User blog:WBH-LM27/Death Battle Season 6: The Mega Review

Introduction
Hello there! I was feeling bored, so I decided now would be a good time to do an analysis on Death Battle's Season 6, now that it's wrapped up. With Season 7 on the way, the show is definitely looking towards a brighter future, but before we do that, we need to look at the past, and figure out how this season fared... in my own opinion, of course.

Firstly, I'd like to introduce a revolutionary, patent-pending method of reviewing Death Battles: The MATER formula. What does MATER stand for, you ask??

He doesn't, he- he's a car, he can't stan-

MATER is an acronym, naturally, for the different points to be covered on the individual episodes. Each segment has a 5-point system, like most reviews do. For those of you who can't math, this means there's a 5 point minimum and 25 point maximum. For the sake of theme, let's use 'skulls' as the defacto points. Also, probably not gonna complete all of it at once, so this'll probably be done in segments of four, for convenience sake. And I might throw a Tier List onto the end, just to make things spicy.
 * Matchup: The base idea of the fight itself. The characters, their connections, how exciting and how balanced the fight sounds on paper. Less about the episode itself, and more about the premise.
 * Analysis: The Wiz and Boomstick segments leading up to the fight itself. This focuses on how the information is presented, how well they show off the fighters' strengths and weaknesses, as well as how entertaining or memorable the segments are. In other words, ranking how good the chemistry between Wiz and Boomstick is for the segments.
 * Tussle: The core fight of the episode. The animation, portrayal of the characters, accompanying music, any story being told, and the most important part to me - the death. In other words, how good them battles be, and how creative/fun/cool/badass/whatever the climax turns out to be.
 * Ending: This part covers the post-fight analysis and results of the fight, how accurate a fight is and any individual points that feel important enough to be made. Similar to the analysis and matchup segments, but focus on how Death Battle concluded the fight, such as closeness and how agreeable it is. Almost all battles are gonna end up ranking high on this.
 * Reaction: BIAS! This'll be where I throw in my own take on the fight. How much I enjoyed it, my own personal grievances or praises. Of course, the other segments will have their own bias injected into them, but I'll try and keep the brunt of it into this one.

And, once again - this is all purely my opinion. It'll most likely differ from most people, and will also probably feature a few of them 'hot takes'... or just mild takes, if that's how things turn out. Cold takes. Negative Degree Takes-alright I'll stop now...

Well, with all that out of the way, let's get this started!

Season 6 - Episode 1: Aquaman VS Namor (DC VS Marvel)
Matchup: Aquaman/Namor is probably one of the more... obvious choices for a Death Battle. It's another Marvel VS DC Match, featuring both universe's Kings of Atlantis. Aquaman getting his movie in and around the time of release also made it fairly fitting, and this really was the best option for both combatants. As for the fairness, you could argue there was a good sense of balance going into things. Both characters are relatively obscure, and not all too popular, or powerful compared to their fellow heroes. However, more people know Aquaman than Namor for a reason - he's more popular. And, the more popular you are, the more powerful you get in your series. Of course, the battle isn't a downright stomp... but Aquaman's definitely got the advantage, which leaves things less intense going in. (3/5)

Analysis: When the first thing you hear is the phrase "I don't get Mermaids", you know you're in for a fun time. Both hosts waste no time getting into the nitty-gritty of both combatants, and there's a good few stand-out moments within both rundowns (Boomstick comparing Aquaman to Spongebob was a natural highlight, and the old Namor jingle was also pretty sweet). Unfortunately, like most battles, the rundown doesn't have much to remember aside from the feats spoken about. Some episodes do better than others, but this one wasn't one of them. Honestly, just a pretty standard analysis. (2/5)

