One Piece 1134 Review: Demon Shanks

One Piece, Chapter 1134: The Owl Library

An interesting chapter! One Piece slowed down a bit in the previous chapter to give us the rather slower and emotional reunion between Robin and Saul. A chunk of this episode is also a lot of worldbuilding which I won't belabor on too much about.

We start off with a fun scene of Luffy going and making a whole yakuza gesture to help Saul, which is hilariously over-the-top. I think this is something he picked up from Ace, since Ace said something similar like what Luffy said in the previous chapter when he first met Shanks -- the whole 'thank someone who took care of my family member' deal. 

We get a bunch of nice scenes as Saul recognizes that Robin has finally found her family; we get another 'mass crying' scene from the other Straw Hats, and some fun little connective tissue as the Straw Hats are welcomed to Elbaf. Lilith show up and introduces herself to Saul, and Lilith casually reveals that she had Jinbe bring along a clone tank -- and it's not a satellite, but a perfect clone of Vegapunk as he was 20 years ago. Lilith plans to build a new lab in Elbaf, which might be the exit for this character. I must say that I absolutely hate this 'twist', especially after Lilith herself is already "Vegapunk surviving". I've always had a problem with the fake-out deaths, and while Saul might be a bit of an exception... this one isn't something I like. Especially since it seems like they're also going to fix Kuma. 

We then get introduced to the aforementioned worldbuilding. We meet the assistant Ange, and a bunch of schoolchildren in Walrus Folk School and their teacher Ripley. What's more interesting are the attitudes of the children, however, who are all pacifists and are taught by Ripley and the other teachers to be pacifistic and hate war. Luffy and Usopp are confused by the fact that these are 'lame' giants, so much that they get offended at Zoro saying the word 'brat'. I feel -- and I hope -- that this is going to lead to something a bit more nuanced in terms of a previously war-heavy culture transitioning to a more peace-oriented one, and the growing paints that it will face. Subjects like the romanticization of war versus the necessity of an armed force... I don't know how deep Oda will go with this, but New Fishman Island for all its less-than-stellar popularity did a great job with tackling systemic racism.

Anyway! We don't get anywhere that deep at all in this chapter, just some setup about the clashing perspectives. We get some background on King Harold, who had some ideas to revolutionize Elbaf as such and clashed with the other Graybeards from other villages. There is some talk about the Nika form being recognizable to the giants, and Ripley wants to see it.

We get a really nice scene too of Saul bringing Robin to the library. We get the revelation that it's a strange space (probably another Devil Fruit awakening result) which is able to cause books to shift into a size readable by giants -- and that Saul kept all the Ohara books safe. It's a bit of a nice thing to see here, and to also get around the logistical problem that the books are human-sized. Mostly, I'm just happy to see Robin happy. 

Two non-Straw-Hat scenes then happen. First up is Loki, still chained down in the Realm of the Dead. He's talking to someone addressed to as 'Mosa', who we only see via den-den mushi. Apparently he's someone with a beard. Loki notes that they've never met face-to-face, and they discuss a common 'true fear' that motivates Mosa. Loki also notes how he would've 'slaughtered the lot of them' if he was in Mosa's face, and gets pissed off at Mosa when he says that he doesn't want to fight back. Again, still no idea what Loki's whole deal is, although right now he admittedly is giving me the vibes of someone who talks himself up more than he is actually violent about. 

More scarily, a huge explosion of black haki appears in the Western Village where the giants are partying... and two figures appear from a pentagram circle. The same one that summoned the Gorosei. And out of it steps... a cloaked SHANKS. And another person with bandages around her lower face. But Shanks! We see only the right side of his face, and this might be the whole 'Shanks's twin/clone' theory that has been floating around for years now ever since Shanks appeared at the Reverie. And... twin, clone, Shanks actually being evil... I'm not sure what is the real answer here, but it sure is a huge curveball that this seems to be a main antagonist for this arc!

Great stuff, great cliffhanger. I won't even begin to speculate! The Loki stuff is neat enough, but dropping the Shanks-clone bombshell? That's awesome. Anyway, I don't think I'll have much time to write blog posts until 2025 (though you guys might see some pre-written ones). See you guys next year!

Random Notes:

• The colour cover spread is a homage to Yao Kazuki, the SUPERRRRR voice of Franky (and also other characters like Bon Clay and Jango), who had to step down from his role earlier this month due to health reasons. He is, I think, my favourite voice actor among the Straw Hats ever since I first saw his performance in the original Japanese version of Strong World due to how much he fits the eccentricity of the character on the page. We wish you a speedy recovery, Mr. Yao. 
• There was some rumbling in the last couple of chapters that Loki might've infiltrated and impersonated Luffy, and I'm glad this episode put a huge kibosh to that. That would've made the Robin/Saul moment feel so terrible if that was actually a 'twist'. 
• It's a brief sequence, but Saul notes that he knows the significance of Luffy being promoted to a Yonko. Does this mean that the Yonko existed when Saul was active as a Vice-Captain? That's interesting. Even assuming Whitebeard, Kaido and Big Mom are still around, who was the fourth that Shanks replaced? Was it Shiki? 
• I do like that Bonney is rather comfortable with the Straw Hats and spends most of her screentime around them in her natural child form. 
• Oh, of course the Straw Hats find themselves standing on Ripley's cleavage, and Ripley is a hot lady. Of course.

Agatha All Along S01E09 Review: No One Mourns The Wicked

Agatha All Along, Season 1, Episode 9: Maiden Mother Crone

And now, for the season finale. Whereas the previous episode gave us the big superhero-vs-supervillain punch-up, "Maiden, Mother, Crone" takes a bit of an interesting twist on the superhero show formula by giving us an emotional end... and a superhero's origin story. Done far more effectively than the rather embarrassingly shoehorned attempt they did more recently in Echo, with the simple fact that for a show whose original performance hinges almost entirely on the actress's performance as a secondary character in a previous show, Agatha All Along has managed to hook me along the journey down the Witches' Road. 

I don't think it's a perfect show like what a lot of Agatha All Along's most vocal supporters have been hailing this as. There's still a fair bit of questionable decisions and underdeveloped characters. But it most certainly delivered more than what I expected. Which is a huge win, especially with the recent state of Disney-Marvel. It was far more entertaining than Echo, than She-Hulk, than What If season two, and most certainly than Secret Invasion.

