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Toonami |MayJun17| WE ARE ROBOTS

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H

HStallion

Now what's the next step in your master plan?
Several members of the Troupe are likable despite their murderous and fucked up natures. Shizuku, Franklin, Nobunaga and Shalnark all tend to be pretty likable, Machi as well in that kind of cold way and who doesn't like everyone's favorite white Egyptian Finks? He's got that grumpy charm.
 
J

JadedWriter

Member
HStallion said:
Several members of the Troupe are likable despite their murderous and fucked up natures. Shizuku, Franklin, Nobunaga and Shalnark all tend to be pretty likable, Machi as well in that kind of cold way and who doesn't like everyone's favorite white Egyptian Finks? He's got that grumpy charm.
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Shalnark, Nobunaga and Shizuku seem to be the most easy going. Like you can toy with those three a bit and not worry about getting your head chopped off or twisted around 180 degrees. Feitan...he's not even Hiei sarcastic, dude has no chill. Finks doesn't seem that bad as well, just yeah...grumpy charm. I think Franklin is probably just the lovable brute trope and Uvo was the college frat bro. I actually like Machi, she's all about the job, but she can still be coldly playful a bit, I do find it funny how she works with Hisoka, whom is the complete opposite of her.
 
Y

YoodiHoshi

Member
B-Dubs said:
I feel like I'm the only dude that liked the episode. It was fun, the whole episode was Genndy seeing how many romcom cliches he could fit in 24 minutes. That and it all built up to that final scene, the episode was constructed like a mousetrap that just snaps shut at the end and forces a laugh.
Click to expand...

I did, too. I thought it mostly worked in the way you described it.
Not my favorite of the new season, but still

Man God said:
He's pretty much the only likeable person in the group.
Click to expand...
Initially I felt the opposite, but I blame the 1999 anime for the way it handled the Troupe's dynamics because of that (I hated pretty much all of them at the time before the new anime came about. And I think the director himself possibly disliked Nobunaga too and made him more annoying from what I remember)
This is no longer the case and is much more preferable, thank goodness

HStallion said:
and who doesn't like everyone's favorite white Egypersian Finks?
Click to expand...

ftfy
 
S

SAB CA

Sketchbook Picasso
So far, the Troupe members haven't clearly earned "likable" status for me yet. Killing hundreds of people and such in the way they did and then trying to pretend I'm gonna care about Nobu crying over Uvogin... eh, naa.

They're on the way though! It's nice that they're not just evil and without personality, but I still feel like they pushed how strong they were way too far too fast. But it seems like HxH has always felt a bit hammy to me, in how much they downplay atrocities. I don't detect this changing.

"Uvo was our strongest, and now he's probably dead!" works as a nice way to push the idea that pure strength doesn't = best in this world, at least. Gon and Killua's escape did use some honest strategy to work, and it didn't feel like it was dumbed down in order to pretend it was impressive.
 
H

HStallion

Now what's the next step in your master plan?
SAB CA said:
So far, the Troupe members haven't clearly earned "likable" status for me yet. Killing hundreds of people and such in the way they did and then trying to pretend I'm gonna care about Nobu crying over Uvogin... eh, naa.

They're on the way though! It's nice that they're not just evil and without personality, but I still feel like they pushed how strong they were way too far too fast. But it seems like HxH has always felt a bit hammy to me, in how much they downplay atrocities. I don't detect this changing.

"Uvo was our strongest, and now he's probably dead!" works as a nice way to push the idea that pure strength doesn't = best in this world, at least. Gon and Killua's escape did use some honest strategy to work, and it didn't feel like it was dumbed down in order to pretend it was impressive.
Click to expand...

Being strong in HxH is rarely the thing that wins a battle. Being smart and creative allows some weaker characters to totally clown those much stronger than them. Much the same a very specific Nen power might be the perfect counter point to a much more diverse and dangerous power.
 
R

Raxus

Member
SAB CA said:
So far, the Troupe members haven't clearly earned "likable" status for me yet. Killing hundreds of people and such in the way they did and then trying to pretend I'm gonna care about Nobu crying over Uvogin... eh, naa.

