Mysterious Black Figure Theory

Written by Brandon Mills

The mysterious black figure haunting Jack’s hallucinations is a dullahan or headless horseman as the Western culture knows the creature by. The figure is cloaked in all black but one can clearly see he is sitting upon a horse as he stares down Jack. The image of the dullahan we keep seeing shows the dullahan with his head attached still, which has become a common portrayal of the creature in most animes and cartoons, with it’s most recent anime portrayal being in Konosuba. The appearance of the dullahan will only bring misfortune to Jack as dullahan’s are seen as harbingers of death. Dullahans have been known to work in tandem with banshees and only appear when they sense a soul getting ready to depart from its mortal body. The banshees working with dullahans often appear near water and create illusions to further pry the soul from the body. When a soul is ready to depart from its mortal body the dullahan’s eyes will glow red or green, and unfortunately for Jack. This doesn’t necessarily mean Jack will die however it is definitely a possibility after the morbid tone and setting of this season. The dullahan could be foreshadowing Jack’s trip to the underworld and ultimately his fight against the demon. If this is the case it wouldn’t be alarming if Jack decapitated the demon and it was still alive since it is a headless horsemen (dullahan).

Read more about dullahans and banshees here:

https://maskofreason.wordpress.com/the-book-of-mysteries/know-your-ghosts/europe/dullahan/

https://maskofreason.wordpress.com/the-book-of-mysteries/know-your-ghosts/europe/banshee/

TV Review: Samurai Jack Season 5 Episode 1

Written by Brandon Mills

Samurai Jack is back! Or is he? After a long wait for the return of Samurai Jack, the creators of the show considered their audience very well as the writing style, themes, humor, and tone has been catered towards a mature audience (i.e. kids watching the show 14 years ago and now). After the unfortunate event of Jack losing his sword in the last episode of season 4, Jack has been wandering around Aku’s future for 50 years and for better or for worse hasn’t aged at all, grew a wise man’s beard, rides a motorcycle, and has some stylish armor. We can safely assume Jack has been fighting Aku’s minions during the 50 year time-skip as he shows in the opening scene he is still the stoic face, witty, butt kicking samurai we grew up watching. The spirit of the samurai, the sakai, has not faltered over the 50 years. Unfortunately, those are the only positive things happening to Jack. 50 years without the only key (his sword) to returning to the past to stop Aku has waned heavy in Jack’s mind and heart as we see him going through an existential crisis throughout the episode in addition to the external threats the world poses. Jack sees vision of his village and his people and questions whether he remembers his purpose and wonders if he’s abandoned his people since it’s taken him so long to return. These visions all contain a mysterious black figure, sitting upon a horse with bright glowing red eyes, eyes that give off a very ominous glare that is fixated on Jack. Jack will usually snap out of these visions after a long stare down but they come to him at the worst of times.  Recall that Jack has a huge bounty on his head and assassins, mercenaries, and the like all want the prize and are constantly assaulting him. This season we have Aku’s favorite assassin, Scaramouche the merciless, and a mysterious cult of Aku followers, who trained seven daughters with their only purpose of existing is to kill Jack. Jack meets Aku’s favorite assassin after a pressing journey and the showdown between them is entertaining in all shapes and forms. Scaramouche definitely lightens up the show’s dark setting with some witty humor and unique powers. Scaramouche calls Aku on his cell phone in the middle of battle, uses sound to manipulate his weapons and surroundings, while talking in a retro Austin Powers voice, yeah baby. Jack ultimately wins the fight against Scaramouche and takes a special weapon, capable of dismantling anything it comes into contact with, before Scaramouche disappears. It was no easy task though as Jack fell victim to the visions he kept having and Scaramouche being a venerable opponent didn’t attack Jack in his trance state and waited until he snapped out of it. These visions could become a problem in future battles especially with the seven assassins from the cult coming after Jack as we see them run off into the real world at the end of the episode. Jack has many obstacles to overcome if he is still trying to return to the past and put an end to Aku’s reign of terror. Only time will tell if he can endure these hardships and accomplish his true goal.

TV Review: DC's Legends of Tomorrow Season 2 Episode 14

When the Legends track Commander Steel to NASA Headquarters in 1970, they discover where Nate’s grandfather hid the last fragment of the Spear of Destiny; tension grows between Rip and Sara over leadership of the team.

DC’s Legends of Tomorrow does its best Apollo 13 impression as the team heads to the doomed mission in hopes of grabbing the last fragment of the Spear of Destiny.

The episode is an interesting one in that it allows Nate to really explore his family dynamic as he interacts with his grandfather and contemplates changing the timeline in hopes of fixing his family dynamic. There’s something touching, but predictable about it all.

