Super Recaps: My Little Pony season 5 (Make New Friends but Keep Discord)

We’re back with another episode of everyone’s favorite reboot of a popular 80’s franchise!  Season five has been trucking along for a while now and it’s been mostly good but still doesn’t feel like it’s reached its stride just yet.  Will another appearance by the one and only John de Lancie be what this season needs to get going, or will yet another episode about Discord prove that even a character as dynamic and interesting as him can eventually be overused to the point of diminishing returns?  Let’s find out!!

The episode begins with Discord and Fluttershy having tea and sharing dirty jokes.

“And he asked them ‘what do you call yourselves?’  And then he says… THE ARISTOCRATS!!”     “HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!”
“And he asked them ‘what do you call yourselves?’  And then he says… THE ARISTOCRATS!!”     “HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!”

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Super Recaps: Sailor Moon Crystal (Episode 22)

Sailor Moon Crystal, as predictably as the tides, had started going downhill in the second half of its story arc.  With lots of great set up and interesting characters to fight the Scouts, it looked like things had started to turn around for the show after the disappointing ending to the Silver Millennium story line, but once the Scouts were taken away and we got to the future (where there’s pretty much no one to care about), it started to look grim once again for this series.  Still, the show had Chibi-Usa who has been a consistent bright spot so far, and the way the last episode ended gave us some hope that things were at least going to escalate in an interesting and meaningful way as we approach the end of this story.  Will this episode make good on the promises of the the last episode, or were we just getting set up once again for disappointment?  Let’s find out!!

The episode begins with Chibi-Usa being tempted to join Wise Man and feel the POWER of the Dark Side!

“With our combined strength, we can end this destructive conflict, and bring order to the multiverse.  Also, I have some candy if you want it.”     “CANDY!!!!!”
“With our combined strength, we can end this destructive conflict, and bring order to the multiverse.  Also, I have some candy if you want it.”     “CANDY!!!!!”

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Super Recaps: Cutie Honey the Live Episode 1 (Honey Flash!)

So here we are with the first recap of Cutie Honey the Live!  If you haven’t read my prologue yet, I strongly recommend you do to get an idea of what kind of show we’re dealing with here.  It’s no secret that I adore the hell out of this show and Cutie Honey in general, but we’re going to take a critical look at each episode of this series to show its strength’s as well as its weaknesses.  Will the first episode suffer from a lot of mistakes that tend to drag down most pilot episodes, or will the rich history that came before this show help to ensure its brought to us fully formed right off the bat?  Let’s find out!!

The episode begins with a series of prison breaks across multiple jails in Japan.  It seems that one criminal from each prison was given a mysterious weapon and are now using it to escape.  The prisoners don’t seem to have a clue as to why they have these science fiction laser blasters, so someone else seems to be pulling the strings for some presumably nefarious purpose.

“I’M A’ FIRIN’ MAH LAZER!!”
“I’M A’ FIRIN’ MAH LAZER!!”

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Super Recaps: My Little Pony season 5 (Appleloosa’s Most Wanted)

We’re back with another episode of the candy coated horse adventures!  Now so far, season 5 has been pretty up and down, what with episodes like Castle Sweet Castle and Tanks for the Memories not really hitting for me as much as the others we saw.  Will this one be another standout episode for the season, or will it be another mediocre slog in between the better ones that we get this season?  Let’s find out!!

The episode begins with the Cutie Mark Crusaders who are trying to come up with more schemes to get their Cutie Marks while visiting Appleloosa with Applejack.  There’s a big rodeo that’s supposed to take place soon, but the local sheriff is a bit apprehensive because some “low down varmint” is in town and he believes they are there to ruin the rodeo.

“Remember the number one rule of the wild west!  There’s no justice like vigilante justice!  NOW GRAB YOUR PITCHFORKS!!”
“Remember the number one rule of the wild west!  There’s no justice like vigilante justice!  NOW GRAB YOUR PITCHFORKS!!”

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Super Recaps: Sailor Moon Crystal (Episode 21)

We’re back with another episode of everyone’s favorite show about time traveling []!  Now the show has been headed towards a train wreck situation for a couple of episodes now like the last story arc did once it hit the midway point.  Still, the potential for this story has been evident since the beginning and there’s more than enough places they could go to make this a satisfying chapter in the anime.  Will this episode begin to turn things around, or am I just an optimistic fool trying to ignore the fact that this show is about to crash and burn in spectacular fashion yet again?  Let’s find out!!

The episode begins where the last episode left off with Prince Demande finally showing himself before our heroes.

“KNEEL BEFORE YOUR FIERY GOD!!!”     “You’re just using a strobe light you dingus.”
“KNEEL BEFORE YOUR FIERY GOD!!!”     “You’re just using a strobe light you dingus.”

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Super Recaps: Cutie Honey the Live (PROLOGUE)

Cutie Honey Normally I don’t preface a new set of recaps with a lengthy explanation of why I’m doing them, but in this case I felt it was appropriate and necessary to provide a little back story and history.  This clearly isn’t going to be something that will be to everyone’s liking considering what’s in the show itself and the franchise that it’s a part of, and I can totally understand where that is coming from.  I’m a huge fan of this series in particular and am starting to experience the franchise as a whole which has maintained a surprising level of quality over its forty year life span.  That said, it’s also been consistently problematic over that time and after taking a brief look at every televised and film adaptation of this series, it’s pretty depressing to think how it’s actually somewhat regressed in certain iterations.  On the one hand, having such a clear interpretation of the character and the world is probably one of the reasons that it actually manages to be good every time someone dusts off the series (it’s maintained a single theme song since the anime debuted in 1973) but it’s also no doubt led to the creators of each version having a convenient excuse to continue some of the things that weren’t so great about previous interpretations.  Before I go any deeper, let’s first discuss what the hell it is I’m going to recap.

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Super Recaps: My Little Pony season 5 (Tanks for the Memories)

After last week’s return to form for the series, we get a Rainbow Dash centered episode.  Now she can be pretty hit or miss when it comes to having her own episode, what with lackluster outings like The Mysterious Mare Do Well and Daring Don’t, but hopefully the writers have been able to learn from past mistakes and give us another stellar episode with everyone’s favorite egomaniacal Pegasus.  Will they pull off something nuanced and compelling examination of this character, or will we fall back on old tricks and wind up with another disappointment?  Let’s find out!!

The episode begins with Rainbow Dash who is helping everyone get ready for winter.  While doing so, she’s chatting excitedly with her pet turtle Tank about all the amazing things they’ll get to do during the snowy season!

“WE’RE GONNA HAVE SNOW BALL FIGHTS, AND DRINK COCOA, AND WATCH DIE HARD!!”     “Yeah… I think we need some space.”
“WE’RE GONNA HAVE SNOW BALL FIGHTS, AND DRINK COCOA, AND WATCH DIE HARD!!”     “Yeah… I think we need some space.”

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