Gorilla (Teen Titans Go)-Animated Critic #10

Show-Teen Titans Go

Episode Title-Gorilla 

Air Date-June 11th 2013

Season 1

Episode 12

Ah, Teen Titans Go. One of the most hated cartoons in recent years. It has its fans but it's safe to say that there are definitely a lot more haters. I'm split about it. To me most of the episodes are just OK. Not good but not bad. At least overall. There are plenty of episodes I do consider really good and plenty that I absolutely despise. 

It's one of those shows that tries to be zany and wacky but does it really poorly for the most part. But other than that the stories can be downright stupid at times and have really unlikable characters or screwed up morals.

And sometimes it can just be downright annoying. 

As such I consider this the worst cartoon currently airing.

Well........for kids anyway.

Yes I feel it's worse than Pig Goat Banana Cricket. I mean that show was mostly just bland. This show ranges from being bland to being irritating as all heck. With it occasionally crossing into the good territory. 

This show is definitely gonna be a regular target for me. I mean we have so many crappy episodes to look at. Where do I begin?

Boys Vs Girls? Nah, Mr. Enter already did that one. Real Magic? No. Kicking a Ball and Pretending to Be Hurt? Hmmmm, no not now.

Ah, how about Gorilla. That seems like a good place to start.

So let's waste no more time and swing right into Gorilla. 

But before that let's get a few things out of the way

1-I am not gonna judge the show based on the original Teen Titans. I'm gonna judge it by its own merits. I don't mind the fact that the show is a comedy now. I only care about weather it does what it wants to do well. 

2-That means if there are any continuity mistakes between this show and the original (for example character flanderization or plot points not making sense if you keep it in the same continuity as the original) I will not hold it against the show. For example there's one episode where Cyborg wants to be a full machine which highly contradicts what was set up in the original show's episode The Sum of His Parts. I will only hold continuity against an episode if it contradicts something that this show itself set up. 

Also characters are flanderized beyond belief but I won't hold that against the show. I will only criticize the characters if they are annoying or awfully written not if they flanderize themselves from the original series.

I'm saying this as this show apparently is suppose to have no connection with the original series so I'm not gonna make comparisons to the original show. 

Anyway let's begin.

The episode starts out with the Titans working out as Robin commands them.

Suppose I should talk about the animation. Now's a better time than ever. 

This show has a very chibi style of animation and I personally feel it's OK. I know some people don't like it but for what it wants to be and do it's fine. 

Anyway we get some unfunny gags involving each character, and then Robin says they can stop......right after they do 100 more sets. Cyborg calls him out saying that Robin isn't doing anything. Robin replies saying that someone has to watch over them and it's a sacrifice he's willing to make. Oh screw you. Hey writers, you know that people being douchebags usually isn't funny. It can work, but it doesn't here. For example Rick from Rick and Morty can be quite rude but the thing is he's still likeable as being a douche isn't the only thing he does. He has a nice side and the things he says are actually funny. Plus his jerkiness is downplayed. The characters in this show can just really be complete douches to each other. Speaking of which here comes Beast Boy. Oh boy. Beast Boy is probably the worst character in this entire fricking show. He comes in through the elevator shape shifted into a gorilla. Robin says he's gonna break the door if he doesn't get out of that form. Beast Boy says he's got it though. 

He didn't have it.

Robin tells him again to transform out of that gorilla but Beast Boy refuses. 

This annoys Robin deeply. Raven says to calm down though as Beast Boy is doing it just to tick him off and Robin shouldn't give into him. 

But Robin finds that pretty hard to do as Beast Boy is the biggest Douche in this entire show.

He doesn't help Robin with his heavy boxes and uses the excuse that Gorilla's don't lift heavy boxes.

He leaves a mess of bananas on the floor and makes the excuse that gorilla's don't pick up messes

He even refuses to do his job because Gorillas don't fight I guess. 

Actually the last scene got a laugh out of me but not cause of Beast Boy because of Robins reaction. 

In my second Animated Critic episode (Artist Unknown) I explained how to cause harm to character and still have it remain funny. I said that the character who gets punishment should do something kinda douchey like be Arrogant or mean. That way the punishment he receives is very cathartic. Robin was being a douche and was over controlling of the Titans so with this logic in mind him being completely ignored by Beast Boy should be funny. So why isn't it?

Well in something like Artist Unknown from Spongebob while Squidward does deserve punishment Spongebob isn't hurting him to be a jerk. He honestly doesn't even know he's causing Squidward any pain. In this episode Beast Boy is doing it strictly to be a douche. People acting like jerks to each other and then using some lame excuse to continue that jerkiness is not funny. Unless the character is like Allen Gregory levels of doucheness (I'll get Allen later I swear) then it won't work. There's a scene in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs where Grumpy gets shoved into the bath by the others after refusing to take one. It works though as A) Grumpy does kinda deserve it and B) the other dwarves aren't doing it to be mean. You can tell its just a little joke nothing to harmful. Grumpy may of not been happy but you could tell the other dwarves were just teasing him a little. So because of that the scene remains funny. Everything Beast Boy does in this episode is done strictly to irritate Robin. To be an utter douche bag to him. It doesn't work. Watching people puorposfully be douches to each other (unless handled correctly, like I said earlier Rick from Rick and Morty is one of countless examples.) is not funny. Phew, I apologize for that long winded, complicated explanation. Let's continue shall we. 

