Arcane Season Two, Episode Four, Paint the Town Blue Review: A Very Familiar Wolf Man.

Arcane Season Two had a great start with Act One.
Episode One delivered the Piltover Perspective, Episode Two the Zaunite one, and Episode Three brought those perspectives together with the tragic fight between Vi and Jinx.
Having seen Act Two, I can say Season Two’s middle portion of episodes are just as good, with one of them being my favorite of the season so far.
As for Episode Four, “Paint the Town Blue”, it is another great one, ending on a long-awaited reunion, which would have been surprising for viewers who did not know League lore.
The episode begins just like most of those from Act One, with a music video, the titular “Paint the Town Blue.”
This music video is used to show the progression of time since Episode Three.
In my review for that episode, I predicted we would not be getting a time skip until maybe Episode Five, since we had yet to see Jinx become a symbol.
Well, turns out I was wrong because the time skip is in Episode Four, and it covers probably only half a year, compared to the few years I was expecting.
In the music video, we see Ambessa and Caitlyn’s forces cracking down on Zaunites who have come to revere and emulate Jinx following her attacks on Piltover.
As for Caitlyn, we catch up with her after the opening and see that, in the aftermath of her fallout with Vi, she has been hooking up with Maddie.
I find it funny that, with all the other insane stuff to happen in this episode, Caitlyn and Maddie drew in the biggest shock from the fandom.
Although, there is a theory going around that Maddie is a spy for Ambessa, so that would be interesting.
It would certainly give a point to Caitlyn’s squad existing, since those characters all seem pretty useless to Season Two’s plot so far.
Is there any evidence of Maddie being a spy?
Well, she does remind Caitlyn that the Noxians are there to “keep us safe”, and Ambessa later says that Maddie is “quite the familiar face these days.”
So, make of that what you will.
Whether Maddie is a spy or not, Caitlyn is still setting her sights on capturing or killing Jinx.
Speak of the devil, we next see the Loose Canon as the ring master of a brutal fight between two giant insect monsters.
This turns out to be a hilarious misdirect, as Jinx is merely putting on a show for Isha with two tiny insects.
She has taken Isha under her wing following Episode Three, seeing who she used to be in her.
Isha certainly proves she has Powder’s drive because she later poses as Jinx to help save some of her fellow Zaunites from Ambessa’s right hand man, Rictus.
Right from that moment, I thought I knew where the episode was going.
Jinx would be reluctant to step forward as Zaun’s hero, so Isha would keep posing as her until she got herself killed, leading to a vengeful Jinx finally taking on the mantle.
Kind of like an Achilles and Patroclus situation.
Thankfully, this is not where the story goes but I was still constantly expecting Isha to die at some point throughout Act Two.
The writers had constantly proven themselves cruel enough to do so, after all.
Instead of being killed, Isha is captured by Rictus, along with many other Zaunites from different factions.
Unfortunately for the Enforcers, they also arrest Singed, who has the advantage of having a giant mutated werewolf in his basement named Warwick.
All it takes is a drop of his own blood for Singed to activate Warwick, which begins pursuing him.
When Jinx learns of Isha’s arrest from Sevika, she sets off to Stillwater to rescue her.
Before doing so though, she once again hears voices tormenting her.
I think this goes to show just how good her bond with Isha is for her mental health.
She seemed to have a lot less hallucinations when Isha was around but the moment she gets taken Jinx experiences a breakdown.
Thankfully, it is not big enough of one to halt her and Sevika’s rescue attempt, which is filled with about as much hijinks as you would expect.
First, Jinx distracts an Enforcer long enough for Sevika to knock them out, allowing Jinx to disguise herself.
Their interaction is also pretty funny, with the Enforcer not believing Jinx’s identity because of how she is dressed.
Another comedic moment follows when Jinx flips off an Enforcer who attempts to flirt with her.
But, man, that guard was pretty incompetent, considering he failed to notice Jinx’s mechanical finger had a smile spray painted onto it.
Guess he was too embarrassed to realize.
The comedy vanishes, however, when Ambessa passes Jinx and Sevika inside Stillwater and looks like she might stop them for a moment.
Instead, she keeps walking, and Jinx and Sevika execute their escape plan, freeing the Zaunites, and allowing Jinx to see firsthand what she means to her followers.
They each pass her, touching her shoulder as they go, and even the Firelights look grateful.
The happy times end quickly, however, with the arrival of Warwick.
What follows feels like something out of a Doom game, as Warwick bloodily tears through the Enforcers while the heavy metal soundtrack booms.
While Sevika gets Isha to safety, Jinx fights Warwick.
The two Singed experiments go head-to-head, with Warwick eventually winning, only to be stopped from killing Jinx when he sees her bomb and remembers her as a child.
“Dear Friend, Across the River” begins to play, and the violence fades from Warwick’s eyes, revealing a very familiar face.
“Powder?” The resurrected Vander asks, bringing an end to the episode.
Having read Warwick’s lore before Season Two, I knew he was most likely going to be Vander.
Despite knowing this, it did not stop the emotion from hitting me full force when he recognized Powder.
It made me a little teary eyed, to be honest, which served as the perfect setup for Episode Five where the water works really started for me.
Keeping on topic with Episode Four, “Paint the Town Blue” was a great start to Act Two.
It did a good job of building up Jinx and Isha’s bond, along with showing off how Jinx has become a symbol to Zaun, and, of course, features the return of Vander as Warwick.
I was incredibly excited to watch the next episode after this one and, boy, did it not disappoint.

Chainsaw Man Chapter 183, Barf, Head, Perv Review: Bitter Memories.

