Even though I’m a Benlie Shipper, I understand Omniverse wanted to do their own thing from UAF. Also I agree with Kuro that their relationship had deteriorated in cannon. But, the way the writers had them break up was just insulting. Julie was a part of UAF since the first episode.(we literally see her on screen before Ben put the Omnitrix back on) Most of the fandom considered her to be the unofficial fourth member of the team. She was the one that talked Ben down from using Ascalon to rule over the universe like a god!(Not Gwen or Kevin) They are so many better ways they could have done the end of their relationship that it’s ridiculous.
The worst part is that they basically introduced evil counterparts of Julie and Ship in early Omniverse, in the form of Malware (special galvanic mechamoprh) and khyber and his pet ("normal" fighter with a shapeshifting pet). You would think they would have had as a plot point to kidnap ship as a nemetrix user. if they wanted to break them up fine, but they didn't need to completely remove julie and ship from the show entirely.
Ngl as a kid, i was never a huge fan of Ben and Julie. As a teen, I didn't mind them breaking up, but this episode and later episodes made me kinda feel bad for Looma. Girl gets engaged twice only for both partners to try everything in their power to dump her
never thought I would find someone with my opinion, I only liked Julie in that date episode, the moment everyone started criticising Ben for not allowing Julie to come with them to a Forever Knight castle where lvl 5 tech is stored is the moment I lost interest in her, Ben just wanted her safety
I didn't like them as a couple just because I couldn't imagine Ben having a dedicated romantic relationship when I was a kid. Looking back on it they still didn't mesh especially well, though, at least imo.
more like their writing was trash. lets be honest the only reason the relationship fell apart was because the show writers thought making ben childish would get more traction and surpass or meet the size of the original show but that idea was always going to fail since most of the audience grew with ben and appreciated his mature nature around the start of alien force edit: it wasn't the writers, rather CN executives, my bad.
@@BarniDeDinowe can't just blame the writers for everything, while it is the easier saying for these occasions, Ben and Julie were never had that great of a relationship, even by season 2 of alien force they got into some fights, the other series just went deeper on how maybe the relation wouldn't work forever
@@mitchfletcher2386That was an awful decision made by Cartoon Network. They went overboard with Ben's childish behavior and focused too much on the humor in Omniverse. I know two other characters that suffer this behavior
@@BarniDeDino Ben and Julie were bad since S2, why is she fighting with Ben over not letting her come to the Forever Knights castle? they have lvl 5 tech and she is just a tennis player, she could have gotten hurt and Ben was only preventing the worst case scenario from taking place
If you put aside Ben and Julie’s terrible break up reason, there is actually a VERY solid episode in here and I genuinely appreciate that they both ended on good terms with each other. But for now I guess we should look forward to when Kuro finally talks about Kai.
@@LucyWest370 still better than Ben trying to rizz up Eunice and almost kiss her instead of focusing on Julie or whatever happened in Duped and Flame Keeper's circle
Honesty, Ben and Julie's relationship was already in the dirt post AF s2, to the point I'm actually glad they broke up. If anything it's much more annoying that OV set up Ester as a partner for ben with a lot of chemistry only to not use her And then pair Ben with a character from an episode in which the whole point was that she didn't actually care about himself.
You know whats ironic. Julie is in a lot of important episodes but doesn't have much of a life outside of the plot. Ester has a well defined life outside of the plot but doesn’t show up for a lot of major events.
@@mayotango1317 Just because we don't see her tribe doesn't mean she isn't leading them off screen. The important part is the show sets up that she has stuff to do that has nothing to do with Ben.
@@mayotango1317 Ben's dad is never mentioned or seen in Ominverse (From what I recall) but that doesn't mean he isn't around, he's just not relevant to the stories in the show.
For me well this episode may not be received well by many. I personally enjoy how it perfectly captured the humorous side of Omni verses intentions even though these weren’t the kinds of scenarios where that place felt appropriate in
@@corphish129 it is somehow trying so badly to be funny like the OG show, but it feels like it is overcompensating. even more so than AF S3. ironic, given AF S3 was forced by executive mandate to go back to be like OG show
Julie was the one to approach Ben directly as he was still having a normal life and enjoyed soccer. This felt more genuine as he still wanted to keep his heroic life a secret. Though it took far to long for them to kiss
i never saw too much of UAF growing up so Ben and Julie never really like stuck with me as a major plot element so it doesn’t really bug me by OV and putting that aside Rules of Engagement is genuinely like the funniest episode of the show there are so many good jokes and line deliveries that I’m always happy when I see it’s the next episode coming on.
