K-Pop and K-Dramas: BTS and Rolling Stone

Photo of Kim Taehyung (V), Min Yoongi (Suga), Jeon Jungkook, Kim Seokjin, Kim Namjoon (RM), Park Jimin, and Jung Hoseok (J-Hope) on the red carpet for the 2019 Billboard Music Awards. Copyright goes to BTS and the HYBE Corporation.

Hey! Hallie here!

We’re back! A few days ago my sister and I went to get our second vaccine so we took a day off yesterday to recover from some mild symptoms. But we’re back and feeling amazing, so today I’m going to talk about what occupied all of my thoughts while I was relaxing yesterday! Of course, that would be the BTS interview released by Rolling Stone with some amazing photos to accompany it. This interview was actually decent! You do have to be careful with most American interviews, and not all of the questions were winners here, but I did enjoy most of the interview! There are also individual interviews with the members slowly being released. I will cover all of those once more are released, but J-Hope’s is out now if you want to check it out! Anyways, let’s talk a bit about the kinds of things BTS talked about and how gorgeous all of them looked in the photoshoot.

The BTS Interview:

This interview started out hitting extremely hard with the interviewer asking Namjoon about what he thinks of BTS’s success with the disgusting anti-Asian climate we’re seeing. Namjoon smartly responded that they were, unfortunately, a rare thing to see in the music industry and although there isn’t anything specific they can say contributed to propelling them over the racism, they hope their success will lead to a more accepting world in the future. As the interview went on the interviewer seemed to attempt to get everyone to say at least one thing of note about themselves, though the amount of speaking we saw from each member does fit with how often they speak in regular interviews. Jungkook talked about how he joined BTS because of how impressed he was with Namjoon’s talent. Yoongi talked about how his parents didn’t understand his dream to pursue rap. They also spoke to Yoongi about the songs that he has written to reflect his mental health. He clarified that he is doing fine now, but that all emotions should be expressed. Hobi was introduced into the interview with an adorable interaction between the members that Taehyung started by noting that Hobi’s warm personality would make him a good president of the entire world. Hobi then recalled how intimidating it was to join the group without having rap skills, especially because the initial idea for BTS would have included only those who could rap. The interview then shifted to Jin who jokingly bragged about his looks and then immediately started saying he wasn’t as talented as the other members. How does he not know how amazing he is? Tae spoke a bit about how confused he was over the fact that he was the “hidden member” when they debuted, which Bang PD (He was also there!) smoothed over by saying he felt Tae’s charms would get the group more publicity if he was to be announced last. Lastly, Jimin spoke about his perfectionism and how close the group has become.

The interviewer was very knowledgable about the entire “Dynamite” situation which we’ve talked about on this blog multiple times. The interviewer asked the group what they thought of the refusal by US radio stations to play “Life Goes On” because it’s in Korean, despite the special treatment “Dynamite” received. Namjoon answered that he hoped the prejudice that caused that decision would be gone soon as society is changing. They were also asked about “Butter”! According to this interview, it seems “Butter” won’t be about the entertainment industry so far. So those who were hoping for something like a diss track may be disappointed. The interview even goes as far as to say that it won’t have any deep themes at all. I’m a bit concerned about this, but I guess we’ll see what happens. The interview ended with the very precarious topic of the potential military service they will all serve. Jin spoke about how he was grateful that his country allowed him to wait before he had to serve and said again that he would be honored to serve when they call him. Jin didn’t seem like he was actually considering the group going on without him. He said he’d be sad but understanding if they chose to do so, but that didn’t seem to be what he thought was going to happen if he left to serve. Actually, from what all of them said, it seemed more like the company is leaning towards sending them together. But who knows? Either way, Jimin was clear that nothing would put an end to BTS for a very long while. I would like to note that by far the worst part of the interview was when the interviewer asked BTS if they worried about how their fans would react to the news that any of them were dating. Yoongi very bluntly disregarded this by saying that all ARMYs are different and will respond to different things in different ways. I really appreciated how he dealt with yet another dating-related question.

The Photoshoot:

This cover photo reminded me a lot of “Magic Shop”. In it, all of the members are peeking out of a window with various degrees of shock on their faces. For “Magic Shop” it was a doorway, but the concept is similar. You can tell this was done slightly before “Butter” because Hobi is sporting bleached hair before it was dyed a more prominent yellow. Similarly, Jimin’s hair is still brown and Jungkook’s hair is the gray it was before it was dyed purple. And, of course, this was before Namjoon revealed he had lied to us when he said he wouldn’t go back to pink hair. In this shoot they’re working with more neutral tones, and all of them switch between more casual and more dressy looks depending on the photo. In one photo they all lounge around a couch in various dark-colored suits. The lightest colors we see here are worn by Namjoon, in white, and Yoongi and Jin, both in different light gray coats. In the cover photo we see a black and white color palette that ties them all together beautifully. There’s also some fun checkered designs on Hobi and Jungkook that are eye-catching. Some more fun looks that better fit each member’s personal style are being released with the individual interviews. Because Hobi’s interview has already been released, we’ve already seen him in a gorgeous, black, oversized sweater with some multicolored cursive on it to bring in the bright colors that he loves so much. That over an extremely well fitting white tee tucked into some yellow pants. They all look insanely good here, as usual, and I’m excited to see more of their individual shots.

Those are my thoughts! I’m really enjoying the Rolling Stone coverage so far! Once more interviews are released I’ll be back to cover more of the topics they discuss and their amazing looks. For now, I seriously recommend you check out what’s been released. The initial interview is so long, I didn’t manage to cover nearly everything that was said. There’s so much they discuss and plenty of good information if you’re new to ARMY and want to be filled in on what they’ve been doing recently. There’s also insights on what it was like when they started. Even if you’re a long-time ARMY there’s plenty to enjoy. As for me, I’m constantly revisiting those photos. Just wow.

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

ATEEZ: Mingi Is Back!

Image of Song Mingi in a photoshoot. Copyright goes to KQ Entertainment.

Hi! It’s Annie!

I seriously cried late last night when the pictures came out. For those of you who didn’t know, Mingi, a main rapper of the eight member group ATEEZ, has been on hiatus for the past six months. We haven’t received much news since the initial announcement came out, stating that Mingi was suffering from severe anxiety and would immediately take a break until further notice in order to recover. Though many people were saddened by this news, really the best way for him to recover was seeking treatment and relaxing. Considering how much of a mental downturn quarantine has been, this was something Mingi had to do and I’m sure most of us are so glad that he took that time for himself. Since then, we’ve heard Mingi’s voice on Yunho’s birthday Vlive as well as seen some other members pick up his calls, but we haven’t seen much of him since. I’m glad for this too because I think the public eye would have done nothing to help his recovery. But I think it’s an understatement to say that we missed him so much! Last night or early this morning, (or not so early depending on where you live) pictures were released of Mingi at the airport looking very cute and cozy. And best of all, even under the mask you could tell he was smiling. Though this is his first public appearance since his hiatus, I think we should all pause before we expect any immediate or big return to the group. He just got back and he may need more time to readjust away from the public eye, which would be totally understandable. But this is hopefully a sign of him getting better and it was just so nice to see him again! But because there are so many new Atinys joining now, or have joined in the past few months, I thought I would call back to some of my favorite Mingi moments. Personally, I had barely joined the fandom when Mingi went on hiatus so most of the moments I’ve seen of him were older videos. But I love him and I missed him so much! So here we go!

ATEEZ 2019 MAMA:

This is one of the first times that ATEEZ was able to garner a big reaction from an audience, and it was more than memorable. From them paying tribute to other artists to them performing their own song seamlessly in the mix, this performance was everything. It especially gained popularity when the footage of the members of BTS reacting to their tribute to “Blood, Sweat, and Tears” went viral after the show aired. But I thing the major thing that caught people’s eyes aside from the amazing singing and dancing was “the shirtless guy”. I think we all saw this going around at the time. This was before I even really became a fan of BTS, never mind ATEEZ, and I remember seeing pictures of Mingi from this performance. But even more than him being shirtless, the most iconic part of this performance was how hard Mingi went with the dancing at the end of the performance. He completely stood out to everyone as a passionate performer, and he deserves every bit of that recognition.

