I am not even going to string you along for this one. "Settling the Score" is, without a single doubt, my absolute favorite Glitch Techs episode. And to be honest, I am not sure I am going to be able to articulate every reason why, but I will sum everything up to the best of my ability. Settle in boys, this is going to be a lengthy one.
To start with, this episode is pretty much all about who Miko Kubota is. She's had a great chunk of starring roles in the past, many of which were certainly strong, but this episode decides to take a deep dive into her head. Literally the entire plot hinges on her being unable to handle some annoying stranger taking her high score, going into a firey rage upon mere discovery. And then she tracks down the person, triggers a heated duel, and unknowingly starts a gigantic glitch battle unlike any other displayed in the series. It's safe to say she's being pretty damn selfish here. But the episode is completely self-aware of this, with Five constantly rolling his eyes at her attitude and trying to bring her back to reality. What ultimately culminates in all this is her having to come to terms with the fact that being the best at something isn't all one is worth, and that sometimes the honor should be passed to those who deserve it next. Which is, in my opinion, the perfect lesson to give a character full of badassery and a desire to show off the moment she entered the screen.
Despite all this, she still remains a lead that the audience wants to somewhat root for. Not just because Ryu and Mike are established as complete jerkwads, but because they are careful to put us in Miko's shoes with the backstory she provides and the general presentation making the game look like the big status determinant she firmly believes it is. Another factor is how closely the story is tied to her friendship with High-Five. The first few minutes are mostly spent on the two just having fun together, and then when Miko initially claims to reclaim her title, Five completely has her back. It's only when Miko starts to cross certain lines where he starts to show signs of concern, and when the obsession actively gets in the way of their job, he has no choice but to bail on her. He's clearly upset, enough to sting a little, but he ultimately just wants what's best for her. And sure enough, this is exactly what gets the story to a fantastic resolve, as will be detailed.
We've seen a lot of in-universe games that could make for fun tie-ins, but none feel more fleshed out than Sock-Em Rockers, a DDR/fighting combo with giant fighting titans. And if that doesn't already sound like the most badass concept ever, the way they show Miko and Mike dance, slide, and kick around while playing it really makes one wish they could experience it themselves. But if DDR isn't for you, no worries. You also have a massive, real-life mecha fight take place in all this, resulting in all the techs (both Bailley and Dabney) to come together and provide the single most epic battle in the series history. This surprisingly takes up a lot of the second half, which you'd think would distract from the A-plot, but they're actually tied together very cleverly. After Miko and Mike start their duel, it's pretty much a big waiting game, and with how evenly-matched the two were and how never-ending their battle became, it was rather crucial to bring more physical stakes - directly as a result of their own egos. Plus, it's so badass to look at that you don't even care about the shift in focus. It keeps the adrenaline running and the viewer on the edge of their seats.
And then you have the visuals which take the already-fantastic level of quality we've come to expect and pushes it all to a new level. I said in the last episode that Top Draw has really come into their own by this point in their run, and nowhere is that more evident than their work on Miko. The mere nature of the story allows for them to go full-out with her expressions and spontaneous movements, and they more than deliver on all that with every scene she's in. This makes the emotional moments all the more worthy of investment and the scenes of her actually playing Sock-Em Rockers nothing short of eye candy. Even beyond that, Chris Graham's expert direction massively succeeds at enhancing the preexisting stakes, and there are countless moments, many of which I'll make a point to comment on, where the various artists were clearly having a freaking blast working on it.
This seriously feels like the perfect storm of all the best parts of the show coming together to create an unforgettable ride. You've got Dan Milano's personal touch in the writer's chair allowing for all the characters to shine no matter what role they're given, and the motivations completely nailed. You've got Chris Graham's heavy experience with action cartoons making the ride as energetic and exhilarating as possible. You've got this taking place late enough in the series for most of the established ideas to all come together and for the plot to constantly remain engaging, even during the slower scenes. And you've got Brad Breeck being given the perfect opportunity to bring his A-game and create some of the most immersive background music you've ever heard in a video game-focused cartoon show, as heard in both of the Sock-Em Rockers montages.