The episode is generally fun with Ray Palmer giving off his general excited vibe as he heads to the moon and a small musical number breaks out at one point (it works). There’s also tension between Sara and Rip and Sara’s leadership over the team. Where does that leave Rip in it all? We’ll find out.

The episode is entertaining and as usual throws it all out there in the crazy that is this series. You can tell everyone is enjoying themselves and the stories, like this episode, are over the top in plot and action. The end of the episode is where it’s at though. I’m not spoiling it, but it connects the dots in so many ways and again adds fun to the CW DCverse.

TV Review: Steven Universe Season 4 Episode 18

‘Steven Universe’ rarely misses when an episode is delivered, and this was no exception. Rebecca Sugar is brilliant at using the three-act cinematic structure to develop episodes.

This episode focuses on Amethyst and Steven, with the former no longer wishing to participate in their weekly wrestling matches, due to the fact that she is bored by them. According to her, she only participated because she harbored feelings of inadequacy that she wanted to escape from. Right way this is a testament to how flushed out Amethyst has become as a  character. She has come a long way from the misunderstood little sister of the Crystal Gems, and has many amazing character qualities.

However, and unfortunately, this leaves Steven with no wrestling partner. He tries to cope but soon realizes that he can't enjoy the activity without Amethyst. As the episode comes to a conclusion, Amethyst realizes how much the wrestling means to Steven because it was a way for them to spend time with each other, and Steven realizes that he and Amethyst can still have fun with each other without having  to wrestle.

Rebecca Sugar does it every time. Every. Single. Time. Amethyst and Steven's relationship is one of my favorite things in SU. It's a beautiful little-brother-big sister dynamic that is constantly expanded on through the brilliant use of nuance. Sugar has made it difficult not to be fully invested in these two characters. Their care for each other is genuine and incredibly relatable.

This episode was a welcomed break from the main plot, but I’m looking forward to seeing how well Amethyst and Steven's relationship will be able to withstand young steven finding out the truth about his mother, and why she shattered Pink Diamond. I guess we’ll find out soon enough.

Rating: I’m not crying. My eyes are just sweating.

Goku Wasn't Always Meant To Be The Lead Of Dragon Ball Z

It is nearly impossible to imagine DBZ without Goku. The lovable Super Saiyan has become a bonafide icon in the anime world, and the hero has millions of loyal fans. Shortly after Dragon Ball Z reached peak popularity in the U.S. back in the 1990s, audiences felt convinced no one could ever replace the martial artist - but that doesn’t mean he can’t be.

In the past, the creator of Dragon Ball has shared dozens of fun-facts about the anime, and one of them will make Goku fanatics balk. Years ago, Akira Toriyama sat down for an interview that was included in the second Daizenshuu. It was there that the artist confessed Goku was not always meant to head-up Dragon Ball Z for its entire run.

After the Cell Saga ended, it seems that Goku was meant to be usurped as a lead by one of his sons. Originally, it seems that Toriyama wanted Gohan to become the anime’s hero.

“I intended to put Gohan into the leading role,” the creator said. “It didn’t work out. I felt that compared to Goku, he was ultimately not suited for the part.”

Of course, there are some signs littered through the Cell Saga which point to Gohan’s emerging role. In the anime, audiences first met Gohan when he was little more than a child who often studied under his mother’s eye. However, after Goku was killed in a battle with his older brother Raditz, Gohan was forced to train in martial arts by Piccolo. The half-Saiyan was then able to test his skills against the likes of Freeza and Vegeta before Cell ultimately made his entrance. And, by the time the humanoid creature landed on Earth, the Z-Fighters were well-aware of Gohan’s potential.

During the Cell Saga, the older warriors often commented on Gohan’s potential. As a half-Saiyan, the boy had the power within him to level up over Goku, but Gohan struggled to find the motivation to do so. Goku knew his eldest son was the only one powerful enough to take down Cell when the baddie arrived, so the Saiyan did the unthinkable. The hero sacrificed himself to save his friends and to give Gohan something to fight for. Enraged with grief, the young boy then leveled up into Super Saiyan 2 for the first time and absolutely destroyed Cell after the alien mercilessly killed Android 16.

Super recently kicked off the ‘Universal Survival’ saga. You can check out the brief synopsis for it below:

“At Goku’s request, the Omni-Kings’ “Tournament of Power” martial arts tournament between universes now begins! …But this also proves to be the beginning of universal destruction. What awaits the victors of this tournament, and the vanquished…?! How will these intense team battles between the elites of each universe turn out…?!”

Dragon Ball Super's  “Universal Survival” saga is part of the recent simulcast agreement that sites like Crunchyroll and Funimation have scored. Dragon Ball Super airs on Crunchyroll Saturdays at 7:15 p.m. CST. Toonami will begin airing the English dub on Adult Swim Saturdays at 11:30 p.m.