They're on the way though! It's nice that they're not just evil and without personality, but I still feel like they pushed how strong they were way too far too fast. But it seems like HxH has always felt a bit hammy to me, in how much they downplay atrocities. I don't detect this changing.

"Uvo was our strongest, and now he's probably dead!" works as a nice way to push the idea that pure strength doesn't = best in this world, at least. Gon and Killua's escape did use some honest strategy to work, and it didn't feel like it was dumbed down in order to pretend it was impressive.
Click to expand...

HxH is weird in that way even for a Togashi title. Unlike YuYu Hakusho which solely focused on the heroes there is a strong focus on the bad guys in HxH. So much so that we spend entire episodes with them at times. Like Breaking Bad they are fascinating characters but never ever likeable even if you can relate to them in odd ways (motivations, emotions, etc.). The Troupe will forever be murderous bastards but damn if they aren't good at what they do. Combine that with their weird code of ethics and honesty and they are a rather unique villain team.

There was some GREAT Kurapika development in this that I never noticed before. This series really does pay to watch a second time when certain revelations come to light and you can see the details of character arcs play out.
 
J

JadedWriter

Member
SAB CA said:
So far, the Troupe members haven't clearly earned "likable" status for me yet. Killing hundreds of people and such in the way they did and then trying to pretend I'm gonna care about Nobu crying over Uvogin... eh, naa.

They're on the way though! It's nice that they're not just evil and without personality, but I still feel like they pushed how strong they were way too far too fast. But it seems like HxH has always felt a bit hammy to me, in how much they downplay atrocities. I don't detect this changing.

"Uvo was our strongest, and now he's probably dead!" works as a nice way to push the idea that pure strength doesn't = best in this world, at least. Gon and Killua's escape did use some honest strategy to work, and it didn't feel like it was dumbed down in order to pretend it was impressive.
Click to expand...
Uvo is just the physically strongest, doesn't necessarily mean other Troupe members can't figure out how to beat him. I'd honestly think Chrollo, Feitan and maybe even Finks could beat him.
Raxus said:
HxH is weird in that way even for a Togashi title. Unlike YuYu Hakusho which solely focused on the heroes there is a strong focus on the bad guys in HxH. So much so that we spend entire episodes with them at times. Like Breaking Bad they are fascinating characters but never ever likeable even if you can relate to them in odd ways (motivations, emotions, etc.). The Troupe will forever be murderous bastards but damn if they aren't good at what they do. Combine that with their weird code of ethics and honesty and they are a rather unique villain team.

There was some GREAT Kurapika development in this that I never noticed before. This series really does pay to watch a second time when certain revelations come to light and you can see the details of character arcs play out.
Click to expand...
I really don't think there is much of a good and bad in HxH, just differing shades of gray.
 
M

Moaradin

Member
SAB CA said:
So far, the Troupe members haven't clearly earned "likable" status for me yet. Killing hundreds of people and such in the way they did and then trying to pretend I'm gonna care about Nobu crying over Uvogin... eh, naa.

They're on the way though! It's nice that they're not just evil and without personality, but I still feel like they pushed how strong they were way too far too fast. But it seems like HxH has always felt a bit hammy to me, in how much they downplay atrocities. I don't detect this changing.

"Uvo was our strongest, and now he's probably dead!" works as a nice way to push the idea that pure strength doesn't = best in this world, at least. Gon and Killua's escape did use some honest strategy to work, and it didn't feel like it was dumbed down in order to pretend it was impressive.
Click to expand...

I don't think "likable" is what they are going for here. The Phantom Troupe is obviously evil, and I don't think the show is trying to say otherwise, but their comradely and character quirks give them a bit more depth than the typical anime villain group. Seeing them mourn the death of their friend is so refreshing. I can't count the times where one of the characters die in "typical anime villain group #105" and someone says he was weak and deserved it or any other variation of that. They're usually nothing but an obstacle for our heroes to defeat one by one, usually from weakest to strongest.

And yeah, Uvo being the strongest works for a number of reasons. It immediately establishes Kurapika as a legit threat to the rest of the troupe right off the bat.
 
