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So I guess Nataku knocked Genchu’s sword pretty far. Luckily, Genchu’s drawn back to his blade via the Tao, so it’s all good. Despite the sound effect, I assure you that luck had nothing to do with it!

I watched Netflix’s Jessica Jones. It was solid but super depressing! I think it caught the Man of Steel syndrome of bleak super hero storytelling (although it is way better than Man of Steel, to be fair).

Published on January 10, 2016 by Alex Kolesar

Jordan Hiller

Poor Cap’n… Sure, he’s pretty much a merchant of death, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t likable.
IDPounder

I’d have to agree there, Ricardo. Nataku is a cut-throat negotiator, you’d lose an arm and a leg dealing with him.
- Xinef
  
  And a finger!
  - IDPounder
    
    “No one gives me the finger!!” –Nataku
clogboy

I like Jessica Jones, and considering the source material it could be even darker (like Watchmen and the sorts).
- http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
  
  I liked Jessica Jones too. I just didn’t love it like I did Daredevil. I certainly enjoyed Jessica Jones over Watchmen!
  - clogboy
    
    I agree. And I heard (and the dates confirm it) that Daredevil starts again after Jessica Jones, and the actress has bartered an appearance in every Netflix-produced Marvel franchise.
Xinef

Tao is luck, Tao is life.
- http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
  
  May the Tao be with us.
  - mateusz graven
    
    I read that sounds effect in Super Mario’s voice.
SlugFiller

Why is this page 369 and not 639?
- jwkovell
  
  The explanation is simple. It’s because… WAIT, IS CHO WALKING INTO THAT BAR OVER THERE?!
  
  Anyway… ahem, what was the question?
EternalLurker

Page 369-2, eh? Sweet. I missed those smaller numbers.

Jessica Jones’ story is generally depressing even in her own comics; the show was true to the source material in that sense. I felt that the frequent usage of (sometimes dark) humor, which also fits the original character accurately, helped to keep it from feeling “bleak” as you called it.
- http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
  
  I can’t deny that I laughed quite a bit through the show! But I did get that feeling of the defeats outweighing the victories. On the flip side, Daredevil was very dark, too, and he struggled with the idea of killing his enemy, but ultimately did not. I just prefer those types of stories more than the ones where killing is the ultimate solution. Daredevil and Jessica Jones do create an interesting narrative dichotomy in that respect. I appreciate that we did not just get the same story told in two different shows. I enjoyed Daredevil more but I’ll not deny it was very tropey while Jessica Jones was a lot more unique in terms of Superhero stories.
  - EternalLurker
    
    I actually considered the two shows rather similar in terms of the “to kill or not to kill” moral struggle. Jessica personally does not want to kill, and is quite adamant about it, even when it comes to a superpowered individual whose power makes him almost impossible to imprison; she only resigns herself to killing when a friend straight-up commits suicide in order to enrage and focus Jessica. Matt, on the other hand, inherently loves violence and has to force himself not to deal the killing blow when beating the crap out of thugs.
    
    Matt refrains from killing even though he’d like to do so; Jessica decides to kill even though she hates herself for it. In both cases, the protagonist chooses to act contrary to his/her desires for the good of society.
    
    I enjoyed Jessica Jones more than Daredevil for multiple reasons, most notably that I found its antagonist vastly more intriguing. But obviously Daredevil gets the win in terms of action; the only other MCU production with fight choreography I’ve enjoyed to that extent has been Winter Soldier. (I’m looking forward to CA3: Civil War, which brings back CA2’s choreographer, and Deadpool, which uses Daredevil’s).
Flaming Squirrel

This just shows Genchu’s lack of skill. Ricky’s got enough genius that he could have gotten out of negotiations with Nataku with TWO lives.
- Da’Zlein
  
  …But he started the game with three!
charles81

Just to screw with us… Genchu will end up being a Tao priest.
Kid Chaos

Genchu got his sword back! Yay! Now it’s time for a heartwarming reunion with Yori & co. (hint, hint!)
Matt Ramsey

I was actually rather sad that he had lost his cool custom swords. But now everything is right again.
Sam DunKley

…pretty far-that’s a very long distance. A very long distance to fling a sword. And have it still be traveling fast enough to embed itself in wood.

It’s not just the visual effects that are suggesting super-strength anymore.
- http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
  
  To be fair, we’ve quite clearly seen the super strength of Ken and Nataku on display previously.
  - Sam DunKley
    
    Yeah, but…I don’t know, this little, subtle thing is getting to me more than the big punches and treevengeance ever did. I’m a sucker for casual displays of great power.
    - Xinef
      
      Maybe all these fights are just happening in the heroes’ imagination, and the truth is they are just normal people without superpowers?
    - https://www.etsy.com/shop/WeirdButCuteByGwyn?ref=hdr_shop_menu Neska
      
      Well, perhaps the sword is absurdly sharp so it didn’t need much force to embed itself in the tree and spent most of it’s energy on the flight?
      - jwkovell
        
        You’re half correct. The sword IS absurdly sharp.
        
        It cut a hole in space-time and took a shortcut to several miles away (and 5 years in the past. The tree has grown around it slightly in those 5 years, giving it the illusion of slicing in further than it actually did.
        
        It was also sharp enough to slice away any oxygen atoms that would’ve caused it to rust.
      - Xinef
        
        And that’s how the war against trees started five years ago. Treeluminati confirmed.
Insane Disciple

I rather have my pockets full AND my life!!!

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