Of course, we still do have to talk about this final episode, which is a bit of a flashback and a coda to the previous episode. I did complain last episode that one of the show's bigger weakness was that in a bid to keep Rio "Lady Death" Vidal mysterious, she remains frustratingly a cipher. And... we get a flashback to 1750-era Agatha Harkness, who's about to give birth in a random forest when Rio shows up. The two are already familiar with each other, and Agatha begs, begs for all she's worth for Rio to please let his child live. Rio gives Agatha's child time, and then she's gone. 

And we go through a bit of a slow montage as Agatha's child, Nicholas Scratch, grows up. Nicky is used by Agatha as a way to get into witch covens, to lure witches out of taverns, to pose as a sickly mom and her child... before she kills witches to absorb their power. Nicholas is young, but even as a young boy he is sometimes confused on why they can't just hang around with the witches. Agatha's response, of course, is to immediately respond that no, they have to kill the witches before they kill her. As the show seems to heavily imply, it's more of a defense mechanism that Agatha herself refuses to entertain the thought of ever shutting off... which may or may not be true, really. 

We also get the genesis of 'The Ballad of Witches' Road', because it's apparently a song that Agatha made up for his own son to sing... with the important distinction that some of the words were there to refer to the two of them -- 'coven two', instead of 'coven true', for example. It's... it's the third episode in a nine-episode season that relied on the song as a climax, which really kind of made me wish that one of the previous iterations of the song hadn't been a full performance in a way. 

And the two are happy... but then at some point death's extra allotted time is up, and while Agatha sleeps, Rio takes Nicholas away. A peaceful death, which elicited a reaction that was anything but from Agatha. But as Agatha buries Nicholas, a young witch shows up... and apparently Agatha's traipsing across the countries have led to a distorted myth spread all across the witch community that there is such a thing called the Witches' Road, and that is where Agatha is trying to gain ultimate power. And Agatha uses this... to kill more and more witches. This was how she got as powerful as she was circa-WandaVision, and this was exactly what she was planning to do in the season premiere before the Witches' Road actually manifested. 

And... again, it's a story that doesn't really hold up, I think, under scrutiny. Agatha and Rio's interaction in episode one is perhaps the biggest question mark I have that can only be handwaved with 'they're exes, eh?' and I also find it rather hard that no one's ever fact-checked that the Witches' Road is real or not... but it does explain a lot of Agatha's irreverence towards the Road compared to the other witches, and it's a neat enough twist. 

Of course, in the present day, Wiccan is visited by the ghost of Agatha. Because of course you can't keep a good main character down, and while the show is vague on whether this was a deal that she made with Rio/Death or if it's something else, she's a ghost for now, spotting a more traditional-comics accurate appearance. Wiccan is horrified at the idea that he made the Road and led indirectly to the deaths of Alice, Lilia and Sharon... but Agatha gives a rather backhanded reassurance that Wiccan actually saved Jen in a certain point of view, since Agatha would've killed all four of them without a second thought if the Witches' Road didn't appear. I like that at least Agatha's psychopathy is kept around, even when she's in this more cooperative form. 

Wiccan attempts to banish Agatha with her magic, which could also be a good closing to this series, to have Agatha be punished, in some way, for all of her villainy. But she refuses to go, seemingly by nothing but sheer force of will... and in perhaps one of the few honest lines she's had this series, she yells that she can't face 'him', or Nicholas. Wiccan is shaken just a bit by that... but Agatha immediately turns around and offers her services as a spirit guide. They could, after all, make a good team to continue Wiccan's journey to find Tommy, wherever he ended up. They set off together into a glowing portal, and the series ends. 

And... that's it for Agatha All Along. It's an unconventional end to an unconventional series. It's experimental, it's weird, it's not perfect, but you could really feel that it's made with passion and care. That the actors wanted to be there, that they knew which parts of the story they wanted to tell the audience. I wasn't particularly optimistic about this show when I came in to it, but at the end of it, I was pleasantly surprised. 

Marvel Easter Eggs Corner:

• Agatha's ghostly appearance at the end -- in a purple dress with white hair -- is how she looks in the comics, both in the older comics and in modern, post-WandaVision ones. She also served as a ghostly spirit guide (albeit a much more traditional and less snarky one) to Scarlet Witch in the comics. 
• Nicholas Scratch is Agatha's grandson in the comics. However, unlike his relatively harmless appearance here, comics!Scratch is a full-blown villain. 

Reviewing Fan-Pokemon: Pokemon Infinite Fusion, Part 7 -- Mimikyu Edition

After Porygon, I decided to randomly pick one of the other 'themed' Infinite Fusion templates that I said I wanted to do. It was either the Duskull line, the Grimer line, the Solosis line, Cofagrigus, Unown or Mimikyu. (I didn't want to do the Klink line back-to-back with Porygon). 

Obviously, Mimikyu won! And... I do like it. One thing that I wasn't really feeling with the Porygon one was that... a lot of the fusions are samey, so it's a bit hard for me to say stuff without repeating myself too much. Mimikyu's whole deal is that he wears a felt-cloth costume of other Pokemon, so there's inherently a lot more adorable variation going on here, as well as some more twisted ones. 

Again, similar introduction to the rest of the Infinite Fusion posts --  Infinite Fusion is a fan-game that features fusions of Pokemon as the gimmick, and often times this includes some excellent sprite-work by artists. 

I did a more in-depth explanation of the fusion process in the first review. Basically, the Infinite Fusion calculator has two different combinations, with one Pokemon as the body, and the other Pokemon as the head + colours, and vice-versa. But the most interesting ones are the crowdsourced custom sprites for the fusions, the bulk of which is what we'll be talking about here!

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A lot of the 'Mimikyu as the base body' fusions very understandably just switches out the Pikachu base of the felt-cloth puppet with whatever Pokemon it's fused with. And it's honestly something I kind of wished Pokemon did as regional variants -- surely this makes more sense than giving us seven different outfits for Pikachu? 

