Winter 2021 Anime Awards

Hey guys! The Winter 2021 Anime Season has officially come to a close this week and I have to say that this season absolutely killed with the content we got! So much was so good that I don't even know how I'm going to break it all down!

(Original) Anime Of The Season

Jujutsu Kaisen is definitely my anime of the season and perhaps this isn't the most fair cause it is a leftover drama from the Fall 2020 season but I can't help but think that nothing else I watched this season compared! The world this show built was so fun to see, the animation was out of this world, and the magic was nuanced and unique and I can't wait to see it explored more cause I feel like we're just scratching the surface. I do have to admit that at first I wasn't the biggest fan of the ensemble and I did think the tournament arc took place a bit too early but in the end I ended up really enjoying how the whole season played out and how attached I got to the characters in the end. 

Runner Up - Horimiya

Hidden Gem 

Kemono Jihen is my pick for hidden gem of the season cause though I definitely enjoyed the runner up a lot, I feel like a ton of people checked that anime out while I heard of practically no one watching this one! I actually didn't even know that it was a shounen jump anime until the anime was practically over which is why I was extra confused as to why no one checked it out. It reminded me a lot of shows like Demon Slayer in which the main plot of our show was to hunt down and kill demons though I think it was unique of this show to use actual children as their leads. I loved every single one of our main characters and I even adored some of the supporting characters as well. The mysteries were fun to watch and some of the darker stuff hit just as hard as the show would have wanted it to. 

Runner Up - SK8 The Infinity

Best Sequel 

Promised Neverland Season 2 is the best sequel of this season and this is another pick that isn't entirely fair cause it was actually the only anime sequel that I watched and in actuality I don't even think it deserves this win by default cause of how poorly this second season butchered this show. Now here's the thing I wasn't one of those fans of season 1 that claimed this show was a godsend but I didn't hate it either so when this season started and all I heard was that this season would be animating the best manga arc I was excited only to be disappointed by how rushed the pace felt. The first half really did fascinate me but then everything sped up as if the show was like we will not have another season so we need to wrap things up! The world became bigger and more fascinating but at the cost of the characters we adored. 

Runner Up - None

Greatest Animation/Character Design

SK8 The Infinity had the best animation this season and you know this is true cause I wasn't even planning on watching this anime when I first heard about it cause I'm really not the biggest fan of animes in which all the characters are guys or girls but I checked out the first episode out of curiosity and the sheer beauty of the animation in that first race that Langa had at the end of episode one got me to come back for more. I love the way all the characters and skateboarding are animated as well as the color and tone of the show!

Runner Up - Jujutsu Kaisen

Best OP 

Paradise by Rude-a from SK8 The Infinity is definitely my favorite OP of the season and this one was kinda hard cause there wasn't too many OPs that I didn't want to skip on the regular so the fact that I listened to this one a few times was enough to let it win!

Runner Up - Shake Shake Shake by Yuuma Uchida from Dr Ramune: Mysterious Disease Specialist 

Protagonist Of The Season

Yuuji Itadori from Jujutsu Kaisen is my protagonist of the season and really there was no competition here. I gushed about why Jujutsu Kaisen was my anime of the season earlier but I tried to avoid talking about Itadori during it cause I knew that he was going to be my protag for the season! The thing is that you all know if you've followed me for a while that I love shounen animes but I tend to find that I enjoy the ensemble more than the protags but in this show I ended up getting attached to Itadori before anyone else! I mean of course he's got a lot of the characteristics that shounen protags have like a big heart, love of his friends, and a strength that most do not but I liked that Itadori wasn't the typical naive attack first think second type of character that I dislike. He is able to think things through when he needs to and he feels more mature and grounded than a lot of others.

Runner Up - Kumuko from So I'm A Spider, So What?

Antagonist(s) Of The Season

The demons from The Promised Neverland are my antagonists of the season cause I actually really like the way The Promised Neverland utilizes them. In season 1 they were more of the background villains in that we rarely saw them but we knew that they were there while here in season 2 they're much more front and center and yet we find ourselves questioning everything we know. We've met both good and bad demons throughout this show and we're left wondering if they're really as evil as we thought they were. Beyond that it asks us to think about the fact that the demon/human relationship in the show isn't much different from the human/animal relationship in real life. Demons need humans to eat the way that we like to eat meat. The rich demons are the ones that get the prime cuts while the poor demons get the leftovers and there are others that want wild humans rather than farmed ones. We also see demons that like to use humans in experiments to test different hypotheses and between Emma and Norman we are left wondering which side is right.

Runner Up - Mahito from Jujutsu Kaisen

Ship Of The Season

Hori and Miyamura from Horimiya are hands down my ship of the season! Part of this might be unfair cause Horimiya was the only romance anime I watched this season but it was also one so good that it might end up on my favorite romance animes of all time! Hori and Miya were absolute perfection together and I loved that the show allowed us to see their relationship progress in such a natural way. Within the course of this season we saw them become friends, confess their feelings, hold hands, kiss, sleep together, and even explore their kinks. When was the last time a romance anime went beyond the will they/won't they?? I loved that Hori and Miya showed their true selves to each other first and that they were the first to accept all the positives and negatives they had.  

Runner Up - Reki and Langa from SK8 The Infinity

And with that I'll see you all in the Spring 2021 Season!!

xoxo Allie

What Shows Am I Watching This Week?

Hello everyone and welcome back! Let's dive right in shall we?

Fruits Basket Season 3 Episode 1

Okay so officially the start of season 3 isn't until next week but Funimation subscribers got the first episode dubbed a week early and you all know that though I usually prefer subs, Fruits Basket is one of the few anime that I prefer dubbed so I jumped on board. It was an amazing episode and I was actually really surprised how we dived straight in and continued where we left off last season rather than giving us a casual recap episode like My Hero did last week or a light filler like the second season of this anime did. I wasn't expecting to cry and I wasn't mentally or emotionally prepared yet so I found myself feeling like this was one of the most hopeless episodes in a long time even though thinking back there were much more emotional moments in last season! We also got a lot of info and let's see if I can break it down! Akito's mother Ren is more of a monster than Akito is and it's cause of her that Akito latched onto the zodiacs so strongly and in such a negative way. It really does feel like the whole God and zodiac bond was supposed to be one of support and love originally and I bet the first God was just like Tohru but the reason the current generation is so messed up is cause of the humans in their lives rather than the supernatural. The more important thing to note was that Rin overheard the whole conversation with Kureno and I'm not sure if she was looking for Ren or Akito at the end but Ren found her and that's cause to be worried. We also saw Kureno and Arisa both kinda put their feelings to bed but I highly doubt that it will be forever cause like Hana said, that will be a story for another day like Mayu and Hatori. 

