Toonami Absolution

A guy with no powers, no weapons, and no particular physical skill is somehow one of themost dangerous antagonists Batman has ever faced. Then, Batman heads back to the street that started the whole story to protect it from a greedy developer. This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam cover Episodes 25 and 26: "The Clock King" and "Appointment in Crime Alley.""The Clock King" introduces Temple Fugate, a efficiency-obsessed man, whose entire life ran on an exact schedule, until Gotham Mayor Hamilton Hill convinced him to take his coffee break five minutes early, something that ruins his life. Seven years later, and Fugate still blames Hamilton Hill, and decide to turn Gotham’s schedules into the ultimate weapon, doing everything he can to crush Hill’s chances at reelection. Then "Appointment in Crime Alley" brings in Roland Daggett for the last time, as he hires arsonist-for-hire Nitro to burn Crime Alley to the ground so he can redevelop the land. At the same time, Batman is racing to reach Leslie Thompkins, the elderly physician who comforted a nine-year-old Bruce Wayne in the street the night his parents were shot, leading to both of them getting tangled in Dagget’s scheme. We discuss what makes the Clock King such a memorable (if silly) villain, why "Appointment in Crime Alley" doesn’t quite work despite its lofty ambitions, and if Bruce Timm can ever be truly happy. 🔔 Subscribe for our ongoing episode-by-episode watch-through of Batman: The Animated Series!📌 Topics covered this episode:– Batman: TAS Episode 25 "The Clock King" recap & review– Batman: TAS Episode 26 "Appointment in Crime Alley" recap & review

Mugen and Jin, bored and irritated by Fuu, split off at a fork in the road. Both immediately get recruited as bodyguards by the two yakuza clans currently fighting over a small town. Things quickly escalate and go horribly wrong for everyone involved.This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam cover "Hellhounds for Hire (Part 1)" and "Hellhounds for Hire (Part 2),” Samurai Champloo's first two-parter, and the episodes where the show begins demonstrating exactly how much it can do within a single contained story."Hellhounds for Hire (Part 1)" opens with Mugen and Jin announcing they are leaving Fuu at a crossroads, having concluded she is too bossy and the sunflower samurai quest too vague.Mugen wanders into a gambling district and is immediately hired as muscle by the Shiobara clan. Jin arrives in the same town, is immediately hired as muscle by their rivals, the Nagatomi clan. Neither knows the other is in town. However, when the two clans go to war, the two dudes with swords find themselves in the middle. Especially as they’re both keen to make sure that they’re the one who gets to take the other one down, even if it means turning on their side.We discuss what the two-parter structure lets Samurai Champloo do that the single-episode format can't, what the Nagatomi-Shiobara conflict says about the show’s treatment of social issues, and the specific pleasure of watching Mugen and Jin work separately toward the same chaotic conclusion.🔔 Subscribe for our ongoing watch-through of Samurai Champloo from the very beginning!📌 Topics covered this episode: – Samurai Champloo Episode 3 "Hellhounds for Hire (Part 1)" recap & review – Samurai Champloo Episode 4 "Hellhounds for Hire (Part 2)" recap & review

Harvey Bullock is under arrest for kidnapping a witness. The evidence against him is damning. Batman doesn't believe it for a second, and not because he likes Bullock. Also, Scarecrow decides that he wants to take up sports gambling.This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam cover Episodes 23 and 24: "Vendetta" and "Fear of Victory.""Vendetta" opens with the disappearance of Spider Conway, a small-time crook about to testify against Rupert Thorne and several other mob bosses, from a boat on the Gotham River. Harvey Bullock, who arrested Conway years earlier and is suspected of corruption, is immediately the prime suspect. Batman, despite hating Harvey Bullock tries to find the truth, which leads him to Killer Croc, the wrestler turned alligator who hangs out in Goham’s sewers.Then "Fear of Victory" sees Robin get his second Batman: The Animated Series outing. We also find that, after escaping from Arkham Asylum, Scarecrow has decided that he wants to spend his time defrauding bookies via rigged sports betting, which is a weird character trait, but one we find utterly hilarious. Also he looks like a potato now.We discuss the weirdness of Killer Croc's introduction, how Robin fits into the Batman: The Animated Series formula, and if Gamblin’ Scarecrow is the best version of the character.🔔 Subscribe for our ongoing episode-by-episode watch-through of Batman: The Animated Series!📌 Topics covered this episode: – Batman: TAS Episode 23 "Vendetta" recap & review – Batman: TAS Episode 24 "Fear of Victory" recap & review