This ‘Atlanta’ spoof of cartoon cereal commercials is a sharp condemnation of police brutality

Last night’s episode of Atlanta was crafted as a stellar sendup of television networks like BET and TVOne that primarily target black audiences. Sandwiched in between segments of Montague, a fictional news show unpacking a rapper’s transphobic Twitter rant and telling the story of a “trans-racial” black man who considered himself a white person born into a black body, were a commercials for stereotypically “black” products like cigarillos and Dodge Chargers.

While all of the commercials toed the line between being tongue-in-cheek send-ups and explicit jabs at the way advertisers try to market things to black people, one spot in particular dropped all pretense of being lighthearted spoof and turned into a sharp condemnation of police brutality.

The advertisement for Coconut Crunchos opens up with a trio of black children rushing to bowls of their favorite cereal in an Egyptian pyramid when—in traditional Cookie Crisp fashion—they’re interrupted by a pesky wolf who’s hellbent on eating up all of the sugary grains before the kids can get to it. “Nice try,” the kids taunt the wolf when he fails to steal their food. “Only kids can have Coconut Crunchos.”

In the dozens of Trix ads the Coconut Crunchos spot is based on, the cereal-obsessed rabbit waxes poetic about the food before ultimately failing to snatch it away from the children. Crunchos hits all the same beats right up until the moment that the cartoon wolf is tackled to the ground and pinned down by a white police officer as the children look on in horror.

“He’s going to jail, that’s what happened,” the officer explains to the kids as he handcuffs the wolf. “He was trying to steal your cereal, right?”

As the officer jams his knee into the wolf’s back, the kids’ insistence that the cereal is no big deal falls on deaf ears, prompting one of the kids to pull out his cellphone and record the brutal exchange. In a matter of seconds the ad manages to evoke all the same horror people felt watching footage of Eric Garner being pinned to death by a police officer for selling loose cigarettes.

For all its social commentary, the most brilliant thing about the ad is actress Cree Summer, whose voice literally every single black child born after the ’90s will recognize from shows like Inspector Gadget, Rugrats, or Tiny Toon Adventures. Summer’s voice is to black, millennial childhoods what candid footage of police brutality has been to the Black Lives Matter movement: deeply familiar and powerful.

DEFENDERS Cast at NYCC

During the Marvel Netflix panel at New York Comic-Con 2016, Marvel fans were given a shock when the full cast of The Defenders miniseries event - Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter), Daredevil (Charlie Cox), Luke Cage (Mike Colter) and Iron Fist (Finn Jones) all took the stage for the very first time. 

Needless to say, the crowd went berserk - probably the most berserk we've seen since The Avengers cast first took the stage at San Diego Comic-Con back in 2010. From what we learned during cast interviews earlier in the day, this may be the first time the four actors have ever met one another in person. Epic "Excelsior!" moment, for sure. 

Of the four actors/onscreen superheroes, Luke Cage Mike Colter had the good fortune of having his show be the popular one of the moment, which filled the room with chants of "LUUUUUUUKE!" that probably drowned out any other cheers. That's not to say the other Defenders didn't get shown love - we're just talking about deafening yells on top of deafening yells, here, people.

If hype for the upcoming Defenders miniseries wasn't high before, it certainly is now. Cox, Ritter and Colter have earned their fandom by portraying more complex and adult-themed versions of their Marvel heroes than we typically see in the movies; and Game of Thrones star Finn Jones looks well-equipped to do the same (that GoT geek-cred is strong). Seeing how the four jaded heroes come together to face the threat of The Hand will be interesting. 

Daredevil seasons 1 and 2, Jessica Jones season 1, and Luke Cage season 1 are all available on Netflix. Iron Fist will premiere on March 17, 2017. The Defenders expected later in the year. The Punisher does not have a release date yet. 

First Look at Marvel's IRON FIST

During The Defenders and Iron Fist panel at NYCC, Marvel and Netflix unveiled several clips from the Iron Fist TV series, and we have the description for you!

The panel started by promoting the upcoming Defenders series, showing a montage of footage from Daredevil, Jessica Jones and Luke Cage. The footage replayed some of the biggest moments from each show, with plenty of hard-hitting action and super-quotable dialogue. It was an impressive super-cut that got the crowd hyped for IRON FIST!!!

With that out of the way, a new teaser for Iron Fist was shown. It featured new threats (someone holding a hatchet), blood dripping from a fence, a bunch of menacing-looking ninjas, and the rear-shot reveal of none other than Danny Rand/Iron Fist. We then loop back to the first teaser, with Rand punching out his hospital wall. Fade to black and the audience roared with excitement!