The Flash Season 7 Episode 4

Somehow last week I entirely forgot about those weird lightning flashes that appeared after Barry reset the Speed Force cause there I was acting like an idiot and complaining that the show didn't set up a villain for the season and duh it was right there! The villains are clearly going to be different versions of the Speed Force like a Strength Force and now a Psychic Force. As the Speed Force Nora told our team at the end of this week it seems like the different Forces can now take human forms which I'm not entirely sure if I'm a fan of and my question now is why they're all evil cause tbh they should be impartial or neutral unless they had to attach to one person like the Speed Force attached to Barry and those people are kinda evil. In other news we saw that Frost and Caitlin struggled over whether they should recombine or stay separate and in the end they decided to become actual roommates and it was sweet though now that Kramer is here apparently to arrest Frost, it'll be interesting to see where they take things. Will Frost have to pay for the things she did when she was a villain? I assume it'll be something more like probation or community service rather than jail time cause I just can't see the show going that route. Cecile's powers are also getting even stronger and I keep wondering why cause unless the show is planning on her being the deus ex machina to win the day at the end or turn evil then it's kinda strange so much focus is put on her. 

Next week looks like a Cisco and Chester focused bottle episode in which they time travel and that's curious cause it feels like a weird time to do that but also it's been a while since we focused on Cisco so that'll be nice to see.

The Falcon And The Winter Soldier Episode 3

As boring as I found last week's episode, this week made up for it in spades!! Everything Bucky and Sam got into was exactly what I wanted and expected from them when I first heard about this show so of course it all worked for me. They ended up needing to break Zimo out of jail in order to get his expertise on the whole Hydra and Super Soldiers thing which led them to the man who created this new super soldier serum. Apparently he first started working on it with Hydra before their downfall and then joined the CIA in their research only to be blipped as soon as he finally cracked the formula. When he returned he was scouted by the Power Broker to remake the formula which Carly and the Flag Smashers stole. I do have to say that I'm starting to have a feeling that this isn't the whole truth. Like what if the CIA realized that he finished the formula and gave it to John Walker with the plan to always replace Steve given that he was on the run at the time? That man got waaay too good at throwing the shield waaay too quickly so I could see him secretly having trained and lucked out. It was also really interesting to see Sharon but I'm curious as to what her deal is. Is she undercover and still good? Or is she the Power Broker? I was also so excited to see Ayo at the end though of course she would show up given that the man who killed the last King of Wakanda was on the lam.

FINISHED Horimiya Season 1 Episode 13

This week marked the official end of Horimiya and I'm definitely going to miss it. Do I wish that the second half contained more cute moments between Hori and Miyamura like it did at the start? Of course. But that doesn't mean that I didn't have fun with the ensemble and everything we got. This finale was just as sweet as the previous episodes with it being the high school graduation of our main characters. Miyamura spent the time looking back on who he was and how different his life is now. He contemplated the fact that one little action of helping Sota home changed everything and gave him happiness that he never knew he could have. The interesting thing is how this one little action of saving Sota not only brought Hori and Miyamura together but the whole group wouldn't have been the same without Miyamura and Hori dating. I was surprised that nothing about the proposal from last week came up making me think that the two aren't actually formally engaged or plan to plan a wedding but that they just vaguely meant that hey we'll be together in the future as well. This show is definitely joining the ranks of my favorite romance anime and though it doesn't have the pull that a lot of nostalgic romance anime do, it's enough that it landed a spot on my list at all for being a seasonal one!

My Hero Academia Season 5 Episode 2

This show is honestly such a gem and it's funny how I forget how good it is until I'm watching the new episode every week! Technically I'd say this was the season premiere over what amounted to a recap last week and we learned so much new information. One of the things I'm always so in awe about with this show is how it gets you so emotionally attached to new characters and yet no two feel the same. I enjoyed Hawks last season but after this week I'm definitely like he needs to be protected. It seems as though Hawks accidentally saved a bunch of people as a child and since then the government has kept a close eye on him to the degree where I'm fairly certain that he feels like he owes them. It was them who asked him to go deep undercover with the League and I cannot tell you how relieved I was that I could continue adoring him given that he was the turncoat I worried he might be! I also really liked that the show didn't just give up on the whole thing with Endeavor and what an abusive father and husband he was now that he's the number one hero and that it showed us the different stages the Todoroki family were in over him from forgiveness to anger. We also got to see more of the original One For All and All For One which we kinda already knew about and nothing we saw was new but I imagine the fact that Deku could talk to the manifestation of One For All will be important. Was All Might able to do the same or is this a Deku thing??

xoxo Allie

What Shows Am I Watching This Week?

Hello everyone and welcome back! Because of my new schedule I've decided that these posts will be moving to Sundays! Now let's dive right in shall we?

Horimiya Season 1 Episode 11 & 12

I really should stop being surprised at the fact that this show has gone from the life and times of Hori and Miyamura to an ensemble show in recent weeks. I do enjoy getting to know all the side characters but I do miss seeing Hori and Miyamura be cute together. Both episodes actually felt more like vignettes rather than one story cause we caught up with a lot of characters. Akane struggles with talking to people casually except with Yuki a thing that both Hori and Toru noted in different ways and the shipper in me was thriving over the crumbs we got of Toru liking Yuki. He admitted that he liked her but he also likes their relationship right now so I don't think he's planning on confessing anytime soon not to mention the fact that the kids will be graduating in a semester. Honoka is getting better at being around guys though she finds Shu the scariest though I have a feeling that if this were a long running show that these two would end up together and maybe that's still true in the manga? We also met Shu's younger sister and I'm totally fascinated by Shu and which side of him is the real him cause we know that he's super loud and boisterous in school but at home he's quiet and brooding. I wonder if he's naturally quiet and has forced himself to be this over-the-top character cause it's easier to make friends that way? Miyamura also proposed to Hori this week which totally stunned me but I suppose in Japan it's much more common to get married young than it is here in the states so I mean good for them?