The Joker, the Penguin, the Riddler, and Catwoman have joined forces, formed an alliance called the United Underworld, acquired a device that can reduce human beings to dust and are planning to use it on the United Nations Security Council. Batman has a spray can that repels sharks. This is 90 minutes of pure joy.This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam cover Batman: The Movie (1966), the theatrical film based on the Adam West television series, which holds the title of the first full-length Batman film ever made.Batman deduces through an elaborate chain of wordplay that his four greatest villains must be working together simultaneously. The United Underworld. As part of this plan, Catwoman, played here by Lee Meriwether in place of Julie Newmar, disguises herself as Soviet journalist Kitayna Ireyna Tatanya Kerenska Alisoff, "Kitka" to her friends, seduces Bruce Wayne as part of a plan to lure Batman into a trap. Naturally, comedic chaos ensues, from Riddler and Penguin being unable to stand each other, to Batman being unable to get rid of a bomb.It is delightfully absurd and an utter joy to watch.We discuss why the 1966 film is so fun, why you should watch Batman 1966, and dig into the movie’s weird behind-the-scenes stories.🔔 Subscribe for our ongoing watch-through of the DC Animated Universe and the Batman live-action legacy!

A waitress spills tea on the wrong customer. A vagabond and a ronin both anger the same magistrate and are sentenced to death. The waitress rescues them. But she isn’t doing this out of the goodness of her heart, she has a condition: she needs their help to find the samurai who smells like sunflowers.This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam start a brand new series: Samurai Champloo. the 2004 series from Shinichiro Watanabe, director of Cowboy Bebop, covering Episodes 1 and 2: "Tempestuous Temperaments" and "Redeye Reprisal.""Tempestuous Temperaments" opens on Fuu Kasumi, a clumsy teenaged waitress at a small teahouse, being harassed by the local magistrate's son and his guards. She recruits the only other person in the establishment who looks capable of violence, a wild, animalistic brawler named Mugen. Across town, a composed, formally trained ronin named Jin kills the magistrate's bodyguards when they try to execute a peasant. Jin enters the teahouse. Mugen decides Jin looks like a worthy opponent and attacks him. They destroy the teahouse. The magistrate's son dies in the fire, which is a significant legal problem. Both Mugen and Jin are arrested and sentenced to death by the son's vengeful father. Fuu breaks them out using a fireworks cache, and then presents her terms: she is looking for a samurai who smells of sunflowers, and if they help her find him, she'll consider them even. Unfortunately, "Redeye Reprisal" immediately tests the arrangement. As one of the guards from the last episodes hires some assassins to take down Mugen and Jin, and Fuu naturally ends up in the middle of it.We dig into what Watanabe is doing with the hip-hop fusion aesthetic, the anachronistic soundtrack, the breakdancing-influenced fight choreography, the fundamentally Edo-period setting carrying thoroughly modern energy, and whether the show's first two episodes deliver on the promise of Cowboy Bebop's creative lineage.🔔 Subscribe for our ongoing watch-through of Samurai Champloo from the very beginning!📌 Topics covered this episode: – Samurai Champloo Episode 1 "Tempestuous Temperaments" recap & review – Samurai Champloo Episode 2 "Redeye Reprisal" recap & review