Tussle: Hoo boy, that fight though. Much like the Season Finale (which we'll get to when we get to), the fight starts off comedic, which also gives it a better chance at being memorable. Both Kaiji Tang and Todd Haberkorn do well voicing Aquaman and Namor respectively, nailing each character's tone and personality (Aquaman being goofy, before going serious, and Namor being overly serious the whole time). The writing is also pretty good, with a lot of standout moments ("Plenty of space around the pool, Spock", the Stone Golems, Kame House, the underwater Sharknado and the climax with the anglerfish) that made the fight good. If there was something bad to say about it, I'd say the animation - while still the usual DB Standard - does have a few iffy moments. There are a few times things are held on for a bit long (Namor's "IMPERIUS REX" is just a single sprite for a solid second or two, and there's a solid gap in dialogue when Namor and Aquaman are talking near the climax that's a little distracting), and some sprites don't exactly match well with the rest (the Golems specifically look a little odd). And Kings of the Sea, while a fine track... isn't the most memorable, and goes on just a bit long as well. In the end, it's a solid fight, just with a few moments that hold it back just a smidge. Extra points go to Namor being eaten alive (4/5).

Ending: The results went about as expected, with Aquaman pulling out the victory. The hosts do make things sound like they're a lot closer than they are though, but that isn't too big of an issue. In the end, it was just expectable - nothing too mindblowing about either combatant, ironic considering how Namor went out. (3/5)

Reaction: Personally, I found Aquaman VS Namor to be a fun time, but not the nail biting, hair raising starter other season openers like Dante/Bayo, He Man/Lion-O, or even Croft/Drake were. The episode, by itself, was a perfectly fine bout between the two Ocean Men, but I'm not looking for them to take me by the hand anytime soon.  (3/5)

Season 6 - Episode 2: Mega Man Battle Royale (Capcom)
Matchup: Being the first Battle Royale since Season 2, the battle between the 5 most prominent Mega-Men was a surpise when it was first announced - but a welcome one, of course. Looking at the matchup just based off of one most people would've known prior, it'd be clear both Classic and Volnutt didn't stand much of a chance. Leaving only X, EXE, and Starforce. If I was to put my money on either of those three, before the battle came out, I probably would've went with Starforce, though I'm not sure there would be an inherit reason behind it. Still, the match-up is definitely one of the best this season. (4/5)

Analysis: Even though it was handling 5 characters in total, the analysis for MMBR was paced fairly well, with all characters getting their chance to shine, with unique and memorable moments in each segment that stuck out well (Mega Man Classic/Diet/Zero, the Mother Elf, Boomstick's Breakdown, 'Jacking Off' and the Happily Ever After, just to name a few). It also clearly displayed the strengths and weaknesses of each Mega Man, and managed to tell the story of both timelines in a somewhat cohesive manner. And, even though DB already covered Classic in his fight against Astro Boy, it didn't feel too much like going over the same stuff. (3/5)

Tussle: This battle was easily one of the best of the season, and maybe even the series if I'm being honest. From start to finish, everything was fast paced, action packed and produced on a spectacular level. Each character had a chance to shine in their own way, and it never directly felt like a stomp despite the clear power gaps between individual combatants (well, except for Volnutt, but he still got his shots in). The amount of detail was also damn amazing, from how both timelines were displayed by who fought who at the start, to the musicless black hole scene, to ZA WARUDO, it was all just great! And don't even get me started on the music, MegaMania is one of the best tracks released for DB so far. And while the fight itself had very little in the means of reason or story, it still felt impactful with the character interactions. Even though there wasn't any voice acting, you could tell how each character felt towards one another and their actions. And that ending, while not exactly the most creative, was still badass in how it was handled. (5/5)

Ending: While the outcome itself wasn't exactly a shocker, it was still nerveracking until the very end, and seeing .EXE come out on top was fufilling and felt right. The explaination behind it was also well made, going down the list of Mega Men and giving each their due dilligence while also explaining how they lost to the higher-ups. And EXE's Universal Feats were... well, surprising, complete with his 'biggest number' record. In the end, a solid recap. (4/5)

Reaction: The Mega Man Battle royale was an entertaining experience from beginning to end, and it's easily one of the best episodes from this season, packed with the quality of research as expected from DB, and a battle that's a top tier for the series as a whole. Not much else to say, but I think I covered everything. (5/5)