The starters and baby Pokemon make for some really adorable ones, and I love the creativity that gose into the concept of Mimikyu making these cosplays out of scrap material. Mimikyu/Turtwig here is pretty basic, but I like that just like regular Mimikyu's wooden Pikachu tail, the leaf prop he's using for Turtwig's head is falling off. Meanwhile, Mimikyu/Cyndaquil inherits Cyndaquil's slit-like eyes, and this one apparently managed to get a fake flame effect behind him. Is it cardboard? It's probably cardboard. 

Some more cure ones. Mimikyu/Torchic is pretty dang cute, and I featured Mimikyu/Mudkip in a previous post. Mimikyu/Jigglypuff goes a bit more anime with it, with the face being scribbled on with a blue felt-tip marker, and it's even holding a microphone with its ghost hand. I feel like a Jigglypuff Mimikyu would be adorable as it tries to sing, but people get freaked out by its face. 

We've got Mimikyu/Pichu and Mimikyu/Raichu. I really think the Pichu fusion is really cute! The Raichu one is... uh... yeah, that scribbled-on face does look a bit disturbing, despite it trying to mimic regular Raichu's mouth instead of the creepy psycho zigzag that canon Mimikyu has. I like that the tail is still a wooden or cardboard chunk. 

We'll get another couple of simple, cute ones out of the way. Mimikyu/Squirtle and Mimikyu/Chimchar. I'm not the biggest fan of Chimchar (I'm not a big fan of monkeys in general) and so I think this design is infinitely better than the actual monkey. A whole bunch of wholesomeness!

Honestly, though, these feel less like proper 'fusions' and more like just creative variants of Mimikyu. Which, by the way, is not a complaint. I'd love for a region to have like 30 different Mimikyu variants. It sure would be more appealing to collect than like 30 different Vivillons or Alcremies!

Some of these really do get creative! It's not always just a felt-cloth doll like canon Mimikyu. Mimikyu/Tentacruel here makes its disguise with a blue trash can, with scribbles to represent the red orbs on Tentacruel. It completes its disguise with a bunch of black felt tape, and a sharp 'beak' or 'nose' that seems obviously glued on. It's probably fitting that it's made out of pollution too, you could probably guess that this guy hung out near the oceans. 

Mimikyu/Gyarados also gets creative! Always love any design that has two glowing eyes peering out of a black abyss of a mouth, and it makes perfect sense here since Mimikyu's using a costume for the Gyarados. But Mimikyu's true shadow form is holding the little stick that keeps the Gyarados body up, as if it's like a dragon dance in a Chinese New Year festival. That's pretty cute. I like the little stitched-up seam running down Gyarados's body as well! 

The bases that use the other Pokemon as the 'main' body also can be really cool because... guess what? Mimikyu himself is pretty damn cool! The effect is kind of amplified with already spooky Pokemon, like Misdreavus/Mimikyu here. We keep most of Misdreavus's anatomy, but she now has jet-black, hollow eyes and stitches running up and down her now presumably felt body. And of course we've got Mimikyu's usual giant shadow claw jutting out from beneath her body. 

I'm not sure why I find Mimikyu/Politoed here a bit more unsettling. I guess it's that stitched-up grin and the black button-eyes? I like that the 'leaf' on Politoed's head is also clearly salvaged from some plant or other. I kind of headcanon some of these other-Pokemon-as-the-base-body fusions as a Mimikyu with a better costume, so much that it doesn't have to scuttle around in the somewhat conical shape that traditional Mimikyu does. 

Chandelure/Mimikyu is another pretty interesting one in that the design seems to be adapting Mimkyu's inner shadow form taking the form of the traditional chandelier. I like that it's got a bunch of goopy wax everywhere, and that there are chunks of Mimikyu's original Pikachu-based costume that lay tattered around the chandelier hands. 

I like Klinklang/Mimikyu here, where the real Mimikyu's this shadowy pair of hands using yellow strings to puppeteer a bunch of rusty gears arranged in the rough shape of a Klinklang. The puppeteer strings isn't exactly what a Mimikyu is themed after, but using scrap as a costume still fits with what this little guy is doing! 

As per tradition, we need to see what the 'squared' fusion is, and Mimikyu/Mimikyu is... just a Gigantamax Pikachu version of Mimikyu. I guess it makes sense! I didn't find this as funny as I should, but it's a good gag. 

Mimikyu/Pikachu is interesting. At first glance it just seems like it's a reverse cosplay -- a Pikachu wearing a Mimikyu hoodie. I think Pokemon Go even has a PIkachu costume like this. But we've got an actual Mimikyu shadow tendril claw peeking up from underneath that skirt, so who knows what's going on under there? 

Mimikyu/Cradily is adorable as all hell! Neither Cradily nor Mimikyu has those massive giant chompers in the green maw, but it doesn't feel out of place. Mimikyu's eyes glint within the dark void, while -- just like canon Cradily -- two yellow buttons act as fake 'eyes'. It's such a clever adaptation of the real Cradily's fake eye-spots and real eyes. And, of course, he's got a bunch of socks that are used as the materials for Cradily's tentacles. 

Big daddy satan Mimikyu/Giratina also looks pretty fun! We've got a small cosplay of Giratina as a puppet, but instead of a formless glob bursting out as a shadowy appendage, we've got a full-on monstrosity with tendril-ribcage-claws just like the Origin Forme of Giratina. Pretty cool! 

More cuties! Man, there's a lot less 'creepy' Mimikyu fusions than I thought! I'm actually quite surprised, but I guess the Pokemon fandom recognizes Mimikyu as a cute baby that needs to be protected. Mimikyu/Pidgeot here doesn't quite have the same 'this costume is cobbled from trash' vibe that most of the Mimikyu fusions have, but I love that face. I can't not put this little guy in this page.

Mimikyu/Dusclops is just adorable, okay? Dusclops is based on a paper lantern, so it's already ripe to become a Pokemon 'made out of trash', but I love how this Mimikyu goes around completing the look, with what looks like goopy wax or cream to make Dusclops' tail, and two little white pom-poms on sticks to represent Dusclops' hands. That's adorable. 

Mimikyu/Roselia here is adorable! Look at it. It's got the Roselia body down pat, with stitches and duct tapes, but what gets me the most is that he's using two differently-coloured sink rags for Roselia's rose arms. 

Appreciate how cute Mimikru/Raikou is. Honestly, regular Raikou already has a tail that looks like it's salvaged from somewhere and glued on! I really do like the face on this one, though, particularly the eyes and the whiskers. 

