PokeNirvash

The Legend of Black Heaven 4

No surprise in the slightest, and unlike how that usually goes down, I am 10,000,000,000% excited for this outcome.

Either that or it's just a really off week.

Wild 7 Another 10

Nah, ridiculously long limbs are xxxHOLiC's thing.

Magic Knight Rayearth 2

What the hell are you on about?

Black Dynamite Pilot For those of you who've seen some of my recent posts in the anime equivalent of this thread, I've been watching various things as part of a "direction analysis" for season 2 of my current hypothetical anime writing project Kinky Kunoichi. And since season 2's equally hypothetical staff includes the very much American animation studio Titmouse, I thought I'd include some Western-created things to analyze the direction of as well. The U.S. side of my direction analysis is starting with Juno Lee, a creative director at Titmouse who's worked on numerous shows I've watched and have been thinking about watching, but because I'm waiting until HBO Max pulls through in bringing the Venture Bros. back from its unceremonious cancellation for one last hurrah to pay it a revisit, I decided to go for the pilot of Black Dynamite instead as the inaugural "rewatch" analysis. Lots of fun action with shaky-cam mechanics, and some neat color and lighting decisions to appropriately match the mood. Truly a more than fine start.

I wouldn't call it "lost", considering someone eventually did make one.

ATTACK ON TITAN - "Just like someone else I know. And speak of the devil, there he is now!" I don't recognize those numbers. This is easily the most emotional Mikasa has sounded ever. It's one thing to read a spoiler, but it's another to see it play out and make fuller sense than on digital paper. Hey, I don't remember Mikasa ever getting any headaches! Now he's the one on the other side of the pen. Eh, it kinda loses something when you take out the "always"... "Curse my bodyguard instincts!" ARMIN PUNCH. And that's why he failed to crack the top 10 at graduation. Shiganshina? But we were just there! That certainly sounds like a plan alright. Hard to believe a whole month has passed in-show; out-of-show, I can understand, but... Nice hammock there, guy. Normally running and screaming would be the opposite of an effective attack strategy, but this is Zeke we're talking about. It's raining Titans, hallelujah! Surprisingly, I have no objections to the coma plan, and I base that entirely on the "only the CEO can tell me to open the door but I'm not gonna do it even though you are the CEO" clip. When you nut so hard the whole squad feel it. I know Zeke's to blame for all these Titans, but I'd be lying if I said that squad didn't bring it on themselves. Losing his entire squad four times over has really fucked Levi up emotionally. These Titan running cycles. CAN'T SLIP BY THE LEVI. You can't have a Hiroyuki Sawano soundtrack without random rap inserts. Oof, now that is what I call savagery. FUCK YEAH LEVI. 😆 By gawd, he's got no nose! SHIT COUNT: 2 for act 1, 2 for act 2, 4 total. Ugh, random twitching jaw. Nice to see that even though so many characters have changed, Shardis is still the same hardass as always. Goddammit Floch. Ha, you suck at shooting more than you thought you would. Again, goddammit Floch. "Damn, wasn't expecting them to go full Office Space on me..." Bitch you look like a cut of wagyu steak. "I'm not cleaning that up, no matter how much I want to." Correction, that is savagery. Ah, so the glasses were a sentimental thing, like with Kabuto. Oh shit, unabridged Zeke backstory next week. FOOD WARS - If only anyone in this show had the guts to punch this main campus-lookin' douche in the face. For a bunch of hired thugs, they really suck at the whole "breaking and entering" thing. Soma keeping his head up works just as well, if only because it pisses this dude off he can't even speak. It's gonna be the most goddamn aromatic gyoza you'll ever eat, so much so you can't even bring yourself to vote the other way! Rindo is the best. "You say something, fucker?" This guy's so repugnant even Kunugigaoka main campus would think he's going too far. Oh if only they had thought to bring raincoats! Oh, I almost forgot Erina and Hisako were even there. Ah shit, the glasses are comin' off. Yeah, yeah, suck the guy's dick more, why don'tcha? SLOW AND LOW. Buuuuuurn. "Intellectual ganster" does describe his look pretty well. Even as a little kid he was a total dick. "No other man is more suited for such a title!" Except for this guy. Huh, that's kind of a creative way of going about it. Of course she's gonna eat some, it's not like this episode has an explicit sexual content subrating for no reason. All I see is this guy bending himself backwards trying to justify his bought vote. Not gonna lie, I do like the rice dome. Cowmangai? I understand we're well into where the manga's food advisor dropped off, but at least it's still sounding like it makes sense. In other words, he's chickening out. 😝 I don't know if I'll venture into a theater to see this movie, but if Toonami gets Demon Slayer S2, I'm definitely watching it first. Eh, cheese on wings just doesn't sound right, even if it probably exists out there somewhere. Huh, so they actually do plan on trying it, aromatic or not, if only out of spite for Soma. This dude's face game is nothing short of ridiculous, but for it to turn red on top of that... that must mean something. THIS IS ABSURD. Aromatics, motherfucker, I toldja. COCK A MOTHER FUCKIN DOODLE DOO. Ketchup's an overhated condiment, and I refuse to take that statement back. And as ridiculous as it being the game-changer is, the multitude of complements it triggered does feel more down-to-earth. Strange, yes, but never a dull moment. Oh Erina, you so tsun-tsun. If there's any food that's acidic, it's tomato. It took all of that dude's willpower to so much as pick up that gyoza. Choke on it, Eizan. 