Who is the traitor from My Hero Academia’s Class 1A?

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This editorial contains spoilers for Sonic X the final season and My Hero Academia through season 3

All right guys, it’s time to tell you all who I think is the traitor from UA. Now lets just get a few disclaimers out of the way. First, we have to go under the premise that there is a traitor and that this whole thing wasn’t just some wild goose chase. That is a very real possibility after all but not one that would be very satisfying. There’s also the theory that Deku or someone else is unknowingly the traitor sort of like Cosmo from Sonic X. Essentially in that series the aliens could see through her eyes which alerted them to every possible move the heroes could make. Maybe All for One is able to see through Deku or something like that. This is going to assume that there is a traitor who is knowingly betraying the heroes. Assuming that to be true, we can then narrow this down to Class 1A since 1B wouldn’t make sense narratively.

Could it be a teacher? I would say no because too many of them have been ruled out at this point. Midnight and Aizawa have inner monologue that would contradict this along with All Might and their appearances in Vigilantes back this up. I guess we have reason to be suspicious of the principal or the Present Mic guy but both of those would not make a lot of sense. I mean…the principal would be kind of fun but I don’t think that’s going to happen. There are 20 kids in Class 1A so lets start ruling some out.

The first 6 are easily ruled out. I would consider them to not even be suspects.

Safe Students
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Deku, lets be real here guys. It’s not going to be Deku. Again, unless he is doing this subconsciously it would just go against every kind of sense imaginable. He has unlimited inner monologues that would go against this. Likewise it’s not happening for Bakugo. The guy may have a very different way of going about being the best, but being a villain is flat out not going to happen.

Ida, his whole character is about trying to live up to his elder brother’s reputation. He’s not going to throw that away for anything. I may not be a fan of his character but I wouldn’t deny that he has a heroic motivation. Likewise you have to throw Todoroki in there as well. After seeing the worst of Endeavor first hand, there’s no way he would go down this route. He wants to be the number 1 hero as well after all.

Kirishima’s in a similar boat. He had the whole origin story where he was too afraid to stand up to the villains and had to be saved by Ashido. To that end he has continued to hone his skills to be a great hero. While you could say this isn’t as rock solid as the first few, I would say that is very relative. He ultimately has proven himself to be a true hero. I would also vouch for Yayorozu. She may have a lot of doubts in her hero abilities but she had obtained a good bond with the rest of the kids and keeps improving herself. Any doubts that you may have had with her character should have long since vanished at the series went on.

Too irrelevant to be the traitor

Look, the traitor has to be someone that actually matters. We need to have some impact after all. So, Sato is out. Does anyone even remember his name without having to look it up? His hero name of Sugar Man is memorable but I definitely would not have remembered the human name otherwise. He’s not going to be the traitor. I would use the same logic for Shoji. His 4 arms are handy but the guy barely gets any lines throughout the series. So there’s not much to prevent him from being the traitor but I just don’t think it would be very powerful.

We can extend the same logic to Sero and Koda. Sero’s tape abilities are pretty interesting but ultimately the guy hasn’t done anything. Koda’s animal abilities aren’t very interesting but he hasn’t done anything either. Again, the traitor has to be important. Let’s throw Ojiro into this as well since he’s on that level.

Already used as a fake out

Aoyama already had a big cliffhanger where we thought he could be the traitor for a second there. There’s no way they would actually use this twist since it was played off as a gag. Sure, it could be a big brain move by the author but I don’t see this actually occurring. The instant his betrayal was played for laughs I knew that there was no going back.

Opens up too many troublesome questions

Mineta would be problematic for a lot of reasons. His actions barely fly by as comic relief. If he is a serious villain then suddenly his harassment of the other students becomes a lot darker so they’re not going to do that. That’s why you can’t have this guy be the traitor, it’s a fairly unique situation but one that guarantees Mineta has to stay on the heroic path…not that I even consider him to be a hero to be honest. The guy’s a disgrace.

We’re down to the final 7 so lets take them step by step.