Marvel Television's Executive Vice President Jeff Loeb explained Danny Rand's origin before presenting an actual clip from the series. In it, we see Rand (as an adult) returning to America, walking through the streets of New York. He looks at the skyscrapers with childlike wonder. He sees his family company on Vanderbilt Avenue and tells a nearby food vendor, "That's my building!" The food vendor is understandably skeptical. Rand enters the building asking for Harold Meachum, but the front desk clerk is also skeptical. She shooed Danny to the side, where he watches a video intro about Rand Enterprises featuring Harold and his son Ward. Security then arrives to escort Danny (who does look like a street vagrant) out of the building. Danny then displays some calm - even considerate - martial arts prowess, dancing around the guards, lightly disarming them, and spinning his way into the elevator to go up and see Harodl Meachum. His fighting style and mannerisms are cool and compassionate, using non-aggressive fighting styles like Jujitsu.

In Marvel’s Iron Fist, Danny Rand returns to New York City after being missing for years, trying to reconnect with his past and his family legacy. He fights against the criminal element corrupting his world around him with his incredible kung-fu mastery and ability to summon the awesome power of the fiery Iron Fist.

The cast also features Finn Jones (“Game of Thrones”) as Daniel Rand/Iron Fist, Jessica Henwick (“Game of Thrones,” “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”) as Colleen Wing, David Wenham as Harold Meachum, Jessica Stroup (“The Following”) as Joy Meachum, and Tom Pelphrey (“Banshee”) as Ward Meachum, as well as a guest appearance from Carrie-Anne Moss (“The Matrix”) reprising her Jessica Jones role as lawyer Jeri Hogarth

Uncover the secrets of the mystical K'un-Lun when Season 1 of Marvel's Iron Fist premieres with 13 one-hour episodes on March 17, 2017 at 12:01 am PT globally on Netflix.

Jeffery Dean Morgan Provides Insight on TWD Season 7

Jeffrey Dean Morgan's Negan has become the centerpiece of The Walking Dead universe. The character, however, has only appeared on screen for about 12-minutes plus a Season 7 trailer. Needless to say, fans are clamoring for more.

Morgan is fully aware of the hype surrounding his character heading into the momentous seventh season of the AMC series.

"The show hasn't even aired yet," Morgan says of the fan reactions. "They had a little bit, 13 minutes in [episode] 16 last year."

Quickly, the Chris Hardwick-lead conversation turned to some insight about Negan. Given how little we've seen of the character on television, fans unfamiliar with The Walking Dead comics are likely unprepared for what's ahead.

"To have somewhere to go, you have to believe in what you're doing," Morgan says of his portrayal of Negan. "What he is doing is essentially the same thing these people are doing. He just happens to carry a baseball bat who he loves dearly."

"He's a bit of a showman," Morgan goes on about his villain. "This world is his stage. You can call it cocky but we all watched Rick get cocky."

The crowd cheered in response to Morgan, prompting him to quip, "Kill 'em all!" to an even bigger applause at New York Comic Con's The Walking Dead panel in Madison Square Garden.

"As much charisma as Negan has, there is also a big element of fear," the actor goes on. "I think a lot of his followers follow him for fear of getting an iron to their face or worse."

"I've played some dastardly motherf---ers but none of them hold a candle to Negan," Morgan says, before adding that Negan's followers are "scared s---less" of the man but also have a layer of respect for him.

For fans who are familiar with the comics, they know that Negan is largely defined by his colorful language and use of the F-word. "We surgically capture the F-bombs that matter," Gimple says of the language Negan will use the upcoming season. Alternate versions of several scenes will be available for the public when the show releases on blu-ray.

The Walking Dead returns for its seventh season on October 23 at 9 p.m. ET on AMC.

TV Review: DB Super Ep. 61

WARNING: Spoiler Alert

When we last left of, we were introduced to the fact that Black was actually Zamasu in Goku’s revived body, which left us us on a cliffhanger: Who is in Zamasu’s body?

Without revealing too much for those who have not seen the episode yet, in this episode, we discover that Black and this Zamasu are both Zamasu from different periods of time the have united in Trunk’s future for “justice”.

This episode was one we have been waiting for. One that has more action than useless back and forth banter. That being said, it still had way too much exposition. We’ve had enough. We have heard all the talking. We have heard the characters explain the time paradox over and over again in an attempt to cover Toriyama’s blatant lack of understanding for his own content. There is actually a point when Zamasu corners Goku during battle and stares at him menacingly for five seconds, and you think, “okay, here comes some real action”. Nope. He does this and goes right back into flashback exposition mode. It was so so bad that I truly considered turning it off completely and reviewing an episode of Dora the Explorer. And that’s when it happened. That’s when we finally got what we’ve been asking for. Longing for. The Goku we used to know. The unflanderized, no-nonsense fighter. The high-instinct tactical genius. He hears of the death of his family at the hands of Black and he goes full rage mode. Unfortunately, Akira wrote himself into a corner with Black’s infinitely rising power, so, naturally, Goku’s triumph doesn’t last very long. Black’s power “swells” and Goku is bested once again.