😁 One down, nine to go. PROMISED NEVERLAND - Soundin' kinda creepy and repetitive there, SARA. These OP credits look like they're missing some names. These guys seem pretty chill for demons. Itadakimasu, latom, thanks for the grub, and what have you. "It's good... and that concerns me." I'm not sure I'd equate the brain to flesh, but hey, you have your terminologies and I have mine. I forgot why the whole "30 years ago" thing is so important; maybe because it's around our present time in relation to when the show takes place? His necklace looks like some kind of nonbinary gender symbol. Racism: like a bisexual, it goes both ways. This must mean Grace Field House is the titular "Promised Neverland". "My god, a million years..." CHALLENGE ACCEPTED. Tonight's theme is freedom, apparently. Wild demons somehow sound more dangerous than domesticated demons, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was the other way around. The three Cs: cutting, cooking, and collecting. I never thought Gilda of all people could be so intimidating. And everyone's giving Ray shit too. Next week, Zeke fuckin' dies and yet we feel sorrier for the horse that was collateral damage. Food Wars has nothin' on Ray. YOU GOTTA HAVE A MONTAAAAAGE. Those opposable extra fingers they have are disturbing, but not as disturbing as their hand-feet. Keep an eye out for raining Titans, you two. Hello, ferret. Aim between the eyes, gets 'em every time. Or go for their eyes, that works too. Shit, that's the same flower they put in Conny and Krone. The first kill's always the hardest. Not sure if humane. Poor girl aged five years in five minutes. FIRE FORCE - Upon further reflection, I think I'd have appreciated Orochi more had I not cared so damn much about Hajiki surviving. Still, I blame Okubo, because who else am I gonna blame besides myself? His arm's off, but besides that he's decent. You're a good man, Juggernaut. Sucks you're probably as dead as your fellow squadmen are, Ritsu's puppetry notwithstanding. Hinawa, your way with words isn't helping your case any. Great, they not only brought a dominatrix with them, but a gimp too. And a bulletproof gimp at that. They freaked out because they knew they were dead meat, especially around the protagonist such as yourself. GIOVANNI'S BACK, BITCHES. Lemme guess, he's filled with lots and lots of bugs now? Meanwhile, Maki's bored. Now that Hajiki's dead, I don't really care if any more 2nd Company redshirts bite the dust. Wait what he can read minds now? I've never heard that theory before now but I can believe it. I'm getting real sick of all these audio cut-outs, Spectrum. GO ARTHUR GO. And then he was the Exterminator. Can you believe that the KissAnime of American cartoons doesn't have the Black Dynamite pilot up for streaming anywhere on their servers? Just thought I'd point that out while it was still fresh in my mind. CROTCH. It's official, Takagi doesn't know shit about what his own sister is capable of. OH YEAHHHHHH. I kinda love this crazy son of a bitch. SIDE CHESTO. Is Takigi pyrokinetic too because he looks rather confident about blocking those blasts with his bare hands. Shut up, Takigi, nobody cares what you think. GO FOR THE JOINTS. You put up a good fight, Iron. Just sock this ignorant fucker in the face for me, Hinawa, whatever gets him to shut up. Meanwhile, Tamaki's losing even more clothes. And she's still getting ryona'd something fierce too. DYNAMIC HEADBUTT. Nice of you to finally join us without proper setup, Vulcan and Iris. FUCK YEAH OBI. Dosukoi~. Tamaki is so useless, even she can't deny it. Look on the bright side, Licht, at least you run better than most Titans. Goddammit why am I laughing at this. I liked Ritsu better when she had Inca around to balance out her own personal brand of crazy. BLACK CLOVER - LET'S DO THE TIME WARP AGAIN. Surprise, the medicine was actually poison. The only thing dumber than their new group name is the upside-down mask, which hardly makes even any aesthetic sense. Ohhhhh, they're supposed to be fangs... Okay, so that's how the magic-impaired factor into all this. MIST MACHINE. A similar situation to Asta, but with more weight training and less nun fetishism. You'd think getting stabbed would count as moderate violence, but what do I know, I'm not actually S&P. And back to the plot at hand. I keep forgetting that village's name. That was an concerningly long cut to black. Chairman Chin-mole. It's good to have connections. Check out Finral's lazy eye in the back. Thanks for all the help, old lady. "I recognize that bride!" That's a strange analogy, but not an inaccurate one. A package deal, like Samurai Champloo and Paranoia Agent, or Akame ga Kill and Parasyte. I'm so used to Gauche being a stubborn ass I'm not all that pissed at him anymore about it. (Still the second-worst Bull in my book, and the objective worst overall.) That running hideout animation is still so bad. Sometimes I forget that Zora's still helping them out, sort of. "Yeah, you better keep walkin'..." Kids who physically accost their mothers are just the worst. There were so many other places before that point that would've made for a better end to Act 1. Ah, TOM and sidescrollers. He loves them, yet he hates them, yet he loves them still. Like I said, so many better places. Now we'll never know what Asta said there... "Dang inclement weather!" It's like The Mystery of the Druids, only Devil Believers... SHIPPUDEN - At first he had nothing, and now he has everything. I feel like we've gone through these flashbacks before... They're stuck playing ketchup, and there's nothing worth eating to squirt it on. So much for their impregnable barrier. Bone flute: my new favorite silly synonym for a penis. That giant snake monster form still freaks me the fuck out. Lotta flashbacks this episode... TSUTOMU OHSHIRO SAKUGA SPOTTED. Oh no, he stabbed himself in the face. Finally, we get to see what this Izanami's all about. Right after the commercial break, that is. I think I've finally grown past Rick & Morty, but then again, I was never a superfan of it to begin with. Dirty pool, Kabuto. Man, Toonami really sucks at cutting things to commercial this week. HAHAHA WIPEOUT. Aw shit hee's been assimil-or maybe not. "This feels like deja vu all over again." Goddammit Kabuto stop being visually creepy. Congratulations, you can see again. Let's do the time warp again and again. Stuck in an endless battle he has no hope of winning, if that's what Izanami does then that's really damn metal. Even if it does feel like a Bites the Dust rip-off... Sucks to be you, Kabuto, you and your already diseased state of mind. "Oops, the episode ended early, so here's the Tailed Beast counting song again."

