History WebVideo / BennettTheSage

* ''LightNovel/TheWeatheringContinent''

* ''LightNovel/GoblinSlayer''

* ''LightNovel/IsItWrongToTryToPickUpGirlsInADungeon''

Bennett White, a.k.a. Bennett the Sage, is an Internet video producer formerly on ''Website/ChannelAwesome'', whose matter-of-fact style contrasted with the more theatrical reviewers on the site. He can now be found [[https://www.youtube.com/user/BennettTheSage here]] and on [[http://benthesage.com/ his own site]]. He also voices a hapless announcer on Zone Archive's [[https://www.youtube.com/user/ZONEsama YouTube series]].

* ''Puppet Princess''

[[foldercontrol]]

!!Example subpages:

* ''Vampire Wars''

* ''Anime Abandon'', where he looks at vintage anime primarily from the '80s and the '90s, some classics, and some terrible ones. This series started out as an entertainment-based sketch review show in a similar vein to other Channel Awesome contributors, but has gone through a number of changes in format and has essentially been rebooted as of mid-2019.

* ''Anime/{{Metropolis}}''

Bennett currently hosts two series:

* ''Anime Abandon'', where he looks at vintage anime primarily from the '80s and the '90s, some classics, and some terrible ones. This series is closer to the entertainment-based sketch reviews done by other Channel Awesome contributors, although it has gone through a number of changes in format and has essentially been rebooted as of mid-2019.

* ''Very Private Lesson''

* ''Bio-Hunter''

* ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' (''Death and Rebirth'', ''The End of Evangelion'', and a 2-part revisit to commemorate the show's 11th anniversary)

* ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}} the Motion Picture''

* ''[[LightNovel/MazeMegaburstSpace Maze]]''

* ''LightNovel/TheRisingOfTheShieldHero''

* ''Manga/GunsmithCats'' (he would notably be one of the people to record the DVDCommentary for Creator/AnimEgo's release in 2019; specifically for Episode 2)

* ''Manga/GunsmithCats''

* ''Junk Boy''

* ''Anime/Strange Love''

* ''Strange Love''

* ''Maze''

* ''LightNovel/VampireHunterD'' (both the original OVA and ''Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust'')

* ''Manga/{{Spriggan}}''

* ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' (''Death and Rebirth'' and ''The End of Evangelion'')