I was pretty excited going into Chapter 183 of Chainsaw Man, “Barf, Head, Perv.”
The previous chapter ended by teasing one of Denji’s memories of Aki and Power, making many of us believe we were going to get a flashback about them.
Unfortunately, all we actually get is a couple of panels of the back of their heads, as Denji remembers them.
The brief, mournful flash is quickly followed by disgust as Denji throws up another Devil, this one the Bitterness Devil.
Denji doing so allows him to remember the bitterness of the coffee he shared with Reze, followed by another now tragic memory of him walking the dogs with Nayuta.
This causes Denji to realize that Pochita ate all of those Devils to make Denji remember the times when he was happy.
The Snow Devil was to remember Aki and Power, and the Bitterness Devil was to remember Reze.
Once again Pochita proves himself to be the best Devil there is.
Denji gets his second wind and, in a crude way that is so typical of him at this point, tells Asa that he is going to get them out of the Aging Devil’s dimension.
Whatever Denji’s plan is it involves Pochita’s stomach in the outside world, but Denji declares that this plan is “super smart.”
Given Denji’s previous “super smart” plans in the series, I am willing to bet this is a plan so stupid that it will somehow work to hilarious effect.
But we will have to wait until next chapter to see what this plan is because, with Denji’s declaration, the chapter comes to a close.
Overall, it is a pretty good chapter.
It was disappointing to see that the Aki and Power cliffhanger only resulted in a brief tease, but it was also nice to see Reze again, if only briefly.
This shows Fujimoto has not forgotten about her and hopefully has plans for her, since she should still be alive like the other Devil Hybrids.
We will have to wait and see, just like we will have to wait until next chapter to see what Denji’s “super smart” plan is.

The Penguin Review: The Greatest Comic Book Show Ever?

There was a lot to love about 2022’s The Batman.
One of these things was definitely Colin Farrell’s portrayal of the Penguin.
The makeup and prosthetics for the role were outstanding, and Farrell completely disappeared into the role of Oswald Cobb.
So, when it was announced that there would be an HBO show about the character, I was excited.
That being said, I never expected it to be this good.
Developed by showrunner Lauren LeFranc, and produced by The Batman director Matt Reeves, The Penguin follows Oz Cobb on his attempted rise to power after impulsively killing the heir to the Falcone crime family, Alberto (Michael Zegen), in a moment of rage.

Oz’s impulsive murder of Alberto kicks off the events of the show.

This act does not go unpunished, however, because Oz quickly finds himself under the scrutiny of Sofia Falcone (Cristin Milioti), Alberto’s sister and a supposed former serial killer who was just released from Arkham Asylum.
Wanting to protect his mentally unwell mother Francis (Deidre O’Connell) from Sofia, Oz recruits Viktor Aguilar (Rhenzy Feliz), an impoverished teenager with a stutter, to both care for her and aid him in his power grab.
All of the four key players, Farrell, Milioti, Feliz and O’Connell give excellent performances, but it is Colin Farrell and Cristin Milioti who steal the whole show.
Farrell once again completely disappears into the role of the Penguin, to the point that I once again did not even recognize him.
On top of his performance, the writing for Oz is also stellar.
You cannot help but be drawn in by his charisma, despite being constantly reminded of just how evil he is.
By the end of the show, I was practically begging for Batman to fly in and beat the ever-loving hell out of him.

Watching Oz receive a beatdown from Batman would be incredibly cathartic.

As for Cristin Milioti’s Sofia, she so often felt like the protagonist of this show more than Oz.
For the first three episodes, I was on the edge of my seat; constantly creeped out by Sofia while wondering if she would win her game of cat and mouse against Oz.
Then, we got her backstory in Episode Four, “Cent’Anni”, one of the best episodes of the show, and I went from being terrified of her to actually rooting for her.
Despite being a bad person herself, it becomes quite clear towards the end which of the two is more morally bankrupt and it is certainly not Sofia.

Milioti perfectly plays someone who became a monster because of her environment, as opposed to Oz who was always a monster.

Farrell and Milioti deserve all of the awards for this show, as do many of the people behind it, with the makeup, soundtrack, cinematography, and sets all being fantastic.
Speaking of the those sets, just like in The Batman, Gotham City feels like its own character, from the devastated slums of Crown Point, to the luxury of the Falcone estate, to the insanity of Arkham Asylum.
Not everything about the show is stellar though, because there a few issues, namely the level of convenience in the show.
There were quite a few times where characters had the chance to kill Oz and yet they just let him keep talking, despite knowing how duplicitous he is.
Along with this, there are a few scenes that require leaps in logic to believe, the most obvious of which being something concerning Salvatore Maroni (Clancy Brown) in Episode Five.
Aside from these issues, The Penguin is a phenomenal show, and definitely one of the best comic book shows of all time.

*The Penguin* has set the standard for great comic book shows going forward.

The acting is fantastic across the board, with Farrell and Milioti delivering the best performances, the storytelling is great and full of tragic turns, and the set design of Gotham makes it feel like a living and breathing city full of corruption.
It is a corruption that Batman will need to clean up in the next film, and let’s hope he starts with a beatdown on Oz Cobb.
The guy certainly deserves it based on every horrible thing he did in this amazing show.

Arcane Season Two, Episode Three, Finally Got the Name Right Review: A Tragic Fight.