Yes, we should be glad the days of "anime premieres at 5AM" are over.

It's called "Enemy Contact", not "Question Mark Symbol".

Don't Toy With Me, Miss Nagatoro 2

One word: aromatics. 12:00 - Dragon Ball Super #111 - An Extra-Dimensional Ultimate Battle! Hit vs. Jiren!! - TV-PGV 12:30 - Attack on Titan: The Final Season #14 - Savagery - TV-MA 1:00 - Food Wars! The Third Plate #8 - The Alchemist - TV-MAS 1:30 - The Promised Neverland #14 - Episode 2 - TV-14DLV 2:00 - Fire Force #45 - Enemy Contact - TV-MA 2:30 - Black Clover #146 - Those Who Worship the Devil - TV-PG 3:00 - Naruto Shippuden #337 - The Izanami Activated - TV-PG 3:30 - Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba #24 - Rehabilitation Training - TV-14DL

Can't a man (or woman) rag on Demarco without some other man (or woman) telling him not to? People need to vent sometimes, and I say let 'em vent, no matter how little sense it makes when you really think about it.

Pacific Rim: The Black 4 Corpse Princess: Kuro 12

I was going to post this when finished, but I thought I'd upload the lineart first, as a little sneak peek for the site where it originated. As someone who's never drawn creases in clothing before now, I'd say it's a decent first try.

Shit, can't people have normal fetishes anymore?

Magic Knight Rayearth 1

Kanon 2006 10

You seem to be forgetting that we're still waiting on season 2 of Ass Class.