Superman & Lois Season 1 Episode 5

This week wasn't my favorite of the chunk of episodes we've had so far cause something about the whole plot of the episode was kinda boring and idk why exactly. Smallville was having their Harvest Festival which was ruined because one of Morgan Edge's experiments accidentally shot up the place with his heat vision. Jonathan got dumped by his girlfriend over the phone and it was the catalyst to him finally exploding and telling his family about his feelings over the move and his life. I was honestly really disappointed in how the show dealt with this cause up to this point Jonathan has been a perfect son and brother and I wish the others would see that he's struggling and help him too alongside Jordan. Giving him a family heirloom and asking him to give Smallville more time isn't exactly helpful mom and dad! We also saw that Sarah and Jordan were supposed to have their first date this week but in the end Sarah asked Jordan if they could just be friends cause between her mental health and her family she doesn't think that she has the capacity to date on top of everything else. I suppose it's also important to know that Captain Luthor is definitely from a Flashpoint world cause he reveals that he was married to Lois in his world and she usually is married to Lex in Flashpoint where Superman is evil.

Hmm okay so it looks like we're actually taking time off until May cause of pandemic production problems during which time Supergirl will air it's final season which tbh I will not be watching but all the more power to those who will so I'll see you all back then!

The Flash Season 7 Episode 4

On the whole this episode wasn't a half bad episode of The Flash but the problem is that it was technically meant to be the season premiere and instead of setting up the villain for the season or even a bigger problem, we spent most of it dealing with leftover drama making me think that I was probs the problem for thinking that we'd get a clear divide between the old and the new. I did like that the episode touched on grief and trauma though of course having just watched Wandavision and currently watching The Falcon & The Winter Soldier I do have to say that it wasn't the best done version of trauma. Iris and Barry were both struggling with the aftermath of Iris being in the Mirrorverse. Barry cause he felt guilty for not realizing that Mirror!Iris was a fake and Iris for having missed out on 3 months of her life. I do kinda wish that Barry had been the one to go with Iris to the group therapy meeting rather than Allegra but I did really like the speech she gave. We also saw the return of Abracadabra which was fun but he died in the end by the hands of some giant purple monster thing. I honestly have no idea who she's supposed to be and cause the season has been so wonky we never actually learned who the villain would be before starting the show. The other thing I want to mention is that Caitlin and Frost have finally split apart like I wanted for a while now which means that we finally get Caitlin back while also having the meta Team Flash needs though poor Danielle Panabaker will be pulling double duty! Also I wanted to cry at the Oliver shout-out the show gave and I will never not be bitter over the shit this universe pulled in taking away Oliver's happily ever after.

Still no appearance of a Big Bad but we do get another meta of the week in some sort of Nightmare monster which should be fun.

FINISHED Jujutsu Kaisen Season 1 Episodes 24

I'm honestly so sad to say goodbye to this season of Jujutsu Kaisen cause it's been a true highlight to watch every week! I am thrilled that a movie was announced already though and I'm sure a second season will be coming soon given how popular this show was while it was airing! We wrapped up the mission from this week by defeating the cursed brothers though we learned that they were half human half spirit. Once again one of my favorite things about Itadori was showcased this week when he realized that these two weren't spirits and yet killed them anyway. Most shounen protags would be like no let's stop them with the power of love and friendship and work around what normal people would do just cause they're the protag but Itadori does what he has to and quietly mourns later. The trio are honestly such badasses and I was glad we ended this season showing us that exact thing. It also looks like they will be promoted to first grade jujutsu sorcerers after this given that they proved that they're not unranked novices and I'm curious as to what Gojou was doing at the end by calling in backup.

The Falcon And The Winter Soldier Episode 2

Hmm I'm not sure how I felt about this episode cause on the whole it was acting as a setup episode more than anything else though I was thrilled to see that Sam and Bucky were already together. I really expected Bucky's beef with Sam to be about how he was jealous that Steve didn't give him the shield so I actually really adored that the show took it the route of if Steve was wrong about you being ready to be Cap maybe he was wrong about me having good inside. It really was so hard to watch John Walker strut around acting like he really was Cap and calling Bucky and Sam Cap's wingmen and though Sam says he doesn't care and that there are more important things I bet deep down it's killing him and I bet he knows exactly why the government chose John Walker over him especially after meeting Isaiah. I don't love the idea that we have more super soldiers out there though cause I thought the whole thing that makes Steve special is the fact that he was one-of-a-kind and that Bruce became Hulk cause no one could reproduce the serum. Instead we find that not only did Hydra not make a whole bunch but also the US government with Isaiah? I did like the shout out to the Power Broker cause I have heard that he's supposed to be the one who created all these super soldiers so at least this isn't another Mefisto in Wandavision type of scenario! 

My Hero Academia Season 5 Episode 1

We're finally back with a new season of My Hero Academia and I'm honestly so excited even if this first week was really meant to remind us of where we left off rather than really set up the season. Endeavor was in the hospital after his fight though we did learn that Dabi was involved in what happened and that Hawks met up with him which I know was meant to make us question whether or not Hawks is a spy or a double agent but I just can't see this show going that route. What I can imagine is that Dabi was like meet me here and I'll do x y or z for you. We also didn't get much from Deku cause last we saw he was reaching out to the previous heroes that had One For All like in the Avatar State but it looks like that will be something touched on next week. Instead we spent most of the episode watching Class 1A do a drill in which they had to stop a fire, rescue hostages, and fight two of the Big Three who were pretending to be villains. I do know that this season is supposed to be focusing a bit more on Class 1B especially given how they featured so prominently in the OP but I do hope that doesn't mean that we ignore 1A.

xoxo Allie

What Shows Am I Watching This Week?

 Hello everyone and welcome back! Let's dive right in shall we?

Horimiya Season 1 Episode 10

Yo who else is shooketh this week to find out that Toru actually likes Yuki back?? We didn't actually spend any time with Hori and Miyamura this week cause the focus was on Yuki and how she's been struggling with her feelings for a while now. She and Toru have been fake dating at school since they pretended to be a couple a few episodes ago and during that time she accidentally told Sakura that she really is dating Toru and was super ashamed about it. I'm fairly certain that she meant to come clean by the end of this week's episode after finding out that Sakura confessed to Toru but after Toru said that he wasn't interested in Sakura, she stayed quiet. I'd like to imagine that she picked up on the hints he gave her but in actuality I'm sure that she needs him to outright confess before she realizes that he might like her too. Honestly I'm not sure that he realized it until she disappeared for like a week and he must have realized that his life felt empty and it made my heart smile every time he bashfully lit up looking at her. 

