Naruto VS Ichigo

This is one of the most Anbattles of the series, though I think a battle royale between these two and Luffy would've been more hype but at 28 minutes long, its not hard to see why Luffy wasn't thrown into the mix.

Analysis

Naruto's analysis s extremely well done, covering pretty much everything in his HUGE arsenal from his chakra to his techniques to variations of his techniques to his transformations. We also get another piece of lore for Wiz and Boomstick which is always nice. It also makes use of pop-up trivia which helped condense the episode a bit. However, one minor problem is that it kinda pops up out of nowhere, we didn't have any indication that the episode would be using pop-up trivia beforehand and there's no accompanying sound (which is a good thing as it doesn't disturb the flow of the episode but at the same time the viewer most likely would not notice it until much later in the episode). The humor for the analysis is pretty spot on and prevents the long analysis from feeling dragged out.

Ichigo's analysis similarly starts out with a healthy amount of humor and background while also giving some more lore for Boomstick. It also does a good job covering Ichigo's powers, Zanpakuto and forms. The analysis also contains what will probably be one of the more memorable jokes in the series with Wiz's innocent innuendo. I give the analysis a 9.5 out of 10.

Animation

Despite its short length, the animation is probably one of the best 2D fights of the season. At certain points it actually feels like it came out of an anime with its great use of close-ups and the timing of transformations. The voice acting is on point as well. I mean Naruto and Kurama's VAs are good, I guess but Ichigo. I think Adam Park did an amazing job on the voice acting with only Johnny Yong Bosch being able to top him. The music Yates did for the battle is great as well. The killing blow is glorious and one of my favorite parts with a nice little shout out to Chuck and Segata. Overall with excellent choreography, voice acting and music, the animation gets a 9.9 out of 10.

Conclusion

Right off, the is one of those episodes where you can clearly see the amount of effort put into this episode. From the detail of the analysis to the amount of stuff going on in the animation. This conclusion is where it really shines with it being much longer than other episodes and Wiz and Boomstick trying to shoot down every possible argument. They give a good argument for why Ichigo's invisibility didn't matter. They even make the distinction between travel speed and reaction speed, a common criticism for multiple previous episodes. Wiz also decides to shoot down the multipliers but also decides to give Ichigo the benefit of the doubt resulting in a feat that still isn't as good as base Naruto. Overall a 9.1 out of 10 bringing the total score to 28.5 out of 30 or 95%.

Thor VS Wonder Woman

Sorry I'm late and no, I am not doing Smokey VS McGruff. As for this matchup we've finally got an episode pitting two returning combatants against each other. That alone makes the concept of this episode stand out but how does it actually fare?

Analysis

The analysis as a whole really shows how far death battle has come since season 1 and covers both combatants much better than their previous respective episodes did. I have to admit I was a bit skeptic when it came to Thor because Thor VS Raiden was one of the better episodes of that season but I severely underestimated the quality of season 4 compared to season 1; going far more in depth with Thor's arsenal of equipment and abilities. Although that doesn't mean it's without its faults. For example Wiz states that Thor has said that Mljonir can reach to the edge of the universe in 60 seconds when the only proof provided is to the edge of the universe. Also while Thor's analysis does go more in depth, this is a double-edged sword as it also constantly provides the viewer with as many calculations as it can which made me think Wonder Woman was going to win.

Wonder Woman benefits even more from the treatment as her episode was only the third episode of the entire series and as such the improvements are much more noticeable. The analysis provides plenty of feats but almost none actually get any real calculations which furthered my belief that the calc omission trap was being used in this episode. Of course the analysis is still really well done and goes into depth about Wonder Woman's arsenal, just not her true capabilities. Although I will give it this, the episode actually does provide proof that Wonder Woman is stronger than Thor in the analysis section with her moving the Earth and calculating it to be 2.2 quintillion tons so that softens the blow a bit.

The analysis is good but and does show the improvements in death battle but the abundance of calculations in Thor's section in a short amount of time makes the outcome predictable and as a result prevents it from being too good. I give the analysis a 7/10.

Animation

The animation is rather conflicting to say the least. While the voice acting and choreography is great, a lot of the effects leave a lot to be desired. I think the best parts of the fight are when its just Thor and Wonder Woman dueling it out with their weapons without using any of their standard gimmicks. Unfortunately one thing that hasn't changed is that the lightning effects are still pretty terrible. I've tolerated it in past battles because well its not something that has been used often when it is used but when Thor uses it a much as it does, it gets distracting and detracts from the fight. 

This becomes especially egregious during the more effects heavy portions of the battle such as when Thor summons a tornado yet also summons lightning in conjunction with that and the two effects don't really blend well together. However, the choreography while inside the tornado is excellent and the fight finally escalates to the moon which is promptly destroyed. Don't get me wrong that was awesome but the effects let it down. As the moon gets destroyed, half of it isn't quite blown up and the result is several rings that are just there for no reason. As the moon pieces were falling to the earth, there was a weird texture to them and it looked kind of out of place. And because Diana doesn't have any models without her bracelets off, the finisher felt really rushed and limited despite the admittedly badass one-liner delivered by Wonder Woman.

I think this is where the whole FIRST members get the episode two days early really let the battle down as the final product especially in that moon scene just comes off as rushed and the episode ended up being delayed anyway. Combine that with the awful effects and I have to give the animation a 5/10.

Conclusion

The conclusion starts off fairly well and does give adequate reasons as to why Diana won the fight but it also has its fair share of problems. For one they don't really give Diana anymore calculations and just rely on what has already been told in the analysis. The "Shattered God" feat essentially boils down to "Eh, its probably faster than what Mljonir has accomplished. Just take our word for it". Thankfully the 'Zoom' feat does back this up. They do give adequate reasons as to strength but they also pretty much said this in the analysis by giving both calculations in the analysis. There is also the problem with them bringing up Diana's weakness to piecing weapons considering that they have Thor's axe in the analysis. I understand that he normally wouldn't use it but some acknowledgement would've been nice especially considering the amount of people that actually bring this up. At the very least say something along the lines of "and even if Thor could exploit Diana's weakness to piercing weapons, her healing factor would take care of it for her". I give the conclusion a 6/10. Bringing the total score to 18/30 or 60%.