[[folder:P - T]]
* {{Padding}}: At one point in ''Series/{{Kikaider}}'', Mitsuko has an encounter with her long-lost mother which goes very badly. In a later scene Jiro says that they need to leave, only for Mitsuko, after a long pause, to say that she's going to try to talk to her mother again. Sage feels it's insultingly obvious that [[InvokedTrope this was only done to pad out the episode's run time]].
-->They obviously did not give one tiny, microscopic particle of a gerbil shit about what they were writing. They just needed for it to meet a 22 minute running time. [...] It's the only time that I've felt that an anime was deliberately and obstinately wasting my time.
* PantsFree: During ''Anime/TwilightOfTheCockroaches'', after Jeremy suggests giving the female viewers some {{fanservice}} in the form of Sage's bottom half, the camera cuts to a full body shot of Sage showing him in boxer shots while Sage says he doesn't think that's such a good idea.
* ParentalIncest: During the ''X'' review, Sage notices that, since [[BrotherSisterIncest Kotori is the lover of Kamui/Fuuma]] and she carries the Sword of the Dragon of Earth in her body, this implies something similar between Kamui and his mother. [[ScreamingAtSquick He isn't pleased.]]
* ParodyProductPlacement:
** At the end of a gory scene in the "''Genocyber'' Part I" review[[note]]in which a scientist wakes up to find that he's handcuffed to a bed and his torso has been flayed down to the skeleton[[/note]], a "Not going anywhere? Grab a Snickers!" "ad" pops up.
** In the ''X'' review, he calls out a blatant scene where the main character drops down in front of a Coke billboard.
--->Subtle product placement there, Potzi. Well, you can count on me to keep artistic integrity and keep corporate sponsorship at a bare minimum...just like the prices at your local Sizzler. *''cut to a Sizzler "ad" that ends with "At least we're not Denny's!"''*
** While reviewing ''Anime/BurnUp'', Sage notices that one of the bit bad guys looks a lot like Creator/WilfordBrimley, which leads to an extended parody of Brimley’s {{memetic|Mutation}} plugs for Liberty Medical.
* PassThePopcorn: Sage sits back, drinks a soda, has some popcorn and just shows clips of ''Manga/UltimateTeacher'' until Rob Walker calls him out on it. [[spoiler:Then Rob starts to watch the show... and joins in.]]
* PlayingAgainstType:[[invoked]] Discussed in his review of ''Manga/Golgo13: Queen Bee'', as Golgo was voiced by Creator/JohnDiMaggio, to which Bennett 1) confirms that this is the same guy who voiced [[WesternAnimation/AdventureTime Jake the Dog]], [[WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack the Scotman]], [[WesternAnimation/KimPossible Dr. Drakken]], [[WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold Aquaman]], [[WesternAnimation/BatmanUnderTheRedHood the Joker]], and (of course) [[WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}} Bender]], and 2) given Golgo is generally cold and quiet, compares it to casting Creator/GaryOldman as, of all people, [[Film/TheViewAskewniverse Silent Bob]].
* PlotHole:
** He points out the rather large one in ''Doomed Megalopolis'' concerning the fact that Yukiko claims to know that her father is really her mother's brother, even though he supposedly impregnated her ''after'' Kato tried to use her as a conduit to summon the spirit.[[note]]the actual explanation seems to be that he raped her more than once, but it's still not clear in the show[[/note]]
--->Either the asshole has time-traveling sperm, or we've got a plot hole the size of fuckin' China.
** {{Discussed|trope}} during the ''Kikaider'' review. Sage brings up the tendency of critics to focus on plot holes when lambasting a work, noting that they're inescapable, that ''every'' film has them regardless of overall quality, and that over-emphasis on pointing them out is an intellectually lazy and dishonest form of criticism. On the other hand, he says that a work has to be solid enough to make flaws such as plot holes easily overlooked and/or outweighed by what it does right, otherwise they just stand out that much more.
* {{Prequel}}: Sage spends most of the ''Anime/IriaZeiramTheAnimation'' review complaining about them, using most of the arguments on the page.
* PunnyName: He frequently points out the various Japanese puns that don't translate to English, such as the fact that in ''Anime/MezzoForte'' the names Momokichi and Momomi Momoi are roughly the equivalent of "Peach Peacherson and his daughter Peachy Peachman."
* RageQuit: {{Invoked|Trope}} in the ''Series/{{Kikaider}}'' review. Sage leads off the discussion of the "Mitsuko tries to talk to her mother again" scene by noting that it's the only time an anime has ever made him "throw down [his] notes and just rage quit", and he later says that it infuriated him so badly that he actually had a tantrum over it.
* RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil: Sage clearly believes this as he describes it point-blank as "possibly ''[[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil the worst thing]]'' one person can do to another [...]" in the ''Doomed Megalopolis'' review. Seeing such a serious subject treated in a juvenile manner, such as in ''Anime/MadBull34'', generally disgusts him as well.
** He makes a point to note this during the review of ''Vampire Wars'':
--->Japan, what is this, the third fucking time in a row we've had this discussion? If you can't write a story without rape in it, could you at least wait until '''after''' the five minute mark?
** Brought up again in the first part of the ''Anime/{{Genocyber}}'' review, with the added {{squick}} that the victim is a ''child'' who's being molested, and Sage comments that he doesn't even feel comfortable showing the censored scene.
** This comes up again in the ''De:vadasy'' review when Not-Shinji is raped by his female superior under the pretense of obtaining a semen sample. Sage leads into his dissection with "This...isn't the most egregiously terrible thing I was allowed to show you, but it probably is the most morally repugnant." and adds another layer to it being a bad rip-off of ''Evangelion'' by comparing the scene to the "Misato kissing Shinji" scene in ''The End of Evangelion'', noting that while there are surface similarities, the latter has plot- and character-relevant context to offset and even justify its squicky nature whereas the former simply tries to gloss over its grossness.
--->It's never brought up again, there's no repercussion for Minato, and the anime clearly portrays not-Shinji being traumatized from it.[...] Not-Shinji is trying to deal with this horrible situation by just laughing it off, but it's undercut with these dark looming shots of Minato to clearly show what he's thinking. [''clearly incensed''] 'Depraved' is too short a word for this.
* ARareSentence: From his ''Night Warriors'' review:
-->'''Sage:''' We cut to Felicia the cat woman--or "waman"[[note]]as an on-screen typo from the movie suggests[[/note]] as it were--running into Raptor, an undead cockney rock star. *{{beat}}* ... aaaaaaand yes! I just confirmed that this sentence has never been uttered in the history of language.
* RealLifeWritesThePlot: Bennett was originally going to do a normal episode for the ''Voogie's Angel'' review, but his script-writing program seized up and corrupted the episode's file, killing a week and a half's work. Rather than trying to blitz through a rewrite to get the episode out on time, he decided to do an off-the-cuff commentary-style episode as himself and not Sage. In the ''Master of Martial Hearts'' review, Sage says that this format got such a warm reception that he decided to make it the norm for anime that are so lackluster that they don't deserve an in-depth review, with [=MoMH=] being such a case.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: He gives an extended one to the brother in ''Doomed Megalopolis'' after he launches into a {{wangst}}y whine session about how hard his life is since he has to take care of his sister, who, Sage points out, ''he raped and impregnated'', and his own niece/daughter, and Sage concludes that he should have a fundraiser concert thrown for him. The pure vitriol in the last line really sells it.
-->[[SarcasmMode Oh my dear sweet Lord, how tough do you have it?]] Not only do you have to take care of your mentally damaged sister that you '''raped''', but you also have to take care of your daughter/niece. You know what? I think I'm gonna start a fundraiser to help you out, in fact, someone get me Bob Geldof's number, I'm sure he'd bend over backwards to throw a benefit concert just for you! Don't you worry, asshole, because when [[Music/{{U2}} Bono]] is up there on stage, guilt-tripping the audience about you and your plight, you'll finally get all of the sympathy you've been waiting for since you first took your sister's virginity, '''''you worthless sack of shit!'''''
* ReformedButRejected: The ''Manga/{{Guyver}}'' review has him being really nice to Critic because he's trying to convince him that he's not Devil!Sage, but Critic keeps throwing any kindness back in his face. Given that the reboot reviews have made it very likely that Critic CameBackWrong though, it also works to further that StoryArc.
* ReusedCharacterDesign: He will point this out for creators whose work features more than once on the show, for instance Levih Rah from ''Literature/DemonCityShinjuku'' sharing his design with Zack from Kawajiri's earlier work ''The Running Man''.
* RevisitingTheRoots: {{Invoked|Trope}} in a couple of reviews:
