Cake and Regrets

Well, I've unsubscribed from Channel Awesome. Time's up, Walkers. Keeping your heads down, while from a legal standpoint isn't a bad choice, is insulting and disappointing. You suck.

The roll cake episode of Clear Card was pretty enjoyable the first time I saw it. Then the dubbed version came out this week. I liked the scene with Rika; I think her English voice suits the character (although having a lot of female characters with high-pitched voices annoys me). I don't understand what "appear" has to do with it since they already have a card that animates objects. Tomoyo blocking Sakura from sight in the corner so she could summon snooze was cool. Since this is an anime, people aren't going to be suspicious that they all fell asleep and the roll cakes were gone - they will continue to be oblivious/shrug and move on. Unless Kaito turns out to be a third split incarnation of Clow Reed, this is the first time Sakura is facing an actual threat rather than a test. Or he's just using her because something's going on with Akiho and her book. Maybe she's running out of magic/energy like Yuki was. Maybe her parents don't actually exist like Yuki's grandparents.

Hershey's Flavors of America - this time, instead of strawberry flavored Kit Kats, it's chocolate-covered strawberry flavored Kit Kats, which is all I ever wanted. It's like the Japanese apple-flavored ones only better because it's regular size too. I also got the New York Cheesecake Cookies and Cream bar, but that wasn't great. Real New York cheesecake is, though. The strawberry cheesecake Kit Kats from Japan were better anyway.

I missed opportunity in my lightning round video involves Ryan. I should've given the "they only bring disease and famine" quote to one of Ered's dads in regards to the platypus. Then I could've had Andersmith say "Enjoy Super-Guantanamo." I also regret that nothing Jensen said was all that funny, so I probably could've skipped giving anything to Orf or given her something from another one of Barbara's characters. Cosmo wasn't all that funny either but I wanted to include her too. I broke my rule and gave Taiyang two, one from Church and one from Burnie. And I suppose I could've given Tabii one of Nora's quotes like "I'm queen of the castle!" I haven't decided if I'm making a second lightning round video yet, but I wouldn't count on it.

I've had to watch most of this season's Survivor because whoever was posting the recaps to the CBS web site stopped after March 7. At first I thought it was on hiatus for March Madness, but nope! I'm glad that Wendell won out of the three of them, but I'm disappointed that Angela doesn't have a Ponderosa video. It's PonderOsa, not PonderosA.

No Redemption

Digimon Tri is finally over (?) with its last set of episodes, "Our Future." I added the question mark because the entity shapeshifting between Gennai and Digimon Emperor is still plotting things (unless that was supposed to be a joke). Unless he is Yggdrasil in disguise (and speaking about himself in the third person), he was never dealt with. He instead grew more insane. As for the characters from Zero Two, they were only shown in silhouette and were said to have recovered. I have no idea what happened to their Digimon, since we saw Paildramon under control of the not-Digimon Emperor and then never again. I really hope this isn't a sequel beg because I don't believe it deserves one. I feel bad that Derek Stephen Prince is being left out of this one too since both real Ken and real Veemon don't feature.

The Teen Titans Go movie has Will Arnett voicing Slade. While I'm unsure if Ron Pearlman was available or asked, it's weird to hear a Deathstroke that sounds like Bojack Horseman (not even Lego Batman - all I heard was Bojack). That and maybe the movie producer being Slade's sister Jade Wilson with the same hair color as Rose has me perplexed. Surely someone who reads comics would know if Jade exists or if they invented her for this. Or it could be nothing.

So I found out from a WatchMojo video that Chris Bores rebooted his show. I watched the handful of videos at the time this was written and I only really liked the Deadly Towers review. The rest seemed too tame and boring, which is why I didn't watch his tech reviews. Then I went back and saw his Archfiend Response video from a few years ago and looked at the comments. This is just as much drama as Channel Awesome with cliques and factions. Some say Chris is lying, some think the Nerd has become a horrible person. I don't know what to believe. Similarly, the comments on current Nostalgia Critic episodes are demanding answers or demanding that people shut up about wanting answers. Have Doug and James gone Hollywood? Is Chris just a hack? It's funny what'll blow over and what won't.

Do You Believe?