Superman & Lois Season 1 Episode 4

Every week I'm more and more in awe of what a solid show this is. It will never replace the love I had for Arrow or the love I have for Legends but no one can watch this show and not think that it's literally a Superman comic brought to life. Every aspect of Superman, Clark Kent, and Lois Lane are written to perfection but I think my struggle is definitely in the fact that I enjoy watching beginnings so the fact that Clark and Lois have been married for 16 years already takes all the excitement out of their romance. There's no swoon worthy romantic moments for me to gravitate towards and neither Jordan or Jonathan are enough to fill the void especially since I'm not a fan of Jordan/Sarah either. Having said all that this week was interesting cause we saw more of the struggle that Clark has with balancing being Superman with Clark. I really like that he's not hiding that he's Clark from General Lane cause it gives us a dynamic that I always think is fun. It was pretty terrible of him to tell the boys not to go to their dad for help but I did like that it went full circle as to why Lois and the General have never been on great terms. I do wonder if there's a Lucy Lane in this world and whether we'll ever see her. Oh and also Morgan Edge is apparently in town cause there is a wide supply of Kryptonite in the mines of Smallville and can you just hear my eyes rolling into the back of my head??

Ahh to my pleasure it looks like Jonathan really will be talking about his feelings next week and in a very not Jordan blow up sort of way which is lovely. It also looks like Captain Luthor will be stalking Lois cause he knows that Superman came to help her which makes me worry for Clark's secret identity.

The Flash Season 7 Episode 3

It was truly rough with a capital R watching this show after Superman & Lois. Of the two even though Flash gives me the feels, Superman & Lois has the better writing and it's never been more clear than during this finale. I don't know if it's cause the Flash writers were like let's tie up loose ends as fast as possible or if they really just gave up with the sci fi explanations already but everything felt super rushed. At this point I wonder if I even care if it makes sense though or if I'm just like meh superheroes. Barry woke up the old Speedforce by using love cause apparently Iris has had a bit of the Speedforce inside of her and that spark was enough to revive it making me low key wonder if Wally got his back too. Iris and Barry had the lamest reunion ever and I'm still over here like do the two actors hate each other or what cause they haven't had chemistry since like season 1! Earth 1 OG Harrison Wells popped up and had no purpose other than telling the team that he's a time traveler and leaving to go spend his life with Tess the wife that Eobard killed and I died at how the show didn't even bother to explain how he came back and was just like we totally explained off screen don't worry about it. I guess this does officially mean that Tom Cavanagh is leaving the show along with Sue and Ralph who returned this week in a hilarious way in order to wrap up Ralph without having to recast him. Love even saved Eva who decided that no she was a good person after all and returned everything back to normal and returned to the Mirrorverse. 

I was curious to know whether the show would reveal the new villain for the season next week given that it should be the actual Season 7 premiere but it looks like we'll be getting a villain of the week instead though I have a feeling that some seeds will be planted to give us the season long villain. I can't imagine that they would ignore the fact that some people might only watch this episode if they hated season 6 and want to see if season 7 is worth a shot!

Jujutsu Kaisen Season 1 Episodes 23

Raise your hand if you're also super depressed at the fact that next week is the finale for the first season of Jujutsu Kaisen!! I've seriously been having a blast with this show as you all know and I kinda adore that the final arc for this season was Megumi's! We saw that his sister is actually his stepsister and his dad and her mom got married and then ran away by selling Megumi back to the Zenin Clan that the dad escaped. Gojo stepped in though and stopped the sale by claiming Megumi as a Jujutsu Sorcerer but Megumi still grew up bitterly. He was pissed at the world for what he went through and saw both good and bad people as terrible and it wasn't until his sister got cursed into a coma that he realized how wrong he was. I also really adore that he might be a Gojo in training in terms of sheer power or at least so we've been hinted towards cause though Itadori is a badass and the most powerful right now, it's only cause of Sakuna. We did manage to find a new finger and that finger did end up being the reason that the curse of the bridge struck so now we just have to defeat the two cursed brothers and then eat the finger and all will be good!

The Falcon And The Winter Soldier Episode 1

So the first episode of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier hit this week and I can already tell what a gem this show is going to be. Whereas Wandavision was clearly a mystery, The Falcon And The Winter Soldier feels more like an actual Marvel movie. I love that this show feels like an extended action movie with a lot of character depth thrown in and that's one of the biggest highlights of these Marvel Disney+ shows. We already adore these characters from the movies but now we get to really sink into the nitty gritty. We follow Sam as he mourns the loss of Steve and we're clearly going to follow him on his journey to become Captain America like Steve wanted. We follow Bucky as he tries to figure out who he is in the present day and how to amend for all the wrongs he's committed. I was a little surprised that the duo weren't together at the start but it's obvious that this new Captain America will bring the two back together again. I'm guessing this hooded thief is going to be the main villain we chase and eventually we'll have a Sam v new Captain America fight but also low key I have to say that I knew that the plot of this show had the government get a random white guy to be the new Cap but the visceral hatred I had towards him was a surprising rush.

xoxo Allie

What Shows Am I Watching This Week?

Hello everyone and welcome back! Let's dive right in shall we?

Horimiya Season 1 Episode 9

I will never stop laughing over Hori constantly needing Miyamura to look down on her and him being like should I be more worried that this is her kink only for him to fall in love with her all over again when she beams at him all happy!! It's totally precious how he does everything and anything for her but that she never misuses this power. It's cute that he lets her braid his hair and put it into pigtails and the way she fought with Miyamura's bullies just cause she loved him was everything. My heart grows three sizes everytime Miyamura looks at Hori just so content that she adores him as much as he adores her especially cause of his past. We got a little look at one of Miyamura's bullies who were the worst to him and I liked it well enough though his reasonings for bullying Miyamura were a little shallow but that makes sense cause bullies usually only target someone cause their victim has something that's missing in the bully's life. I do have to say the way Miyamura forgave him immediately was a little hard to watch cause it's not like Miyamura was unaffected by everything that happened. When he saw them this week he had a PTSD flashback and even back then he contemplated suicide and hurt himself so I wanted a real apology before the two became friends cause Miyamura deserves that much.