First up is Froppy. Sure, she is a very tempting pick because of her relationship to Deku. I also don’t recall any specific inner monologue that would contradict her being a traitor. That said, I can’t think of any possible motive for her here and she’s put herself in a lot of danger throughout so I’m going to take her out. It’s a weaker case to debunk her but that is why she made it near the end for me.

Kaminari: He was a prime suspect for a while but his whole being dopey is just too convincing. A true traitor wouldn’t put himself in such a spot where he could be exposed. He could have said anything while he was dazed which is too risky. He has enough character moments where this would be a pretty intense twist but I don’t think the quirk works well to that end.

Ashido seems far too heroic to have been corrupted like that. I find it hard to believe that she would have gone over to the dark side based on the flashback we already have of her with Kirishima. The reason why she is closer here is because a lot could have changed since that flashback. She always seems rather cheerful but some of the most sinister villains have had a cheerful demeanor. Still, I will rule her out because we have even more suspicious targets.

Tokoyami is a decent pick given how he likes the shadows so much, but is that not too obvious? Additionally, I want to say that Hawks would have noticed something was up since they worked together in the hero exams. At the same time, perhaps that is why they were on the same team since Hawks may have suspected something beyond what he was saying on the surface. It’s a bit on the flimsy side though so I wouldn’t put a lot of stock in it.

Lets take Jiro out next. While her hesitancy to play in the concert and her general lack of inner monologue is disturbing, I’d still be surprised if she was the traitor. She was very nearly killed during the season 1 invasion to the point where it couldn’t be faked. She may have the resolve to be willing to die for her cause but I don’t see this being the right answer.

Hagakure is one character I have long claimed to be the traitor ever since the “Deku choke S1 opening” theory. That said, the fact that she is so suspicious and constantly acts like a traitor makes it seem too obvious. Her power is already perfect for deception after all. I dunno, it just seems too straight forward but at the same time I would have no qualms about her being the traitor. She is an excellent runner up.

No, it has to be Uravity. It just makes the most sense. She has a clear motive which is the fact that she needs money for her parents badly. Being a hero doesn’t pay incredibly well and while the spinoff MHA Smash plays this off as comedy, she is quite desperate for it. It could be as simple as the League of Villains telling her they will pay her for some intel. They’d let her know they weren’t going to directly hurt Deku and she would be on board.

I don’t see Uravity being a totally evil, mustache twirling villain but a traitor who was manipulated. She badly needed money and wasn’t able to get it legitimately so she faltered and joined the group. Ultimately that’s why she’s my pick as the traitor. It will also be the ultimate gut punch to Deku and his enthusiasm towards being a hero. It’s hard to just get up after experiencing something like that.

So that’s my answer here. Uravity is the traitor.

She just ticks off the most boxes and that would be a pretty hype way to start closing out the series or at least this part in the timeline before the next time skip. Taken with the right context her last quote there could sound rather ominous as well. Only time will tell but if we’re going to do a traitor twist I think it has to be in the current manga arc so hopefully that’s not too far from now.

Junpei vs Choso

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Junpei and Choso are fairly different in just about every way. Junpei doesn’t really have any close bonds while Choso and his brothers were very close. Choso’s a very loyal guy who will always fight to the end while Junpei tends to waver. In a fight, Choso’s blood arts would fair quite well as it would be hard to get around the speed advantage and I don’t see Junpei being able to block the strikes either. This would be a fairly quick battle. Choso wins.

Hanami vs Groot

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Hanami is the perfect example of how to use trees in combat. He can move exceptionally fast in combat so this enhances his abilities rather than using it as a crutch. Groot has never been able to sustain this level of technique while in battle so he would ultimately go down pretty quickly. In a battle of trees there can be only one winner. Hanami wins.

Michiyuki Ashihara vs Karaka

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Michiyuki Ashihara may be an exceptional genius who can even predict the future, but he still won’t be a match for Karaka. Karaka has incredible Shinsu abilities which would keep Ashihara pressured on all sides. He won’t have time to even try to come up with an escape route before he is taken down for the count. Karaka wins.

