Joker Folie à Deux Review: Folly à Deux.

Joker was one of my favorite films of 2019.
It had an excellent lead performance from Joaquin Phoenix, fantastic cinematography from Lawrence Sher, and a haunting score by Hildur Guðnadóttir.
However, after watching it, I believed it did not need a sequel.
The story seemed perfectly wrapped up, yet open ended, so I figured there was no reason to make one.
Well, the studio definitely had a reason to when the film grossed over a billion dollars.
Fans of the first movie’s concern only grew when news that the sequel would be a musical started floating around.
When I heard this, though, it actually made me feel a little optimistic.
It showed me that those making the film were taking a risk rather than playing it safe.
The trailers also made the movie look great.
But, as we all know, trailers can be deceiving and, when Joker: Folie à Deux finally released, it received a less than positive reaction to say the least.
This did make me more curious about what I would think of the film, though.
Would I agree with the masses and dislike it, or would I be in the minority and find it to be misunderstood?
Unfortunately, I am with the masses on this one.

Although there are great things about *Folie à Deux*, like the cinematography seen here, the majority of it is an absolute mess.

Directed again by Todd Phillips, Folie à Deux takes place two years after the first movie.
Arthur Fleck is in Arkham Asylum, waiting for his trial where, if found guilty, he could receive the death penalty.
It is in Arkham that he meets Harley Quinn, or Lee as she is called in the movie, played by Lady Gaga.
The two form a connection, as the film details Arthur’s life in Arkham and his trial, interspacing this storyline with various poorly timed musical numbers.
But I will get to that issue later.
First, I want to talk about the positives of this movie.
For starters, the performances are all great, with Phoenix once again delivering an excellent performance.
Lady Gaga is pretty much just there to sing and she has a great voice, so she obviously does a great job with that.
Brendan Gleeson is also pretty good as an abusive guard at Arkham.
The standout performance for me though was unexpectedly Leigh Gill as Gary Puddles, Arthur’s former coworker who played a minor role in the first film.
He returns to testify at Arthur’s trial and Gill’s performance is mesmerizing, as he details the trauma Arthur’s actions have unleashed upon him.

This scene did an excellent job of showing the damage Arthur has done to innocent people’s lives.

Sher’s cinematography is also once again spectacular, as is Guðnadóttir’s score, with what little we hear of it due to the musical numbers.
And it is here I have to get into the many negatives of the film.
Sadly, these musical numbers almost always feel pointless and poorly placed.
There is one during the trial where I thought the music and Phoenix’s performance showed what was going on in Arthur’s head really well but, otherwise, if you remove them all, nothing changes about the movie.
They usually felt like a waste of time, and it got to the point that I actually chuckled when one character asked another to “stop singing” near the end of the film.

Turns out my optimism about this film being a musical was definitely misplaced.

Along with the issue of the musical numbers, there is the general unfocus of the movie’s story.
Arthur and Lee’s relationship feels entirely underdeveloped.
Lee serves as a representation of women who bizarrely fall in love with real life murderers but, other than that, there is zero characterization for her.
As a result, Lady Gaga feels pretty underused.

It is weird how lackluster Gaga’s character feels, given that the movie’s title, *Folie à Deux*, literally translates to a shared madness. Arthur’s madness is really the only one which receives any focus in the movie.

The court room scenes pretty much just recount events which we all saw in the first movie, so they hold no interest.
That leaves the Arkham scenes, which are just so bleakly depressing, even for a Joker film.
Speaking of, I do not even know if we can call this a “Joker film,” given how little the character is present.
The first film centered around Arthur’s disturbing metamorphosis into the Clown Prince of Crime, yet the sequel strangely decides to focus on the destruction of that persona, making that original movie feel pointless in hindsight, especially with the ending they chose.

This scene from the trailer does not appear in the movie, making me wonder if they changed the ending, although I may be reading a bit too much into that.

Along with this, Folie à Deux also removes a lot of the intrigue from the first film.
In Joker, there were many scenes which were left up to the audience’s interpretation over whether they were real or not.
Folie à Deux, however, unnecessarily tells the audience what was real in that movie, destroying a lot of its ambiguity.
It would be like if Christopher Nolan decided to make a sequel to Inception and revealed if the spinning top really fell at the end or not.
It would remove the impact of that film’s ending, just like Folie à Deux takes away a lot of the intrigue from Joker‘s ambiguity.