Shredder VS Silver Samurai

So this was one of those episodes the fanbase wanted a different matchup with Shredder VS R'as Al Ghul. But we got this instead. Now while I had no idea who the Silver Samurai was, I was familiar with Shredder; having watched my fair share of TMNT cartoons as well as playing some of the games. Onto the review.

Analysis

The background for Shredder is covered fairly decently, giving information about the multiple incarnations of the Shredder before focusing on his life as Oroku Saki. The hosts then go onto cover Shredder's arsenal and techniques as well as his "spike fetish". It also goes onto tell the audience the various different types of ninjitsu. The episode then moves onto Shredder's feats and I was particularly entertained by both the Leatherhead feat and the meatball slicing feat. The latter of which does a good job at averting the 'calc omission' trap and because of this, the episode did throw me for a bit when it came to the actual result. The analysis then starts to focus on Shredder's weaknesses and because of how silly a character Shredder was in the 1987 cartoon and live action films, the episode is able to capitilize on this opportunity to add some extra humor to the episode.

Similarly to Shredder's rundown, the host cover Silver Samurai's background fairly well, while also adding some humor to the fact that Kenuichio Harada is a "bastard" and a "mutant". The analysis then goes onto cover Harada's techniques and abilities which it does a fairly good job at. It also manages to make a nice shout out to Desk of DEATH BATTLE when covering Harada's arsenal. The rundown also does a good job at covering Harada's feats and weaknesses. By putting most of the feats calculations out there, the episode handily averts the calc omission trap and instead relies on the viewer's own ability to memorize all the different feats. Sure it might make the episode more predictable to an intelligent viewer but this just encourages viewers to use their brains more often. I give the analysis an 8.5/10.

Animation

As usual, Jetz proves to be an amazing animator. While the animation still has the stylish cinematography Jetz implements, it also shows restraint and barely shows any closeups at all. The ones that are there are generally before and after the fight so they don't disrupt the flow of the combat. Admittedly the animation is a bit more simplistic than what Jetz typically does but i don't think it detracts from the charm of the battle. 

The animation makes full use of both Shredder and Harada's fighting styles emphasizing Shredder's ninja reflexes and deadly precision while also maintaining Harada's own fighting ability as well. The fight's climax is done really well as Silver Samurai impales Shredder with his sword yet this doens't feel like a fake out due to two reasons: 1) Shredder is clearly not dead meaning that the battle is far from over and 2) The music used (which is wonderfully done by Brandon Yates) also doesn't end but just feels like a natural pause. As Shredder turns into his super form, the animation switches to a curb-stomp battle in Shredder's favor; emphasizing the change in physical stats and how Shredder is now physically superior. 

Of course even after that the fights not over. Shredder summons a lightning bolt which Harada responds by cutting the bolt in half. This turns the battle into a battle amongst the flames and there is a definite tone shift. Shredder looks much more demonic and ends up dismembering Harada before punching the sword into Harada's eye socket and decapitating him, showing the audience Harada's head and crushing it with his hand. 

The animation is a bit different from normal animations. While it starts out as a typical death battle, it ends up gently leading you to the conclusion as it goes own and as things escalate. And to be fair, I don't think is a bad thing. Because DEATH BATTLE has 82 episodes and is still ongoing, its gotten predictable so a fight that gently leads you into the death is, much like Balrog VS TJ Combo, a breath of fresh air. I have no doubt that episodes will start to get more boring and predictable if they continue with this style, for now it is a much welcome change to the formulaic style that we've been getting for the past 80 episodes or so. I give the animation a 9.8/10

Conclusion

I find the conclusion to be sound and uses common sense. It shows that while Silver Samurai was technically stronger, it was nothing Shredder hadn't faced off against before. It also points out that Silver Samurai doesn't typically teleport spam as he fights. It also points out that all either combatant needed was one good hit and proves that Shredder would land this a majority of the time due to his superior speed and that's still not covering his super form. I give the conclusion a 7/10. This means the episode has a total score of 25.3/30 or 84%.

Balrog VS TJ Combo

So this matchup has been popular for a while now and its the first Torrian fight since Power Rangers VS Voltron, 6 episodes ago. So I was actually surprisingly hyped for this fight despite only really having played Street Fighter 4 and even then, I never once played as Balrog. How did this episode do, well let's find out!

Analysis

Balrog's analysis gives a good rundown on his background before moving onto his fighting style making the analysis a bit more refreshing. It even has a nice transition into Balrog's arsenal of moves. The analysis then goes on to cover Balrog's feats and does manage to bring up some good calculations such as the 10'000 pounds of force required to kill an elephant and even shows its working for Balrog's falling feat. 

TJ's rundown is fairly similar to Balrog's starting with his background and for the most part Wiz and Boomstick are able to keep it informative and entertaining while also having some good jokes in there such as TJ Combo as a janitor (who Jetz animated). They go on to cover TJ's past such as his deal with UltraTech and how afterwards, TJ strived to prove he could win in the ring for real making him a foil to the more villainous cheating bastard that is Balrog. The transition into his berserker mode is also pretty well done and perfectly sums up what it can do. Both rundowns also showcase the weaknesses of both fighters and averts the weakness trap. I give the analysis a 9/10.

Animation

I LOVE this animation. It plays out almost as if it were an actual boxing match rather than a fight to the death. That is until Balrog kills the referee. Both combatants receive an introduction and the announcer spectates and comments on everything. There's even actual rounds to the fight! The way the combatants are restricted to only the boxing ring (even when they start to break it) actually works in this animation's favor as it helps the fight feel a lot more grounded. Also of note is that the two aren't actually trying to kill each other during round 1, abiding by a special set of rules making it seem like a completely different fight than most of the ones we see in death battle. The audience even boos Balrog when he starts to fight dirty. 

