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I’d say Eijiro is his own harshest critic, but that is clearly not the case!

I realize I’m way behind the times on this, but I started watching Into the Badlands on Netflix, and it turns out I kinda love it. I mean, the premise is all sorts of silly nonsense. America turned into a feudal kung fu nation, and even though there are cars, motorcycles, electricity, and X-ray machines, there is apparently no long range communication of any sort. But it’s chock full of so much tropey, wire-fu, martial arts goodness that I can’t help but smile the whole time I’m watching it. The setup is basically that Sunny, the token Asian guy in a this martial arts epic, wants to leave behind his life as a loyal murder machine because his Baron (daimyo equivalent) is starting to go crazy and becoming crueler by the day. There’s also a kid named M. K. (mortal kombat?) with mystical Avatar powers who temporarily transforms into an unstoppable wushu machine whenever he bleeds. M. K. says he can lead Sunny and his pregnant girlfriend to a mysterious city outside of the Badlands, to which both Sunny and M. K. have some past connection.

The show’s choice to mix up time periods and technology makes Into the Badlands feel kind of like the more recent Final Fantasy games, where there’s this nonsensical dichotomy of tech and medieval sensibilities. It all feels very comic-booky, with the world setting chosen more for cool aesthetics than coherence. Sunny literally fights in a red trenchcoat, it’s hard to get more anime than that. And, like Final Fantasy, it looks appealing, with some nice cinematography, extravagant sets, and legitimately great action scenes (especially any featuring Sunny, whose actor is clearly the most proficient martial artist in the cast). The show has a meaty budget. What I enjoy most about the writing, at least so far, is how the show builds a lot of nuance and conflicting motivations into the characters, playing them off each other in ways that keep raising the stakes and building tension. And although the acting is campy and over the top, I find it endearingly earnest. I have no idea if Into the Badlands is a good show, but I’m definitely enjoying the heck out of it.

Published on October 7, 2018 by Alex Kolesar

Nos Rin aka CTCO

the first time I saw the dvds for into the badlands I thought it read into the brolands. XD
it looks interesting but I’m not sure I’d stomach all that death well.
- http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
  
  Oh, yeah, it’s violent and bloody. Every episode has had a body count in the dozens. I wouldn’t recommend it if you don’t want to see severed limbs and snapped necks.
  - Tim “Azur3flame” Eldred
    
    When you work in I.T., at the end of the day you don’t want to sit down to implied wounds and ragdoll bodies. You want WRECKAGE. Sign me up for this mess XD
  - Slograman
    
    Season 2 is out on Netflix, Alex! It’s a pretty alright show, although I have a feeling that it’s starting to dip into internal mythology that can quickly fall apart.
  - Nos Rin aka CTCO
    
    Ya, I didn’t expect the one guy in that group who could actually fight back to go down so quickly.
    but ya, might not be for me. >_>
Wanderer

A cold shoulder straight out of the Arctic.

Also, just in case anybody thought Hirotomo would be any more reasonable without Nataku around, it’s amazing how few words Hirotomo needed to burst your bubble.
Hfar

“But I’m your son and heir!”

“So? I sent assassins to try and kill last son and heir. Which may or may not be a ploy on my part to mold him into a strong ruler worthy of leading the Wataro when I’m gone.”

“I don’t understand.”

“And that is why you disappoint me.”
- Gandalf the Tsaagan
  
  “You have failed me again, Starscream”
  “But I just unfroze you…”
  “YOU FAILED ME AGAIN”
Crestlinger

At least This time Ina is a witness to the level of ice going on here.
Ironically, Everyone is going to want to be in on his reaction to the truth now.
May actually have been his wish for his son to die to have further fuel for the war effort.
- TheMaskedFerret
  
  It should make her appreciate her warm loving, caring, and crazy family more.
  - Kid Chaos
    
    “If only Mom could see me now…” 😍
foducool

there’s no pleasing asian dads smh
- http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
  
  Oh, we accidentally perpetuated a stereotype, didn’t we??
  - foducool
    
    XD
  - Astralfury
    
    “You only get B for Broker Peace! Why not A for All out War!?!”
    - endplanets
      
      “Commit seppuku. Then mow back yard”.
      - Matt Ramsey
        
        Holy crap she does! I had completely forgotten that!
      - http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
        
        Hahaha! Well, the canonical answer is because her other sisters are already married.
      - endplanets
        
        Sister”s”? She has more than one sister?Neat.
        
        I assumed that Ina was the oldest and thus why she was married off first. But her sisters are already married so that shoots down that little theory.
        
        Let me guess, Yori also has like 8 more brothers and sisters that we never see.
      - http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
        
        Yori and Eijiro are Hirotomo’s only kids! Ina does have three older sisters, but when we hinted at them years ago, we’d originally had a big arc of the story planned where Yori and Ina would pose as a married couple, trying to get other Senshin clans to come together to oppose the Wataro clan. We eventually cut it to keep the plot moving towards a resolution. Don’t expect her sisters to be a part of the story going forward!
      - endplanets
        
        That’s actually sounds kinda cool.
        
        I thought she had just the one and would pull a body swap. Ina goes to Wataro territory but PSYCH, its her very similar sister while Ina does stuff back at home.
        
        Bummer that that Chekov’s rifle never gets fired but meh. At least we get Bunzo’s rifle fired.
        