I mean, to be honest, these jokes aren't  utter garbage but it still fails as a joke. 

Anyway soon afterward Beast Boy says he's tired of Robin giving him orders. (I mean how dare he does his job as a commander) 

So he says they're going to settle this like gorillas. The strongest and most powerful is the leader. Beast Boy saying its the law of the jungle. The others seem fine with this. Even though this isn't the jungle and only one of them is currently a gorilla. 

Spoiler Alert: Beast Boy Wins

And the other Titans are just OK with Beast Boy being their new leader even though they know how much of an incompetent jerk off he his. They claim that since its the law of the jungle they have to follow it.

You don't live in the jungle though! Why are you being so stupid?

I know it's a joke but guess what it isn't funny it's dumb. By the way a lot of the jokes in this show are like this one. 

So what awesome super hero adventures does Beast Boy have planned for them. 

Protecting the monkey bars because according to Beast Boy it's a Gorilla's natural habitat. 

Ah yes I remember my playground days where the big fricking gorillas were just chilling out by the monkey bars.

A little girl then suddenly appears.

Beast Boy then tells the others to get into battle formation.

Ha ha it's funny cause they were about to attack a little girl........wait a minute. 

Seriously Jesus man. 

Why are the others even listening Beast Boy. It's baffling to me how in some episodes they don't listen to Robin when he tells them to do their basic job of fighting bad guys but when Beast Boy tells them to threaten a little girl they're all fine with it. 

Why are they following this idiot. No one even calls him out on how dumb this is (well besides Robin.) Not even Raven who's mainly used to call the others out on their stupidity. 

The next mission is to fight some crocodiles.

Because I guess gorillas and crocs are natural born enemies.

Gorilla Vs. Crocodile. Now that would actually be pretty cool. Oh and while the Titans are fighting these crocodiles Beast Boy is just sits back and does nothing. Assuring me that he's doing this just to be a douche. Listen you wanna give Robin a taste of his own medicine then fine. But making another character an unlikable jerk is not funny. 

The last mission he has is to free a bunch of Gorillas from the Zoo.

They're all bright purple......for some reason. 

And since when did zoos get so many gorillas. At most they have like 2 or 3.

So anyway Robin tells Beast Boy the truth that this is absolutely stupid and Beast Boy decided he's had enough of him so hangs him on a nearby hook.

Cyborg comes by though and tells Robin that he needs to regain his leadership and that he got soft and offers to help him. 

When Robin asks why Cyborg says he hates bananas. Oh but he doesn't just say it he yells it in a failed attempt to be zany. 

Back at the tower we see Beast Boy has turned the place into a jungle. 

And then Raven and Starfire start acting like gorillas......for some reason. Why. This makes no sense what so ever. If it was funny I'd let it slide on the rule of funny but this.......this is dumb. This isn't funny. It's not even stupidly hilarious. 

 

In fact this isn't just dumb.

This is.......this is......this is....

Exactly. Why.....why are they suddenly acting like gorillas. That's like saying that being around your dog for too long will make you start peeing of fire hydrants and barking at the mailman. 

Anyway they get a call and all go ape-s**t (pun fully intended)

It's still stupid. 

Back at the zoo we see Robin trying to get tough again. It pretty much amounts to him getting mauled by zoo animals.

In fact let me sum up the jokes for you. 

It's funny cause a tiger mauled him. 

It's funny cause an elephant's eating him. 

Anyway at the snake pit Robin decides he's not taking anymore of this crap and tells Cyborg he's done. Cyborg telling him he still has a lot to learn but Robin retorts saying he decides how much he has left to learn and proceeds to flip Cyborg in the snake bit.

It's funny cause snakes bit him potentially poisoning him. L.O.L.

Well we only have like what not even 5 minutes remaining. Let's do this. 

So Robin goes back to the Tower to fight Beast Boy and take his leadership back. 

Luckily for him fighting a gorilla isn't that hard.

So Robin wins and Beast Boy gets out of the gorilla form. 

Starfire tells Robin that he is a much better leader than Beast Boy.

THEN WHY IN THE NAME OF HOLY MATRIMONY WERE YOU LISTENING TO HIM. 

You didn't have to. You could've said that you weren't going to. You didn't have to follow jungle laws. 

This joke is just so agonizingly dumb. 

And the episode ends with them getting another call and everybody going crazy once again.

Cause I guess that joke was just so funny the first time. 

(It wasn't) 

Also look at these guy's facial expressions

Cyborg seriously looks like he's seen some creepy crap. 

Meanwhile Raven is just fricking rocking out.

Either way I'm done. This episode sucks.

It's not utter garbage bad heck the episode itself isn't even Pig Goat Banana Cricket bad. But it's still mostly unfunny and Beast Boy is an annoying douche nozzle. 

It tries way to hard to be wacky and zany but comes of as dumb and dull instead. 