Wave:

Yes, I am talking about that entire song. Every member shines in every single song but, with every group, there’s always a song that centers one members talents just a little bit over the others. Mingi’s deep register is what gives this song it’s unique sound and it’s his vocals and rap in the song that are probably the most recognizable. His calls of “gunbae” and “hakuna matata” feel like the driving forces of the song. If you were to ask me to pick a song that ATEEZ released where I just think of Mingi immediately, it would be this one.

KQ Fellaz:

For possibly newer Atinys; before ATEEZ was being called by that name they were using the name KQ Fellaz during training. There is a series of episodes that showcase the boys training in Los Angeles and also doing some fun travel things there while they were working under this name. This is something I return to a lot and find really fun to watch because I recognize almost all the places they go to in the show. Many of them are places here in California that I frequent or try to visit as much as possible. Of course, the place that I go to the most is Universal Studios Hollywood, which I have mentioned plenty of other times on this blog. I only mention this because during the episode when the boys go to Universal Studios, Mingi decided to get up on a stage in the Wizarding World and basically start busking. This part never fails to make me laugh every single time I see it. His bravery to do things like that astounds me and his sense of humor is amazing.

Mingi and Yunho Dancing Team:

I, of course, had to mention this. Mingi and Yunho are both very close and some of the most skilled dancers of the group, so we’ve seen many impromptu collaborations in dance with them over the years. In fact, they’ve filmed themselves dancing together at several scenic places they’ve travelled to. But I think the most iconic performance of this dancing duo was to NCT U’s BOSS. They have performed this one in videos and at live events for fans and I’m honestly surprised those fans are still living. Seriously, are you guys ok?

There are so many Mingi moments that are worth mentioning, but I’m going to use the end of this post to talk a bit more about what him coming back should mean for us. I know a lot of people are very excited to know that he’s doing better and worried a lot about him while he was gone. I understand worrying about him. But I don’t think any of this gives us the right to know what happened while he was away. We should not ask Mingi or any of the members of ATEEZ in any format about what exactly Mingi was going through or how his recovery was. That is none of our business and those are subjects that could possibly still be difficult for him to talk about or even be reminded of at all. We all need to just be happy with the simple knowledge that he’s doing better. And if this public appearance still means that we’re months out from seeing him with the group, we need to be ok with that too. We don’t know where he is in his recovery and these things should never have time limits. Mingi will feel better in his own time, and that’s all we really need to know. Right now let’s give Mingi his space and privacy and when he comes back we’ll all welcome him with open arms, but not with needless questions. I will be patiently awaiting his return, whenever that may be. 8 makes 1 team!!!!!!!!

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

Star Wars: Why I Prefer Talking About Animated Star Wars

Screenshot of Ahsoka and Captain Rex from ‘Clone Wars’ Season 7. Copyright goes to the Walt Disney Company.

Hey! Hallie here!

I’m sure many of you noticed, but since ‘The Bad Batch’ released I’ve been looking towards more Star Wars content to fill the void Marvel is leaving while I wait for the Marvel Disney+ shows to return. This May has actually marked the most I’ve talked about Star Wars on this blog. That’s because I don’t like interacting with the Star Wars fandom on most occasions. Star Wars fans can get really nasty. We’ve seen racism, sexism, and homophobia come out of this fanbase more than I’ve seen come out of any other group of fans. We’ve seen people act disturbingly vicious over which Star Wars trilogy is best or which content is worth consuming. I don’t find myself wanting to get in the middle of these conversations, so I don’t. I stay silent on most Star Wars topics, despite the fact that I’m a huge fan of the series. But there’s something different about talking about the animated series. There’s a lot less problematic behavior from the fans that consume things like ‘Star Wars Rebels’. I want to talk a bit about why I see more accepting behavior coming from the fan groups attached to the animated Star Wars content.

Star Wars Isn’t Exclusively for Adults: I’m going to start out with an opinion I’ve seen brutally shot down by many Star Wars fans. Star Wars wasn’t written for adults. It’s a high-fantasy story about princesses, knights, and terrible evils. It’s a fairytale that uses common tropes to easily reach any audience member of any age. Yes it’s about a series of wars, but you honestly see more deaths and consequences of war in the cartoons than you see in the live action trilogies. Can adults enjoy this series? Absolutely. Is it exclusively for them? No. Star Wars was written for families. A lot of it was, and is, marketed towards children. But many fans have refused to admit this fact. Because of that we see fans attack each other over small details in the Star Wars universe and the “complicated” themes we should be picking up on from the movies. We don’t see this in the community backing the animated content. Because there’s no denying that the Star Wars cartoons are primarily for children. Yes, there’s a range of content for various audiences. ‘The Bad Batch’ is aligning itself with some of the darker seasons of ‘Clone Wars’ to cater towards a slightly older audience. Meanwhile ‘Star Wars Rebels’ and especially ‘Star Wars Resistance’ are made for slightly younger audiences. But all of them are marketed towards children first. This makes fans a lot less prone to kill each other over the small stuff and more likely to enjoy each show as it is. It also leads to a bigger reaction when something deep or heavy is revealed to the audience. Adults can appreciate the dramatic story beats in the cartoons that fit well with other ‘Star Wars’ content, meanwhile kids can still enjoy a well-written story with well-defined stakes. And very few people argue over the logistics of a lightsaber’s hilt turning into a blaster. It’s nice.

More Diversity Acceptance: We’ve seen many Star Wars fans attack women and people of color as the movies have been released. We’ve especially seen this as the sequels were released into theaters. Kelly Marie Tran was famously brutalized on social media until she deleted most of her social media accounts simply for being in Star Wars. After this fans used the slightly confusing Finn and Rose storyline in ‘The Last Jedi’ to justify completely tearing apart both her character, and the character of Finn. This led to both characters being shoved into the background in the final movie, Rose only receiving a handful of lines. Rey, on the other hand, was attacked for her gender. Fans called her a Mary Sue because she was “too good at everything” even though her natural talents were no different than Luke’s and aligned with most other Jedi introductions in Star Wars. You don’t see this nearly as much coming from animated fans. We got our first female Jedi from the animated series, Ahsoka Tano, and she was accepted with open arms. We’re seeing the first female clone step onto the scene in ‘The Bad Batch’ without fans questioning her existence. POC characters aren’t questioned when they appear, either. Fans simply enjoy whichever character comes on screen as they are, rather than questioning their right to be there or how much it “makes sense” for a non-white, non-male, character to do something fantastical in a fantasy universe. We don’t see fans unwilling to see the animated series diversify because it’s not the Star Wars of their childhood. It’s Star Wars content made to affect other childhoods. And that’s ok.

The Downside: The animated shows don’t have many downsides. Their storylines are just as well written and impactful as many of the movies. They take into account both kids and adults in a way that is satisfying to both but also makes fighting less prevalent. But that doesn’t mean they don’t have glaring issues. While POC characters are more accepted by audiences in these shows, that doesn’t mean that there are nearly enough POC creatives behind the scenes. The voice acting community is largely white and the casts for these animated shows reflect this. The clones for example, who are POC characters, are voice by a white man who can do a killer impression of Temuera Morrison. Ahsoka was changed to Black actress Rosario Dawson for ‘The Mandalorian’ after years of being voiced by a white woman to address the lack of diversity. But it goes even beyond that. ‘The Bad Batch’ recently came under fire for white washing characters. So much so that they are reportedly re-editing some of the episodes that have already been released. And critiques of the lighter skin tones are correct. So far members of The Bad Batch have looked lighter in color than the clones we have seen throughout ‘Clone Wars’ and even young Kanan looks much lighter than he does in ‘Star Wars Rebels’. These things are awful, and they show just how far Disney needs to go before they actually accomplish the diversity they claim to be aiming for. And still, I see far more acceptance for POC characters amongst fans of the animated shows than I do amongst fans of the major theatrical releases. And that’s kind of sad.