Summa-verminoth vs Jinsung Ha

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Summa-verminoth is a pretty giant monster so it’s hard to bring him down but that’s not really a problem for someone like Jinsung. He’s able to take down anti commander spaceships with a single blast and the guy has yet to actually get serious in a fight. A single punch would likely go right through Summa and immediately obliterate him. The monster’s out of his league here. Jinsung Ha wins.

The Unfinished Dance Review

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Ballet’s definitely not my thing. I’ve just never been a fan of it as a style of dance. It’s not particularly entertaining to watch and I don’t care much for the uniforms. It works more in a combat sense like in Sailor Moon I suppose but even then I’ll take something a little more combat ready. For dances ballet also tends to be a bit slower and I like something fast paced and with a lot of action. If you can get past the actual ballet then the film is good though.

The movie starts by introducing us to Meg. Meg is a spoiled kid who wants to be a great ballet dancer but isn’t willing to put in the work. She always skips her lessons to spy on Ariane and basically use up the professional’s time. If anyone says something negative about Ariane Meg is ready to throw hands and give someone the fade. She’s not a kid who is shy about taking someone on. This continues to get her into a lot of trouble though and her Mom/Aunt (I forget which) is super distant so the only parental figure in her life is the kind Mr. Paneros.

Mr. Paneros does his best to contain the damage but it’s often tricky. One day the ballet hires Anna, one of the greatest ballerinas in the world. Ariane knows that her lack of skill will be exposed compared to this person and runs off in a huff. Everyone agrees that Anna is better so Meg decides to put a stop to this. She opens up a trap door and cripples Anna so that Ariane will have the center stage again. The main issue is that her conscience is eating her alive and her “friend” knows about what is happening so there’s now a loose end in the mix. Can Meg make things right?

Now to Meg’s very slight defense it was an accident or at least the film tells us this. She meant to switch the lights off and only happened to turn on the trap door. Sure……lets roll with that. It’s not very convincing though as she could have done any number of things instead of watching the whole time. It was not a good look to say the least. Meg is very extreme throughout the film as she casually talks about death and such. It’s unfortunate but nobody ends up helping her out of her obsessions here.

Mr. Paneros is a good character who means well but does often choose the wrong course of action. He tries to console Meg but ends up lying about everything all the time. It’s like he can’t help it because the guy just keeps on doubling down. It’s a bad habit that he certainly needs to break. At least he’s there for Meg though as her family is never around to do anything. It makes his one sided romance more on the tragic side since he is permanently stuck in the friend zone with the aunt.

As for Ariane, I didn’t like her. I thought the film was low key portraying her as a villain the whole time. It makes sense when you think about it with how petty she was. Anna was very polite the whole time while Ariane didn’t want her picture taken and kept squirming. Initially I thought Anna would end up being a villain but the film never actually went down that road. As a result it just made Ariane look even worse in comparison. She is quick to give up her dream as well which is all well and good but then it makes her jealousy look even worse since she was never that serious about her dream.

Meanwhile Anna is definitely the best character in the film. She suffers a rather bad break but doesn’t let it get to her. I’ll also give a lot of kudos to her assistant/coach who was with her every step of the rehabilitation. She was always there to lend a helping hand to Anna and to try and keep her spirits up throughout everything that was happening. They thought of the coaching idea together and at least Anna now had a sense of normalcy. Anna consistently took the high road as well while the other characters were treading water.

I was glad her ending didn’t get too sad as it would have ended things on a rather unfortunate note. Meanwhile the other kids are mostly left to bicker by the end as you’d expect. Meg now knows that she can’t trust her “friend” and also that the class bully is still around. There’s not a whole lot that they can do at this point and proving anything would be difficult so Meg has nothing to worry about. I like to think they will have an employee by the trap door machine at all times now though. No reason for that to be left unattended.

As mentioned earlier, the only weakness for me would be the actual Ballet scenes. They just weren’t all that entertaining at all if you ask me. I was always just ready for those scenes to move on so we could get on with the story. Especially when Meg tried to dance as she just isn’t ready for the ballet scene yet. Additionally, she was an annoying character so you were never quite looking forward to her getting some screen time.