At this point, I didn’t see redemption as a possibility for this episode. But when Black pokes and prods Trunks by telling him that what they are experiencing is a direct result of his interference with the timelines, Trunks powers up to a brand new mode, clad with blue and gold aurora with no pupils, indicating that his rage meter just broke. The episode ended with that, so it will be interesting to see how this plays out next week.

My impression of this episode is similar to the one I have of the entire series: There are no stakes. I never feel like anything is at risk. The protagonists usually completely dwarf their foe in strength, or it’s the other way around. There is no in between. There’s no wondering who is actually stronger. Even with Trunks’ new form, I can’t gauge its meaning because it is essentially pointless. I think a lot of this has to do with Akira getting rid of power scaling. This was the worst thing that Akira could have done. Because of this, we have no gauge, so we no longer understand what any of these arbitrary transformations mean anymore. Honestly, at this point, they might as well just be dying their hair.

Trunks’ transformation is a definite point of discuss so there will most likely be another post soon going into detail about that.

Cut to the chase: The episode is worth the watch, and it has its points where it feels like old school Dragon Ball. There’s a bit of tasteless exposition, but it’s nothing a true DBZ fan can’t get through.

Comment below and let us know what you thought about the episode!

Rating: Finally not getting carded at the bar, but then not having enough money to buy drinks.

The Evidence Is Piling Up: Ghost Rider May Be Joining Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Last week, at the San Diego Comic Con, one of the trollies was covered by an ad for the TV show, 'Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.' (pictured below), and the ad featured a flaming chain running through it. This is of course the weapon of choice for Ghost Rider, leading many to believe that he will appear in season 4 of S.H.I.E.L.D. The official twitter account for the show even tweeted a picture of the trolley, with the caption "Get fired up!" 

@AgentsofSHEILD: "Get fired up! Marvel's #AgentsofSHIELD knows how to get to you #SDCC in style."

Now, according to TV Line, the show will be introducing two hispanic brothers in the next season. These two brothers could very well be the Reyes brothers from the more recent Ghost Rider storyline, which also means we won't see the classic Johnny Blaze, previously played by Nicholas Cage (thank god). I think it would be great to see Ghost Rider on screen again, but does make you think, "what kind of dark storyline is Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. getting us into?" Because whenever Ghost Rider comes around, someone's gotta go. I also want to see how much on screen action the flaming skeleton actually gets, especially since this is a television show with television show's limited CGI budget.

Also, just as a side note, TV Line reported that S.H.I.E.L.D. is casting someone for the "very attractive" robot Aida, and also that LMDs (Life Model Decoys) will be used throughout the season.

Power Man Comes To Netflix September 30th

The already extensive Marvel extended universe gets even bigger with Power Man set to release on September 30th this year on Netflix! All of us, here, are extremely excited for this show, seeing as we all of the contributors at nerdy.mango are all young African-American men, it's always exciting to see a super hero that looks like us brought to the forefront (i.e. Static Shock). We are also very excited to see what kind of tone Marvel will give the show, because the tone and feel of the Netflix original series have been almost polar opposites of the Marvel cinematic productions. They have been darker, grittier, more realistic, where as the movies are more colorful, upbeat, and "quipful." Hopefully they keep the same tone and feel as in 'Jessica Jones' and 'Daredevil,' because I've really enjoyed the world they've created for these characters. It adds more of sense of realism and urgency. 

Let us know what you think!

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Dragon Ball Super Episode 49 Review: History Of Future Trunks Explained

Future Trunks actually exists in an alternate future, that for some reason exists along the same timeline as a past that cannot explain the future Trunks returned to the first time. The last time we saw Future Trunks was during the Cell Games, and Goku sacrifices himself to save the world from Cell’s self destruct attack. According to Trunks he then returned to his future, where somehow all the Z-Fighters are still dead, even though they defeated both Cell and the Androids, who were the reasons for their death. He also goes on to tell us that he defeated Babadi and Dabura, to keep Majin Buu from awakening. Then, “Goku Black,” appeared and within a year almost killed every person on the planet. So, if Trunks kept everyone from dying by the hands of the Androids, in the past, why are they, along with the androids and cell, still dead in the future? Because, if Trunks’ actions in the past do in fact change his future (evidence of this is that the world is still in tact, everyone on Earth is till alive, and Babadi is able to surface), then everyone should still be alive in his future (except for Launch). My guess is that Trunks, because he has traveled through time, exists outside of time and created an alternate future that is only slightly affected by his actions in the past. Trunks does remember that Goku sacrifices himself in the Cell Gmaes, but does not know that he is brought back during the Buu Saga, because this is not his past. He exists on another timeline entirely, that is only somewhat affected by the events from the current timeline. This still does not explain why he is still the only Z-Fighter left in his future, or why Mai is his age. The only explanation is that his alternate timeline is broken and Bulma's time machine allows him to travel through time and to different timelines. 