So yeah not the worst but not good enough to pass my scoring system. 

Luckily for us then are much worse and more interesting episode to talk about in the future.

Best Part-The one scene where Robin just gives up when Beast Boy won't listen to him.

Worst Part-Beast Boy himself or the stupid gag of the Titans acting like dang apes.

Overall Score-4.5/10

So that was Gorilla. Yay. 

Trust me there's worse that this show has to offer. 

I guess that's that then. 

So that was our first episode in the double digits. Amazing how far we've come. 

That's also the end of chapter 2 for season 1 of the show. 2 chapters down 3 to go until the season's over. 

So cheers to us getting to the double digits and ending off chapter 2. And cheers for us eventually getting to the triple digits with more chapters to come. 

Well see you guy's...............wait.

Another note. *gasp* it could be from my secret admirer. Ohhhhhhhh!!!!!!

What the heck kind of handwriting is this?

It's like a weird mix of cursive and print. 

Dear Evan, Hello there it's your secret admirer. Sorry I couldn't tell you who I was before, I just wanna make sure I could trust you. Make sure you're as nice as you seem on your blog. So tomorrow at around 8 come onto the blog and we can chat. Until then, your secret admirer =)

Hoooo boy. Tomorrow at 8. Man. I can do this. Just gotta remain calm. 

You seem a bit nervous there.

You read the letter, didn't you. I'm meeting my secret admirer on the blog tomorrow.

How come so many people have access to your blog. You might want to fix that.

Uhhhh.......that's a good point. Hmmmm. Whatever though she's coming on tomorrow. I better tidy this place up.

You're gonna tidy up......a blog.

Another valid point. Another valid point.

Listen I know you're nervous but just be yourself and everything will be fine. 

Easy for you to say. You should know how hard it is for me to be myself around other people. 

Yes I do know. But you're gonna have to get over your shyness someday. Of course I guess I shouldn't expect it to happen instantly tomorrow. 

You know if you do need help I am a bit of a ladies man myself.

Kevin.......you're a ghost.

Angel actually, but either way when I was alive I was a bit of what you would call a player. 

Sure you keep telling yourself that. 

It's true.

Uh-huh I believe you.

........

You know I think I'm just gonna leave now. 

OK well see you. 

Peace. 

To be continued in the next blog post.

Next Animated Critic-Every Man's Dream (The Simpsons)

Next Anime Critic-Madona Magica Episode 1-2

Next Evan Vs. Disney-Pinocchio

Other future reviews

On the Run (Steven Universe)

Driven to Tears (Spongebob)

Beauty and the Obese (Stripperella)

Soul Eater Episode 3 (For Anime Critic)

             

How in the name of heck has this show lasted for over 100 episodes?

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs-Evan Vs. Disney #1

Movie Title-Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Release Date-December 21st 1937 (at the Carthay Circle Theatre)

February 4th 1938 (Nationwide US release) 

Walt's role during production-Producer 

Budget-$1,488,429

Box Office-$418.2 million

Welcome to the first episode of Evan Vs. Disney. Where I go watch and review every single film in the Disney animated canon. 

What....you say this sounds like I stole it from another blog.

Horseradish. 

OK I will admit when I released the introduction to this show I had no idea about Unshaved Mouse. I only recently discovered the blog and it's a blast. I recommend it. 

I still wanna do this though even if other people have done it as I have my own thoughts and feelings about each movie and I'm gonna share them. 

I'm going in order so that means we're starting out with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Walt's first movie. 

But before the review it's history time. 

Yay.

This was the very first full length cel animated movie in history. 

As such there was a lot of trouble. Both his brother and his wife told Walt to just give up on the idea of a full motion animated picture. Walt was determined though. 

In fact he was so determined that he was willing to mortgage his own house to cover financial cost. 

Before movies Disney worked on theatrical shorts. Their biggest series of theatrical shorts was called Silly Symphonies. Named very similarly to Loony Tunes and Merrie Melodies. 

However both series of theatrical shorts were very different. 

However that's not what this blog post is about. It's about this movie. Walt wanted to expand his company to the realm of films and it all goes downhill from there. 

It was originally thought the movie could be covered with a budget of $250,000 which was 10 times the  budget of a Silly Symphony. However the budget got much higher than that. As seen above the budget was over 1 million dollars. 

The production began in 1934 and was officially announced to the New York Times as the first movie under the name Walt Disney Productions in June of the same year.  

A lot of people in the film industry thought this movie was gonna fail apparently, but it ended up as a success. 

And that's where it all begins. The beginning of the Dinsey Animated Canon. 

And as such is also the first movie in the first era of the Disney canon. The Disney Classic Animated Films Era. 

So is this movie that good. Was it a good first entry to the canon. 

Well lets get to the review and find out. 

So what's the plot. There's an evil queen that is immensely jealous of her daughter's beauty and fairness. So she puts her to work as a maid. The queen asks her magic mirror everyday who the fairest in the land is. As long as the mirror says she's the fairest of them all Snow White is safe. But one day the mirror says Snow White is the fairest as such the queen sends a huntsman to kill her. The huntsman can't bring himself to do it so he tells her to run away. She eventually stumbles upon a little cottage that happens to belong to seven dwarfs. Snow White says in exchange for letting her live there she'll take care of the house and cook. She pretty much starts acting like a mother towards these guys. Anyway after the evil queen finds out she's still alive she decides to handle matters herself. She disguises as an old lady and gives Snow White a poison apple. 