Overall, The Unfinished Dance is a pretty emotional movie that manages to capture the balance between drama and uplifting moments rather well. The movie gets sad at times but also has happy moments sprinkled in as well. Ultimately that’s a good mix to strive for. Mr. Paneros reminded me of Panera Bread with the name but it’s unique so you won’t forget him and he was clearly a good cook. His origin story where he wastes his last dime was definitely sad but you also can’t help but feel like you shouldn’t be playing around with your last dime right? Seems to me that would be really important to keep safe in your pocket.

Overall 6/10

Working Girl Review

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This review is of the edited TV-14 version of the film. All thoughts below should be addressed as such as a review of the unedited version would be more negative.

Time for a film about the horrors of the workplace and how Tess can change things. It’s got some good moments and is certainly a lot better than some of the others films that I’ve seen from this group. That being said, Working Girl does have some rather big issues that keep it from being the next big Rom-Com. Effectively it just wasn’t able to coast its way to the ending as easily as it otherwise could have.

The movie starts with Tess needing to be transferred once again after having a falling out with her boss. Unfortunately the environments she goes into all tend to be rather toxic but unfortunately since this has been a trend she is told that this is her last chance. Her boss seems good this time though. Her name is Katharine and she is a very pro-active person who sees an opportunity and grabs it. She has taken Tess under her wing and so the heroine finally feels like she has a chance to speak out and get recognition.

Unfortunately Katharine is involved in a skiing accident and breaks her leg. Tess then finds out that Katharine has been sabotaging her behind her back such as by stealing one of her ideas and presenting it as her own. Tess decides to get back at her by reclaiming control of the idea and working out of Katharine’s office. She has to hurry though as the boss will be returning soon. Can Tess manage to complete the deals before this happened or is she setting herself up for failure?

First off, I do think the film did a good job with making Katharine appear to be quite reasonable at first. She may be rather tough but she does seem like a good boss. The opening slights also feel rather realistic rather than being antagonistic like having Tess serve the guests and such. You wouldn’t expect the boss to do that and it’s the kind of thing that could be fine if it’s on good terms.

Where the red flags start to appear is with stealing the idea. Now this was also a bit of an error in Tess’ spot as you can’t trust anyone in business. She should have submitted the idea as an email since she would then have an electronic receipt of the request. That would have absolutely put her in the driver’s seat here as she could have brought it up later. It’s good that she wanted to help of course but you have to remember that corporate is never your friend. They are always looking out for the bottom line and to help themselves.

Katharine gradually gets more and more extreme as the film goes on though. We learn/it’s heavily implied that she is cheating on her boyfriend and she starts making Tess do everything for her. Throughout the film you’re holding out a little hope that it’s all just some big misunderstanding but eventually it’s clear that this isn’t the case. She is an interesting villain though.

As for Tess, I’d say she’s a weak lead. A lot of the film is about her getting pushed around by Katharine but part of the problem is that she isn’t really defending herself. She’s putting herself in a spot where she can be easily pushed around and that’s the big issue here. If she had stuck to her guns then she probably would have been able to avoid parts of this. Her ideas on leading the business do work well and she is quite bold. I’ll say those were good ideas though.

She waffles on being with Mick or not though which is a very big issue. Going back a few steps, Mick was Tess’ boyfriend but then she caught him cheating with another girl so they split up. He approaches her during the film to try and get back together. He acts as though his being with another girl wasn’t a big deal and it seems like the film backs that up as well. I don’t see why Tess would even entertain the idea of going back with him. You can clearly never trust the guy again and yet, it seems like she was going to take him back before he reveals that he was going to be getting married soon. That hurts Tess quite a lot.

Make no mistake, Mick’s the worst character in the film. It’s all on him to be sure but you wish the other characters would condemn him for that more. Cyn is Tess’ best friend and even she is saying that Tess should take him back. Why? That would be such a desperate and terrible move to take him back. We see how quickly Mick moved on after that so it really makes no sense. Putting her on the spot for a proposal that she doesn’t even turn down didn’t help either. So Cyn was really not a good friend at all.

