For some odd reason Netflix doesn't like to tell you when the new season of a hit animated show is coming out. As we are just a few short days away from the release of Devil May Cry season 2 and yet there's been next to nothing to tell you about this new season coming out well as I liked the first season and will for sure be checking out season 2 I thought that i'd take a look back at the first season finale as a way to get us all excited for the new season and so then join me as I review the episode that features Green Day's "American Idiot" with the episode in question being called simply just "A River Of Blood And Fire" enjoy.
The plot of this episode is Dante and Lady have to defeat fully mutated White Rabbit and stop him from taking over the earth before its far to late. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty really good. This episodes plot is one that whilst it could be seen as being a bit thin as when you boil it down to it's core elements there's not that much going on plot wise as the episode is indeed just one long fight scenes and while this is something that does leave the plot of the episode feeling more like an afterthought in the grand scheme of things. It is also something that does make sense as this episode was the first seasons finale episode and therefor it didn't need to be rich with plot to make it work as this is quite literally the third act of a story and therefor it needed to be more action packed and less story focused and while yes it would have worked just as well if the episode did have more of a focus on it's story as at the end of the day that's what people are going to remember about the show it's also not really something that was needed to make this episode be as good as it is and not every single episode of every single show animated or not needs to be plot focused as sometimes being a dumb action show is more then enough and that is something that was very much the case with this episode as it is just a dumb action show and this episode did fully understand that with the plot of this episode also being really rather entertaining and as well as being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Starring in this episode is Johnny Yong Bosch as Dante , Scout Taylor-Compton as Lady / Mary and Hoon Lee as The White Rabbit. Also starring in this episode is Kevin Conroy as Baines , Ian James Corlett as Baines , Chris Coppola as Enzo , Benjamin Abiola as Anders and A Guard , Jon Gries as Pres. Hopper and A Soldier , Robbie Daymond as Vergil , Kari Wahlgren as Eva , Donovan Patton as Bloodstryke and A Demon , Roger L. Jackson as An Officer and An Interrogator , Matthew Waterson as The Large Soldier , Jason Marnocha as A Civilian and A Predator Demon and Erica Lindbeck as A Mother , A Baby and A Demon Kid.
Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty really good. If you want a good idea of just how good that this episodes acting is all you need do is just look at who is in the episode as the episode is filled to the brim not only with anime voice acting legends but with voice acting legends in general with them them all turning in some really good performances in this episode and even tho both Kevin Conroy and Ian James Corlett are playing the same character with Corlett filling for Conroy in this episode you really can't tell the difference as the character of Baines does sound the exact same with both actors nailing there performances as the character with even Ian James Corlett now voicing the character in the rest of the show moving forward. With the best actor in this episode being Johnny Yong Bosch as Dante as he not only does give us some really funny lines in this episode he also knows when to stop being funny and to amp up the tension with the character and just go all out nuts with him which is something that he wouldn't have been able to do on Power Rangers as his character on that show wouldn't have allowed him to do it but here in this show he can go as nus as he wants do and as over the top as he wants to with this being something that you also see him do in several of his other anime projects as well and it works in this episode because of the fact that Dante is an over the top kind of character, with the acting that's in this very episode not really being helped by the fact that this episodes script is so bad as it gives none of this episodes actors alot to work with interms of what it is that there actual characters personalities are even meant to be in the first place which is something that really does help to lower the overall quality of the acting that's in this very episode.
Doing the animation for this episode is the legends and the greats that really are currently over at Studio Mir. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual animation that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual animation that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty really good. Much like with this films acting the fact that this episode or even the show on the whole has good animation isn't all that surprising given the fact that Studio Mir has worked on alot of really good shows in the past and has always out in alot of really good animation in everything that they do. This show and this episode does take a huge amount of inspiration from anime with not only the character designs but also the characters movements in the action scenes and it is something that does make you wonder if this is an anime or not as even the show is firmly an American production you wouldn't know it just by looking at images from the show and yet at the same time this episodes animation does benefit from that as it does allow the characters to have these more over the top movements which in turn does help to make the episodes action scenes really come alive and feel like something that you would see in the Devil May Cry games. There is one thing that does let the animation in this episode down tho and that's the fact that the backgrounds in the human world aren't that inspired with the episode mainly just using a stereotypical city background and fair enough there's not much that you can do with a city background to make it interesting and yet when we briefly visit the demon world the backgrounds there don't look that much better with it feeling like the makers of this show put more effort into the episodes character designs and a lot less effort was put into the episodes backgrounds.
All throughout this first season of the show we are told that Dante's brother is dead with it being revealed at the very end of this episode that not only is he alive and well but he is also coming after Dante. This is a good way to set up the main character for the next season as this is a character that does deserve to have this amount of build up given just how big of a threat that he has the potential to be and having him be at the very end of this first season as a way to get people to want to watch the next season as now it leaves us the audience wanting more and that is a great way to introduce the character and with him being the main villain of season two or at least going to be one of the villains of season two then having him be this stinger of a character does make alot of sense. While we don't understandably get to spend alot of time with the character the very brief glimpse that we get of the character does tell us that he is a villain that's not to be messed with whereas with The White Rabbit you got the feeling that he very much like the first main villain character of a video game in that he was never going to be that much of a threat and is someone that while it does cause Dante some trouble when you look back at it in two or three more seasons time he will seem like he wasn't that much of a threat and while that's great for The White Rabbit. Yet for a character like Virgil he will need to be someone who can test Dante in every way possible as he already has the mental advantage over the character due to the fact that he's his brother but what we don't know is if he's physically stronger then him and that is something that could cause Dante to be a better character as now he would be truly tested as a hero.