The animated series feel like a bit more of a safe space for me in the Star Wars community. They still suffer from major issues, don’t get me wrong, but I see a lot more respect amongst fans here. I don’t feel like I’ll be immediately attacked for my opinions when I talk about an animated show. I don’t feel like I’ll run into fans who are willing to disregard characters because of their race or gender. I see a lot of people lightly making fun of themselves for enjoying kids shows, but even more than that, I see fans praising these shows for being great additions to the Star Wars franchise that everyone can enjoy. And that’s what I wish I could see from all Star Wars fans.

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

Edit: This post previously mentioned my discomfort with actor David Oyelowo playing Agent Kallus in ‘Star Wars Rebels’ due to the obvious lack of prominent Black characters present in the series. I took this out because I don’t feel that a Black actor voicing a white character is a problem, I instead feel that a Black actor voicing a white character in a series devoid of Black representation is the problem. My statement didn’t properly reflect this. Also, as a white person, I’m not completely qualified to discuss this topic.

K-Pop and K-Dramas: Comeback Looks

Image of Kim Namjoon in his video teaser for the upcoming ‘Butter’ single. Copyright goes to HYBE Entertainment and BTS’s social media.

Hi! It’s Annie!

Back to one of my favorite topics, of course, K-Pop. A couple of my favorite groups have comebacks coming out at the end of this month. Of course, I’m talking about BTS and the girl group Everglow. While my sister has already talked about ‘Butter’ more extensively, we’ve recently finally seen a couple of images that show the looks of the boys more closely. And in a similar vein, Everglow released two sets of images to promote their upcoming single album ‘Last Melody’. So, I kind of want to go over each group and their looks for their respective comebacks and give my opinion on each member’s styling this time around. So that’s enough intro, let’s just get into it!

BTS (This will all be based off of teaser photo one):

Namjoon: This man is a straight up liar. We knew that they were hinting that some of their looks would be a serious callback to their ‘Run’ era, but we never expected Namjoon to do this. In an interview that they did not too long ago, Namjoon was asked if he would ever bring his pink hair back. He responded to this question by saying that his pink hair was a ‘no, no’ and then ended it by scrunching his nose drastically and declaring “nah”. But his hair here is definitely pink and he rocks it. For this specific picture he’s in the back so it’s difficult to fully see what he’s wearing, but it looks as though it’s mostly white which makes his hair pop even more. He’s seriously bias wrecking me here with his pink hair. This is why he’s my bias wrecker.

Jin: Jin looks as gorgeous as he always does with his dark hair and wearing white. Seriously, he just looks so handsome in all of the promo images and footage. Jin is just effortlessly handsome, I don’t know what else to say. Many have noticed that he’s one of the members that received some of the least drastic changes and really has been throughout the years. But I see no problem with this. Jin has a classic handsome look to him and this time around they’re really trying to emphasize that. His hair is longer though, which makes the slick backed look even more eye-catching. His shirt is so flowy too, which is very Jin.

Yoongi: He still has that mullet he’s been growing out that we all love. Here he’s also wearing all white, he looks slightly more casual with his posture and shoes. And I’m so happy to see him centering here after he’s been gone for so long. I think I can speak for all of us when I say that I’m so happy that he’s back and we’ll get to see him participate in the promotions for ‘Butter’. There would be something completely off if we didn’t have the calm and cool presence of Yoongi. Also, his curly bangs here are killing me.

Hobi: What the hell are they trying to do to Hobi stans? I swear these images almost killed my sister. Hobi looks the most casual with his slightly unbuttoned button-down and sneakers. Hobi looks so attractive for this comeback and it’s really insane. It’s also insane to see that his hair is bleached a yellowish blonde. Not only does the look work for him, especially with his dark roots which makes it stand out even more, but it really reflects the sunflower nature of Hobi. This just feels perfectly hopeful and way too attractive all at the same time. Are you Hobi stans ok?

Jimin: It was difficult to see his hair color in the teaser, but now that this picture is out we can see that he’s not just blonde again like we were all expecting. He’s mostly blonde with streaks of what looks like pink, purple, and blue. Though I would have to get a closer look to see if there are any more colors or if it’s just dual colors. Anyways, he has rainbow hair! I feel like if anyone could pull off rainbow hair, it’s definitely Jimin. This is another hair style that seems to fit his bright personality. I was also surprised that they decided to put Jimin in a darker color as he’s one of the two members wearing grey, but it makes his hair stand out more.

Tae: Tae’s slicked back hair here with the single strand in front of his face is too attractive to be fair in any way. And I think it’s really interesting how formal his outfit here is and also the fact that he’s the only one wearing bright orange. Another style choice that reflects the personality of the member. I can’t say enough about the way Tae is looking at the camera here. And it really is interesting to see that Tae is one of the ones this comeback without colored hair. He really does go back and forth, but I will always have a soft spot for all of their darker colors. Though I have to say, I love whatever any of them do with their hair.

Jungkook: I think we all thought for sure that they had finally cut Jungkook’s hair. This photo, thankfully, proved all of us wrong completely. Jungkook looks more grown up than he ever has before. And that’s funny coming from me considering he’s two years older than I am. He’s with Jimin in wearing the darker suit colors, but his are even darker than Jimin’s. And then of course, his hair. He’s wearing it in a ponytail (yay!) and it’s a really nice shade of dark purple. It is absolutely unfair the way this man looks. For some reason he kind of looks like he could beat me up just based off of the photo, and I’m not completely mad at that.

Everglow:

EU: Honestly, I didn’t even recognize her when these pictures first released. Since last comeback she’s had one of the most drastic changes if not the most drastic. Her bleached blonde hair is now a really dark brown and she has bangs which frame her face completely differently. You can’t really see her outfit for the black themed pictures, but the white themed pictures gives us a full look. They really are going for the fringe this time around, but it’s pretty. I personally preferred her last style, I thought her hair emphasized her features a bit better, but EU looks good with literally anything.

Sihyeon: The black themed photos are another example of the photo looking stunning, but it’s difficult to get the full picture. The white themed picture fully displays her new hair style which is half cut half not. This is a highly stylized hair style that I’m not particularly fond of personally, but I can see why they used it. These pictures are giving me slightly futuristic space vibes, so that hairstyle definitely works for that. Her boots for the white outfit are great though!

Mia: This is another complicated one. So here we actually get to see more of Mia’s hairstyle and outfit in both. This automatically caused some fans to question the style because her hair is in what appears to be three long braids. However, POC fans have assured others that these are regular braids so there probably isn’t anything to worry about. But others might have other opinions and I’m not POC, so I won’t say much about that. This also revealed that the person in the teaser photo is in fact, Mia. People are already outraged that it features only her after all the backlash the company has already gotten over favoriting Mia. And all of her stuff is getting less likes because of it. I really don’t think we should be punishing Mia for the company’s decisions and we should all reserve judgment for when the MV comes out. But I love her outfits in both scenarios, and I especially like her framing bangs!

Onda: Onda’s look is by far my favorite of the looks they released. She looks like an absolute princess in both the black and white themed photos. In both she’s shown wearing different stylized head pieces that look like a medieval princess would wear them. Her black themed outfit is a gorgeous dress and we see less of the white outfit but it definitely looks interesting. I just love how much they went for the princess theming with her here. It suits her so well and makes her stand out, and I’m definitely all for making Onda stand out. Especially because she doesn’t have as many lines in their songs. She’s such an amazing dancer and she deserves more attention.