After you read this page, go check out this episode right now. Whether you're as familiar with the show as I am or are only just now hearing about it, I guarantee you'll take something meaningful out of the experience. It is a genuine masterpiece in my book, and should the show be renewed, I more than look forward to see how the hell the crew is going to try to top this. A man can dream...
This may not look like anything of note by itself, but I love how the episode starts with these little establishing shots of mundane arcade activities, from pizza-eating to kids having fun to tickets flying out. Definitely sets a good bar for what kind of watch we're in for.
Ryu and Mike enter in such an overblown, yet strangely dramatic way with how they're mostly kept in silhouette and the major glare coming from the cabinet lights and even across the ceiling. Definitely conveys before they say or do anything that they make Mitch Williams look like an empath.
Five gets a whistle "at a bargain for 15 tickets"... which of course doesn't work. Anyone who's ever gotten the cheap stuff at Chuck E. Cheese's can totally relate to this.
Any image of Miko and Five having fun together is an amazing image, this being no exception. Plus, in the context of the story, these moments make their bond all the more believable and endearing, so it works doubly well here.
Even Nix makes a memorable impression here as the self-proclaimed 'scorekeeper' of Joystick Jr's. These games are all named after series directors: Hyunjoo Song, Phil Allora, and Chris Graham (who is the one to thank for this episode).
Miko's initial rage upon discovering her score being overtaken. The arcade cabinets flying in the background is a great touch.
I personally take this flashback being done in pixel art as an indicator that the flashback is taking place inside Miko's own head rather than how it actually happened in-universe like we saw in "Ralphie Bear is Back". It leaves just the right things ambiguous this way. Like, was she really lonely before playing Sock-Em Rockers and did kicking rear in the game really single-handedly change that? It adds more nuance that may not be needed perse, but gives the audience more to think about.
You don't see it in this cap, but her eye's twitching here, one of the earliest clear signs that she's actng genuinely crazy rather than it being passed as cartoony behavior.
This scene is just pure amazement condensed into 40 seconds. From the dramatic lighting, to the creative cinematography, to the unbelievably expressive poses, to the immersive DDR-esque music track... and it just gets faster and faster before finally culminating in a truly earned image of victory. It is the level of energy that outright makes your adrenaline start to race.
Believe me, no amount of screencapping can do this scene justice. Go watch it yourself right now, there's so much flowing movement and fierce action that frames can not convey.
Solid enough impact shot on its own, with how its played in slow-montage and the focus put on Ryu's lips. But the change in background and the bright yellow stripe well conveys the pain without it hitting too close to home.
These have to be staff caricatures, right?
Okay, there is at least one nitpick to make here: these are the exact same scores we saw the first time Miko got dethroned. Either that, or Ryu knows how to hack the system to erase Miko's or something. Wouldn't surprise me, to be honest.
Ho - ly - crap. The flowing hair, the low angle, the firey color scheme, the embers floating in the background, the line "I declare global thermonuclear thumb war"... What is there not to love about this shot?
They even slip in a very fun, breezy reference out of all this, with this 60s Batman-esque transition.
Miko's "angry face" is pretty standard considering, but Five's expression of approval immediately after is just plain funny.
This is such hilariously exaggerated artistry, with clouds suddenly appearing specifically behind Miko and for specifically this one shot.
Man, can you get more red-hot than this? Again, simple idea made as powerful as possible. Plus a cute gag of Five breaking the immersion.
Ryu and Five just kind of being chill while Miko and Mike duke it out is surprisingly enjoyable as well. It gives some much-needed humanity to Ryu, and it adds more to the self-awareness as to how obsessed they're being over something trivial.
Mike gives the diss of the century right here: "Where'd you get that hairstyle - a dumpster at Comic-Con?" OOH.
And then Miko tells Five to "Hold his gear". Yeah, sh** just got real here.
