(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.)
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 of certain episodes, but only if said material pertains to the animation in a notable way.
3. For the fights that had multiple animators, I'll just be reviewing them as one package. The logistics of trying to do otherwise would be ridiculous.
4. I'll give each animation a ratings from 1-10. In the event of any ties, I'll break them with a final ranking.
5. Since the recent "drama" involved talk about rankings, I'll state the obvious: how good I think these fights are is just my opinion, and the scores are just reflections of said viewpoint.
Got that?
Good. Let's get going.
Season 6
Ganon Vs. Dracula
Something that's been a bit lost-to-time is that expectations going into this one were pretty mixed, and overall on the lower side. The headlining animator duo of DevilArtemis and Daitmodachi (along with Doovad Hohdan) were known for making comedy SFM skits rather than full-on fights.
Thankfully, all of the doubters - myself included - were proven well wrong. The main concerns of a very stilted animation were dashed, as we got a highly frenetic and dynamic fight. Lots of quick zooms, pan-outs and camera shifts paired with characters moving all across the x and y axis; the space on-camera felt 3D in the best way. The fight had this without sacrificing on visual acuity, more precise movements, and solid choreography. It's an adrenaline rush that never goes too hard on the accelerator. A ton of sequences were some of my favorite in the show's 3D line-up, and still rank high on that list; Ganondorf deflecting fireballs as he ducks and dives through the castle, Ganon's arrival, and of course the deliciously brutal kill. Special mention goes to Ganondorf being reframed as a Belmont with no idea what he's up against until it's too late, yet still keeping the viewer guessing on if he can turn the tables.
Is it perfect? No. The opening is a bit rough despite the good atmosphere; Ganondorf punching down a door JPEG and having lens flare eyes a second later looked rough. The anime-esque fight was certainly a lot more novel at the time, and it still works great, but it does lead to some of the more interesting abilities on either side not showing up. But those are minor flaws in an otherwise stellar first outing.
Score: 9/10
Season Average: 9/10
Season Score: 9/10
Season 7
Obi-Wan Kenobi Vs. Kakashi Hatake
With Ganon Vs. Dracula blowing everyone away, expectations were understandably high for the newly-dubbed "SFM team" and their next project. Those hopes only grew further when it was announced they'd be in-charge of Star Wars' long-awaited return to DB* and the first 3D Naruto episode. Still, you had a camp of those who wanted to see the team prove they weren't a one-hit wonder. I was somewhere in-between; confident that we'd get a good fight, but wanting to see just how well it'd pan out.
I shouldn't have to tell you this fight is a fan-favorite, both in the more hardcore-community and regarding casual opinion. The hefty view-count helps attest to that, but you'll still see it mentioned among discussions of the show's best 3D fights (and obviously those of the series involved).
Personally, I think it's just oka-*shot*
With that said, most of my problems have to do with the writing, which isn't really what I'm judging. DA wasn't the one behind the weirdly antagonistic dialogue and (usually) forced meme-quotes. The fight fares much-better regarding action and especially visual fidelity. Barring a few weird-looking shots, Obi-Wan's Battlefront model meshes suprisingly-well with Kakashi's Jump Force design. The latter really steals the show, with some extremely fluid movement and hair physics for a lot of the battle.
The training ground works very well for a battleground. Kakashi gets vantage-points and space to pull off ninja shit and use his agility, which in-turn forces Obi-Wan to play catch-up with The Force to close-the-distance with his lightsaber. That dynamic is the action's strongest aspect. The fighting styles are vastly-different in a way we don't often see, so when one gains the advantage, the choreography shifts in intriguing ways. Obi-Wan forces Kakashi on the defensive with telekinesis, then is on the backfoot himself when disarmed. Him getting it back really drums up tension for the climax; the weighty set-up for his stab and Kakashi's Kamui make them decently believable fake-outs too.