Aisha: Aisha hasn’t changed too much for this comeback, but she always looks stunning. The white themed picture is just a close up on her face while the black themed picture gives us a lot more to go off of. Her puffed sleeves and cropped shirt also look very princess-like. I really don’t have a whole lot of notes here but it all looks amazing and it’s not too different from her usual style. But that’s completely fine. Kind of like Jin, Aisha has a more classic style and she pulls it off very well.

Yiren: Yiren looks adorable in the pictures we’ve been given. In both looks her hair is up in pigtails, which suits her so well. Her hair is also much lighter than it was last comeback, and I feel the shade of brown really suits her as well. It’s difficult to see too much in the black themed photo because it’s shadowed, but I really like the high neckline with her hair. The white themed photo is so different thematically. These two photos go seamlessly in between badass and pure and Yiren pulls both off.

So those are my feelings on the looks for these two upcoming comebacks! I’m really excited for each and even more now that I know they’re both coming up so quickly! It’ll be here before we know it!

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

Video Games: Mass Effect Male Romance Options Ranked

Screenshot of Thane from ‘Mass Effect 2’. Copyright goes to Bioware and EA.

Hey! Hallie here!

Tonight’s post is a bit later than usual, but that’s because it’s Annie and I’s birthday! To close out the day, I thought I’d make a post about ‘Mass Effect’ to honor one of my favorite game franchises and it’s remake coming out in only a few days! There are a lot of romances in Bioware games, so many that I can’t mention all of the romances in Mass Effect in one post. However, I’m a lot more knowledgable about the male romance options as I’m a straight woman, so I figured I’d rank my favorite romances I’ve gone through in the games! There are definitely SPOILERS ahead so if you’re one of the few who haven’t played these games, I would seriously recommend you look into playing them before diving into spoiler territory. You’ve been warned.

Jacob Taylor: You meet Jacob Taylor during the events of Mass Effect 2 and he seems like a pretty cool guy. He at least embodies a lot of heroic traits when you talk with him. He doesn’t like unnecessary violence and questions being recruited by a group that is known for acts of violence. He’s pretty accommodating of everyone, no matter what species. His care for others leads him to be a voice of both empathy and reason during missions. He doesn’t like mercenaries or assassins because he doesn’t like the idea of people being paid to murder others, which is actually rare to see in the Mass Effect universe. He has some daddy issues, but nothing that’s a major warning sign. Especially around Miranda, who is quite cold and calculating, he can seem like one of the most moral characters on your crew. When it comes to romance he’s a bit hesitant at first. He isn’t really considering a romance at all, let alone with Shepard. But he also isn’t hard to win over either. Maybe the fact that he wasn’t too into it should have been a red flag. I say that because, if you try to continue your romance in Mass Effect 3, he reveals that he not only started another relationship, but his girlfriend is pregnant. He CHEATED on you. What the hell man?

Kaidan Alenko: Is anyone really surprised the human characters ended up in the last two positions? Kaidan is a nice guy. He’s extremely loyal. He’s willing to give up his life for Shepard at any point. Anytime he’s angry at Shepard he’s willing to put it behind him the minute you confront him about it. He’s pretty empathetic, but all of his empathy is either from or directed towards Shepard. No matter what gender Shepard is, it doesn’t matter to him. I think it’s fair to say that even if you don’t pursue a romance with him, he’s still very much in love with you (Unless he’s dead. Looking at all the people who sacrificed him in Mass Effect 1). The issue with Kaidan is that he’s a bit boring. The only story points that seem to try to give him any depth are the ones where he begins to question his loyalty to Shepard, either because of his biotics or because of Cerberus, but by nature of his character he always chooses Shepard. It doesn’t feel like he grows throughout the games. It doesn’t feel like he ever learns to stand on his own. He’s just always falling over you. At moments it can be cute, but more often than not it makes him seem bland.

Garrus Vakarian: Ok, I know this is going to get me a bit of heat. Before I go into this I’d like to say that Garrus is actually my favorite character on this list. He’s the most supportive friend you can find on the Normandy and his sarcasm and understanding attitude make him a good person to vent to. He’s a badass who can hold his own in battle, but he also genuinely cares about your well being. He gets you, and that makes him a joy to talk to. His romance isn’t bad as a whole. But I can’t help but feel that it ruins a bit of a good thing. The friendship with Garrus is amazing. But the romance is so awkward. For one, if you go into this romance you immediately start with asking Garrus to have sex with you. No romantic feelings are expressed by either party. As a person who identifies as Asexual, I’m not super comfortable with a video game forcing your relationship to heavily focus on sex. Garrus’ relationship does this. Garrus’ romance plot in Mass Effect 2 consists entirely of awkwardly trying to plan when the crew will be able to leave the Normandy in the hopes of getting some privacy. Meanwhile, Garrus worries about human bedroom practices. Obviously, I don’t find this romantic. In Mass Effect 3 Garrus starts actively trying to learn about more non-physical relationship customs as well, which is nice. There’s even a fun dance scene you can see if you get the DLC (It’s the only time you will ever see Shepard dance like a normal person), plus some really lovely parting words before the final battle. But as Garrus’ friend you still get a lot of those kind parting words, plus a whole lot less of the awkward innuendo shoved into regular conversation. I love Garrus but this relationship doesn’t win me over.

Thane Krios: Thane’s romance isn’t for everyone. The moment you meet him he lets you know that he’s dying. You don’t know when, because he doesn’t know when, but you know he only has a few years. This is because Thane is suffering from a lung disease common in his species known as Kepral’s Syndrome. So yeah, not the happiest relationship. Thane is also an assassin, so there’s reason to be cautious of him at first. But by talking to him you realize he’s quite a moralistic and even religious man. He prays for all the people he kills and though he once felt it unnecessary to care about what jobs he took, his diagnosis made him decide to right his wrongs and atone for his actions. Conversations with him are always deep and emotional as a result of the time he spends looking back on his life. If you get close enough to him, he even talks about his late wife and the fact that his job has made him absent from most of his teenage son’s life. It’s through helping him reconnect with his son that you actually start a relationship. It’s a genuinely sweet one too. He gives you a nickname after the warrior angels in his religion, he’s always checking in to make sure you’re doing okay, and the relationship grows only when Shepard and Thane open up to each other. It’s never one-sided. Mass Effect 3 is where the relationship gets more depressing. Thane can’t travel with you anymore because he has to stay at a hospital to monitor his worsening condition. He even allows you to opt out of the relationship, knowing how painful it might be to see his health deteriorate. But if you decide to keep going, he sends messages to your ship to check in. Of course, by the end of the game he dies. He has you recite a last prayer with his son, which is actually for you not for him, and then his son gives you all the video messages he filmed for you while you were away. Yeah, bring the tissues for this one. There’s no question that Thane is the most thoughtful of the romance options.

Well that’s it! Apparently I love pain because I put by far the most painful Mass Effect romance at the top of this list, but I’m not going to analyze that right now. Anyways, I can’t wait to see what the remake will look like! I’m ready to experience the pain all over again! Maybe it’ll hurt less this time! (It won’t.)

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

K-Pop and K-Dramas: Imitation Episode 1

Promotional image of (from left) Jeong Yunho, Jeong Jiso, and Lee Junyoung for ‘Imitation’. Copyright goes to KBS and Kakao Entertainment.

Hi! It’s Annie!