In Season One of Arcane, they always saved the best episode of every act for last.
It seems Season Two will be no different because Episode Three, “Finally Got the Name Right” is definitely the best episode of the three, setting up a lot of ominous events and having a spectacular and tragic fight scene.
The episode begins with, you guessed it, a music video scene, just like the past two.
This one explains how Caitlyn’s strike team is controlling the Grey.
It turns out her mother had ventilation systems constructed in the Undercity to stop the factories’ fumes because, “The people of the underground deserve to breathe.”
Well, Caitlyn takes her mother’s good intentioned act and corrupts it, weaponizing the Grey as chemical warfare.
She and her squad flood areas with this dangerous gas to incapacitate the Zaunites and then move in to make arrests and get information.
Now, you could argue the people they are using the Grey on are gangsters but, even then, the montage makes the horrible effects the Grey can have on the body quite clear.
It is also easy to imagine civilians getting caught up in the crossfire, so I would argue Caitlyn is definitely not in the right here.
Vi picks up on the way Caitlyn is changing for the worse and talks with her alone, begging her not to change.
This leads to their first kiss, an emotional moment which I knew would not end well because of the teaser showing Vi as a cage fighter.
While Vi and Caitlyn go to confront Jinx, Ambessa is having troubles of her own.
She meets with Amara, who you may remember as the merchant Jayce made a deal with way back in Act Two of Season One.
In a truly unexpected moment, Amara reveals herself to be some kind of witch associated with the Black Rose, a mysterious group which killed Ambessa’s son.
Ambessa is able to eventually gain the upper hand and kill Amara, but this is far from the end of the Black Rose Threat.
Mel is one step behind her mother, investigating her actions through an informant but, before she can do anything with what she knows, it is revealed that her own assistant Elora is either part of the Black Rose, or been possessed by them.
She is consumed and Mel is kidnapped to who knows where.
So, whoever the Black Rose are, they now have a stranglehold on Ambessa since they hold her daughter hostage.
Maybe Ambessa distancing herself from Mel would have kept her safer, if she had not told Amara how much family meant to her.
Along with the mystery of the Blase Rose, there is also the mystery of what is going on with the Arcane.
We see Jayce explain the concept of Wild Runes to Ekko and thus us as the audience.
Wild Runes act as fingerprints of the Arcane, but in a wild and unpredictable manner.
These fingerprints are then seen underground by Heimerdinger when he, Ekko and Jayce travel to the Hextech’s failsafe.
Before Heimerdinger can warn the two about the fingerprint on the ground, it transports the three of them right to a Wild Rune just as Vi and Caitlyn are confronting Jinx.
Vi calls her sister by her new name, while Jinx calls Vi out for using the Grey on Zaunites.
While Jinx is certainly no saint, it is hard to argue with a lot of her points about Vi’s actions.
Both sisters are walking down dark paths.
Jinx is a terrorist and Vi has engaged in chemical warfare.
Now both are prepared to fight to the death.
Neither is alone, however, with Sevika and Caitlyn also duking it out, all the while Jayce, Ekko and Heimerdinger are affected by the afflictions of the Wild Rune.
What follows is an intense fight sequence, with Woodkid’s “Ashes and Blood” playing in the background.
This is already one of my favorite Arcane OSTs and I have listened to it multiple times since watching the episode.
Its vocalist’s deep voice and the wild orchestral chanting works incredibly well with the tragedy of the fight, as we literally see Jinx and Vi smash through graffiti of their childhood innocence.
At the same time, Jayce’s interactions with the Wild Rune cause the Hextech to go crazy, influencing the fight and giving Caitlyn the chance to defeat Sevika.
The interference ends when Jayce strikes the Wild Rune with his hammer, leaving his, Ekko and Heimerdinger’s fates unknown.
Caitlyn overcoming Sevika allows her to take a shot at Jinx, shooting off her middle finger.
Vi tackles Jinx down onto the alter and prepares to deliver the final blow, to which Jinx says, “I’m glad it’s you. Had to be you.”
So, when Jinx said in Episode Two that she was planning “to finish what’s left of my family” was she referring to herself?
Well, thankfully, it does not end here for Jinx because, at that moment, Isha jumps in to save her, putting a gun between her and Vi.
I am not sure if Jinx’s following “No!” is because Isha is interfering with her suicide attempt, out of concern for her, or a plea for her not shoot Vi.
Probably a mixture of all three.
Isha’s interference snaps Vi out of it and she steps in Caitlyn’s way when she attempts to shoot Jinx, despite Isha still being in the way.
This gives Sevika enough time to activate Jinx’s plan, sending the Grey up to Piltover in colorful fumes which pollute the city.
The force of the fumes blows Vi and Caitlyn away and we expectedly get the big break up scene.
Caitlyn is angered that Vi stopped her from killing Jinx, but Vi calls out Caitlyn’s own actions, which results in Caitlyn hitting Vi in the gut with her rifle.
She then leaves a crying Vi behind in a moment that is extremely reminiscent of Vi leaving Powder.
The big difference there is that Vi only left Powder to cool off before she was kidnapped.
Caitlyn does not come back for Vi, showing how far she has fallen since the death of her mother.
And, if the ending of the episode is any indication, Caitlyn’s morality is only going to grow greyer (if you will excuse the pun).
Following the Grey being unleashed upon Piltover, Ambessa suggests naming a general to lead their forces against Zaun and nominates Caitlyn.
Councillor Salo is shocked at this, clearly having expected himself to be chosen, but it is no surprise that Ambessa chose Caitlyn when you look back at how Salo himself described her.
“She’s gotten no closer to Jinx. But that doesn’t seem to steal the stars from anyone’s eyes… it’s not the girl. It’s the name (Kiramman). It bewitches people.”
Ambessa’s face shows intrigue during this scene, revealing exactly why she chose Caitlyn.
Her actions against Zaun and important family name have made her a symbol for Piltover.
Ambessa also believes she can control Caitlyn, literally calling her a child.
Whether Caitlyn will remain childlike under Ambessa’s thumb or if she will break free we do not yet know.
What we do know now is what the symbolism in the opening means.
We see Vi and Caitlyn getting closer, foreshadowing their kiss, before Caitlyn shoves her away, representing their breakup.
The next visual shows Caitlyn cradling her face in despair, while her shadow makes it look like she is wearing a crown.
This symbolizes her rise to becoming Piltover’s general and essentially a dictator, which is going to naturally haunt her.
Caitlyn is not the only character in the opening Episode Three gives symbolic understanding, because Ambessa holding a black rose and Mel being surrounded by shadowy hands represents the kidnapping plotline.
As for Ambessa herself, it is also revealed this episode that she really was behind the memorial attack.
She will do anything so long as it benefits her family but, again, she will probably be locked in a stranglehold with Mel’s kidnapping.
Episode Three then ends with a final Singed tease in which we see what he was doing with the body of the two-headed wolf he killed.
It is revealed he is using it to create a giant werewolf monster.
I will discuss the implications of this in an Act Two prediction section, which you will find below.
In conclusion, “Finally Got the Name Right” is definitely the best episode of Season Two’s Act One.
The final fight is excellent with its tragedy, incredible animation and score.
As for character arcs, Caitlyn is on the fast-track to being a puppet dictator and I am personally enjoying this dark turn for her character.
I hope she can pull herself out of it.
Finally, the third episode also does an excellent job of raising plenty of mysteries for the following acts to resolve, namely the ones surrounding the Black Rose and the Wild Rune.
I would call “Finally Got the Name Right” a top five Arcane episode, and I am eager to see if any episodes in Acts Two or Three can surpass it.