As soon as Balrog takes out the referee there is a noticeable tone shift, more akin to the regular fights in death battle. Both fighters are now giving it their all, even if it means killing the other combatant. Balrog scores a combo but TJ c-c-c-combo breaks it. The best part about all of this is that even after the fight has descended into a death battle both combatants are still utilizing their respective styles. Balrog is using his powerful but slow punches while TJ is clearly dodging Balrog's attack and attacks when he sees an opening complimenting the outboxer style. 

The music and sound design is also well done as the animation uses the much slower part of "I'm Back (to Rise)" to help the defeatist feeling of TJ being knocked down by Balrog. The music then immediately picks up to symbolise TJ's second win as he enters his berserker state. After that its pretty clearly a curb-stomp battle in TJ's favor but during this we also get a pretty good POV shot from Balrog's perspective as he's getting his ass kicked. The killing blow is well executed and even after that we still get to see the camera track Balrog's head as it lands on the camera. Cue color bars. I give this animation a 9.5/10. The only reason its not a perfect score is because Balrog often phases through his robe but even that stops about halfway through round 2 when he removes it.

Conclusion

I think what makes this episode so refreshing is how close it really is. Wiz and Boomstick show that both TJ and Balrog had advantages over each other but because each advantage was so slight that they didn't really matter. Instead what ultimately decides the match is the fighting style each combatant uses and they even use a triangle theory done in real life and provide examples to show why TJ would win. In the end TJ didn't win because of superior stats (though that is a factor) but instead because of the type of boxer he was. I give the conclusion a 9/10 providing a total score of 27.5/30 or about 92%.

Lucario VS Renamon

Hm, well this is an interesting matchup. As far as I've seen it, when this episode was first announced the base was split into three groups. There was the group who were hyped because its a matchup that was heavily requested and one of the more popular episode ideas. There was the group who hated it becoming a reality because they thought it was Pokemon VS Digimon 2 and/or both combatants were being heavily limited in this fight and then there was the camp I was in which was... just didn't care. It was a DB like any other as far as I could tell so I didn't make a big fuss about it. As for the conditions of the fight, it was a good way to analyze a Pokemon VS Digimon fight by enacting the 'No outside help rule' and while both combatants actually can evolve further another stage on their own, I doubt it would've made a difference.  Onto the review!

Analysis

Now because this episode deals with no specific individual of the species, the background for Lucario is naturally a bit slim. However, ti does manage to keep the rundown interesting and even manages to make a good joke abut the reality of getting your own movie. After that Lucario's analysis progresses more akin to the ones in Lara VS Nate but was still able to keep it interesting due to Wiz and Boomstick listing off moves/techniques rather than feats of what Lucario had accomplished. It also gives an informative rundown on aura and how Lucario can use it in varying ways. Also I loved the Goku reference though it's bound to piss some fanboys off due to Goku VS Superman. The feats section is also pretty informative with detailing the speed needed for FTE capabilities (9,000 mph which is more than 11 times the speed of sound. I guess Lucario is also faster than Sonic, sorry still salty about that) as well as Magmar's body temperature, also great foreshadowing to Mcgruff the Crime Dog VS Smokey the Bear. Now notably this rundown does use the calc omission trap but its more subtle so that you won't realize it and accomplishes this via giving other statistics while omitting the one that truly matters and as such I won't deduct points for it.

Renamon's analysis progresses much like Lucario's with a slimmed down background (justifiably) before moving onto techniques and feats. It offers an interesting piece of trivia on how Renamon was based on a Kitsune and uses this as a means to justify her "ghost fire". It does give an enlightening statistic on how much PSI it would take to crack 8 inches of blue ice (and because of the different size/volume, this is not contradictory to Sub-Zero VS Glacius. It also tries to fool the audience by using the calc omission trap via the air slashing through concrete feat but we never find out how powerful this is. Also that ending joke was great. Not unexpected but still pretty great.

However, one problem I do have with the analysis is that because they are slimmed down, half of the information you get is already covered in the previews and as shown by the run time (the SA version is a mere 13 minutes long), the episode as a whole feels a bit more like filler. By the time the analysis are done there' s approximately 3 and half minutes left in the episode. I give the analysis a 6.5 out of 10.

Animation

Now I'm not too familiar with Aquila's animations. I started to lose interest in One Minute Melee and as such I only really recall her doing Mega Man VS Astro Boy (as a replacement after Mali had quit) and as of recent the Noel VS Aigis DBX which while good could've been improved upon. As such I didn't really know what to expect for this animation.

Well one nitpick I have with this animation is that despite both being acknowledged to speak English, only Renamon has dialogue. Lucario just kinda growls and while I could accept it for Hulk VS Doomsday, that was because Doomsday really did just growl as opposed to being an intelligent creature like Lucario.

The fight itself is actually surprisingly fast-paced with both combatant's moving faster than the eye could see at one point. Renamon gets off a few good combos and Lucario counters accordingly and I did not expect him to use Aura Storm in the animation considering it wasn't covered in the analysis (not that its a bad thing). 

Notably this is one of the few animations where both combatants use their most powerful attacks right from the start which I think fits into the combatants personalities. Typically the animation leaves the most powerful attacks for last to amp up the drama. For example the last fight had Zero having the upper hand but we knew the fight wasn't over because Metal Sonic had still not transformed into Metal Overlord and the fight before that also used this in regards to Binary. This does not take away from the drama though as Renamon successfully impales Lucario with Diamond Storm... only to have Lucario power through it like a boss before executing a killer combo finishing by impalng Renamon's throat with Bone Rush and frankly the whole sequence is awesome. I give this animation an 8 out 10.