The Millionaire Detective: Balance Unlimited 11

You're a fucking moron. You seem to have forgotten, or at least be unaware, that only six of the ten members of the council voted in favor of Erina's Dad as the new chairman. Isshiki was not one of them. Fuck, last episode, he outright said he didn't even know that the vote had taken place. If anything, he's probably doing some investigating of his own into this whole thing. Hopefully that helps.

Only three more months! ATTACK ON TITAN - That woman with the hat looks awfully familiar... Oh shit that's Conny's home village. Stupid sexy Titan Pieck and her bedroom eyes... No shit they meant nothing to him, he never even knew them. If only Levi knew how many fangirls he had on this side. YEAUH. [Too Many Cooks theme starts playing] D-Did he just black out for a second? What I want to know most is how Niccolo would fare at Totsuki Academy, at least when the old director was in charge. You can't say no to free wine, except for this specific bottle apparently. Beat his ass, Jean. "What is that guy's problem?" Sasha's death, that's his problem. And now he's got two more problems. He connected the dots real quick. For fuck's sake Gabi, if there was a time for you to shut up, it should have been thirty seconds ago. Welp, Falco's dead. Finally, she realizes she fucked up completely. HE'S GOT A KNIFE! "I can handle her killin' my daughter, but callin' her a she-devil is a step too far." She entered civilization, and stole the first potato she could find. You're a good man, Sasha's dad. That there, Gabi, is something we like to call, "turning the other cheek". Something blondie here clearly doesn't give two shits about. Ah yes, the classic chain reaction cry. Cannibalism's gotten weird in the past few decades. MORTAL BOMBOCLAAT. I was expecting the "breaking news" to be Eren's great prison break, but Zachary's death by exploding chair works too. Levi's beaten the shit out of him for so long, killing him should be at least one step short of a cakewalk. Not gonna lie, all those flashbacks superimposed on the trees is a very neat effect. SHIT COUNT: 4 for act 1, 2 for act 2, 6 total. Damn, Yelena's to blame for at least half of the shady behind-the-scenes shit that's been revealed these past few episodes. Maybe ingesting a certain amount causes paralysis, and the amount in the wine was small enough to avoid that but big enough to allow for Titanization. Yes but not exactly, is what he's trying to say. Let Gabi die, it's what the fandom wants. "Just like someone else I know." "You rang?" Goddammit Floch. I hate you but the reaction face game ridiculous. Eren's just sitting there, bleeding out onto the tablecloth, kinda makes you wanna shit yourself and play dead like Gabi's thinking about doing. If only all Asian animation studios had hilariously awesome names like "Yakumo Crack" and "Curry Jotaro". I'm no huge fan of the dialogue-free next episode promos using the Japanese language track, but I like that you can hear the female seiyuu in Armin's ancillary noises. FOOD WARS - It's easy to forget that this cooking academy has normal classes. Speaking of, does respecting Soma's decision to sit front-row count as self-insertion? Open secrets are a real pain. God I wanna throw that Eizan kid down a flight of stairs so bad. Oh no, not the clubs! (Having been on my school's quiz bowl team, there's definitely some sincerity in that statement.) The phrase "Central" also takes me back to my high school days. You can just hear his approval rating dropping from here. Even if his words do sound decent on paper... I had a feeling they'd bulldoze Shiomi's building first. FUCK EIZAN AND HIS MAIN CAMPUS ASS LOOKIN' FACE. If there's an opportunity for a Food War with the Ten, expect Soma to take it. Well no shit they're not happy, the new rules suck. I'm curious to what this guy's cooking is like, since all we've seen is his business savvy. I just know Skewer Wolverine's gonna lose this one. He bribed the judges, that's the only way this premature outcome could make sense! "I meant to snap them in two, but this works just as well." You underestimate Soma's resolve and stupidity. Punch that fucker in the face for me, flashy suit man. Everything just seems so sterile now. This is a rare one-on-one interaction. Even this technically private dinner feels oddly sterile. "Wow, way to make me feel bad about passing on the first try." I remember back when the stereotypical background characters were the only ones in this show I got murderously pissed at; now it's pretty much Eizan only. And here are some clips from the hot springs OVA that never got dubbed. Tonight's theme is chain reaction cryfests. Like I said, don't underestimate his resolve and stupidity. How nice of him to make some food for them all before leaving. Soma don't give a shit about what you think, you're just main campus trash. AW