Now let's be honest with ourselves here. 

If this face 

just suddenly looked into your window and offered you an apple would you take it. 

I hope the answer was no. 

To be fair though she does really play up the whole 'sweet innocent old lady' act. 

Anyway you know how the story goes. She eats the apple falls into an eternal sleep and at the end her prince comes to wake her up with true loves kiss. 

So how does Walt's first film hold up.

Surprisingly well actually. When I came into this I thought I would find it to be OK just bland. But that was not the case. I actually really enjoyed this film.

First let's talk about the animation. It's fantastic. It's beautiful and colorful and looks 10 times better than a lot of films that actually come out today. I have kind of a soft spot for hand drawn animation I guess. 

Even without my bias it's still great. This was the 30s and this movie was completely hand drawn. I know it's time consuming to do hand drawn animation which is why most people use flash or do CG animation, but I would love it if they was more hand drawn stuff out there. 

Don Bluth is trying to get funding for a hand drawn Dragon Lairs movie so maybe.....

Sorry back to the movie.

The characters were also great as well. I really like the character of Snow White. She's always so happy and tries to make the best of every situation. She's also just a lot of fun to watch. I love the relationship she forms with the dwarfs as well. She kinda acts like a mother to them but she and the dwarfs still have a lot of fun together. 

The dwarfs by themselves are also a lot of fun. By the way my personal favorite is Dopey. I mean how can you not love him. He's just so fun and hilarious. Grumpy is also pretty cool. He gets the short end of the stick a lot but it works as he kinda deserves it. I mean he can be pretty rude sometimes but he's still all around a likeable character. 

Speaking of which this is a really cartoony movie. Like it has a lot of cartoony gags like the ones you'd see in the Disney Theatrical Shorts. It's a lot more cartoony than a lot of the other Disney Canon films. I don't mind though. I actually really like a lot of the gags. I don't remember laughing as much as I did now compared to when I watched this a long time ago as a kid. By the way before coming to watch the movie for this review I only saw it once. I guess it must've not been my cup of tea back then but now, upon rewatching it, it's probably up there with some of my favorite Disney movies of all time. Not just the ones from the canon but all Disney films. (Yes even Marvel and Star Wars.)

It's definitely in my top 10 but if I'm gonna be honest I haven't seen all the Disney movies. I haven't even seen all the ones in the animated canon and there are a big handful I hadn't seen in so many years so my opinion more than likely well change. 

Another point I have to give to the movie is how emotional it got when the dwarfs thought Snow White had died. I was literally about to cry. It was a really sad scene and just so I don't ruin the emotional impact for those of you who might not of seen the film I won't say much else about the scene. Let's just say you can tell the Dwarfs really care for her and Snow White also seemed to really start taking a liking to them as well. The bond they share is just fantastic.

There's really not much to this film. It's mostly about the relationship Snow White develops with the Dwarfs. It's a fun movie and highly enjoyable, but that doesn't mean there isn't things to complain about. 

I kinda don't like the evil queen. She just seems pretty generic. She's not completely bad and heck she is intimidating. I mean things got really tense in that scene where she was about to put Snow White in her eternal sleep while the dwarfs were rushing to save her. Speaking of which why did she put Snow White in an eternal sleep instead of just......I don't know....tainting he apple with actual poison. 

I mean if she's still alive wouldn't she still technically be the fairest in the land. Why not just kill her. I know I should look past things like this but my suspension of disbelief only stretches so far. In fact that whole scene is pretty dumb. Why would Snow White trust this strange lady who looks like a Witch especially after the Dwarfs told her to be careful of strangers. I guess you can defend it by saying that the queen played up the old innocent lady act and Snow White just doesn't have it in her to judge people like that. So yeah I kind of agree with those two points but at the same time she should've been a little more cautious. She just kinda came of as a bit dumb to be honest with you. But yeah the queen is kinda bland. But not as bland as the prince. I mean we don't see much of him (he only gets like two scenes) so I can overlook it but I feel it would've been a little better to develop the relationship between Snow White and Him. 

I do like how Grumpy and Snow White form a bond despite Grumpy initially not liking her but the development was a bit rushed in my opinion. I still enjoyed it overall though so you may consider that just a nitpick. 

Overall I really like this film. It has faults but generally it's very fun and energetic with great characters, songs, and animation. It was also surprisingly emotional. I enjoyed it immensely and it was a decent surprise. I highly recommend it. 

Overall Score-9/10

I'm also gonna make a list to keep track of the best films in the canon as I review them and my favorite Disney princesses from it as well. 

Films in the Canon from best to worst:

1-Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs (Considering this is the only one so far this shouldn't be a surprise) (9/10)

Disney Animated Canon Princesses from best to worst.

1-Snow White (again no surprise) 

Well that's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. 1 down 53 to go. See you guys later.

