Noragami Review: I Need Season Three.

This year, I took on the role of an executive at the anime club, meaning I could suggest some anime for us all to watch.
One of these anime I suggested was Noragami, a show with two seasons, which I had heard a lot of good things about.
The first episode showed a lot of promise and many of my fellow students also seemed to like it, so it was one of the anime chosen for us to watch this semester.
And I, for one, am already hooked and need a season three.
Adapted from the manga by Adachitoka and directed by Kotaro Tamura, the anime follows the stray god Yato (Hiroshia Kamiya), who dreams of becoming famous and having millions of worshippers one day.
When an ordinary girl, Hiyori Iki (Maaya Uchida), finds herself able to interact with the world of spirits and gods after and accident, Yato agrees to help her get her back to normal, for the small price of five yen, of course.
With the help of Yato’s Regalia – a spirit of a dead person who can turn into a weapon for a god when they are given a name – Yukine (Yūki Kaji), the three go on many misadventures, both hilarious and dark, as they slowly begin to feel more like a family.

The growing friendship between Yato, Hiyori and Yukine is a great thing to see.

The situations that these three great characters find themselves in being either comedic or grim is highlighted by Yato himself, who can go from looking as harmless as a puppy to full on murderous swordsman in the span of a minute.
This dark side to Yato is often spurned on by Nora (Rie Kugimiya), Yato’s former Regalia who just brings out the worst in him.
Yato’s past with Nora is an interesting part of the story, making for a lot of fun speculation to have before the reveal of what he has really done.
And what Yato did in the past has gained him a few enemies, most notably Bishamon (Miyuki Sawashiro), who holds a massive grudge and relentlessly pursues him with the help of her Regalia Kazuma (Jun Fukuyama), who is definitely my favourite character in the show.

Kazuma’s amazing growth in the second season makes him one of the anime’s best characters.

It is his and Bishamon’s storyline that lead to the greatest arc of the anime in the first part of season two, which created a lot of intense moments with members of my anime club both cheering and screaming in horror at what was happening.
The second half of season two also introduced another one of my favourite characters Ebisu (Ryōtarō Okiayu), who I really wasn’t expecting to like when he was introduced.
However, he more than exceeded my expectations due to his fantastic interactions with Yato, resulting in a moment that actually got tears out of me in the final episode.

I was surprised by how much I liked Ebisu and look forward to see what his role will be.

As you can probably tell, season two “Aragato” is definitely my favourite season but season one is also a lot of fun with great humor, character development, and intense action.
Combine this with some fantastic openings “Gora wa Machiawse” and “Kyouran Hey Kids!!” which we were all singing along to by the end and you have yourself a really good time.
Noragami is a great anime that I will wait for a season three with crossed fingers, before probably caving in and reading the manga.

Kill La Kill Review: SYSTEM ERROR: FANSERVICE OVERLOAD!

Before I started watching Kill la Kill, I tried to remember what I had heard about it before.
Well, of all the things I could have forgotten, I somehow didn’t remember hearing that this was an anime with a lot of fan service.
So, you can imagine my surprise when I first saw our hero Ryuko (Ami Koshimizu) wearing Senketsu (Toshiniko Seki).
It made me worried that the show would just devolve into one of those anime that put fan service over story or whose fan service often got in the way of that story, like with Code Geass.
Thankfully, the exact opposite happened because, in an unexpected twist for me, Kill la Kill is an anime that revels in its fan service in such an over the top way that it somehow worked entirely.
Fan service is literally at the center of the story with the good guys being nudists.
This created a story that was both intense to watch, due to its story, and hilarious to see unfold, due to its purposefully out there eye candy.

Unlike other anime, *Kill la Kill* handles its over the top fan service in a perfect way.

Directed by Hiroyuki Imaishi and written by Kazuki Nakashima, Kill la Kill follows Ryuko Matoi who goes to Hoonouji Academy to confront the mysterious student council president, Satsuki Kiryuin (Ryoka Yuzuki), about who killed her father.
However, before she can get answers, she’ll have to fight through the various other students of the Academy, all while wearing the revealing Senketsu, a sentient uniform constructed from the even more mysterious Life Fibers.
The rivalry between Ryuko and Satsuki is great, as is the supporting cast, like the elite four, Ira Gamagori (Tetsu Inada), Uzu Sanageyama (Nobuyuki Hiyama), Nonon Jakuzure (Mayumi Shintani) and Houka Inumata (Hiroyuki Yoshino).
My favourite character would have to be Mako Mankanshoku (Ayu Suzaki), who is the kind of friend everyone would like to have.
Except for the whole, you know, going mad with power thing.
Thankfully, that was a one-time thing though.
In all seriousness, Mako is an enjoyably funny character with the great animation helping show off her eccentricities.

As for the animation, it is fantastic throughout.
I was captivated by it right from the very first episode and this continued to the very end.
Studio Trigger sure does have amazing animation for a lot of their anime.
As for the score, Hiroyuki Sawano once again kills it with some absolutely fantastic songs and music.
I especially like the themes for the main villains of the anime, Ragyo Kuryuin (Romi Park) and Nui Harime (Yukari Tamura), which were fire.
Speaking of Ragyo, I think we can all agree that she takes the title for worst mother in the history of ever.
Seriously, it doesn’t get much worse than planning a worldwide genocide with alien clothes and sexually assaulting your own daughters.
Well, at least the anime did a good job of making you hate her guts.
As for Nui, she is also a villain that I had a lot of fun watching, with her innocent design giving a false sense of security that hides the complete psychopath underneath.

Nui is a great villain who certainly leaves an impression when she first appears.

All of the characters are great and combining them with a good story, intense action highlighted by fantastic animation, a terrific score, and surprisingly well handled, over the top fan service, you get a really good result.
Kill La Kill is a great anime that has me intrigued to check out more of Studio Triggers’ work.

Attack on Titan Chapter 133, Sinners Review: No Bargaining With the Devil.