I've been thinking more about the fact that people have powers in Kingdom Hearts not just as Nobodies but as complete people. Braig is undeniably already using his space powers, but the sixth sense shown by Ienzo could be written off as an artistic choice just like Even saying to Ventus that they'd meet again. However, given what we know about the nature of their experiments, Even probably intended on kidnapping Ven later, only Ven doesn't live in Radiant Garden. As for Ienzo, he probably did have the power to smell darkness and sense presences. Thus, his role in the experiments (in addition to requesting the lab be built) was probably as lookout since they knew Ansem didn't approve of what they were doing anymore. It's a job he continued to have as a Nobody, standing in the corner of a darkened room and sensing the goings-on of Castle Oblivion (except he couldn't sense Diz or Ven). Dilan and Aeleus probably reserved their powers over wind and earth respectively for when they really needed it, when their weapons and strength weren't enough (or else they could cause some collateral damage that way). We know Even hates witches and magic, so it would make sense that he'd barely make use of his ice powers.

I finally got to listen to the Vox Machina version of Hamilton and it was definitely worth listening to all at once. Then I did the same thing with the original soundtrack, and it was like listening to the Weird Al parody of a song before the song itself, which is something I do sometimes. History is depressing, though; D&D is more fun.

Despite Tony Goldmark (SomeJerkWithACamera) mentioning on Twitter that the Walkers lawyering up and Doug's employment status changing to the past tense on Facebook, it appears Channel Awesome still exists with just the Nostalgia Critic crew, who are as of yet unrepentant and never looking back. Michaud must have them by the balls.

The Unexpected

I don't know why people are saying the Persona 5 anime is a waste of time. It had only been three episodes in at the time of these videos' release (Glass Reflection and Mother's Basement). Granted, the Kamoshida Palace took up the first four episodes of a 24-episode run to set things up, but I think it's still way too early and that we should reserve judgment until the end.

"Sakura and Meling's Friend" was the latest stupid title, as well as how it was presented. The Clow Card they compared it to was The Twin Card fought by Melin and Syaoran. The Struggle Card is obviously a recreation of The Fight Card, which was from Meilin's first episode. She fought it by herself only to fail, and Sakura beat it with The Power Card. The Swing Card was also a weird name, as it doesn't really call to mind anything earth-related like The Earthy Card. Kaito slips up and mentions a detail about Sakura's dad that Akiho never told him, so he has to rewind time a little bit to undo his mistake. It's like what Whis does but with a pocket watch and a glyph.

I'm disappointed that Derek Stephen Prince announced that he hadn't been asked to record Even for KH3, which means he's probably still unconscious or doesn't have a speaking role (which also means he might appear during the end credits). Larxene is going to be there, though. It would be cool if the rest of the clip where Marluxia confronts the heroes includes her joining him. Others had signed non-disclosure agreements and can't say if they're in it or not.

I gave in to curiosity and tried Hershey's Gold. It was surprisingly really good, like caramel ice cream with pretzel bits and nuts (things I usually don't like). It's probably better than the caramel pudding Kit Kats because of the stronger caramel taste.

I feel bad that Grif didn't get his pizza. This is what happens when you repeatedly ignore a call to adventure - it blows up your favorite pizza place and forces you to answer.

Indulgence

Halo Top is overrated. It's still good, but it lies. I was willing to let the mint chip slide, even though it wasn't what I was used to. But then came cookies and cream. It was not as advertised. There were no cookies, just cocoa powder splattered on top, and not a lot of it. It's fine for a white chocolate ice cream, but that's not what I was looking for.

It took me three sittings to get through the Vox Machina musical (it's based on Hamilton so it's long). It was great, and I'm going to listen to it again, hopefully all the way through, when I have time. It goes from the fall of Emon to Scanlan leaving the party (with Taryon popping up to kick off the credits). Of the new group, Caleb is my favorite, followed by Nott and Jester. The fan works for that, like the animations and Fire Emblem parodies, are also amazing (people who used to animate for the Vox Machina campaign improved their skills, especially Gee Whiz, who also animates Achievement Hunter).

Thinking back on the last episode and others, AJ probably acts like an overprotective idiot around family because her parents are dead and she doesn't want anything to happen to anyone else. But that's the problem: if you don't let anything happen to the ones you care about, nothing will happen to them, good or bad. The recent MLP episode was almost about divorce, but instead it was literally about living in two worlds (despite the parents living in separate worlds, they didn't act divorced). Scootaloo's behavior also had unfortunate implications, namely that being a sea pony was just like flying, but she said she'd rather be a pony than a bird. She didn't have a "lucky fin" like Nemo, though.