Peace. 

Next Evan Vs. Disney-Pinocchio

Next Animated Critic-Gorilla (Teen Titans Go)

Next Anime Critic-Madoka Magica Episodes 1 and 2

Also am I the only one who finds this message from Walt at the beginning really Heartwarming.

Anime Recommendations-Anime Critic #1

Anime is something I don't get to share my love for very often. But I love anime and want to do better at talking about it more as it is also animation and has a very big influence on the history of animation. It's also had a big impact on my life. In fact there was a good few years in my life where I would only watch anime. I want to share my love for it more. So welcome to Anime Critic. It's pretty much the Animated Critic just for anime. I'm going to be doing reviews of individual episodes, and sometimes full series reviews. The thing is I had no idea where to start so I decided I'd give you a few anime that I feel you should watch. That way you can get a feel for my taste of anime and you can discover a new anime if you haven't heard of any of these. This isn't a list of my all time favorite anime but just a few I feel you should watch if you haven't yet and are hankering for a good show or movie. So let's get going.This list is in no particular order by the way. 

And if your favorite anime isn't on here that does not mean I hate it or I feel you shouldn't watch it. It just didn't get on the list for whatever reason. 

So let's get going now. 

#1-Akira

 I'm starting with Akira as its one of the anime that made anime the powerhouse it is today. It was this movie that made western audiences look at anime in a whole new light. It's a very big part of anime history. Even if it doesn't seem like something you'd like I'd still give it a chance because of how much of an influence it is. That and it's just a good movie. It's a kinda complex story but it's easy to follow along and it's just so compelling. The characters are well developed and have great personalities. This is definitely one you need to see, or atleast give a chance. 

#2-Trigun

Heck yeah, I love this show. It's another one that helped make anime as popular as it is now. In fact it was actually more popular here in the west than it was in Japan. The story follows Vash the Stampede one of the most wanted criminals in the world of Trigun. He meets two girls who see that he's not that bad. He's a big goof ball. There's a whole mystery centered around Vash about his origins and just why he's a wanted criminal. It makes him a very compelling character. That and he's just a lot of fun, but he also has a lot of depth.  Same with the other characters. It also brings up a lot of deep stuff about life but I'm not going to tell you what exactly as I'm trying not to spoil anything. I will tell you when you do find out about Vash's past it may seem a bit like it's coming out of now where and that may alienate you, but besides that it's still a good show with a great deep story and awesome characters to boot.

#3-Fullmetal Alchemist and Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood.

There are many arguments about which show is better but personally I feel both go together as one. The original one released in 2003 and starts off following the Manga but since the manga wasn't finished at the time it starts telling it's own seperate story around the middle.
As for brotherhood it follows the manga's story line.
Both shows follow the Elric brothers two aspiring alchemist that try to bring their mother back to life  after she dies. Unfortunately as the iconic opening states human kind can not get anything without giving something up of equal value. What could equal the value of a human life though? Ed ends up losing both his arm and leg while Al loses his entire body, his soul being kept in a suit of armor.
The two go on a quest to find the philosophers stone ,which can bypass any alchemy law, in the hopes that they can get their bodies back to normal.
They both start of the same way (brotherhood skips a plot or two, like for example there's a train hostage situation in the manga and original anime but not here.)
Brotherhood goes a little fast in the beginning as they already went over these plot details in the original. So it may feel a little awkwardly paced for some but that's really no biggie. It's still a good story and the middle and end sections are just oh my god fantastic. As for the original it's paced fine throughout the whole thing. If you watch brotherhood first though the beginning segment might seem really slow to you. But I watched the original anime first. Even if you are adement about anime following the manga's storyline you should still check it out as the new story they create is still fascinating and fits in with the tone of the segments that do follow the manga.
To be honest this is one of the few anime I can watch over and over and still get hooked on. I can just watch any episode at random.
I love this show so so so much.
A great deep story, excellent colorful characters, and it showed me the real value of a human life.

#4-The Hayao Miyazaki Films

Hayao Miyazaki is an amazing director. The entire Studio Ghibli line up is good but I especially recommend Miyazaki's work. He's one of the biggest names in anime. Heck he's one of the biggest names in the animation industry in general. The characters he makes, the atmosphere, the worlds he's created, the stories. It's all fantastic and they are up there with some of my favorite movies of all time both anime and non anime.

Some of his works include Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke, Howl's Moving Castle (one instance where I feel the movie is better than the book), Kiki's Delivery Service, Ponyo, Nausicaa, and Castle in the Sky. 

Unfortunately he his retired but his works will go down in history as some of the greatest pieces of animation of all time.

#5-Cowboy Bebop

This is considered the anime that got the rock rolling. The one that made people's head turn and see how great anime can be.

What can I say that hasn't already been said. The characters, the stories they are all amazing. It's also just a generally really fun show. It's more episodic than most anime but that doesn't matter. I recommend you give it a try. 

#6-Blood Lad 

This anime I feel is extremely underrated. Probably as it aired during the same time as Attack on Titan (which I also recommend). The story follows Staz, an otaku vampire, that meets a human girl. The Girl soon dies and Staz promises to bring her back to life. 