As was mentioned at the start of this review this episode features a moment that has "American Idiot" by Green Day playing over it. This was something that was shocking as while the other episodes had rock songs in them heck the theme song for this show is "Rollin" by Limb Bizkit it was still weird hearing a cut down version of "American Idiot" playing over a montage where America decides to invade the demon world and capture alot of innocent demons as that song is all about pointing how dumb alot of things in America can be but it's done in a more comedic type of way and yet the scene it's played over is this deadly serious scene which only serves to make the song even more funnier as it's an upbeat and up tempo song with this being something that the shows creator Adi Shankar had to know as he's into rock music. To be fair tho having that song play over that sequence doesn't hurt the sequence as it makes it alot more fun to watch which might be the point as it's meant to be this really disturbing scene where the humans essentially become bad guy by attacking demons who have done nothing to them and yet there playing this really upbeat song that does make you want to sing along to it and heck one of the best things that this show does do is have these really cool songs play over key parts of an episode which is something that is bound to make people who aren't that much into rock music want to listen to more of it as while we get a good original song in episode by the band "Evanescence" and while this episode doesn't have any original songs in it the fact that they do manage to find a good and fun use for the truly iconic "American Idiot" is something that does tell you that the makers of this show know how to use there licensed music as it would have been very easy to have that song play over an action scene and call it a day but the fact that they don't does show that the makers of this show are willing to find to new ways to have these licensed songs playing in an episode of the show.
This episode is basically one long fight scene which is something that does make it hard to judge The White Rabbit as a villain. Due to the fact that he doesn't get the chance to talk alot of the time in this episode which is fair enough as we would have had all of the other episodes to get across just what he's like as a character but in all farness to this episode we do still find out what he's main plan is as he does want to take over the world for no good reason and while him wanting to take over the world is typical plan for any villain to have the fact that he is a demon is something that does make it feel unique again as he could very realistically take over the world on his own and the fact that he does manage to briefly merge the human world with the demon world is more then enough to make this character seem like a better threat. While the fact that he does mutate himself be taking a lot of demon blood is something that does feel like a boring thing for the character to do as the character was defeated at the end of the last episode the fact that he did come back in this episode does show you that he is truly insane and that it will take alot more then a good beating for him to get put down and the fact that he does allow himself to get mutated does make him more like this unstoppable beast as now Dante and Lady are truly struggling to even land a hit on him and it is something that does make him feel like more of a threat. However it would been better if the episode did devote more time to his character and give him more of a chance to show case why he is this truly threatening as while the other episodes would have done exactly that in this episode the character does feel more like an afterthought to the episodes action whereas if the episode did devote more time to him as a character then it would make his downfall and defeat all the more satisfying.
Now then this episode has / had an exactly grand total running time of exactly thirty two minuets and fifteen seconds. Which to be fair to this episode is pretty much the bogstandard running time for this show as alot of the episodes either have or have very similar running times to this episode and to be to the episode it really does need this amount of running time as it does have alot of plot to wrap up from the first season and still set up a potential main villain for the second season and it can't do all of that and still tell a good story on it's own and while it's debatable on if this episodes plot is any good what isn't debatable is the fact that this episode could have used a longer running time just to make the story even more stronger. With the plot of this episode having more the enough running time to cover that amount of running time in the first place and yet even so this episode doesn't really use its running time all that wisely as the episode doesn't take the time to fully develop its plot which OK fair enough the episode doesn't really have to do that as the episode had all of the other episodes to give its plot that development and therefor this episode doesn't need to have that plot development but at the same time given how thinly drawn out that this episodes plot is due to the fact that it is essentially just one long fight scene then there should have been some time given to give the episodes plot some small amount of plot development even if it's just something small it still would have been something. This is something that does kind of effect the episodes character development as well as none of the episodes characters get anything in the way of character development which in all fairness they didn't really need but at the same time it would have been all the more better if the episode did take the time to give the characters some small amount of character development but I really will admit that this episode really does have some really good pacing to it tho.
So now then as this is an action show that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual action that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual action that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty really good. This episodes action is where the episodes does well and truly shine it's brightest as the episode is essentially one long action but whereas in something like Mad Max: Fury Road where that film would take small breaks to go more into the story and get you more invested with its characters this episode really doesn't need to do any of that due to the fact that it is a TV show and can therefor just go insane with it's action something which the episode does take great delight in doing and in doing so does give us alot of really fun and downright cool action scenes. With the best action scene in the whole entire episode being the opening roof top fight where Dante and Mary as well as a group of soldiers have to take on a fully mutated White Rabbit with him just lying the floor with them as White Rabbit rips of limbs and cuts open several of the soldiers with his blade and blows up several of there helicopters all the while both they and Dante and Mary are trying to kill him by shooting at him and yet all there bullets do is just bounce off of him. This is just such a freaking cool way to start of the episode as it lets you know right away that this episode is going to be very action packed and that is exactly what it is it's an action packed with the action never really letting up and getting more and more violent the longer that it goes on as the characters are forced to think outside of the box to even land a hit on The White Rabbit with the rest of the episodes action being just as good in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Overall we are just a few short days away from the release of this shows second season and if this episode was anything to go by then we are in for one hell of a ride as this episode just gives you everything that you want to see in a Devil May Cry animated episode in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in this very episode in this very review and a such that really does mean that this very episode really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly an 8.5 out of 10 from me.
Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images hat I personally used in his very review from IMP Awards . Com and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get the images from this very episode that I used in this very post being the really great Google Images really simply just due to the fact that really alot of if not really all of the images that are all really from this very episode with alot of them really being really better quality then what you'd really think of and all of the images are really of course up and really on Google Images really are also really all fairly high in quality and as well as them all being really fairly freaking high in definition.