Every Death Battle Season 8 Episode Reviewed In 10 Words or Less
It's been quite a while since I've posted anything here, let alone a review, huh? Well, why don't we fix that? The thing I've tended to notice is that, with my reviews, because I usually didn't know the series too well, with a few exceptions, I just didn't feel like I could give an in-depth review, especially for a series like Death Battle. Thankfully, my brain sometimes has good ideas, and during the hype train for Harley Quinn VS Jinx, aka Season 9's DEATH BATTLE premiere episode (wow!), I figured this would be a fun way to give my thoughts on each episode, catching up on reviews, while also going over the three best and worst for each season. And while this isn't technically a YouTube video, I still feel I should thank JelloApocalypse for coming up with this style of review. A quick rundown of the rules:
I'll be giving each matchup from last season a score from one to ten. A score of one means that it's absolutely awful, whether that be because of horrible research, terrible jokes (besides the ending puns), bad writing, a boring/annoying fight scene, bad reasoning, bad music, etc., while a ten means that the episode's pretty much perfect, with very little room for improvement. At the end of the quick reviews, I'll also give my thoughts on the top three worst and top three best of the season. Please remember, though: these are my opinions. I've got some scores on here that everyone more than likely won't agree with, and I understand that. These scores may very well change in the future, too. Who knows? Well, I probably will when I watch the episodes again in the future, but that's beside the point. With the introductions out of the way, here's...
Every Death Battle Season 8 Episode Reviewed In Ten Words or Less!
Yoda VS King Mickey – A decent season premiere, this was. 6/10
Shadow VS Ryuko – Edgy Hedgehog finally gets his win! …But at what cost? 6/10
Lex Luthor VS Doctor Doom – Lex really was doomed from the start. 7/10
Heihachi Mishima VS Geese Howard – If Heihachi is Elon Musk, then who's Geese? 6/10
Blake VS Mikasa – Was the overly long fart joke really necessary? 5/10
Iron Fist VS Po – There are no accidents. This fight proves it. 9/10
Steven Universe VS Star Butterfly – These two wouldn't fight, let's be honest. 8/10
Link VS Cloud – Great soundtrack, everything else was mixed. 5/10
Batman VS Iron Man – Suits as vast as the budget will allow. 8/10
Goku Black VS Reverse-Flash – Eobard Thawne is delightfully petty and evil, I love it! 9/10
Macho Man VS Kool-Aid Man – OH YEAH! That's the joke. 4/10
DIO VS Alucard – In the words of Alucard, a real fucking treat. 9/10
Akuma VS Shao Kahn – Hey, they finally got Akuma's move names right! 4/10
Korra VS Storm – Best Avatar fight, weather you like it or not. 7/10
Madara VS Aizen – Wait, Aizen actually won?! Oh. Damn, best fake-out ever! 8/10
Saitama VS Popeye – The closest thing to both a joke battle... and perfection. 10/10
Overall, not a horrible season whatsoever. Would I say it's a disappointing season to mark the 10-year anniversary of the show itself? Hardly. Maybe I'm just a glass half-full kind of person, but I do believe that the positives of this season outweigh the negatives, by quite a bit. If I had to compare it to anything, this season was sort of like a roller-coaster ride. It had lots of ups and downs, was generally fun the whole way through, and came to a really exciting finish.
However, now comes the time for what you've been waiting for: My personal Top Three and Bottom Three of the season! But first off, I have to say the obvious: a spoiler warning is in effect. Second, I'm hoping I'm not coming off as rude when I say this, but it was kind of easy to determine the Top Three and Bottom Three of this season. Because, while the ride throughout the season was fun, the fights themselves were more like a yo-yo, with the quality going up and down. And even then, the bad stuff wasn't really that bad, just kind of... mediocre. It isn't really until we get to the bottom three that we really start scraping the bottom of the barrel for episodes this season. Please do keep in mind that I mean no disrespect at all to anyone who worked on these episodes, or to anyone who has any of my bottom three as their favorites of the season. Again, these are just my opinions, which I'm still a bit nervous to even give in the first place, for fear of being ridiculed by them. I know I'm probably just overthinking, like I so often tend to do, but at the same time, I just can't help it.
