So I'm sure I've mentioned this a few times but back when the 200th episode was coming out, I started a journey to rewatch Death Battle from beginning to end. It's one I've thought of doing many times and usually I watch through the first couple episodes of season 1 and then I stop, usually because I'm cringing very hard by that point and I'm terrible at watching things without a schedule. Now that I have, I've been making steady progress, taking a small break before picking right back up and we got an interesting episode. It's always fun for me to reach these points where it's an episode that I know has had a real impact on the show and community. It allows me to, especially with the rewatch, see these in a different light where I kind of get to see how the episodes might've influenced how the show did things going forward, a major evolution that raised the bar of quality, a fumble so great that the show learned from.

Or in this case? We have an episode that I feel completely alone in. You talk to people about Akuma vs. Shao Kahn and either you get reactions of just disinterest or full-on hatred. I've seen people unironically call this one of the worst episodes of the show. I know all the rankings I watched tended to put this one very low. Me? I cannot agree, I really enjoy this one. Do I think it's one of the best episodes they've produced? No. Hell, we limit this further, it's hardly the best MK vs. SF episode which is still comfortably a spot held by Ryu vs. Scorpion. However, I still think it's really damn good and I just kind of want to take this time to praise an episode that often doesn't get a lot.

First of course, I guess it's fair to talk about the matchup and... yeah it's not my favorite. MK vs. SF is a hard kind of franchise rivalry because truth be told, I think it only has the one great matchup in Ryu vs. Scorpion while everything else is just kinda there, bad or done better by other matchups. But for this being the season to celebrate the 10-year anniversary? I get the idea behind this. Back when Akuma vs. Shang Tsung and Shao Kahn vs. M. Bison were made, this is when the show primarily was appealing to the ScrewAttack audience and thus they were doing plenty of video game episodes with a dash of 80s and 90s nostalgia.

It also helps that MK vs. SF was THE big fighting game rivalry overall and kind of like Mario vs. Sonic, inspired a metric assload of fan content and considering these episodes were a part of the formative years of Death Battle? It makes sense to go for this and admittedly I was on board. Both were in episodes from season 1 and 2 and boy they felt like it with Akuma vs. Shang Tsung being the second episode ever and Shao Kahn vs. M. Bison was an EARLY season 2 episode meaning it still had a lot of the trappings of season 1. This was a great chance to give both a modern analysis and there's at least a fun idea in terms of the different builds and types of characters including how it even kind of reflects the major differences between these two series. Plus as I've maintained, sometimes a matchup really does benefit from being presented through the Death Battle lens and the potential it gives the crew.

And they did take advantage for the analyses are really solid. They're not the top of the line but they generally do a very good job of covering both stories while still injecting some of that Death Battle humor. A favorite of mine is Boomstick just subtly mispronouncing the Tatsumaki Senpukyaku or at least I think he is (I hear a distinct "G" sound) which if it is what I hear is a nice callback I think to how he has consistently struggled with this one. I also love the note about the lube which is so hilariously cursed and the idea Wiz would just entertain Boomstick for this, likely because he knows he'll hurt himself makes me chuckle. Kahn's has less moments like this and I do feel it might be a bit fast for its own good but it gets the job done.

Then we get the fight and right away, I'm gonna be an outlier. I actually REALLY like the MK11 Shao Kahn model. I'm noting this because I've kind of noticed in rankings how much this model's whole aesthetic gets brought up and really it wasn't my favorite on release and even when I spoke about it before I still didn't fully vibe with this look but now it has really grown on me. The armor mixed with the dragon skin gives him this unique and very intimidating appearance, especially with the helmet. It does look kind of gross when it comes off but also, Kahn is a character designed to never really be seen without the helmet and honestly, given I have seen FAR worse-looking character designs in MK and Netherrealm games? It's not that bad and it pairs decently well with Akuma's Tekken 7 appearance and Oni.

On that note? Yes, I actually don't mind how Oni looks in this episode. I've heard people rag against it for how with the change in models, it's not only super noticeable but he looks puny but I really like the distinct visual identity this gives it from Shin Akuma. Given this is supposed to be Akuma after he has fully given himself to his rage and the Satsui no Hado? I find the more stylized muscles and the squat stature kind of gives him this ball of rage quality. It's kind of like when you see how short Wolverine or Vegeta are supposed to be and you know while you could laugh? Oh they're bound to make sure that quickly is replaced with coughing and sputtering and you learn to not mock them. To paraphrase John Oliver, crocs with socks may look hideous but when said legs they're attached to are able to reduce your nethers to dust? You suddenly stop caring about the footwear.

Shin though... yeah that's the one I can agree with. The bright white hair was not good though looking at it and how Shin Akuma has generally appeared? I think I can see one of the main problems and that's how the more realistic Tekken 7 model has not been changed in anyway aside from the hair, thus this looks less like Shin Akuma and more Akuma with a light fixture strapped to his dome that's shaped like his head. I think if more of an attempt was made to apply say, reddish skin, a more saturated gi, white eyes and a subtle glow effect to the hair, it would've been much better.

