Archive for the Western Cartoons Category


Arcane: League of Legends, Season 2 on Netflix

December 18th, 2024

Promotional poster for Arcane: League of legends, Season 2. A girl with blue hair looks at us from the bottom of the poster, Her read-haired sister looks to the left from the top of a cast of characters.by Eric P., Guest Reviewer

Back in 2021, a certain animated series called Arcane: League of Legends debuted on Netflix. It made a certain mark, and fans eagerly anticipated the inevitable follow-up in those three years since. The trailer for it dropped, with the announcement of it being the Arcane storyline’s final season coming as a shock of those fans. Would just one more season really round out to a finale that did justice to the story they followed and felt was something special? All they could do to find out was wait until Season 2 finally arrived.

Where last we left off, councilwoman Mel and hextech creator Jayce called together the special council of Piltover to finalize a peace treaty with the counterpart undercity of Zaun. Meanwhile, sisters Vi and Jinx had reached the point where seemingly too much irreparable damage was done to save their relationship. The only response Jinx could unearth from her loss and anger was aim her powerful hextech cannon at the special council, and all Vi and her potential girlfriend, enforcer Caitlyn, could do was watch it happen.

Picking up right where Season 1 stopped, most council members have been severely injured or even killed in the explosion, Caitlyn’s mother included. Jayce and Mel stand as the only two survivors without a scratch, but how is that possible? That is just the first mystery introduced, and Season 2’s narrative wastes no time in getting going as the characters of both Piltover and Zaun react to the domestic terrorist act in their own separate ways, growing a whole new chaos. Ambessa, Mel’s mother and warlord of the nation of Noxus, seems to take special interest in taking advantage of it all by influencing Caitlyn to lead a military rule. Mel contemplates where she should stand, Jayce grows more convinced hextech itself was a grave mistake, and Vi and Jinx go through their own struggles in figuring out where they now fit or can fit in everything.

One of my favorite subplots is where Vi and Jinx’s childhood friend, Ekko, is transported via hextech to an alternate world—and offered a glimpse of what could have been. This is where hextech was never created, Piltover and Zaun live in relative peace, people that died in the past are still alive, and Jinx is still Powder. She and Ekko were allowed to blossom a whole new relationship that was just not possible in the original world, and yet it is that world Ekko makes it his mission to return to. Is it partly because the original world is the “right” one, and this 2nd world is “wrong”? Ekko admits there is nothing wrong at all with the 2nd world—he just cannot stay for the simple reason that he did not earn it, as well as due to his own responsibilities that anchor him to his home world.

This is just one of several narrative elements to appreciate and enjoy about Season 2, and I mean several, delivering much more than just the star relationship relevant to Okazu. Mystery and complication keep following one after the other like a running stream, with new and returning characters continually being added to and taken out of the mix from the beginning all the way to its epic end. Upon reaching the start of the final episode itself, it especially left this reviewer wondering as well as worrying—can this really stick the landing? Yes, it has been announced that there will be branching spin-offs, but with everything they have already done on this one series alone, can they properly wrap up the Arcane storyline on a reasonably satisfying closed loop before making way for new bonus chapters?

Short answer—I would say yep. After the wild, crazy, often unbelievable ride the animation took its viewers on, after all the tragedies that often bluntly overtook the triumphs, we get payoffs and full-circle resolutions galore that hurt so good like they should, just as much unexpected as well as partly expected. One of many things I appreciate about this story’s ending is that it makes clear regardless of whoever wins the final battle, it does not mean peace and harmony of any kind will follow. As long as humanity exists there will forever be conflict, and for that we can only do the best we can and never be off our guard. That kind of message is especially resonating in our world now more than ever, for better and for worse. This message is also what helps set up (along with the ambiguity of a couple characters’ fates) the promised future stories that could go literally anywhere from this point, and I have no doubt plenty of fans are already intrigued to see what the creators cook up next.

Ratings:

Art-10 This is said to be the most expensive animated series ever made, which absolutely shows and is well-spent on a handful of gorgeous imagery I certainly have never seen before—while also illustrating no matter how brutal and grim the world is, there remains an underlying beauty regardless

Story-10 Almost overwhelming while just succeeding in not being messy, it is really hard to imagine what could be improved when all is said and done. Then again, I heard somewhere that the final episode was originally a full 90 minutes, which I never would have guessed but makes me hope we might get the uncut version for this season’s possible Blu-ray release

Characters-9œ There was a traitor reveal toward the end that I did not care for, but I may well be in the minority on that. Otherwise, the characters all have their moments of making morally questionable choices, but it shows they are just people doing what makes sense to them and their personal circumstances, rather than just simply be protagonists one unconditionally roots for

Service-4 There are really only two scenes of serious intimacy I can recall offhand, but they pack quite a bit especially in the second one while managing to stay confined within its PG-13 rating

Yuri-7 Vi and Caitlyn are inevitably canonized. Beyond that, it is a payoff (amongst many) one should see for oneself

Overall-10 Once again, just see for yourself—assuming you have not already




Kageki Shojo!! on Funimation

November 7th, 2021

Watanabe Sarasa is a young woman with a dream. She is entering the Kouka School, in hopes of becoming a Kouka Musical Revue Top Star. Exceptionally tall and outgoing, Sarasa will make allies and enemies in her next two years.