Anyways, enough about me, let's get on to the top and bottom three! Because I'd like to end things on a positive note, we'll start with the third worst of the season and work our way up to the worst, then do the same for the top three. This way, we can look to the future with a bright outlook! Granted, Season 9's been so good so far, that if we wanted a brighter outlook for it, we'd probably go blind, but regardless, it doesn't hurt to be optimistic. With that being said, here's the Bottom Three and Top Three episodes of the season!
#3 Worst: Blake VS Mikasa
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| (Kinda ironic that this episode's just gonna fade into the shadows, considering these two.) |
You know, I usually don't hype myself up for things too much, or try to set expectations. I find that if I just go into things blind, then I can be surprised by what happens. That's usually how I go about with Death Battle episodes, but with Blake VS Mikasa, for once, I was decently excited. Come on, one of the cooler cast members of RWBY (I haven't watched the entire series yet) facing a badass titan hunter? All with a vocal rock/orchestral soundtrack? And it's a matchup where the RWBY character has a legitimate win, instead of it being, let's say... dubious, like Yang VS Tifa, or a RWBY loss like Weiss VS Mitsuru? These sound like the makings for a great episode!
…And then, it actually came out.
Was I disappointed by the end result? Well, it wouldn't be ranked as the third worst episode if it wasn't at least a little bit disappointing. To give this episode at least a bit of credit, though, it did have a couple of things working towards its favor, including the previously mentioned soundtrack, Thunder Shroud. One of the better tracks of the season, in my opinion. In addition, the fight itself was admittedly pretty fun to watch, and the ending kill was definitely a good one, especially with that ending scream from Mikasa as she's blown up by her own thunder spear. And overall, the fight itself did what it needed to do, using the environment to its advantage and really spreading the battle out. Plus, Boomstick's fourth wall reference at the end did get a laugh out of me.
Unfortunately, with all that good, also comes a lot of... not as good. For as good as Mikasa's VA, Francesca Calo, was in the episode, it's still a bit bizarre and disappointing to not have Blake's official voice actor for this episode, except for some reused voice clips. Oh, sorry, did I say "some" voice clips? Because I meant to say two. Yeah, Blake only has two lines in the entire episode. I understand that Arryn Zech doesn't actually work for RoosterTeeth and has her own schedule compared to Death Battle's and RoosterTeeth's, so for as disappointing as not having Blake be voiced in this episode is, it's also understandable.
What's I can't understand is what they did with the analyses. The analyses for Blake and Mikasa were good, though nothing that really stands out. That is, apart from the "jokes." I get that not every joke is going to appeal to every specific person, and I'm a person who liked puns even before I saw Death Battle using them. Here's the thing, though: Puns are meant for just a quick laugh/groan, depending on who you tell them to. With the cutaway jokes in this episode, though, they've got to really strike that sweet spot, or else they'll just flop. Blake's was... okay? After discussing the different Dust in Blake's arsenal, Boomstick just tosses them aside, which accidentally kills Wiz. Or, a Wiz clone, to be precise. The idea that RWBY Dust can kill Wiz/Wiz's clones is definitely interesting, but it just feels like worldbuilding, and there's nothing wrong with that. At least it's not hard on the ears, unlike Mikasa's, which is literally just an overly long fart joke.
Yes, I'm serious. After the VME gear is briefly explained, Boomstick compares it to farting, and then blows a raspberry for over ten seconds, which somehow kills the other clone. I'll give them points for it being relatable to the audience, but other than that, it's obnoxious, unfunny, and doesn't add anything to the episode, apart from a DUMMI line that isn't even self-deprecating. If anything, it's a ripoff of the previous cutaway gag, so it's not even that original. If it were a running gag throughout the episode, that would've been fine, I suppose, but since it's not mentioned in the conclusion, then it's just a mediocre gag, which fits a pretty mediocre episode.
I'll be honest, though, it was either this, or the Link VS Cloud rematch that would've taken up this spot. The reason why Blake VS Mikasa has this spot and not the rematch? Well... as much as Link losing upsets me, I kind of expected it early on, and the two weeks leading up to the episode weren't too fun, to say the least. With Blake VS Mikasa, I was actually excited for the episode, like I said before, and with just how average it is, that edges it out and earns it this spot.