If Chapter 133 of Attack on Titan, “Sinners,” proved anything, it is that Hajime Isayama’s epic story is about to enter its final battle.
“Sinners” is the build up to that battle, centering on the stories of the Alliance, those on the boat, and the escaped Eldians of Liberio, all of them heading to Fort Salta, either to fight in the final confrontation or to escape it.
Starting with the Alliance, their opening section is definitely the most interesting part of the chapter.
Beginning with Armin talking to Onyankopon, the moment deliberately parallels Onyankopon’s introduction in Chapter 104, as Armin says he is counting on him just like Hange did showing that Armin is truly stepping into the Commander role after Hange’s tragic sacrifice last chapter.
Speaking of Hange, Onyankopon saying that he would get the plane to Fort Salta because it was Hange’s last hope was very touching.
What is concerning is that, because of the approaching Rumbling, the Alliance didn’t have enough time to fully fuel the plane, so it is only half full.
Onyankopon says he will get them to Fort Salta but I get the feeling that it’s going to have to involve some sacrifice.
Maybe Onyankopon will kamikaze Eren’s Titan form as a way to give the Alliance an advantage.
Following their talk, Armin goes to finally make a strategy for confronting Eren with the rest of the Alliance.
A few ideas are thrown around, like Pieck suggesting Armin blow Eren up with his Colossal Titan, for example.
One of the more interesting ideas is Levi suggesting that they find where Zeke is located in Eren’s Titan and then kill him to stop the Rumbling.
I’m not sure how I feel about this plan because, if Eren does lose his connection to the Founding Titan, wouldn’t that just make the Wall Titans rampage without direction, making the situation worse?
It would be a bit stupid if killing Zeke just stopped the Wall Titans in place.
In any case, I don’t think the way to completely stop Eren is going to be simply killing Zeke.
If anything, I think Zeke and Levi’s final confrontation will most likely be a way for Levi to let go of his promise to Erwin and move on from it.
As Kenny said, everyone is “a slave to something,” and Levi is a slave to killing Zeke.
Hopefully, Levi can become free of this in future chapters.
As for who is truly free in this chapter, I honestly could not say.
After Reiner speculates that Eren wants them to stop him, possibly pulling a Lelouch as has been speculated by some readers, Eren brings all of the Alliance into the Paths Dimension to talk with them.
This results in some time and space shenanigans where Mikasa, Armin, Jean and Connie try to run to Eren, only to end up exactly back where they started with Levi, Reiner and Pieck.
Eren tells them that he has purposefully not altered their Titans because he believes they should be free to fight him if they wish to, debunking the theory that it was Zeke creating the Titans.
However, where one theory falls, even more arise, especially surrounding Eren and Ymir.
The two are seen side by side in the Paths Dimension, both in child form, with their eyes darkened.
Many theories have emerged from this moment, from Ymir is controlling Eren, to both Eren and Ymir are slaves, to Eren is somehow communicating with the Alliance in the past, you name it.
I find the most interesting question to be concerning if Reiner is actually right or not.
Does Eren want the Alliance to stop him?
Whatever the answer to this question is, I don’t think it’s going to end with a Zero Requiem for the very reason that Reiner brought up Eren wanting them to stop him this chapter.
If someone suggested in Code Geass that Lelouch was being the bad guy so that when his friend killed him the world would have been at peace then it would have ruined the twist.
So, I don’t think the final battle will end in this way.
Either way, the Paths scene is extremely intense, with all of Eren’s friends emotionally calling out to him and Eren coldly stating that if they want to try and kill him, “You are free to do so.”
Guess there really is no bargaining with the Devil.
With Eren’s remark, the Alliance are released into the real world in which only a second has passed and Onyankopon is confused by their traumatized states.
Levi then acknowledges Armin as Commander and asks what their next move is, followed by a determined look from the new Commander.
This makes me wonder if Armin really will throw away the talk option and decide to try and kill Eren to save humanity.
The entire Alliance talk and Paths scene is great, with a lot of amazing character interaction, like Jean and Connie reconciling with Reiner over their past crimes.
Then the chapter shifts to easily the most polarizing scene of “Sinners,” cutting to the members of the Alliance who stayed behind on Kiyomi’s ship.
The reason this scene is so divisive is because Falco reveals that he thinks he may be able to fly because previous Beast Titans could, and he was transformed by Zeke’s spinal fluid before he became the Jaw Titan.
Many people are calling this reveal contrived and out of nowhere but the setup was clearly there.
A flying Titan has been brought up ever since Chapter 93 where it was used as a joke.
Not to mention that Falco has been linked with birds constantly since his appearance, his name being Italian for falcon, him talking to a bird during his first appearance, and his Titan form literally looking like a bird.
Although, I will say there probably should have been more build up for the previous Beast Titans being able to fly.
We have only seen previous Beast Titans in ape form, so if it can really take the form of other animals, if that is what is being suggested here, then there should have been a few showcases of this, like maybe showing Tom Ksaver’s Titan form or have the panel of the first Beast Titan in chapter 122 be a different animal.
Still, there was some build up to it, and I am happy that Falco can fly because it means he can take the rest of the Alliance to join the final battle, which is something I wanted to happen, so I think this works, even if it should have had more set up.
Another reveal this chapter is the Female Titan’s power, which is to manifest other Titan powers, possibly by ingesting spinal fluid.
This may be in reference to Eren drinking the Armor serum and Galliard and Marcel’s Jaw Titans having armoured faces though, so it may not be too important.
Whether it is or not though, I cannot deny that Annie was the best part of this scene, with her experiencing considerable growth, remembering her father and the good times she had both with the Warriors and the 104th.
Now, it looks like she will join Gabi, Falco, and possibly Yelena because I suspect she will be coming, at the final battle, using Falco’s flying Jaw Titan to reach the Alliance.
Let’s just hope this doesn’t end in tragedy for Annie and Armin’s relationship as I have been predicting for a while.
Along with Annie, Kiyomi also got some much needed development, with her expressing her regrets for helping to bring Eren and Zeke together all for profit and the honor of her clan.
At this point though, I have no idea what role, if any, she has to play in the story going forward.
With there being no development in my theory that she would have a connection with Kruger and Ksaver, all that feels left for her is her established connection with Mikasa, which I hope pays off in some way.
Cutting away from Kiyomi’s ship, the chapter then pivots to its last scene with a train approaching Fort Salta, the location of the final battle.
And who is on this train?
Why, it’s none other than the Eldians who escaped from Liberio, lead by Annie’s father.
They took a train driver and his family hostage and are planning to take that train to escape on Fort Salta’s airships.
Looks like Annie will get a reunion with her father but, once again, probably in a tragic sense.
I will say though that Mr Leonhart is really starting to grow on me as a character.
Even though he knows their situation may be hopeless, he is leading his fellow Eldians in the blind hope that they will survive and that he may see his daughter again someday.
We also get some character growth from the Warriors’ families, like Gabi’s parents finally realizing they were wrong to send their daughter into the Warrior program and Pieck’s father refusing to throw his honorary Marleyan armband away because of how she sacrificed everything to get him it.
This character growth is cut short by the sight of the approaching Rumbling and a group of airships going to bomb it, hoping to blow all of the Titans away, ending the chapter.
Seriously, though, we all know that these airships don’t have a chance in hell.
Sure, they may kill a few Wall Titans but I doubt they would be a significant obstacle for Eren.
I think what Eren will do is just use the power of the Warhammer Titan to create some spears and then have the Wall Titans throw them at the airships like javelins.
That should be enough to take them out.
In all likelihood, all the airships’ attack could probably do is buy enough time for the Warrior’s family so that the Alliance can arrive in time to engage Eren in the final battle, which will most likely be the cliffhanger for the next chapter, ending Volume 33.
Overall, “Sinners” is another great chapter of Attack on Titan that builds to the final battle very well.
I predict that after the next chapter we will only have one more volume left before this fantastic story comes to an end, whether that ending be completely tragic or bittersweet (because it’s certainly not going to be happy).