Conclusion

The conclusion has a very reasonable outcome justifying the advantages each combatant had. It highlights that Renamon held the speed advantage due to being more experienced and using it more consistently. It also makes note of Lucario's advantages using Aura, allowing him to easily detect Renamon, and having a superior arsenal. Finally it makes note of Lucario's ability to increase it's stats and points out its absolutely massive strength advantage being able to hit with about 50,000 PSI more than Renamon can. Although I wasn't impressed with Boomstick reusing a pun from a past battle (H2Owned, Lucariowned). The conclusion gets a 7.5/10 bringing the total to 22 out of 30 or 73%.

Metal Sonic VS Zero

Yeah I don't have an excuse for my tardiness. Now this is an interesting episode. On the one hand I've been wanting Metal Sonic in an episode ever since Eggman VS Wily (exactly 50 episodes ago!) but on the other hand while I do enjoy this episode, its not without its flaws.

Analysis

Metal Sonic's rundown starts with the standard background analysis and does a god job covering his arsenal while also giving a nice Terminator reference. They go through his feats rather well although its here where I start to have a couple nitpicks. I really don't think using the Olympics spinoff games should count as it can apply to pretty much everyone in the Sonicverse. Also I have a problem regarding Mach 8 Sonic because he does actually have one feat that shows him moving at FTL speeds. In Sonic Generations he was able run fast enough to restore the space-time continuum and while I understand its a MASSIVE outlier, Mach 8 is just a bit too slow in my opinion. An additional nitpick to this is that it wasn't even necessary considering that Metal Sonic himself moves at Mach 35. However, I do think that it was an interesting piece of information and while I disagree with it, it was nice to see them convert SPD into meters per second (as well as debunk that horrid game theory) and it gives Boomstick an opportunity to make another jab at his ex-wife. The stalagmite feat was also a very interesting piece of information. The rest of Metal Sonic's analysis was pretty good covering Metal Sonic's alternate forms and weaknesses.

As for Zero's analysis, it gives a much more detailed rundown on his background, probably due to the fact that Zero is an actually fleshed out character. It does a decent job at going through his arsenal and alternate forms while throwing a joke or two in there to keep it entertaining. It covers his feats fairly well though I do have an issue or two which I will cover in the conclusion. However, this rundown does use the calc omission trap by giving the statistics of Metal Sonic's feats but not Zero's and as such I did know he was going to win. I give this analysis a 6.8 out of 10.

Animation

You know I once claimed that Jetz was the Torrian of 2D battles and I think this episode proves my claim. The episode shows that Jetz has just continued to improve and the 2.5D actually works well with the fight. Sure there are some shots that look a little off but that just means it'll be easier for his next animation to beat this one.

Although the animation could've made better use of Metal Sonic's Scan and Copy ability as he uses a charge shot prior to copying Zero's charge shot so it makes it a little difficult to understand that he actually copied anything. Furthermore wouldn't the Z-Saber count as Zero's signature ability? 

However, that's about it for nitpicks. From here on out, the fight just escalates with each combatant countering each other like a strategic game of chess. And then Metal Sonic turns into Metal Overlord and the fight becomes a David VS Goliath fight like we haven't seen before. We are then treated to both combatants shaking off each others attacks until the climactic finish where Zero slices through Metal Overlord in one strike. That would be a moment worthy of 'Rules of Nature' right there, of course Zero doesn't look back as Metal Overlord explodes. I give this animation an 8.8/10.

Conclusion

Now before I start, there is not a doubt in my mind that Zero would've stomped Metal Sonic. However, much like Sub-Zero VS Glacius, the reasoning is what is important here. For speed, they don't actually give Zero any feats or evidence that he would keep up with Mach 35. Instead they use speed scaling which I am not a fan of. Speed scaling relies on the assumption that said character scaled was moving at those seeds during the fight. Furthermore they make it complex by scaling Zero to Mega Man who in turn is being scaled to Quick Man. The episode's entire argument for why Zero is faster (or has better reflexes, whatever) is based on an  assumption based on an assumption. They also use the assumption that Zero is better than Mega Man based on the fact that he was built to surpass him yet has never shown this in a direct fight. Yes I do know that Zero is better than Mega Man but that was because he was introduced in the X era where the series started to get more and more absurd with his feats. Also Metal Sonic was built to surpass Sonic but has consistently shown to lose to him. Even still Metal Overlord has reacted to Super Sonic who by Death Battle's own admission has gone at FTL.

Now they do make a good point about Zero's superior and much larger arsenal which allowed him to counter anything Zero could throw at him. I also agree with them on the hax side of things where Zero's means of stopping time were generally more effective than Metal Sonic's. 

As for durability, yeah no. There are multiple things wrong with this feat such as the fact that the space shuttle tanked most of the damage. Of course Zero wouldn't have gotten out unscathed but there is too little evidence to suggest he tanked even a fraction of the supposedly 100,000,000,000 tons of TnT that they are saying he did. As shown by this episode's own footage, the shuttle is relatively unscathed and as such assuming Zero tanked this is unreliable at best.  From the sounds of things this feat was merely a character statement (which tend to be quite slippery) that said it was similar to the meteor that wiped out the dinosaurs and does not explicitly state that it was 100,000,000,000 tons.

Like I said, I truly do believe that Zero wins this matchup. Hell its not even close but the reasoning used to justify his win in this episode is too circumstantial to be used reliably. I give this conclusion a 5.4 out 10 for a total score of 21/30 or 70%.

Android 18 VS Captain Marvel

Sorry I'm late but my laptop needed to be fixed. Good thing it did because I would've probably missed something that greatly affected my view on the episode, that being Ben's Twitter which I'll elaborate on at the end.

Analysis

Android 18's analysis is decently put together. It has decent jokes and even has Wiz elicit a "No. Just no" reaction to one of Boomstick's more inappropriate puns (though to be honest, it did make me laugh on the inside). It gives a fairly informative rundown on ki and how 18 can use it to enhance her physical capabilities while still being fairly entertaining. It gains bonus points for even talking about 18's fighting style and tendency to wear her opponent out. Unfortunately it also loses those points when it falsely informs the viewer that 18 can absorb energy. Of course that doesn't prevent the feats section of her analysis from being entertaining especially that little detail: "Withstood love making with Krillin". The "Gravity formula" is also used to great effect and it was very interesting to see how Wiz and Boomstick powerscaled 18's strength by calculating Vegeta's durability. However, her analysis starts to lose points again when talking about her weaknesses. Yes 18 was programmed to have a remote bomb in her chest but that bomb was removed at the end of the Cell saga so bringing it up now is pointless. Also how is being cold and apathetic a weakness?