Based on the manga of the same name, which is put out by Seven Seas, Kageki Shojo!! is…well, it’s really quite fantastic. I read and reviewed the earlier manga, Kageki Shoujo!! The Curtain Rises, in 2020 and so knew about some of the distressing events in the beginning of the anime.. Trigger warning for sexual abuse, and body dysmorphia/eating disorders in the first few episodes.

After that story has been told, we move on to the events of the manga after it moved publishers in Japan. It progresses into changing the lives of Sarasa, Ai and the rest of the 100th class at Kouka Academy. When Sarasa encounters her own limitations, and we get background as to why, specifically, she sight reads other people’s performances, the story deepens. As the students in her class get a chance to perform, the entire story takes off in flight. The last few episodes are sublime and triumphant and worth every second they take to watch, even if like me, you are watching Funimation for free and getting the same ad 28 times per episode. ^_^

Most readers here on Okazu are probably familiar with the Takarazuka Revue and it’s school, on which the Kouka Revue here is based. You may wonder about the bullying we see in the story. Sadly, Takarazuka had a long-standing tradition of exactly the kinds of bullying you see here. In previous years, first-years were assigned a specific area to clean and, if a second-year was particularly nasty, could make them clean and re-clean over and over, or force them to do extra homework, even so far as losing sleep. Of course, I feel that this kind of hazing should have been grounds for removing the second-years, but you know adults. They look they other way and don’t see what is right in front of them. In 2020, the school changed some of the written and unwritten rules, in an attempt to curb this kind of bullying and to modernize the school. Students are no longer assigned to cleaning just one spot for the year, and things like natural hair color is allowed.

We’re only getting a taste of the story in this anime series, but it was a great watch and has a manga that continues the story, so it’s something I can whole-heartedly recommend.

Ratings:

Art – 7 It’s good when it has to be
Story – 9
Characters – 9
Service – Not really
Yuri – 0

Overall – 8

I’m interested to see if the story gets as far as choosing otokoyaku/musumeyaku roles, which in this early part of the story seems more or less personal inclination. I’ve read that in Takarazuka, the defining characteristic is pretty much just height.





Castlevania on Netflix

October 31st, 2021

Happy Halloween! For tricks this year, I found myself watching Castlevania, streaming on Netflix, because we all know how much I love vampire stories. ^_^

The descendants of vampire hunters, the descendants of vampires, humans (almost all of whom deserved an ugly death) and magic users all become involved in two grand plans that will essentially destroy humanity. It…wasn’t bad.

Castlevania has decent enough animation, lots of blood, sex, some creative magical nonsensery and enough cursing to satisfy even this Jersey Girl. In fact, I have added Carmilla’s frustrated and exhausted “What the FUCK is going on?” to my store of mottos. ^_^

Okazu readers are smart enough to know that I am not reviewing this animation because I think vampires are a nifty Halloween tie-in. Clearly there must be some reason I felt it’s appropriate for Okazu? Indeed there is.

In the later half of the story, as our attention turns from Dracula’s decrepit legacy toward Carmilla’s scheme for a new age of vampire supremacy, we are introduced to Carmilla’s vampire sisters, Lenore, Striga and Morana. When we meet them, Striga and Morana are and have been, a couple. Striga is also highly amusing, voiced with brutal sarcasm by Ivana Miličević, which balances beautifully with Yasmine Al Massri’s highly ironic, and only slightly idealistic, Morana.  The two of them are delightful and their fate is a high point of the what is objectively a very, messy, if slightly dewily romantic plot. (I mean romantic in both senses here. The plot tends toward romanticism and Romanticism, if you take my meaning.)

The voice cast was quite good, with the exception of the heavy mumbling by Richard Armitage as Trevor Belmont, and James Callis as Alucard. I kept shouting “What? Speak up!” at the TV, despite the fact that I watch everything with captions now. It’s not that I’m losing my hearing, I just read faster than people talk and I have no patience. ^_^ Nonetheless, mumbling is not a personality.

I particular loved Alejandra Reynoso’s voice work for magic using Speaker Sypha.  She was a delight. Jaime Murray’s Carmilla was also brilliant – angry, imperious, violent. Kind of my perfect woman, except for her being a vampire, which I would find just so tiresome. And last, but not least, everything about Lenore, from her cute blushy cheeks to Jessica Brown Findlay’s masterful voice work, was fantastic.