Yeah, I'm confused too...

Honestly, the laws of space and time do not apply here, Trunks is from an alternate timeline, but can still travel along the current time, because... Dragon Ball. But the story is still cool at least! Next episode will see a show down between Goku and Goku Black, hopefully, seeing as Black finds a way to follow Trunks back in time, at the end of the episode.

Dragon Ball Super Episode 48 Review: "Hope, Again!! Trunks Wakes Up In The Present

The last episode of Dragon Ball Super, not a lot was revealed about the mysterious villain, Black. The episode starts where the last one left off, in the future, with Trunks holding Mai's lifeless body in front of Black. Black, then said it was "[Trunks'] turn," and started provoking Trunks to attack by insulting his strength as a warrior and the Saiyan race in general. What was weird was that he was talking about Saiyans as if he himself were not also a Saiyan, which should lead us to believe that Goku has lost control of his body somehow, but that is all we know for sure. However, there are rumors that Black may be a fusion between Goku and a Makaioshin. A Makaioshin is a demon world version of the Supreme Kais, that rule over all of demon world. They also possess the same power of a Grand Supreme Kai. It actually makes a lot of sense, and explains the green potara earring and new body that Goku has. However, the result of the fusion is not consistent with potara earring fusion rules. If it followed these rules, Black would still have at least some of Goku's personality in him, but there is no sign of Goku's personality, seeing as Black is pure evil and cannot sense ki as well as Goku normally can. But, considering the fact that we have never seen a green potara earring, there may be new rules for this fusion that would explain why Black seems to be completely controlled by the Makaioshin. 

Back to the recap: After Black succeeds in provoking Trunks to power up and attack, Trunks gets one good punch in, but that would be the only hit he gets on Black. The fight becomes one-sided very quickly and Trunks becomes badly wounded, but he is able to escape, because, like almost every other super villain before him, Black drags his feet on killing him and makes it into a huge theatrical scene. This gave Trunks enough time to find his sword amidst the rubble of a destroyed building and throw it, boomerang style, at Black's hand to stop him from attacking, and then proceeded to fire a decoy ki blast that allowed him to escape. Then, in dramatic fashion, Trunks is able to escape to the past just as Black fires another, surely life ending, ki blast. Trunks then passes out on the dash board of the Capsule Corp. time machine.

The scenes in the present start with Trunks, Pilaf, Mai, and Shu in math class. The teacher asks Trunks to answer the problem on the board, "1000 - 900 x 0.5=." Trunks mistakingly subtracts before multiplying, and Pilaf jumps up, in very Pilafesque fashion and does a whole song and dance explaining PEMDAS (honestly while watching this scene I did the same thing, and immediately blurted out "50!" in my head, and felt so dumb when I had to watch Pilaf explain why I was wrong, in a grandiose and cartoonish musical number). Everyone applauds Pilaf after his explanation, further inflating his ego, and the class ends. After class they start walking to lunch, and we see another cute/romantic moment between Mai and Trunks, which, to be honest was pretty cool to see. 

Before they were able to get to lunch Future Trunks crash lands in the present outside of Capsule Corp. and they go to investigate. When the get out side Trunks flies up to the time machine, and the teacher freaks out, because she does not know that Trunks is a Saiyan or even what a Saiyan is. I though that was great, because so often the Z-Fighters get so caught up in their own adventures that we forget that they are still on Earth with humans that do not know they are aliens. But anyways, Trunks looks through the glass of the time machine and sees an injured person, and Pilaf tells Shu to run and get Bulma.  They eventually get Future Trunks laid out on a bed, and Present Trunks had a chance to look at his future self. Pilaf, Shu, and Mai start speculating as to who he was. The best theory they could come up with was that Future Trunks was the illegitimate son of Vegeta and that Trunks had a brother. Bulma, on the other hand is trying to contact Goku and Vegeta, who are, of course, with Whis and Beerus training. Interested in the peculiar situation, Whis and Beerus decide to go back to Earth with Goku and Vegeta. When they get back they are able to give Future Trunks a senzu bean, and he regains consciousness. But when he sees Goku's face Trunks remembers how Black murdered Bulma and Mai, then gets up and tries to attack Goku, and the episode ends with everyone completely confused and surprised.

