Toonami Absolution

Chiaotzu self-destructs. Tien fires a Tri-Beam until he can’t go on any more. Alas, Nappa walks away from both without a scratch. Also, nobody in this dub is dying. They are being sent to the Other Dimension. We need you to know how many times they say this.This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam cover Ocean Dub Episodes 18 and 19: "Nappa... The Invincible?" and "Tien Goes All Out!!,” and officially reached our limit with the "Other Dimension" euphemism."Nappa... The Invincible?" picks up from the Saibamen massacre with Nappa himself stepping into the field. His first move is to rip off Tien's arm. The dub, unable to depict this as a permanent injury, gives us Tien telling Nappa to "just wait until that grows back!,” which Tien has never demonstrated the ability to do and never will. Chiaotzu, with no other options, latches onto Nappa's back and self-destructs, which does absolutely nothing to slow Nappa down.Tien, now one-armed and running on fumes and grief, fires his Tri-Beam, pouring every remaining joule of his life force into an attack that still doesn't put Nappa down, with terrible results (that the dub didn’t want to show)Vegeta, keen to fight Goku, calls a three-hour truce before sending Nappa off to amuse himself by destroying helicopters and an entire navy. But, when Goku fails to show, Piccolo is left trying to find a way to take down the two Saiyans with what little energy he has left. The episode ends with Nappa powering up for the next assault while Gohan and Krillin realize that the answer to "can they stop this" is probably no.We break down the Ocean Dub's increasingly strained commitment to the fiction that nobody is dying, why Chiaotzu and Tien's send-off still hits despite the editing, and how many times in two episodes someone is sent to the Other Dimension.🔔 Subscribe for our ongoing watch-through of Dragon Ball Z in the Ocean Dub!📌 Topics covered this episode: – DBZ Ocean Dub Episode 18 "Nappa... The Invincible?" recap & review – DBZ Ocean Dub Episode 19 "Tien Goes All Out!!" recap & review

Harvey Dent is gone. Two-Face is here. He has a plan, a coin, and a vendetta. And somehow, this week, Batman's biggest challenge isn't stopping a supervillain, it's convincing a mob boss to talk to a Catholic Priest.This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam cover Episodes 11 and 12: "Two-Face, Part 2" and "It's Never Too Late.""Two-Face, Part 2" opens with Gotham's criminal underworld realizing something has changed. Two-Face, now operating with a crew of his own and a very specific obsession with the number two, has been systematically dismantling Rupert Thorne's criminal operation. Naturally, Thorne puts out a two million dollar bounty on him (one million per face, he says with typical Gotham criminal wit) and then realises that the fastest way to get to Two-Face is through Grace, his former fiancée, who Two-Face has been secretly watching over her from a distance. Naturally, this leads to a painful confrontation, where Bruce is force to stop his former friend while also protecting him against a mob who are keen to end his story once and for all.Then "It's Never Too Late" pivots entirely. Rupert Thorne is now losing a mob war against Gotham's previous reigning crime lord, ageing boss Arnold Stromwell. Stromwell's son Joey is missing and he's convinced Thorne has him. Batman, naturally, decides to play Ghost Of Christmas Yet To Come and takes Stromwell on what amounts to a very grim tour of Gotham, showing him his ex-wife, his estranged brother Michael who lost a leg saving Arnold from a childhood train accident that Arnold let himself believe was more serious, and his son Joey, who is currently in a rehabilitation centre. So if you’ve ever wanted to see the Batman x Catholic Church crossover, this is the episode for you!We discuss how "Two-Face, Part 2" compares to Part 1, if the silver dollar scene is a god ending, and how "It's Never Too Late" is a brave but weird attempt to make Batman more than a dude who punches stuff.🔔 Subscribe for our ongoing episode-by-episode watch-through of Batman: The Animated Series!📌 Topics covered this episode: – Batman: TAS Episode 11 "Two-Face, Part 2" recap & review – Batman: TAS Episode 12 "It's Never Too Late" recap & review

We have now heard what may be the worst English dub ever made. Even worse, its put on top of a series we genuinely love. It's Kuwahara now. His name is Kuwahara. That's what they did.This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam cover Yu Yu Hakusho: The Movie – Poltergeist Report (1994), the second and final full-length Yu Yu Hakusho theatrical film, and the only piece of Yu Yu Hakusho media that Funimation has never been able to redub, because Central Park Media got the rights before Funimation started dubbing the series.The film was released in Japanese theatres on April 9, 1994, during the height of the show's original run, and later dubbed into English by Central Park Media in 1998, predating the Funimation TV dub by three years. Thus, it uses an entirely different cast. Hence: Kuwahara.After the Spirit World is flooded by an overflowing the River Styx, a powerful enemy from a previously unmentioned fourth realm called the Netherworld begins invading the human world to seize control of it and remake it in his own image.It is, structurally, a very standard non-canon anime film, elevated almost entirely by 1994 theatrical animation that looks genuinely gorgeous, fluid, detailed, and operating at a level of polish the TV series could rarely afford. The fights are good, but new lore is immediately irrelevant to the series.Alas, the dub is wooden and clunky and half of the characters have zero personality. For example, Kuwabara (who Central Park Meda call Kuwahara for the duration) speaks formally, something that is an utter culture shock if you’re familiar with the Funimation version of the show.We get into the strangeness of encountering beloved characters through an entirely unfamiliar voice cast, why the Central Park Media kinda sucks, and whether the dub is an ordeal or an experience. (Answer: both. It is both.)🔔 Subscribe for our ongoing watch-through of Yu Yu Hakusho and the full Toonami and Adult Swim library!

