Line #1 YMMV/BennettTheSage


1	* BaseBreakingCharacter: Marc the Engineer's role as The Duke (though an homage to a character from ''WesternAnimation/TheCritic'') in the ''Anime/TwilightOfTheCockroaches'' review was divisive, as many felt he came across as an unpleasant {{jerkass}} (and in the commentaries even Marc himself felt uncomfortable with the character, though Bennett found it funny). His appearances afterwards tone him down to a humorously prickly BadBoss.
2	* BileFascination: A number of his fans went and watched ''Manga/ViolenceJack'' after his (non-) review of it, adding to the BrokenBase.
3	* BigLippedAlligatorMoment:
4	** During the ''[[Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei Tokyo Revelation]]'' review, he decides it's time to retire his Big Book of Gay Jokes. Cut to a scene with Sage giving a [[TearJerker tear-filled goodbye]] to it, [[spoiler:only for it to suddenly turn bitter as he realizes that it used to belong to Creator/JeffDunham]].
5	** This happens in his review of ''Junk Boy'' with the entire scene of Creator/VicMignogna's floating head.
6	* BrokenBase:
7	** Over the ''Manga/ViolenceJack'' review:
8	*** On the one hand, there's quite a few fans who think that the video was great and that it managed to review the show even without showing it, all whilst not being anything like a normal review. They also agree that the show itself is very hard to review and even harder to watch, as it consists of huge amounts of repetitive gorn, so it's not like Bennett was making a huge deal over something minor. And even given the content, these fans like that Bennett managed to discuss the content- even if the video doesn't necessarily count as a review- and actually tried to review it instead of just giving up on it.
9	*** On the other hand, there's also many fans angry that they waited '''six months''', with constant teasers, for what amounted to nothing more than a 30 minute non-review explaining why he wouldn't actually review it. They pointed out that nobody said that a review of ''Violence Jack'' ''had'' to be funny, and that he wouldn't ''have'' to show the footage. They also questioned why, of all the grotesque and obscene anime Bennett has reviewed, that ''this'' was the one he wouldn't do. Simply put, these fans felt that he shouldn't have dragged ''Violence Jack'' into his show if he wasn't prepared to "properly" review it. One person even stated that this was worse than the baseball stunt he pulled in his ''End of Evangelion'' review.
10	*** Adding fuel to the fire is the ones who went and watched it, and found it rather tame compare of some of the other animes he had no problem showing, such as ''Anime/NinjaScroll''.
11	*** What makes it more ludicrous in retrospect, is that, years later, Kaiserbeamz of WebVideo/KyotoVideo managed to do a proper in-depth review of ''Violence Jack'', with no issue on his end.
12	** His review of ''Anime/PerfectBlue''. One group felt like Bennett missed key subtext and plot points in the movie that nullify some of his complaints. Another group felt that while his criticisms were valid they don't bring the film down as much as Bennett said. Then there's the final group who agree with him in that while it isn't a terrible movie it is definitely a lot rougher than Creator/SatoshiKon's future works. Of course there's also the debate about whether or not the dub is to blame for his criticisms, as Bennett has made it clear that [[SubbingVersusDubbing he's a dub only fan]].
13	* CrossesTheLineTwice: Some of Bennett's joke go into this territory, such as in his ''Anime/BurnUp'' review, when he comments on a slaver who looks like Creator/WilfordBrimley and brings up the Liberty Medical commercials.
14	* FridgeBrilliance: Bennett's old theme for ''Anime Abandon'' was "Ultra" by Music/{{KMFDM}}. The song was also used in ''Anime/StreetFighterIITheAnimatedMovie'' during the [[ShowerScene one scene]] that's BestKnownForTheFanservice. Of course, that would be the theme for the anime review show that more often than not looks at the more perverse side of anime.
15	* GeniusBonus: In his review of ''Manga/{{X\|1999}}'', he states that trying to understand the plot while watching it for the first time is "like trying to read ''Literature/FinnegansWake'' in [[UsefulNotes/IndianLanguages Sanskrit]]". That's not the only example; he references some pretty obscure works, anime and otherwise.