Review: "SOS From the Future! A New Black Enemy Reveals Himself!"

Akira Toriyama has done it again. He's set the stage for what's sure to be another classic Dragon Ball story arc. Last night, 'Dragon Ball Super' released its 47th episode, "SOS From the Future! A New Black Enemy Reveals Himself!," brought back the fan favorite Future Trunks, and introduced a new villain, Black. The episode starts in a desolate future, with destroyed buildings and massive craters in the ground no doubt due to the massive battles between Black and the Z fighters, with Trunks running from Black, who is at this point in the episode just a shadowy figure firing powerful ki blasts. Trunks eventually gets away from him and arrives at Bulma's lab, where she gives him the fuel for the time machine. Bulma stresses to Trunks that there is only enough fuel for a one way trip (she also tells him that "there's always a way back"), and that he should remember that people have died to make his trip possible. Black soon after finds Bulma and Trunks in the Lab, and savagely murders Bulma in front of Trunks. Now Trunks has to flee again and this time meets with Mai, a once henchmen of Emperor Pilaf turned freedom fighter. Mai also appears to be the love interest of Trunks. They talk for a while, Trunks tells her that there's only enough fuel for a one way trip and that they would be going back 17 years, because "that's where [his] friends are." Black finds them, and Trunks attempts to confront him using his sword, that he can now fire ki blasts from. His attacks were ultimately useless, and Mai decides to be a decoy and sacrifice herself, because "[Trunks is] the one who needs to survive." The episode ends with Black killing Mai in front of Trunks, and as Trunks holds his dead girlfriend(?) Black is finally revealed, amidst the destruction and fire, to be Goku with an emerald earring in his left ear.

There were also scenes from the present in the episode, but they really didn't do anything to progress the narrative, so I left them out of the review.

 Last week I said that I hoped this week's episode would shed some light on the specifics of the new arc, but the only new information we get from the episode is that Bulma and Mai are murdered by Black, and that there is only enough time traveling fuel for a one way trip. This episode also tells us that this is the same Future Trunks from the Cell/Android Saga, because he remembers events from that timeline. Something about this episode that I thought was really cool was the fact that no matter what, Trunks is always the lone surviver. He was the only surviver in the 'History of Trunks,' and nothing's changed. It reminds me of the interaction that Hank McCoy and Wolverine have in the 'X-Men: Days of Future's Past,' where McCoy says:

"There’s a theory in quantum physics that time is immutable. It’s like a river — you can throw a pebble in and create a ripple, but the current always corrects itself. No matter what you do the river just keeps flowing in the same direction." 

Trunks being the last person on Earth will always happen, no matter how much he tampers with the past. He is only prolonging the inevitable. 

 Toriyama is notorious for writing himself into a corner and making things up on the fly, making the continuity of Dragon Ball very confusing, but it seems like 'Dragon Ball Super' is planned out a lot better. Time travel in comics and anime is always confusing if you think about it too much, so don't. Don't over think the continuity, don't think about Trunks and his blue hair, don't think about Uub, don't think about where Launch is, and definitely don't think about Mai and how she's actually like 40+. Just sit back and enjoy Future Trunks.

ATLANTA

After being announced nearly three years ago, FX has finally given us a few glimpses of Donald Glover's highly anticipated television show, 'Atlanta.' Though none of the promos have included any dialogue fans are still extremely excited and, for the most part, already understand the direction Glover wants to take the series. At the beginning of the year Glover told the attendees of the Television Critics Association tour that “The tone is everything... I just wanted to make ‘Twin Peaks’ with rappers." For people that do not know, 'Twin Peaks' was a television series,that debuted in the early 90's, about FBI agent Dale Cooper traveling to a small town to solve a murder. The show was very surreal and proves the point that not everything is as it seems. Just from watching the latest promos it's really easy to see that Donald Glover wants to make 'Atlanta' a very surreal and artistic project. Listening to the music that's been playing during the promos, you can tell that Glover is continuing down the same artistic path that he started with 'Because the Internet' and 'Kauai.' Personally, I am a huge fan of those two albums, and seeing these promos makes me think that 'Atlanta' will be the visual incarnation of those albums. 

The show will revolve around two cousins, Earnest (Donald Glover) and Alfred Miles (Brian Tyree Henry), and their conflicting views of artistic expression. Earnest is a loner that leaves Atlanta only to return and work an "unglamorous" job, while his cousin Alfred becomes one of Atlanta's hottest rappers. Earnest sees a chance to manage Alfred's career and, most likely, this is where the conflict arises. 

As an African American man it's exciting to see more shows being created by and starring more black people. There are shows like 'Power,' 'Blackish,' Empire,' 'How to get away with murder,' and 'Scandal,' only proving further that out stories and our talents have mass appeal and that our culture has tremendous influence and value.