YEAH BEST GIRL RINDO'S HERE. Thank god, someone needed to physically harm this douche. As I thought, she's just going along with Azami's bullshit to see how things play out. He looks like a nerd, sounds like a nerd, but sits like a real gangsta. Even Rindo knows Soma has way too much resolve and stupidity in him to simply bend to Eizan's will like those skewers. Aw shit, here come the thugs. Soma looks ready to pop a cap in this wigga's ass, his home country's gun control laws be damned. TOP THREE BILLING: Soma, Eizan, second best girl Yuki. Nice to see Sentai's sorta following FUNi's former lead with this. PROMISED NEVERLAND - Aniplex's logo at the start of the episode; that's a first. That one kid's face is so fuckin' tiny holy shit. Bet you weren't expecting giant hell-beast spiders when you ziplined off the wall into that forest. At least the opening theme's decent. I wouldn't touch that plant if I were you. "Get a load of these big ass trees!" He says he's fine. I remember her leg getting broken, but not her hand getting busted up. It still disturbs me that, despite being younger than Norman or Ray, Don's balls were the first to drop. I'll confess, the William Minerva stuff was the least memorable part of the first season; really easy to gloss over if you could believe it. And then the pen was a holographic projector. "T-O-U-C-H..." Canopus? The secret code for that page is MRB, whatever that translates to. This is almost like the code they used to decipher Jiraiya's final message. That one kid with the ONE reaction face kinda looks like Norman, if you squint hard enough. Whatever you do, don't eat those plants; they might be poisonous. But what in the world are sea anemones doing on land? Whatever it is, that would explain the land fish and flying fish and maybe that kraken-looking motherfucker they run into later on. I'm kinda glad I know about this Minerva dude again now, since he seems to be the main motivation for this entire season. You can't convince me to put wireless buds in my ears. It just doesn't seem right, and would give ignorant people the wrong idea. The CGI for these land-sea creatures is actually pretty alright. Again, why this one's face so tiny? One second you're running with the fireflies, and literally the next you're running from some hell creature that suddenly phased into existence. The CGI for this thing, though, seems a little on the uncanny side motion-wise. "Run like heck and don't look back!" Not really a bullhorn, but a decent try. Tactical advantage: DENIED. That one demon dude sounds familiar. Crispin Freeman, I think? That bandage is looking pretty saturated, you sure you're alright, Emma? Welp, she's dead. And also sick, on top of that. Suspicious girl is suspicious, you can tell just from the strange glow. HE'S ON A HORSE. And now he's in a mystery cave. Oh Emma, you have no idea what shit he's been through in the past couple hours. In conclusion, you're in the hood. Impossible, there's no way you'd meet Minerva so early in the season. Hood girl sounds somewhat familiar too, though I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't an industry veteran. How perceptive of you, Ray. I have a feeling this is gonna end in a "not all demons" message. I had a feeling if it wasn't a vet, it'd be Lizzie Freeman as hood demon girl. And oh yeah, I forgot that Tatum does L.A. dubs now. FIRE FORCE - Oh no not this cold open again. 😩 These poor saps who have to deal with Arthur's chuuni delusions. I do enjoy Maki's brother, he's my kind of character (male). SUPERSTAR~. I've really come around to Juggernaut since the China arc. Neat, she's wearing pantyhose this time. 20 bucks says they get ripped during the fight she's bound to get into. Or maybe she'll just lose them now so the animators can save on digital ink, sure let's go with that. Welp, they're all dead. TOO MANY INFERNALS. Oh hi Ritsu. 'Scuse me while I kiss the sky? It's almost like they showed that guy's backstory before he got allah ackbar'd as some kind of twisted joke. And this guy too. And this guy also. All these senseless minor character deaths are reason #54 why Fire Force is far from being as good now as it was in the first episode. Though I will admit, they're makin' me laugh. "Is this because that me from another universe took over that cooking school 'cause it better not be!?" Thank god he's built like a gag character, otherwise he'd be fucked. I like Special Eyes Gunman Josuke, I hope he gets outta this alright. 