Act Two Predictions:
So, let’s start with talking about the massive werewolf Singed is creating.
This wolf is clearly Warwick, whose lore I looked up before watching Season Two.
In all likelihood, he will turn out to be a resurrected Vander.
Ordinarily, this would ruin the impact of Vander’s sacrifice, but Warwick looks to be a completely different character, making his resurrection tragic.
This tragedy will be amplified when Jinx and Vi have to fight him, as seen in the Act Two teaser.
We see Jinx shooting at Warwick in one shot, and Vi facing off against him in another.
The Vi shot is ironic, considering the back of her jacket has a two-headed wolf on it, the same creature Singed used to create Warwick.
There is also the matter of the predicted time skip where Vi becomes a cage fighter.
Originally, I thought this time skip was going to be right at the beginning of Act Two but, given how we have yet to see Jinx become a symbol, it will probably be Episode Five or Six when it happens.
When we do get the time skip, I expect that Ekko will be presumed dead by the Firelights.
I believe this because you can see his face on the mural with other dead characters.
This probably means that whatever happened with the Wild Rune caused Ekko, Jayce and Heimerdinger to be trapped in some alternate dimension.
The shot of Jayce in the teaser looking grizzled and with a beard supports my theory.
What I am less sure about is what will happen to Mel.
We see her attempting to escape the Black Rose, only to be pulled back by its red tentacle-like force.
There are so many mysteries for the rest of the season to unpack and I, for one, cannot wait for Act Two.

Arcane Season Two, Episode Two, Watch It All Burn Review: The Zaunite Perspective.