The main characters can definitely be a bit suspect at times. Then we have Jack who is the main hero here. He’s ready to help with the contract and such but quickly falls for Tess. Despite Tess saying she was only there for business and nothing was going to happen…they have an affair shortly afterwards. So much for restraint right? Tess was under the influence at the time but that’s no excuse because then she should clearly not be drinking. She knew that she had some pills beforehand as well so there’s no real excuse there.

Jack does give the film a lot of its humor though. He has some pretty good lines which help to shake things up. This film is part comedy after all and some of the scenes definitely work pretty well. It’s not as funny as most comedy films but when you throw enough jokes in some are always bound to land. At the very least it’s why comedy films are usually a good bet since you should have some good moments thrown in throughout and you’ll usually leave on a happy note.

The negatives just outweigh the positives in this case. The film also has an issue with fanservice such as several scenes of Tess changing while the characters are having a conversation. There’s nothing natural about this and it always feels quite forced into the movie. At least put in a divider or something. The romance is extremely weak particularly since it all started because they were drunk. Not the way you want to start the next chapter of your life right? So many of these films would be quite different if the characters drank Pepsi instead of a Budlight.

Overall, Working Girl is a film that has a lot of fun moments but beneath the surface it doesn’t hold up. A lot of the characters are quite suspect to the point where you may have a hard time finding who you should root for. The big boss at the end who shows up is fun but he’s only around for a few minutes. The movie has a bit of a cynical approach to romance with every character cheating on each other. Keep in mind that Jack had a girlfriend already when he had his affair with Tess. Just something to keep in mind….. The film would have benefited greatly from focusing more on the actual workplace and throwing humor in there a la The Office rather than spending the majority of the film outside the office crashing parties. If you’re going to go that route, focus on the negotiation. Those parts of the film were always pretty strong. In the end you’re probably better off with a different title.

Overall 4/10

Demon Slayer: Mugen Train Review

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Demon Slayer certainly became a global sensation. When the anime launched it was appearing everywhere and so it’s only natural that a movie sequel by UFotable would continue to get a ton of press and box office. This movie adapts the train arc which is certainly one of the strongest parts of the series. It’s the first time we get to see a Hashira fight seriously which is a pretty big deal. It also works really well as a movie so it was a good pick by the company.

Picking up where the series left off, Tanjiro, Inosuke, and Zenitsu are boarding the Mugen Train. They are to team up with the Hashira known as Rengoku to stop the demons that are on the train. People have been going missing left and right on the train and the slayers sent previously have all been vanquished. Tanjiro and the others may still be newcomers to the organization but they have proven themselves in battle. They are ready to conquer this train.

Unsurprisingly Rengoku is the one doing most of the heavy lifting though. He is a Hashira for a reason and Demon Slayer has a pretty solid power level setup going for it. In fact, when paired up with most of its Shonen Jump companions you could make a strong case for this being one of the best in terms of the power levels making a lot of sense. It’s a strong point for Demon Slayer and never for a moment does it looks like the rest of the characters are competing with Rengoku. He is definitely the star of the show here.

I like Giyu a lot and he’s the only rival to Rengoku in terms of being my favorite Hashira but ultimately I would say Rengoku definitely wins this. He’s a very earnest guy and his flame abilities are incredible. I would go as far as to say he’s the strongest member of the group in terms of base abilities, so no red swords. He has tremendous speed and in the movie we see how difficult it is to protect one car and yet he was protecting 5. He has a pretty emotional backstory and never gets tempted by the demons.

Still, while Rengoku has a lot of screen time I would say this is still Tanjiro’s movie. He is forced to confront his past and the idea of an alternate reality. It’s never easy to leave such a dream but he does it rather well. It’s also just pretty painful in general to leave even knowing how you do it but the guy is resolute. Tanjiro’s always had a lot of determination after all. His fight with the demon may be quick but it’s a solid action scene all the same.

Then you have Inosuke who looks good as expected. He’s confident in his abilities and gets a good tag team with Tanjiro. His inner dream is also the most amusing out of the 3 which reflects his inner mind rather well. Zenitsu gets the shaft from the 3 which may surprise some fans since you would figure that a movie where the heroes are constantly in a dream-like state would be to his advantage. In some ways it is as he couldn’t protect Nezuko nearly as well while awake but his action is mainly off screen.