Season 6 - Episode 3: Black Widow VS Widowmaker (Marvel VS Overwatch)
Matchup: Widow², when it was announced, was an... interesting idea, to say the least. I'm pretty sure everyone knew Natasha was going to take the win at the end of the day, but it was still an interesting matchup. It was nice to see an Overwatch character show up again after Tracer's win in Season 3, and going up against the last of the 6 Core (Film) Avengers at that. The concept is fine, just not too exciting when you think about it longer than a minute. (3/5)

Analysis: The analysis was... alright Like, again, very few DB Pre-Fight Rundowns are ever directly bad, by any means, but most of them are generally... boring? Yeah, boring. And this one's no different, with only a handful of memorable moments. Though Blue-mstick was pretty funny, nothing really stuck out to me for long aside from the research itself. (2/5)

Tussle: Compared to the other battles Death Battle has made, Widow² isn't exactly the most action packed battle. Most of the combat happened around the last 3rd of the fight, and it's more comparable to a chase scene... but that was more or less what they were going for. The fight is more akin to one seen in the likes of a James Bond or Jason Bourne film, and I'd say it works perfectly well for it. Both characters were portrayed well, and the story told in the fight - while simple - was still pretty good. And Widow's Kiss, while not exactly the most memorable of tracks, suited the battle perfectly. Oh, and I almost forgot about the death!... yeah, it was alright. (3/5)

Ending: As stated before, Black Widow's victory wasn't unexpected in the slightest, and the post-fight analysis more or less proved it, with it being about as standard as you go for results. Nothing was particularly of note (again, aside from Blue-mstick), and nothing really blew me away when it came to factoids. (3/5)

Reaction: When the episode first came out, I really enjoyed it - I thought it was thrilling, exciting, other adjectives. But, now that time has passed, and the rush has dissipated, I'm not exactly as thrilled with the episode as I once was. It's still by no means a bad episode, certainly a good 3D Fight... but it wasn't anything stand-out either. Just a good episode. (3/5)

Season 6 - Episode 4: Captain Marvel VS Shazam (Marvel VS DC)
Matchup: Yet another Marvel VS DC fight, featuring the two heroes to go by 'Captain Marvel'! Yeah, this was another obvious one, with both Shazam and Captain Marvel having films release around that time, plus the whole rivalry thing. It's a lot like Aquaman VS Namor in a way, and while it's not the most interesting matchup (Shazam takes the cake without much difficulty), it's still nice to see it happen. (3/5)

Analysis: It was alright, another standard pre-fight. Though the legal segment during Shazam's rundown (ft. MOTHA F*CKIN ENTERPRISES) was a nice sight to see. And just learning more about Shazam was always a good thing... but since we already knew a good bit about Carol thanks to her previous bout, half the rundown was kinda just going over stuff we already knew. (2/5)

Tussle: Much like Aquaman VS Namor, the battle in Captain Marvel VS Shazam was fairly standard for 2D Fights. And yet, it had a sort of charm to it that made it stand out. It just felt more polished than the former, and had a lot more energy put into it. I guess it was the subject matter that really made the difference, in a sense. Having the fight start over an accident was cute, and having Carol use Shazam's own magic lightning to turn him back into Billy Batson was a cute touch. And the death was both much more respectful than a literal head stomp, and pretty awesome, with Shazam destroying that asteroid to show his sheer power. Only real issue fight-wise was probably Marvel's Binary Form - much like in her fight with No. 18, it just felt kinda... weird? The fire on the head was what made it especially off. And while Marvelous is a good track, it's pretty forgettable. (3/5)

Ending: Would ya look at that, Shazam won, who'da thunk it- I'm not really bothered to write this out to longer than a few sentences, honestly. As expected, Shazam was more powerful, and Captain Marvel couldn't keep up. (3/5)

Reaction: When the fight was first anounced, I was actually pretty excited - I liked Shazam, I thought Captain Marvel deserved another shot, and the thematic reasons behind it seemed good enough for me. However, by the time the fight came out... it just kinda started to lose the magic, in a way. Like, maybe I just realised it wasn't as good of a matchup I initially thought it was, or something, but it just felt... underwhelming. Again, not a bad episode, but it left a bit of a sour spot in my mouth afterwards. Watching it now, I can appreciate it more.. but it still feels a little off, in a way. (2/5)