History Awesome / BennettTheSage

* His review of Anime/GraveOfTheFireflies, which he explains was ''very'' hard to do, considering the [[TearJerker reputation]] it has would make any dissenting opinion of his come off as petty and/or nitpicky; but regardless, he flat out nails it, going into detail about how the movie seemed to be less of a stand alone story and more of a cautionary tale for the youth of Japan, [[ShownTheirWork bringing up statistics]] of how crime rates amongst the youth skyrocketed in the 1980's because of conflicts between the privileged newer generation, who were enjoying [[JapanTakesOverTheWorld the wealth and success of Japanese industry]] and their parents, who had to live [[CrapsackWorld in Japan]] after [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII the second world war]]. He states at the beginning that he didn't like this movie for more personal reasons rather than just because it was sad, and after deconstructing the movie's purpose; that is essentially guilt tripping the youth into respecting the sacrifices their parents had made just growing up, he just demonstrates an amazing sort of bravery to get so involved and determined to critique a movie of such acclaimed proportions. It was a very impressive, sobering review, and you can watch it [[http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/bt/the-sage/anime-abandon/35418-anime-abandon-grave-of-the-fireflies here]].
** Just the fact that he gives a negative review of a critically acclaimed film is a CMOA in-and-of itself. In an age where [[ReviewsAreTheGospel reviews are considered to be the absolute word on the quality of a film]], it's nothing short of amazing to see someone give a rather detailed and emotionally-involved explanation as to why he dislikes a film while still understanding its significance. Sage could've simply gone the old AccentuateTheNegative approach but doesn't, and it makes the reasonings for his opinion all the stronger for it. It shows that a movie doesn't have to be "bad" for someone to not like it.

* Credit where it's due for Bennett, but after two crappy movies, he finally breaks JesuOtaku with ''Anime/HighschoolOfTheDead'', seeming to [[PassingThetorch pass the torch]] to her. The fact that he also managed to get Linkara, Angry Joe and Marzgurl out of their rooms long enough for the review, and that he broke Jesu enough to show them some kind of horror (Remember that Linkara has fought ''The Entity,'' which threatened to consume the entire world, and that Joe and Marzgurl fought off Zod's troops in WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee) just tops it off.
** That's not what tops it off. If one watches JO's other crossovers, she's kind of a CreatorsPet in them (The Film Brain crossover is pretty much nothing but one DoubleStandard joke after another), so seeing her ''lose'', just once, is awesome.

-->'''Critic''': How can you not see it as bad? Was your brain and soul a package deal when you sold them?
-->'''Sage''': Critic! ''Shut up''. Alright? I just wanted you to have some fun riffing on a dumb movie with me, okay? You don't need to insult me.

* During his ''WesternAnimation/AeonFlux'' review, [[WebOriginal/BrowsHeldHigh Oancitizen]] comes on to criticize him for [[ArtisticLicenseReligion lackluster analysis]] of UsefulNotes/{{Gnosticism}} within the show. [[spoiler: By the end of his review, Oancitizen is ''applauding''.]]

** He also called out April on calling out the new 8 Man, as she was making it look like she was ''in favor'' of the psychotic football playing cyborgs that murdered a stadium full of people.

* In the review of ''8 Man After'' he learns that the hero of the original 8 Man series was just deleted from his cyborg body, KilledOffForReal basically, with no explanation as to why or how. A comparison of how DC Comics [[EvenEvilHasStandards does character death more gracefully]] has Linkara cameo to remind us of [[BlueBeetle Ted Kord]], to which Sage angrily counters (to the point his shouting causes feedback in the audio) that Ted got some [[DefiantToTheEnd final]] [[FacingTheBulletsOneLiner lines]] and [[BoomHeadshot an on panel death]], whereas the hero of the original anime got ''[[DroppedABridgeOnHim none of this]]''. Linkara, whose NerdRage is practically legendary, backed off.