After Episode One’s great start to Season Two of Arcane, Episode Two, “Watch It All Burn” proves to be even better.
Focusing on the Zaunite plotlines this time around, the episode begins with a Zaunite funeral, parallelling the Piltovan one we saw last episode.
This time, we see Jinx laying Silco to rest in the waters of Zaun, a fitting resting place for him, considering it is where he was reborn in a sense when Vander tried to drown him.
After letting Silco go, Jinx watches his body sink from view and then hears his voice in her head, “Have you had enough?”
This line is from Silco’s narration at the beginning of Season One, Episode Three, and its placement here makes me wonder if Silco told Jinx this at some point.
Jinx’s response, to scream into the water, shows that, for now at least, she has not “had enough” and intends to keep fighting.
Following the opening, we get a music video scene, much like in the first episode.
This one is less somber, though, and used to illustrate the chaos that has emerged following Silco’s death, and the lone path Jinx is currently treading.
This sequence is temporarily interrupted by a kid who the subtitles name Isha.
They are being chased by some of the Chem-Barons’ goons until they literally fall on Jinx.
She protects the kid, killing the goons with ease and earning herself a follower.
While this is happening, the Chem-Baron turf war is continuing but there are issues, as we see the Yordle Chem-Baron Smeech find one of Margot’s stashes overcome with a mysterious fog known as the Grey.
Smeech later meets with the other Chem-Barons, where Sevika, is proposing they unite rather than fight.
Smeech instead proposes handing over Jinx to appease Piltover.
He insults Sevika when she shows her reluctance stating, “Bird without a wing is just a funny-looking rat,” in reference to Sevika’s missing arm.
It speaks to the strength of Sevika’s convictions, when she is unwilling to hand someone over, even when that person took her arm and killed the man she followed.
About the latter point, though, I don’t think Sevika knows that Jinx was the one to kill Silco.
She knows Silco is dead, but she never acts accusatory towards Jinx in their following interaction.
The two meet at the Last Drop where, despite their mutual disdain, they connect through their memories of Silco, ending with Jinx leaving to fix Sevika’s prosthetic arm.
This leads to her almost being tracked down by Vi, Caitlyn and the rest of their squad who it is revealed are using the Grey to storm parts of the Undercity.
Here, Vi retrieves Claggor’s goggles, and Jinx realizes Vi has joined the Enforcers, but she manages to slip through the cracks.
It is also here that we see how brutal Caitlyn is becoming, as she fires off a shot in frustration at not catching Jinx, which does not bode well for her future morality.
Caitlyn using the Grey to attack Zaunites also explains why Smeech was so eager to hand Jinx over to the Enforcers, because he knew they could not withstand such attacks.
He attempts to capture Jinx after her run in with Caitlyn’s squad, taking advantage of her poor mental state from seeing Vi, and poor physical condition from being affected by the Grey.
He attempts to intimidate her, but this has the opposite effect, resulting in her intimidating him when she tells him she killed Silco.
Smeech’s shock is another reason I think Sevika does not know it was Jinx who did the deed.
Good thing because, if she did, she probably would not have saved Jinx.
The fight between Sevika and Smeech is top notch in terms of animation and soundtrack, as she battles him with the new arm Jinx constructed.
Only Jinx could build a prosthetic arm with weapons based on the outcome of a slot machine.
It makes for a fun and very satisfying fight.
Sevika even gets to throw Smeech’s insult back at him by asking, “Who’s a funny-looking rat now?”
With the fight over, Sevika notices a look in Jinx’s eye and comments on it, to which Jinx ominously responds that she is planning “to finish what’s left of my family.”
This brings Jinx’s storyline this episode to an end, but her storyline is far from the only one.
First there is Ekko and Heimerdinger’s story where they notice that the Firelights’ tree has become infected by what looks like Hexcore corruption.
I like Ekko and Heimerdinger’s interactions, but I think it’s weird that Ekko does not blame him for any of Zaun’s suffering.
There should at least have been a scene of them addressing Heimerdinger’s involvement.
Well, at least he is helping out now.
To find out what is happening, the two sneak into Jayce’s lab, only to be confronted by the Man of Progress himself.
As for Jayce, his storyline this episode began with Viktor’s emergence from the strange cocoon formed when he was merged with the Hexcore to save his life.
His body now primarily made of Hextech, Viktor breaks his partnership with Jayce after he sees the Hextech weapons Jayce is designing.
He also clearly feels betrayed by Jayce not destroying the Hexcore as he asked.
My one criticism of this scene is that Viktor revealing Sky’s death is glossed over pretty quickly by Jayce but, otherwise, his and Viktor’s separation is emotional.
From here, Viktor travels into the Undercity, going down to its depths where he is confronted by Huck and the other Shimmer addicts, hoping to rob and kill him to fuel their addiction.
Instead of fighting Huck, Viktor helps him, using the power of the Hexcore to heal his addiction, replacing and augmenting his Shimmer infected parts with metal.
Viktor tells a healed Huck and the rest of the Shimmer addicts, “You need not suffer anymore.”
And so, Viktor emerges as a messiah-like figure with his own band of followers.
He even hallucinates Sky, which seems to tell Viktor that he is doing the right thing.
However, I would argue that things are going to turn out to be more sinister than they appear.
Huck’s appearance is identical to the floating figures from the trailer.
Along with this, the place where Viktor heals him is clearly a decayed version of the technologically advanced place also seen in the trailer.
This makes me think the Hexcore inside Viktor is probably using Sky’s image to convince Viktor he is helping these people when, in reality, he is actually contributing to some kind of nefarious goal.
We will have to wait for Act Two to learn more of what Viktor’s plans are though.
The episode then ends with another Singed teaser, showing he is experimenting with blood cells and keeping the heart of the two-headed wolf beating.
What he is using this for is shown in the next episode but, for now, it adds to the intrigue.
“Watch It All Burn” is a better episode than the first, with ominous development for Viktor, and an alliance forming between Jinx and Sevika, along with a great fight to boot.
But, in typical Arcane fashion, they saved the best episode of the Act for last.

Arcane Season Two, Episode One, Heavy is the Crown Review: Greatness Returns.