It's not a perfect anime but it is a lot of fun . Staz is such an amazing character. He's just so awesome and a lot of fun to watch. I also really like his development. The other characters are fun as well. It's one of the few anime I actually watched as it was still airing (I usually wait till it ends it's original run before watching it as I have a tendency to want to binge watch anime). 

It's only 10 episodes plus and OVA so it won't take much time at all. 

It does end on a cliffhanger and a pretty bad one at that and as of right now a second season has not been announced but the people who have watched it are really hoping for a new season. And I'm right there with them. 

#7-Madoka Magica

I love this anime. The sad thing is I only watched it a couple of months ago. I know shame on me. I should've watched this way sooner. The characters, the storyline, the topics it delves into. I love it all. It's kinda like Neon Genesis Evangelion as its a complete deconstruction of an already well established anime genre, the magical girl genre. As I said earlier I plan to do full series, individual episode recaps. This is going be the first show I do that with so I don't wanna talk to much about for fear of repeating myself later on. But if you haven't yet I highly recommend this anime.

#8-Death Note 

I don't even know where to begin with this show. The show follows Light Yagami as he stumbles upon a notebook that can be used to kill anyone he pleases. He decided to use it for criminals. 

It's a very tense anime with great, interesting, colorful, and deep characters. 

It also delves into topics like what would you do with an all powerful notebook that can kill anyone. Is Light right for killing criminals.

It's a deep anime with a focus on black and white morality. It's a fun watch and I highly recommend it.

#9-Clannad/Clannad After Story

Man is this anime sad. Like really sad. Like I've never had any other piece of media make me sadder. Even when I think about the happy moments in this anime I still get depressed. 

The thing that makes this anime so sad is that there are happy moments in there that give you time to get attached to the characters and then BOOM your in the corner with a box of tissues crying your eyes out. 

The characters and the relationships they share are just so well made. You just can't help but get invested into the show. It makes the sad moments just that much sadder. 

I love these two anime. I really do. I've never had anything make me so emotional. 

This anime was made by a company known as key. They are known for making really sad anime like this but personally Clannad is my personal favorite. Their other ones are good to though. 

#10-Rainbow: Nisha Rokubō no Shichinin

Man what a long name. To make things easy let's just call it Rainbow. 

This is probably the most underrated anime I've seen. It follows a group of guys who are all placed in the same jail cell and and have to deal with things like officers constantly harassing them and other jail mates wanting to fight. 

You really get attached to these characters and the relationship they share and along the way you learn their tragic back stories. 

I have to warn you this anime is not afraid to get gruesome so be warned. 

But it's still a heart tugging anime that definetly deserves more attention. 

Oh yeah the opening theme is also awesome as all heck.

And that was the first episodes of Anime Crtiic. I hope to do this at least once or twice a month. 

Hope you enjoyed this episode and if you haven't seen any of these anime then I hope you check them out. You won't be dissapointed. 

Thank you for reading. See you guys later.

Peace.

Next Anime Critic-Madoka Magica episode 1

Next Animated Critic-Gorilla (Teen Titans Go)

Next Quick Thoughts-???

 The first episode of Evan Vs. Disney well also premiere this month with a review over Snow White

Other Future Reviews

Every Man's Dream (The Simpsons) (Animated Critic)

Soul Eater episode 3 (Anime Critic)

The Legend of the Titanic (Animated Critic) 

Powerpuff Girls Z (Anime Critic)

Any other anime you feel I should review? Let me know. 

Joking Victim (Steven Universe)-Animated Critic Valentine's Special

Show-Steven Universe

Episode Title-Joking Victim

Air Date-August 28th 2014

Season 1

Episode 21

Happy Valentine's Day everyone.

If you have a romantic partner hope you're enjoying this special day with them.

As for all of you who don't have one.....

Welcome to the club, welcome to the club. 

I digress though, today I am spending time with the one I love.

Good old Steven Universe.

What......oh you thought I was talking about a girlfriend. 

Please I'm a 16 year old, socially awkward nerd who spends his time reviewing shows made for little kids on the internet.

Yeah, it's not gonna happen with me for some time.

But luckily that means I'm free on Valentine's Day to review a romance episode. 

One of the more common ships you will see in the Steven Universe fandom is Sadie and Lars. I can see why as the writers are constantly teasing it. 

Today I decided to look over an episode focusing on their relationship. So let's waste no more time and dive right into Joking Victim.

The episode starts with Amethyst offering Steven some 'special fries.' 

Now kids if any stranger offers you anything that's supposedly special, kick them and run. 

But it's Amethyst so she can be trusted. Right? So Steven takes some fries. 

Yeah, should've kicked her. 

Apparently they are covered in Fire Salt. Steven runs into the Big Donut to cool his mouth and causes a mess.

This also causes Lars to slip and fall over. 

But who cares, I mean look at all that slushie they just wasted. 

Lars says he's in pain, but they make it very obvious he's lying and manipulating Sadie. Makes you wanna punch him in the face. 

I should probably talk a bit about Sadie. In my third Quick Thoughts episode ,which was over Sadie's Song,  I mentioned how Sadie just didn't work in the spotlight. 