🤜🌲 Aw fuck, I knew checking ANN to see what episodes he was in after this one was a bad idea. (That is, none of them.) Congratu-fuckin-lations, Dominatrix White-Clad from the OP, you're already proving yourself to be just as bad as Hibana was in her first impression. I'd be more appreciative of your opening spiel had you killed literally anybody else as your intro. Welp at least I managed to predict correct on the pantyhose thing. She's actually proving herself to be worse than Hibana with every word she says and every action she takes, even though it's practically designed to cater to my niche. THANK YOU SHIN-uh, I mean, Juggernaut. And the unmasking would've been a lot better had Toonami not spoiled it a month ago with their new bumpers. At least we still have more Hajiki in these flashbacks, I guess. OH MY GOD JUST SHUT UP ABOUT YOUR GODDAMN FIRE WHIP I WAS PAST THE POINT OF CARING THE MOMENT YOU FIRST SHOWED UP AND KILLED HAJIKI YOU CUNT. 🤬 Dang, he actually got nicked that time. I sincerely hope she dies. "Why can't I stop him?" Because he is the epitome of my burning hot rage. [slow applause] The lesson to be learned from this episode is, Fire Force really needs to stop with the dominatrix-type characters. If Hibana's first impression fell flat, Orochi's only impression left a crater the size my home state. She had her chance, and she blew it. Now let's never speak of that rotten bitch again. BLACK CLOVER - Is this walking stick guy ever gonna show up in the show proper, or is he just avant-exclusive? Funny how of all the people in this week's Toonami who have the potential to piss me off, these bozos aren't even in the top 3. I wonder if the rest of the Black Bulls know what's going on; I assume they do, since they're spying with everyone else. RABBLE RABBLE. I do like how Dumbnutsio is cooperating with all of them, if only because he doesn't believe vigilante justice works. I just noticed their transceivers look like flashy toy microphones. Over 100 episodes with their squad, and Asta's still called "the kid". What the heck were Yuno and the others doing out at sea anyways? It's insane how much of a following these filler guys have developed. Could be drugs, or it could be wine spiked with some dude's spinal fluid. Oh shit, she's got followers. Between those two, Asta definitely has more patience. Nope, still not top 3 most anger-inducing of the night, though the crowd has some contenders that could qualify were they not backgrounders. #55: the pettiest supervillain ever. Not the tool of execution I was expecting them to use. That dude who cast the first stone is totally full of sin. Lotta weird audio pauses in my shows this week. OH MY GOD THERE'S TWO OF THEM. "Get that Read or Die shit the hell outta here!" My dad just heard Asta screaming from the other room and asked if it was Naruto. DOUBLE AT FIELD. And now the moment Jack's been waiting for. These two seem awfully calm for suicide burners. You a dirty sumbitch, Kabwe. Nice of you to join us, Yuno. That's one big-ass smoke bomb. Huh, I don't think anyone's tried stealing his grimoire before, shame that filler characters got to it first. Oh well, at least Gauche will be happy that Marie's safe. The grimoire simply houses his swords. Never giving up and physically training like a madman all day every day. It's kinda weird seeing Gauche not attack Asta while they and Marie are in the same room, but it's kinda nice, in an extremely off-base kinda way. I know you're trying to make yourself look less shady after all that went on, but maybe you should've brought your mask with you, Vangeance, for appearance's sake. Well shit, that twist came outta left field. That's the biggest cast list I've ever seen for this show. SHIPPUDEN - OH FUCK SURPRISE OPENING THEME. It's been a good long while since we've had one of these crop up. 😄 Did Itachi always have that many cracks on his face? Okay, so these nuns and orphans are all medic nin for hire. Oh Orochimaru, for all your fucked-up experiments you're one actually of the more likable villains on the block tonight. Oh crap, the nun used to be a spy. Weird question, but does being voiced by a certain VA count as charisma, because I don't hate listening to Danzo being a shady prick. And of course Orochimaru would threaten them with child abduction. And that's how Kabuto started down his current path. Oof, now that's what I call irony. It's entirely possible it was his mother, but it's also possible it was just a doppelganger. The whole thing seems awfully ambiguous to be cut-and-dry like they're treating it. Frickin' K-pop groups are infecting our commercials now. They truly are an unstoppable force. SUDDENLY OROCHIMARU. Welp, there goes any sense of ambiguity. Ah, so this must be his first hideout, if he's speaking as if it's the only one. That lamia in the tank disturbs yet intrigues me. You a dirty sumbitch, Danzo. Kabuto #2's nose looks all wrong for him. This boy has a lotta rage in him, and a guttural part of me respects that. I went into this expecting Kabuto's backstory, but learning the exact moment Orochimaru decided to desert the Leaf is a welcome surprise. Oh yeah, they mentioned him being involved at Kikyo Pass back in the Chunin Exam arc. And now we know the rest of the story.

🤣 What the fuck.