“UAF Ben in Omniverse’s style: Absolute perfection!” FINALLY someone agrees! This maybe a hot take, but OV Ben with the UAF jacket is my personal favorite design for him.
The breakup through a misunderstanding felt off but I do see how Julie makes good points about how she understands Ben, especially as a hero. It would have been nice if they at least talked it out sooner or later rather than end it without proper communication.
I see that most people misunderstand the breakup scene itself. It was no misunderstanding. Julie heard him pretty clear, and she figured Ben couldn't be bothered to even speak to her, cause the damn Sumo Slammer game is that much more important. The call was still on when Ben said "Stupid Sumo Slammers game". Julie heard that.
As frustrating as Omiverse Ben can be (and honestly I have a soft spot for him) the worst cartoon break up is Mordecai HIJACKING HIS FRIENDS WEDDING TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HIS FEELINGS, then again two different shows
Oh my god don't get started on Mordecai bruh at least Ben and Juile ended on good terms of being friends. Bro really hijacked his friends wedding just for his feelings like bruh you're not that guy pal the day wasn't about you.
I know alot of people in the fandom claim Omniverse ruined the relationship but when you watch the franchise as a whole and how s3 of AF "poisoned" BEn and Julie and UA just completely butchered them so badly as a whole, it seems OV felt like it was trying to put down this "rabid dog" of a relationship for the best. and give it credit the episode is pretty fun for what it is but the way they ended the relationship wasn't the best.
1:51 I'm loving the reference for the title as the transition for this and Arrested Development. I don't know how many more quick reviews will be able to apply that, but by all means keep it up
it's ironic that ben's mum is voiced by the same person who played in race against time. And whilst ben's af/ua outfit looks okay in the ov flashbacks i like his new ov uutfit more as its overall appearance works nicely and much for better for me. And this episode has a lot of great importance ben and julie, ben building the tenn speed and us finding out about how julie is
Even as a Benlie fan, I knew breaking up was most likely for the best at this point. But a lot of cartoons don't handle those subjects well, which I think is a shame. Breakups can be messy, or they can be chill, and it's good to show examples of that. So to end it all with a joke, it can be a real slap to the face. But the rest of it I enjoyed, I loved Looma's innocent outlook on it, really playing into the different cultural views on love.
Frankly I shipped Ben and Julie hard and hoped that they would eventually find a way to make things work with each other. They obviously care about one another, but they get so wrapped up into themselves that the simple concept of sacrifice is lost on them. I get it, some relationships fail, even if they don’t want it to. But this episode just hammered home for me that they weren’t interested in Julie as a character at all. It really felt like they made this episode just to get the Julie fans to STFU. Like, "yeah we're friends," great! Now have her make recurring appearances where THEY ACT LIKE FRIENDS! Like even if it's something like Ben going to Julie for advice on something and then she can reply with "try doing the opposite of what you tried with me," and then Ben looking embarrassed or shrugging off the jab. That's not comedic (or at least how these writers perceive comedy)? And like many other comments have said already, I could’ve eventually accepted Ben not being with Julie...IF they hadn’t made a HARD left turn to go back to Kai, a girl who canonically made it a point to say she DID NOT CARE about Ben as anything other than Blitzwolfer. And to top all that off, we were just expected to "accept" that this was canon endgame after what, 4 episodes of them bickering and fighting with each other with maybe a couple forced tender moments here and there? Give me a break.
There was supposed to be another two seasons of omniverse but got cancelled for the reboot. So I guess maybe in that two seasons that got tossed aside they were supposed to be developing as a couple. But since at the middle of the season the team got told this was the last season they just wrapped in up the best they could. O think both Julie and Kai had potential to be more than just a romantic interest but they got the short straw
I'm glad you gave this episode justice. I always loved this episode mostly because the aliens used this episode and the introduction of Ben's bike. Also, Rook was perfect in this episode and was a good opposite to Ben here. Sad, we don't get to see Julie on one more adventure.
This is 1 of the only times in a show where I'm happy a love interest comes out of nowhere. Add least the writers gave Juile a happy ending. Also I find ut so funny how Ester moves on because Ben was stalling, that was a great lesson.