Superman & Lois Season 1 Episode 3

This week found us continuing with the Kent family struggling to adjust to Smallville and there was less Superman than weeks past with the focus being on the family. Jordan ended up joining the football team too and fell in love with it even though he only joined at first out of spite towards Sarah's now ex-boyfriend. I always think it's so funny how guys can go from enemies to best friends after one big fight and that's what happened with the ex and Jordan after they played football together. Clark found out and while at first he was upset with Jordan in the end Jonathan helped him see that football might be good for Jordan. The thing is that I keep expecting Jonathan to be more pissed or honestly any real emotion at all other than supportive cause there's no way that he's not upset over the fact that not only does he not have any powers but now Jordan is even trying to take over the one thing that Jonathan is good at but then the show keeps showing us that no he's fine so now I think it'll all boil over later in one big outburst. Lois meanwhile discovered that Morgan Edge seems to hiring metas or people with super strength as his muscle and I'm still waiting to see where this story goes. The other big thing that happened this week was that we spent a little more time with Lana and Sarah and their struggle to find the new normal after Sarah tried to kill herself. The more I see of Lana's life the more I honestly pity her and it's like I've never actually watched Smallville but I imagine that Lana fans must be more upset than I am over her depiction though I have to say that she's definitely the most accurate depiction of a small town character on a show that I've seen!

General Lane is back next week and that's fun cause apparently he guilt trips the boys into thinking that they can't call for Clark when they need him cause Superman is more important. It also looks like Jordan might accidentally hurt someone which will be interesting!

The Flash Season 7 Episode 2

Well I guess I'm really glad that the show decided to answer our Harrison Wells question sooner rather than later even if I'm not entirely sure what it meant or how! It looks like while the multiverse of Harrison Wells are dead, the original Harrison Wells of our timeline that was killed by Eobard Thawne has come back to life in the present day and I'll be really curious to see what this version of Harrison is like and what the fake science reason for what happened was. Also are we sure this is Harrison and not Eobard again?? Meanwhile the main plot of this episode followed Barry as he discovered that the Artificial Speed Force they created last week not only gave him super speed thinking but also zapped him of his emotions due to a slight miscalculation. I do wonder if it's easy now to turn on and off this Speed Force cause Cisco and Barry's solution to the problem was to turn off the Speed Force but we know there's no more Nash Wells to be the organic receptor so I imagine that it doesn't need him more than once otherwise we're screwed and honestly we've had enough episodes of Barry will low Speed for it to play out again! He saved Iris after hurting Cisco, Caitlin, and Allegra but it looks like pulling Iris against her will hurt her somehow. Eva was also exposed as a Mirror copy and it looked like it is causing her to go full villain rather than the benevolent Eva she was trying to be.

Ha I guess I spoke too soon cause it looks like turning off the Speed Force really did zap Barry of his powers again but since this should be the final episode that was planned to be in last season then however it happens Eva must be defeated. 

Jujutsu Kaisen Season 1 Episodes 22

Low key you guys you probs don't know how excited I was to find out that we're returning to smaller weekly cases this week since it feels like forever since we last saw our heroes fight cursed spirits that aren't top tier! It makes sense to spend the last three episodes in the season winding down from the craziness we experienced and lower the scales to give ourselves a win even if there's obviously more going on behind the scenes that our trio doesn't know yet. I also really loved the way the comedy played out this week and it really only works so much cause we've known our heroes for so long now! Fushiguro is always so stoic and quiet about his feelings and emotions but by now Itadori and Kugisaki can practically read him like an open book so they don't need him to say anything before they're there to help. I don't know if we knew that Fushiguro had a sister or whether we've known she was in a coma for a while but either way that's new and interesting information!

xoxo Allie 

What Shows Am I Watching This Week?

  Hello everyone and welcome back! Let's dive right in shall we?

Horimiya Season 1 Episode 8

I was a little sad that Hori and Miyamura were so far in the background this week but what we did get of them was funny enough that maybe I didn't mind all that much! Hori basically asks Miyamura to act all tough and tsundere for her and he tries his absolute damndest but fails which is totally precious though the funnier part of the episode was how all the friends knew right away that Hori had requested it! We also got a touch more of Miyamura's backstory and how not only was he hurting himself with the piercings and tattoos but he was also low key suicidal and it honestly breaks my heart a little how everything with him before was so dark and in another show it would be the focus but here it's so lightly touched on that sometimes I wonder if I'm the one overreacting. We also got more from Yuki this week and how this super hot guy from a different class in their year asked her out but while she said no this week I have a feeling that maybe the two will end up together by the end since Yanagi just seems too sweet and pure to be a one-off. It would also resolve the love triangle Yuki and Sakura aren't fighting over Toru! 

Superman & Lois Season 1 Episode 2

I'm still really loving this show and it's insane budget which I actually found out is due to the fact that this show is being co-produced by HBO hence the beauty that is the cinematography of this show. I do wish that there was something in this show I could latch onto emotionally cause of as of now it's like one of the award winning shows or movies that objectively I can tell is excellent but I'm just kinda meh about it. I don't know if it's cause there's no romance to connect to or if the show is just aimed for teens rather than adults like me but either way there's something missing. I do have to say though that someone brought up a point last week that of Clark and Lois it should have been Lois that struggled with being a parent and after I heard that I can't unhear it. Clark should have been the one to always be around cause of his great parents while Lois was the workaholic and part of me wonders if this is a sexism thing since duh the woman has to be a good mom. I really hope with this Morgan Edge thing that Lois will actually get something to do outside of being there for the family and I really hope that they are able to portray Lois the reporter much much better than the Flash ever did with Iris. Clark and Jordan started to bond more over their Kryptonian heritage though Jor El claims that Jordan only has a fraction of the powers that Clark has which makes me think that he'll be at the level of Connor Kent's Superboy rather than Superman so maybe he'll be able to have super strength and durability and laser vision but that's all. I also thought it was sweet that Jordan was named after Jor El which I should have realized last week but it totally escaped me. Jonathon is also super sweet though cause he really did agree to give up his whole life for Jordan and I really just want all the best for him. I also think we practically got a reveal that Captain Luthor is a Luthor from another multiverse rather than planet cause he seemed to be fighting an evil Superman in his flashbacks and he knew General Lane.