16	* HarsherInHindsight:
17	** When returning to the present in the ''Anime/CyberCityOedo808'' review, Bennett is shown looking forlornly at [[WebVideo/YouCanPlayThis Justin "JewWario" Carmical]]'s hat. [[https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WZFkR__B3Mk9EYQglvislMUx9HWvWhOaBP820UBa4dA/preview# The Google document]] released during the mass exodus of producers from Channel Awesome contained anonymous accounts of grooming and sexual assault by a former producer--and around the time of Bennett's own exit from the site, it was revealed the producer in question was [=JewWario=]. As of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIXsC_UM8GI April 2018]], the hat he kept in memory of [=JewWario=] is gone.
18	** Some of the humor about characters whose gender is ambiguous, such as Sage's confusion about the barber in ''Anime/MacrossII'', has not aged well in light of Ashira's transition and subsequent departure from the show.
19	** His CrossOver with WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic ends with Rob Walker chastising the Critic for kidnapping Sage and sending him home first class in exchange for not suing them. This became a ''lot'' darker following the revelations about Website/ChannelAwesome in 2018, such as Rob's underhanded tendencies and how they kept Justin Carmichael's actions covered up.
20	** In his ''WesternAnimation/BigGuyAndRustyTheBoyRobot'' review, Bennett calls "Doctor Netflix" after pointing out that the series ends on a setup for a third season that never happened. At the time, Netflix was seen as a powerhouse in television and animation production, held in high regard by people. Nowadays, due to the many controversial adaptations they have produced over the years (most notably ''WesternAnimation/MastersOfTheUniverseRevelation'', ''Film/DeathNote2017'', ''Series/TheWitcher2019'', ''Series/ResidentEvil2022'', and ''Series/CowboyBebop2021'', which was reviewed by Sage himself in a video), Netflix would be the last company people would ask to revive a beloved series.
21	* SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct:
22	** In the ''[[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion The End of Evangelion]]'' review, where he breaks down because he thinks he has nothing left to say about something that's already been analyzed to death.
23	** His creepiness passes into this in some of his cameo appearances. When he teams up with Nostalgia Critic to review ''WesternAnimation/StarchaserTheLegendOfOrin'', the Critic is terrified of him, and by the time the intro is over, you'll understand why.
24	** When he sends Ask That Guy in a quivering crying wreck, you have no difficulty believing that he can pull that off.
25	** For the ''Manga/ViolenceJack'' "review" when he simulates himself going crazy... and '''goddamn''' he pulls it off.
26	* HePannedItNowHeSucks: To quote Marc, "''Anime Abandon'' is all fun and games until something you like is on the chopping block."
27	** Sage has taken a lot of heat for his negative reviews for some of the more popular titles, especially ''Doomed Megalopolis'' and ''Manga/{{Akira}}''. Sage has singled out the ''Akira'' review as the one he gets the most flak for.
28	** The original ''Evangelion'' reviews got this reaction in droves, especially with Sage's criticisms of the AngstDissonance. This is mainly due to repeatedly invoking HypeBacklash against the show's by then discredited status as a SacredCow. The final kicker was him spending the last part of the review for ''End of Evangelion'' talking about his difficult personal history with baseball for instead of finishing the review in an effort to represent how annoying he found Anno using the series to air his personal issues, which drew the most backlash since it came mostly out of nowhere, was played far too straight to actually be funny, and represented a point of view on ''Evangelion'' Bennet himself would later reject. Even Marc the Engineer called him out on this during his ''Twilight of the Cockroaches'' review.
29	--->'''Marc the Engineer''': ...this coming from the guy who deviated from a review to cry about baseball!?\
30	'''Sage''': I WAS ANNOING!!! It's not my fault no one got it.\
31	'''Marc the Engineer''': Well, it's my fault for not catching it in time. But it's your fault for putting it there in the first place.
32	** In an interesting aversion, he caught a ton of flack for ''not'' doing this to ''Violence Jack''. Not that it's not because he finds it good, mind you, but rather because he claims the content is so chock full of things he can't show, that it's unreviewable.