* At the end of the second part of his ''Anime/MacrossPlus'' review, Bennett goes on [[RousingSpeech a speech on how anime fans have lost their standards,]] and how as such anime has seemed to drop in quality from the times of ''Anime/MacrossPlus'', ''Anime/CowboyBebop'', ''Anime/PrincessMononoke'', ''GhostInTheShell'', and such - the time of an apex reached by fan devotion and contribution. He remarks on how {{Fanservice}}, HoYay, and other eye-catchers [[LowestCommonDenominator have been used]] by studios [[MoneyDearBoy to get more money]], and thus general quantity has overtaken quality and such has become the standard for anime in general--he does note, however, that these tropes have always had a place and [[TropesAreNotBad they are not inherently bad]]. He reaches the climax of this speech by beseeching fans of all kinds to demand better from the studios and creators, as they will never have the strength and courage to venture into the unknown reaches and go for more originality without fan outcry and subsequent reward for their efforts.
* In his review of Odin, Sage demonstrates impressive knowledge in physics during his ripping apart of the movie's lack of logic during a scene where the spaceship demonstrates its hyperspace drive capable of reaching relativistic speeds while going after an SOS signal it was seeking out, six days after departing from base.
* In the review of 8 Man After he learns that the hero of the original 8 Man series was just deleted from his cyborg body, KilledOffForReal basically, with no explanation as to why or how. A comparison of how DC Comics [[EvenEvilHasStandards does character death more gracefully]] has Linkara cameo to remind us of [[BlueBeetle Ted Kord]], to which Sage angrily counters (to the point his shouting causes feedback in the audio) that Ted got some [[DefiantToTheEnd final]] [[FacingTheBulletsOneLiner lines]] and [[BoomHeadshot an on panel death]], whereas the hero of the original anime got ''[[DroppedABridgeOnHim none of this]]''. Linkara, whose NerdRage is practically legendary, backed off.

** He also calls out the StatusQuoIsGod ending to the third movie, noting that to get a new necklace on Inuyasha Kagome pretty much tricks him and then refuses to remove it even after the danger's past, admitting out loud she doesn't ''want'' to remove it. [[WhatTheHellHero And then]] [[KickTheDog she tells him]] [[DudeNotFunny to]] [[ItMakesSenseInContext sit.]] Bonus points occur when Bennett and Mark view this scene in the Nuts & Bolts commentary on this episode, with Mark outright calling Kagome a sociopath when she does this.

* In each of his LoveHina reviews, he repeatedly calls the show out for its blatant misandry and [[DoubleStandardAbuseFemaleOnMale unwarranted abuse of its male lead]], simply because he's male and possibly has a love life, while playing all of it for laughs.

* At the end of the second part of his MacrossPlus review, Bennett goes on [[RousingSpeech a speech on how anime fans have lost their standards,]] and how as such anime has seemed to drop in quality from the times of MacrossPlus, Anime/CowboyBebop, Anime/PrincessMononoke, GhostInTheShell, and such - the time of an apex reached by fan devotion and contribution. He remarks on how {{Fanservice}}, HoYay, and other eye-catchers [[LowestCommonDenominator have been used]] by studios [[MoneyDearBoy to get more money]], and thus general quantity has overtaken quality and such has become the standard for anime in general--he does note, however, that these tropes have always had a place and [[TropesAreNotBad they are not inherently bad]]. He reaches the climax of this speech by beseeching fans of all kinds to demand better from the studios and creators, as they will never have the strength and courage to venture into the unknown reaches and go for more originality without fan outcry and subsequent reward for their efforts.

** He also calls out the StatusQuoIsGod ending to the third movie, noting that to get a new necklace on Inuyasha Kagome pretty much tricks him and then refuses to remove it even after the danger's past, admitting out loud she doesn't ''want'' to remove it. [[WhatTheHellHero And then]] [[KickTheDog she tells him]] [[DudeNotFunny to]] [[ItMakesSenseInContext sit.]] Bonus points occur when Bennett and Mark view this scene in the Nuts & Bolts commentary on this episode, with Mark outright calling Kagome a [[TheSocipath sociopath]] when she does this.