Attack on Titan Chapter 133 Predictions.

Chapter 132 was an Attack on Titan chapter that hit really hard emotionally, delivering the tragic death of Hange, oh, and also Floch too, I suppose.
In all seriousness, Hange’s death proved that we really are in the final arc of the story and, right now, the Alliance are on their way to try and stop Eren from destroying the world.
The final battle is almost upon us, meaning the end of the story is also, and, once again, I will try to (and probably fail to) predict what will happen in the next chapter, 133.
Starting with…

Will the Alliance Reach Eren by the end of the Next Chapter?

“Wings of Freedom” ended with the plane that is carrying the Alliance escaping the Rumbling, following Hange’s sacrifice.
So, the question is, “when will they reach Eren?”
Given how quickly it took for the story to get the Alliance on the plane, once they reached Odiha, it only being one chapter, I honestly don’t expect we will have to wait too long to see their confrontation with him.
In all likelihood, we will either have the Alliance catching up with him as the cliffhanger next chapter, or the following one.
Personally, I think Chapter 134 would be a more appropriate point for this to happen because it would end the volume off on one hell of a cliffhanger and also leave the entirety of the last volume to depict the final battle.
Whatever chapter this happens though, I can definitely see that chapter ending just like the final audio, with Armin rushing to Eren using the ODM Gear and screaming his name to get his attention.
But, once the Alliance reach Eren, that raises another question about what will happen.

How Will the Alliance Deal With Eren?

Eren is practically a literal god at this point.
He not only has control of the Founding Titan, and thus all Titans, but he can also physically alter the bodies of all Subjects of Ymir, including the Alliance.
Therefore, I don’t think a fight would go in the Alliance’s favor.
Of course, this is not their plan, at least for now.
Right now, the Alliance’s plan, or at least the Scout part of the Alliance because I doubt Reiner and Pieck would stay true to this plan if it failed, is to talk to Eren in an effort to convince him to stop the Rumbling.
But, I also don’t think that Eren would just be willing to stop.
Like it or not, him and the Alliance are going to come to blows.
I’m not sure if Eren would try to kill any of them, considering that he is doing all of this to keep his friends safe, but we’re still not sure of everything that is going on inside his head.
In any case, if it does come to fighting, Chapter 132 gave the Alliance a small way of doing so, the bombs that the Jaegerists tried to use to blow up the plane.
Armin insisted that they take the bombs with them but is currently unsure if he wants to use them on Eren.
He may have no choice if he wants to save the world, though.
I can see the Alliance using these bombs to attack Eren’s nape in the hope of pulling him out of his gigantic Titan form.
However, given that he is in possession of the Warhammer Titan power, I can see Eren being located elsewhere in the Titan, making the Alliance’s job even harder.
Although, this my be where their trump card comes in.

Will Zeke Show up?

Zeke has been missing from the main story ever since Eren transformed in Chapter 122.
Since then, many have speculated about where he is.
One of the prevailing theories is that he is currently fused with Eren’s massive Titan and is being used to make sure Eren’s connection to royal blood, and thus the Founding Titan powers, stays in place.
Another part of this theory also states that his consciousness is in the Paths Dimension and he is now the one building the Alliance’s Titans in an effort to stop Eren.
However, if Zeke is the one who is keeping Eren’s hold on the Founding Titan power, then the Alliance’s best bet to stop Eren would be to remove Zeke or kill him.
This is where Levi could come in, bringing and end to the rivalry the two have had ever since the Return to Shiganshina Arc.
Another character that could play a role in Zeke’s downfall is Connie, whose fight with the Best Titan was possibly set up in the Uprising Arc, after he learned that Zeke had turned his entire family into Titans.
I can see Levi and Connie teaming up to take down Zeke, which could bring an end to both of their arcs.
Let’s just hope that, if this does happen, then their arcs don’t end with them dying, like Hange did last chapter.
Another option for Zeke’s story going forward though is that he could actually meet up with those in the Alliance who stayed behind and give them the motivation to go to the final battle.
Speaking of…

What Will Happen to Those Who Stayed Behind?