Ponyta/Mimikyu is just a rocking horse! That's cute. I love that we still have canon Mimikyu's wooden tail, but the wood's extended to the horse feet and handles as well. I like that Mimikyu's using his shadow hand as the 'fiery' mane of this rocking horse, too. 

This one goes a bit more 'meta', but Mimikyu/Krookodile literally has Mimikyu hold up a cardboard cutout of the game screen's format, with HP bar and everything. 

Mimikyu/Umbreon is a pretty cool one, with the Mimikyu entity having created a whole Umbreon suit, but since it's a bit more complex compared to its little Pikachu cosplay, Umbrekyu here has to use its shadow hands to puppeteer the Umbreon entity. Love it. 

Mimkyu/Shuckle is another one that uses a bunch of creative trash to create a fascimile of the creature. In this case, it's some guy's biker helmet serving as Shuckle's shell, and a mass of black tendrils ending in yellow socks representing Shuckle's wormy tentacles. That's pretty cool, and I just really like the idea of a biker helmet as a dome-shaped piece of trash that 'naturally' has a lot of holes. 

Mimkyu/Octillery is another cute one, with the main octopus body being made up out of salvaged material. It's not quite as clear as the Tentacruel or Shuckle one what the red material are, but the octopus cannon is definitely a toilet roll, isn't it? The scribble eyes are always cute, too. 

Mimikyu/Kabuto I just really liked the look of. Again, it's not quite clear what Mimito here is making its cosplay out of, but Kabuto's anatomy is already a very distinct shelled creature with a shadowy understide, so it feels natural that Mimikyu would feel at home in a Kabuto cosplay. I like that the shadow arms are replacing Kabuto's upper claws. 

Mimikyu/Dratini is just here because I find it cute! Not much to say, it sure is cute. 

Mimikyu/Gible is a cute one! Its costume is a cardboard box with a bunch of things taped on, like the fin and hammerhead shark greebles, and a bunch of stuff drawn on it. It's another one that I find cute!

As the other 'artificial' Pokemon, Golurk makes for very fun fusions with Mimikyu! The first Mimikyu/Golurk is a Mimikyu hiding within the rift in Golurk's chest, with eyes and claws lurking out of the chest. I like that the regular Golurk eyes are hollow. It's a weird but nice touch that the left arm is wooden, too, and it even looks like this is a golem cobbled together and repaired, not to dissimilar with the concept of Regirock. Pretty neat! Is this a Mimikyu that cobbled together a Golurk golem, or a Mimikyu that infiltrated a dead or empty Golurk?

I just find the reverse to be adorable, a Golurk plushie with mismatched eyes, and Mimikyu's eyes peeking out of the stitched-up seams within. It's just adorable. 

Mimikyu/Ariados is pretty cute! I really like everything that goes on here. Apparently this particular Mimikyu was able to get some more high-quality material in making Ariados's face and legs, but the visual imagery of Mimikyu's regular conical doll body scuttling around on four spidery legs is pretty creepy-cute! This Mimikyu should be proud, his cosplay is pretty good. 

Mimikyu/Wailmer is an interesting one, where Wailmer himself is already sorta artificial-looking, being a whale patterned after a beach ball. The spriter decided to re-interpret it into a hot-air balloon... or just a balloon, I guess, with Wailmer's face scribbled hastily onto it. The 'true' Mimikyu is suspended below it, covered in a hilarious cartoonish white sheet like a cartoon ghost. I do really like the end result. It's not quite a 'proper' fusion but I like the creativity that goes into this. 

Agatha All Along S01E08 Review: Ding Dong, The Witch Is Dead

Agatha All Along, Season 1, Episode 8: Follow Me My Friend; To Glory At The End

It has been the formula for Marvel TV shows to have the final episode be a substitute to the big (often CGI-laden) punch-up between the main hero and the main antagonist. That worked for some shows -- for WandaVision, for Moon Knight, for Hawkeye, for the first season of What If?... but it didn't, for some. Ms. Marvel's huge emotional and narrative climax happened in its penultimate episode, and the big fight in the final episode felt superfluous. She-Hulk attempted to subvert this by explicitly refusing to do a huge punch-up with the antagonists that it tried to set up, but whatever the She-Hulk final episodes are, they most certainly aren't a satisfying conclusion. 

Agatha All Along's first season, meanwhile, has what's basically a two-parter conclusion, and I am genuinely surprised to see that the big action scenes are done and dusted in the penultimate one. And... it's an interesting way to tackle the ending of one of Marvel's more unconventional shows. 

Which is why we're starting with the supposed 'focus' character of this episode, Rio Vidal, a.k.a. the Green Witch, a.k.a. the cosmic entity Lady Death. We start off with her walking and escorting Alice to the afterlife, showing that despite her over-the-top mannerisms and taunting, she is still the cosmic manifestation of death. Terrifying, but ultimately also the friend that greets you at the end of the road that is life. 

After Lilia's death at the end of the previous episode, Rio and Agatha finally confront each other after Rio's brief absence. Rio gives us her motivation -- she wants the 'scales balanced', because Wiccan is an 'abomination' that shouldn't be alive. As a cosmic entity, Rio refuses to let him roam around in the world of the living... much less summon another thing that should not be alive in Billy's brother. However, there is a bit of a complication. Thanks to the uniqueness of the magic that created the entity that is Wiccan, he can't exactly die. He has to come willingly with Death, otherwise he'll just continue reincarnating to the next corpse and the next corpse.

And throughout this episode, the main focus and character lynchpin is Agatha Harkness herself, which is quite appropriate. Throughout her run in this show and in WandaVision, Agatha has been defined by her sheer 'gives no shits' attitude. She doesn't care about any of her coven, she views everyone else as stepping stones to her ambition... but Wiccan is the one sole exception that she seems to care about. And, of course, Agatha gives the easiest self-defense as Rio demands Wiccan... "take him". They make a deal, with Agatha not ever wanting to see Rio ever again (and even when she dies long, long in the future, she doesn't want to see Rio's face). In a cool bit of magic mindfuckery, Rio uses her knife to cut the sky as if it's the background in a stage show, and walks through it. 