** He also calls out the StatusQuoIsGod ending to the third movie, noting that to get a new necklace on Inuyasha Kagome pretty much tricks him and then refuses to remove it even after the danger's past, admitting out loud she doesn't ''want'' to remove it. [[WhatTheHellHero And then]] [[KickTheDog she tells him]] [[DudeNotFunny to]] [[ItMakesSenseInContext sit.]] Bonus points occur when Bennett and Mark view this scene in the Nuts & Bolts commentary on this episode:
-->'''Mark''': When I saw this scene, I just thought, "That's it. Kagome's a sociopath."

** Then there's a moment that was awesome to this troper due to the fact that it's linked to something many have wanted Sage to review, [[spoiler: as at the end, Sage revealed that he was gonna review ''Manga/{{Devilman}}'', from the creator of '''Manga/ViolenceJack'''.]]

* Credit where it's due for Bennett, but after two crappy movies, he finally breaks JesuOtaku with ''Anime/HighschoolOfTheDead'', seeming to [[PassingThetorch pass the torch]] to her. The fact that he also managed to get Linkara, Angry Joe and Marzgurl out of their rooms long enough for the review, and that he broke Jesu enough to show them some kind of horror (Remember that Linkara has fought ''The Entity,'' which threatened to consume the entire world, and that Joe and Marzgurl fought off Zod's troops in ToBoldlyFlee) just tops it off.

** He also calls out the StatusQuoIsGod ending to the third movie, noting that to get a new necklace on Inuyasha Kagome pretty much tricks him and then refuses to remove it even after the danger's past, admitting out loud she doesn't ''want'' to remove it. [[WhatTheHellHero And then]] [[KickTheDog she tells him]] [[DudeNotFunny to sit.]] Bonus points occur when Bennett and Mark view this scene in the Nuts & Bolts commentary on this episode:

** He also calls out the StatusQuoIsGod ending to the third movie, noting that to get a new necklace on Inuyasha Kagome pretty much tricks him and then refuses to remove it even after the danger's past, admitting out loud she doesn't ''want'' to remove it. Bonus points occur when Bennett and Mark view this scene in the Nuts & Bolts commentary on this episode:

** He also calls out the StatusQuoIsGod ending to the third movie, noting that to get a new necklace on Inuyasha Kagome pretty much tricks him and then refuses to remove it even after the danger's past, admitting out loud she doesn't ''want'' to remove it.

* His analysis of how screwed up Inuyasha and Kagome's relationship is. He perfectly lays out how much of a {{Yandere}} Kagome is and even goes so far as to compare her abusive treatment of Inuyasha to a bad S&M relationship.

* His analysis of how screwed up Inuyasha and Kagome's relationship is. He perfectly lays out how much of a [[{{Yandere}}]] Kagome is and even goes so far as to compare her abusive treatment of Inuyasha to a bad S&M relationship.

* Putting in four hours of work to make the panty-shot [[OverlyLongGag counting gag]] in the Agent Aika review have all the shots. That's dedication.

** To add to Mark's awesomeness, he goes on a tangent about the diagnostic tools built into many modern vehicles. Specifically, the model of car he crashed into came standard with On-Board Diagnostics Mark II, which has built-in telemetry that constantly measures how fast a car's going and can't be erased. He's [[LaughingMad laughing like a madman at this,]] since it means [[LaserGuidedKarma it means the other guys won't be able to lie about their speed at the time of the accident.]]

* In each of his LoveHina reviews, he repeatedly calls the show out for its blatant misandry and [[DoubleStandardAbuseFemaleOnMale unwarranted abuse of its male lead]], simply because he's male and possibly has a love life, while playing all of it for laughs.

* In ''Literature/AWindNamedAmnesia'', once it's revealed that [[spoiler:[[AliensAreBastards aliens were the ones responsible]] for enforcing LaserGuidedAmnesia upon humanity and reduced them to rioting savages and that the reason they did it was both because they wanted to eliminate a threat and to make humans be happy]], Sage simply called them out on their bullshit, going with a rant on how hypocritical they are and how much of a bastard they are.
* In the Guyver review, Sage getting tired of Critic's insults, calling him out and refusing to apologise or back down. Especially satisfying for anyone angry at the latter for acting like an asshole in reboot reviews.

* In the ''Violence Jack'' review, [[spoiler:the entire episode is about him working up the bravery to admit, on camera, that sometimes you need to admit that sometimes there isn't a way to do something, and that rarely, you have to KnowWhenToFoldEm. In a quite good mini-movie.]]