The choreography for all this is...fine. It gets the job done, but save the brief hand-to-hand battle, none of its memorable. My one major problem with the animation is Kakashi's ability-usage...or lack there-of. Save the gag segment, all he does is make a Mud Wall, use "Fire Style", cast a Sharingan genjutsu and use a few Lightning jutsu (the failed-attempt at Kamui isn't bad, but could've been literally any attack). The Lightning moves are all cool, but the rest of these are either just okay or not potrayed well. That last case is for the Genjutsu; its a visually-cool sequence, but not how the move works in Naruto at all.
Since my first rewatch, I've always viewed this fight as stop-and-go. Just when it looks like the cool dynamic will pay-off with some great action, what we get is just alright. Again, it all looks great, but Da Graphiz will only get you so far.
Score: 6/10
*Seriously, the so-called "Star Wars drought" was crazy then and even more out-of-place in the current era of constant-returning series and combatants. 5 years and 5 seasons for the world's second-biggest movie-series is just odd, especially when there were (and still are) plenty of varied and cool matchups to do.
Batgirl Vs. "Spider-Gwen"*
...Can I just skip this one? Pretty please?
...No?
*sigh*
People rightfully called this match-up out as embodying the worst of Season 7: lazy booking, an obvious stomp, and another addition to the oversaturation of Marvel and DC fights. But there was at least a glimmer of hope thanks to the SFM team. Definitely a questionable decision to have them do a filler fight like this, but hey, Cable Vs. Booster Gold was a C-tier episode done great, right? Maybe the animation could carry here?
It did not.
It was questionable going into the episode how well the SFM guys would do with a fight focused on hand-to-hand combat. Their last two had some good sections with that, but largely avoided it. At the time, most just said it was because the characters involved didn't go fist-to-fist much. I'd still agree with that notion, but in-hindsight it was at least a partial warning for what we got here.
For the standards DB had set, this fight just looks ugly. No-ifs-and-or buts. The Batcave is the only real exception; it looks alright. A bit barren in-places, but with some cool set-pieces that are used fairly well. The character models...yikes. Despite the Batsuit looking good, Barb's face is just hideous without the specific lighting and effects Arkham Knight used. Gwen's mobile-game design looks like she's made of clay; could they not have just re-skinned a better Spidey-model? They've done that sort-of-thing before-and-since. The Batsuit being so detailed by-comparison makes it look even-worse; if they wanted to use an official Gwen model, the less-detailed and lighting-reliant Injustice Batgirl would've meshed better.
The camera going all-over makes it hard to keep track of the action and where both characters are in-relation to each-other. Said combatants freeze-up during clear openings or to provide them for no-good reason; wonky collision physics are obvious throughout. The ending is unintentionally hillarious at least; Barb clutches her hip after a web stciks her leg, throws a mallet and then turns into a Morlock for her death-face.
There are a few good parts, but not nearly-enough to outweigh all the lackluster to downright bad parts.
Score: 3/10
*If you didn't know, she's never actually gone by Spider-Gwen, not even in the movies (getting called that by people and rebuking the name does not count). One of those things that makes perfect sense in-universe (imagine if we had BatBruce), but gets overlooked because Marvel fans don't actually read comics.
Season Average: 4.5/10
Personal Score: 4/10 (Obi-Wan Vs. Kakashi was decent, but Batgirl Vs. Spider-Gwen was a huge dud)
Season 8
Yoda Vs. King Mickey
Despite the last SFM fight being a clear fuck-up, there was still a lot of anticipation for their next project, albeit with reservations. When said episode was revealed as another Star Wars one, the excitement understandably grew. It felt like a clear response to the last one being clowned-on; no H2H, more magic and weapons that made their prior fights good. There was controversy over Palpatine Vs. Xehanort getting cucked by this one, but that obviously wasn't related to the animators.
Reception mirrored the SFM team's good episodes; overwhelmingly positive towards the animation. Not to quite the same extent, but still. Unlike Kenobi Vs. Kakashi, I was mostly with the consensus. For years my view was constant; the fight had a few problems, but was great overall.
