not interesting enough to carry their own storyline.
Sadly, this is not the only story with scenes spread across the episode which lacks intrigue.
Throughout “The Queen Who Ever Was”, we get brief scenes of Rhaena running through the Vale, looking for a wild dragon.
Not only is Rhaena unlikeable here because she abandoned her half-siblings, but the storyline also makes little sense because somehow no one noticed she was gone.
The episode ends with her finding the dragon, which has a cool design, but that is the last we see of Rhaena this season, making all of the buildup she got seem like a waste of time.
The Tyland and Rhaena scenes feel like they could have been removed in favor of focusing on more interesting events, like Aemond burning down a city that is loyal to the Blacks.
We only see the aftermath of this attack, removing a lot of its impact.
If we had seen Aemond actually burn the city, driven by his anger of the Blacks recruiting new dragon riders last episode, it could have been a big moment for his character.
Instead, it feels kind of hollow.
Speaking of those new dragon riders, Ulf is already letting the power get to his head, being disrespectful towards Jace.
This only furthers Jace’s fear that these Dragonseeds could prove to be more of a threat than allies.
Rhaenyra is not likely to listen to his protests, however.
She is, thankfully, finally listening to Corlys.
He was named Hand of the Queen in Episode Five, but he has bizarrely never been seen advising Rhaenyra until now.
It honestly felt like Mysaria was Hand of the Queen rather than him.
Now, we finally get to see him advising Rhaenyra to take the war to the Greens, while also unveiling his new ship, dubbing it “The Queen Who Ever Was” after Rhaenys, which is a nice touch.
Corlys is also in the best scene of the episode, when he tries to offer Alyn help, only for his illegitimate son to confront him with all of the pain he put him and Addam through by neglecting them.
Abubakar Salim gives a powerful performance here, and it makes me more excited to see him in Season Three.
Hopefully, we will see Corlys advising Rhaenyra more next season, as well.
She is certainly going to need all of the advice she can get, given that one of her plans failed so badly this episode.
The Lord she sent to access Daemon ends up betraying her, wanting to support Daemon’s claim instead.
Rhaenyra is just lucky Daemon had a vision about how terrible Season Eight was and now wants to stop it from happening.
That joke brings me to Daemon’s part of the story, as he finally makes his choice regarding his place in the world, deciding to stay loyal to Rhaenyra after his vision of the coming Whiter Walker threat.
While this was a big moment from Daemon, I do feel like House of the Dragon leans way too heavily on the events of Game of Thrones at times.
I wish it could just be its own show, especially how a lot of us do not want to be reminded of Season Eight.
Along with this, Daemon and Rhaenyra reconciling makes me wonder just what the point was of that bizarre make out scene between Rhaenyra and Mysaria in Episode Six?
That scene has never been addressed since and it probably never will now that Rhaenyra and Daemon are back on the same page.
However, Daemon’s storyline has an even worse problem, which is the complete character assassination of Helaena.
Helaena appears in Daemon’s vision, revealing herself to have powers similar to Bran’s in Game of Thrones.
She then gives him some advice.
“This is all a story. And you’re but one part in it. You know your part. You know what you must do.”
I hated this.
Daemon is responsible for the brutal murder of Helaena’s son, and I am supposed to believe that she is willing to help him after that?
Why?
She should hate his guts.
In episode two, we saw how traumatizing the death of her son was for her and this scene lessens that impact.
This is the first character assassination of the episode but there is still one more and it is far worse.
I am getting ahead of myself, though.
While, yes, the scene with Daemon and Helaena is bad, at least there are a couple of good scenes to balance the episode out a little.
The first of these is the already mentioned Alyn scene, but there is also one of Criston, where Gwayne confronts him over his relationship with Alicent.
The scene is a bit weird since Gwayne confronts Criston out in the open, practically telling everyone who did not already know that the King’s widow is having an affair.
That being said, the scene does have the best dialogue of the episode, as Criston shows how nihilistic he has become.
“Perhaps all men are corrupt and true honor is a mist that melts in the morning.”
Criston may be a complete and utter jerk, but damn did that line feel like something George R.R Martin would write.
Criston is faithful to Alicent… it is just a shame that she is currently willing to sell him and every single person in her family besides Helaena up the river.
After learning Aemond wants to force Helaena to fight, Alicent goes to Rhaenyra in secret to negotiate, being willing to surrender King’s Landing to her once Aemond leaves.
At first, Alicent attempts to claim she can convince Aegon to bend the knee, but Rhaenyra refuses, saying Aegon has to die for her claim to the Iron Throne to succeed.
So, obviously, Alicent says no, right?
I mean, this is the woman who threw herself in front of a dragon to defend her son in Season One, Episode Nine.
She would never sacrifice her children after being so afraid for their safety previously, right?
Nope, she agrees to sacrifice Aegon and, by extension, Aemond, Otto and Daeron, the latter of whom she wanted to know about just a few episodes ago.
This completely destroys Alicent’s character.
She was the one who turned her children against Rhaenyra in the first place and now she is willing to have them executed?
Not that it will happen though, because Aegon flees the city with Larys this episode, which will probably cause yet another misunderstanding between Rhaenyra and Alicent in Season Three.
As for Aegon himself, Tom-Glynn Carney did a fantastic job this season.
I somehow both sympathize with his character and despise him.
This is what the show should have been going for with Alicent.
Instead of the ruthless, power-hungry woman who loved her children from the book, we get the complete opposite, someone who wants peace even if it means her own children have to die.
Seeing what it led to, I now really don’t like the switch in Alicent’s character in “Lord of the Tides.”
If she had crowned Aegon because she wanted to, rather than because she misheard Viserys, it would have made her a lot more interesting.
Honestly, Rhaenyra suffers a lot from these kinds of issues as well.
In the Season One finale, Rhaenyra’s face after she learned of Luke’s death promised vengeance.
In Season Two, however, apart from Episode One, this desire for revenge because of her son’s death has completely disappeared.
She has been so pro-peace this season, even when it is absolutely obvious that the other side is not going to surrender.
I wish the show had just kept at what it was initially building up between Rhaenyra and Alicent, a friendship turned bitter and hateful rivalry.
Their children have literally been killing each other and they are still somehow friends.
Alicent even wants Rhaenyra to come with her which is just bizarre.
Where exactly would you two go where you would not be noticed?
At least the cinematography and Ramin Djawadi’s score are excellent, as this final, awful scene brings the season to an end on an incredibly anticlimactic note.
Overall, “The Queen Who Ever Was” is a bad finale.
Sure, it has some great scenes, like Alyn and Criston’s, but the rest of the scenes either feel shoved in, pointless, or have blatant character assassination.
As for the season as a whole, I have mixed feelings.
There have been amazing episodes, specifically Episodes Two, Four and Seven, but a lot of the other ones have been slow.
This would have been forgivable if they had built up to a good finale but, instead, we got the worst episode of the show.
I sincerely hope the writing quality will improve for Season Three, otherwise this show could be in trouble.
That being said, the writing for “The Queen Who Ever Was” is not as bad as Season Eight of Game of Thrones.
So, at least there is that.