One thing that really concerned me about the story when I read Chapter 132 was that Annie, Gabi, Falco, Yelena, and Kiyomi, five characters who I consider to be far from having their character arcs completed, stayed behind while the rest of the Alliance went to stop Eren.
This disappointed me because I would like all the members of the Alliance to play some role in the finale, and get their chance to shine, and that can’t happen if they stay behind.
Annie still has her relationship with her father to be resolved, it felt like Gabi was being built up for something, Falco just got the Jaw Titan, Yelena’s obsession with Zeke needs to be concluded, and Kiyomi hasn’t done anything substantial except provide the plane.
I feel like these characters need to appear in the finale somehow and Zeke could play a role in that.
Maybe he knows something that those who went to stop Eren don’t and him telling the group that stayed behind this could encourage them to get back into the fight.
This could also be really interesting, considering Zeke’s connection with these characters.
Yelena is completely devoted to Zeke and Falco probably hates Zeke because he deliberately transformed Falco into a Titan, causing him to kill his own brother Colt.
This could lead to more compelling character interactions that we haven’t seen before.
Another viable option that could motivate those left behind to go after the rest of the Allince is the surviving Eldians from Liberio, including Annie’s father.
The last we saw of them, they were leading a revolt to escape the internment zone and flee from the Rumbling.
Maybe they escaped by boat and they will reach Kiyomi’s ship next chapter and Annie can finally reunite with her father.
These surviving Eldians could then convince them all to keep on fighting.
However, even if Annie, Gabi, Falco, Yelen and Kiyomi do decide to go help out the Alliance, how are they going to reach them in time?
I don’t think they could take the ship that far inland and, even if they could, there is now way they could catch up quickly enough.
They would need something that could fly, which leads me to the next theory.

Will Falco Fly?

I know, I know, this sounds extremely far fetched.
Granted, it’s not as far fetched as the theory I brought up in my last predictions post, that Eren could see using birds, but its still pretty out there.
Falco becoming a flying Titan has been speculated ever since Chapter 93, when Calvi asked the other Marleyan officers if they had any flying Titans.
As for Falco himself, he has been linked with birds right from his introduction.
The first time we see him he is deliriously telling a bird to fly away from the battle, his name is extremely similar to Falcon, and even his Titan looks like a bird, beak and all.
So, what if, somehow, Falco finds out that he can make his Titan fly and uses this to carry Annie, Gabi and the others to help the rest of the Alliance fight Eren?
I’ll admit that I always found the idea of Falco flying to be a little too contrived but, now that so many characters are out of the picture and we’re about to enter the final battle, I’d accept any way to get them back in the story, so long as it makes sense.
No matter what happens to these characters though, I hope Isayama can find a way to bring a satisfying end to their arcs, whether they are involved in the final battle or not.

Deca-Dence Review: Like Attack on Titan, if the Twist was Revealed Early.

I really have to thank the YouTuber Mother’s Basement for informing us about this little gem.
His video on Deca-Dence really intrigued me, enough so to make me pause the video and watch all the episodes that were out until that point before going back to watch the rest of his review.
Good thing I did too because I stopped watching the video literally seconds before the big twist of Deca-Dence was revealed and it is definitely best for you to see that twist for yourself.
Directed by Yuzuru Tachikawa and developed by Studio Nut, the anime is set in a post-apocalyptic world where humanity has been hunted to the brink of extinction by the mysterious Gadoll.
Humanity’s only hope is the Deca-Dence, a massive robotic fist that can punch the lights out of these giant monsters.
Our heroine is Natsuame (Tomori Kusunoki), a young girl who lost her father and her arm years ago.
Upon being relegated to cleaning duty, Natsumae finds herself working alongside without a doubt the best character in the show Kaburagi (Katsuyuki Konishi).

Kaburagi is a fantastic character and his bond with Natsumae is the heart of the anime.

After an accident causes the two to fall into the midst of a battlefield, Natsumae sees Kaburagi’s skills with the weapons used by humans to kill minor Gadoll, which is most certainly nothing like the weaponry in Attack on Titan (note the sarcasm).
Natsumae then insists that Kaburagi teach her how to fight, unaware that he knows much more about their situation than he is letting on.
To say anything else would be too much of a spoiler, given the big twist in episode two.
However, I can guess from my description of this show that the first thing that came to your mind was Attack on Titan.
Not only did I purposefully point out how the weapons in this anime are similar to Attack on Titan’s ODM Gear, but I’m also sure that the whole humanity being driven to the brink of extinction thing and being forced to hide out sounded like a dead ringer too.
Indeed, the best way that I can describe Deca-Dence is like Attack on Titan if the world changing twist had happened in the second episode.
Still, despite these similarities, there are a lot of differences between the two animes and the features shared with Attack on Titan feels more like a way to draw the audience in before the show delves into the really interesting stuff.
By far the best aspect of Deca-Dence is the growing father daughter bond between Natsumae and Kaburagi.
This culminates in the fifth episode “Differential Gear”, which is definitely the best episode of the series.

The fifth episode takes the story to another level, ending on an amazing cliffhanger

Along with Natsumae and Kaburagi, there are other great characters like the adorable Pipe (Eri Kitamura), the intuitive Jill (Michio Murase), and the fighting addicted Donatello (Rikiya Koyama).
Although, I will say that, while the characters on Kaburagi’s side of the story are all interesting, for the most part, the characters on Natsumae’s side of the story are, unfortunately, pretty bland and not very interesting.
Another issue I have is with the epilogue in the final episode.
No spoilers here but I found it to be a little unsatisfying because I feel that it glossed over a lot of important details and potential character development for Natsumae’s friends, which, again, was sorely needed.

Even though Natsumae is a great character, her friends needed way more development and this ties into why I think the epilogue didn’t entirely work.

Despite these problems, the anime is still a lot of fun with great visuals, a fantastic score, and some laugh out loud moments, all with the fantastic bond between Natsumae and Kaburagi keeping it together.
Deca-Dence is a solid anime that feels like a complete story, without the need for a season two.

The Boys Season One Review: Makes Injustice: Gods Among Us Look Like a Puppy.

