Attack On Titan Season 2 Review... Season 1 was better... Kinda...

 

Man this image is full of hype... Same Season 2 didn't measure up to that.

Attack On Titan Season 2 Poster

It's my opinion sure, but I'll explain what season 1 did better than season 2, and vice versa. But that's not saying that I did't enjoy Attack On Titan Season 2, there was a lot to enjoy. I enjoyed the characterization for Krista and Ymir, the fight between Eren and Reiner a.k.a The Armored Titan, and what little action there was. But despite that, I still feel Season 1 was better, but I'll get into that in this review.

        The couple that got top billing this season.
         Krista and Ymir

     Gotta admit, this was a tad creepy.

     Connie notices his "mother."

 

The Summary

The season started where the first season left off, with Annie being contained and a titan being revealed to embedded in the wall. From there Hange began to investigate why this was the case, before the Beast Titan showed up. The Beast Titan unleashes a horde of titans that "mysteriously" appeared from Connie's home town. This resulted in Hange, and her team into another investigation on the disappearance of the townspeople. Then you've got the unveiling that Reiner and Bertolt are the Armored and Colossal Titans. Reiner and Bertolt want to eradicate humanity and "return home." Then you've got Krista Lens having connections with Wall Worshipping Church, and who developed relationship with Ymir who was a former royal. How this ties together, well read the manga, because the connections probably won't be unveiled until season 3...Maybe...

   Ready...? Aim....?

Sasha vs. a titan

    They were hiding from titans, their fear was understandable...

      Connie in hiding with Reiner

The Negatives....

Now let's get the negatives out of the way first. because I wanna end this on a positive note.

The problem is the shift in focus. Rather than follow up on the mystery of what's in the Yeager family basement, it focuses on characters that barely got any focus in the first season. This feels like fans had to have read the manga in order to be invested in the anime. This was a detraction because it would've been better stream lined, but I can understand if they really tried to sell viewers on the manga. However I don't think this helped in that regard, as it most likely left many viewers confused, and not just me.

Why the sudden focus on Krista and Ymir? What does it have to do with the events of last season? What does it have to do with the basement?

Now granted Ymir and Krista aren't the only characters who got focus of season two, but the shift was jarring. We last leave off on Annie being taken into custody after being subdued by Eren and Mikasa, then sudden focus shift to two characters who barely got any focus last season? Granted, I will admit I'm being a tad harsh since Wit Studios and Production I.G. had a set number of episodes to work with, and it's not like the pay off wasn't worthless, because it turns out Krista was royalty, but this wasn't the only aspect that bothered me. Like last season we got a bunch of red shirts dying, and the Beast titan showing up out of nowhere.

But the negatives were more subjective I feel, as I didn't care for the mystery of what was in the basement of Eren's home was delayed for another season. That and I feel that Reiner and Bertholdt's motivation for wiping out humanity wasn't well fleshed out, although that might be resolved in season 3.

Ymir's attempt at encouraging Christa...

Ymir and Christa....

The positives...

Aside from the jarring shift, Ymir and Crista got some good development for their character and friendship(which possibly romantic). We learn a little more about Ymir's past as she's revealed to be royalty and over a century old. Krista gets braver over time, and we get some insight into other characters like Haji, and Sasha Braun. And the fight between Eren and Reiner in their titan forms was fun, and then there's the intriguing mystery of the Beast Titan and his identity. There's also the mystery of what the walls are, and why there were titans in the walls. What little investigating was done well, and engaging. It made me interested to see what Eren and crew would learn. Ymir's reveal of being royalty and a titan was neat, and Krista's name reveal raised questions that created interest in season 3.

Not a lot of positives, but that leads me to expressing what made Season 1 better in the conclusion...

He looks like a friendly chap. :)

Enter The Beast Titan...

    This fight was "Match of the year" material.

    Eren vs. Reiner

The Conclusion...

While Season 2 broadened the focus on the supporting characters, it had less of a narrative focus. The repeated cuts to flashbacks, the dismissal of Season 1 plot threads and establishing new ones out of nowhere. This made the season feel like a jumbled mess, as opposed to Season 1 that had a straight line from Eren's motivate for revenge to his fight with Annie in the finale in their titan forms.

Granted yes Wit Studios and Production I.G. had 12 episodes to work with, and had to adapt as much important story elements as they could in that time. That and I'm betting they're aware of possible criticisms towards the lack of development for the supporting cast, hence the numerous flashbacks that effected the flow of the story. Were they given episodes, I'm certain Wit Studios and Production I.G. couldn't made the narrative more coherent and connected to Season 1.

While Season 2 is a C+ for me, I'd still watch it for the action and character interactions, which I enjoyed because we at least got more of those than season 1.

 

Tokyo Ghoul Season 1 Review

                                  Tokyo Ghoul Promo Poster

 

Introduction...