#2 Worst: Macho Man VS Kool-Aid Man
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| (Anyone else remember Slim Jims sponsoring the first Goku VS Superman? Missed opportunity to sponsor this episode, too.) |
Oh, wow, what a total surprise, the episode that everybody was hating on and making fun of is on the worst list, who would've imagined? It's almost like beating a dead horse at this point, given all of the stuff that's been said about it ever since it was released. I honestly kind of didn't want to put it here, I really didn't, but given the rest of the episodes of the season, it just happens to fall right into place here, like a sad puzzle piece. And for the special celebratory 150th episode of the series, that's not exactly a raving review. Honestly, it's a bit difficult to even talk about this episode at all, just because of how differently it's handled.
Rather than it being the traditional formula-the intro, first analysis, second analysis, fight, results, and credits-this episode instead follows a somewhat modified version. We break away from the laboratory setting usually seen in the animated Wiz and Boomstick segments, and instead move outdoors, as the main plot of the episode isn't so much figuring out who would win between the Macho Man Randy Savage and the Kool-Aid Man, but instead, it's an episode focusing on lore!
Sounds fun, right? Well, it does to me, at least. The problem lies in how exactly this was handled. Rather than this be some kind of intriguing lore, it's more of the same material regarding Boomstick's absent father. (I was gonna say departed dad/daddy, but that just... doesn't sound right.) Wiz and Boomstick receive a call from Marshall, aka, Ringmaster from DBX, who claims that he's actually found Boomstick's dad, having received a tip from a "man in red." So, the two need to come out and see him right away. Seems like a promising start, but sadly, the hype train for episode 150 starts to slow down at this point.
Which is ironic, given that this is when the Macho Man himself makes his appearance, breaking through a brick wall that seemingly came from out of nowhere, and from that point on, the episode tries to continue on like normal. At least, until the Kool-Aid Man randomly shows up too, breaking through his own randomly generated brick wall, and then the hosts move on to covering him, despite Macho Man's analysis not even being finished yet. Jocelyn and DUMMI are then shown to still be in the lab, and Jocelyn performs her first calc for the show (As in Death Battle, not Desk of Death Battle.) If you thought the pacing for the episode was bad before, get ready to see it snap quicker than a Slim Jim made of balsa wood.
Macho Man and Kool-Aid Man finally get into the fight of the episode, which is occasionally interrupted by Wiz and Boomstick making their own calcs and random quips about the two characters. Thinking about it now, it almost does feel like an impromptu wrestling match with no ring, a lot more math, and DEATH. Well, temporary death, at least. Despite the Kool-Aid Man being victorious in this brawl, his juice is able to bring the Macho Man back to life, after a quick fake-out with Boomstick thinking that the Kool-Aid Man - Yes, the Kool-Aid Man - is his dad. After he already thought Randy Savage was his dad.
To make a long story short here and actually talk about the episode itself, the tip guy is revealed to be Deadpool, who leaves just as quickly as he enters after seeing Macho Man lying dead in a puddle of Kool-Aid, Macho Man is revived and guides Boomstick to where his father should be, and we finally get to meet... Mama Boomstick. To be fair, she had only been mentioned up to this point and had actually been hyped up ever since Season Two, so it was at least somewhat satisfying to see her finally make an appearance. But given that the episode was focused on the whole idea of the gang finding Boomstick's dad, it didn't exactly feel like a fair payoff. Even if it was admittedly kind of funny.
So, what exactly stops it from being number one? Well, come on, you can't deny that it's still a fun episode. Not only is the entire Death Battle ensemble finally in one episode together, but from what we get to see of the fight, it definitely seems like they had fun with it, too. From the insane (or, savage) feats for both of them, to Macho Man's flaming elbow drop, to the entire claymation bit, you can't deny that you weren't at least a little bit entertained by the whole thing. And again, I have to give props to the soundtrack, which is a high-energy rock track fittingly titled Oh Yeah!. I do like my rock music, and this is no exception. And at the end of the day, despite what the naysayers will say, the episode is harmless. It was definitely a bit strange at first viewing, and I'm not exactly super eager to watch it again, but it's not offensive or anything. It's just a harmless special episode that was plagued with faked controversy and bad viewership. At least it's finally joined its fellow episodes in having a million views.