With only three members in the coven left, Agatha, Wiccan and Jennifer continue the trial. They end up at the beginning of the Road, discovering that it's a circle. Wiccan throws a temper tantrum, putting the shoes he took off out of respect for the Witches' Road back on... and they end up in a morgue, struggling out of body bags. This is the episode's very short trial, which is supposed to be assigned to the 'earth' or 'green' magic of Rio.

As everyone panics while the timer counts down, Agatha accidentally lets slip the fact that she was the one behind Jen's curse 100 years ago, although Agatha never knew the target of the spell. Jen grabs Agatha's hair, chants an unbinding spell, regains her power and disappears from the Witches' Road. It's... it's really bizarre. It is a conclusion to Jen's story arc, I suppose, but the character has been on the sidelines so much that I barely mustered caring about her. We get to see her float off all alive and well into the distance at either the end of this episode or the next one, and I really don't care all that much, unfortunately. She just got interesting here, and I really would've liked this revelation to happen earlier in the season -- maybe episode 3 or 4 or something, and then we could've had an antagonistic Jen for the second half of the season... but it really did feel like the showrunners just wanted her out of their hair while we focus on the primary three protagonists.

Agatha guides Wiccan to look for what he wants from the Road. Jen wanted her power back, and Wiccan wants his brother back. Agatha coaches Wiccan as he looks for a suitable body, which, of course, coincidentally is a dead boy who's also called Tommy (most likely from a family called the Shepherds) who's drowning in a pool due to a terrifyingly irresponsible prank. Wiccan is confused about it all, asking Agatha if he's killing this other boy so his brother can live... but he never gets to hear Agatha's answer as he blips out of the Road. So yeah, Speed at some point in the future, I guess. 

Agatha manages to figure out something to get life to grow or whatever, pulling out a dandelion seed from the locket with her son's hair that she's been wearing all season, and manages to unlock the doors to the trial room and she explodes out of the cellar door in her Westview house. Rio/Death is waiting for her, and here we have the final battle. Rio is pissed off that she didn't get Wiccan, so she's attacking Agatha with some magical blasts. Agatha dodges an initial kill-shot thanks to one of Lilia's last parting words, before Wiccan arrives in his full suprehero outfit glory. Which... is... all right? It's not the best Disney+ superhero outfit, but it's all right for what it is. 

Wiccan fights Rio a bit, but then they realize that Agatha needs her magic back. And this is what the show has kind of building up to throughout the season. Is Agatha capable of not being a selfish prick for once in her life? Wiccan, always a nice bleeding heart, unleashes his magic on Agatha, knowing very well that Agatha could do the same parasitic drain she did on Alice. But despite some moments where it looks like Agatha's about to betray Wiccan, she doesn't. Agatha Harkness returns in her full glory, dressed up in her WandaVision climax outfit. And then we get a bit more of a fight before they realize that Lady Death is way too powerful for them, and one of them needs to die.

We get a darkly comedic sequence of Bugs-Bunny-ing, as Agatha offers to sacrifice herself, then Wiccan offers himself... and Agatha agrees almost immediately. The heartbreaking expression on Wiccan's face is perfectly acted, and this seems to be the next in a series of moments in this episode on the question of whether Agatha Harkness can care at all. Agatha walks away, with her full power, willing to leave Wiccan in the tender hands of Death... and then Wiccan asks a bombshell of a question. "Is this how Nicky died?"

We've had hints of Nicholas Scratch throughout the show, although frustratingly never anything concrete. It's clear that there's a bit more than meets the eye instead of just Agatha sacrificing Nicholas for power. And we get again, another very well-acted dialogueless scene of Agatha going through so many emotions in her mind as she tries to process this accusation. She doesn't try to defend herself, not with her usual biting sarcasm or any kind of earnest pleading... but she did finally change. She walks up to Rio, kisses her in the mouth, and allows Rio to kill her and spare Wiccan. 

Boom. The final fight. Agatha Harkness, the titular character, dies in one episode before the end. Our main antagonist Lady Death flutters off, her goals accomplished. We get a short scene of Wiccan returning to his house and explaining to his parents (mostly offscreen) what he's been doing in the past couple of days... before he walks into his room and sees a lot of suspiciously familiar things in his room. The heavy implication, of course, just like how Scarlet Witch was behind the creation of everything in the Westview shows, Wiccan was the creator of the Witches' Road unconsciously. And then he gasps in an admittedly lame cliffhanger, and we cut to credits.

And... there are some complaints that I do have about this show so far. The antagonists just aren't that interesting, with the Salem Seven being taken off the board before they even had the chance to be interesting; and the establishing of Rio as Death being so rapid that we never really learn too much about her. Oh, and the rules of witch magic is always frustratingly vague as ever (didn't Agatha gain some power from killing Alice?), and I had my complaint about Jen earlier. But I do feel like the show did a great job at building up the Agatha/Wiccan relationship, as well as establishing just what a gigantic douchebag Agatha is and how willing she is to normally kill people and leave a trail of dead witches in her wake. Having this climactic finale an episode before the end of the season is pretty well-done, and while it's not a perfect climax, I felt that it's one that fit the show almost perfectly. 

Marvel Easter Eggs Corner:

• Wiccan's costume is based on his most iconic outfit from Young Avengers, albeit with a tiara that resembles his mother's and an additional hoodie. 
• Right before she dies, Agatha wears her outfit from WandaVision, symbolizing her coming to full power. 

Bleach TYBW E33 Review: twin kings vs. vollstAndig

Bleach, Thousand-Year Blood War, Episode 33: Gate of the Sun

So this is an episode that I did not expect to happen at all. I expected a bunch of extended scenes for the climactic fights that we were robbed off -- Ichigo versus Uryu, Ichigo versus Juhabach. I also expected for extensions of fights that were interrupted or very short in the manga, like the extended Squad Zero fight we got.

But "Gate of the Sun" was such a surprising addition in that everything here is brand-new. The matchup was never even really alluded to in the manga, and there wasn't a lot of pre-release hype and foreshadowing like the Ichigo/Uryu confrontation that the story and the various openings had built up a lot. Half of the episode is a hodgepodge of various scenes from the manga as the Silbern invasion starts, but the second half is all-new and I am genuinely surprised -- but pleasantly so -- by it. 

