Ningen's Blog Without a Cause

(Heads-up, I wrote this first part before Ichigo Vs. Yusuke came out. Doesn't change too much but I didn't want to do a rewrite.) If you're reading this, you've seen the news, so I'll keep the preamble short. After a controversial year as the show's main 3D animator and some behind-the-scenes shenanigans (thanks Kratonks), DA's heading out of DB. Point fingers at whoever you want, but barring any changes, it's undeniably the end of an era for 3D fights. What does that mean for the show in-practice? While the show's on-break, now's as good a time as any to answer that...kind of. Not really. Here's some ground rules: 1. No DBX. I'm saving rewatching that for another day, and comparing them side-by-side with main fights would be weird. 2. This is mostly just going to be about the animations themselves. Don't expect a ton of conversation about voice-acting, dialogue or music. I will talk a bit about stuff from the analyses and conclusion ...

Death Battle Prediction: You're Either Perfect or You're Not Winning Apologies for getting this out at the 11th hour. Shanks Vs. Minato took a lot longer than I thought it would ( you should go read that btw ), but this would've come out a few days ago the earliest. Do note that unless I think the matchup really requires and/or deserves it, my episode predictions aren't going to be full breakdowns. Even if I wanted to do one here, I've not the time or energy for it after Shanks Vs. Minato. Is the Matchup Good? The theme is... fine . Ultimate not-Terminators made by mad scientists isn't too inspired, but certainly not bad. The main selling point is the copycat angle; Cell's literally made-up of spare parts, which Metal would basically rip-off in Sonic Heroes. That's a fun comparison, albeit one SEGA would try and have you forget. Save some IDW comics, Metal's barely been pushed to have mid-battle copying since the 2000s. And we all know the comic writ...

 Before the Verdict Both Don't Haki and Chakra Overlap? A common argument you'll see in One Piece Vs. Naruto debates is that Haki and Chakra would overlap as power-systems. For instance, illusions that specifically target one's chakra from Naruto would work on characters in One Piece under this assumption; likewise, Advanced Armament Haki could bypass certain chakra defenses. There are other variables this would affect, but they aren't worth mentioning, since chakra and Haki are very clearly differentiated. Chakra is the combination of one's physical and spiritual energy. By comparison, Haki is expressly pure willpower. Rayleigh did say it embodies the user's spirit, but this is clearly referring to one's will. Souls in the series are only manipulated via very specific Devil Fruits, rather than Haki. Size Calcs When it comes to shonen series with amazing feats of destruction and speed, a common talking point is just how large the relevant areas are. After al...