#1 Worst: Akuma VS Shao Kahn
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| (Poor Gianni, the first episode where he finally voices a character with a win, and that's the most memorable part about it.) |
If you couldn't guess based on the ratings, yeah, I've got Akuma VS Shao Kahn as the worst episode of the season. I'm not sure if it's exactly controversial saying it's worse than Macho Man VS Kool-Aid Man, but again, it's just my opinion. Then again, it's hard to be excited for a matchup when even the reveal itself is kind of disappointing. I wasn't exactly upset with the idea of this matchup becoming its own episode, because it feels like it's been built up ever since Shao Kahn VS M. Bison first aired way, way back in Season 2. Hell, Akuma himself was in the second ever episode, and I sometimes even think of him as a legacy character because of that, as strange as it sounds. And considering that this matchup was picked over the likely more popular Akuma VS Raoh, from Fist of the North Star, it had to really stand out in order to make its inclusion worthwhile, to some people. And while it certainly stood out, it was like the soldier with a limp, standing in line with all the others. And when you remember these characters legacies as super powerful, unfair fighting game bosses, that's a bit of a problem.
First off, the analyses. They're not too bad, I suppose. They don't exactly have annoying cutaway gags like Blake VS Mikasa or have an awful pace like Macho Man VS Kool-Aid Man, and they go over the characters pretty well for the most part, save an annoying realm-merging feat in Shao Kahn's section that still confuses me, so what's the problem? Simple: I don't remember anything from them. I don't really have the best memory, but if a joke is memorable, I'll more than likely remember it. And, apart from the cutaway that likely could've been done without actually being a cutaway, that being Shao Kahn apparently existing wherever the Death Battle crew lives through hearing his voice insulting and ridiculing Boomstick, I can't remember anything else apart from that. I know I made the joke of them getting the pronunciation of Akuma's moves right, but keep in mind, that's more based off of his appearance from Season One than it is here. I had to relate it to another episode in order to get the mini review in, that's how forgettable it was.
Speaking of forgettable, we move on to the fight scene. From the moment the sneak peak aired, I didn't exactly think the fight was gonna blow me away. Why is that? Well, think about Akuma and Shao Kahn, and how a fight between them would start. Kinda similarly to the last Shao Kahn fight, with Akuma interrupting a match. The only problem is, the way Akuma interrupts the battle is by... using the Raging Demon. Arguably the most famous of all of Akuma's moves, and it was literally used as the very first move in the animation. I get that it's supposed to make Akuma seem intimidating, but for me, it kind of does the opposite. Not only does it waste the chance for a 3D Raging Demon finisher, but if you think about it, it kind of gives away who the winner is right there. I don't really see any way that the fight could've ended besides that, assuming Akuma actually won.
Granted, I like how the climax of the fight was set up, with Akuma transforming into Oni and delivering a literal heart attack to Shao Kahn, then knocking his hammer away and proceeding to deliver blow after blow to the emperor of Outworld, but Kahn, now helmetless and a gaping hole in his chest, suddenly manages to catch the attack, summons his hammer back, which cuts off Akuma's arm, before giving him a football tackle and crushing his head with the mighty sledgehammer, all while shouting "Flawless victory!", which it, uh... kinda wasn't. The rest of the fight was just kind of a slow, boring slugfest between the two, complete with some pretty janky SFM animation and arguably the least recognizable, most boring OST of the season, Satsui no Sekai. I suppose it fits with both combatants, but compared to other phenomenal tracks of this season, it really doesn't stand out all that much, like the episode itself.
I try to go in optimistically, even if it's a matchup that I don't particularly care for, and I tried to keep my hopes up for this fight, seeing that it could have been a really great dual between two of the most recognizable fighting game bosses in video game history. But when you mix together some lackluster animation, subpar jokes, and an all around feeling of "meh," it just leads to a pretty underwhelming experience. I can take a different format if it means the rest of the episode itself is enjoyable, but one thing I can't take sitting down is people or events not living up to potential. This fight has been built up since Season 2, when Shao Kahn first tore M. Bison apart, and it felt like these two were going to square off at some point in the future. Over eight years since that matchup's airing, and we get this as the finale? It's just such a letdown, and why I choose it to be the worst episode of Season 8.