Enmu is the main villain here. He’s not really much of a fighter in close quarters combat which is why he has the whole train scheme. If you put everyone to sleep then perhaps you can end up winning without having to go through all of the trouble of fighting. I do think he overthinks it to an extent though. Due to how it’s hard to wake up in general and it takes a while, I think the easiest thing to do would just be to stab the slayers as soon as they’re asleep. The plan with the kids was decent and apparently it works a lot but it feels like a lot of work.

Enmu isn’t quite as solid as a lot of the other demons in Muzan’s ranks though. I never became a big fan of his personally. His abilities are unique to be sure and he does have some quality dialogue but that’s about all I can say for him. In true movie fashion his super form is pretty much just a giant blob that can’t fight back. So those action scenes while well animated don’t quite hold up to the rest. Give me the opening action scenes against the random demons anytime. Akaza also looks great in his appearance and already cemented himself as the greatest villain in the series by this point. The guy really enjoys battling and even has a bit of an honor code about him as he tries to get the heroes to his level as well. You definitely have to respect the commitment.

Of course, this wouldn’t be a Ufotable film without some kind of insane action sequence. The fun part is that pretty much any chunk of the film could be used as a great display of animation. Even the “standard” fights of the movie look great which is to be expected. I still have Ufotable as the best pure animation company in the biz right now. Their shows just look incredible. My favorite will always be Pierot but in a 1 on 1 contest the smart money would be on Ufotable to win. The final battle looks incredible. The colors are striking and you can tell it’ll be years before anime are able to churn out fights like this on the regular.

It was just an excellent way to wrap up the adventure. Mugen Train is one of those films that is fairly long but certainly doesn’t feel like it. The movie just keeps going from scene to scene with an engaging story so it never drags. There are some pretty tense moments as well like the conductor punching in all of the tickets which works really well. The soundtrack is very good. It’s definitely got a Fate vibe to it which always works really well with the animation style. It’s got a grand feel to it and ups the anticipation/hype of every moment. There are some themes from the show but also some new ones to be sure so there’s a good mix there.

The movie isn’t nearly as violent as the show which also works well for making this a big theater experience. The most blood is probably when the characters are slashing at the blobs which is certainly the weakest part of the film since these blobs can’t do anything but for the most part the film is ready to just jump straight into the action. I wouldn’t say there are any real weaknesses to the title. I suppose if this had been the true climax that would have been really underwhelming but fortunately we got to end with something spectacular.

Overall, Mugen Train is definitely a great film. It’s got top tier animation and music at the ready along with a great cast of characters. Every scene with Rengoku is really a great moment. His self preservation instinct is really on point and the guy also feels like a natural leader. His very presence instills confidence in anyone who’s around him. Most likely you’ll already know about the true final act by the time you watch the film but if you don’t that’s probably a good thing because it’s one of the best cinematic twists of all time. It’s something that really pushes the film to the next level and I would consider this part of the movie an absolute necessity. Whether you’ve watched the anime or not you should be able to jump into this film and have a good time with it. I’d definitely recommend giving it whirl and now we’ll see when the next film comes out.

Overall 8/10

Scarlet Street Review

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Every now and then you come across a main character who gets suckered so badly that you have a hard time rooting for him. This is the case here. Look, when you decide to start desperately going after someone and allowing yourself to be used, then you’ve already dug a rather big hole. Sunset Street has some fun elements but the lead is just brutal.

The movie starts with Chris getting fired. He had a good run but it just wasn’t in the company’s best interests to keep him. His wife Adele is less than thrilled as she is always reminding Chris about how much better her first husband was. Why did they ever even get married? No clue but I wouldn’t be surprised if Chris was desperate and approached Adele. Either way Chris wants to be a master painter but unfortunately he’s a bit of a perfectionist and never actually takes them down to be appraised. As such, he lives a rather poor life.