I love that the episode ends with ben taking the breakup in his stride and that they're still friends, that made me smile. I do really wish Julie got more episode appearances than this yeah, going from the main character in the ua finale to getting 1 real episode in omniverse bummed me out
Man i really loved the Ben and Julie relationship, but can i just be real? The moment Julie came back in Omniverse and Ben called her his girlfriend, i LAUGHED out LOUD! Because, there had been no mention of her at all, and Ben had been flirting and interested in these other girls. And hes gonna act like theyre still together? I was like, "Are you SURE about that Ben?! Okay, If you SAY so 😂" I wasnt even mad at why they broke up.
@@sebastiansuazo2734 Dude, the Carnitrix is the Omnitrix used for destruction instead of peace (which the Omnitrices of Evil Ben's doesn't count as they're still peacekeeper device, just misused) and an Omnitrix that follows the preservation function much more literally. The Chaquetrix is even more popular because Ben is much more connected to his aliens then Ben Prime and the death of Feedback and Chromastone impacts Ben a lot more then Ben Prime. And thanks to that, many fandom were revive such as Gwen 10, Corruptrix, Superior Ben 10, Omnitrix Ben, Ghostfreak Ben, Ben Who Laugh, and new ones are born like Bloodtrix, Chambatrix, and others.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY ASH you made my childhood much better with fusion lab and much more your ideas and comedy truely makes my days and even my life and also for other people
Not only am I glad that Ben and Julie broke up, but my favorite part of this episode was that her new boyfriend was voiced by Yuri Lowenthal. Oh, and that we get to see Ben in his UAF jacket.
My best takeaway from that episode was when julie tells herve "he didnt ask to be a hero, but at the end of the day, he does a lot of good, so cut him some slack". that was wonderfully put by julie.
I will always find it extremely ironic that they decided to completely get rid of Julie and Ship (as the last time they ever re-appear is for "the most dangerous game show"); during the time the show basically added their evil counterparts in the form of Khyber and his pet (a badass normal with a pet that can shapeshift) and Malware (a special galvanic mechamorph)
Anyone notice in the game Ben was playing in the flashback, he was fighting against Marvel's Blackheart? Possibly a reference to Marvel vs Capcom... 2, i think?
Honestly I don't mind the breakup, Julie was barely featured with Ben as a working relationship and they both don't want to do what the other wants, The episodes when they fight are easily the worst and Julie feels sidelined from UAF most of the time, I actually would rather make them breakup sooner or officially
i think the other thing that peeves people about this episode more is looking at in retrospect when they see what they do with ben and kai later on. in terms of their stories it makes sense that ben and julie would end in break up but it ends in confliction with the fans because of how it's executed and also with how i've never seen a fan say they like how ben and kai end up together by the end of this series.
Except Hervé didn't stole Julie from Ben. Ben ruined it too many times so he should've expected that. PAUL HOWEVER SELF INSERT INTO PETER'S LIFE AND STOLE/WARP MARY JANE INTO HIS PERSONAL WAIFU!! 😡😡😡😡
Ben handles his ladies like he does his Rogue's Gallery: with cheesy one-liners and a massive amount of collateral damage. Honestly, that's why I like Kai as being the winner because she absolutely will not put up with his crap and is all for going on adventures and kicking ass, plus she doesn't have responsibilities that require her to be off-world (Looma, Attea, Eunice) and her chosen profession in the future doesn't conflict with Ben's and instead compliments it (Julie, Ester.)
Knowing that "a Celestialsapien did it" is a thing, it could be better if they wrote off the breakup as a Celestialsapien deciding to punish Ben for recreating the universe by giving him a comical breakup
Fun fact about Fistina, she’s based off of a character called Crasher from the 1980s Tv show Go Bots. The same character then became a minor transformers character on the side of the decepticons.
It's a funny old thing, really. On the one hand, it's generally not liked when established relationships are broken up, and doing the breakup scene as a joke feels flat-out insulting. On the other hand, the UAF writers and the CN execs constantly jerking Ben around and having him unlearn all of his development on a weekly basis, and not committing to actually writing the highs of their relationship as well as the lows basically doomed the pairing before OV ever arrived. We basically only got to see emphasis put on Ben and Julie as a couple when they were at loggerheads with each other. Ben ended up being written as a crappy partner who would choose to chase down a D-list villain that his teammates could handle themselves instead of giving Julie any time at all, and Julie came across as myopic and unwilling to accept the hurdles that come with dating a superhero who has to go and do superhero things at a second's notice or the world literally explodes. I think people look back on this one more negatively because of how much OV fumbled the future romance subplots. If the subsequent relationship was actually good and well-written, then people may have had an easier time accepting it, but they didn't do that. None of the characters present in this episode will be the one that Ben eventually ends up with, Ester's writing quality is going to deteriorate _hard,_ and the overall victor will instead be... Kai, a character that most of the fandom don't like, and wins "because destiny says so."