Moving on to Captain Marvel's analysis, this is also pretty decently put together. It has a few decent jokes as well with the first one being Boomstick's unimpressed reaction to Mar-Vell's name as well as Wiz telling Boomstick he has a problem in reaction to Boomstick's blackouts. It goes over Carol's arsenal fairly well and this time doesn't lose points when mentioning Carol can absorb energy. The feats section of the analysis is also informative and entertaining with Wiz mentioning Carol's speed is approximately Mach 247. The Binary section is decently covered and the same can be said for the weaknesses section (and actually giving real weaknesses this time). I give the analysis a 7.5/10.

Animation

First of all, can I just say it's good to have Zack animate another DB episode. I thought his animations were some of the best in season 2 so I was excited to find out he was animating this episode. Now I will admit that its a bit shorter than I would've liked but as with Power Rangers VS Voltron, the animation makes those seconds count. The fight is an extremely fast paced, action packed battle that we would expect nothing less from a DBZ episode (with the exception of Hercule VS Dan). The choreography of the fight does showcase 18's superior speed yet doesn't make it so that Carol is completely outclassed (as shown in the section where both fighters are moving faster than the eye can track). The fight only seems to get more awesome as it goes on with Carol blowing up a mountain just to demonstrate her power as Binary.

The animation also gains bonus points for having Amber Lee Connors reprise her role for TFS' Android 18 and Terri Doty does a pretty good job as Captain Mavel. Although Carol does seem to be a bit narmy when she turns into Binary (HAHAHA! HAVE A TASTE OF YOU'RE OWN ENERGY!). Of course the animation does have its genuinely funny moments as well as shown when 18 pulls Carol's hair and Carol aggressively states that 18's playing dirty.

Finally the finisher of the fight is just pure badass. 18 no sells a massive energy blast that leaves a giant crater, breaks both of Carol's arms and hits her with enough force to double the size of the crater before stomping her head into the ground. I'm willing to forgive the part where 18 absorbs energy because frankly that's not Zack's fault. That is the fault of the research. However, at certain points Binary's flame hair looks unfinished and as such Binary's sprite looks like it has a hole in her head during some parts of the fight. On an unrelated note, are just going to ignore the fact that 18 left the dragonball by Binary. The fight is good but I'm still gonna give the animation a 6.5/10 for reasons I will explain soon.

Conclusion

Now the reasoning is actually pretty solid saying that 18 was able to move about 100,000 mph faster than Carol could and they outright say that 18 is a much better fighter than Carol in her base form and this is where I think they should've stopped. I think omitting Binary would've been the best choice here as it is an extremely circumstantial form (needing star level energy to power up in the first place) and as such I don't believe that Carol would be able to utilize it in a one-on-one fight unless said fight took place in space. I do agree with the fact that 18 would stop feeding Captain Marvel energy once she realized what was happening. 

Now I'd like to address a couple things before I wrap this up. Firstly I think it was irresponsible to put 18's 'energy absorption' ability into the fight without having actually checked if she has it outside of Xenoverse. This would've negatively impacted my rating but upon closer inspection, they don't even mention it in the conclusion so its a minor offense. The second thing I'd like to address is I'm actually impressed with Ben and SA with dealing with the minor fallout of this episode. They addressed several complaints and upon inspecting the issues himself, Ben actually apologized for the research failure of this episode. It does not impact the result as not much weight was put onto both the speed downplay and the energy absorption but its still nice to see that Ben cares about his fans enough to acknowledge his mistakes even if some people give him flak for it. With that I give this conclusion a 6/10 bringing the grand total to 20/30 or 67%. As for the next matchup: I'll be rooting for Metal Sonic but I'm betting Zero considering he has every category apart from speed.

Sub-Zero VS Glacius

Oh boy. I've been waiting for this battle for a long time and is one of the few episodes that I didn't need anything prior to hype me up. While I actually haven't played either Mortal Kombat or Killer Instinct, I knew enough about the characters that I was actually not a complete moron going into this so I was pretty excited for this matchup. Let me just say that it was... a huge disappointment. Let's get into the review, shall we?

Analysis

OK the analysis does its job in informing the audience about the characters' backgrounds, arsenals and feats. However, it falls into the same traps before hand that its blatantly obvious who's going to win. I hadn't even started Glacius' rundown when I figured out that Sub-Zero would win because of its blatant usage of the "weakness trap". The Glasius rundown did leave me slightly skeptical when they didn't even calculate his feats while they did calculate Sub-Zero's as I suspected this was them using what I call the "calc omission" trap which is another trap used to make one combatant more powerful then the other via omitting certain information on the latter combatant. But SA usually doesn't use these traps in conjunction so I was still adamant that Sub-Zero would win. And while it also did explain one of Glacius' weaknesses, they went out of their way to put Sub-Zero's in. I mean I wouldn't exactly call being a "mortal man" or having "emotional baggage" as being factors that could work against him in a fight especially one such as Death Battle. The analysis uses up most of its good jokes in the first couple minutes of each rundown and as such they are already used up if you watch the previews. There's only one other joke that's particularly memorable and that's Wiz trying to be funny again which might've worked had Natsu VS Ace not brought it up and used it as a moment of heartwarming between Wiz and Boomstick. I give the analysis a 5/10

Animation

Here is where the bulk of my criticisms lie. The animation is only one minute 44 seconds long and unlike Power Rangers VS Voltron, it doesn't make that time count. I'd like to point out that the last episode that had a less than 2 minute animation was 30 episodes ago with Beast VS Goliath and that animation still has a longer time than this episode. The last episode that had a shorter animation than this was 41 episodes ago with Batman VS Captain America and that was a filler episode to compensate for the huge delay with Godzilla VS Gamera!!