Book Spoilers Section:
You know, it’s funny.
I spent the past few episodes planning a rant for when Rhaena claimed Sheepstealer but the writers cut the scene before it happened.
A part of me wonders if the writers are just waiting to see fan reception for Rhaena before they commit to abandoning Nettles entirely but that is probably not it.
I mean, why would they commit to having Sheepstealer in the Vale if they were not going to have Rhaena claim it?
And if Nettles does show up next season, then her storyline will probably be considerably weaker than the book, since the show spent so much time building up to another character getting her dragon.
At least Sheepstealer’s design looks cool.
Speaking of new dragons, we also got to see Tessarion briefly at the end of the episode.
I hope the show does Daeron justice.
Another interesting thing is Otto being in prison at the end.
This is completely book original, and I wonder where the show is going with it.
Perhaps it will be a way to tie him into Daeron’s storyline, like I speculated in prior reviews.
Along with Daeron, next season we also have the fall of King’s Landing and the Battle of the Gullett to look forward to.
The latter is what was being built up to with those Tyland and Lohar scenes.
However, that really does not justify those scenes’ existence, in my opinion.
All it really would have required is a simple message from Tyland saying he had got the Triarchy’s support, not a weird scene of mud fighting.
Oh, well, hopefully the battle will be good, along with the writing.
As you can see, the poor quality of this episode’s writing has me concerned for Season Three.
I really hope we don’t get Aemond hallucinating at Harrenhal with Alys Rivers when he eventually takes the castle.
Could you imagine?
I, unfortunately, can.
As for Season Two itself, I would still say it is good overall, but the writing is a definite step down from Season One.

Deadpool & Wolverine Review: Cameos Galore.

The first two Deadpool movies are a lot of fun.
The self-aware adventures of the titular merc with the mouth can always be counted on for a lot of fun violence and fourth wall breaking comedy.
Although, going into the latest film, Deadpool & Wolverine, I was a bit concerned because I knew this movie would be a follow up to Logan, my favorite movie of all time.
I was wondering how they would bring back Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine, while staying respectful to that movie.
Well, Ryan Reynolds’ Wade Wilson explains how they plan to do it right from the film’s opening narration.
“We’re not.”
Yeah, see, Deadpool & Wolverine begins by literally desecrating Logan’s grave.
Had this been any other movie, I would have probably been enraged by this insult.
But… well, this is a Deadpool movie, and so the way they went about this desecration was somehow inventive, fun, and hilarious.