Anyway, the episode starts off still with the epic introduction of Silbern from the previous episode, with the six members of the elite guard being sent off by Juhabach to greet the guests to his new world. They then summon the Gates of the Sun, which we actually see in the anime version. The Gates are giant glowing portal-gates that appear below everyone's feet and allow them to teleport around the Wahrwelt! The five Schutzstaffel are deployed, and disappear into the gates.

We check in a bit with Kyoraku's group, and in a bit of an extended scene, we get to see the three rogue Sternritters depart from the Shinigami. And we get the running scenes as both Kyoraku and Ichigo's group on different parts of Wahrwelt are running towards Silbern. There's a really cool group shot showing everyone that they brought up to the Soul Palace! And... it is of course more of the author splitting the characters up, but I absolutely love it that it took them a while to realize that two of their strongest fighting forces, Mayuri and Kenpachi, are missing. Not even the likes of Urahara or Kyoraku realize this, and it's gloriously and monumentally stupid of them.

Mayuri, meanwhile, has recalibrated their portal-gate thing in order to get away from everyone else. Mayuri just wants to test out the results of his research without being bothered by the rest of the Gotei 13, but of course he's not the only person to pop up -- Zaraki Kenpachi show up behind him. Mayuri is utterly flabbergasted at the random appearance of Kenpachi, but apparently Kenpachi was just using the toilet and was left behind. Somehow. Somehow, the strongest physical warrior on their employ was left in the bathroom. See, decisions like this was why you Shinigami lost the first invasion!

Also, confirmation that Zaraki Kenpachi washes his hands after doing his business. I found it funny that they took the time to confirm this. 

Kenpachi is followed by his two lieutenants Ikkaku and Yumichika, and, of all people, Yamada Hanataro. Which is so random. Hanataro kind of disappears after this scene, and the volume releases would have little omakes that show Hanataro being knocked unconscious off-screen during the initial salvoes of attacks between Mayuri and Pernida... I highly doubt that he'll actually get to do anything in the anime adaptation, though. 

Kenpachi and Mayuri then do the most weird catfighting. Both of them are psychotic in their own way, and both of them acknowledge that they're on the same side while also acknowledging that the other party is resistant enough to withstand a couple of collateral damage. I like it. The sheer differences in their attitude towards battle is really fun to behold. Both Kenpachi and Mayuri had been my favourite captains back when I was reading this manga, and I remembered seeing this banter between them was amazing. 

We then cut to Team Ichigo, where Grimmjow almost prophetically notes that trying to regroup and move as a large group will just hamper their survivability. All the while, he's just refusing to run alongside his allies and he's just parkouring on the Wahrwelt rooftops. Their group encounters Sternritter "D", Askin Nakk Le Vaar, and I absolutely love the very self-aware reaction that Askin has to seeing Ichigo and team charging towards him. It's almost as if Askin knows Ichigo is the main character or something, because he bemoans his bad luck... just as Grimmjow is already mid-leap towards him and unleashes a gigantic crash that blows up half the building. 

We then get an adaptation of a scene that takes place a bit later in the manga (this would take place in the middle of the three main Schutzstaffel fight -- essentially explaining where Gerard is while the Haschwalth/Bazz-B, Pernida/Mayuri and Kyoraku/Lille fights were happening). Gerard skids to a halt and roars in frustration at his bad luck and tries to goad the Shinigami into all attacking him at once. Overlooking Silbern, we get an additional scene of Bazz-B, Liltotto and Giselle discuss their situation a bit, which foreshadows the eventual confrontation. I do wonder whether Liltotto and Giselle are going to get more to do, since in the manga them tagging along so much amounted to a fat load of nothing. 

Cutting back to Team Ichigo, we get a brief argument between Ichigo and Grimmjow, with Grimmjow being cocky at the thought of having actually beaten one of the super-scary enemies. Askin is still alive, though, and both the animation team and his voice actor clearly love Askin as much as I do, giving him a lot of highlight as he runs away comically. He's pulling a Joseph Joestar! We get a very faithful recreation of the comedic chase scene through the alleyways of Wahrwelt as Askin refusing to stop and gives one-liners like "I'll only stop if you promise not to kill me", and later on trying to get Grimmjow to work with him to fight Ichigo. Again, a combination of the voice-acting, the expressions and the animation all really help to make Askin's super-trolly behaviour work well here.

The animation adds a couple of fun moments not originally in the manga, like having Askin run-backwards while pointing finger-guns at Grimmjow at one point; and making it a bit more clear that Grimmjow has some kind of partial-Resurrección form where he just morphs the tips of his hands to boost his speed.

The most important scene in this whole sequence is kept, of course, which is Askin seemingly getting Grimmjow off of his trail as he looks at Ichigo from the edge of a building, pulls a thermos out of nowhere and just mutters about his "cafe au lait". We lost the picnic basket during the Gremmy/Kenpachi fight, so I am very happy that in this very Askin-centric half of the episode, we get to see Askin's antics with the cafe au lait. 

With almost-perfect comedic timing, Grimmjow catches up to Askin and forces him to run again. Askin then yells that he's going to give Grimmjow a gift, and launches a Gift Ball. Grimmjow slashes through the ball while yelling at Askin... which is pretty stupid especially since Grimmjow's dialogue indicates that he knows that Askin is playing him. But then, Grimmjow is never the brightest bulb. The pieces of the Gift Ball splatter over Grimmjow, and he collapses to the ground. Askin stops his pathetic running and goes straight into smarmy asshole mode, crowing at Grimmjow and asking if he's ever taught to avoid gifts as a child. As a Adjuchas-turned-Vasto-Lorde Hollow made by the amalgamation of hundreds of souls, no, Askin, I don't think Grimmjow ever had a parent to teach him that. Or a childhood, for that matter. Later on, during the second-half episode fight, we get a brief continuation of this scene as Ichigo shows up with his blades drawn to confront Askin. 

We then cut away to Lille Barro, who is looking through the scope as the Shinigami runs through the street. Lille gives a badass monologue about how the group is breaking up due to each individual's stamina, skill and pre-existing injuries, and identifies the weakest link in the group... Hisagi Shuhei. Just like in the manga, Lille takes aim... and opens fire, blowing a very inglorious hole through Shuhei's arms and torso. Sorry, better luck next time, Shuhei. 