I am Benlie Shipper through and through. But your explanation and the fact i have grown up by 10 years 😂 actually gives me a better perspective on them both. Hats off Kuro
On a side note, I actually like Looma, and even think she's kind of cute. In terms of love-interests for Ben, she's my third favorite behind Julie and Ester. For no other reason than her status of being a tall, dommy-mommy GF.
She seems to have genuine feelings for ben himself here (not once was fourarms mentioned by her in the episode). But in cat fight, it's pretty clear she doesn't give a flying f about him and just like his tetramand form for being an alpha.
Loving the more longer short breakdowns, it might be only for this one but I think it gives a lot of time to do a quick mock up of the episode and make fans happy that this didn’t get a full breakdown
Well the thing is this Ben might learn from this and be better to Kai Plus I discovered that Julie still has feeling for Ben despite no longer being together Thought thier not together anymore they can still be close
Honestly, after I binged the whole original continuity during the pandemic, I actually thought that it was a good move to break up Ben and Julie. Their relationship just became too toxic that I didn't want to see them as a couple anymore.
@@mayotango1317 them bickering is no different than Ben and Julie bickering, especially that Flame keepers circle episode, she should have known Ben better there
*Ben and Julie did not break up because she thought he was talking to her when he said those awful things.* Ben goes as far as clarifying that he wasn't talking to Julie. This was just the final straw for Julie in a long line of Ben not putting her first. Julie knows Ben would never say those awful things to her. This was Julie finally realizing that Ben will never put her first, not even before a video game. She knew he couldn't even pay attention to her in that moment and that's what really caused the breakup. Edit: Also! Not to mention, immediately after the flashback that shows why they broke up, Julie says, "Now I've got a boyfriend that puts me first." Meaning the reason they broke up wasn't because of Ben's harsh words in that moment, but rather because she knew she wasn't important in Ben's life, specifically when Ben was putting a video game before her.
Also! Not to mention, immediately after the flashback that shows why they broke up, Julie says, "Now I've got a boyfriend that puts *me* first." Meaning the reason they broke up wasn't because of Ben's harsh words in that moment, but rather because she knew she wasn't important in Ben's life, specifically when Ben was putting a video game before her.
A star walks into a black hole but doesn't seen phased. The black hole then turns to the star and says, "I don't think you understand the gravity of this situation."
HOT TAKE I would rather watch the mess that is Ben's love life then watch another romance anime about the main leads bonding for several episodes without confessing there feelings. I appreciate how Ben 10 shows how messy dating can be instead making look easy for someone to find love.
yeah, I have the same opinion on Spectacular Spider-Man's romance, he got with Liz but if his mind in focussed in Gwen then he did good by breaking up with her (though the timing was bad cuz Liz was just suffering from the loss of her brother)
Ironically, the breakup could have worked as the building blocks were already built. His ego and constant view of "Ben 10's girlfriend" could reach a breaking point where she wants to be seen as her own person with her own achievements being recognized instead of being overshadowed by being Ben's partner. It would be more mature if she broke it up in a firm yet still kind manner, and Ben to get a shell-shock to knock it off later in Omniverse.
At first was a bit salty they ended something that went lasted all of UAF, and still feel the break up reasoning is dumb, but after some years and life experience, can say that relationship lasting as long as it did would've been a miracle in itself. Shame to see Ben and Julie end on such terms, but can totally see why, from story and realistic approach
In my opinion, if you look at the obvious joke they're going for from a different perspective, Julie didn't mistake Ben's words. She just recognized Ben wasn't paying attention to her. And if he paid more attention to a videogame than to her and what they have, why continue their relationship?
That's a much better way to think of it. Although, it still makes Ben seem foolish for still believing he's in a relationship with Julie after not talking to her for months and also wanting to pursue Ester, and also goes against Julie's bolder and confrontational personality.
yeah which is what UAF Ben has being doing all along even since S2, he decided to watch a tv show by giving an excuse of homework instead of going out with Julie and Kevin and Gwen
Hervé’s iconic quote leads to some important questions… Bro had clearly seen Julie “Put on the Dog” before, but he seems to think combat isn’t the right time for such action. So… what were they doing when Julie last “Put on the Dog?” I must know this answer.