I still stand by that. She did not work in the spotlight in that episode but then I re-watched this one and I thought she worked really well here. You'll see why later. 

Lars takes the day off but Steven comes over to help Sadie.

Uh....Steven I think your supposed to actually rub the mess with the napkins not just leave them there. 

Seriously he comes up and plops those napkins on the ground like "Don't worry guys I got this."

Steven says he'll be happy to help Sadie out as they have provided him with tasty donuts for years and he feels he should give back to them. 

He first has to get a tour of the storage room. 

Steven finds out that they don't make the donuts there. 

Not since the incident anyway.

Well, that's dark. 

It's actually a pretty funny joke though.
So Steven has to watch a video before he can officially begin working. Have you ever been in a class room and the teacher played an extremely cheesy educational film from like the 80s.
That's kinda what this is like.

It also stars Mr. Smiley who was once a famous R&B artist. Wouldn't it cost a lot of money to get a music artist in your video. Seems like a lot of money to spend on a video that only employees of the shop would see. I don't know maybe they bribed him with a donut. 

This video does seem a lot like one of those educational videos from the 80s that tries to teach you things and does a semi good job at it but also tries to be hip and is laughably bad at it. It does a great job of recreating those types of videos. It's really funny.

It's an overly long gag but this one works as we see Sadie get more bored as the video just plays on and on and Steven is just sitting there so happy.

So after the video Steven is now hired.

Welcome to the club, Welcome to the club.

Welcome Steven, Welcome Steven, Welcome Steven.......

Anyway after some work Steven and Sadie have a talk with Steven saying they should fire Lars and replace him with Steven. 

Sadie says she doesn't want to do that. 

She admits Lars has flaws and can be rude to her at times but she also says that she always thought he was a nice guy and recounts a story. Apparently Lars really wanted a new game but was banned from the game store (man my life would end if that happened to me). Apparently ordering it online is not an option......for some reason. Hey, whatever, cartoon logic. I'm not holding anything against this episode. 

So Sadie waited in line all night to get the game for him and when she got to his house he cleaned up the room a little and they spent the entire night together playing the game. 

Oh and they may or may not of had sex so.......

I'm not kidding. They imply they had sex. And no this isn't my mind being dirty that's what they were trying to imply. 

Trust me I've stumbled upon some Rule 34 fan art of Steven Universe once and it has traumatized me *shudders* so I don't want to think about it anymore than you do.

Anyway Sadie says that Lars let her be his player 2 and after that day Sadie has always thought of him as a nice guy. 

A jerk with a heart of gold if you will. 

So Steven comes up with the great idea to go see Lars and give him something. They grab some donuts and head to Lars' house. 

Nobody answers the door so they go around back and see Lars was lying about his back injuries. 

He's hanging with the cool kids. 

And there's even a lady there. 

Ah, that awkward teen crushing phase. It's cool Lars we've all been there. 

Sadie is devastated that Lars lied to her and she runs of crying and since this is Steven Universe this is a very emotional scene. 

Sadie goes on about how this isn't the first time Lars has manipulated her and that she feels like a fool. 

I myself can personally relate to this. You meet someone who seems pretty nice at first and then they do something cruel to you. You keep hanging with them though, for whatever reason. They do something cruel again. The cycle continues over and over and over. 

It's happened to me and I'm sure it's happened to many others as well. 

I have a bit an embarrassing story to tell. If you don't care to here it then skip to the next paragraph.

It was my 6th grade year and I moved to a new school. There was this kid who I won't give the name of. He became my first friend there. I like having friends, though I am awful with talking to people so you know being put in a situation like a new school is kinda freaky. He seemed like a decent guy at first but then I saw his true colors. He was a douche to everyone, a major pervert (I mean everyone has there perverted side but his was always in full force) and he treated all of his friends like crap. Yes that includes me. I had some fun times with him but he was still just overall not very nice. It got to the point where everyone, even the teachers, thought I was being bullied by him. And I was. He didn't make me feel good he was always bringing me down. Whenever I swore not to be friends with him again he made me feel bad about leaving him and I always thought he changed but he never did. I have no idea how many times this happened. 

It's kinda embarrassing actually. All these people, my teacher and my peers, we're trying to help me out but I always kept crawling back. I was being foolish. He didn't even feel bad about anything he did. He always came up with the lamest excuses to defend his completely wrong actions. Saying we were the ones in the wrong. 

I remember clearly during those moments where he made me feel low wishing I was back at my old school with my old friends who always made me feel good. 

And that's my story. It's pretty embarrassing. I told you that so you can see why I can really relate to Sadie on a personal level here. The emotions she felt are pretty close to the ones I felt. 

I felt sad that i let myself be fooled. I felt embarrassed I was manipulated so easily. 

Let me tell you. People don't usually change that easily. If they hurt you purposefully don't give them another chance. Sure in some cases they do change but make them prove it to you before you accept them back into your life because you don't need to take that crap. You shouldn't have people stepping on you like stairs and manipulating you. Leave them and find some new friends. It may be hard if your anything like me but you'll find someone. 