Superheroes being, well, less than super has become a common trend nowadays, with characters like Superman being given evil renditions, most notably in the Injustice: Gods Among Us storyline.
Well, I finally watched the first season of The Boys and I can clearly say that it knocked any previous rendition of evil superheroes flat over.
Developed by Erik Kripke for Amazon, and based off the comics by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, The Boy follows Hughie (Jack Quaid), an average guy whose girlfriend is brutally killed in an accident by the superhero A-Train (Jessie T. Usher).

The opening of The Boys highlights that this will be darker than most superhero stories.

After being recruited by superhero hater Billy Butcher (Karl Urban), Hughie learns the dark truth about the world of superheroes and sets out with Butcher and his allies Frenchie (Tomer Capon), Mother’s Milk (Laz Alonzo) and the Female (Karen Fukuhara) to uncover a super conspiracy and take down the corrupt system.
First of all, The Boys is an incredibly dark show with a lot of shocking moments.
These parts come not only from the lengths Hughie, Butcher and the rest of The Boys go to so they can have their revenge but also through the “heroes”, primarily Homelander (Antony Starr).
To say that Homelander is an evil version of Superman would be the understatement of the century.
Homelander makes the evil Superman from Injustice: Gods Among Us look like a puppy.
He is absolutely terrifying and his presence is all the evidence I need to say that giving anyone the kind of powers that he has would be a terrible idea.

Antony Starr does a fantastic job as the sociopathic superhero, Homelander.

However, not all the heroes are completely evil as many of them do have sympathetic sides, despite their horrific misdeeds.
The only hero who deserves the title, not having committed any wrongs, is Starlight (Erin Moriarty), whose depiction in the show is extremely reminiscent of the #MeToo movement based on what she goes through.
Thankfully, this is done in a respectful way that makes you cheer for her, and her emerging relationship with Hughie is genuinely sweet.

Starlight’s struggles culminate in a fantastic scene on a stage that will have you applauding her right alongside Hughie.

Although, my favourite character dynamic of the entire season would definitely have to go to the Female and Frenchie whose growing bond is great to watch.
Sadly, its not all sunshine and rainbows because, as I mentioned, the show can get extraordinarily brutal, with at least one jaw droppingly dark moment every episode.
This is best encapsulated by the season one finale, which has one of the most shocking cliffhangers that I have seen in a while and made me incredibly excited for season two.

I genuinely have no idea what’s going to happen in season two after the jaw dropping final moments of the finale.

All in all, The Boys is the best example of superheroes gone bad story out there, with fantastic characters and a nice blend of humor and horrifying moments.
This all comes together to make The Boys a true Spice Girls quality show… just watch it, you’ll get the reference.

Hinamatsuri Manga Review: I Have Never Laughed Harder.

Ah, it feels like just yesterday that I watched Hinamatsuri for the first time at the anime club of my university.
Based off the manga by Masao Ōtake, the story of a Yakuza gang member, named Nitta, who is blackmailed by a telekinetic girl, named Hina, into taking care of her, along with the tale of how a middle school student, named Hitomi, became a bartender, provided us all with a lot laughs.
In fact, when I did my review of the anime, I framed this premise like it was something out of a joke, “Tell me if you’ve heard this one; a Yakuza and a telekenetic girl walk into a bar and order a drink from an underage bartender”, is what I said.
Well, that joke sounding premise was very real and the laughs the show delivered were just as good or even better than any gag that joke could have produced.

This being said, though, the joke I made is a pretty fair description of the story.

So, after reminiscing on how funny the anime was, learning that there is no season two in sight, and also learning that the manga had recently finished, I decided to read that manga and, boy, was it worth it.
I honestly don’t remember a time I have laughed harder after reading Hinamatsuri.
The jokes almost always land in a hysterical fashion that reflects the absurdity of each situation.
When the manga gets to the actual plot of the story it gets even more absurd.
By that, I mean that Hinamatsuri takes a bit of a dive down a save the world storyline and yet this story is always on the back burner compared to the other characters’ personal struggles.
This works because of how likable and funny these characters are.
Just like in the anime, my favourite character is definitely Hitomi, the inspirational success story who did not want to be an inspirational success story.

Bow before our lord and savoir Hitomi Mishima because I’m pretty sure she’s going to be a god at the end of her lifetime with how far she had progressed by the story’s conclusion.

What helps Hitomi is that the comedy in her storylines is always hilarious and some of the most hysterical moments in the entire manga.
I’m going to remember her wondering if everyone praising Anzu was part of some cult, her threatening Nitta, and, most of all, her accidentally being sent to a boot camp rather than an English class, resulting in her swearing like a sailor whenever she switches to the language.
That last one was unfortunately not included in the anime, most likely for censorship reasons.
But, that’s why Hinamatsuri is such a great read, even if you’ve read the bits that the anime already covered, because many hilarious moments from the manga were cut from the show.
Back to the characters, the other ones are just as enjoyable, with Anzu continuing as best daughter and Nitta and Hina still being the lovable scumbags I remember.
And then there’s Mao, who didn’t really make an impression on me in the anime because she felt more like a teaser character for a second season.
Reading the manga, I got to see where her story went from that teaser.
Honestly, even though I was disappointed with how Mao’s reunion with Hina and Anzu was treated, I still found her to be among the best Hinamatsuri characters along with Hitomi, Anzu, Hina and Nitta.

Like all the other characters, Mao has plenty of funny moments, mostly centered around her doll fixation.

Although, I will say, that even though a lot of these characters are hilarious, there are a few characters who I just never felt attached to and that their role in the story wasn’t really thought out that clearly.
However, the great character development and humor more than make up for this.
Overall, Hinamatsuri is a fantastic manga that provides some great characters and exceptional laughs, even if some of the characters storylines were not that great.
I hope the anime gets a season two soon so I can laugh all over again.

Attack on Titan Chapter 132: Wings of Freedom Review. Happy Birthday.