One day he manages to save a girl named Kitty who was being mugged on the street. He falls for her at first sight and tries to convince her to be together with him. She has no interest in the prospect but her abusive boyfriend Johnny thinks this is a great idea. Due to some misunderstandings they think Chris is rich so Johnny wants Kitty to get friendly with him while stealing the guy’s paintings and constantly asking for money. Will Chris realize the truth or will he just keep handing her all of his funds?

Chris really shows no sense of self preservation here. It’s great that he stepped in to save Kitty. It’s just every scene after that where he seems suspect. He sees that Johnny is rather suspect but never really questions why the guy is always alone with Kitty when he’s supposed to be together with the friend. (That’s the cover story that Kitty feeds him) Chris is actively cheating on his wife and while their relationship may not be great, it’s still way below the belt to start cheating for any kind of reason. I’m not cutting Chris any kind of slack for that.

Chris really sets himself up for disappointment every step of the way. Kitty also couldn’t make it any more obvious that she didn’t like him with her body language and everything but Chris is so desperate that he ignores the signs. By the time we get to the climax there’s just no way to like the guy.

Scarlet Street certainly ends in a rather intense way though as every characters gets their just desserts. Nobody really has a happy ending here and none of them had been trying to earn one anyway. At the end of the day Johnny was an unrepentant criminal, Kitty was a very willing accomplice, and Chris was morally bankrupt. The three of them had more in common than you’d think.

As for Kitty, I didn’t like her either. She may try telling Johnny that this is a bad idea a whole lot but I never award you points for complaining. At the end of the day she ultimately still went through with this plan to swindle Chris. Additionally, she is constantly defending Johnny and his crazy behavior even when her friend warns her that the whole thing is toxic. Kitty doesn’t have particularly good judgment here and she couldn’t have handled her final scenes any worse.

Johnny? Well, the guy talks like he’s a master planner but he makes every kind of mistake in the book. He was really in a good spot to live rather well by shaving off some money at each end. Instead he gets more and more greedy to the point where it would be impossible to hide his presence. The plan is to sell Chris’ works for big bucks. Okay then, do that plan and just take 10% at the end or even 30%. He wants to take the full 100% but how can you do that without Chris noticing? He constantly visits Kitty in her private apartment even though he knows that Chris has the keys. Think Johnny, Think!

Adele’s certainly not a pleasant character but honestly she would be the best one from these 4 at least. She is constantly complaining and that actually works in Chris’ favor near the end. Nothing is ever good enough for her but she is really a supporting character so you shouldn’t expect to see her for very long.

The writing in the film is fairly solid otherwise. The main character may be pretty annoying but you’ve got an interesting premise here. With some smarter villains then Chris would have really been doomed from day 1. The ending comes out of nowhere a bit with how one of the characters cracks. Things certainly escalated but when you’re dealing with someone crazy desperate to have you at the point of losing all their money, then a certain element of danger goes in with that. Johnny and Kitty were playing a dangerous game from the start.

Scarlet Street does a good job of switching up the genres though. There’s also a decent amount of comedy here with all the hijinks of the public trying to find out who the real painter is. They’re given the run around of course but are quite determined in their search. It’s always fun to have them talking about the high concepts of art. It’s certainly not a subject I get all that invested in as my taste in art tends to differ from high society quite a bit. Needless to say, they were not prepared to see through any kind of tricks.

Overall, Scarlet Street isn’t quite up to snuff compared to most noir films. Ultimately I’m used to rather strong main characters in these titles or some kind of big mystery. Technically this one doesn’t have a lot of that and it may even be harder to call this a Noir title than most but it still does feel like one at least with the atmosphere at times. Certainly more low key though as there aren’t any fights or deaths for a while. Chris is just one of the worst main characters I’ve seen in a while. It’s always crucial to remember that if you cheat you’re probably going to end up dying in these things. The best thing to do is walk the straight and narrow path but these main characters have a hard time doing that.

Overall 4/10

Kechizu vs Tanjiro

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This is a tribute to Demon Slayer: The Mugen Train. Taniro looked pretty great in this film. He was always ready to help and was quick on his feet. While he would certainly be sympathetic to Kechizu, he would not falter in his duty. Kechizu’s fast, but not fast enough to dodge Tanjiro’s attacks for very long. Tanjiro wins.