 The hardest DC mixtape cover evaaaaa.... For the previous posts check out part 1 here, and part 2 here. Last post we were speaking of growing up and fam. The fact DC is now in charge of this completely, not Cartoon Network or even Netflix means it can jump into some adult themes and not get in trouble. Where once if someone was hurt or possibly died you would see a little blood splatter on them, or oozing from their lips. That’s if their death isn’t just done off scene period. Not season 3 tho. Naw season 3 with the shitz and they want you to know lol. Halo a character whose back story and various powers, is told throughout the season dies enough times to be low-key called Kenny . She gets murked like someone yells “ FINISH HER!”, and all the villains want smoke. There’s legit a shot where she is killed, graphically shown how, and her body is just dropped on the floor with us looking at her dead eyes. I could have sworn I heard Vandal Savage in my ear whispering “ If she dies, she dies.” There’s even a very obvious sex scene done were the usage of someone being called Dick is used like a straight Austin Powers Monty Python gag. It had me clutching my pearls, sweartogod. The reason the DCAU has been generally critically acclaimed is because even though they are cartoons and animated movies, they masterfully ride the fence of never straying from the adult themes that make sense for strong storylines and adult characters. While also still being young adult and teen friendly. This makes the action scenes especially much more visceral in a series that already had great attention to action detail already, with the one on one fights seen in Episode 10 with Batman, Katana, and Metamorpho being extra bueno.  Episode 4. That's all we're gonna say. There are some issues with the series though, I’m not gonna lie. One major issue is the scope of how big the overarching story has become, making it clearly hard for them to balance like they use to the large multi team characters. Previous fan favorites like Aqualad, excuse me my bad, HNIC Aquaman, are now taking support roles to give the new characters room for their story to be told in one season. Also there’s like 6 teams led by 7 people and unless you actively pay attention it can become a bit confusing at times tracking what team is doing what and why. In story they explain this as being the good guys using the guerilla tactics as the bad guys to play catch up, but for the audience itself it could be explained better. Just because the villains need to be in the dark does not mean the audience does.  Batman's Outsiders team or what I like to call them the " I wish a meta would" squad Another issue as well is DC’s decision to make this only available for their streaming service, meaning they are solely responsible for the costs to make it. Which shows in the earlier episodes as the animation not being as tight and crisp as previous seasons, especially with slight character remodels that aren’t as clean as their previous Young Justice iterations. It is still levels above most animated shows, but the dip in quality is clear (something most folks would notice as well in a lot of the DCAU’s recent movies too). It also means money wise they use who they can. Which is why Khary Payton who we love for the black voice excellence he brings, is playing 4 different characters in the series. FOUR. All of them black men, and all of them sounding hella related. I mean he tries and I am not knocking him getting his check, but ya’ll... it is definitely noticeable. Especially when you have 2 of his characters yelling “BOOYAAAH” at different times in the same episode.. The biggest negative though is the most obvious one. It’s on DC’s streaming service. Right now as of this writing the only 2 original series the service has is the Titans, and Young Justice, with Doom Patrol coming next. That is not enough to pay over $10 monthly, with all the other more robust services out there. DC knows this as well, which is why they only air a certain amount of episodes a week to stretch out viewership, but that can only work for so long. Most people fear DC will see folks dropping their service after Young Justice finally ends and may decide to let it go again. I doubt that since it’s one of the only strong fanbases who will follow shows they have right now, but hey the cancelled over toy merchandise before so who the hell knows what metrics they use for this. Either way the series is great, and I did enjoy having to wait another week to catch new ones and not binging it. The fact remains however, that without more to offer their service doesn’t offer enough for most to stay with it, and that is a bottom line that puts anything they put on it in danger.  Only Young Justice could make "Sportsmaster" somewhat legit Young Justice is a series no one asked for, that became a huge fan favorite and success, that was cancelled just for the love of fans to have it brought back. It’s a hero origin story in real life, and for those who can watch it, they will fall in love all over again. While the DC service makes it hard to just jump into right away for those internet savvy enough, it’s not a real challenge at all to find ( not to say we at the NJL would EVER do such things), and is just as binge worthy as previous seasons. It has some growing pains to deal with for sure, but the pros vastly outweigh the cons, leaving you not just whelmed but overwhelmed with how the season ends and will leave you wanting more. B+
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