#3 Best: DIO VS Alucard
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| (No wonder Dio's name is always capitalized, people are always screaming at or about him!) |
I'm not exactly sure if it's the spirit of the season or if it's just the particular matchups that work well for this time of year, but between this, Sabrewulf VS Jon Talbain, and Ganondorf VS Dracula, Death Battle's had some pretty damn good Halloween episodes. Or, "seasonal" episodes, as the Death Battle wiki likes to classify them. While I'm still torn on whether or not this is my favorite of the Halloween episodes so far, there's no denying that it's one of the absolute best of the season. Compared to Jotaro VS Kenshiro, which was... decent, this one practically blows it out of the water in pretty much every way possible.
As always, we start with the analyses. The analyses for both of these vicious vampires are pretty solid all around, as it was both informing and entertaining, which is what I look for in any analysis. It's also fitting that it's dark comedy, which is pretty fitting for these two. Unlike with Blake VS Mikasa, the animated jokes here hit the nail on the head! Or I guess, in the episode itself, hit the beer tab on the can. I'll try not to spoil the entire thing, but all you need to know is this: Boomstick gets a stand, and he uses it the best way he can. Twice. Both instances of "99 Bottles", that being the perfectly named stand for Boomstick, being used in the episode were great, especially when going over Alucard and the millions of souls he's consumed. All in all, great humor mixed with plenty of information on both characters make these analyses great viewing, even after Halloween has passed.
Equally as haunting is the fight itself. Set to the gloriously haunting metal and electric track, Hell Over Heaven, it's a bloodbath in every sense of the word. The voice acting here is top notch, and it was great to hear Alucard's VA, Curtis Arnott, finally have a role where he can be taken seriously, and damn, does he nail the part! Paired side-by-side with recent VA Newcomer to Death Battle, Tom Schalk, who performs a fantastic Dio Brando, and the two give off the feeling of knowing who they are and using it to their advantage. Gone for sure are the days of vampires being considered sparkly and emo, and in comes the age of them truly being blood-sucking, spine-tingling menaces to society.
Plus, while the hand-drawn elements can be pretty hit-or-miss (Heihachi VS Geese's killing shot), the effects and arena were used to their full potential here! An abandoned London town is a classic setting for a vampire movie, and when you combine that with a literal sea - or, river - of blood and zombies, plus Alucard and Dio fighting on top of Big Ben, and the downright scary scream from Dio at the climax of the fight, complete with an awesome hand-drawn section, if this doesn't take the cake for the scariest episode, then I don't know what will.
It's clear that a lot of time and dedication was put into this episode. From the very beginning of the first rundown to the explanation at the end, which to me, felt like it covered every aspect it needed to, this was definitely a battle for the ages. While I myself wasn't super into the matchup for a while, the episode definitely made me want to check out more of both Jojo and Hellsing. It was honestly either this episode or Goku Black VS Reverse-Flash, and while both are impressive villain matchups, the sheer confusion I felt while watching Goku Black VS Reverse-Flash leaves it as my honorable mention, while DIO VS Alucard earns the bronze. I know bronze makes it sound like it isn't that great, but keep in mind, if the episodes were in a race, it would still place a solid third, way ahead of all the others.
So, if I have all of this great stuff to say about the episode, then why is it just the third best? Well, despite the impressive quality, for me personally, it can be a bit hard to justify giving it a rewatch. The problem with seasonal/Halloween episodes is that, well, they're seasonal. Fights like Carnage VS Lucy, Ganondorf VS Dracula, and this one are really best watched in October, or around Halloween, so it's not too often I have a real urge to watch them over and over. But in spite of that, I really meant what I said about that yo-yo comment from earlier: When this season got good, it got damn good, or in this case, scary good, and it definitely made my Halloween a lot more entertaining, and it'll make all future rewatches just as fun. And to think, this episode came out right after Macho Man VS Kool-Aid Man.
#2 Best: Iron Fist VS Po
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| (Thanks to this episode, I finally saw the original Kung Fu Panda movie. Boy, was I missing out.) |
I'm not sure if it was the episodes themselves being nothing special or myself being in a bit of a funk, but up until the premiere of this episode, the first half of this season just really wasn't hitting as hard as the previous season's first half. Sure, they were still of good quality, but for a while, it just felt like Death Battle had kind of... lost its magic, in a way. I understand that I gave Lex Luthor VS Doctor Doom a seven out of ten, but keep in mind, when a seven is the best that a season can do starting off, prospects for the rest of the season don't look very high. And with Blake VS Mikasa having been such a letdown, I didn't exactly have high hopes for the upcoming matchup, that being Iron Fist VS Po.