Man, Hajime Isayama sure does like pulling on our heart strings doesn’t he?
Long before Chapter 132 of Attack on Titan, “Wings of Freedom”, came out, I was pretty sure I knew what was going to happen.
What with all the Happy Birthday wishes for Hange and talks of there being two major character deaths this chapter, I was almost certain that the eccentric 14th Commander of the Survey Corps was not going to make it out alive.
Sure enough, Chapter 132 delivered one of the emotional character deaths of the series with Hange Zoe sacrificing herself so that the alliance could escape to confront Eren and try to stop the Rumbling.
For a chapter that ends in tragedy though, much of “Wings of Freedom” is actually light hearted, with a lot of character growth and great jokes being showcased as the plane is being prepared for take off in Odiha.
The best of these jokes came when Mikasa realized that Annie has a crush on Armin.
Her face when she realized this was absolutely priceless and reminded me a lot of the surprised Pikachu face meme.
Two interesting points for the story to explore also come out of this interaction.
The first of these is Mikasa telling Annie that she has the scarf Eren gave her but that she doesn’t want to wear it right now.
This line, along with Louise revealing in Chapter 126 that Eren told her to get rid of the scarf, seems to be foreshadowing a big plot development surrounding Mikasa and Eren’s connection with that scarf.
Knowing Isayama though, I wouldn’t be surprised to see this storyline end tragically.
The second interesting point that comes out of Mikasa and Annie’s conversation is that Armin didn’t actually convince Annie to come with them, like I thought he would, and Annie still plans on staying behind.
In fact, it’s not just her, but Gabi, Falco, Yelena and Kiyomi are also not coming.
Now, while these characters staying behind for the final battle does make sense, with Annie not wanting to fight anymore, Gabi and Falco being children, Yelena being injured, and Kiyomi not having the skills, I still think there is a lot of missed potential in leaving them out.
For example, Is Yelena really never going to have a conclusion to her relationship with Zeke?
However, I will not fault “Wings of Freedom” for this because, although I would be disappointed if Isayama left these characters out of the final battle, that hasn’t happened yet so I can’t criticize the chapter for it right now.
Hopefully, Isayama will find a way to give each of these characters a chance to shine before the story ends.
Following Annie’s interaction with Mikasa, we get a set of goodbye’s from her.
There is a heart warming scene where she says goodbye to Reiner and Pieck and Reiner apologizes to her for making her and Bertholdt go along with the mission to attack Paradis, before they embrace.
Afterwards, we see Annie waving goodbye to the Scouts, accompanied by a couple of panels of her looking sadly at Armin before departing.
Well, if that’s not a death flag for Annie or Armin then I don’t know what is.
Honestly, though, there are so many things that could constitute as death flags in this chapter, from Pieck saying she has to pay back her dead comrades, to Reiner entrusting Annie with Gabi and Falco’s safety, to Hange asking Levi if he thinks their dead comrades are watching them.
Sadly, the death flag about Hange was entirely valid this chapter.
I was worried about her dying since she saw her dead comrades in Chapter 127, just like Erwin did before he died, and my fears were finally realized this chapter.
However, Hange is not the first big death in Chapter 132.
No, that death goes to Floch as, surprising no one, he managed to latch onto the ship like a cockroach and makes his last stand, damaging the ship before he is taken out by Mikasa.
I will say that I do have mixed feelings about Floch’s death here.
On the one hand, his final words show that he really did care about protecting his people, even though he took it way too far by devolving into Nationalism, and his death does have an impact, leading to Hange having to sacrifice herself.
On the other hand, I’m not sure if Mikasa was the right choice for the one to kill Floch.
Sure, she is certainly a better choice than Gabi, but I think it would have been better for a character who had more build up with him like Jean or Hange to do the deed.
Isayama may have been paying off the scene where Mikasa nearly killed Floch when he tried to stop her taking the syringe from Levi, before Hange stopped her, in Chapter 84 but that may be stretching it.
In any case, Floch’s death certainly wasn’t bad, I just think it could have been executed slightly better.
What was perfect though was Hange’s death.
As I said, Floch was the cause of her having to sacrifice herself because he shot holes in the plane’s fuel tank just as the Rumbling arrived, forcing someone to stay behind to kill some of the advancing Wall Titans to give the alliance time to escape.
Hange chooses to do so, taking responsibility for the comrades she had killed and appoints Armin as the 15th Commander of the Survey Corps.
It is then that we get one of the most gut wrenching moments of the chapter as Levi confronts Hange before she departs.
Hange is clearly trying to put on a brave face and, accepting that she has made her choice, Levi puts a fist to her chess and says for the first time, “Devote your heart.”
From here, we get the emotional death of Hange, around her birthday no less, as she courageously fights the Wall Titans, killing at least four of them and giving her allies enough time to escape.
One of her last words is especially fitting, “Titans really are incredible.”
Hange often struggled with being the Commander and even admits in this chapter that she was powerless and couldn’t offer Eren any hope (which was unfortunately mistranslated, making it seem liked she was throwing Eren under the bus).
Yet, in her final moments, Hange was her true Titan loving self, going back to the time when she was most happy, studying her Titans, and saves her comrades lives.
The panel of her on fire, falling to her death, as the 104th look on in tears is not even the most heart breaking thing about Hange’s death.
For me, the saddest thing about it is Levi’s reaction, with him saying he will see Hange later and asking her to watch over them.
Levi is a character who has always kept his emotions on the inside, never allowing himself to cry over his comrades’ deaths and continue with his mission, and yet you can still tell how torn up he is about Hange’s death.
He has now lost all of his old friends, being the last of the old scouts.
A part of me wonders if killing Levi off would be completely sad now because then at least he could be reunited with his comrades, just like Hange was at the end of the chapter.
She wakes up in a Wall Titan’s footprint and is welcomed by Erwin, Hange, Mike, Gelgar, Nanaba, and all of her old Survey Corps friends.
Whether this really is the afterlife or just her hallucinating in her final moments, it is both a gut wrenching and heart warming scene that does Hange’s death justice.
It actually reminded me of (The Promised Neverland Spoilers!) Yugo’s death from from The Promised Neverland.
Now, I’m just afraid that the rest of the characters are going to start dropping like flies, especially since we’re close to the end, with the alliance most likely about to confront Eren at Fort Salta in the next few chapters.
Speaking of, that’s another interesting thing about Chapter 132.
Yelena reveals that Eren is most likely heading to attack Fort Salta, Atlas backwards, and also reveals that the place Eren attacked in Chapter 130 was called Acirfa, Africa backwards.
I guess Isayama really does consider the world of Attack on Titan ours, only flipped upside down, huh?
Overall, Chapter 132, “Wings of Freedom”, was another fantastic chapter of Attack on Titan, despite a few concerns, like some of the characters being left behind, and some issues I had, like with Mikasa being the one to kill Floch.
Far surpassing these slightly iffy moments were were some surprisingly wholesome and funny moments, like Hange asking to ride Pieck’s Cart Titan, and the emotional and fitting send off for Hange, one of the story’s most beloved characters.