I'm saying this now because one of the most common criticisms for this fight has been how it looks visually. This is handled largely by the SFM/Blender people and these programs are certainly showing their issues though if I'm being honest? Jank in 3D Death Battles is NOTHING new. Season 2 of Death Battle had some insane choreography but consistently pretty jank visuals. Hell EVEN some of the most well-regarded battles still have jank to them. To refer back to episodes from prior seasons, we had Batgirl who looked hideous with the way shadows caught on seemingly every crevice, wrinkle and ridge and the animation for her face was not great, Obi-Wan Kenobi looked high as balls at points, Yoda pulled a few faces where you'd think he might be on drugs, it's a thing you kind of have to take at this point with this. It's never gonna look 100% right. That being said, this is a MAJOR step up from Batgirl vs. Spider-Gwen. Jank is still present, there are missing effects, some occasionally bad effects and the Shoryuken from Oni is inexcusably awkward but I don't think it's to the level where it's distracting. Hell, this even goes for some of the expressions Akuma pulls off such as the infamous one where he as Oni reacts to his arm being removed.

Frankly? Yes it looks silly, I will not deny that. I also agree there might've been a better expression for him to have. To me, I'm willing to forgive it because if we are being totally honest? I take one look at Akuma's model and can hear an animator cry when they're told they need to get emotion out of it. Akuma's design pretty much ensures that the only expressions he can pull off convincingly are intense showcases of anger or quiet contemplation... likely of the murderous type. The exaggerated brow, the intense frown lines, it all ensures that if you try any other expression? He looks kind of ridiculous. In the case of Kahn, this is when Netherrealm was well into using mocap for the faces and in MK11... well the faces sure look mocapped but there's also another element. With these kinds of faces, you generally need to animate these very precisely in order for it to look right and with all due respect? Death Battle ain't gonna do that. You just kind of have to accept that this is gonna look a little gross.

Moving onto my positives? There are plenty. The fight is very kinetic with a nice showcase of how the distinct styles these two possess, especially in Kahn's more tanky nature and his focus on big heavy hits. I like that they even pay tribute to the 2D roots by having it start like that before it takes more advantage of the 3D space. I feel this is further enhanced by the vocal performances. Philip Sacramento really impresses because it's amazing that this guy can go from Yoda to the gravel and anger of Akuma. He at points even manages to sound pretty damn close to the late Dave Mallow and Gianni Matragano of course was gonna kill it as Shao Kahn. It's perhaps a little higher than what I'm personally used to but he still nails it. He genuinely crushes the "Feel the wrath of Shao Kahn!" drop and while this isn't the most engaging dialogue, it does its job well.

Really, there are just a lot of points where I just think the fight's cool and this includes the climax. Kahn getting punched through the chest only for him to stand up and remove his heart is badass. I know people question this because it took him awhile to shrug this off in canon but it's Death Battle and I think an exception can be made. This looks SO cool to me. I also love the Raging Demon and how it combines elements of the old and new and the fist getting caught by Kahn was a legitimate moment I gasped at the first time watching. I'll even stick up for the death. The off-screen hammer impact is a source of contention but I get the thinking behind this. Having models show distinct battle damage is quite a tricky deal, they know they're dealing with YouTube but really, I like the idea. To me, it effectively uses a point where you don't always need to see the result of something, your imagination will in the rest and what it comes up with will be far better than what they could show. I also think the blood splatter on-screen does more than enough to convey that this was brutal and that Akuma is dead. I also like how it kind of feels like a classic MK Fatality with a dash of the modern era's gorn and frankly, considering my own growing distaste for how Fatalities feel the need to up the nasty and nothing else? I'll take this. Also, Kahn saying Flawless Victory is not a bad deal to me because while yes he took hits? I see this man's ego making it to where he wouldn't care.

The conclusion I know is also contested, mostly because people don't buy what they gave Kahn and since I'm not interested in that, I'm not about to debate that. I will say I actually really appreciate the LENGTHS they went to in terms of what they pulled. This included the discussion of Armageddon and utilizing Blaze's arcade ending to demonstrate just how insane beating him is. Also, even if I disagreed? As I've said before, I don't care if I disagree with the verdict, they just need to provide enough for me to see where they're coming from and they did that here.

Really, I just really like Akuma vs. Shao Kahn. I think this is a really fun episode. Considering I was so bummed out by Batgirl vs. Spider-Gwen, this was a great pick-me-up. It demonstrated that the Blender guys were learning and were able to improve their craft in many big and small ways. It's not perfect of course. There are plenty of fair criticisms to make about the episode. There are moments of stiff and floaty animation, choreography that feels like it needed another pass and I'm kind of with Biff Weed where it feels like they might've been hoping the in-house animators would be free but they had to deal with the hand they were given but honestly? It's not a bad way to deal with it. I had fun with this episode and I think it gets too much shit.

I reached it on the rewatch so I'm gonna talk about it: Akuma vs. Shao Kahn is a tremendously underrated episode that gets way too much shit.