For the rest of the story, expect lots of body parts, blood, and copious amounts of heavy cursing written in a way that kind of almost sounds like I wouldn’t mind being around these people, except for the stench and the threat of death and undeath. Other than that, they seem kind of fun.

Ratings:

Animation – As good as 8, as bad as 5
Story – It was three or four messes worth of mess, but does it matter? 7
Characters – 9 The main reason I kept watching, honestly
Service – 10 I did mention, the blood and violence and sex, yes?
Yuri – 9  It’s only one little piece of the story, but a nice one

Overall – 8

Alucard was all out of luck
Human lives were all in the muck
Magic and mayhem
Meant monsters and brain stems
And all anyone really wanted was a good…roast duck.

And maybe a beer. And a shower. And fewer undead monsters trying to kill them.





Q-Force on Netflix

October 10th, 2021

Q-Force is about the first Queer superspy team in AIA (ahem) history. Shunted aside by homophobic commanders, top spy of his class, Steve Maryweather (voiced by Sean Hayes, who was the first gay ever for a lot of American households, by way of Will & Grace,) is shunted to boring duty in West Hollywood*, where his team is an apparent bunch of underfunded and ignored misfits, who are berated constantly by their homophobe commander. Given the premise, it could be easy to dislike this series before it gets off the ground. But, while this is no Steven Universe, I would argue that Q-Force is actually worth watching.

Let’s start with the problems with this series, before we get on to why it does, honestly, exceed its limitations.

The homophobia is…not great storytelling. In fact, the first episode really bogs down as the prejudice of the people around “Agent Mary,” as they take to calling Steve, is given primacy over literally every other aspect of the story. In the early scenes, it is tiring, as Steve is pushed aside by and for wildly incompetent toxic straight men. Worse, it hits a nadir, when 10 years have gone by, and we know that our Federal agencies may still have homophobes in positions of power, but also know they are not allowed by law and policy to be…this. So, it’s a story written by/for people with paltry imagination who cannot imagine that the world, organizations or any individuals within them can move past the trauma of their past. Honestly, this continues to be a problem throughout the story, and occasionally really gets stuck in this viewer’s craw. When homophobic jerk Buck (voiced by Rick Harbour) is assigned to the team, it makes no sense, as he had been promoted to top spy. In a real story, it would be a subplot that he is being punished, but here, he is assigned there to torture Steve, which makes no sense and just is a stereotype of every jock bully ever. It doesn’t create depth, it robs it….until the last few episodes, where the story finally finds a place to use Buck cleverly.

Despite that, the story works.

For one thing the team is great, full stop. Each individual voice actor was excellent in their role and the stereotypes were treated with love and genuine humor. So, Deb the lesbian, voiced brilliantly by comedian Wanda Sykes, whose wife thinks she works at Pep Boys (does the rest of the country know Pep Boys? I thought it was a NJ/Philly thing,) is actually a great mechanic whose car is named SubaRue McLanahan. ^_^ That’s several in-jokes right there.

Stat the hacker (Patti Harrison), and drag queen Twink (Matt Rogers), make up the rest of the agents in Q-Force. For both these, their various obsessions and fandoms are given room to show up as not only acceptable, but come in handy. How many otaku dream of their favorite show being actually relevant to something they need to know right now? Everyone’s quirks are presented as skills that come in handy, from Twink’s Ariana Grande impersonation to Stat’s encyclopedic knowledge of a fictitious in-show show, Cobblestones. I am endlessly fascinated with in-media, and deeply enjoy it when it becomes part of the story.

Coming as no surprise to anyone who has ever read a review here, is my favorite character, team leader V. Voiced by Laurie Metcalf (probably best known as Roseanne Barr’s sister, Jackie  in Roseanne.) V is given a lot of depth and a whole arc of her own. An arc that, while it was ultimately more “homophobia bad, gay good,” had some surprising and funny moments.

Where the story works is, like all good ensemble casts, when they start working together. It becomes a minor triumph when they realize that they are actually a team. Having been raised on anime, I expect the story to happen at that point…and it does! The story is utterly absurd and joyously ridiculous from that point on to the end…and it all works. Every stupid sex joke, and reference to unreal media influencers, a company called, brilliantly, “Honestly?”…it all works. Like the first season of beloved media franchises, the first few episodes have to be endured so the rest of the season can develop.

At the moment, Netflix has not greenlit this for a second season…I can’t really decide if that’s a good thing or not. As a short one-season goof, Q-Force is fun. As a longer show? I don’t know how it would hold up. But because it is so short, I can recommend you watch it if you can and just let it happen. Don’t take it too seriously, don’t look for lessons beyond “We’re Q-Force! Yay!” Which made for a fun evening’s binge watching.