An earlier post today. Weird, I know. But the first episode of ‘Imitation’ came out yesterday and of course I had to watch it! I’ve been indescribably hyped for this series since I figured out it was coming out. I should mention that I have actually read the first chapters of the original web toon of the same name, but I was not expecting this to be at all similar. Generally adaptations like this are drastically different from the source material and a lot of the time that’s a good thing. It’s generally changed to suit the screen more. And though I’m not exactly sure how many changes were made, from what I saw and from what people were saying it’s a lot. Of course, this is only the first episode of what is supposed to be a twelve episode series, so it really is only a little bit of what we’ll be getting in the future. And though I really do want to be optimistic, this show probably has to do a lot to win me over. With that said, let’s get into it. SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

The Good:

ATEEZ:

Right off the bat I have to say how proud I am of our boys. We got to see all four of them act in this episode (for those of you who don’t know the four members of ATEEZ in this drama are Yunho, Jongho, Seonghwa, and San) and they were all great. And I don’t say that lightly. I’ve talked a little bit about this before on the blog, but both my sister and I trained in acting in college. None of the boys felt awkward at any point in the episode. And for the first episode we actually got a lot more of San and Seonghwa than I thought we would. I knew we would get a lot of Yunho and Jongho because they’re playing characters that are slightly more central to the plot, at least in the web toon. We’ll have to see if the show gives San and Seonghwa more to work with. Every single time one of the members came on screen I was uncontrollably beaming. And Yunho was in here doing what he does best. Being a comforting teddy bear. Seriously, so far it feels like this role was meant for him. And can we talk about how adorable Yunho was walking into the press conference for the show yesterday? He looked so happy! I really can’t wait to see more of them acting their asses off.

The Acting:

Speaking of which, I thought everyone did a really good job acting their parts here. I know ATEEZ is not by any means the only idols starring in this show. All of them did amazingly. If you were to completely wipe my memory of any K-pop and ask me to distinguish between the idols and the trained actors on this show, I would not be able to differentiate between them. They were all so good! Nobody was over the top, everything felt realistic and normal; this show just has some great acting.

The K-Drama:

No, I’m not talking about this entire drama as a whole. In both this show and the original web toon the main character, Maha, ends up acting to try and get her group more recognition and also to try and make ends meet. In both, she ends up in an awkward situation because she is playing a small role acting opposite of Kwon Ryok, the brooding idol and the star of the show she is working on. In the web toon, this acting gig is on a show where he is playing a serial killer who specifically preys on women after seducing them. Really not the best. The scene requires him to kill her and he ends up saying things way out of line in order to get a genuine reaction of fear out of her. It’s an absolutely awful and uncomfortable scene. There is nothing about that entire scenario that is even the slightest bit ok. In this, they completely changed the plot of the drama and really everything about that entire scenario. Instead she is playing a small role in a historical drama he is the star of and he accidentally hits her in a combat scene after she was given the wrong fight choreography. This is definitely better and feels much less like assault.

The Side Characters:

After just one episode, the side characters have already caught my attention. And, yes, I am including everyone here who isn’t the lead two characters; Maha and Ryok. The sweetness of Yoojin is already one of my favorite parts of the show. I know that most romance shows go for the leading man that is brooding on the outside and warm on the inside. Personally, I’m always suffering from second lead syndrome because the second lead is always the absolute sweetest and that’s where my weakness is. And now Yunho’s playing the second lead which is just going to make this all the more painful for me. We still need to get more of Yoojin to really get to know his character, but I’m already melting. Hyuk is already way too adorable and I already feel like I’m becoming attached to the members of Shax. And I actually really did like what we got of Hyunji and Riah. They were both characters that seemed very warm and I just wanted to be friends with them. We got some more side characters, like Minsoo and Seyoung for example, that seemed interesting but we haven’t gotten much of them yet. All of the side characters seem lovable so far though.

The Realism:

I’m not an idol, so I can’t say for sure, but this really did feel like a peek into their world. Especially during the early scenes of the episode where we saw the dance practice of the trainees. That was insane and so much fun to watch. The premise of this show is bold and I can get behind that, but I do have some concerns. I’ll get into that below.

The Bad:

Depression Issues:

Please be warned that what I’m going to talk about could be possibly triggering for some people. THIS IS YOUR TRIGGER WARNING. Also note that these are all things that are in the show, which unfortunately does not give anyone a trigger warning at all. Even if you are an ATEEZ fan or a fan of any other group or actor in this show, if you have a high possibility of being triggered I would wait a while before watching. I’m going to start getting into it now. Last warning. The show is, understandably, attempting to tackle dark topics in the industry too. Which is not something I have a problem with at all, I feel like for the most part those topics need to be addressed. But when it comes to depression and featuring it in a show, there’s a line that needs to be walked and it is really difficult to walk. I know it’s unfair to compare anything to ‘Itaewon Class’ which is one of the best series of all time, but that’s the standard for dealing with depression. They were able to make it all realistic and still deal with it with care for the people who might actually be dealing with that. It was almost comforting in a way and their depression was never sensationalized for drama. Here’s where this show is already failing and, by far, this is my biggest issue with the show. The first episode contains a suicide and it is not handled well at all in the slightest. Especially with them drawing this drama out in order to make the audience question whether or not she really died. And when they’re doing this, they go for all of the dramatic shots. Including one of the bridge in South Korea where they have comforting phrases written on it in order to comfort people with depression. None of this is done with care and compassion and all of it feels like a plot device. I’m not talking about the moment where the CEO of that one company complains about how that girl’s death would effect the company, because that was done for realism. It is entirely different when a character from the show is unsympathetic and when the writing and shooting of the show feels unsympathetic. This was not handled with care or sympathy nor is it even talked about in depth. I’m not going to talk about this again in this post so EVERYTHING ELSE IN THIS POST IS SAFE. Thanks.

The Main Characters:

Neither of them have really won me over yet. And I know this was just the first episode, but I was seriously surprised at how much literally all of the side characters won me over and how I still didn’t feel so much of a connection with the two main ones. It felt like this first episode was trying to establish that Maha was awkward and Ryok was brooding and we didn’t get much beyond either of those things for either character. I feel like the only break in this was when Maha accidentally caught Ryok practicing a scene for the drama they were shooting. That scene was cute; but we definitely have a long way to go before we get to feeling the complexity of these characters.

Group Dynamics:

I think it’s going to take a while to truly start seeing group dynamics, because this was only the first episode. But my sister and I did notice that you really have to watch some of this with the eye of a television show viewer and not with they eye of a K-pop fan. Because most groups out there have been working together for a long time so everything they do on stage is really in sync. I would say that happens for most groups. They’ve worked on it to a point where they don’t even have to think about it anymore because they’re just comfortable with each other. That doesn’t come across here as much, especially when we saw Shax performing. They were still insanely good, this is just a massive nitpick. And I’m not sure I would expect any show to have this down either unless all of the people they cast were from the same idol group.

The Imitation:

In the web toon one of the main reasons why the group ‘Tea Party’ gets so big is because Maha looks like another idol singer, La Lima. People noticed when the casting for this show was announced that the actresses didn’t really look like each other. In the series Maha dresses up as La Lima for a small gig and the clip goes viral, seemingly because it’s funny and not because she really looks like her. At least that’s what I thought, I was a little confused. I understand that it’s very difficult to find actresses who look that alike so I’m not taking too many points off here. But I am extremely confused as to what they’ll end up doing with this in the future.

That’s it so far! There was a lot that I loved and a lot that I didn’t like so much. I have to say, the way they dealt with depression is a big red flag for me. That was probably the main thing that made me not enjoy this first episode as much as I could have and made me nervous for the future of this show. I’m just hoping that if they continue to bring stuff like this up they’ll stop over sensationalizing it. But I have already fallen in love with so many of the characters and seeing ATEEZ here just made me so happy. So I guess we’ll see what happens with the next episode!

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

Star Wars: ‘The Bad Batch’ Episode 2 Review

Screenshot of Echo, Tech. Hunter, and Crosshair from ‘The Bad Batch’. Copyright goes to the Walt Disney Company.

Hey! Hallie here!