Okay seriously the writers need to chill with Jordan's outbursts. Like we get it he's a moody teen but there's no need for him to constantly be horrible with Clark when he knows that his parents love him even if they struggle sometimes! Also Morgan Edge low key just torched Lois's car? I guess he was really threatened by Lois after all.

The Flash Season 7 Episode 1

With Arrow gone and me not so interested in Supergirl or Batwoman or Black Lightning, Flash is the only OG Arrowverse show (other than Legends which I'm counting down the months until!) currently airing and I didn't realize how much I missed it until now! I still don't love that like Riverdale we have to wrap up last season's problems before moving onto the new stuff but I'm going to pretend like Arrow Season 6 and 7 that the villain from last season was saved for another season on purpose. Lots of changes have occurred though like Ralph being written off the show due to the actor's misconducts in real life (which makes me sad cause I adored Ralph) and I'm wondering if Tom Cavanagh is done with this show too now that Nash gave himself up to get back Barry's speed. The news claim that Tom's not done with season 7 yet so unless there's an extended flashback or we time travel or bring a Wells from one of the multiverses that survived but our characters don't know about yet, I'm not sure what that means. I also missed Caitlin and Cisco and I really wish the show would stop writing them off for Allegra and Chester cause I really don't care for them. I want my OG Flash team and I really wish this season we'd dial back the Frost as well. Iris was also still stuck in the mirrorverse but she managed to realize that she was being played by Eva still rather than losing her mind cause she's a badass. The more important thing is that Eva realized that she actually did die on the night of the particle accelerator and that she was a mirror copy which really does have to screw with her cause can you even imagine finding something like that out??

The promo shows that Cisco and Frost are back next week which is awesome and I really should stop expecting Caitlin by now cause clearly the show likes Frost more and I will never understand how Caitlin who is the main personality is just cool with no longer living her life. I do know that the previous season was supposed to have 22 episodes but we stopped at 19 due to production shutting down so if we count this week then this storyline with Eva should end in 3 or so episodes making me wonder if we will really get Iris back next week.

Jujutsu Kaisen Season 1 Episodes 21

We had a mellow episode this week to combat all the craziness we experienced over the past few weeks when our kids were fighting special grade spirits and each other. The baseball game was cheesy and all but I think that this whole tournament arc did manage to get me to connect with some of the ensemble which is the only time that slice of life shows work. I did like the way everything that went down was linked back to that beach meeting we saw the curse spirits have all those weeks ago cause I totally forgot what they discussed there and it was so fun to see how well written this show is. Their plan was to use the cursed spirits and the veil to distract the Jujutsu sorcerers into focusing on the kids so that they could sneak in and steal one of the fingers which is exactly why Itadori should have eaten them!! I mean I get the idea of being afraid that the more Itadori eats the more he might lose control but it seems like the devil you know is better than letting it get loose! I do wonder where the rest of the season will end up going cause we only really have 3 episodes to go and that's too short of a episode count to begin a new arc unless it's a short and silly one.

FINISHED Wandavision Season 1 Episode 9

Hmmm I don’t entirely know what to say about this finale cause I’m torn over whether or not this ending disappointed me or if I was just overwhelmed by all the fan hype surrounding this show and in all actuality this finale was perfectly average. Here’s the thing. This show doesn’t entirely feel like it came to an end but as if we paused the story in order to tell it later. Yes the hex was fixed and yes the people of Westview are free to go but Wanda just discovered her new powers and is studying them. The funny thing is that I kinda expected her to go to Dr Strange cause if anyone could help her with magic in the right way it would have been him but instead we see that she’s reading the Darkhold making me wonder if she really will be the villain of Dr Strange 2 given that we know she’s in that movie. Haywood was arrested and Monica met up with one of the Skrull who I’m assuming are going to take her to the space station where Fury was in Spider-Man Far From Home. White Vision also did seem to get his memories back but he flew away and disappeared making me wonder if he’ll be a new character or not cause he’s still a robot given that he doesn’t have the mind stone in him. We also found out that Evan Peters was actually Ralph all along and he really was just stunt casting as a wink and a nod to the fans so I’m still hoping that Marvel will bring back Aaron at some point!

In two weeks I’ll be back with Falcon & The Winter Soldier!!

xoxo Allie 

What Shows Am I Watching This Week?

 Hello everyone and welcome back! Let's dive right in shall we?

Horimiya Season 1 Episode 7

Something about this show just hits all my feelings and I'm thrilled as can be that I've gained a new romance shoujo anime to go on my list. We spent the first half with Yuki who apparently had a crush on Toru and it makes me feel bad cause we also know that Sakura likes him but after seeing how much Yuki gives up everything that she wants for others, I really want Toru to like her too especially since something about Sakura has never clicked with me so I wasn't sure if I wanted Toru with her and now we have options! I'm not entirely sure if there's enough time in this series to give to Toru falling for another girl but since Hori and Miyamura are so sweet and their relationship has been sailing smoothly maybe we do? In terms of my adorable main couple, Miyamura went away for a week and he ended up forgetting his phone charger so the two were apart for a whole week without any communication. I really liked that rather than buckle down on the cliches and make it so that Hori was pissed at Miyamura for not texting her or worried that he wasn't interested that she just told him she missed him and went to see him as soon as she could. Also are we meant to believe that the two slept together while it rained cause it was definitely suggestive in the wink wink nudge nudge sort of way!!!

Superman & Lois Season 1 Episode 1

When I first heard this show was going to be a thing I wasn't very interested but then I saw the trailer and it reminded me so much of a movie rather than the typical Arrowverse show and now after having seen the first episode, I have to say I'm so torn. I really like the world this show is building and there's something sweet about the idea of the Superfamily living their life in Smallville but I can't decide if this show is meant to be outside of the Arrowverse. Last we saw in Crisis On Infinite Earths Jonathan and Jordan had just been born but this show takes place 14 years later. Are we meant to think that this is 14 years in the future therefore none of the Arrowverse continuity matters? What about the cameo we got in the end of Lex Luthor? Will he be the same Lex from Supergirl or a different one? I also don't know how I feel about the balance between the superheroics and the family stuff. Is Clark our main lead or is it Jordan? Every time we cut to Clark fighting Lex in that suit I kinda felt like oh okay cool let's go back to the others now even though the CGI was impeccable and every Superman scene we've had was beyond amazing. Maybe as the show goes on I'll be able to get on board though part of me wonders if this show will be long running or more of a miniseries based on how it feels up to par with some of the Marvel Disney+ shows like Wandavision.