** In the review of ''Anime/CyberCityOedo808'' in 2016, Sage first discusses how he started ''Anime Abandon'' in 2011 mainly to mock bad anime, and says for the aforementioned title, "I want to return to my roots." Gabe sends him back in time to 2011, and when Sage sees his original set, he remarks "Lack of [=DVDs=] on the shelf? Horrible lighting and camera angle?! No Gabe?! [[LampshadeHanging It's 2011, mo'fuckers!]]" The video then does the original opening theme, and Sage does the review in his more sardonic, snarky, unrefined riffing style of the era, instead of the more mature, nuanced opinions he gave by 2016. In the ''Nuts and Bolts'' commentary, Bennett mentioned his plan was to originally use the then-mediocre editing methods of the time as well, but later decided that was unnecessary.
** In his review of ''Galerians: Rion'' in 2019, he talks about how the anime was based on a [=PS1=] game called ''Galerians''. To elaborate on it, he announces "Time for us to hop into the Wayback Machine!"; the review then immediately transfers to the style of ''Sage Reviews'', his review show he retired 6 years prior and which was his start on Blistered Thumbs. He returns to his dry, humorless tone of informing the viewers how the game completely rips off ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'' and how disappointing it is. However, unlike those videos, which were usually 5-10 minutes in length, he stops this "review" 30 seconds in and then returns to his contemporary format.
* RootingForTheEmpire:[[invoked]] Sage ''cheers'' when TheBaroness in ''Virgin Fleet'' blows up the class president's plane. [[spoiler:[[AssPull Too bad for him she survives.]]]]
* RougeAnglesOfSatin: Several stories reviewed on ''Masterpiece Fanfic Theater'' suffer from this to a ridiculous degree (troll fics or not), particularly in episodes 2 and 10.
* RuleSixtyThree: Referenced by name in ''VideoGame/{{Sin}} The Movie'' where Sage refers to Jessica, the SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute of her brother JC, who suffers SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome early in the film, as "Rule 63 JC" which wasn't helped by her also being ''called'' JC in the film.
* RunningGag:
** Outside of videos, his refusal to admit he has fangirls.
** During the ''Mad Bull 34'' review, the "Blondes in Peril" count.
** His "No Shit" counter in response to characters making narrations and statements on the obvious in his ''Baoh'' review.
** Not a "gag" per se, but his constant refusal to review ''Violence Jack'', culminating in him [[spoiler:throwing his copy into a river...and then the actual "review" came along]].
* {{Satan}}: He's the devil, to nobody's surprise. Okay, not really. (''Or is he?'')
* ScreamingAtSquick:
** Lots of it during his ''Manga/{{X|1999}}'' review.
** He shouts in horror during his review of ''Tenchi the Movie 2: The Daughter of Darkness'' when Yosho apparently starts hitting on his own great-granddaughter.
* ScrewThisImOutOfHere:
** Sage bails out of the reviews of ''Anime/SwordForTruth'' and ''Jungle de Ikou!'' before they are finished. With the former, it's because he's so pissed off with the show. The latter is due to the '''incredible''' creepiness of one character's transformation dance; he's already thoroughly uncomfortable with a lot of what's happened before this scene, but that's the final straw.
** Sage preemptively quits before the ''Love Hina Again'' review because he can't stand ''Love Hina'', leaving it to Suave. Suave himself tries to quit halfway through, but he finds that the doors to the review room are locked and he can't leave.
** Gabe runs out of the room and locks the door behind him when he sees Sage about to have an apoplectic fit at the end of the ''A Very Private Lesson'' review. [[CreditsGag Over the credits]], Sage can be heard banging on the door yelling for Gabe to let him out, along with "I NEED TO PUT MY EVIL INSIDE YOU!!!"
* SadisticChoice: The review of ''Violence Jack'' turns out to be this: Bennett doesn't love the show enough to give it a glowing review, but he doesn't hate it enough to go on a screaming rant about it. He knows that it's possible to make the show's horrific material (which includes child murder, gang-rape and cannibalism) funny, but he actually doesn't ''want'' to. And even then, there's one huge overriding problem: half the show is too obscene, too violent, or too gratuitous to show. Ordinarily, he'd just say 'OK, let's try something else' and do another show, but after months and months of hyping it, he feels that he has an obligation to his fans to give them ''something''. He finally ends up realizing that the show isn't worth the agony he put himself through and ditches it.
* {{Sexophone}}: Suave's {{Leitmotif}}, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izGwDsrQ1eQ "Careless Whisper"]]. It's also used when sexy things happen in general.
* ShareTheMalePain: In the ''My My Mai'' review, Sage winces and cringes through an extended scene talking about curing split personality disorder...through an acupuncture needle to the base of the testicles.
-->'''Sage''': [''strained, high-pitched voice''] Let's...move on, please!