I just talked about this show when it aired on Star Wars day, but given that episodes for this series will be regularly released on Fridays, they decided to release ANOTHER episode this week to line up with their regular schedule. This episode was satisfying to watch and definitely exciting at parts. Still, there’s no telling whether or not it sets a precedent for what the show will be in the future. With only sixteen episodes, it feels like the series is going for more of a concentrated storyline. But this episode decided to go for a fun, individual storyline that works with the shows themes but doesn’t continue the major plots introduced in episode 1. There’s a lot I can’t say here without talking about spoilers so here’s your warning. SPOILERS ahead!

The Good:

Hunter and Omega: I’m going to pair off some of the characters here because I feel like the relationships between characters is what really made this episode shine. These two are already being set up for a father-daughter relationship. Which isn’t a surprise because the ‘disgruntled dad’ male lead is really popular right now. Star Wars even already has one in the form of Din Djarin, the Mandalorian. In this episode, we see the remaining members of the Bad Batch reunite with Cut, the clone deserter originally seen in ‘Clone Wars’ who deserted the clone army in order to start a relationship with his badass wife Suu and raise their children. Being around these parents and seeing how they interact with their kids allows Hunter to realize how important it is to treat Omega like a kid rather than a soldier. Suu is possibly even more helpful that Cut in her talks with Hunter, urging him to understand that children sometimes get in trouble and that it’s better to protect them from the repercussions than become angry at them for their decisions. Hunter still nearly dumps Omega off on Cut and Suu in a very understandable effort to give her a normal life, but he isn’t angry when Omega returns to him. He accepts that it’s up to her to make her own decisions. Having Hunter admit that he’s still trying to figure out how to act around Omega at the end of the episode promises more development for this relationship in the future. Omega also receives some really kick-ass scenes that reaffirm to Hunter how capable she is. While it’s adorable to watch her learn how to play catch, it’s really cool to see her retrieve the identification codes from Tech and deliver them to Cut, only to run back into danger in order to reunite with Hunter. More questions about her identity and the reason she was created are brought up as well, which will be interesting to see explored in the future.

Tech and Echo:

About halfway through the episode Tech is tasked with creating false identification for Cut and Suu so their family can escape the planet. Tech pretty quickly realizes that he needs to be at the docks, where identification codes are being scanned, in order to create the false identification codes. Echo agrees to accompany him, but everything becomes a bit more chaotic when Tech makes a somewhat split-second decision to get their ship impounded so that it will be taken to the docks. While Hunter’s reaction to seeing their ship flying away is hilarious, especially because Tech and Echo don’t realize Omega is also on board until it’s too late, Echo’s exasperation at the entire situation is even better. We get to see his loathing for breaking rules and taking risks all over again, which we haven’t really seen in a while. Meanwhile, although Tech is extremely intelligent, we also get to see how amusingly one-track-minded he can be. He’s so eager to complete the task given to him that he doesn’t consider the trouble it might get him in. The way he also faces complications to his plan with both a clear head and extreme sarcasm makes me like him even more.

Wrecker:

Wrecker doesn’t get much in this episode, but what he does get is adorable. Apparently he really likes kids, possibly because he’s a bit of a big kid himself. I really enjoy the ‘scary guy is actually cute’ trope and this show is serving a lot of that with Wrecker.

The Bad (Batch):

Cliche Plot Points: This isn’t a major problem, but it’s worth mentioning. At this point I’ve seen every piece of media where a parent/child relationship is being established do the ‘I don’t think I’m a good parental figure so I’m leaving you behind’ bit. It’s getting kind of tired. I’m glad this plot point lasted only for the length of the episode.

Crosshair: Ok, with Crosshair already confirmed as a main character and with the dramatic way the last episode ended, I really expected him to show up here. Instead the episode went for a more disconnected story. Once again, this isn’t a major issue. But I’m confused at this point about what role Crosshair is going to play. I want to see his true personality. We didn’t really get to fully see it in the first episode of the series. While I do think a redemption arc might not be a bad idea, I still think we need to get to know the character a bit better for that to work. I guess we’ll have to see what they do with him moving forward.

That’s it! This episode was MUCH shorter than episode one, which we can probably expect from most of the episodes going forwards, but it was still satisfying. The character growth we saw was great and the emphasis on the mystery around Omega is one of the most intriguing parts of the series so far. There’s still a lot we don’t know about what this series will look like. Is it going to be episodic like ‘Clone Wars’ and ‘The Mandalorian’? Or are they going to use the sixteen episodes for something more connected? What this series has done consistently well between the episodes is the darker theming surrounding the Empire’s takeover. Being able to see how the Empire is oppressing one planet is only the start of the many horrible things these clones are going to come across. This series is probably the best Star Wars content I’ve seen to deal with the rise of the Empire and I will definitely stick around for more.

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

ATEEZ: Eras

Promotional image from ‘Fever Part 2.’ featuring (from left) Jeong Yunho, Choi San, Kang Yeosang, Kim Hongjoong, Jung Wooyoung, Choi Jongho, and Park Seonghwa. Copyright goes to KQ Entertainment.

Hi! It’s Annie!

Firstly, I want to apologize for having such a late post tonight. As many people already know, the entire website was down earlier. But I’m not one to give up, so here we are again! When it comes to K-pop groups it’s not uncommon for fans to discuss particular eras of their comebacks. We’ve seen this conversation come up recently with BTS because of ‘Butter’ coming out and the callbacks to the ‘Run’ era. But the K-Drama starring ATEEZ is out tomorrow, and BTS has had so many eras that it would be difficult to list them all, so I kind of want to discuss all of ATEEZ’s eras and rank them just for fun. Trust me, I love all of their eras, their looks absolutely slay every single time. I apologize if I leave any out, but these are the eras I see the most pictures and content from. So, from my least favorite to my favorite, let’s get into my ranking.

Illusion:

Illusion was nothing short of an adorable era. This was so much of ATEEZ cuteness in one place. So why is it last, you ask? Because I think we all know that ATEEZ is the absolute best in the business when it comes to more punk rock and darker looks. That doesn’t necessarily diminish this one though. This is a very nice mix between a pastel horizon and the pirate roots that we all expect from the group. With an absolutely gorgeous setting along with all of them just being the most adorable, there is no getting over this era. The only reason it’s so far down is because I like the other eras just a bit better.

Say My Name:

Here we’re getting into their darker looks, but definitely not the darkest we’ve seen from them. This era has a lot more of a psychological thriller vibe to it. With the unknown hooded figures and the glass panels between the boys and unknown people, there’s definitely an emphasis here of trying to become more noticed. I feel like this was a starting point for some of the darker things they did after this. And it was definitely a good start. But, though this era feels like the beginning of something, it is a bit before they quite got their footing with these darker and more cinematic themes.

Answer:

Though every single one of these is tough to place, I feel like the eras from here on out are the absolute most difficult to try and rank. Answer feels like one of their most raw eras, and this also means that the acting for this era was absolutely phenomenal. This era also featured San’s skunk stripe hair which I think we can all agree is a superior hair look. Each music video and performance from this era feels emotional and their costuming and hair are often made to look as tough and ragged as the emotions of the song make you feel. Though this isn’t as dark as they are known to go and it isn’t one of their cuter eras, it still dominates. They tackled an entirely different feel and did it very well while still feeling like ATEEZ.

Pirate King/Treasure:

Ah, the first ATEEZ eras we ever got. And they really did come out swinging. Even though a group’s first music video is never their best one, this era was still amazing. Especially for a rookie group. The desert and the intense music along with the sporting of their flag gave everyone an accurate depiction of what this group would turn out to be. Completely badass and the pirate kings of K-pop. I still can’t imagine what it must have been like for them to film their music video in the desert while they all were wearing long sleeves. Just goes to show you how badass they all are.

Wave:

This is probably my favorite of the more pastel cuter concepts that ATEEZ has done. Here we got the bright hair colors and the beach, all things that just make it feel like summer. This era heavily featured blue sky, water, and the members goofing around with each other. They seriously all looked like they were having so much fun during this era. It’s difficult to get over how free this era came across. And ATEEZ also proved here that they can do fun summer anthems just as well as they can do their fast paced beats. There’s seriously no better way to describe this era other than saying that it just looked like so much fun.