Nappa plants six Saibamen in the ground. Tien dominates his immediately. Yamcha decides he wants a go and prepares to fight. This is a mistake.This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam cover Ocean Dub Episodes 16 and 17: "The Battle Begins... Goku Where Are You?" and "The Saibamen Strike,” the moment the Saiyan Saga decides that we need less characters.In "The Battle Begins" Piccolo, Gohan, Yamcha, Krillin, and Tien finally come face-to-face with the Saiyans. However, problems quickly arise as Nappa decides to have some fun destroying helicopters while Ocean furiously adds lines to suggest the pilots parachuted to safety (they clearly did not). However, just when you think the battle is about to start, Nappa pulls out six Saibamen pods and plants them group, offering the Z Fighters the little green men as a warm-up round.Then "The Saibamen Strike" delivers one of the franchise’s most iconic shots, Krillin wants to fight but Yamcha cuts in. Yamcha fights a Saibaman, appears to win, turns to challenge the remaining four simultaneously, only for the fallen Saibaman to grab him and blow itself up, leading to the most iconic pose in Dragon Ball Z (and likely anime) history.We talk about what makes the Saibamen arc so effective as a structural device, the Ocean dub's increasingly creative attempts to paper over mass death with reassurances that everyone had a parachute, and what Yamcha's death means for the stakes of everything that follows.🔔 Subscribe for our ongoing watch-through of Dragon Ball Z in the Ocean Dub!📌 Topics covered: – DBZ Ocean Dub Episode 16 "The Battle Begins... Goku Where Are You?" recap & review – DBZ Ocean Dub Episode 17 "The Saibamen Strike" recap & review

Mayor Hill publicly compares Batman to the Joker. The Joker takes this personally and infiltrates his son's birthday party in response, which is a proportionate and measured reaction. Then, Harvey Dent becomes Two-Face in one of Batman: TAS’ most famous episodes.This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam cover "Be a Clown" and "Two-Face, Part 1," and this pairing is doing a lot of heavy lifting for the season."Be a Clown" triggers when Mayor Hill, mid-speech, calls Batman just as dangerous as the Joker. Insulted at being compared to a vigilante, the Joker disguises himself as "Jekko the Clown" and infiltrates Hill's son Jordan's birthday party. However, Jordan, feeling unloved and ignored by his politically obsessed father, stows away in Jekko's van thinking he's found a genuine mentor, only to find himself in the Joker’s abandoned amusement park hideout (because of course Gotham has an abandoned amusement park)."Two-Face, Part 1" is the series operating at its full dramatic height: Harvey Dent, Bruce Wayne's oldest friend and Gotham's most promising DA, is revealed to have been carrying a violent alter ego called "Big Bad Harv" since childhood, held in check through therapy and sheer willpower. However, when crime boss Rupert Thorne gets hold of Dent's psychiatric records and tries to blackmail him, Big Bad Harv surfaces and starts causing chaos. Batman arrives to help, only to make thing much worse, leading to the birth of Two-Face.We discuss "Be a Clown" and its inherent weirdness and talk about "Two-Face, Part 1" and why Harvey Dent's origin is one of the most carefully constructed villain backstories in the whole series.🔔 Subscribe for our ongoing episode-by-episode watch-through of Batman: The Animated Series!📌 Topics covered: – Batman: TAS Episode 9 "Be a Clown" recap & review – Batman: TAS Episode 10 "Two-Face, Part 1" recap & review

Paragus lands on Earth and invites Vegeta to rule New Planet Vegeta. Vegeta, like an idiot doesn’t question this and immediately agrees. Turns out Paragus son, Broly, is the legendary Super Saiyan and wants to crush Goku because they were in adjoining cribs as newborns and Goku cried too damn much. Way to keep a grudge.This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam cover Dragon Ball Z: Broly – The Legendary Super Saiyan (1993), the eighth DBZ film and the one that introduced one of the franchise's most enduring non-canon characters.The setup involves Paragus, one of numerous Saiyans who happened to miss the whole “destruction of Planet Vegeta” thing flattering Vegeta into becoming the figurehead king of a new Saiyan colony, hoping to take Vegeta out so he can later invade Earth and make it his new kingdom.Alas, the moment Goku shows up, Paragus' son Broly starts acting weird. It turns out they were born on the same day; Goku cried constantly as an infant, keeping Broly awake, and the infant-level grudge has apparently only intensified over the decades.Broly eventually snaps and this film ends with a legendary battle between Broly's Legendary Super Saiyan form against Goku, Gohan, Trunks, Vegeta, and Piccolo look like noise. Though Piccolo has to literally drag Vegeta into the fight as the mere sight of Broly is enough to make the legendary Saiyan prince give up all hope.We discuss Broly's enduring popularity despite his non-canon status, where this film sits in our wider DBZ movie ranking, and how the different dubs handled this beloved Dragon Ball Z film.🔔 Subscribe for our ongoing watch-through of Toonami and Adult Swim's most iconic anime films!