Now this is well thought-out storyboarding, taking the existing layout in the game's user interface screen and break it into two boxes each split to feature the character on their respective side. It may not be very creative, but it's probably the best way to lead in to what is about to ensue.
The previous Sock-Em Rockers scene is pretty much unbeatable, but man does this come close. These are really powerful drawings that are somehow much more attractive in motion, that third shot especially. And don't even get me started on that ultra-badass Kaiju Baby song... Probably the single best music track in the entire show.
Very ingenious use of foreshadowing by ending the montage on this back-and-forth cut between the two sharing near-identical expressions.
Whoa, been a while since we actually had a CG sequence going into a game machine to show the glitch being unleashed. Pretty sure this is stock footage though.
Oh hey, I guess Phil found another one of those little glitch pets. The wallpaper being him and the creature being cute together is just the right amount of wholesome.
Haneesh has to leave a customer asking for a return hanging due to the Code Green call. Social satire, amiright?
So yeah, here are Miko and Mike's fighters manifested into real mechas from the glitch. Admittedly, these designs don't exactly stick in your head, but they certainly look awesome to see in action. And check out how tiny the fence and road look compared to them. Yeah, they're pretty giant.
We get a taste of their destructive power with one of them causing a huge hill to turn into a massive crater. Simple, but effective imagery for sure.
I like how Bergy outright squishes a crucial multi-panel communication shot by pretty much being his whining, worrying self. Pretty cheap trick, but the execution here will always stand out in my head.
Oh hey, I forgot Alpha was actually in this episode. ...Still don't care about him. Sorry, guys.
Believe it or not, both these caps are of one continuous shot with the surface moving in perspective along with Five. We see this again shortly after with him running toward the camera. Gotta appreciate when animators put in the extra effort like this.
"Wi-Fi-Fo-Fum!" God, some of these lines are so hammy and out-there that I can't help but adore them.
Okay, here's an interesting oversight that only a friend of mine managed to catch. Five refers to the glitch coming from "Mike's arcade machine". Here's the thing: he isn't supposed to know Mike's name yet, as it's only said at the end. The official captions, however, refer to it as "your arcade machine", which made him think that was referring to a earlier version of the script. And after reaching co-creator and writer Dan Milano, I found out that... it was. So yeah, I just ruined this bit for you. You're welcome.
Mike outright says he'd rather starve and "do number 1 in his dungarees" before stopping the game. Gotta love how even Miko, in the heat of the moment, acknowledges how disturbing that sounds. And the expressions again nail his insanity.
And here comes the scene that blew my mind the first time I saw it, starting with Five stating with much bravado: "You're my friend, Miko Kubota, and you are awesome!"
She pauses right in her tracks, then looks at Mike...
...Only to see her younger self fight for the score all those years back. "You... just moved here," she recalls.
And without saying another word, she solemnly steps off the machine. Perfect twist, perfect delivery, perfect sound work, and a perfect resolution.
This giant robot just dancing like a little kid after Mike wins, in front of these professionals, breaks me every time.
Big ensemble shot. Pretty great that we got to see the Dabney techs again despite how late they appeared in the run. Also an instrumental of the theme song plays during this scene, very befitting given their biggest onscreen blast ever and collecting the biggest pool of XP as a reward. Even the B-plot manages to be as grand and epic as it gets.
As the plot winds down, both characters get very appropriate, refreshing expressions, Miko being tired but content and Mike being nervous but somewhat friendly. It totally makes sense for him to suddenly act this way, since he seemed to revel in Miko's rage that is no longer there, but the thrill made him realize how much fun it was to play with a friend. Again, the way it's written feels so damn natural for what could easily come across as a sudden character turn.
And to top it all off, his full name is Mike Simms... aka that guy that Ridley referred to back in "The Glitch Modder". What an impressive attention to detail that I'm confident most of you didn't notice on your first viewing.
So yeah, you could say I'm a big fan of this one.