So the promo that aired was actually more of a sizzle reel for the rest of the season. It does look like the Superfamily will be moving to Smallville and they'll be struggling to balance the super life with normal life. I do wish that Jordan wasn't quite so angsty but here's hoping that we don't get too much of his broodiness.

Jujutsu Kaisen Season 1 Episodes 20

I am constantly in awe of how stunning this show is but as time goes on I kinda get so used to the beauty of the animation so I tune it out until bam it hits me all over again! I also think it's interesting how obvious it is that the same animator for Demon Slayer is the main animator in this show cause he just has a unique way of animating attacks and it's fun to watch. I was really into the second half of the Itadori and Aoi fight against the special grade curse spirit and not only was it super fun to see them seriously outplay the spirit, I also really liked Aoi's swapping power too. Everyone but Itadori honestly has the coolest powers but I suppose if I had to pick one for Itadori it would be something like brute strength and endurance since as we saw Itadori could pull off 4 Black Flash attacks without breaking a sweat or with any practice and that's supposed to be the record! I also want to shout the fact that Gojou really is a god in this world cause he can literally do anything and I wonder if he's only not in charge just cause he doesn't want the pressure. In less than 30 minutes he was able to break the veil and in less than one second defeat one of the cursed spirits. I also do wonder if that guy that the girls ran into is the human that's helping the cursed spirits and whether he'll be important. 

Wandavision Season 1 Episode 8

This week was seriously epic cause we got a little backstory on Agnes and a little backstory on Wanda and I'm left wondering where we'll go from here. As it turned out Agnes wasn't actually behind the hex as I thought last week and I kinda love that she's more chaotic neutral than true evil despite her saying that Wanda is the one with chaos magic. After Wanda cast the hex, the amount of pure magic she used attracted Agnes who came to not only see what this source was but also how she did it. I wonder if she'll end up being some sort of mentor for Wanda in the future cause it's clear that while Agnes is more well versed in witchcraft, Wanda mostly just does things on pure willpower and has no idea about the mechanics. We also followed Wanda through her past from when she was a child to when she awakened her powers at HYDRA to right after Vision died. We also saw her go to SWORD and say goodbye to Vision and the important thing to note here is that Haywood though he seemed like a good guy at this point must already have been doing sketchy things cause as we see at the end, SWORD wasn't dismantling Vision for the greater good but actually trying to rebuild him as a SWORD weapon and I'm really interested in the fact that the footage that he showed the others was clearly not the whole story cause Wanda didn't break in and steal Vision. She was invited in and she left quietly. With the finale airing next week, I wonder who if somehow Dr Strange will appear cause Agnes can't be the only person in this world who felt the magic Wanda released right? Will SWORD Vision have all his old memories? Are Tommy and Billy even alive or will they vanish like Vision once the hex is lifted? 

xoxo Allie 

What Shows Am I Watching This Week?

Hello everyone and welcome back! Let's dive right in shall we?

Horimiya Season 1 Episode 6

The best thing about this show is the way it so obviously subverts all rom com expectations! Like this week the whole school found out that Hori and Miyamura were dating and were horrified about why Hori would date a loser like Miyamura so Miyamura cut his hair and suddenly everyone was in love with him. Part of me in heartbroken cause I thought he looked the best with his hair up but the rest of me adores how little Hori cared about what people thought and was only upset cause girls started to hit on Miyamura now. This takes me to the subversion that I mentioned up top! A new girl was introduced and just when you thought that she would be there to flirt with Miyamura and tell Hori to get lost, it turns out that she actually had a girl crush on Hori but I think she'll end up seeing Miyamura as her older brother and if that's not the cutest I don't know what is! I also love how natural Miyamura and Hori act around each other and I squealed when he kissed her and stole the candy out of her mouth like damn Miyamura you've got moves!

Riverdale Season 5 Episode 5

This episode was fairly interesting as we finally got the answers I was looking for over what would cause our heroes to remain in Riverdale despite having other obligations. Hiram ends up closing down Riverdale High despite all our heroes deciding to become teachers there to protect the students or at least until Riverdale High can hire permanent teachers. This is a little unfortunate cause I actually liked the idea of Cheryl buying the school and making it a private one but I'm not sure where the show will take it from here. I also don't love that Hiram turned down Veronica when she came to him for help cause seriously of all the horrible things they've done to each other, they still love one another and I can't believe that he would be like yo my daughter is in an abusive marriage oh well. Jughead ended up finding inspiration for his new book in Riverdale as well as I expected him to but rather than writing some sort of murder mystery, apparently he's going to be writing a book based on Pop Tate which will give him the perfect excuse to flirt with Pop Tate's granddaughter. Meanwhile Betty and Archie are hooking up now and I'm really confused about this cause isn't Betty dating her FBI mentor? Why are these two so cool with cheating constantly? I guess I should shout out the fact that their scene was definitely hotter than any sex scene that Archie and Veronica have had and maybe even Betty and Jughead though those two were less about the physical and more of the mental/emotional romance. We do find out that they haven't spoken to each other since Jughead's book release 2 years ago and I'm really hoping the plan for this show is to bring them back together slowly whether that's this season or not!

The promo for next week doesn't really seem to show us anything that we didn't already know. Betty and Archie are struggling to find somewhere to hook up (blech) and Jughead learns about something called the Mothman which is maybe the villain of the season?

Jujutsu Kaisen Season 1 Episodes 19

What's funny about this week is how Itadori and Toudou have basically become best friends and brothers in the short time we've spent away from them and I can't help but imagine Toudou mostly just strong-armed Itadori into it. Either way I'm content cause in that time away Toudou helped train Itadori enough that he can now visualize his curse energy better and can use something called Black Flash which apparently allows you to better control your energy. It led to a super badass fight in which Itadori and Toudou held their own against the special grade Cursed Spirit. This was also interesting cause poor Megumi and company really struggled to hold it back to the degree that Toge was super hurt from using his power so much. It seems like his power is super OP but the downside is that it drains him too quickly. I also didn't really his powers are dependent on how much stronger he is than the curse spirit which really feels unfair though I guess it keeps him from winning all the time and without any problems.