Arcane had the best first season of any show I have had the pleasure of watching.
The characters and story were fantastic, the animation was stunning, and I still listen to the soundtrack years later.
After watching it, I immediately knew I was willing to wait however long it took to get a second season of the same quality.
Well, the first act of that season has finally aired.
Personally, I have had a pretty miserable week (and I will leave it at that), so having Arcane back certainly improved my mood.
The three episodes of Act One all blend together well, with the first episode covering the Piltovan plotlines.
Episode One, “Heavy is the Crown”, picks up by instantly resolving the epic cliffhanger of Season One.
Jinx’s attack expectedly results in the death of Caitlyn’s mother, Cassandra, along with Councilors Bolbok and Hoskel.
In contrast, Councilors Salo and Shoola are alive but injured, with Salo being paralyzed from the waist down.
The real interesting detail though is Mel and Jayce, who are both unharmed, despite being right in the missile’s path.
The reason for this is not shown yet, but I think it will eventually be revealed that Mel’s mysterious golden armor saved them.
It was not enough to save Viktor, though, who is on death’s door from the blast, until Jayce merges the Hexcore with his body; a decision I think he will soon come to regret.
Following the resolution of who survived the Season One cliffhanger, we get the new Season Two opening.
Imagine Dragons’ “Enemy” is still the song for the intro, but the visuals are entirely different with a lot of symbolic meaning, although that meaning is not clear until Episode Three.
After the opening, we get our first of quite a few music video moments, but this one is solemn, as we see Caitlyn at her mother’s funeral.
The somber, grey coloring of the funeral makes the vibrancy of Vi and Caitlyn stand out, perfectly reflecting Caitlyn’s grief and Vi’s guilt.
In the aftermath of the attack, Ambessa quickly gets Salo in her pocket, leveraging his need for revenge, which only Mel is able to combat, if slightly.
In the meantime, Vi and Caitlyn go through their own issues, with Caitlyn struggling with her own desire for vengeance against Jinx, while Vi spurns her offer to become an Enforcer because, well, the Enforcers killed her parents.
This eventually leads to Vi meeting the future members of her and Caitlyn’s squad.
There is a man who resembles Vander and seems to be struggling in similar ways to Vi, a fish man, and a young woman named Maddie Nolen.
Maddie’s is the only name of the three we know at the moment, which I think was a bit neglectful on the writers’ part.
I mean, if we are going to care about these characters’ survival, we need to know their names, right?
In any case, Maddie makes an interesting comment that Caitlyn said, “If every Enforcer had a heart like yours, we could take on Noxus itself.”
Funny she should say that because it is made very clear by the end of Act One that Ambessa’s Noxian forces definitely do not have Piltover’s best interests at heart.
For the time being, “Heavy is the Crown” makes the Zaunites out to be the big threat for Piltover, with them attacking a memorial for the Councilors.
This attack is headed by Renni, the Chem-Baron whose son was killed by Jayce last season.
Out for revenge, like many of the other characters in this series, she makes a play for Jayce’s life and would have succeeded had it not been for Vi, who then teams up with him, while Caitlyn and her squad attempt to fight Renni’s Chem-Tanks.
The whole fight is extremely well-animated and tense, ending with the arrival of Ambessa and her Noxians, who kill all of the Zaunite attackers, including Renni.
The attack, and a last message from her mother, convinces Caitlyn to lead her new strike team into Zaun, all to the tune of “Heavy is the Crown”, which the episode is named after.
It is during this moment that it is revealed someone helped the Zaunites attack the memorial.
I am sure the immediate cut to Ambessa’s face after this is said is entirely coincidental… no, I’m not being sarcastic, why do you ask?
Vi also makes her choice, joining the Enforcers to help end the violence between Piltover and Zaun, appearing to walk in Vander’s footsteps.
Although the following episodes prove she is going about it in a darker way.
Speaking of the Hound of the Underground, the final scene of the episode shows a two-headed hound being hunted by Singed for reasons unknown, a tease which will be shown at the end of every episode in Act One.
Overall, “Heavy is the Crown” is a great start to the season.
It shows off Piltover’s perspective perfectly, which flows nicely into Episode Two, where we get the Zaunite perspective.
My only major criticism is that we do not get the names of some new characters we are introduced to.
Hopefully, we will find out their names in Act Two.
Otherwise, “Heavy is the Crown” starts the season well, and Act One only gets better from here.

Chainsaw Man Chapter 182, Cute Review: Let It Snow.

Well, Chapter 182 of Chainsaw Man sure was a surprise.
Its ending left me both in shock and incredibly excited for the next chapter.
Starting from the beginning, though, Chapter 182, “Cute” begins from where the last one left off, with Yoru kissing Denji.
Going into the chapter, I wondered if we would be getting a Tokyo Ghoul Chapter 125 kind of deal but, in hindsight, this was pretty shortsighted of me.
For Denji to give into Yoru’s advances would be to walk back on his development, and he proves how much he has grown by pushing Yoru away, telling her, “I can’t reflect on my mistakes for crap like that.”
It is unclear if either Yoru or Asa talks to Denji next, since we cannot see their face, but I think it is Asa, given how solemn she seems when she talks about all she has lost.
It is Yoru who clearly takes over next though because, with scars clear on her face, she tries to cheer Denji up by joyfully telling him he will get over his grief like she did.
Asa rightfully punches Yoru in the face for that and takes back control.
It is not Yoru’s platitudes about getting over grief that will help Denji, but Asa’s realistic dissection of it.
She tells Denji about the loss of her mother, and the guilt she harbors from that day, telling him that it is impossible to get over it.
Asa then throws Denji’s words back at him, stating that he taught her that she has, “Something I look forward to so much that I’m willing to eat a Crapburger!’
This somehow causes Denji to do the very opposite of eating, throwing up the Snow Devil that Pochita ate.
This seems to release its power inside the Aging Devil’s dimension, making it snow.
The chapter then ends in the most shocking way of all: showing Power and Aki on a ship from a time before their deaths.
Originally, I thought this was them somehow manifesting in the Aging Devil’s dimension, but the black background of the paneling makes me think Denji is flashing back to a time when he was happy with them.
Whatever the case, I am incredibly excited to see Power and Aki again next chapter.
It has been so long.
I thought Power might be making a return soon, due to Pochita taking part in the blood drive, but Aki was a complete surprise.
Asa’s development with Denji is also great, as she relates to him through her own grief in a moment that actually felt reminiscent of Kobeni opening up to Denji at the end of Part One.
Overall, “Cute” is a fantastic Chainsaw Man chapter.
It has great emotional development for Denji and Asa and hypes up the return of two long gone fan favorite characters, even if that return will be brief.

Chainsaw Man Chapters 180 and 181 Review: Yoru Does It Again.