What's not in the manga, however, is the brutal next series of shots. 2nd Division Vice-Captain Omaeda runs back to help Shuhei, and Lille continues his monologue as we follow his crosshairs, and bang, Omaeda goes down. We don't even get a close-up for Omaeda, which unfortunately is pretty consistent with Omaeda having his otherwise quite significant amount of screentime in the manga absolutely cut down in the anime. 

Next one to go down? Sweet, sweet Kotetsu Kiyone, third-seat of the 13th Division. Her death is insanely brutal-looking. We know she survives, yes, but it sure as hell looks like she just died, with a giant bloody hole punched through the center of her chest as she looks down in horror. Running towards her are her sister, 4th Division Vice-Captain Kotetsu Isane and her co-third-seat Kotsubaki Sentaro... who both immediately get sniped by Lille as well. 

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang. Five down, just like that. 

In the manga's version of events, it was just Shuhei, and when we check in with the group later on, Shinji and Kyoraku would just discuss that the sniper 'took out some of them', with the manga not making it immediately clear who got taken out, making it super confusing when the Visored show up briefly for an action scene later on, or the implication that super-speedy assassin Captain Soi Fon (who disappears from the manga from this point) was apparently taken out as well. Soi Fon is not, and hopefully she'll be able to participate in one of the battles and be taken out in a way that befits a Captain. I love this scene. It's a bit more shocking, a bit more brutal, and honestly none of these characters are going to really do anything and seeing anyone that's not a Captain or a Visored picked off like flies is a pretty grim reminder that not everyone here is on the same level. 

But as the Shinigami split up, Abarai Renji gets a bunch of regular Quincy arrows fired at him. He slashes through them to see Ishida Uryu as the perpetrator. We get a very nice sequence as Renji just leaps across buildings to reach Uryu, and says the iconic "Roar, Zabimaru" in perhaps the most subdued that the Vice-Captain has ever been. This is a very nice matchup -- Renji is one of the two initial hostile Shinigami that Uryu would've ever met, and the two worked together to fight Szayelaporro during the Espada arc. With Ichigo being the main character, it's easy to focus on his rivalry and relationsihp with Uryu... but I love that when the anime staff decided to give Uryu yet another fight with his allies, they picked Renji. Who, moreso than any of the 'core' friends gang, is one of the two Shinigami -- and the more hostile one to Uryu at that. I also like that Renji is also someone who has rebelled against his own people at one point for a certain cause... just as he was someone who has once forced himself to toe the line of duty and fight Rukia because it was decreed by the Gotei 13. Renji is a deceptively simple character, and I appreciate that he was chosen here to be Uryu's opponent.

Uryu fires another shot at Renji, who dodges it and we get a cool shot of the Heilig Pfeil blowing up a building behind Renji. The two dudes are never about the touchy-feely stuff, and Renji addresses Uryu almost exclusively as 'Quincy' throughout the entire fight. Uryu is also hostile, calling Renji as 'Shinigami' and telling Renji that he's not here to be a guide. Uryu gives Renji some ambiguously double-meaning words, noting that the Shinigami can't defeat Juhabach after he has absorbed the Soul King's power (which also counts as information-dripfeeding as much as it's an antagonistic monologue) and identifies Wahrwelt as a new world made for the Quincies. Upon being asked about Ichigo, Uryu also reveals his previous altercation and vows to kill Ichigo next time they meet. 

The two then fight for real, and we get some nice whipping around of Zabimaru's Shikai form against Uryu's arrows, which is animated really smoothly. As much as I love Uryu and Ichigo's power-sets, Renji's ridiculous-but-badass spiky whip-sword is a really dynamic weapon for these kinds of action scenes. They clash physically for a bit, until Renji unleashes his brand-new Bankai, So'o Zabimaru. Again, just in principle, I love that So'o Zabimaru gets to do a bit more instead of just killing Mask De Masculine -- and as this episode shows off, whatever So'o Zabimaru did in that battle is a mere fraction of the Bankai's full potential. 

Renji then shows off a bunch of new attacks, beginning with Zazekka (Snake Tongue Echo) which essentially turns the thin cutter-blade on his arm into a whip-sword similar to Renji's Shikai... which I thought was a clever way to keep the dynamic whip-blade of the Zabimaru Shikai in this fight. There's a cool animation around this point of Renji using his sandals to deflect one of Uryu's arrows. Renji is also able to swap around parts of his Bankai, attaching the blade to the end of his bone-tail at one point and having it melt through a building in a beautifully-animated sequence. Also, apparently So'o Zabimaru causes fiery explosions now! We see a bit of it in attacks like Hihio Zabimaru's original Hikotsu Taiho beams, or So'o Zabimaru's Zaga Teppo, but this episode's animation makes it clear that Zabimaru is at least partially a heat or flame-based Zanpakuto. That's cool, Renji!

Uryu eventually counters with a rain of Licht Regen, but Renji blocks it with the Hihio arm. He then counterattacks in a cool moment by slamming Hihio against the ground to create a shockwave, then unleashing Orochio to grab a brick and then ram it hard to Uryu. Right through a building! That's a nice sequence, and the force that So'o Zabimaru was slamming Uryu to the buildings is enough to crush walls and create craters. Renji continues with a Hihio punch that demolishes a row of buildings, which is also over-the-top cool. This drives Uryu to the ground, and Renji follows up with a stab through the stomach, something that is a lot more sudden and brutal compared to the much more reluctant Ichigo. And then Renji unleashes his strongest source material attack, Zaga Teppo, the technique he used to atomize Mask De Masculine. The giant snake head appears and then explodes around Uryu.

The smoke clears... and Uryu is unharmed. Blut Vene is activated, and tells Renji that he, too, has received his upgrade. Uryu transforms into his Vollstandig, though not the full version that we saw when fighting Ichigo -- he's only got the wings and the dagger-feathers. Haschwalth, as always, is watching as this is happening. Uryu combines his feathers into a bow and unleashes a gigantic explosion that Renji does, before continuing to bombard Renji with his minions. Again, it's a bit of a shame, I think, that Uryu's Vollstandig powers is basically a variety on Byakuya's powers. 