        Check it out: so far in the story Ina has been running around with a 4 person squad. Just like in her childhood with her three sisters.
- Kid Chaos
  
  What about Masuhiro? He seems like a nice guy. 😜
- Tim “Azur3flame” Eldred
  
  “You had one job: to NOT SCREW UP”
  “Screw up what, exactly? You didn’t give me clear orders”
  “DON’T SCREW UP”
  “Repetition is not clarification, Dad”
  “What part of DON’T SCREW UP do you not understand?”
  - endplanets
    
    https://youtu.be/N6PlrV0Wz50?t=149
    
    “Here are your orders for winning the war. Eliminate the enemy. Okay,
    also, try to do better than you are currently doing. And, please win,
    thank you.”
clogboy

Ha! I thought he would react like this.
KencingFendoka

His father casts a far colder shadow than the optimistic sunbeam of an older brother.
KungFuKlobber

Judging by Eijiro’s past Nataku-influenced behavior, this is the part where the gun comes out.
- Turul
  
  If your dad is in the way…
  - Kid Chaos
    
    …knock him down? 😵
    - Turul
      
      Walk into him!
- Arkone Axon
  
  That… would probably be in the best interests of the clan. Then he can just tell his big brother, “you can marry the woman you love. Let’s discuss how we can do things… better, than the previous generation did.”
clogboy

Bla bla bla tired of fighting bla bla thinking with your other sword bla bla…

Peace was never the object, conquest was, but Hirotomo was misguided and acted out of fear that Senshin was gathering the other clans. Ina will have to do her best coercion work yet & I can’t wait for Yori to deliver the truth bomb.
- Kid Chaos
  
  Yorikiro: “So anyway, this whole war was just a big misunderstanding!”
  Hirotomo: “Do I look like I care?” 💀
Kid Chaos

I knew this was a bad idea; Ina should have captured Eijiro and brought him home in chains, like he deserves. But Ina has a backup plan, right? Ina always has a backup plan. 😎
- Ladon
  
  Actually, I don’t think that’s accurate. Her first plans usually just work.
  - Kid Chaos
    
    Here’s hoping… 😵
    - Xinef
      
      You know her initial plan might still be in the works… after all we can’t be sure the things she said (marrying Eijiro, ending the war etc.) are the things she actually planned to happen. These could have simply been lies she knew would not come to fruition, but she said what she did just to end the battle and let Senshin recover the wounded, regroup etc.
      There might be other reasons as well, maybe she wanted to see Hirotomo personally. Maybe she plans to use Eijiro in some other way. Maybe she wants Yori to rescue her…
      
      … oh right, I wonder if she’ll become a prisoner now 😛
      - clogboy
        
        Maybe she knew that the peace treaty had no chance in hell, and indeed bought everybody some time.
Ladon

“You disappointed me, son” “I saved maybe thousands of lives! I brought peace to the land” “uh, yeah. In case you hadn’t noticed, I was TRYING to do the opposite.” “But if the enemy was willing to make peace, there was no reason for war!” “I knew that. I just happen to be off my rocker.” “Oh. It’s… it’s really obvious when you put it bluntly like that” “You dissapointed me, son”
- clogboy
  
  “But Nataku…”
  -“I love watching him work.”
Brandenfascher

Eijiro: “What did you want me to do?”
Hirotomo’s multiple choice answers:
A- “Eat your peas.”
B- “Bring… me… my… CaFfEinE!”
C- “The thing, Zhu L- I mean, Eijiro!”
D- “You think my robe makes me look fat, don’t you?” *huffs off*
E- All of the above.
- clogboy
  
  F- “AND DRINK YOUR MILK!”
Arkone Axon

DAMN…

Is he even aware that Nataku confessed to murdering his wife? Or does he know, but he’s just that far gone?
- animalia555
  
  Now were to far gone
  Hope is such a waste
Xinef

“Ok dad, next time all our generals are dead, our army is fighting a war, and you are far away from the frontline, I’ll just leave the soldiers to make their decisions on their own without any supervision.”

#givingHeirsAutonomyInMakingDecisionsIsOverrated
animalia555

Anyone else think Hirotomo needs to go down like Ozai? Seriously this guy is a TERRIBLE parent.
- animalia555
  
  Seriously, but instead he tries to kill the one he likes and uses as a tool the one he hates.
  
  That being said I think that in this case Eijiro deserves the Zuko moment.
  
  “All I wanted was for you to love me! You my father!”
  - animalia555
    
    On a different note I don’t think it’s going to be Ina that’s needs saving. I think Yori is going to need to save his brother Eijiro when he finally has enough of his father’s crap and calls him out on it.
  - clogboy
    
    In my head canon Hirotomo pretty much is the fire lord.
    - Xinef
      
      I wonder if Cho is hiding any tattoos under that hat of his…
Archangel

I know “Asian parenting” is a meme and all, but that’s just bug-nuts.
Hemdall

Dad wanted genocide, not peace.

I’ve watched Into the Badlands season 1 & 2. Haven’t started 3 yet; overall its fun, but its definitely something not everyone will like. Some fights play out based on plot rather than plot made to work with a character’s powers and skill which is disappointing. Other times (mostly early season 1) Sunny whips all the ass and its amazing.
http://seedandfeed.org/ DaveBro

Owww….
purplelibraryguy

Why? Have you ever tried not disappointing me?
Ilmari

I tried watching Into The Badlands – in general, I quite like post-apocalyptic settings – but it really wasn’t my kind of thing. From the few episodes I got through, it seemed basically a kung-fu movie drawn out excruciatingly long.I never like those overly theatrical fight scenes, especially.

… but that’s just my curmudgeonly opinion. I’m sure it can appeal to a lot of people.
animalia555

Eijiro: But I ended the war!
Hirotomo: You’ve confused me for someone who gives a damn!
LazyReader

“Oh BURRRRRN’
“SHUT UP GUARD
Frank Royce Harr

O.K. . . . Ina, time for a new idea.

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