Tokyo Ghoul was a series with a lot of hype behind it, so as a result I went in with no expectations. Why? Well I went into Sword Art Online, Fairy Tail, and Re: Zero looking to enjoy them, but I didn't. So I went into Tokyo Ghoul with no expectations, and yet I was still unsatisfied. but I'll save that for the conclusion, for now on to the summary.

   There's a dated joke here, so I won't make it...

    Rize and Kaneki

     Oh look it's Jason Voorhees

      The Psycho Ghoul, Jason

Summary...

So in a world where man eating humanoid creatures called ghouls coexist with humans, we follow the exploits of Kaneki Ken, on orphan who's parents died when he was very young. He met a girl named Rize, who he started dating. She turned out to be a binge eating ghoul(ghouls who essentially eat humans for the Hell of it) and started eating Kaneki before support beams from a construction site fall on Rize and kill her. From there, Rize's organs are implanted into Kaneki's body to replace the ones she destroyed, turning him into half a ghoul. From there Kaneki learns to adapt to life as a ghoul. Kaneki embraces his new ghoulishness after being kidnapped and tortured by the Jason Voorhees, and then eating said homage after he breaks free. He then joins said group you had him abducted so he could better learn what it means to be a ghoul.

       Old and new Kaneki

Criticism and Conclusion...

Episode one while predictable was fun for me, especially with the introduced of the Jason Voorhees homage. My expectations sadly shot up somewhat when Kaneki became a ghoul and regurgitated his food, as I it reminded me of UnderWorld Evolution, and I sadly assumed this would slightly go in that direction. I also sadly assumed we were going to get in depth characterization for the cast, but we got bear minimum. Kaneki's a whiner, Touka's angry, and the ghoul investigators hunt ghouls to protect humanity. That's it, as we get no further elaboration on any of these characters. There are also hints of moral ambiguity in this show, but it's kind've hard to take the human's side when there's no benevolent meeting of human and ghoul. It's like the Ghoul Investigators are made to be the antagonists in this series when we hardly see much of their personal lives to get a sense that they might be good people. Or see them interact with ghouls in a way that lets them understand why ghouls eat people. I get that this series meant to advertise the manga, but I've seen that done better with the original Dragon Ball/Z, the 1991 adaptation of Sailor-Moon, Naruto, Bleach, One-Piece, and My Hero Academia, just to name a few. What these anime did that Tokyo Ghoul didn't do was be accessible to a wider audience. They told the full story and made some changes that made the non manga reading audience follow the series. Though you can make a series for the fans, but it's irritating to get a series that says:"You've already read the manga, so we'll give you the bear minimum, and you'll be happy that this exist." Berserk 2018 and Attack On Titan does that, and it's irritating. If you want to entice me to buy the full steak, you've gotta give me more than crumbs.

But that aside, Tokyo Ghoul is a c- for me... Reason being is that despite my criticisms, it's a fairly average show. Not the best anime I've seen, nor the worst, and overall harmless.

NXT Takeover Brooklyn The Fourth Chapter

 

The Poster Of Brooklyn's Fourth Chapter

The Third Night Of Chaos

This is the third NXT preview of had me thinking it was a "Night Of Chaos." I don't know how these maniacs can bring such a maelstrom of energy and hard hitting matches to these Pay-Per-Views, but they pulled it off. And this is despite some questionable outcomes near the end of it all.

That said, less assess this madness, before getting to the conclusion.

Gargano vs. Champa and Shayna vs. Sane. Two great matches.

What a great match this was.

Assessing The Madness...

First up was Undisputed Era vs. Moustache Mountain, as the match started with Moustache mountain charging at Undisputed Era, as a brawl broke out between the teams. Moustache Mountain beat Undisputed back, and out of the ring. Moustache Mountain chased Undisputed back into the ring where they began the tag match properly with Tyler Bates facing Kyle O'riley. They tussle for a bit, as O'Riley was driven into his corner, and Roderick makes a tag. Roderick managed to gain some ground, before Trent Seven was tagged, and did his best to turn the tides. However due to his injured knee wearing down those tides did not stay turned for long, forcing Seven to retreat, and tag Tyler. Tyler Bates then displayed a freakish amount of strength, as he supplexed Roderick Strong, while O'Riley clung to Tyler's back. Despite this, O'Riley, and Strong wore down Bates, forcing in to tag in Stevens. Seven then preceded to tear Strong and O'Riley apart like a one man wrecking crew, before O'Riley halted his momentum. The advantage seemed to have once again been in Undisputed Era's favor, as they had Mustache Mountain locked in submission holds, before Bates broke them by throwing O'Riley into Strong. Bates then proceeded to display his freakish agility and strength, by tearing into Undisputed Era, and nearly got the three count on Strong, before Strong kicked out. Moustache Mountain fought tooth and nail to win, but in taking advantage of Seven injured knee, Undisputed Era retained the tag titles.

And just when it looked like Undisputed Era could walk away Scott free, in came The War Raiders. And they annihilated the battered and beaten Undisputed Era, as to send the message:"We're here, and we're coming for those titles!"