Since Melin is still in the narrative of the Clear Card anime, it's getting hard to tell how much of what she was involved in is filler. For instance, the picnic episode happened in a flashback in the manga, and the Gravitation Card doesn't exist. Anything going on with Akiho's book (what she read about the Mirage Card happening to Alice that actually happened to Sakura) may or may not be canon, just like the viewing party that happened in the most recent episode. The anime is really pushing the Sealed Card movie as canon, even though it can't really fit into the narrative anymore the closer they stick to the manga.

Channel Awesome Update and MLP Review

Rob and Doug have quit and are suing Mike, but I don't know if watching their videos on YouTube will give money to the Walkers or Michaud. Even hearing the theme music in other people's videos talking about the whole debacle makes me sick. Speaking of sick, I took down my JewWario video because now I know why. People either didn't know about it, heard about it but didn't believe it, or knew about it and covered it up. I've been trying to make sense of the clique drama too, but to cover everything would be impossible for one person. From what I could gather, Hope is now Jacob, but the way (s)he broke up with Nash and took advantage of his hospitality wasn't great. But Nash is also an asshole for demanding pizza and beer at a party that didn't have either and then leaving before the people bending over backwards for him could get it for him. And then there was everyone in Lindsay's group concerning GamerGate and their "if you're not with us you're against us" attitude. I don't even know where to start with that, other than the fact that Lindsay's input was dismissed during anniversary specials yet she is dismissive of other people's input as well (though not to the point of causing dehydration/exposure to the elements/etc.). Despite any of their content, there are few reviewers who are actually good people. It's just too bad we had to find out like this. *exasperated sigh* Why couldn't it have just been creative differences among everyone?

I feel like the latest episode of MLP "Grannies Gone Wild" wouldn't have been possible without AppleJack's meddling. If she hadn't given Rainbow Dash all of those overprotective instructions (we know dealing with family makes her stupid - she is a repeat offender and the characters know it). If they had gotten there and Rainbow had said "But AppleJack gave me this list" and then the Golden [Horseshoe] Girls told her to throw away the list and have fun with them/do whatever she wanted, there wouldn't be an episode. Except there still could have been, because it would just be an episode of the Golden Girls. Flim and Flam own the place but don't make an appearance (though their likenesses are everywhere), Rick and Morty ponies wait in line for the roller coaster, and there's a stage magician who may or may not be Trixie's father (or at least a male version of her). It wasn't a waste of an episode, but it did take the wrong approach. I could see it going that way if AJ had gone with them, but Dash didn't even check with Big Mac to see if AJ's rules were legit. But again, it's not an episode if everyone's being stupid.

Down with Awesome

I ordered more Japanese Kit Kats because I couldn't help myself. I wanted to try the caramel pudding ones because Phelous said they were good, and they are. I can't stop the people I live with from eating them on me, so I'm going to have to order more come Halloween. I also got black tea flavored ones, or Uji Hojicha. They're every bit as delicious as I thought they would be when I wondered if they existed or not. They are now my second favorite after green tea (caramel pudding can be third I guess, or maybe strawberry cheesecake). I will probably end up ordering more of them too. After tasting all these flavors, though, I do find myself missing regular milk chocolate.

Mike Michaud is possibly worse than Al Kahn ever was, and that's saying something. Kahn was a bad businessman and a terrible CEO, but he at least never bullied or harassed the talent (that I know of). I don't like Rob and disagree with Doug on notable occasions, but I believe Doug is the lesser of the two evils as he seems to be an actual human being (at least, I want to believe that). To clarify, I think the Nostalgia Critic is a character and Doug is not himself that arrogant; however, Doug can be a raging egomaniac at times while Rob always seems to have an air of superiority to him. Mike apparently owns Nostalgia Critic and is a giant man-baby when he doesn't get his way. Doug is complicit but also I believe his hands are tied in some ways. That doesn't mean he shouldn't be held responsible, though, as he as almost as big a man-baby as Mike. There are cliques in any workplace situation, but it makes me sad to learn that not everyone on the site is open and friendly as they seemed during crossover events, or they were but it all fell apart. I will never watch the anniversary specials again, nor will I ever go to the Channel Awesome site again. I will remain subscribed to the Channel Awesome YouTube channel, but things have to change. For all involved, it would be too little, too late, and too much to hope for.