It also suffers some pacing problems which made the animation drag on. The choreography is also a bit off with Glacius standing in one place for the majority of the fight and all of his attacks being animated rather slowly. While I get that this may have been intentional so as to emphasize Glasius' preference to long range attacks, they are just animated too slowly to make it enjoyable. Now I get that this was Kiid's first animation for Death Battle but he also animated Iron Man VS Mega Man X for DBX which was commonly regarded as one of the best animations for DBX at that time. While Iron Man VS Mega Man X had its flaws, one of them wasn't pacing. It was more that Iron Man couldn't get a single solid attack in. 

However he does do some things that are well done. For example the fake out was actually really well done and one of the few things that doesn't suffer from pacing. Its timed perfectly for you to make you think Glacius has won but does not give you enough time to realize that "Oh shit the K.O hasn't appeared!". Surprisingly I think this is the first time that a fake out has been executed perfectly because both Ryu VS Scorpion and Godzilla VS Gamera drags them out long enough for you to realize the fight isn't over. 

Now its by no means a bad animation but it isn't good either. Its just "meh" for me. However, I do think that Kiid has some potential and will look forward to the next time he animates for DB. I mean I was thinking similar things with Jetz when he did Cammy VS Sonya. All the closeups were just too awkwardly placed and timed for it to be enjoyable (in my opinion). Yet skip to Ken VS Terry and there is a drastic improvement. A few animations later and Jetz has become one of SA's best animators if not the best and I think a similar thing could happen with Kiid. But for now I have to give his first DB animation a 5/10.

Conclusion

OK now I know Glacius was the popular vote to win but I don't really have a problem with my preferred character losing provided there is reasonable justification. This episode kinda met me half way. Bringing up all the kinds of opponents that Sub-Zero has fought against doesn't do much when you look at the kinds of opponents that Glacius has faced off against and this bit could've just been a part of the analysis. I will concede that Sub-Zero's reflexes would allow him to easily dodge Glacius' attacks and his teleportation would've made it much easier. I will also concede that Glacius' telepathy would not be able to be utilized in the manner of mind reading as well as Glacius having better defenses. 

However, my main problem with this conclusion is that it yet again uses the 'Test Your Might' mini game fallacy. Test Your Might is a mini game and success is completely dependent on the player's own ability making it a Player Influenced Feat. These feats are typically non-canon and are the reason why Shovel Knight dodging meteors wasn't taken seriously. Its the same as saying 'Mario can die to spikes'. Of course its ridiculous because well 1) its gameplay and 2) Mario didn't hit those spike, YOU did. The same logic has to be used for character feats. Sub-Zero didn't break the titanium statue, YOU did and as such it shouldn't be counted as a feat. 

I can tolerate it being used in MK VS SF fights because SF also has the destroy the car mini game. However, KI doesn't have any such mini games and as such its essentially giving Sub-Zero more feats than he needs. Like I said I'm OK with Sub-Zero winning but the fact that he mainly won because of a mini game is what I'm not OK with. I give the conclusion a 5/10 making this episode barely scrape by with 50%. However, there is a silver lining here and that is that these lower quality episodes help make the higher quality episodes stand out a bit better which I can only hope will be the case with Android 18 VS Captain Marvel.

Power Rangers VS Voltron/Natsu VS Ace

OK so I've gotten a bit behind but there's a good reason for that and that good reason is... laziness. After 6 months I've found that I haven't really been enjoying writing these as I did when I started and that has mainly come from the fact that every time I write one of these reviews, I end up saying the same things over and over in a slightly different way. Hell I'm sure some variation of "pretty good" started becoming somewhat of a catch phrase over time given how many times I used it.

The thing is that while each episode of DEATH BATTLE is different they end up very formulaic. For the analysis, start with some background information before going over the character's feat/powers. Throw in a joke or two for good measure. While the animation is much more variable, it is essentially two characters passing the advantage ball between themselves (maybe getting some good combos in) before one of them dies. The conclusion is essentially giving the audience some information that was seemingly omitted in the analysis portion. The result is arguably even more predictable if SA is using the 'weakness trap'.However, despite this formula DB manages to entertain with a constant but subtle increase in quality. That changed when Power Rangers VS Voltron was uploaded.

To be blunt, I felt the fight was a disappointment. Now before you start raging I thought it was a pretty good episode and definitely one of Torrian's better animations. Unfortunately SA hyped it up so much that even I, who has had no experience with either show, was hyped to the point of believing it was going to be a fight worthy of rivaling Goku VS Superman (the good one) in terms of quality. Instead I got a fight that was only 4 minutes 25 seconds long (only one second less than Deadpool VS Pinkie Pie) and while the episode utilizes every second of those 4 minutes 25 seconds to their maximum potential, it feels like the episode would have benefited from a longer animation. The characters don't play off each other very well and despite bringing in an AllStarCast to fit the characters, the dialogue isn't that great. The one scene where I actually feel invested is Lance's heroic sacrifice to save Pidge and the impact it had on Pidge. From then on, I was fully invested at both the fact that Power Rangers had actually managed to cripple Voltron and possibly killed someone and the sheer awesomeness that was Pidge. Unfortunately that happens very late in the fight and while the choreography is still awesome, it doesn't really help the problems I addressed.

The analysis and conclusion are par for the course with some good jokes here and there. The conclusion was actually the only thing that matched my expectations by demonstrating how far Power Rangers were outclassed by Voltron with over the top calculations. Now I know I'm being a bit harsh to the episode but in my defense SA deliberately hyped this fight up and this is where I reached my revelation. DB has reached a quality where its almost impossible to surmount. Sure episodes will keep slightly improving in quality but unfortunately that works against fights that SA wants to hype up.

