Intro/Overview
Hello again everybody! Today I will be discussing my feelings about Batman Beyond, Season 1 and my recent foray into the Pokemon gaming subculture. They will be in that order and... yeah... that's pretty much it for the intro...
SPOILER WARNING
If you have not seen Batman Beyond, don't read any further. There are spoilers contained in the review below. It's how I roll... and considering the show was originally aired over 10 years ago, I don't feel bad about spoiling anything.
Batman Beyond, Season 1 - Review
I mentioned in some earlier blog posts and the "Lists" page that I've been watching Batman Beyond. I've been watching it via Netflix. It's technically my first watch-through, though some of the episodes I caught when they aired on Cartoon Network years ago.
That said, I'm going to come right out here and say that Terry McGinnis is my Batman; kind of like how David Tennant is my Doctor. I got really attached to Terry back when I was catching random episodes on Cartoon Network and that attachment hasn't really faded. Don't get me wrong, I love Bruce's Batman, but Bruce ended up as second on my list. There's just something about Terry trying to balance being Batman with his school stuff, Dana, and his family that I find more interesting than Bruce's blatant lack of balance.
I also really liked how Terry ended up becoming Batman. It's rather Jason Todd-esque in a way. Though seeing Bruce essentially leave Terry to die for a bit there made me angry at him. I totally understand Bruce's thought process in the moment, but I don't think Bruce would normally have done that under those circumstances. At least, not the Bruce that I envision while reading comics and watching the other media. I mean, Bruce has a giant soft spot for his cadre of "misfit children." Terry clearly fits right in with Dick, Jason, Tim, Babs, Stephanie, Cassandra, and Damion.
Speaking of Babs, I thought it was interesting that she wasn't paralyzed in this universe. I was slightly disappointed by that because I love Oracle, but seeing her pick up essentially where her father left off is interesting. I'm not entirely pleased with the heavily implied Batman/Batgirl romance thing, though. That just seems really icky to me.
I'm also fairly sure Babs either knows or suspects the truth about Terry's heritage. Or maybe my spoiler-filled brain is connecting dots where it shouldn't. But it's either that or she just noticed how much Terry resembles Tim, Dick, Jason, and Damion... if there is a Damion in this universe. I like my theory that she knows about Terry's heritage, but I'm pretty sure it's the other thing.
On an entirely different note, I have several problems with the villains of Batman Beyond, so far. Most of them are entirely dispensable one-note "monster of the week" villains. In some cases -- such as the blatant Fantastic Four rip-off characters -- they really could have benefited from more than a single episode. That said, I also have a giant problem with Powers as a villain. I personally believe he could have gotten away with just being a power-hungry mob-boss-esque character. But no, they had to make him into the radioactive Blight. I'm really hoping he does not show up again, though I'm sure he will.
In closing, I'm really enjoying Batman Beyond. I probably should have written this review a couple days ago so I could have started Season 2.
My Nuzlocke Challenge
So... there's this thing in the Pokemon fandom that I just found out about a couple weeks ago. It's basically where you play an old Pokemon game and impose certain rules on yourself for the duration of your play through. It was created as a way to make the older, mostly the same, games more challenging and fun. That's pretty much all I'm going to say to explain it, but if you watch the video below and do a Google search, there's an expanded explanation.
I decided to do a basic Nuzlocke Challenge of my own because I had some time to kill. I will be chronicling my Nuzlocke here on the blog as I complete it.
The Game: Pokemon Fire Red
My Character: Vera
My Rival: Master
My Pokemon:
- Frankie the Squirtle - Starter
- Mr.Feather the Pidgey (Deceased) - Route 1
- Ms.Feather the Pidgey - Route 2
- Kors the Kakuna - Viridian Forest
Day One
I asked my little sister (she's 21 and endulges my nerdy-ness) what she thought I should name my character. She suggested some stuff I didn't want to use that were and combination of too long and not actually names before suggesting I use Vera Wang. (We were at the eye doctor's office and there was a poster for Vera Wang sunglasses.) I then named my rival "Master" after my favorite Doctor Who villain. My sister then suggested I name my Squirtle "Franklin." We then named him "Frankie" because "Franklin" was just too long.Everything went pretty smoothly after that until I was training my first Pidgey, Mr.Feather (also named by my sister) and... he was brutally murdered by a Rattata. I was rather sad about this. Pidgey and its evolutions have been starring members of my previous Pokemon teams since I played Pokemon Gold for the first time. I didn't know how I would fare in the game if I didn't have my beloved Pidgey.
I was of course pleasantly surprised when the first Pokemon I encountered in Route 2 was another Pidgey. I decided to name her Ms.Feather in honor of the short-lived Mr.Feather. Ms.Feather has fared far better than her male predecessor.
Upon entering Viridian Forest, I stumbled upon... a Kakuna. One of the most useless Pokemon to catch in the wild. I was not pleased. However, following the rules of Nuzlocke, I kept him and named him Kors... because I'm horrible at thinking up names on the fly and Michael Kors designs sunglasses. Kors went on to be the bane of my existence as we journeyed through Viridian Forest to Viridian City. Kors slowly leveled up while Ms.Feather and Frankie did all the grunt work. We met two annoying kids who decided we must battle Brock and visit the museum... of which we did neither. We then trained and trained and trained in a grass patch just outside Viridian Forest until Kors finally evolved into a Beedrill at level 10 and learned Fury Attack. I was suitably excited until car-sickness overtook me.
Kors the Beedrill:
So that was my first foray into the wonderful world of Nuzlocke. I think I'm gonna have a lot of fun with this.
Sprite Credits
I pretty much stole the sprites from the Bulbapedia.
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