J

JadedWriter

Member
Moaradin said:
I don't think "likable" is what they are going for here. The Phantom Troupe is obviously evil, and I don't think the show is trying to say otherwise, but their comradely and character quirks give them a bit more depth than the typical anime villain group. Seeing them mourn the death of their friend is so refreshing. I can't count the times where one of the characters die in "typical anime villain group #105" and someone says he was weak and deserved it or any other variation of that. They're usually nothing but an obstacle for our heroes to defeat one by one, usually from weakest to strongest.

And yeah, Uvo being the strongest works for a number of reasons. It immediately establishes Kurapika as a legit threat to the rest of the troupe right off the bat.
Click to expand...
I think the thing with Uvogin is that he takes the least amount of brain power to defeat. He's a brawny brawler, you just make it so his punches don't kill you and then you just take away the brawn. Hisoka's far more dangerous, even Shizuku would give a good fight, maybe not against Kurapika for example, but she is deadly. Bonolenov, Feitan and Chrollo are probably the much harder fights.
 
H

HStallion

Now what's the next step in your master plan?
The Phantom Troupe were also introduced pretty early in the series and we meet them not long after that so they're not the end game either though by the very nature of HxH there isn't really an "end game" at least in the style of a lot of other shonen's where some uber villain wants to take over the world with eyeball bull shit. I like that the Phantom Troupe
just kind of remain as an element of the world that comes and goes as the story progress like Killua's family, the Hunter association higher ups, etc.
 
M

Moaradin

Member
JadedWriter said:
I think the thing with Uvogin is that he takes the least amount of brain power to defeat. He's a brawny brawler, you just make it so his punches don't kill you and then you just take away the brawn. Hisoka's far more dangerous, even Shizuku would give a good fight, maybe not against Kurapika for example, but she is deadly. Bonolenov, Feitan and Chrollo are probably the much harder fights.
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Uvogin is pretty simple, but he IS physically the strongest. Kurapika says this in their fight, but he was the perfect test subject for his chains. No matter what Nen bullshit the other Troupe members have, if Kurapika can get them in Chain Jail, it's game over.
 
C

Chase17

Member
Jarate said:
Its my birthday and I still haven't seen the Inuyasha gift

FIR SHAME TOONAMI GAF
Click to expand...
Happy birthday.
Year of the process starts today!
200.webp
 
J

JadedWriter

Member
Moaradin said:
Uvogin is pretty simple, but he IS physically the strongest. Kurapika says this in their fight, but he was the perfect test subject for his chains. No matter what Nen bullshit the other Troupe members have, if Kurapika can get them in Chain Jail, it's game over.
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Yeah there's no denying it's true, but I still don't think some of the other Troupe members would be simple fights. Especially since the other Troupe members would be wary of the chains since they know how much of a threat they are. There's also the fact that he could only really handle them one on one.
 
B

B-Dubs

No Scrubs
JadedWriter said:
Yeah there's no denying it's true, but I still don't think some of the other Troupe members would be simple fights. Especially since the other Troupe members would be wary of the chains since they know how much of a threat they are. There's also the fact that he could only really handle them one on one.
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They'd be wary, but they still have no idea how his powers work. Seeing him fight, he looks like a manipulator that uses chains. So they might not use Gyo during the whole fight, basically falling into the same trap Uvo did. He could probably take everyone but Chrollo 1v1.
 
J

JadedWriter

Member
B-Dubs said:
They'd be wary, but they still have no idea how his powers work. Seeing him fight, he looks like a manipulator that uses chains. So they might not use Gyo during the whole fight, basically falling into the same trap Uvo did. He could probably take everyone but Chrollo 1v1.
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Yeah Chrollo isn't an easy 1v1 fight. Granted Kurapika has no idea how a lot of the Troupe powers work and Hisoka only knows how seven of them operate so Kurapika can only glean so much information. Nen fights aren't exactly about power, it's brains so Kurapika still needs to bring the right strategy. Shit we still don't even know how Kurapika's bullshit works, unless you're like CNTR and studied the manga.
Man God said:
1 on 1 he could easily beat Satan McEvilGoth.
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Pain is a Goth, Chrollo is Emo. Chrollo is still a man's man.
B-Dubs said:
I dunno about that. Chrollo is pretty goddamned broken power-wise. It'd probably come down to how and where they face off.
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You really have to bring a shit ton of experience to take it to Chrollo, Chrollo has fought some tough ass opponents in his time. Not to mention
chop off his god damn hands
on sight.
 