The iconic final act of *Joker* works a lot better if you don’t know there’s a sequel.

Joker: Folie à Deux is a poorly thought-out sequel.
It may have great performances, cinematography and score, but that means little when the story is so disorganized, has poorly placed musical numbers and, worst of all, arguably weakens the prior amazing film just by existing.
If you are a fan of the first film, like I am, this is definitely a folly you should skip.

Terminator Zero Review: A Much-Needed New Direction.

The Terminator franchise has been unable to move onto new ideas for a while.
This was especially apparent with the latest movie, Dark Fate, where the writers got rid of John Connor and Skynet, only to replace them with pretty much exactly the same thing.
So, it is quite the welcome surprise to see an anime of all things finally take the series in a fresh direction with Terminator Zero.
Don’t get me wrong, the anime definitely rehashes things from the previous films, most notably the Terminator traveling back in time to achieve a goal for Skynet, and a human also going back to stop them.
But there is not an overload of these Terminator tropes, and it balances well with the new stuff.

The new of *Terminator Zero* goes hand in hand with the old of the franchise.

Directed by Masashi Kudō and written by Mattson Tomlin, the series focuses on the Lee family in the leadup to Judgement Day.
The father, Malcolm (Yuuya Uchida), is somehow aware of the coming AI apocalypse, and is creating the AI known as Kokoro (Atsumi Tanezaki) in the hopes of combating it.
In the future, Skynet sends a Terminator to stop him, and this Terminator is pursued by a highly skilled resistance soldier named Eiko (Toa Yukinari).
However, the Terminator will stop at nothing to get to Malcolm, even using his children Reika (Miyuki Sato), Kenta (Hiro Shimono) and Hiro (Shizuka Ishigami) against him.
It is up to Eiko and the children’s nanny Misako (Saori Hayami) to protect them from the Terminator, all the while Malcom engages in a philosophical debate with Kokoro to convince her to stop Judgement Day.
The Terminator franchise has been focused on the Connors and America since its inception, so it was fresh for the story to center on a different part of the world and a different family.

It was interesting to see how Japanese laws and family played a part in the world of *Terminator.*

The events of Judgement Day play out very differently than America, so it made for an interesting watch.
As for the Lee family, some of them are more likeable than others.
Reika is definitely the standout, while Malcolm and Kenta could be pretty unlikeable at times, although their decisions still seem in character to me.
Eiko remains a strong fighter throughout, but it was Misaki’s storyline that I gravitated the most to, especially with how the mystery surrounding her played out.

Misaki’s storyline is the highlight of *Terminator Zero* for me.

Speaking of mysteries, there are a few good twists in here that brought some fun surprises.
The animation is solid, even if the CGI did stick out like a sore thumb on a couple of occasions.
This was only occasionally though, as the CGI is usually great, and the action is really enjoyable.
There is an action scene which is definitely a direct homage to an iconic moment from the first Terminator, so the series does a good job of bringing new things to the table while paying tribute to the old.

This scene was a very creative tribute to the first *Terminator* movie.

Another thing I want to praise is the score, with one track played towards the end of Episode Four being a particular highlight.
So, the production quality of the anime remains pretty consistent throughout, even if the writing does falter a bit towards the end.
Yeah, for me, there was a drop in writing quality during the last few episodes.
The way characters came to certain conclusions did not really work for me, and a couple of things felt a little rushed.

The final few episodes kind of pale in comparison to the rest of the show.

There are also some plot holes or just things unresolved with the time travel aspects of the show, but these issues could be fix with a second season, if we get it.
Overall, though, Terminator Zero is the freshest direction the franchise has taken in a while.
I might even go so far as to say it is the best installment since Terminator 2, although that is one of the greatest movies ever made so there is quite a big gap between that and this.
If you are a fan of the Terminator franchise, I would definitely recommend Terminator Zero.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Watching these two characters together is never boring.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Arcane Season Two Trailer Breakdown: November Cannot Come Soon Enough.