Ratings:

Art – Not entirely bad, with some very good moments
Story – Gays are funny, homophobes are bad, and anyone can be evil or a hero
Characters – Stereotypes, but when they flesh out, they work
Service – Yes. There are a fair amount of sex jokes, mostly male and some nudity, mostly male, but yes, service. Not all of it played for laughs
Queer – 10

Overall – 7

It had a rough start, but it quickly grows into itself and has some fun on the way.

Props to Fortune Feimster as Desk. A great supporting role that she was perfect in. I’d like to see a short with her as lead. Maybe team her and Caryn up, writers!

*Who would ever complain about being assigned to West Hollywood? I don’t do gay scene things ever, and if someone paid me to live there, I’d suck it up. Sheesh.





Steven Universe the Movie and Steven Universe Future

June 28th, 2020

2013 seems a lifetime ago now, doesn’t it? Steven Universe was created in a whole different era, practically. The series’ message of hope and growth and love has resonated widely…possibly even more so, as our future turned less hopeful and more dystopic. I’ve reviewed all of the “seasons” as they came out on Amazon Prime, so the numbering is vastly different than the seasons on disk or by CN’s reckoning.

If you aren’t familiar with the show or why I think it’s worth watching, here are my previous reviews:
Season 1 | Season 2 | Season 3 | Season 4 | Season 5 | Season 6 | Season 7

Steven Universe is ultimately a story about personal growth, and it includes arcs about love and acceptance, about parenting, about working through dysfunctional family dynamic and toxic and abusive relationships. It includes a queer wedding and some very catchy music.

In a year, we went from a government that finally accepted our relationship, and was working towards broader inclusivity, to a nightmare dystopia. In 2016, my wife and I started to watch an episode or two every night before bed, as a kind of anti-anxiety medicine. Not gonna lie…it worked. We still do “take” two episodes most nights. We reach the end, then start over.

Mild spoilers and major links to music videos to follow. ^_^

In Steven Universe the Movie, Steven and the Gems have a similar experience. The future looks very bright for them and the possibilities are endless…until yet another relic from Pink Diamond’s past pops up and takes revenge for how she was treated. It is, maybe, a little too on the money for those of us in 2020, thinking back with nostalgia, but it’s not nostalgia that saves them, it’s acknowledging the sins of the past, and repairing the hurt, so everyone can grow. Still, way too close for comfort, but critically important to remember.

The music in this movie is both incredibly catchy, ridiculously sticky and in several cases, deeply painful. What made this movie worth watching is that once again, we are reminded that Steven Universe was never a story about a magical boy fighting monsters, it was always a story about personal growth. Watching the Gems recalling who they had been and how they became who they are, was masterfully done. With a musical bonus. The fusion Opal was voiced by Aimee Mann (whose hit song as ‘Til Tuesday, Voices Carry I remember playing – and watching on MTV – on a loop as a teen). I was delighted that she and her musical partner, Ted Leo, get a powerful song during a climactic scene here.

One of the overall themes of Steven Universe as a series has been that choices have consequences…and if you’re not dealing with the consequences of your choices…then someone else is.

The end of the movie is the most spectacular Takarazuka reference. We literally screamed our lungs out when we saw it the first time. Just…..wowowowow, holy crow wow.

 

Steven Universe Future is about what happens when you keep pushing off the consequences of your decisions.

The entire season is focused on Steven coming to grips with a future that he helped build, but which may not actually include him. Like every hero returning from their journey to the underworld, he’s paid a price and like all the heroes before him, that price is normality. Or…is it? Sure Frodo couldn’t stay in Hobbiton, but…he was oozing out of that place long before he left. We all do. I liked the community I grew up in, but I’ve never wanted to return. Part of growing up in the USA has traditionally been leaving your home behind. And just because you’ve returned from the heroes journey doesn’t have to mean you’re done.  Maybe journeying is what you’ll always be doing, and maybe a hero could make an amazing psychopomp because they’ve been there and done that.

Future has one last Utena reference for us and it’s a doozy, so get your roses out and get ready to duel. ^_^ (Also a side-eye to Sailor Moon.)

We cannot fix the past by ignoring it. We can only admit the truth, be the best possible people we are now and allow people to find their own way forward. It’s not an idealist vision of the future, it’s a realist’s vision. The future may or may not look bright, but we’ve still got to put the work in, no matter what.

Once more I want to thank Rebecca Sugar and all the folks on the SU team, with my eternal gratitude for the amazing writing, animation, music and voice acting. I am endlessly surprised by this series, no matter how many times I watch it. And I’ve watched it a lot of times.

Ratings:

Overall – 10

Steven Universe has given us a process by which we may move forward towards the future. It’s up to us to build the future we want.