King Kai just neglected to calculate the return trip. Goku has two days to get back. Nappa just destroyed East City. But according to Ocean, everything is fine because that half of city was abandoned.This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam cover Ocean Dub Episodes 14 and 15: "The Legend of the Saiyans" and "A Black Day for Planet Earth,” the end of Goku's training and the moment the Saiyan Saga finally actually [kinda] starts."The Legend of the Saiyans" wraps up Goku's time on King Kai's planet with his second and final training exercise: chasing Gregory, King Kai's lightning-fast grasshopper, around the planet with a sledgehammer. During this King Kai, decides to tell Goku the history of the Saiyan race, though this only happens in the anime, so enjoy the totally non-cannon history of the Tuffles, and the fact that King Kai things Vegeta and Nappa are the strongest warriors in the universe.Then "A Black Day for Planet Earth" things take a dark turn, as King Kai finishes the lesson, checks his math, and realizes with genuine horror that he forgot to factor in the time it would take Goku to run back down Snake Way. The Saiyans will arrive a full day before Goku can reach Earth. Master Roshi uses the Dragon Balls to wish Goku back to life immediately, throwing Goku into a race against time to get back before Vegeta and Nappa can destroy everything. The Saiyans' pods land in the middle of East City and Nappa destroys a several-block radius just to announce they've arrived. Unless you’re watching the Ocean dub, which tries to explain away a citywide massacre by insisting the district was "evacuated" in the space of about 20 seconds, or that East City has an abandoned warehouse district.We laugh at King Kai's totally wrong Saiyan history, question if Ocean dub's censorship choices actually works, and what it feels like when Dragon Ball Z finally stops clearing its throat and actually begins.🔔 Subscribe for our ongoing watch-through of Dragon Ball Z in the Ocean Dub!📌 Topics covered: – DBZ Ocean Dub Episode 14 "The Legend of the Saiyans" recap & review – DBZ Ocean Dub Episode 15 "A Black Day for Planet Earth" recap & review

A Rashomon homage about three cops with wildly different accounts of the same evening. A story that asks what is Bruce Wayne without his memory, his gadgets, his costume, or his memories? This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam cover "P.O.V." and "The Forgotten.""P.O.V." opens in the aftermath of a blown sting operation. Lieutenant Hackle from Internal Affairs has Bullock, Officer Montoya, and rookie Officer Wilkes explain what happens, but their accounts of the evening contradict each other.Naturally, Renee Montoya doesn’t take the order to go home and wait for the investigation to end seriously, and tracks the suspects to the docks, where she ends up having to save Batman. This episode is very important, as its one of the early voice roles of Ron Perlman, who appears as one of the gang's thugs.Then "The Forgotten" finds Bruce Wayne going undercover to investigate disappearing homeless men, only for a bonk on the head to give him amnesia, leading to him getting kidnapped and shipped to a remote mining camp. Thankfully, Alfred decides to jump into the action and hunt Bruce down, giving us a rare moment of Alfred out of the Batcave, though that doesn’t mean the episode is any less weird.We talk about these two weird one-offs, question why fans rarely bring them up, and debate if "The Forgotten", a fan-acknowledged weaker entry, is more interesting to talk about than it is to watch.🔔 Subscribe for our ongoing episode-by-episode watch-through of Batman: The Animated Series!📌 Topics covered: – Batman: TAS Episode 7 "P.O.V." recap & review – Batman: TAS Episode 8 "The Forgotten" recap & review

We have a confession to make. We watched this movie. We found it very boring. So we spend 30 minutes trying to talk about literally anything else, some of which is He-Man related.This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam cover He-Man and the Masters of the Universe: The Beginning (2002): the 90-minute pilot movie that launched the 2002 He-Man reboot series. But in the spirit of full transparency, we want to admit upfront that we actively avoided talking about it for as long as we reasonably could.The plot is what you expect, Skeletor's forces return and start to attack Eternia, forcing a young, generally useless Prince Adam to go to Castle Grayskull. In this castle, he accepts the Sword of Power and becomes He-Man, giving him the power to fight back.It's a perfectly competent, perfectly serviceable piece of early-2000s pilot television, one where you can guess every plot beat about 10 minutes before it happens. It is also, we discovered, almost impossible to talk about for an entire episode, which sent us careening sideways into the live-action 2026 Masters of the Universe film starring Jared Leto as Skeletor (or more specifically, us questioning how he still gets work), Alyx and Sam trying to convince Jon to watch Kevin Smith's Masters of the Universe: Revelation, and a fairly long detour into Alan Thicke.We talk about why 2002's The Beginning struggles to leave much of an impression compared to its successors, and question if its better to be wild and terrible, or solid but boring.🔔 Subscribe for our ongoing watch-through of Toonami and Adult Swim's most iconic shows and movies.