It was definitely surprising to find out that this matchup, of all of the ones that exist, was happening last season. It always kind of just seemed like a joke matchup, something that would be brought up for a laugh, but didn't seem like it would actually happen, like with Shrek VS Han Solo. Yes, that's a matchup I've seen before, yes it has connections, and yes, I would laugh if this episode actually happened.
Anyways, like I said before, I usually try not to go into an episode with any kind of expectations, but for a battle as unexpected as this, what really was there to expect? Well, besides the fat jokes for Po. Unfortunately, with just how middling the season had been, the only expectation I had in the back of my mind was "I won't be surprised if this isn't that good." But hey, I'm usually an optimistic person, so when the time came for the episode to premiere on YouTube, I was ready to watch, hoping that the season would finally start improving. Well, I'm happy to say, this episode shattered my negative expectations.
To start, This episode doesn't seem to take itself too seriously, kind of like with Macho Man VS Kool-Aid Man. But the difference between the two is that, while Macho Man VS Kool-Aid Man had a completely different formula, this one sticks to the basics of being a standard Death Battle episode, and it shows. The analysis for both Iron Fist and Po were great to watch, with some great editing and sound effects, a decent amount of information on each slide, and some actually funny moments within them. It even picked clips transition clips that were just the right amount in length. They didn't drag on (haha, dragon pun) for too long, and they weren't too short (cough Machamp cough). It really felt like they hit the right balance of information and humor here, which is exactly what I look for in an episode.
But of course, the main attraction here is the fight itself. In a sort of reverse situation with Akuma VS Shao Kahn, from the moment I, along with most others I know, heard Po's voice in the sneak peek, I started getting high hopes for the episode. Nothing against Jonathan Bullock's Iron Fist or anything, because his voice seemed be a pretty good match for Danny, but Austin Lee Matthews's Po was so good, people legitimately thought they had gotten the real Jack Black to voice him. And it wasn't just the voice that was nailed, either. Po's depiction throughout the entire fight seemed to be spot-on, with the fight only starting because Po wanted to spar with a fellow Dragon Warrior. And the choreography, while clearly not intended to be up to the standards of the movies, was just as impressive in its own right, especially when the fight was taken to the Spirit Realm.
But my favorite part, and arguably the best part of the entire fight, was the humor associated with it. Between the repeated failures of executing the Wuxi Finger Hold, the reenactment of Po falling down the temple stairs, and the constant imagining of Iron Fist's head as a dumpling, I honestly couldn't tell you the last time a battle has made me laugh so hard in a while. I really can't describe good humor all that well, so you really need to check out the episode for yourself, if you haven't already.
Right up until the end of the explanation for Po's victory, I remember having a smile on my face, and while I'm not exactly about to call this my favorite episode of the series, or even the season, if I need something to just make me smile, this episode will hopefully come to my mind first. It's a great way to just relax, unwind, and be happy, which seemed to be the episode's goal all along, especially considering it's the literal Kung Fu Panda episode. My only real nitpick is the soundtrack, Dragons and Dumplings, which, even though it still sounds good, is one of those cases where it seemed to be centered around the fight, rather than something to listen to on your own, and tracks like those aren't something I'm that fond of. But other than that, this is a great episode all the way through, and it definitely brought hope that the rest of the season would be this good.
#1 Best: Saitama VS Popeye
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| (Remember kids, exercise daily and eat your vegetables, and you'll have as much strength as these two! ...Maybe.) |
And in a twist that no one saw coming, the best episode of Season Nine in my opinion is Saitama VS Popeye. Yeah, what a surprise, the episode that got the only perfect ten out of ten rating this season is also the best episode of the season. Given what I've said about this season, it doesn't exactly seem like a high bar to be the best episode, but keep in mind, it also had a lot to live up to. For one thing, it was the season finale, which already carries with it a lot of pressure. In addition, it also had two of the most overpowered, non-Marvel/DC combatants to ever face off, with one of them being the character known as the One Punch Man, and the other being a character that's been around since 1929. And with how the lineup of episodes had either been consistently okay, or either really good or really bad, this episode had to go above and beyond with its quality, or else, this would've been one of the weaker seasons of modern Death Battle. With it being listed as the greatest episode of the season, though, it's safe to say that not only did it succeed in that regard, but it pulled it off with flying colors. Which is ironic, given that Popeye started out in black and white.