B

B-Dubs

No Scrubs
JadedWriter said:
Yeah Chrollo isn't an easy 1v1 fight. Granted Kurapika has no idea how a lot of the Troupe powers work and Hisoka only knows how seven of them operate so Kurapika can only glean so much information. Nen fights aren't exactly about power, it's brains so Kurapika still needs to bring the right strategy. Shit we still don't even know how Kurapika's bullshit works, unless you're like CNTR and studied the manga.

Pain is a Goth, Chrollo is Emo. Chrollo is still a man's man.
Click to expand...

If Kurapika tried to fight Chrollo in a crowded area I'd give it to Chrollo easily, simply because of what he's got at his disposal at the current point in the manga. Meanwhile, if Kurapika managed to move Chrollo to a location like the one where he fought Uvo I'd give it to Kurapika in a heartbeat. Even with Kurapika not knowing the extent of Chrollo's abilities, a 1v1 in a desolate area is enough of an advantage given his power-set that it'd be really hard for Chrollo to pull out a win.
 
J

Jarate

Banned
How does King Crimson work?

Part 5 should really try to get a King Crimson song for the ED though. I'd imagine they'd use something like 21st Century Schizoid Man, but man that would be true hype. Fathers of Prog rock
 
B

BatDan

Bane? Get them on board, I'll call it in.
Jarate said:
How does King Crimson work?

Part 5 should really try to get a King Crimson song for the ED though. I'd imagine they'd use something like 21st Century Schizoid Man, but man that would be true hype. Fathers of Prog rock
Click to expand...

That'd be so good. Since Robert Fripp himself seems to approve of Jojo, we might get something. If not then at least they won't have to change his name.
 
J

JadedWriter

Member
B-Dubs said:
If Kurapika tried to fight Chrollo in a crowded area I'd give it to Chrollo easily, simply because of what he's got at his disposal at the current point in the manga. Meanwhile, if Kurapika managed to move Chrollo to a location like the one where he fought Uvo I'd give it to Kurapika in a heartbeat. Even with Kurapika not knowing the extent of Chrollo's abilities, a 1v1 in a desolate area is enough of an advantage given his power-set that it'd be really hard for Chrollo to pull out a win.
Click to expand...
It also does kind of depend on just what kinds of attacks Chrollo ops to use though since the man has a fucking bible full of the god damn things. Though in Kurapika's defense he seems to have much better hand to hand, speed and range than Chrollo does.
This is probably why I like Nen fights so much, there is a lot that goes into the damn things that you can't really say with 100% accuracy who can win, with a couple of exceptions of course.
BatDan said:
That'd be so good. Since Robert Fripp himself seems to approve of Jojo, we might get something. If not then at least they won't have to change his name.
Click to expand...
Seeing Fripp gushing over his marvelous bullshit stand on Facebook was hilarious.
HStallion said:
I was referring more to his general attitude and disposition. Though I'd say that outfit makes him seem more like an 80's metal band front man than either Emo or Goth.
Click to expand...
Outfit aside Chrollo is actually pretty personable.
 
B

B-Dubs

No Scrubs
JadedWriter said:
It also does kind of depend on just what kinds of attacks Chrollo ops to use though since the man has a fucking bible full of the god damn things. Though in Kurapika's defense he seems to have much better hand to hand, speed and range than Chrollo does.
This is probably why I like Nen fights so much, there is a lot that goes into the damn things that you can't really say with 100% accuracy who can win, with a couple of exceptions of course.
Click to expand...