Tenet Review: Inverting Confusion.

It’s quite rare nowadays to see a blockbuster film that is not a sequel, prequel, reboot, remake or some other continuation of a franchise.
However, when we do get one, chances are that it comes from the creative Christopher Nolan, who just loves to deliver films with mind bending concepts to get us thinking.
Tenet is his latest films and by far his most polarizing.
I have seen multiple different reactions, from people loving the film for its creativity, to people hating it for being overly confusing, both of which are valid standpoints.
It is very easy to get confused in Tenet and this happened to me multiple times, until the film itself inverted and everything fell into place.

The final act of *Tenet* made the first half so much better because it cleared up a lot of my confusion.

The film follows John David Washington’s character, simply known as the Protagonist, who is recruited into a secret organization that wages espionage using a time distortion technique known as inversion.
To say anything else would be spoiling too much because, right from the opening, every single bit of detail we get is important to the story.
And be sure to pay attention because if you lose one piece of information then you may become lost entirely.
I know I was lost on what happened in a couple of scenes, until I looked up their meaning after seeing the film.
While this confusing use of exposition may be polarizing to some audiences, I think it really pays off in the end because of the last 45 minutes.
Even though I did enjoy the film up until that point, I was mostly just along for the ride and not understanding what was happening.
Those final 45 minutes recontextualized the whole film and made the confusing experience I had before this point worth it.
What helped me stay engaged in the film, despite being almost totally lost as to what was happening for most of it, is the fantastic action, pure spectacle, great performances and stellar score.
Tenet has some of the best action scenes of the year, helped by the meaning added to them in the third act, and the spectacle of plenty of the shots is jaw dropping.
As for the performances, everyone does a great job.
Washington is compelling as The Protagonist, even though you don’t know much about him for most of the film, Elizabeth Debicki is entirely relatable as Kat, and Robert Pattison gave probably my favourite performance in the entire film as Neil.

Pattinson does an incredible job as Neil, making me even more excited for when he plays Batman.

As for the villain of the film, Kenneth Branagh plays Andrei Sator in a great performance but for an antagonist that is solely serviceable.
Now, though, we have to get into the issues of Tenet, which do hold it back.
Definitely the biggest of these issues is the sound mixing.
The music and sound effects are blasting so loud at times that it is almost impossible to hear what the characters are saying and, when you need to hear practically every line of dialogue to understand what is happening, this is not a good thing.
The sound mixing is particularly bad during a sailing scene, and one pivotal scene where the music is booming and some characters are even speaking backwards while other characters are speaking normally.
It was very disorienting and really took me out of the film.

I clearly remember thinking, *Turn the dialogue up! I’m trying to understand this scene!* At one point.

At least Ludwig Göransson’s score is amazing to listen to.
Also, despite the film being saved by its third act recontextualizing everything, I still cannot deny that a lot of people are going to be put off by the confusing first two acts.
Still, despite its flaws, Tenet is a great film that is worth seeing for the pure spectacle of inversion alone.
It is one of Christopher Nolan’s most ambitious films but also sure to be one of his most divisive.

Attack on Titan Chapter 132 Predictions.

Attack on Titan Chapter 132 is just around the corner and, with the last chapter’s horrifying showcase of the Rumbling, many are wondering how Isayama will continue the story as we near the end.
Fortunately, Chapter 131, “Rumbling”, provided us with a lot of interesting scenes and panels to speculate the meaning of, starting with,

What Will Ymir’s Role be?

Partway through “Rumbling”, we saw the horrific scene of the innocent child Ramzi being crushed in Eren’s genocide, along with his brother Halil and thousands, if not millions, of other innocents.
However, during all of this horror, one curious event happened.
Right as Ramzi is being crushed under the massive foot of a Wall Titan, he appears to see Ymir Fritz, the one who started this entire story, looking at him.
We haven’t seen Ymir since Chapter 122, when she lent Eren her power to start the Rumbling because he was the only person who ever let her make her own decision, and many have been wondering what her thoughts on the actual Rumbling are.
We don’t get a look at Ymir’s face here so it is hard to guess what she is feeling upon seeing all of this slaughter.
Whether she is horrified by this or not, though, could lead to her role in the endgame as she can either continue to support Eren or turn against him.
There is also the question of why Ramzi can see Ymir since he isn’t an Eldian.
He didn’t see Eren’s declaration that the Rumbling would kill everyone so he can’t be one, which makes it weird that he can see Ymir.
Of course, it could just be that this was Ymir looking at Ramzi and he couldn’t see her back.
But if he could see her, then this has interesting implications because then Ymir may somehow be able to influence anything, not just Subjects of Ymir.
Whatever the case though, Ymir is sure to have a big role in the end of this story.
Personally, I am still a member of the Ymir getting reborn as Eren and Historia’s child theory bandwagon.
I think that would be the perfect way to end this fantastic story.

Why is Eren in Child Form and Will he Make it or not?