The opening of this movie would have most likely angered me had this had not been a Deadpool film.

Directed by Shawn Levy, Deadpool & Wolverine sees Wade Wilson kidnap a disgraced version of Wolverine to help him save his universe.
The story is honestly pretty bland but that is okay because it is merely used as a vehicle to get Deadpool and Wolverine on screen together, which definitely does not disappoint.
Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman have a lot of chemistry, making every dialogue exchange and fight scene they have comedic gold.

“I waited a long time for this team up,” Deadpool says in the movie. As have we all, Wade. As have we all.

Another highlight of this film is the cameos.
Oh, boy, does Deadpool & Wolverine have a lot of cameos.
I was expecting to see some since the film deals with the multiverse, but I was surprised by the sheer number of them.
With so many, it would have been easy to make these cameos feel cheap and unearned.
I would argue this has been the case with many of the MCU’s multiverse stories.
I mean, they even just announced that Robert Downey Jr. is returning to play Dr Doom, which reeks of desperation, in my opinion.
However, the cameos of Deadpool & Wolverine are often unique and unexpected, and I am glad I did not get spoiled about most of them.

You are bound to recognize some of the superhero and super villain cameos in this film, even if you only have a minor understanding of superhero movies.

Along with the cameos, there are also plenty of new characters, like the antagonist Cassandra Nova (Emma Corrin), Charles Xavier’s evil twin sister.
Her character is pretty fun, with her gleeful villainy creating a fun yet threatening antagonist, who is pretty unpredictable.

Corrin clearly had a lot of fun playing this villain.

As for my criticisms of the film, as I said the overall story is pretty meh.
Along with this, I feel like one of the cameo characters honestly deserved a bit more to do.
Otherwise, Deadpool & Wolverine is an enjoyable film.
The cameos are well executed, the comedy is top notch, Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman are expectedly fantastic as their characters and have great interactions.
Last, but certainly not least, the film serves as a love letter to the Fox era of Marvel, which has now ended.
Check it out just to see how many cameos you can recognize.

Chainsaw Man Chapter 172, Bzz! Boom! Chomp! Review: Called It.

In my review for Chapter 171 of Chainsaw Man, I predicted that Pochita would instantly kill the titular Special Division 5 at the beginning of the following chapter.
I was so confident about this that I literally titled the review, “They’re All Going to Die.”
Well, surprise, surprise, Chapter 172 begins with Pochita immediately slaughtering all of the newly introduced Fiends and their handler.
One of the Fiends seems to have successfully avoided the attack, only for them to immediately lose their head in a moment which had me laughing at the darkly comedic timing.
With Special Division 5 dead, the Devil Hunters of course throw Special Division 6 at Pochita.
Because that totally had a chance of working!
The 6th Division gets wiped out quicker than the first and I have to wonder what exactly Public Safety’s plan is?
Are they just going to throw Divisions 7 through 100 at Pochita individually and hope that they eventually kill him?
Well, whatever plan they do have is going to be next to impossible to communicate now that all of the characters have no ears.
In a disturbing panel, Pochita seems to be lining up the heads of the various Fiends he killed to eat, and he starts with the Ear Devil.
This removes the very concept of ears from the world so now people can’t hear each other.
It is pretty funny to think that Public Safety thought having the Ear Devil fight Chainsaw Man was a good idea.
Seriously, who’s afraid of ears?
Now they have only made their jobs harder, since they can no longer communicate using sound.
Did all of the competent people at Public Safety die, leaving only the idiots?
We’ll just have to see as the story progresses if their plan is as idiotic as it seems or if there is something more to it.
I doubt ears will stay gone forever, though.
Having the characters unable to communicate through sound for the rest of the story would be difficult to pull off.
So, how will ears return?
Well, Pochita will probably throw the devil representing it up again.
And who better to accomplish this task than Yoru?
She did promise to make Chainsaw Man throw up nuclear weapons at the beginning of Part One.
The chapter ends with her realizing Chainsaw Man has taken a concept away, her expression angered.
Looks like the long-awaited fight between the War Devil and Chainsaw Man is about to begin.
Yoru and Asa may be the only ones who can stand up to Pochita, since they were empowered by the growing fear of war.
I am really looking forward to this fight, which has been built up since Asa rescued Denji from Public Safety.
Let’s see how Fujimoto pulls it off.
Chapter 171 is yet another solid Chainsaw Man chapter, which shows off the power of Pochita, while hyping up the fight between him and Yoru.