Going into Chainsaw Man Chapter 180, “Aging’s World”, I was expecting to see Yoru and Pochita temporarily team up to fight the Aging Devil.
Instead, the chapter opens with the Aging Devil sending Denji, Asa and Yoru into a different dimension, where it has trapped many people who have made contracts with it.
Asa gets this information from one of these men who has been trapped in the dimension for over 80 years.
The man has understandably gone insane and imitates a cicada in a typically bizarre ending.
Before this ending, though, the man does mention that someone managed to escape the Aging Devil’s dimension before.
Yoshida and Kishibe seem to be the most likely candidates but I am personally going with Yoshida, since an artwork by Fujimoto depicted him standing in a forest very similar to the one Asa, Yoru and Denji are now trapped in.
Asa tries to find a way out in Chapter 181, “Trees on the Mind”, but her hopeful thoughts are stopped dead by Yoru taking control of her body and attempting to shoot Asa in the head with her powers.
This moment made my jaw dropped because, if Yoru’s powers had been working, Asa would have definitely died here.
Yoru has been pretty sadistic in the past few chapters, but I thought she would at least hesitate if she needed to kill Asa to facilitate her plans, given all they have been through.
Apparently, I was wrong.
Asa, however, seems to brush aside Yoru trying to kill her as an experiment pretty quickly, and Yoru punches a tree, only to realize that tree is a person.
This is the fate of all who end up in the Eternity Devil’s prison: They are trapped for a thousand years, slowly going mad, until they are turned into a tree.
It is among the most disturbing fates in all of Chainsaw Man and it breaks Yoru, who starts blaming Denji for everything.
This causes Denji to break down as well.
He still undoubtedly blames himself for Nayuta’s death.
Drowning in his own guilt for the misery he sees himself as having brough onto others, Denji declares he will stay to become a tree as a punishment “for being a horny, empty-headed idiot.”
Yoru once again proves she cannot help herself and kisses Denji for the third time, ending the chapter.
The last time Yoru kissed Denji, it ended with her giving him a hand job in an alleyway.
This time?
Well, let’s just say I would not be surprised if next chapter turned into Tokyo Ghoul Re: Chapter 125.
Fujimoto has got away with plenty before so I definitely think he can get away with that.
Although, I question what Asa would even think if that happened, considering that is once again Yoru making a move on Denji in Asa’s body.
Also, Denji still does not know Asa is possessed by the War Devil so that will be a whole can of worms if they end up having sex.
That is if it happens though.
Who knows, they could be interrupted by figuring out a way to release themselves from the Aging Devil’s prison?
Either way, these two chapters are brief but solid, clearly showing off the disturbing power of the Aging Devil.

All of Us Are Dead Review: High School of the Dead.

After another rewatch of Train to Busan, I suddenly remembered the trailer of a South Korean zombie show I had never got around to watching, All of Us Are Dead.
Based off the manhwa by Joo Dong-geun, the story is set at a high school where a zombie outbreak occurs and then spreads to the rest of the fictional city of Hyosan.
The show then follows the students and various other survivors in the city as they attempt to survive the outbreak in twelve episodes.

*All of Us Are Dead* follow its characters’ attempts to survive in a fun but slightly drawn-out season.

Starting off with the positives, the characters are all pretty well done, for the most part.
The characters the writers want you to like you like, and the characters the writers want you to hate you really hate.
In particular, I want to commend Lee Yoou-mi’s performance as Lee Na-yeon.
She played Ji-yeong in Squid Game.
I mention this because, whereas I really sympathized with her character in that show, I absolutely despised her character in All of Us Are Dead.
It really showed off her acting range.

It is really difficult not to despise Na-yeon after the first few episodes.

As for characters I liked, I personally found myself gravitating towards the side characters more than the main ones, like Yang Dae Su (Im Jae-hyuk), the group’s cheerful heavy hitter.
That is not to sell the main characters short, though, because they are all pretty good.
As for the zombies pursuing these characters, they are all threatening, what with their speed and resemblance to the ones from Train to Busan (which is referenced).
There are also things which make them fairly unique compared to other zombies, such as the concept of “Hambies.”

The zombies of *All of Us Are Dead* bring new things to the table while also feeling familiar.

Just as interesting are the characters ways of surviving the zombies, usually twisting their school supplies into methods of survival.
While it is a plus to see how smart these characters are in certain situations, it unfortunately makes times when they make mind blowingly stupid decisions standout.
This, sadly, happens often, culminating in the most unnecessary self-sacrifice I have seen in a long time, making me roll my eyes.
There are also quite a few moments of convenience and, to top it off, I would say that there was an overabundance of subplots.
I think at least a few of the extra storylines could have been cut down or removed entirely and not much would change.

Moments of extreme convenience, like this one, drag the show down,

Still, despite these many criticism, I would still recommend All of Us Are Dead.
Yes, the story can be pretty frustrating with characters making stupid decisions, moments of convenience, and a few too many subplots.
But, on the other hand, the zombies are threatening and have some unique qualities, the methods used to combat them are interesting, and the characters are engaging, whether they are likeable or purposefully unlikeable.
It will be a while until Season Two, though, since filming is supposed to take place in 2025.
When we eventually do get it, I hope it does not repeat Season One’s flaws.

Night Light Hounds Chapter One, Night Hounds Review: Gangsters, Vampires and Werewolves.