These days, I'd say its largely a forgotten episode. Not due to a major shift in opinion; you just don't hear about it much. The few times I've seen it mentioned, reception is basically the same as on-release. That tends to happen with premieres past Season 3. Why that is...I'll talk about it another time.
The original quibbles I had with this one stayed on a rewatch. There's zero explanation for why Yoda and Mickey are fighting, and that's even weirder if you know your Kingdom Hearts lore (not a flex, btw). The two are fighting on a platform that's clearly Mickey's Dive to the Heart; TLDR, it's his inner spiritual plane. I could buy Yoda reaching it with The Force, but it's shown he got there with a starship...somehow (has Yoda even piloted one of those?). It's surrounded by space and asteroids, so the implication is that it's just some random platform...with Mickey's face on it. I'd be remissed to not point-out how perfectly the arena blends sci-fi and fantasy for a truly memorable stage, but I also can't overlook the logistics.
My other complaint was how telegraphed the ending was. Even by Death Battle standards, the climax has no believable point for a Yoda win. Mickey breaks out none of his trump cards before literally being on the back-foot, whereas Yoda's used all of his best moves already. It's understandable not to have Mickey stop time beforehand given Yoda has zero counterplay to that, but there was a clear workaround. Have Yoda's precognition and telepathy reveal Mickey's big guns, then demonstrate him keeping up the pressure so the King can't use them. Spells have a casting time in Kingdom Hearts, so this isn't a reach. It'd coincide with Mickey starting to lose faith like he does as is, while making that moment feel more earned.
The action is generally good, but not as impressive on a rewatch. Barring one great sequence in the middle with the cane (you know the one), swordplay is done well but not great. A decent bit of the combat lacks weight, which sometimes makes sense given the theme, but often sells things a bit short (hehe). The voice-actors do a great job throughout, but aren't given much memorable dialogue to work with.
Once Yoda starts thwacking Mickey with the cane, things notably improve. The sound design, scale, and unique camera-work all add way more impact; Yoda's Force assault sells his power as overwhelming. Predictable it may be, Mickey's comeback does resonate.
Basically, the fight starts okay and ends strong. That makes for a fight that's good, but not great.
Score: 6.5/10
Saitama Vs. Popeye
Before you ask, no, DA didn't work on Akuma Vs. Shao Kahn. I was surprised about that myself, but definitely not complaining.
All-but the most die-hard One-Punch Man fanboys know this is an amazing fight and episode, comfortably the best of its (admittedly lackluster) season. But the animation is done in 3 different styles, and DA only did one. That means I've got to exclude the decent sprite bit and the outstanding hand-drawn portions that are the focus.
So how does DA's contribution stand? I'd say its pretty solid. The frantic fisticuffs are natural now that Saitama and Popeye have reason to take things more seriously (the Earth getting gouged would do that); the camera struggles to keep-up with them leaping-off and punching through debris, but in a way that enhances the sense of speed without sacrificing any action. The impacts shattering debris and launching both fighters back - something that didn't happen before - further sells the fight shifting into high-gear. Popeye's jupiter-detonating punch packs a good-amount of oomph, so when Saitama just stands admist the explosion, you feel the weight of him finally getting serious. The death punch versus spinach punch needs no elaboration.
My problems with this section have little to do with the animation itself. Barring the two weird line deliveries and Saitama magically breathing in space (you could even stretch that to say Popeye caused it; he's done crazier), I don't have any complaints. The ridiculous Popeye model gets some ire...but come on. It makes perfect sense to have the 'realistic' and anime-y section get Senator Armstrong Popeye.
Score: 8.5/10
Season Average: 7.5/10
Personal Score: 8/10 (Saitama Vs. Popeye being a finale boosts the total a bit)
Saitama Vs. Popeye marked the first time DA participated in a fight the SFM team didn't work-on, which would become the case for all his other episodes. I'd say that makes for a good place to call it until Part 2, but until then, what are your thoughts? How would you rate these episodes, and what's your opinion on DA's work in-general?
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