HALA HALA:

I think we can all agree that this era was different in the best way possible. It was definitely one of their darker themes and it was done so well. While most K-Pop groups make sure that their idols are recognizable through each era, ATEEZ decided to go with a more stylistic approach. Many of the pictures that came out in promotion of this era were all of the members wearing identical hats and masks. Though it might take you a while to pick out which member is which by just catching glimpses of their eyes, it’s entirely worth it. The uniformity works, especially in the music video when it makes their dance look so seamlessly in sync it almost feels impossible. This is also one of their more complex dances, so it has several different parts featuring different members. While the looks here were more uniform, it fit its purpose extraordinarily well.

Fireworks (I’m the One):

While ATEEZ has always had a more revolutionary style, and by that I mean they’re literally a group of men about to start a revolution in many of their storylines; it has never been more prominent than this. Right now I’ve been watching their performance of ‘Rhythm Ta’ over and over again which also has this revolution theme. I think it suits them well no matter which way they do it. I also firmly believe that the looks during this era fit the members more than almost any other era. They all look individual and unique in ways that make perfect sense for their individual personalities. And though we do see some well placed color here, the rock themes are what pull this all together. Seriously, can we talk about Yunho’s lip ring? I think this era is possibly the start of more revolution ATEEZ, and if it is I can confidently say that I’m all for it.

Wonderland:

I think everyone was expecting this. ‘Wonderland’ is most people’s favorite era, and for good reason. This is the era that gave them a lot of their fans now. This era is exactly the definition of duality. Firstly, we have a really nice mix of their individual looks and also the uniformity that I was talking about before. This era just has it all. Also, if you thought the members of ATEEZ were cute before, you see just how badass they can be here. They are so much of both. During this era they even released a video of them performing the song in different styles that, among Atinys, has become known as duality the video. They perform the song in cute outfits with cuts to them performing it regularly in it’s original darker style. This is the danger of ATEEZ. Don’t ever underestimate their ability to be absolutely adorable or their ability to completely upend the entire K-pop industry. Nobody does cinematic theming and storytelling like ATEEZ.

Obviously, all of these eras hold a special place in my heart. I have fallen in love with all of them. ATEEZ has always been excellent but they just get better and better. I feel like every group has a cinematic music video in their arsenal, but it can be difficult to translate that on stage. I don’t exaggerate when I say I think ATEEZ is the absolute best in the industry at bringing cinematic to the stage. And they all look great while they’re completely destroying my perceptions of what can be done on a stage in a concert setting. They are nothing short of insanely talented. And I can’t wait to review ‘Imitation’ as soon as I can get my hands on it!

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

Star Wars:’The Bad Batch’ Episode 1 Review

Screenshot of Crosshair, Echo, Hunter, Tech, Wrecker, and Omega from episode 1 of ‘The Bad Batch’. Copyright goes to the Walt Disney company.

Hey! Hallie here!

I’m a pretty huge Star Wars fan and I’m especially obsessed with ‘The Clone Wars’ series. So when this spin off was announced I was extremely excited. I really enjoyed getting introduced to Clone Force 99 in the last season of ‘Clone Wars’, so I definitely wasn’t mad that these characters would be the center of a spin-off show. After all, what would be the point of a ‘Clone Wars’ spin off if it didn’t focus on a group of clones? This series also came at an extremely opportune time for Disney+. Currently the Marvel series are on a break for a month until Loki starts at the beginning of June. Myself, and many others, are still suffering from some boredom, so I’m extremely thankful this series came in to fill in the gap and then some. The first episode was over an hour long and there’s a lot to unpack, but I’ll start this out by saying that this was a really strong start and I’m excited to see where it goes. So let’s jump into what I liked and what I didn’t like! SPOILERS ahead!

The Good:

Clone Force 99: Every single member of Clone Force 99 has already stolen my heart, and that’s actually quite difficult for clone characters to do after only a few episodes. While I love the clones, it took quite a bit for me to recognize each individual personality of the clone characters in ‘Clone Wars’. This isn’t because the clones look alike, but because many of the clones are introduced with similar personality traits. For example, while Captain Rex and Commander Cody have very different personalities, they are both initially introduced as extremely responsible, strong leaders, and intimidating presences. It takes a few episodes to distinguish Rex’s more trouble-making tendencies from Cody’s love of rules, especially because Rex is much more of a voice of reason around Anakin. But this isn’t at all an issue with the Bad Batch. From the moment the episode starts, it’s extremely clear that these clones are different from the others. They’re shunned by most, even made fun of on occasion, and they all have specific interests that they are for more interested in pursuing than what clones are generally expected to do. All of this is because all of the members of Clone Force 99 are defective, enhancing certain abilities and changing each of their perceptions of themselves and the things that they value. Hunter, the leader, has enhanced senses, meaning he has a better sense of what’s going on in battle than his superiors and he’s perceptive of the people around him. Tech has enhanced brain power, which often leads him to question what is truly right in any given situation regardless of what he’s told. Wrecker has enhanced strength and his love of crushing things drives him far more than what is deemed appropriate. Even Echo, who is not defective but is now mostly machine, has left behind his old love of rules to pursue his own interests. This isn’t something we’ve seen from clones before and it definitely strengthens their personalities.

Omega: We didn’t get to see too much of Omega in this episode, but she’s already an extremely interesting character. For one, she’s the first female clone we’ve seen. This is a huge deal because the focus on the clones in the past has meant that we’ve seen many episodes of ‘Clone Wars’ with little to no female representation. Omega is also adorable. She feels an instant connection with the other defective clones and even starts a food fight when she hears another clone make fun of them. She can also hold her own in battle, even against an enhanced defective clone like Crosshair. There’s a lot of mystery around her character as of now, but that only makes me more excited for this character arc.

Order 66: This series is already setting itself up to lean towards the darker side of what we saw from ‘Clone Wars’ plots. You can’t really avoid dark themes when your focus is the galaxy after Order 66. One of the perks of the defective nature of the Bad Batch is the defectiveness of their chips. Meaning they didn’t participate in Order 66. What’s even better about this is that it’s illustrated through the backstory of Caleb Dume, or Kanan from ‘Star Wars Rebels’. Kanan is such an amazing character and it’s so interesting to see exactly where his trauma surrounding clones came from. When the order to execute the Jedi comes, Caleb is with Hunter. He turns around and sees his master killed by clones, but he’s with a clone who is just as confused about the situation as he is. Of course, Caleb doesn’t trust Hunter, and the situation is only made worse with the presence of Crosshair who’s chip does partially activate. Hunter refuses to kill Caleb and even tries to help him escape, but all of this seems like lies when Crosshair attempts to kill Caleb several times. Caleb does owe his escape partially to Hunter, however, when Hunter reports him dead to the other clones. Afterwards we get to see all of the other members of Clone Force 99 react to Order 66. It especially seems to bother Tech, who can’t help but question the moral atrocities the other clones committed. Later in the episode the Bad Batch is sent on a mission by Grand Moff Tarkin to kill a group of suspicious individuals. Only for the clones to discover that this group is the leftovers of a village, including children, all of which are being led by a young Saw Gerrera to rebel against the Empire. They, of course, decide not to kill this group and end up on the run by the end of the episode. It seems like it’ll only get crazier from here.