Next was Velveteen Dream vs. EC3, i.e. The Battle Of Egos. Not much of a battle though, as EC3 dominated Velveteen as the start of the match. And it looked like it was going to stay that way for a bit, until Velveteen turned things around with a DDT on the entrance ramp, and ramming EC3 into the ring corner. With EC3 rocked, and dazed, Velveteen dominated him, before EC3's failed attempt at turning the tides. EC3 managed to turn the tides however, but it resulted in a trade off of blows between Velveteen, and EC3, before EC3 would regain his dominance. However due to EC3 sustaining a neck injury over the course of the match, Velveteen Dream took back his advantage, and clinched the victory with a Dream Valley Driver on the apron, and elbow drop from the top rope.

Next was Ricochet Vs. Adam Cole for the NXT North American Championship.

Adam Cole did his best to match Ricochet's agility and speed. There were moments where Adam Cole got an upper hand, but Ricochet proved too stubborn to stay down. It then became a cavalcade of kicks, as Ricochet and Adam Cole traded kicks, before they kicked each other so hard that Ricochet fell, and Cole tumbled on top off him, which prompted the referee to count. One kick out later, Ricohet tried to end Adam Cole with a Moonsault, before Adam Cole rolled out of the ring. Ricochet pursued Adam Cole, and pinned him to become NXT American Champion.

Next was Shayna Baszler vs. Kairi Sane for the NXT Women's Championship. Sane tried to get into Baszler's head with leg submissions. And despite being two inches or so smaller than Baszler, Sane gave as good as she got when they traded blows. Baszler gave an advantage over Sane, when she got Sane in a leg submission to wear her down. Sane took it in stride, as she got fired up, and began to make a comeback. It looked like things would come to an end when Kairi was caught in Baszler's rear naked choke, but Kairi broke free. Baszler tried another choke, before Kairi backflipped, pinning Bazsler's shoulders to the ground for the three count win. Thus making Kairi Sane the new NXT Women's champion.

Lastly was the main event of Tomasso Champa vs. Johnny Gargano in a Last Man Standing Match for the NXT Championship. It looked like Gargano had this in the bag with how he overwhelmed Champa at the start of the match. But when Champa turned things around, this match got crazy brutal. These guys hit each other with everything, but the kitchen sink, and were Hellbent on destroying each other. Amidst Gargano's rampage, he tore the padding from the floor, exposing the concrete, and set up two towered tables over the exposed concrete. Champa began to fight back, and wear Gargano down, and tried getting him to submit to two rear naked chokes, but to no avail. Gargano then grabbed a chair, and proceeded to pummel Gargano with it, before took the chair, and used it against Champa. Eventually Gargano set up the chair in a corner, and threw Champa like a javelin face first into said chair. Champa took the chair back, and retaliated against Gargano, even sending Gargano through the barricade by driving the chair into his face with a running knee. Champa was also eventually slammed into the exposed wooden board meant for Gargano, and kicked through the tables onto the exposed concrete. Gargano eventually drove Champa up the ramp, and handcuffed him to a fencing bar, before wailing on him. Gargano then opted to finish Champa, but this backfired as Gargano collided his exposed knee with one of the on set speakers. The pain from this action caused Gargano to stay down for the ten count, as Champa slid to his feet from the entrance ramp corner. Thus Champa retained.

What a match this was... 

The Conclusion...

This to me was another good pay-per-view for NXT, as I haven't watched NXT in months, yet the in ring psychology of the opening match had me rooting for Moustache Mountain, and aggravated at the fact that they lost. Though my rage turned to shock and intrigued when The War Raiders declared War on Undisputed in their own barbaric fashion. Enticing me to see what the next few weeks bring for them in NXT.

EC3 vs. Velveteen Dream was a fine mid-card match, but I'm curious to see if they have a rematch, or circumstances cause them to feud with others. Still I am impressed by the choreography these two displayed, and as one who was a harsh critic of EC3 when he was in TNA, I'm now convinced the dude can wrestle quite well.

Adam Cole Vs. Ricochet was quite the spectacle of agility, athleticism, and hard hits that caused occasional wincing from me. I am surprised Ricochet won the title, and am curious to see how long that last. This match was great, arguably "Match Of The Year" candidate, but I honestly expect no less from these two indie darlings.

Shayna Baszler vs. Kairi Sane was a lot better than I expected it to be. I went into this thinking Kairi was too limited in her capabilities to work well with Shayna Baszler... Boy, was a ten kinds of wrong that one. And this tends to happen in a match with the kind of caliber of Baszler and Sane, but with their applications of bravado, submissions, and strikes, I had to double check, as it felt like I was matching a man's match. I do like the underdog psychology of this match too, as it made Kairi winning all the more worth it after such a hard fought battle.

And finally was Champa vs. Gargano, which was full on carnage. These maniacs put each other through Hell, and that finish while silly was understandable. It would make sense for a desperate Tomasso Champa to position himself into a standing position, despite being handcuffed.

All and all another great NXT Pay-Per-View, and I don't expect Summerslam to top it, much less match it.