Another point of speculation created by Chapter 131 is why Eren was in child form when he committed the Rumbling.
This question was the result of the chilling panel where he declared that he was experiencing freedom as his genocide killed countless people.
I have seen two theories about this, the first being that Eren is disassociating to cope with the guilt, like Reiner did when he was on Paradis.
This would make sense because we know Eren is not a complete monster, despite his actions, because he does feel remorse, as shown by his tearful apology to Ramzi when they met in Marley.
Another theory is that Eren is reverting to when he first received his Titan powers from Grisha, just like Ymir reverted to her child form, which was when she first got her powers, after she entered the Paths Dimension.
Although, this theory does have one snag and this is that Eren was not in child form when he announced the Rumbling to all Subjects of Ymir.
I guess only time will tell if we will get an explanation about why Eren appears as a child here.
A far more pressing question is if Eren is actually going to survive to the end of the story.
The final panel of Chapter 131 shows his decapitated head, only attached to his body through his exposed spine.
We know Titan Shifters can heal but Eren doesn’t seem to have completely healed after Gabi shot his head off, due to the showcase of the spine.
Maybe because his Titan form is so large, and he is exerting so much power controlling it and the Wall Titans, he can’t focus enough to heal.
This could be the key to the alliance defeating Eren but if he will live or not is another matter.
I can see different scenarios where he lives or dies going down and it will be interesting to see if he is punished for his genocide by being killed or if will have to live with the guilt of his actions.
Like Ymir, I have my own theory about Eren’s fate, and that is that he will continue to live after the Rumbling for four years, until his term is up and he ends up passing away from Ymir’s curse.
Eren only having four years left is constantly mentioned, like in Chapter 130 for example, so it would make sense.

What Will Armin do?

Next to Eren, Armin was the most important character of the “Rumbling” chapter.
This is not just because he finally revealed his feelings for Annie but also because he saw child Eren in the paths and reveals he still has hope that there is a world they haven’t seen yet outside the walls.
In my opinion, this is Isayama setting up Armin for something big.
Eren did say back in the Return to Shiganshina Arc that Armin would be the one to save humanity.
Maybe this will be his chance to save the world and finally prove that he was the right choice over Erwin in the Serumbowl.
We also know from the audio teasing the ending that Armin will be one of the key characters confronting Eren.
All that remains to be seen is what his plan will be in trying to talk Eren out of the Rumbling or forcibly stop him.
He is the narrator though, so I don’t think he will die, even if he fails.

Can Eren see Through Birds?

Crazy question, I know.
Just hear me out.
At the end of Chapter 131, when Armin is talking to Annie, a seagull lands on the ship and watches them, before it cuts to Eren in his exposed spine state.
This is not the only recent usage of birds because some crows are seen looking at the approaching Rumbling, and eagles are seen following the alliance’s ship and flying over the military alliance’s fleet.
This started the theory that Eren is somehow controlling these birds with the power of the Founding Titan and is using them to spy on threats.
So, basically, the theory is that Eren is Bran Stark, only a lot more useful.
The implications this has for the story could be interesting because it might just link back to the being that gave Ymir her powers, which was called the “source of all living matter” by Kruger.
Maybe this being, which is apparently the source of living things, can control everything and Ymir only chose to use it to change the Eldians under pressure from the Fritz king and his descendants.
Now that Eren has her power, he can use it freely, meaning he can control all living things if he wishes.
Or, maybe I’m just an idiot overthinking things and the birds are just symbolism for freedom as they always have been.
Again, time will tell.

Could the High School AU Become Canon?

No.
Just, god no.
For those of you who don’t know what I’m talking about, for a long time the Attack on Titan volume releases have come with around two pages of a comedic alternate universe at the end, where the characters from the manga are all in a high school.
Recently, in that au, Eren has begun wishing for more excitement in his life and a cult storyline has emerged where Eren is the only one who can see Ymir, so her followers want to capture him.
This, along with an image from the high school au appearing in a memory shard from Chapter 120, has caused people to speculate that Attack on Titan is, in fact, an Isekai.
The theory is that Eren is from a normal world and wished for a more exciting one so Ymir created the world of Attack on Titan for him, where he could become the enemy of the world.
I hate this theory.
The high school au is only around two pages in each volume and those who don’t collect these volumes won’t even know about it.
Aside from the single memory shard of the au Armin and Mikasa, which I hope to god is just an Easter Egg rather than being actually important, there is no other build up to the high school au being canon in the actual story.
It would come completely out of left field.
Also, and this is more of a personal thing, but I am not really all that into Isekais.
So, even if it was built up well, I still probably wouldn’t like this happening.
Again, this is my own personal opinion though.
I just hope Isayama stays in his own canon universe and doesn’t feel the need to bring alternate universes into it.

Remaining Story Structure Prediction.

There has been a lot of speculation about when Attack on Titan will end.
Isayma said he planned to end it this year and in a recent interview he estimated that there was around five percent of the story left.
This has caused many to believe that the story is assured to end in 2020, which would mean there are four chapters left.
However, I have my doubts about this.
I honestly don’t believe the story can end in four chapters because I feel like there is still so much to wrap up.
I actually feel like Chapter 138 would be a more appropriate number.
There is even speculation that the manga will end at Chapter 139 over a supposed leak.
This leak must, of course, be taken with a grain of salt, however, it does make sense with the importance of the numbers of 13 and 9 across the story.
So, the manga ending at either Chapter 138 or 139 would mean either seven or eight chapters left, meaning two volumes, which I think is an appropriate number to end it at.
But how would this be structured?
This is just a guess but I assume that the rest of Volume 33 will mainly be alliance focused as they prepare to confront Eren.
They’ll reach Odiha, prepare the plane, maybe Floch will intervene, Kiyomi may reveal her importance.
Whatever happens, I expect Volume 33 to conclude with the scene from the audio that teased the ending, with the alliance finally confronting Eren and Armin screaming his name.
Then, we will have the final volume, which will cover the final battle of the series; the alliance vs Eren for the fate of the world, with the last chapter dealing with the aftermath and ending on the panel that Isayma also teased a while ago.
No matter how this final act for Attack on Titan is structured though, I hope it can bring a fitting end to my favourite story of all time.