* In each of his LoveHina reviews, he repeatedly calls the show out for its blatant misandry and unwarranted abuse of its male lead simply because he's male and possibly having a love life, and playing all of it for laughs.

* In the review of 8 Man After he learns that the hero of the original 8 Man series was just deleted from his cyborg body, KilledOffForReal basically, with no explanation as to why or how. A comparison of how DC Comics [[EvenEvilHasStandards does character death more gracefully]] has Linkara cameo to remind us of [[BlueBeetle Ted Kord]], to which Sage angrily counters (to the point his shouting causes feedback in the audio) that Ted got some [[DefiantToTheEnd final]] [[FacingTheBulletsOneLiner lines]] and [[BoomHeadshot an on panel death]], whereas the hero of the original anime got ''[[DroppedABridgeOnHim none of this]]''. Linkara, who's nerd rage was once to the point he'd become evil if not stopped, backed off.

* At the end of the second part of his MacrossPlus review, Bennett goes on [[RousingSpeech a speech on how anime fans have lost their standards,]] and how as such anime has seemed to drop in quality from the times of MacrossPlus, CowboyBebop, PrincessMononoke, GhostInTheShell, and such - the time of an apex reached by fan devotion and contribution. He remarks on how {{Fanservice}}, HoYay, and other eye-catchers [[LowestCommonDenominator have been used]] by studios [[MoneyDearBoy to get more money]], and thus general quantity has overtaken quality and such has become the standard for anime in general--he does note, however, that these tropes have always had a place and [[TropesAreNotBad they are not inherently bad]]. He reaches the climax of this speech by beseeching fans of all kinds to demand better from the studios and creators, as they will never have the strength and courage to venture into the unknown reaches and go for more originality without fan outcry and subsequent reward for their efforts.

* During his ''WesternAnimation/AeonFlux'' review, [[WebOriginal/BrowsHeldHigh Oancitizen]] comes on to criticize him for [[ArtisticLicenseReligion lackluster analysis]] of UsefulNotes/{{Gnosticism}} within the show. [[spoiler: By the end of his review, Oancitizen is ''applauding''.]]

* His review of GraveOfTheFireflies, which he explains was ''very'' hard to do, considering the [[TearJerker reputation]] it has would make any dissenting opinion of his come off as petty and/or nitpicky; but regardless, he flat out nails it, going into detail about how the movie seemed to be less of a stand alone story and more of a cautionary tale for the youth of Japan, [[ShownTheirWork bringing up statistics]] of how crime rates amongst the youth skyrocketed in the 1980's because of conflicts between the privileged newer generation, who were enjoying [[JapanTakesOverTheWorld the wealth and success of Japanese industry]] and their parents, who had to live [[CrapsackWorld in Japan]] after [[WorldWarII the second world war]]. He states at the beginning that he didn't like this movie for more personal reasons rather than just because it was sad, and after deconstructing the movie's purpose; that is essentially guilt tripping the youth into respecting the sacrifices their parents had made just growing up, he just demonstrates an amazing sort of bravery to get so involved and determined to critique a movie of such acclaimed proportions. It was a very impressive, sobering review, and you can watch it [[http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/bt/the-sage/anime-abandon/35418-anime-abandon-grave-of-the-fireflies here]].

* During his ''WesternAnimation/AeonFlux'' review, [[WebOriginal/BrowsHeldHigh Oancitizen]] comes on to criticize him for ArtisticLiscenceReligion on UsefulNotes/{{Gnosticism.}} [[spoiler: By the end of his review, Oancitizen is ''applauding''.]]

* During his ''WesternAnimation/AeonFlux'' review, [[WebOriginal/BrowsHeldHigh Oancitizen]] comes on to criticize him for ArtisticLiscenceReligion on UsefulNotes/Gnosticism. [[spoiler:By the end of his review, Oancitizen is ''applauding''.]]

** Not to mention, despite the fact that he can't show the anime itself, he manages to clearly show how horrible and gruesome it is, just by talking about the content and playing the audio in one scene.