It is just my luck that when I was about to go to bed, a new trailer for Arcane Season Two dropped.
So instead of doing the healthy thing and going to sleep, I spent the next hour going frame by frame and trying to guess what was happening.
Now, I am ready to put my thoughts down.
This trailer is great and does an excellent job of making me more excited for Season Two than I already was.
It once again does not reveal the fates of Jayce, Viktor and Mel, whose fates were left uncertain by the first season’s cliffhanger, which I appreciate.
It begins with a voiceover of Vi telling Caitlyn that she was right, and her sister is gone told over shots of Jinx shooting the rocket at the council.
Emerging from the smoke onto a battlefield, Caitlyn says, “I want to tear that laugh from her throat forever.”
This, combined with evidence from the prior teaser trailer, makes me more certain than Caitlyn’s mother was killed in Jinx’s attack.
Vi declares she is ready, but the shots of her looking unsure of herself in an Enforcer uniform and then screaming and crying as she beats a punching bag tells us she is anything but ready.

Out of all the characters in this shot, Vi looks the most unsure.

Next, we see Ambessa telling someone, probably Mel if she survived, that they must declare martial law.
We see the effects of this as Ambessa’s Noxian forces arrive, Enforcers set up barricades, and an Enforcer even beats one of Ekko’s people with a baton.
Since the Firelights are also a target, that means Ekko is probably going to have to reluctantly work with Jinx, since she has become a symbol for Zaun in the wake of the attack.
Sevika herself says this, as we see shots of Vi looking at artwork of Jinx and Vander, and people touching Jinx as they pass her.
These people also seem to have dyed their hair blue to resemble Jinx, showing their devotion to her.
Further proof of Jinx’s revolutionary status is someone, who the trailer implies to be Jinx, holding up a blue flair to which the citizens of Zaun raise their fists.
However, despite what the trailer implies, I do not think it is Jinx holding up this flair.
The hand does not look slender enough to me, and there is no nail polish.
Could it be someone co-opting Jinx’s cause?

There is another reason I do not think this is Jinx but I will get into that later.

The following shots are far from reassuring, as we see Vi reaching out for someone while appearing distraught, and a match falling, after which Jinx says she wants, “to watch it all burn.”
The match hits the ground, and we see a mixture of paint and smoke bombs explode throughout Piltover.
As the trailer declares that “This November every ending has a beginning”, we get more action shots of Theriam/Chuck taking part in the fighting, Ambessa leading her forces, a strange circular structure exploding next to a bell, and Warwick emerging to wreath chaos.
We then get probably the most bizarre shots of the trailer, as we see a group of similarly dressed people.
Their bodies begin to glow, their eyes turn white, and they begin levitating up, while strange patterns emerge on their skin, both natural and metal looking.
These metal looking parts makes me believe Viktor has something to do with this, since his leg looked similar after he messed with the Hex Core last season.
“The Arcane is waking up” an ominous female voice states, while this is happening, only furthering my belief Viktor is involved with whatever is happening here.

Looks like whatever Viktor’s up to this season might be the big threat.

Yet more action shots follow, as we see more of Vi’s fight with Jinx, Caitlyn and her squad fighting the Chemtank goons, Ekko and the Firelights taking part in a battle, Jinx shooting something, and Heimerdinger being thrown to the floor by an explosion.
The shot of Jinx shooting is of particular interest because one of her fingers is a prosthetic.
It has been theorized that Caitlyn will shoot it off and, if this does happen, then that only adds fuel to the fire of my theory that the person raising the flair is not Jinx because their finger is perfectly fine.
With these action shots done, Ekko then says, “sometimes taking a leap forward, means leaving a few things behind.”
It would not surprise me if he was talking to Vi about Jinx in this scene.
We then see what I think might be a younger version of him pulling on some kind of chain.
Another shot of Hextech shenanigans follows, before we see Vi decked out like some kind of punk rocker, standing in a ring and raising a fist to a cheering crowd.
This shot is interesting because it makes me believe even more that we are going to get a time skip, most likely after Act One.
There are multiple points in this trailer where characters are sporting different outfits and hairstyles.
Some of them, most notably Vi, even look a little older, making me think at least a few years have passed.