Just get them out of your life. ASAP. 

Well that was a downer moment there for a brief second. Is it just me or are these post getting more serious. 

I mean in terms of the reviews the last 2 episodes of the Animated Critic talked about stuff like the beauty of life and how to handle things you don't completely understand. Pretty serious stuff. Don't worry the next one will be way more happy. Well as happy as reviewing an awful Teen Titans Go episode can be. 

So yeah Sadie is pretty devastated. Steven says he has an idea. So he runs home. 

The next day he comes in with the fire salt and says they should prank Lars with it. Sadie ask what good it would do to stoop down to his level. It's actually kinda heartwarming in a weird way to see Steven wanna get back at someone who hurt a friend of his. 

Lars then comes in completely overexagerating his 'pain.'

Just makes you wanna punch him right in his square head doesn't it. 

This insults Sadie so she proceeds to dump the entire Vat of Fire Salt on a donut.

Much to Steven's enjoyment. 

Man I love Steven's excited, cheerful expressions. Just look at those eyes man. How can you not love that face. 

Sadie gives the donut to Lars saying 'careful it's hot.' 

This leads to a funny scene where Steven tries to hold back his laughter before Lars eats the donut. 

This kinda reminds me of a scene in the Spongebob episode Fools In April. 

I'm sorry I had to. 

OK no I didn't but I did anyway.

Anyway Lars eats the donut and Steven burst out laughing. The donut causes Lars to......breath fire uncontrollably. 

That. Is. So............Awesome. 

I mean it this scene is cool. It's also pretty funny as Lars kinda deserves it. You might say that this punishment taken to far as having fire spewing out of you probably burns. But I feel it works as Lars did something to deserve it and it's shown in an extremely cartooney way. 

As a side note I'm currently listening to Burn by Ellie Goulding as I'm typing this. 

Any way they try to give him something to drink but Lars just burns the cup. 

I love this scene so much, it's just so funny. 

So Lars leaves the big donut. I kinda wonder what's going on through his mind as he has fire spewing from his mouth. 

Sadie and Steven make chase. 

Luckily its very easy to follow Lars.

Holy Crap, now Fire Meets Gasoline by Sia is playing. I'm not even joking all these fire related songs keep popping up on Pandora as I'm typing this. 

So they follow him putting out all of Lars' Fires as they go. 

Lars then proceeds to melt the biggest bowl of Ice Cream. 

OK once you see the ice-cream you can see the joke coming from a mile away. But it's still a little funny as the mayor has a funny line after it melts. 

Are you kidding now Pompeii by Bastille is playing. I know the song itself isn't directly fire related but it's called Pompeii and a volcanic eruption destroyed the city so I'm counting it. 

So anyway Steven and Sadie finally catch up to Lars. They also see Amethyst who tells Steven he's only supposed to use a little bit of the fire salt. Whoops. Amethyst still says it's hilarious though. 

Ah.......Amethyst. 

Sadie finally confronts Lars. She ask if calling her Player 2 was just his way of saying she could've been any girl and calls him out for all that other crap he's done. 

She also tells him how she always thought he was a nice guy. This doesn't make Lars feel good. He also begins choking on the donut. 

This leads to a really epic scene that apparently got censored in most foreign countries for some reason. 

Steven runs to Lars while singing the song on the video tape from earlier and does the Heimlich Maneuver on him, getting the flaming donut out. 

Sadie tells Lars she's not apologizing and Lars says he doesn't expect her to. He just wants to help. You can tell Lars feels genuinely sorry about hurting Sadie and you can tell he's developed. 

Sadie and Lars make up and the episode ends very happily. 

This episode was great. I really enjoyed it. The jokes work and so do the emotional moments. 

I may of said Sadie didn't work in the spotlight for Sadie's Song but here she really does work as I can really relate to her and empathize with her. The other characters are also great as always.

I really like this episode.

Best Part-Sadie's emotional scene after discovering Lars lied. 

Worst Part-The predictable Ice cream joke. It's still funny though. 

Overall-8.5/10

So happy Valentine's Day everybody. Hope you are enjoying it and hoped you enjoyed this special episode. 

Hmm.....it looks like I got a message.

Uh...last time I checked your supposed to send stuff like this through the mail. 

Oh who am I kidding. I'm not complaining. I love getting messages. 

I pixel you to be mine. 

Ugh, what an awful pun. Wait does this mean I have.......a secret admirer. Ohhhh!

Happy Valentine's to me. 

I Wonder what's inside. 

A nifty little game controller eraser. Sweet.

 

And a card. She thinks I'm copper and tellurium. Interesting way to express Valentine's love. 

Oh, cute. Ha that's funny. 

There's nothing else here. Weird, there's not even a name on here. 

I wish I knew who this person was. 

Dang it, guess I'll have to wait to find out. 

I appreciate the gesture nonetheless though. It really does make me happy considering all this crap currently going on.

I guess that ends today's special episode. 

Hope you've had a great Valentine's and I'll see you all later. 

Peace.

Next Animated Critic-Gorilla (Teen Titans Go)

Anime Critic will start this month as well as Evan Vs. Disney and Animated Critic the Show.