As Renji is forced on the back foot this time, he blocks the arrows with Hihio's baboon arm. The flesh and fur seem to get shredded to expose the bone beneath. I was going to make a gag about how Renji unlocked his true Bankai only to have it permanently broken by Uryu after two uses... but turns out that this is a trick. As Uryu walks towards the seemingly fallen Renji, he calls out his technique Hihi Tensho (Baboon Pelt Reincarnation) and the shed fur of Hihio transform into a swarm of giant monkey-skeleton hands that dogpile Uryu.

Renji tells Uryu that he needs 20 seconds -- which itself is a nice nod to a similar sequence where the two of them teamed up to fight Szayelaporro, and Renji had to buy Uryu 20 seconds. This little reference, just like the Shiba Kaien monologue a couple episode back, isn't actually explicitly told to the audience, which I appreciate. Instead, we get a flashback to Renji's training with Ichibei, telling him that thanks to the way that he achieved his true Bankai, he's not experienced in pouring reiatsu into the true form of his Bankai. 

And as this happens, Renji uses the baboon skeleton-arm to grab the snake part of his Bankai, detaching it and spinning it around like how Hihio Zabimaru used to look. Renji then unleashes a brand new technique: Zagai Zekko, Snake Bone's Absolute Roar. Just like a Dragon Ball Z move, Renji charges up a giant fiery ball of reiatsu above him, and unleashes it down upon Uryu in a massive explosion that creates a mini-nuke that is felt by even other characters running around Wahrwelt.

Renji looms over Uryu in the resulting crater, noting that this is nothing personal... which I honestly believe, particularly with how Renji behaved during the whole Rukia affair. Of course, this isn't quite over. Uryu activates Skalverei, transforming into the full Vollstandig form that he used against Ichigo. Apparently, Renji is still pulling his punches a bit according to Uryu, and begins to attack Renji again with even more feathers, and activates the ability Federzwinger.

Federzwinger seems to be a more advanced version of Uryu's Sprenger attack, only instead of Reishi Rods, the floating feathers combine into five glowing rods that trap Renji in a cage-like formation before stabbing him with energy spikes. Uryu explains that Federzwinger will drain everything within its walls, even citing Shikai and Bankai as losing their power. I'm... not entirely sure if I'm supposed to take this literally and Uryu is attempting a Bankai-steal, or if it's just Uryu being dramatic about Renji losing power.

Federzwinger concludes and explodes, dropping Renji with his zanpakuto reverted to its sealed state. But Renji gets pissed at Uryu, asking him what he really knows about Bankai. As Uryu calmly pulls a regular bow and arrow and targets Renji's chest, Renji gives one last defiant speech, noting that his Bankai is not called 'twin kings' for nothing. A spectral version of the baboon arm squelches out of Renji's own hand, and I'm not sure what this implies -- I guess it's a version of 'the sword is me' lesson that Ichigo also learned in the Soul Palace? Renji fires off a version of his Hihio Zabimaru's finisher attack, Hikotsu Taiho...

...But Uryu's arrow cuts through the Hikotsu Taiho and punches a hole through Renji's chest, causing the vice-captain to collapse. 

Uryu then walks up to Renji and lists three reasons why he lost -- he was unconsciously holding back; he didn't know about Uryu's new powers... and he's a Shinigami that Uryu hates. 

Again, that is really cool. In the manga, as I keep complaining Uryu does nothing but lurk around in the background and has ominous expressions and one or two lines here and there, and shot the floor under Ichigo once. Renji, after defeating Mask, also does nothing but run with the rest of the group, maybe clashing against Gerard for a couple of panels. We never really saw what else his Bankai could do! But giving the two a confrontation is a very unexpected move by the anime. It really is a good moment for Uryu in particular, and it really does highlight how he might be going too far with his infiltration, especially with how much he's literally hurting his friends. Again, a great addition and the fight itself is really spectacular. Really love how dynamic So'o Zabimaru is, and being able to see what both Uryu's Vollstandig and Renji's Bankai could do is just great. 

Random Notes:

• At some point in this episode, there is a brief, non-voiced shot of Haschwalth standing in front of a giant circular energy sphere. This shot was shown in many of the trailers, and most hardcore Bleach fans just assumed that this was the anime's take on the Gate of the Sun. This episode is called the Gate of the Sun, but that most certainly is not the same Gate of the Sun that the other Schutzstaffel were using! So what is that? That thing doesn't seem to tie into anything that we know of in the source material, so I wonder if we're getting a bit more to either the Haschwalth/Bazz-B or Haschwalth/Uryu fights.
  
• Yes, the Gates of the Sun were never, ever shown in the manga. People mention them a bit but we never saw any of them.
• Rather interestingly, after being mostly ignored after the first invasion, Bazz-B, Liltotto and Giselle make use of Shadows to move around. I'm actually not sure if this would still work since the original concept was that the Shadows of the Seireitei was what allowed them to appear in the Soul Society from the shadowy parallel dimension. Looks cool, though!
• I am slightly disappointed that the scene of the Schutzstaffel hanging out in lounge chairs was removed. It admittedly felt a bit out of place, but it was really funny. 
• The anime adds a little line saying how Ichigo's team can't contact their other allies with Soul Pagers due to the disruption of the Reishi. A very nice little inclusion to handwave their behaviour.
• Gerard is slightly nicer in this anime adaptation. In the source material, he actually accuses the other Qiuncies of tricking him into taking a direction without enemies to screw with him. 
• I love that Kubo decides to make the pun of the "Gift Balls" because the German word for poison is actually 'gift'. (The German word for 'gift' is 'geschenk'). 
• The anime -- and notably, the earlier cour 2 which cut a fair amount of unnecessary scenes -- did keep Shuhei's Bankai training with Kensei and Mashiro. So while they also kept Shuhei being shot by Lille, is it a possibility that we're going to see Fushi no Kojyo being activated to keep him alive and kicking at some point down the line? 
• Interestingly, Uryu doesn't ever show a halo when he's in his Vollstandig, with or without Sklaverai. 
• The idea of shed monkey fur being used as a conduit for combat magic is, of course, a nod to Sun Wukong being able to rip off his hair and blow on it, turning the hair into facsimiles of himself. 
• The next couple of episodes will be faithful adaptations of source material fights, so hopefully they will take less time for me to produce!