I mean, yea.
It would come down to what else Chrollo has in that book of his, but with what we've seen the fight would probably come down to where they faced off
. Nen is so interesting because at first glance you want something super versatile, so you can adapt to what your opponent's power us, but when you look deeper you can see the huge benefits of going ultra-specific with what you can do (as well as the drawbacks).
 
J

JadedWriter

Member
B-Dubs said:
I mean, yea.
It would come down to what else Chrollo has in that book of his, but with what we've seen the fight would probably come down to where they faced off
. Nen is so interesting because at first glance you want something super versatile, so you can adapt to what your opponent's power us, but when you look deeper you can see the huge benefits of going ultra-specific with what you can do (as well as the drawbacks).
Click to expand...
Yeah Kurapika went too specific, but he's pretty damn powerful as long as he's fighting spiders, other people well "Killua beat up this dude for me." Killua did it right in my opinion, Gon's just future Uvogin.
 
B

B-Dubs

No Scrubs
JadedWriter said:
Yeah Kurapika went too specific, but he's pretty damn powerful as long as he's fighting spiders, other people well "Killua beat up this dude for me." Killua did it right in my opinion, Gon's just future Uvogin.
Click to expand...

Gon's far more diversified than Uvogin ever was.
He has powerful mid- and long-ranged attacks. That's in addition to an almost insta-kill close range attack. Gon did a good job with his power, he's just not trained up enough to use it all properly
.
 
R

Raxus

Member
Finally caught up to watching all the key shows everyone cares about so time for a loooooong overdue

REVIEW TIME!

It was a surprisingly great week with really fun Dragonball episodes on top of the usual workhorses on the block right now.

Samurai Jack
Tumblr I think ruins episodes like this which is a shame since it is a fun episode that is one long joke with the punchline being the final 5 minutes. I also love coming online and finding all the Easter eggs this season. I see Jack finally figured out how to work his device *unclephil*.

Hard to believe we only have 2 episodes left. The character arc for Ashi gives me hope she is getting a spin off after Jack's journey ends. Ninja Ashi LOOK OUT!
Click to expand...

Dragonball Super
Man Chichi is a psychopath this episode. I feel sorry for Videl who is dragged along for shenanigans this episode. Bulma got some great moments in though. Whis is aces as usual. Goku is REALLY competing with Ging in 'worst dad' this year huh? I know some don't like him but Mr. Satan being part of the Z gang through marriage and his antics with Gohan and Pan were really cute. Sadly we will get to a supervillain showing up which is words I never thought I would utter. Oh well, at least we have a fun episode to hang on to in the meantime.

I actually chuckled when the episode title aired. Says a lot really.
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Attack on Titan
After an AMAZING Sasha episode we are back with the main crew in what is a heavy plot dump of an episode. It is kind of clunky but it is a necessary evil to set up for the rest of the arc. Also, Jobber squad, AWAY! All the girl had to say before she leapt off to fight the titans was how good she was and second/third only to captain Levi and only 2 days away from retirement!
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HxH
I already spoke about this a bit but this is a great episode for Killua development. Pawn Stars had a point in the story! The whole episode is tense as it features Killua and Gon in the lion's den for almost the entire episode. This episode flies by thanks to writing and the interplay between the Troupe and Gon and Killua trying to plan out their next move. Killua's brief escape attempt is a great example how well even a 'mundane' moment in HxH is beautifully animated. Really shows how much love the studio had for this project.
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Naruto Shippuden
euyNQ11.gif
Click to expand...
TFW you get knocked back into next week so hard you already have your job application to the Anbu Black Ops filled out. Despite the janky animation for this episode it is nice to see day to day life in the Leaf before all hell starts to break loose. It is like a disaster film about to play out. Hopefully as things ramp up the animation gets to be a tad more consistent. I have words for the Naruto storyline but I will save this for another time.
Click to expand...

Kai, Ghoul, Unicorn, GitS
Shows I skipped, not out of malice but due to time constraints
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RANKINGS

Show of the Week

HxH

Great Tier

Jack
Super

Exposition tier

Attack on Titan

If you want me to do more of these (and more complete reviews for the shows I had to skip) just let me know. I will try and make time for them in the future.

Damn, last post of the page -_- Nobody is going to read this.
 
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