It’s time for another Death Battle season! We’ve got quite a lot of big fights here including Mario vs Sonic which is always iconic. There’s not much to say in the intro here. It’s clear that the crew is super familiar with the animation programs by this point and so all the episodes look really good. There are really no weaknesses here at all, the series is firing on all cylinders at all times. They do try a live action episode…which is naturally going to be at the bottom but I did appreciate the attemt.

16. Nightwing VS Daredevil Verdict: Correct

Look, I like live action as much as the next guy but it’s not going to hold up against the animated fights. This one wasn’t bad, they had some good choreography and I liked the costumes. It’s really an acceptable battle but at the same time almost by default it doesn’t stand a chance against the others. I’ll give the fight credit for the special effects though, I liked seeing the thunder batons. You can already tell this is a good season because it’s not like the fight was bad or anything. I’m not expecting any bad fights at this point even if some are comparatively a lot weaker than others.

15. Roshi VS Jiraiya: Verdict Correct

This fight was never going to be super high for me. Neither opponent has a very interesting moveset and the characters aren’t very likable anyway. It’s not a bad fight by any means but does end up being painfully ordinary next to a lot of the other titles. It was nice seeing Jiraiya use the needle cloak as it always seemed handy. I also liked the nod to genjutsu being useless on DBZ fighters but yeah this one wasn’t going to go too high.

14. Samurai Jack VS Afro Samurai Verdict: Correct

This was definitely one of the most brutal Death Battles, even comparing it to previous seasons. It did a good job of emulating the classic Samurai Jack look but at the same time it’s not really able to compete with most of the other big battles for this season. The choreography is solid but there isn’t a lot of time for chatter and the sword skills, while clean are not all that flashy. It’s a fight that won’t stick with you for too long.

13. Raven VS Twilight Sparkle Verdict: Correct

They really made this one look like an actual MLP episode so that was pretty fun. Their emotional abilities were definitely shown to their full potential. The music for this one also really stood out. I’d even go as far as to say this is a pretty good example to show folks when depicting how the Death Battle episodes got smoother in each season. This is a relatively basic fight but it just looks very professional compared to older seasons.

12. Black Panther VS Batman Verdict: Correct

Now technically you may be wondering why I agree with Black Panther winning. Well, prep time aside Panther has the better stats in every way. If they each had a week to prep then Batman would win but if it’s a random street fight then the dark knight is going down. The fight is pretty good and I liked how much they were moving across the different stages. It really helped the fight feel fast paced so that was fun. Additionally there was some good banter in here so this is a strong fight all the way.

11. Sora VS Pit Verdict: Correct

Another really good fight that could go either way but I do think Sora has the abilities to pull this one out. It’s one of the rare retro sprite fight in this season. It definitely looks good and it was cool to hear Deku’s voice actor in it. While this one technically gets outshined by a lot of the 3D battles, it is a very solid fight in its own right. The competition was just really stacked this time around.

10. Jotaro VS Kenshiro Verdict: Correct

Another really fun battle here, it was nice to see them both talking in Japanese the whole time. Jotaro definitely seemed to have the more broken abilities but Kenshiro’s physical skills were just too much to be overcome. Good music as always and there was a ton of movement in the fight thanks to all of the clones. Definitely can’t say that either fighter left much on the table. We even got to have a bystander this time to react to everything throughout the fight.

9. Doctor Strange VS Doctor Fate: Verdict Incorrect

I’m usually a DC over Marvel guy but this is one of the rare cases where the Marvel counterpart seems more powerful. I was surprised to see Fate win this one but it was a fun fight. I always like it when the fighters are jumping across realities with every blow. Both of their skillsets were used well and the fight just felt really grand. You really can’t go wrong with this one and the dialogue/climax were both really strong points.

8. Leon Kennedy VS Frank West Verdict: Correct

Now this was definitely a fun battle all the way. Leon blew up in terms of popularity recently although he has always been one of the most well known RE characters. There is a lot of good dialogue throughout here and Leon really gets to show off his gun accuracy. The zombies are not able to disrupt this fight and it definitely ended up being one of my favorite ones in the season. On the surface I wouldn’t have guessed that from the matchup so it shows just how well the fight was executed.

7. Ultron VS Sigma: Verdict Incorrect

This was a pretty good fight and I liked how the lyrical theme started right away. It did feel like a bit of a tease to be setting up an army vs army fight only for this to be a true 1 vs 1 though. I would have liked to have seen both sides really going at it but I suppose that wasn’t in the cards this time. There was a lot going on and I felt like they really pushed the sprites far with this one. It’s a solid fight even if it had to go up against a lot of steep competition this time.

6. Carnage VS Lucy Verdict: Correct

I always thought this was a really interesting fight. It definitely gets really violent as the battle takes advantage of Carnage’s healing factor. She was really blowing him up left and right. It really felt like a true Death Battle though and the rainy backdrop worked really well. This fight was atmospheric and certainly more than a little spooky. I’m really not familiar with Lucy at all as a character but her powers sure looked really cool in action.

5. Mario VS Sonic (2018) Verdict: Incorrect

I’ve seen this fight a number of times. The hand drawn/flash style works pretty well with this one. Yes, the characters do end up seeming very out of character but in a way that’s part of the fun. This is a Death Battle after all and neither one of the characters are in a good mood. They’re just doing their best to land some hits and put the opponent 6 feet under. The visuals are a lot of fun and I enjoyed the attacks. This one is well known for good reason.

4. Crash VS Spyro Verdict: Correct

This was a really fun fight and I have to give the episode credit for just letting Crash get destroyed the whole time. He never really stood a chance and everyone knew it so Spyro just spends the episode absolutely destroying him at every turn. The 3D look works perfectly for both characters and this ends up being a super fun one. Dark Spyro is also such a cool finisher to end things with. We really need more Spyro games in the future.

3. Thanos VS Darkseid Verdict: Correct

It’s clear that this fight was meant to be a really big one for the season and it definitely lived up to that. Both fighters just kept on getting up over and over even after taking some absolutely monstrous hits. Was definitely a nailbiter which helps the fight get over what I’d consider to be one of the weaker songs. It really doesn’t get you pumped like the average Death Battle song but you can’t win em all. The fight even squeezes in a guest star.

2. Ryu VS Jin: Verdict Correct

I gotta admit, it was really cool to see the RWBY backgrounds here. It definitely helped to enhance the episode in a big way. I also think this is easily one of the most debatable fights in the series. I tend to put Jin higher normally but evil Ryu has had some really great feats so when they’re at their peak, I do have to go with Ryu. This season really had a great run when it comes to getting the outcome correct. The choreography in this episode also can’t be beat. I dare say it is the best in the season in that area at least.

1. Optimus Prime VS Gundam Verdict: Correct

Now this was a great fight. Every season has a fight that ends up performing higher than I expected and this is absolutely the one for this season. The song was incredible and an instant classic for me. I’ll be listening to it quite a lot. The fight was really cool with all of the outer space action and it just felt like a strong battle all the way through. Neither fighter was willing to go down easy and Prime had a really epic last line.

That wraps up another season! This was definitely a great one with a ton of solid fights. I agreed with 13/16 of the results which is easily the highest amount so far. Definitely a well done season and I look forward to seeing how season 6 fares. We’re getting more and more modern although even at this point there are definitely episodes that I have not seen. It shows what a casual viewer I was back then!