“My name is Legion, for we are many” - The X-Men’s Legion Comes to FX

Now that the X-Men Cinematic Universe (XMU) seems to be moving in the right direction after their last summer block busters, X-Men: Days of Future’s Past and X-Men: Age of Apocalypse, 20th Century Fox and Marvel will be extending the XMU onto the small screen, with a series about the mutant Legion. The show will be produced by Noah Hawley, the man behind the FX adaptation of Fargo, Lauren Shuler Donner, Bryan Singer, and Simon Kinberg. Legion will tell the story of David Haller, played by Downton Abbey’s Dan Stevens, a mutant diagnosed with schizophrenia and multiple personality disorder, who learns that, after years of being in and out of psychiatric hospitals, the voices he hears in his head and the visions he sees may actually be real. Dan Stevens will accompanied by Parks and Recreations’ Aubrey Plaza, who will be playing Legion’s friend, Lenny, and Jean Smart and Rachel Keller from Fargo will be joining the cast as Melanie, a therapist. Following the trend of the other Marvel television properties that have been placed in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), Legion will be placed in the XMU, however, there will not be any huge cameos from well “iconic” mutants like Cyclops, Jean Grey, Professor X, etc. Hawley in an interview with HitFix said,  he wants Legion to be a “stand alone kind of thing.” He wants the to keep those characters out of the series to help make it more unpredictable and creative, because like he said, some of those iconic characters “come with rules.” Hawley really wants this series to explore David’s character and his dark narrative. 

In the comics Legion is the son of Professor Charles Xavier and Gabrielle Haller, and seems to constantly be at war with himself, the splintered pieces of consciousness and the personalities that he has absorbed and are trying to take control of his body. Because of his unstable mental state, Legion is made out to be an anti hero, who seems to be doing all the wrong things for the right reasons. After recovering from a coma and being possessed by the Shadow King, Legion decides that he wants to help his father realize his dream of peaceful human/mutant coexistence, and to do this he goes back in time to kill Magneto. Long story short he ends up killing his father Professor X and causing the Age of Apocalypse. And this caused another chain of events that led to him being hunted down by the X-Men. It seemed as if this would be his entire existence; a poor, misunderstood, anti-hero, who only wants to help, but can never get it right. But, after Rogue discovers that Legion has an ever expanding amount of personalities and powers that come with each of those personalities, safe guards are placed on Legion’s mind and many of the personalities are placed in cells through out his mind. 

Noah Hawley most likely will not be drawing much from Legion’s earlier stories, but he will probably borrow elements from Legion’s most recent stories in X-Men: Legacy, written by Simon Spurrier (very much worth the read). This series focuses on Legion and his journey to self realization and conquering his, very real, inner demons. It’s almost like a coming of age series, where Legion learns new things about himself and how to stand on his own. I feel that this will be where Hawley draws most of the inspiration for the show, because it’s centered around Legion’s own personal journey. Also a major plot tool in the comic book series was that they showed the reader what’s happening in Legion’s mind, and it was illustrated as either a large high tech prison where personalities were locked, or as a mad house where monsters ran wild looking to take control of his body. Hopefully Hawley will use this same tool in his series.

The producers and Noah Hawley certainly have their work cut out for them with this project, but knowing that there’s producers like Hawley and Singer behind the wheel is extremely comforting. 

Future Trunks Returns: "SOS From the Future! A New Black Enemy Reveals Himself!"

Only five more days until the Future Trunks/Black Goku saga. I've really enjoyed the series thus far. It's really reminiscent of the original Dragon Ball series; very energetic, childish, and full of action. However, I do feel like we'll see a different tone in this saga, because whenever Future Trunks (almost everyone's favorite character from Dragon Ball Z) involved the stakes are much higher (i.e. Cell Saga and Broly). It does seem like this incarnation of the beloved character won't be the same character from the Cell Saga. It'll most likely be the Trunks from the current timeline. I say this, because it seems he is "involved" with Mai, whom he had a connection with in the Battle of Gods movie, but somewhat contrary to my theory, the Anime News Network released a limited description of the episode via twitter:

"The episode's plot will start in the future when Earth is free from the Androids' domination. A man named "Black" suddenly appears, and Trunks tries to defend himself. He is no match, even in his Super Saiyan form. Bulma is resolved to make a time machine and ask for help from Goku and Vegeta from the past, but after half a year, she only accumulated enough fuel for the time machine to make a one-way trip. Then, Black appears again before Bulma and Trunks."

Hopefully the next episode will clear up more about the origins of this Future Trunks. I'm also excited to see how Goku becomes evil, especially if I'm right and these characters are from the current timeline.