33	** Then came his review of one of ''Manga/InuYasha'''s [[Anime/InuYashaTheMovieAffectionsTouchingAcrossTime movies]]. You can take a wild guess as to how fans reacted to it.
34	** He also gets a bit of this from ''Devilman'' and ''Devilman Crybaby'' fans, especially with the CowboyBebopAtHisComputer mentioned on the Trivia page. His main argument was that he found the original OVA to be too boring and excessive in ultra-violence. With ''Crybaby'', he had similar issues, but also felt that the modernizations hurt more than it helped and that the faster pacing was more problematic. While the OVA's slower pace made it boring to him, it also made it easier for him to keep up with what was going on, whereas with ''Crybaby's'' faster pacing, he doesn't have that luxury.
35	** He mentions that he's probably gonna get flak for calling ''Anime/MyHeroAcademia'' a SoOkayItsAverage show instead of the spectacular rebirth of the shonen genre many label it as in his "''Oldtaku, New Tricks''" review of the show but he still charges into the fray, claiming that he doesn't ''hate'' the series, and explains what he ''does'' like, but he really doesn't think it's worth all of the noise and [[TournamentArc what he hates]] [[StockJapaneseCharacters about it]], he really, ''really'' hates.
36	** He slammed ''Anime/GraveOfTheFireflies'' pretty hard, mainly in regards to how he saw it as an emotionally-manipulative work of {{Glurge}} instead of a genuine anti-war film. Once again, fans of the film were not pleased, as it's often considered one of the best anime films ever made.
37	** Let's just say the [[Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog Sonic]] fans won't like Sage anytime soon after his ''Anime/SonicTheHedgehogTheMovie'' review.
38	* HilariousInHindsight:
39	** Sage calling Creator/MilesTeller a [[BetterByADifferentName skinny version of]] Creator/JonahHill makes you wonder what Sage is going to say about [[Film/WarDogs them starring in a movie together]].
40	** In the start of his ''Manga/MadBull34'' review, he mentions the show at the time was [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes never released on DVD]], and then mentions various other infamous anime that ''were'', including ''Anime/GarzeysWing'' of all things. Not long after the review was made, it was reissued courtesy of Creator/DiscotekMedia. Sage snarked in his ''Elfen Lied'' review that said release was probably done on a dare.
41	** During his review of the first Pokemon movie, Bennett asked if Ash had ever won a Pokemon Championship outside of [[{{Filler}} the Orange League]], with [[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall Linkara]] admitting he hadn't. Over 2 years later, Ash would wind up winning the Alola League.
42	** In his cross-over review of ''Film/SpeedRacer'', he talks about the live-action anime adaptations that have been stuck in {{development hell}}. [[Film/GhostInTheShell2017 Two]] [[Film/AlitaBattleAngel of]] the films mentioned have since actually been made.
43	* MisaimedFandom: When reviewing the movie of ''Manga/{{X1999}}'', Bennett claimed to see the implication that the protagonist had sex with his own mother, which Sage turned into a RunningGag for every time he finds incest again. In reality, while Bennett might be forgiven for not understanding the movie due to its infamous ContinuityLockout, there's no such incest in the plot, only a creepy vision of the woman naked before burning to death, and it's a bit odd that he interpreted it that way. Bennett might have been influenced to do so if he ever heard that another character of ''X'' does have a scene kissing his mother in the lips (which, while certainly suggestive, is implied to be ritualistic in nature and doesn't necessarily insinuate any further incest), but nothing of this appears in the movie itself.
44	* MorePopularSpinoff: Bennett originally started off as a video game critic with his ''Sage Reviews'' segments. His ''Anime Abandon'' videos began more as a curiosity, and eventually grew to be his primary output, whilst ''Sage Reviews'' were retired in 2013.
45	* SignatureScene: The "grenades tied to pubes" from his ''Manga/MadBull34'' review has become one of the most well known scenes of utter craziness that the show's had. It's the video where he realized ''Anime Abandon'''s potential (Marc joked that it's when Bennett White finally became Bennett the Sage), and it was voted as the number one ''Anime Abandon'' moment. Though when discussing the scene he does regret that the most memorable moment of his show came entirely from a separate entity rather than something he created.

Context YMMV / BennettTheSage