Matt Hagen finally has his revenge. A mild-mannered accountant from Ohio becomes the most dangerous man in Gotham for five minutes. And a background character who will eventually become one of the most famous characters in DC Comics makes her debut.This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam cover Episodes 21 and 22: "Feat of Clay, Part 2" and "Joker's Favor.""Feat of Clay, Part 2" opens with Matt Hagen, now fully Clayface, his entire body a shapeshifting mass that can become anyone, anything, hunting Roland Daggett through Gotham. The only one who can stop him is Batman, and even Batman struggles to track someone who has no fixed form. Something made all the more harrowing by the animation, which goes out of its way to show that Hagen’s form changes are far from comfortable and require him to physically twist his remaining flesh.Then comes "Joker's Favor" an episode which follows Charlie Collins, a normal man who makes the catastrophic error of honking at a slow driver who turns out to be the Joker. Pleading for his life, he promises the Joker a favor if he's allowed to leave. The Joker accepts this, and two years later, he comes to collect on the bargain. This episode also introduces the Joker’s assistant, a woman named Dr. Harleen Quinzel, you may have heard of her because she would become this show’s breakout star and one of DC Comic’s most beloved characters.Also, full disclosure, Jon is obsessed with her, so expect him to sing her praises a lot.We discuss how Clayface's episode nails the body horror in a fascinating way, how Harley Quinn went from random extra to DC cash cow, and whether "Joker's Favor" is the most quietly creepy episode of the entire series.🔔 Subscribe for our ongoing episode-by-episode watch-through of Batman: The Animated Series!📌 Topics covered this episode: – Batman: TAS Episode 21 "Feat of Clay, Part 2" recap & review – Batman: TAS Episode 22 "Joker's Favor" recap & review

A new figure in a Batsuit has been operating in Gotham without Bruce Wayne's knowledge or permission. Gotham's criminal infrastructure is being systematically dismantled. Batman has three suspects and no idea which one is responsible. The film is not as interested in the answer as you might expect.This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam cover Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman (2003), the third theatrical film in the DC Animated Universe, produced during The New Batman Adventures era and arriving after Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero and Mask of the Phantasm.The film introduces three new characters who could plausibly be the new Batwoman: Kathy Duquesne, the daughter of a Gotham crime boss; Dr. Roxanne "Rocky" Ballantine, a scientist at Wayne Enterprises; and Detective Sonia Alcana of the Gotham PD. All three have motive. All three have capability. Kathy's father is directly involved with the Penguin and Rupert Thorne in a weapons deal that Batwoman has been targeting. Rocky has the technical means. Sonia has the training.The film also introduces Bane as a hired muscle character for the Penguin-Thorne operation, and features Kevin Conroy and Efrem Zimbalist Jr. in typically excellent form. Just a shame that the film totally fumbles its three new women and clearly doesn’t know what it wants to be.We discuss where Mystery of the Batwoman sits in the DCAU theatrical run, whether the composite-Batwoman reveal earns its execution, what the film does with its villain roster, and whether the Bruce-Kathy romance is a feature or a bug.🔔 Subscribe for our ongoing watch-through of Batman: The Animated Series and the DC Animated Universe!

The Spirit Bomb landed. The Great Ape is gone. Vegeta is on his knees and Krillin is holding a sword. One word from Goku is going to define the entire rest of Dragon Ball Z.This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam cover Ocean Dub Episode 26: "The Battle Ends,” the conclusion of the Saiyan Saga, and one of the single most consequential moments in the franchise.Gohan's Great Ape transformation, triggered by the artificial moon Vegeta created, has him rampaging uncontrollably, and Vegeta, still recovering from the Spirit Bomb, is right underneath him when Gohan reverts to normal and falls. Crushed under a child, barely conscious, Vegeta is now genuinely helpless for the first time in the entire arc. Krillin picks up Yajirobe's sword. He is in a completely reasonable position to end this. Then Goku, broken and unable to move, contacts Krillin telepathically and asks him not to. His reasoning, that Vegeta might change, as Piccolo did, and that the fight was the most exciting thing that has happened to him in his life, is presented by the dub as a moral argument.It isn't really that, or at least not in the original version: Goku wants to fight him again when they're both at full strength. The Ocean Dub softens this into something more overtly heroic, and the distinction matters for how you read everything Goku does afterward. Krillin relents. Vegeta, mortally wounded and humiliated, escapes in his space pod. The Saiyan Saga is over. Gohan, Krillin, and a barely-surviving Goku are the only ones left.We do a full Saiyan Saga retrospective, discuss the mercy decision and what the dub's framing does to Goku's characterisation, and talk about what the state of the cast at the end of this arc sets up for the Namek Saga.🔔 Subscribe for our ongoing watch-through of Dragon Ball Z in the Ocean Dub!📌 Topics covered this episode: – DBZ Ocean Dub Episode 26 "The Battle Ends" recap & review – Saiyan Saga retrospective