I am the kind of person who usually reads manga based off recommendations.
If I hear a lot of praise about a series, or the mangaka is connected to another one I follow (like with Centuria), I will check it out.
It is rare for me to just check out a first chapter with no expectations, but when I stumbled across the link to the first chapter of Night Light Hounds, I had nothing else to do so gave it a shot.
Upon finishing the chapter, I knew I just had to review it.
Night Light Hounds is written and illustrated by Haruhisa Nakata, a mangaka with experience in the industry.
He is most known for Levius, which I have not read so cannot speak about its quality.
I can speak about the quality of Night Light Hounds’ first chapter though and, if that is any indication of its future potential, then this is going to be really good manga.
Chapter One, “Night Hounds” begins by presenting the story’s setting of Silent Bay City, a 1920s inspired city ruled by gangs.
We see this immediately, with the first scene following a group of gangsters shaking down a business and attempting to threaten the owner into joining their protection racket.
The artwork immediately stands out, with the city and characters having a realistic style that persists throughout.
The business owner refuses to cave to the lead gangster’s demands, so he calls in the lookout, our main character, Jimmy, instructing him to act like he is going to kill the businessman to get him to cooperate.
This serves as a test for Jimmy, but he fails it, as his hesitation and compassion give the old man enough time to leap up and grab the gun from him, resulting in the gang leader killing the businessman.
While failing in his task, this also gives the reader plenty of reason to care about Jimmy, as we get our first look at how he is not a bad person but is rather forced into this cruel line of work by circumstance.
The gang leader is nowhere near as compassionate, punching Jimmy for his failure and ordering him and another gang member, Viktor, to dispose of the body in a shed.
However, only Viktor is allowed in the shed because he has the mark of the family and Jimmy does not.
Whatever Viktor sees in there clearly gets to him because he is prepared to leave the family immediately after.
He seems to almost warn Jimmy about what he saw inside the shed but stops himself.
Later that night, Jimmy is at the roof of his apartment, where he considers suicide, due to the state of his life, only to be halted by a baseball being repeatedly thrown to him, seemingly from nowhere.
Attempting to find out the identity of the thrower leads to Jimmy accidentally falling off the roof, only to be caught by a little girl with absurd strength.
In a humorous exchange, Jimmy has to throw the ball back onto the roof to get her to drag him back up, since the girl does not seem to understand him.
Over the next few nights, Jimmy meets with the girl on the roof and bonds with her, suspecting that she is an orphan.
It is kind of funny that, although Jimmy clearly comes to care about the girl, he does not focus on her absurd strength too much, and also fails to notice what looks like a muzzle hanging around her neck.
Still, Jimmy does act like a big brother, teasing her about the vampires she claims are at the gang’s headquarters across the city.
He also tells her his backstory, informing her and the reader of how he lost his parents, brother, and then became indebted to the gang.
Is it a bit too convenient for Jimmy to reveal his backstory to a little girl he just met so we can care about his past?
Yes.
But it gets the job done, and Jimmy even says the girl reminds him of his little brother.
Continuing the brotherly connection, he even gives her a name when he learns she does not have one: Lili.
Just when it seems Jimmy is set on looking after Lili, her caregiver arrives, a mysterious man in a suit she calls K.
Jimmy gets angry at the man for leaving Lili alone but he, in turn, calls out Jimmy, saying he looks disappointed knowing Lili is better off than him.
This may be too cruel of an assessment, though, as Jimmy saw Lili as having no one, like him.
He is most likely saddened by the apparent loss of that connection, and obviously insulted when K tries to pay him off with cash.
Jimmy throws away the money and storms off, which Nakata uses to show off more world building, as numerous homeless people begin desperately grabbing the thrown money, showing just how bad off the poor are in Silent Bay City.
The next day, Jimmy is still fuming about the exchange, while also being curious about how a wound on Lili’s hand disappeared.
His distraction accidentally leads him and his fellow gangsters back to the shed where he and Viktor dumped the body.
The gangsters go inside, leaving Jimmy in the car.
When he hears gunshots, he goes inside to investigate and finds the horrifying sight of his coworkers dismembered bodies, and a shadowy figure standing over them.
Fleeing the shed, Jimmy goes to the police.
Probably subconsciously leaping onto Lili’s vampire claim, he tells the police officers that is what he saw, only to switch tracks when he realizes this is not working and turning on the gang.
Unfortunately, the police are bought by the gangs, and they turn him over to the lead gangster, who brings him tied up to the shed, where Viktor has also been killed for trying to leave the family.
Here, Nakata shows off his artistry once more, as the gangster actually reveals himself to be a vampire, showing off his snake-like eyes, long fangs and enlarged tongue.
Revealing that there are other vampires within the family, the gangster goes off on a monologue, knowing Jimmy will tell no one since he is going to kill him anyway.
This proves to be his mistake, as it gives Jimmy enough to time to break free and prove he does have the guts to shoot a gun.
Jimmy nearly makes it out, but the vampire’s healing abilities and supernatural strength get the better of him.
He accepts his death, only for the vampire to stop dead, horrified at something on the roof above him.
Jimmy looks up, and we get the best panel of the chapter, a double spread revealing a shadowy wolf-like creature lurking above.
The wolf easily and brutally kills the vampire, and is then joined by K, who blows up the shed.
The werewolf then drops Lili’s baseball at Jimmy’s feet with “I am Lili” written on it, revealing her identity.
Although it was pretty obvious that Lili was the wolf from the moment it showed up, what with her previously shown super strength, healing ability, muzzle, and knowledge of vampires.
K tells Jimmy that they are the Night Hounds and will meet again.
The chapter then ends on another sprawling panel of the city, with Jimmy narrating, “This is how, in Silent Bay City, a good-for-nothing like me got caught up in a conflict between monsters.”
I am curious to see what K wants with Jimmy.
Perhaps he wants him to join the Night Hounds, given his connection with Lili and proving himself competent by surviving the vampire attack?
This first chapter also foreshadows potential future conflicts in the story, with the vampire working for the unseen underboss named Dorothera, who Viktor claims is going to be the next head.
Since the lead gangster was a vampire, it stands to reason Dorothera is too.
It seems likely Jimmy is going to find himself on the side of the werewolves in this conflict.
Overall, “Night Hounds” is a solid start to this story.
The artwork is great, its main character is likeable, as is his bond with the child werewolf, and it seems like Nakata has set up the future of the story nicely.
This was a great first chapter, and I am already looking forward to seeing where Night Light Hounds goes.