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%.