For example Goku VS Superman was able to exceed beyond expectations because the quality of its animation was far beyond anything we had ever seen before at that point in time. Hell at that point in time most of the episodes were animated by Ben Singer himself and let's just say they have not aged well due to him being an amateur animator. Goku VS Superman 2 was also a success in my opinion mainly because there were two types of people prior to the episode's release. Those that were hoping Goku to win or those that like me had understood the message of the first fight and as such were not looking forward to this. Surprisingly the episode was rife with symbolism. How Wiz and Boomstick take a break from the formula and instead focus on the history of the franchise. How Superman actually decides to Mercy Kill Goku. And of course the infamous "Superman walking through the Super Kamehameha". Sure its not a great message (that being 'Superman is limitless' which is BS imo) but it gets the point across.

Power Rangers VS Voltron turned out to be a failure because while I like it more than Goku VS Superman 2, it couldn't live up to the hype. Sure there's Voltron overloading Power Ranger's systems at the end to "show how powerful Voltron is" but for the majority of the fight the Megazord and Voltron were fighting on equal footing and the Megazord ends up being somewhat of a curbstomp cushion by coming dangerously close to actually defeating Voltron which is weird considering that unlike Superman, Voltron has no reason to hold back. Now I'm used to these kinds of fights appearing in DB where the victor actually curbstomps the loser in the results but is nearly defeated in the animation but that's where my point is. Power Rangers VS Voltron ended up being simply another Death Battle rather than a milestone fight. Don't get me wrong, I loved this episode and I'd probably be saying completely different things had SA not hyped it up but I guess thems the breaks. The fight's not really bad and is even really good. I just expected a bit more out of a milestone episode. I give this episode an 83%

Now onto Natsu VS Ace. The analysis is good with some good jokes here and there such as the early closing of Natsu's analysis upon realization that he died at an early age. The analysis does a good job at informing the audience of what exactly the combatants' arsenals consisted of. The animation was excellent and for the first time I thought the close ups on the characters actually served a purpose and helped make the fight seem more cinematic (even if one or two felt out of place). I especially enjoyed Ace's disintegration and the close up used for it. The results provide a reasonable explanation for why Natsu won and actually contained a heartwarming moment between Wiz and Boomstick. I only have two issues with the episode: 1) the reason for the fight happening was pretty dumb and 2) I CAN'T FIND THE MUSIC FOR ACE'S FIREFLY ATTACK!!! Though seriously if you know the name of that track could you please tell me? I give the episode an 85% As for next time: ALL OF MY YES!

Venom VS Bane

This was one of the few battles where I actually had a decent amount of prior knowledge on before the prediction blog came out. With me having the gist of Bane and Venom being one of my favorite Marvel characters of all time, I was pretty hyped for the battle. The connections were also not bad with both being evil counterparts of the protagonists that are also physically stronger (though Ben and Chad didn't realize this until after looking into the battle).

Analysis

The analysis were informative as always. In fact they were so informative that they were actually able to come up with a feat for Bane that made it less than a stomp in Venom's favor. Specifically surviving SuperBat's beatdown. In terms of feats, the analysis do a good job at stating feats without giving the audience a way to gauge the feats until the conclusion (though its still safe to assume that a giant carnival ride is a bigger feat than lifting a truck). The analysis were pretty decent in the entertainment department with Boomstick name ratings being a notable aspect. However, while the analysis is decent on its own, it pales in comarison to other episodes. The analysis does do its job in being informative but it could be better by putting in more feats and/or calcs. It also isn't as entertaining as other episodes so I give the analysis a 5.8 out of 10.

Animation

Now unlike the previous episode, I freaking love the fight choreography for this episode. The animation starts out as a homage to Batman while also mixing in a bit of Mook Horror Show. It demonstrates Bane's superior skill in martial arts while also maintaining Venom's superior power set. The way Venom finishes Bane is well-done and the way Bane dies (with Venom overloading him with webbing to the point where he explodes) definitely fits this episode more than Batman VS Spider-man (where it was originally intended to appear). Unlike the last episode, the advantage ball is passed around rather than keeping it in one combatant so I'm comfortable giving the animation an 8 out of 10 (and upon further inspection despite Scrooge VS SK's superior animation, it really didn't deserve a 9.5/10).

Conclusion

The conclusion is as expected yet, it is dealt with in a tactful manner. Rather than simply righting the episode off due to him being physically superior, the episode actual tackles calculations for several feats such as the carnival ride weighing around 200 tons and calculating Venom's reaction speed to be 1,500 miles per hour. Yes it does end with essentially what I said they didn't do but they actually give justifiable reasons rather than using powerscaling to Spiderman. As such I think the conclusion deserves a 7.5 out of 10. That brings the total score to 21.3 out of 30 or 71%. 

Scrooge McDuck VS Shovel Knight

I'm going to be honest; when this matchup was first announced I was pissed. The only connection I could see was "both collect money" and that really isn't worthy enough to become a DEATH BATTLE! However, as time went on I discovered more and more connections between the two. Both were treasure hunters (and judging by the amount of jewelry behind Shovel Knight, it was an important aspect of his character) who had a 'partner' but lost that partner at one point in their life resulting in them heartbroken and these partners were still alive after the protagonists lost them. Both had similar arsenals with a means of generating extreme heat, becoming intangible, generating loud noises, turning opponents into gold and even had a similar technique. So by the time this battle got released I was actually pretty excited.

Analysis

One thing I noticed about this episode is that it seemed to be a contrast to Lara Croft VS Nathan Drake. Both gave the background but then while that episode spent more time going over feats, this episode spent more time going over the combatant's arsenals. It goes so far that Wiz and Boomstick even share their favorite weapons the characters have. Now they still go over the combatants feats but there's not as much emphasis on it, making the episode a bit unpredictable. Also adding to the unpredictability is that the 'weakness trap' as I'm calling it wasn't used. While I disagree with Shovel Knight being dumb, I understand that that was put there in an attempt to avoid making the episode predictable. Unfortunately the matchup itself destroys all of that but I'll explain what I mean by that later on. With all this I give the analysis a 7/10.