The Bad (Batch):

Crosshair: Crosshair didn’t get a whole lot of character development this episode. The reason for this is that Crosshair’s chip partially activated during Order 66. Because of this he spends the entire episode insulting Hunter for refusing to kill the targets they’re sent after. Then Grand Moff Tarkin discovers that his chip was only partially activated and manages to fully activate it. Crosshair is then sent to fight with the other members of the Bad Batch, is bested by Omega, and remains on the villains side at the end of the episode. While there is another episode coming up soon that could reunite the characters and have him redeem himself, I can’t help but think that this wasn’t an ideal introduction to this character for the series. The audience spends the episode thinking he’s an asshole and his personality is partially washed away in favor of his loyalty to the Empire, like the other clones who completed Order 66. I get that part of his personality is to be sadistic and rude as a result of his love for shooting things, but it’s hard to tell how much of his actions are driven by his sadistic personality and how much is provoked by the chip when we don’t get much time with the character before he’s taken over.

That’s it! As you can probably tell, I really liked this first episode. It gave me some nice ‘Clone Wars’ nostalgia while still giving off an entirely new persona for me to enjoy. For the people who didn’t like ‘Rebels’, it definitely focuses on darker themes for you to enjoy. And even if you did, it has plenty of fun characters and laughs to brighten the mood between scenes. There’s still a lot we don’t know yet, but with another episode already coming on Friday, we’ll at least get more information soon. I honestly can’t wait.

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

Star Wars: Why You Can’t Ruin ‘Star Wars’

Promotional screenshot image from ‘Rogue One’. Copyright goes to LucasFilms and the Walt Disney company.

Hi! It’s Annie!

May the 4th be with you! Happy Star Wars day everyone! Of course, Star Wars day means that everyone is going to once again talk about their controversial ‘Star Wars’ opinions. These days it really feels like every ‘Star Wars’ opinion is controversial in some way. There’s always something to disagree about in this fandom, and generally disagreement isn’t taken very lightly. In that sense, I’ve seen so many people, especially older ‘Star Wars’ fans, saying the phrase; “(blank) ruined Star Wars”. Most often the (blank) is Disney. I’m sure there are plenty of people who wonder why all of the ‘Star Wars’ posts on this website are categorized under Disney. (The reason is simply because we’re trying to limit the amount of categories on our site.) While I’m not going to make a detailed statement on what I believe Disney did or did not do with the ‘Star Wars’ franchise, I think it’s a bit ridiculous to say that one thing ruined an entire franchise with dozens of different storylines within it at this point. So I’m going to take this Star Wars day post and talk about most of what we’ve gotten in this universe so far and why you can’t possibly ruin it.

Original Trilogy:

This is most people’s favorite piece of ‘Star Wars’ media and for good reason. This was our introduction to this fictional universe and to many characters (and actors) that we love immensely. It was full of space settings that hadn’t been seen before at that time and began the usage of many of the major plot twists that we see in movies today. (“No, I am your Father.”) Luke, Leia, and Han have gone down in history as one of the best film trios of all time. Though there are some things about this trilogy that have definitely aged, the heart and the story of these movies haven’t. When I say aged, I’m talking the special effects and the lightsaber battles which have become so much more action packed and complex since (sometimes weirdly so). Though the slave Leia outfit also didn’t age well but no one talks about that as well as Carrie Fisher herself did. The original trilogy has solidified its place in pop culture probably forever.

Prequel Trilogy:

The comeback that raised eyebrows, though people sometimes forget that. Just like the original trilogy, these were still a direct product of George Lucas. I see a lot of people blame Disney for everything bad in Star Wars and then immediately turn around and praise George Lucas as if he had nothing to do with this trilogy. He was just as involved here as he was with the originals. Recently, I’ve seen a lot more people come to the defense of this trilogy, and I can’t really understand why. But I mean, you like what you like! I just personally feel that these are some of the worst movies I’ve seen in my life. Especially ‘Attack of the Clones’. I don’t how many people here cry-cringe, but I did that throughout the entirely of that movie. I talked about how poorly Padme was treated in another post, but she really did need and deserve a panic button. This trilogy isn’t all bad, I think everyone can agree that Ewan Mcgregor was great as, you know, GENERAL KENOBI. Sorry. But I do think most of us can agree that there’s something really off about all of these movies. Especially because they barely make sense together and definitely don’t make sense apart.

Cartoons:

Here we get to ‘The Clone Wars’, and the series that is probably my favorite ‘Star Wars’ content, ‘Star Wars Rebels’. ‘The Clone Wars’ is a little bit choppy switching between things but it had a clean and unique plot while still being very emotional. I love this series, it’s great. While a lot of people didn’t like ‘Rebels’, I really loved that series. I loved many of the characters, specifically Kanan and Sabine, and I thought that a lot of the plots were actually really interesting. I especially loved the family dynamic and consistent plot here and they got a leg up whenever they brought in Darth Vader and Ahsoka Tano. Dave Filoni is an incredible writer. I think it’s amazing how many people are discovering how excellent ‘The Clone Wars’ and the other animated series really are. A lot of people still don’t really want to watch a ‘Star Wars’ cartoon because to them it feels like it’s for kids.. But now they feel like they have the recognition they deserve. And oh my gosh do I love Sabine. She’s such a relatable and multi-faceted character!

The Spin-Offs:

Here I’m talking about ‘Rogue One’ and ‘Solo’. I know a lot of people like one a lot more than the other. I’m going to say right now that I preferred the one that most people don’t. I wasn’t a huge fan of ‘Rogue One’. I thought that they didn’t spend enough time on the characters, so I really didn’t feel the tragedy at the end. I won’t say that ‘Solo’ was a masterpiece, but I thought it was a fun heist movie. And I always jump at the chance to see more Chewbacca. The reaction to these movies are more muddled. Some people love one over the other, some hate both. I’m not actually sure I’ve talked to someone who loved both movies, but there’s nothing wrong with that if you do. ‘Rogue One’ wasn’t all bad for me though; those Vader scenes were pretty great.

The Sequel Trilogy:

The conversation when these were coming out was a lot more all over the place. Some people were determined to hate them all, others the opposite. Some hated the first movie and not the second, for others it was the other way around. As we’ve been getting further and further away from the release of this trilogy, I see more and more people who liked this trilogy getting bullied. I want to say right now that I don’t believe you aren’t a true fan if you loved these movies. I think the usage of ‘true fan’ is ridiculous. Do you like Star Wars? Poof! There you go! You’re a fan! That’s all there is to it. I also think that the practice of bullying people who disagree with you on a fandom topic is really ridiculous. I don’t have any particularly strong opinions on the sequel trilogy. I think there’s some good there and there’s some bad there. I think that the lightsaber battle with the guards at the end of ‘The Last Jedi’ was one of the best choreographed fights I’ve seen in film. I also think that Luke and Finn were not treated very well. But I don’t think these movies are proof that Disney ruined ‘Star Wars’.

The Mandalorian and Disney +:

We’re getting a lot more Star Wars content from Disney+ and I don’t think anyone’s complaining too much. Though I did have some issues with Ahsoka Tano’s writing in ‘The Mandalorian’ (even though Rosario Dawson is a badass as her), the show itself is actually really great! And now we’re getting more ‘Clone Wars’ spin offs, an Obi-Wan series starring Ewan Mcgregor, and an Ahsoka Tano series with Rosario Dawson; all stuff that looks pretty cool. It also worries me because it’s all coming out in mass, but I guess we’ll have to see.

Some of the things I mentioned above are great and some of them really aren’t so good. And some of the not so good things have happened since Disney took hold of the franchise. So why will I not say that Disney or anything else ruined Star Wars? Because it only ruins it for you if you want it to. No matter how many films or shows that Disney comes out with for this franchise that you might not like; that doesn’t erase the original trilogy or your favorite show. Not only that, but what’s still most popular about ‘Star Wars’ is still the original trilogy despite how much content for the franchise has come out since. Even with young people. It’s the same thing as saying “You ruined my childhood!”. Not unless you want it to. How can one thing ruin something with so many elements to it. And even if the original trilogy isn’t someone’s favorite thing about ‘Star Wars’, they are still a fan and their opinion is still completely valid. So on this ‘Star Wars’ day let’s please not argue as much and try to respect each other’s opinions.

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie