With the initial arc having wrapped, "Smashozaurs" is the first episode of the series to tell a much more self-contained story and focus on personal conflicts rather than develop Miko and Five's experience as techs. You'd think this would be a bit of a turnoff, since the intrigue behind the society is the main hook of the show, but the fact we're now focusing on who they are as people only makes them more identifiable and inspiring to the audience. They may be hardcore gamers who are in an exclusive line of work, but they're also meant to be regular people like us.
And this particular conflict is about the same. It seems a little light on substance at first, but they really roll with the concepts they established and use them to the advantage of both the comedy and the drama. Struggling to keep up with friendly gatherings because of your call to action is definitely something that would come up with this kind of setup, so it's nice that they made a story out of this early on, but the main emotional beat comes from the reveal that Five unknowingly spent *two years* away from Casino. As someone who has spent very lengthy periods of time without contacting some of my old friends without realizing it, this bit hit almost too close to home for me.
The subplot of Miko and Mitch having to one-up each other in order to get to Casino first provides a lot of the comic relief here, which balances and mixes with the A-plot quite well. The means where they try to stall the other are entertaining, like Miko trapping Mitch in a kitten-bubble and Mitch paralyzing Miko. In fact, Mitch in general gets a lot of laughs; compared to his more sinister and antagonistic role in "Age of Hinobi", here he's a little more hammy and it's where Luke Youngblood really comes into his own in the role.
Visually, although we're back to Studio 100 and the quality isn't as consistently pleasing as the other episodes, there's a lot of prettiness and fun, snappy action to be had all the same, plus some of the more rough parts like BITT are starting to be ironed out. And the cinematography is definitely a few notches above average thanks to Chris Graham's direction, who has storyboarded for shows like Avatar, Danny Phantom, and Futurama. So it balances out and adds to a pretty enjoyable smash of a ride.
I'll admit, I'm not a huge fan of the 80s action cartoon-style intro - very obviously the most reminiscent of Thundercats - and it's not replicated in the most authentic way (the camera work is weirdly shakey and the animation is a little *too* snappy and fluid for what they're going for). Still, it's very fun to watch and it certainly ets the tone for the
The opening scene with young Casino and Five proves about as cute as you'd think it would be, and I like that they gave us a brief look at their childhood friendship before they throw us into this story about them growing apart. The visuals in this scene are nothing special, but Five's little tooth poking out is a nice touch.
As dynamic as these shots look as stills, they manage to come across even more so in motion. Remember how I praised that one merry-go-round shot in "Going, Going, Gauntlet" for how it zips between each keyframe, allowing for very tight action? Same thing happens in this entire opening fight scene, as well as a later, shorter action scene in the arcade.
Mitch's first substantial appearance since "Age of Hinobi", as he's just as much of a smug douche as ever... But he's *our* smug douche.
The animation for the brief scene of the three playing the Smashozaur video game isn't the most fluid or exciting, but just seeing these gamers enjoy a fun session together is too likable in and of itself for me to really care.
Compare this imprint to the one left on Chomp Kitty in "Age of Hinobi, Part 2". While that one was clay-like and simple in shape, while this one is somewhat more graphic and has a lot of added detail, especially with how we see through the glitch's inside. That, combined with the glitch's complicated design, creates a pretty unsettling image.
Okay, I know this show isn't trying to be especially serious or realistic, but how the heck is Casino this unaware of the havoc happening all around him? This arcade really seems to make people blissfully unaware of these dangers...
I like how the possessor sneaks out of the Smashozaur machine to target Casino. Really foreshadows the cunningness and manipulation abilities.
This is another episode that *loves* to use the multi-panel camera trick to make some of the more mundane setups more exciting. This image is one of the better ones, partly because of the use of simple color backgrounds behind each character, obviously to prevent the scene from looking too busy and to add contrast between each panel. Neat touch.
The mere idea of Mitch being trapped in a kitten-bubble is funny enough, but it's here where we get the line "It's projecting kittens on the back of my eyelids!" It may not sound funny in writing, but man does Luke Youngblood's delivery drive it home and back.
Casino as the Smashozaur has looked pretty innocent up to this point, so when we get this sinister look from him, you instantly know tension is about to build.
The gauntlet in the previous episode was one thing, but Hinobi really has the capabilities to instantly repair a completely crushed vehicle? Dude, that's not the kind of thing you keep private from the world; imagine how much money they'd make selling this technology! Or maybe I'm just overthinking this...
Here's a very subtle example of a split-screen, where you have to really look twice to pick up on it. The shot goes by quite fast too, so this is way more effort than they needed to put in, but that's why I love it.
A few things to point out here. First, the gag of Mitch in his van popping out of the portal in the background (while BITT is giving plot-important information) is hilarious. Second, what's with how overly glitzy some of the trees are in the background here? It's quite jarring in my opinion. And third, I find it very interesting that they ripped the design of the slippery road design from real life.
A smashed car goes through one kid's head, and then a falling robot arm slices off the other kid's head. That's a bit needlessly dark, even if it just a billboard...
Simple layout here, but the low angle and how close Casino is to the camera really sells the added intensity of the conflict between them. You swear he's about to smash Five any second now.
Here's a unique bit of animation: Miko on Ally flies into the scene, gets caught on a hook, swings around for a bit, then drops down with a slide. The timing and follow-through really stand out as memorable here.
When Mitch and Miko (on Ally) are approaching each other, Mitch starts to act determined about the run-in, but during the series of rapid back-and-forth cuts, his expression becomes progressively more afraid. Pretty great stuff; these screencaps are among the better faces.
...And the encounter leads to Miko encasing her *and* Mitch in the kitten bubble. The ensuing exchange - "You're enjoying this aren't you..." "Boop" is very cute.
This brief sequence where Five gets into his own armory to battle Casino isn't as impressive as you'd think, as most of the action is either too close or too far from the camera, and it also goes by extremely fast. I guess they can't all be winners.
Casino's shadow looming over Five after his armor gets busted is another great bit of cinematography; it really conveys how much Casino has overpowered him.
I know Mitch was consistently a jerk in this episode, but I think it was a smart move in the story to let him capture the possessor's XP, because it makes Five and Miko's motivation to free Casino from the glitch's clutches seem more genuine and out of concern for him. This is made clear by the fact that afterward, he brags while the duo don't seem to care.
I think it is a little bit of an emotional cheat to wipe Casino's mind of Five struggling to maintain his friendship throughout the day, even though erasing all memories of the glitch attack is obviously part of the job. But hey, seeing them gaming together and it ending on a note this wholesome gives me joy.
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