Animation

Well this fight of all episodes finally showed me the difference between fight and animation. On one hand I'm disappointed with the fight itself as it portrays Scrooge as winning on pure luck. He only manages to get a solid hit in until 13 seconds prior to the end of the battle. This is a problem I also noticed in Meta VS Carolina (with Carolina only winning because of Maine's Brute Shot). While the animation is purely made for entertainment, most people will still think of this as how the fight will play out (hence why you see people arguing about the details of the animation) and by portraying the victor as only winning because of a combination of sheer luck and their opponent's weapon, you get rid of the feeling that the victor actually earned that win. The episode also didn't show as much of either combatant's arsenal as I would've liked and is quite short. The fight does have its moments such as Shovel Knight swinging the cannon ball back to Scrooge and Scrooge's comeback is especially good as Shovel Knight dies with honor... by slipping over a pool of gold and getting decapitated by his own weapon.

However, that all changes when you look at the animation itself. Every movement is fluid and it creates a semblance of quality that surpasses even some 3D animated fights. The animation has a nice flow to it and this is even shown in the music used when it easily changes from 'The Ancient Ship of Doom - Act 1' to the NES theme of DuckTales. This animation greatly improves upon the quality of previous 2D episodes and I look forward to seeing more of Jetz battles in the future. Seriously this episode has made me think of Jetz as the Torrian of 2D battles. With this I give the animation 9.5/10

Conclusion

Now as I've said the outcome was obvious just because of the sheer matchup itself. This is what happens when you pit a character with 70+ years of comic books (as well as other mediums) against an indie video game character with one game (and a bunch of cameos). Yes the majority of Shovel Knights game is fighting, giving the illusion that he has more combat experience but in canon its still a few days. Scrooge on the other hand has more source material and has gone on more adventures than Shovel Knight so while DB's claim that Scrooge has 100+ years of experience is incorrect, Scrooge still has more canon experience than Shovel Knight. Yes Shovel Knight has a bigger arsenal that could provide more hax but Scrooge's arsenal literally destroys the laws of physics and doesn't have as much of a catch. Yes Shovel Knight has faced impressive threats such as dragons and the Order of No Quarter but Scrooge has accomplished feats well above that such as surviving the center of the earth. 

There's also the problem with the format of 'Shovel Knight' in that many of the feats Shovel Knight performs in that game are 'player influenced' and as a result make the feats extremely iffy in my opinion. Yes Shovel Knight 'could' dodge meteors but if the player isn't fast enough then Shovel Knight will just end up being hit by them and the game doesn't even acknowledge these meteorites. Canonically Shovel Knight just beat Black Knight and that is that. This is likely the reason why DB didn't cover the meteorite feat (though according to the prediction blog it wouldn't have mattered if it was included). 

With the format of 'Shovel Knight' this episode put a nearly featless character against a character with 70 years worth of feats on his belt. The result was obvious. from the getgo. However, despite that the episode's reasoning is sound. They show that Scrooge was superior in stats, had a superior arsenal and brought up Shovel Knight's finite supply of magic. I give the reasoning a score of 7.5/10. That brings the total score to 24/30.

Lara Croft VS Nathan Drake

Well this was another battle I in which I was very inexperienced and did not know either character. However, as this was a highly requested matchup I still had a bit of knowledge on the combatants other than the prediction blog so I wasn't going in completely blind.

Analysis

The analysis were more informative than most episodes yet at the same time seemed a bit watered down, compared to other episodes. Both Lara and Nathan's analysis seemed to be the standard background of the characters and then just lists of what the combatants had accomplished. While this did give me a better idea about what they have accomplished, it also didn't leave much room for Wiz and Boomstick's character and didn't hold back as much as most episodes do. As such the outcome of the episode was predictable even if you had no prior knowledge on the combatants. The analysis also used a trap that I've noticed has appeared in many episodes of DEATH BATTLE. To put it simply the trap involves giving the audience one combatant's weakness/es while leaving out the other one's. This is quite evident in this episode due to discussing Lara's recklessness while leaving out Nathan's reliance on luck. As such I give the analysis a 6/10.

Animation

Well Torrian was able to put out another great animation complete with Final Fantasy music to boot. The animation plays out quite similar to Sold Snake VS Sam Fisher in that both combatants are fighting over some item which constantly gets passed between them as the fight progresses. The item (which is the Holy Grail) is supposed to symbolize the advantage ball that gets passed around (though I doubt anyone else sees it that way) during the fight.

The fight goes from a mountain to a car chase (which is surprisingly appropriate unlike the last car chase that occurred on Death Battle) before finally ending up in the desert. The only real problem with this is the ending. Now I don't have a problem with the fact that Nathan tried to flee. He had the Holy Grail and knew that Lara could beat him in a close quarters fight so there was no reason for him to stay. I don't have a problem with Nathan surviving the explosion and the fall. That seems to be par for the course with these combatants. However how Nathan dies is anticlimactic as all hell. Instead of getting into one final showdown where they die, Nathan gets killed by the helicopter rotor falling back down and impaling him. OK putting aside the fact that this fight should not have ended in an accidental murder due to Lara actively trying to murder Nathan, how Nathan died is NOT PHYSICALLY POSSIBLE. The rotor flew upwards and the laws of aerodynamics and physics would not allow it to completely reverse its momentum to embed itself in Nathan's body.

However, other than the ending the animation is pretty good. The voice acting is great and I think the fight choreography is really good (those Lara flips). There's even a sufficient motive to start the fight. So taking all this into consideration I give the fight a 7.5/10.

Conclusion

Well as I said the outcome was quite predictable due to how the analysis were handled. Now they still gave solid reasoning proving that Lara was stronger, tougher, more level-headed and generally more skilled. Sure Nathan is impressive compared to a normal human being but the hosts were right in saying that Nathan typically relied on luck which isn't something you should rely on. There is also the issue that Lara has faced more powerful threats (which is another similarity to Snake VS Sam). So with all this I give the conclusion a 7.5/10. This brings the total rating to 21/30 or 70%.