Wandavision Season 1 Episode 7

I'm cackling cause the end of this week's episode was honestly nothing like I expected it to be! I mean yeah everyone and their mother knew that Agnes had to be Agatha Harkness aka the villain behind this whole reality warping thing but the way the show revealed it in a sort of Scooby-Doo style was everything. We didn't really get an explanation as to why she did all this or what she hopes to gain but I'm sure that'll be a problem for next week. What we do know is that she was behind bringing Evan Peters into this show as Pietro and that she has a Darkhold which really is sad cause it reminds me of Agents of SHIELD and how if this world really is supposed to be connected then she must have grabbed it from hell cause that's where Robbie Reyes tossed it in season 4. I still really hope that the show gives us a good explanation about why she chose Evan Peters and not Aaron Taylor Johnson and that it's not chalked up to meta humor or stunt casting that would suck but I'm really excited to watch the last two episodes and focus on the hero/villain stuff again. Darcy did bring Vision up to speed on what happened out in the real world and Monica managed to get into Westview cause of her new powers which I think makes her Photon now!

xoxo Allie 

What Shows Am I Watching This Week?

  Hello everyone and welcome back! Let's dive right in shall we?

Horimiya Season 1 Episode 5

My goodness this show is prime rom com isn't it?? I think it has to do with the fact that this anime is only going to get one season so they're probs trying to fit volumes and volumes of manga into 12 episodes which is why things are moving so fast. Last week I mentioned that I was curious as to whether Miyamura told Hori that he loved her cause she was awake and whether she would act on it or pretend she was asleep and this week we got the answers. Miyamura knew that Hori was awake which is why he confessed and while Hori was a little awkward about it, in the end she decided that he was her boyfriend now which is an indirect confession. I also liked that it ended up being her dad that sort of was the catalyst for her acceptance but I'm still kinda curious what his role in the family is. Is he kinda a drifter who comes and goes or are her parents divorced cause we've never seen or heard of him before. It was also sweet of Miyamura to call Toru and tell him that they were dating and that Toru was mature about it by telling Miyamura to chill over his guilt cause even though he felt kinda shitty over it, at the end of the day, Toru was too good a person to linger. Maybe he should get to know Sakura more!

Riverdale Season 5 Episode 4

I don't even know where to start this review of this week's Riverdale episode cause I don't even know what I'm watching anymore! I mentioned last week that I thought this would end up being a soft reboot for Riverdale and that's exactly what we got. The show feels different and more mature and yet partially the same which I'm sort of down for that cause it's definitely more exciting than the same old same old. We spent chunks of the episode getting to know each of our main four characters and where they are in their lives now before bringing them back to the cesspool that is Riverdale. Archie became a Sergeant in the army but was sent back to Riverdale to revive the ROOTC program and he's really the only one without problems. Betty joined the FBI after Yale I'm assuming but she's still a trainee and is dating what seems to be her mentor or maybe boss. A little while ago she was hunting a serial killer and went off on her own without backup and ended up being captured and held for two weeks so she's struggling with a shit ton of PTSD. Jughead graduated and published a pretty popular book two years ago but he's been struggling to write another since. He's become a bit of a ladies man which is hilarious to me but he's also in debt somehow? Veronica meanwhile was a shark on Wall Street but then got married and now she's starting to see that she basically married another Hiram with how controlling he is. Cheryl's become a recluse while Toni is the head of the Serpents and guidance counselor at Riverdale High alongside Kevin who's the drama teacher. Fangs and Sweet Pea are driving trucks while Reggie is Hiram's right hand man while they try to strip Riverdale dry in order to force people to live in Hiram's SoDale project. So far our heroes have all congregated in Riverdale in order to celebrate Pop's retirement but Jughead's narration made me think that maybe a murder will keep them all in town. I wonder if Betty's runaway serial killer will the one we're hunting?

The promo for next week doesn't show much other than it looks like Archie and company will be taking his house back from the Ghoulies. I guess this means the others are on board with Archie's plan to save Riverdale? Idk other than Archie and Jughead who can write pretty much anywhere, it does feel like the girls have things to do and places to be so I wonder what will cause them to stay.

Jujutsu Kaisen Season 1 Episodes 18

I really enjoyed this week's episode and it probs has a lot to do with the fact that our villains have infiltrated this competition so instead of watching two schools fight one another and angst over their similar struggles we get to watch them team up and take down demons! I still do miss Itadori which is totally funny to me cause I've never cared about a shounen protag so much before. Usually I'm so much more into the ensemble but I wonder if it's cause Itadori is smarter and less maniac or naive then most protags so I can connect with him more. The veil that was dropped was only meant to keep Gajou out but the Cursed Master who cast it didn't seem to know that which makes me wonder if the villains lied to him cause they know that Gajou is too strong or if they purposefully separated Gajou from the group in hopes that he can be defeated easier. It was hilarious though seeing the other Principal pull out an electric guitar but I guess that his Cursed power is going to be related to sound waves or something. 

Wandavision Season 1 Episode 6

This week straight up left me with chills and like slow clap to this show for pulling it off. I also want to shout out Elizabeth Olsen for playing Wanda just shy of insanity perfectly cause it constantly feels like you've gotta be careful around her cause one wrong move and she will kill you no questions asked. I still feel like there's someone pulling the strings behind the scenes just for Pietro alone especially since it seems as though he's not completely brainwashed like the others. It was just strange that he was asking Wanda questions like how did you do this and his constant commentary about what his role in this week's sitcom was and his jokes about Vision being dead confused me. Is he fully aware of everything but enthralled to think that Wanda is his sister? We do know now that Wanda is the one controlling Westview and that she can move the barrier but the question still remains if she was the one to start it all. I'm also really confused about the twins and whether they can exist outside this barrier since the stuff that SWORD pulled out was okay but Vision started to die again so maybe her reality bending powers only work on inanimate objects? It's also important to note that Monica, Jimmy, and Darcy no longer trust Haywood and they discovered that he's definitely after Vision cause of the Vibranium but now that Darcy has been sucked in, I think that Vision will wake her up and they can exchange notes.

xoxo Allie