[Sh Ranger]

I just watched Black Geats and the 4 Aces in preparation for Boonboomger tomorrow.

The plot with the 4 Aces reminds me of my favorite Kiramager episode with the 5 Senas. However, while that episode uses it to teach a moral about the importance of pessimism (in moderation), this movie uses it to teach a moral about the importance of heart.... You know, like, that thing where desire comes from. It's predictable, but it works for the story anyway. I still think it would've been a more interesting premise to have the characters meet some previous incarn-Ace-tions rather than 4 aspects of the same one.

Appropriately for the villain, Mela doesn't really have any desire, he just wants to bring ruin cause that's the only kind of empty happiness a post-apocalyptic future nihilistic god-hunter can have. But like, that's just a less interesting Beroba, right? His sidekick, Melo, apparently has her entire backstory given in side content and her last appearance is Tsumuri kicking her in to sand, which feels pretty anticlimactic. Other than that, she's portrayed by Lupin Yellow's actress and at least tries to do something, which makes her slightly better than Samas.

It's definitely a fun and humorous movie though. Like the irony of Buffa getting annoyed by Geats of Power fighting the same way as Buffa at the expense of his usual skill and spatial awareness. The action was cool as well, with X-Geats living up to the concept of a dark version of Geats without desire and showing no mercy to Tycoon Bujin Sword and Buffa Zombie. The last act in the ruined world with everybody's hopes all on Ace without his brawns, brains or luck felt ominous, even more than the Grand End in Geats IX's debut episode. There's also the return of Sae as Lopo, a cool character who I would've liked to see more in the show, as well as Win actually being Punkjack.

Overall, I enjoyed it and thought it easily surpassed the admittedly low bar of RealTime and Battle Familiar. I think Book of Ruin wins in action and spectacle, since that's like 95% of the experience, but with the standard summer movie runtime 4 Aces does tell a more complete story. It also gives a much more satisfying ending than the show, establishing that Ace's friends still remember him and more importantly, they remember that despite being a god he's still a goofy weirdo. It's satisfying to see Ace be confronted with that mocking image of him in a humorous way and this movie succeeds in putting him back in the position of a flawed and intriguing protagonist.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mesnick

P.P.S. Also, since there was a lot of controversy during the show that Neon does not necessarily crave romantic love, in this performance she directly refutes this statement:

Putting aside the questionable canonicity of live stage shows, this would be set after the finale anyway, with Neon's family problem already resolved. So she's not really refuting anything.