Time skip or not, Vi has clearly had it rough.

Back to the trailer itself, we then see Sevika potentially about to kill Caitlyn, before an explosion blows them apart.
As Vi declares, “this has to end”, we see Jinx crouched down with a bloody nose.
This shot may not seem important at first glance, but I would argue it is because of the environment.
Earlier in the trailer, we saw Ambessa looking threatening against an orange backdrop.
The shot of Jinx having a bloody nose has an extremely similar looking background.
This makes me believe we will get a fight between Jinx and Ambessa.
Ambessa certainly has plenty of reason to want Jinx dead, considering she attacked her daughter with the rocket and may have even killed her.

A Jinx vs Ambessa fight would certainly be hype.

Ambessa will have to get in line to take a shot at Jinx though because we see Caitlyn apparently attempting to do just that, as she powers up her Hextech rifle.
We then get another shot of Ambessa fighting but this time she curiously seems to be battling Enforcers, unless my eyes are deceiving me.
Maybe it is just a training session for the coming fight against Zaun but those weapons she wields look plenty deadly for this to be just practice.
The next shot sees Vi carrying an unconscious person out of a building, as the top of it explodes behind her.
The trailer does a good job of obscuring the person’s face so I cannot tell who Vi is rescuing.
They do appear to be wearing an Enforcer uniform though, so it is probably Caitlyn.

Vi seems pretty determined to save this person.

Speaking of Caitlyn, we see her glaring up at a hooded Jinx, who may be post time skip due to how different she looks, although it could just be an outfit change.
The shots are probably not connected though because it looks like Jinx is piloting an airship here, something which she said she wanted to do all the way back in Episode One.
It would be a good way to bookend the series.
Arcane begins with Jinx saying she wants to fly an airship, and it ends with her in an airship.
Jinx is also wearing a hood, possibly meaning that she is the hooded figure we see earlier in the trailer, but her hood has a different pattern, so I doubt this.
Following Jinx’s declaration of, “Then stop me”, we see Ekko giving Vi a ride on his hoverboard.
Ekko also has Jinx graffiti on his chest, possibly signifying they are fighting her.
The two shoot up into the sky, ending with Vi leaping off to fight.

This could be Vi trying to reach Jinx in the airship she is piloting.

The trailer then ends with a series of quick shots which I had to go frame by frame to see what was happening.
The first shot shows a mysterious figure holding a ball of energy similar to ones seen earlier in the trailer.
The figure reminds me a lot of the man who saved Jayce when he was a kid so maybe that is connected?
We then see someone carrying a much younger Jinx away.
This probably takes place at the bridge where she and Vi lost their parents, before Vander adopted them.
Following this, we get a shot of Ekko pulling a cord on some device, causing it to light up.
Next, we see Caitlyn struggling against a Chemtank.
The subsequent shot possibly shows us Viktor, as we see a figure with a cane and Hextech emerging from their wrist.
Then we see a shadowy figure resembling Silco.
This shot most likely confirms that Jinx is going to be hallucinating Silco this season.
In one of the most epic shots of the trailer, we then very briefly see Vi facing off against Warwick.
She is also wearing the jacket I think older Vi is wearing, so this confrontation will likely take place post time skip.

This is one of the confrontations I am looking forward to the most, based on a theory about Warwick’s identity.

The final shots show Heimerdinger pressing a button, followed by an explosion during the Jinx and Vi fight, though the two are probably unrelated.
And, with that, the trailer comes to an end, hyping me up even more for November.
That being said, it will not be easy for a lot of people to go into the Second Season blind, what with it leaking and certain people just loving to ruin things.
I have also probably been spoiled, unfortunately.
Right after the leaks came out, I saw a post spoiling the fates of a few important characters before I could look away.
I have no idea if what I saw was a legitimate leak or just somebody trolling (I sincerely hope the latter), but, either way, I am still excited for the season.
Hopefully, it can be just as fantastic as the first and, if the trailers and brief scenes we have been shown so far are any indication, it certainly will be.
I shall be counting down the days until the Second Season airs in November.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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