Anyways, on to the episode itself. After Madara VS Aizen had ended and this was revealed as the season finale, a lot of casual viewers seemed to be skeptical, and for a little while, I was too. The only hint we had of the season finale was that it was "half of what we expected," and that definitely holds true here. A Saitama episode, no matter who his opponent, was definitely the right choice to be a season finale. But out of all of his potential opponents, including Goku, Superman, Squirrel Girl, it was finally confirmed that he would be facing... Popeye the Sailor Man. Definitely an out-there choice, but hey, if they could make Iron Fist VS Po work as well as it did, there really shouldn't be any problem with a fight like Saitama VS Popeye. And to be honest? There really isn't much of any problem with the episode.
The matchup seems like another one of those "bring it up for a laugh" suggestions, but when people started looking into Popeye more, people really began to realize just how freaking powerful Popeye was with his spinach. It seemed like a common thing that everyone knew about: Popeye gets beaten pretty badly by whoever his opponent is, then Spinach is found, and Popeye suddenly gains all the power he could possibly ever want, in order to beat his foe. Classic stuff, has been for nearly a century now. And with Saitama, he's known of course for beating his enemies in one punch, so this matchup is surprisingly debatable, and the analyses themselves do a good job at representing just how powerful both these characters are.
The analysis for Saitama goes into his backstory, describes how powerful he is, the hosts call him a baldy, all that good stuff, complete with a decently funny animated gag, and another good transition clip (even if it did get removed from YouTube later.) And for Popeye, they make sure to go all out, going into his history, his unique cartoon abilities (that aren't just toon force, thankfully), his more insane feats, such as shadowboxing in two places at once, ending on a good transition clip and life lesson, and probably the most important, making sure to only mention his more... insensitive accomplishments, which I'm not going to mention either.
Instead, I'd like to move on to the battle itself, because man, oh man, can you tell this is the season finale. The fight starts out about the way you'd expect, with Saitama dissing Popeye's spinach. As a result, Popeye pops out of the can and challenges Saitama to a fight. Predictably, Popeye's attacks do practically nothing to the One Punch Man, and he ends up killing him in one punch...
...Until the Sailor Man gets his hands on the spinach can, bringing him back in the fight. From then on, Popeye's at the very least on equal fighting terms with Saitama, and the battle rages on, complete with a transition to 2D sprites, courtesy of a stretchy punch from Popeye. The two end up racing and battling atop the water with a bit more banter, until another punch sends them back to hand-drawn animation. After Saitama seems to get the upper hand, even launching a large chunk of the Earth itself at Popeye, the explosion from that collision sends the battle into its third and final type of animation, 3D, complete with the best 3D Popeye model anyone's ever seen. More punches and blows are traded, and once Popeye claims "I eats me spinach!", he tosses Saitama into the camera itself, sending the fight back to hand-drawn animation for the finale.
While the ending itself might seem a bit sappy, I'll be damned if it isn't just the most satisfying ending for Saitama. He goes in for one last punch, clashing with Popeye for the final time as the inevitable happens: Saitama is defeated, having been turned into eggs, courtesy of Popeye's punch, and we wrap up the season on the best ending possible, with Popeye singing a little victory song, which is probably my favorite part of the episode.
From start to finish, this entire episode was just fantastic. Even just going off of name recognition alone, you know you're in for a great fight, and the analyses began, you knew they were building up to that climactic moment. Saitama seemed unbeatable for the longest time, and I never thought he'd actually be able to lose. And yet, with Popeye, he had finally found his best opponent, one that nobody had ever expected, yet was still somehow his perfect and most fitting match. He went out with a smile on his face, and I finished out the season with that same smile on my face. Great writing, solid jokes, a hilarious fight with a satisfying conclusion, a satisfying yet simple explanation at the end, a fitting OST in Balderdash that, while not my favorite track, does shift around the battle in a way that Dragons and Dumplings tries to do but... doesn't, and top-notch VA work from Ryan Abedi and Liam Swan for Saitama and Popeye respectively, and there is little doubt in my mind that Saitama VS Popeye had to be chosen as the best episode of Season 8.
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