* SharedUniverse: The Reviewaverse. [[spoiler:Considering the controversy around Channel Awesome and [[WebVideo/YouCanPlayThis JewWario]], and that Bennett is no longer a CA creator and no longer has Justin's hat on the shelf by his chair, it remains to be seen if this is still the case.]]
* ShowDontTell: {{Discussed|Trope}}. One of Sage's most widespread criticisms of anime in general is the tendency to flat-out state what characters are thinking and feeling instead of invoking it through actions and body language. He does understand the economical reasons behind this, but doesn't like it.
* SincerityMode:
** His video game reviews are done as dryly as possible without any real humor to them, in contrast to most of the rest of the TGWTG stuff.
** Also pops up occasionally in ''Anime Abandon''; see RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil for an example of something he does ''not'' take lightly at all.
** As explained in the commentary, Critic!Sage's comments on ''Anime/TwilightOfTheCockroaches'' also more or less match up with what he actually thinks of it.
* SkinshipGrope: {{Discussed|Trope}} in the ''Strange Love'' review. After the lead character does this to her love interest, Sage asks the audience to tell him in the comments the level of bullshit the trope itself actually is.
* SkywardScream: Done by the Critic when Sage's snarky comments about ''Gunsmith Cats''[='=] depiction of Chicago traffic cause him to lose his cool and try to drive to Sage's place to pummel him...only to get stuck in traffic.
-->'''Critic''': SAAAAAAAAAAAAGE!!!\\
'''Sage''': Ahhhhh...you hear that? That's the sound of me being right.
* {{Slapstick}}: Sage [[DiscussedTrope discusses]] the universal appeal of slapstick in the review for ''The Samurai'', noting that while it's bottom-tier humor, it's humor everyone gets, without a need for culture-specific knowledge or history, and proves the point with a scene where Takashi and the ninja sisters all {{pratfall}} in different ways during a chase sequence through a woman's bathroom.
* SoBadItsGood: [[invoked]] A small handful of the clunkers Sage has covered on ''Anime Abandon'' have earned this distinction. It's also his general opinion about Masami Obari, as the detail and attention he puts into the focal points of his works (namely, fighting, mecha, and fanservice) give them a certain infectious charm even though they're generally terrible.
-->[''from the ''Gowcaizer'' review''] It's nothing but shiny, glorious failure and I love it like a mother loves her child who can't stop eating paste.
* SoBadItWasBetter: [[invoked]] His view of Uwe Boll and Masami Obari is that they're best when they're doing off-the-wall stupidity. Boll's original films had terrible acting, plots, etc. and were SoBadItsGood, and when he improved the films lost their insane charm, and just became regular bad instead of the fun kind. He feels that Obari is an inversion and comes to enjoy the insanity in his later works.
* SophisticatedAsHell:
** His ''Masterpiece Fanfic Theater'' segments have him read rather dreadful stuff in as sophisticated a tone as he can muster.
** Parodied in his review of ''Anime/CyberCityOedo808'', which had an episode featuring two characters speaking formally--while threatening to shove the remains of a robot and a person respectively up the other's ass. Bennett's response? A hammy, faux-English accented, handkerchief-waving faux-classy threat of threatening to shove a sphere up someone's urethra.
* SoundtrackDissonance: In the ''Masterpiece Fanfic Theater'' [[http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/bt/the-sage/fanfic-theatre/15170-ep012a episode]] for ''Fanfic/MyImmortal'' (considered a legendarily bad fic even by bad fic standards), Sage plays [[Music/AntonioVivaldi Vivaldi's]] ''Four Seasons'' as the background music.
* SpitefulSpit: Done by Sage after he throws the ''Violence Jack'' tape off a bridge.
* {{Squick}}:
** [[InvokedTrope He shudders in pain]] in reaction to the voice acting of ''Anime/GarzeysWing.''
--->I never thought the sound of laughter could be so... agonizing... *''shudders''*
** One of the captions during ''Clowd Mows the Lawn'' is "No! No! Do not want!" once the scat scenes start.
* StealthParody: He says that it's possible that ''Anime/AgentAika'' is actually this instead of wank material due to the ludicrously overdone {{panty shot}}s and the villain's master plan being to turn the world into his own harem.
* StrangledByTheRedString: [[invoked]] The trope shows up sometimes and he calls it out:
** As the entire plot of ''Anime/WickedCity'' revolves around it, it annoys him that the two leads don't really interact in any meaningful way. Just suddenly they are in love out of nowhere.
** ''Manga/BloodReignCurseOfTheYoma'' also annoys him as the main female character becomes immediately so infatuated with the main male character that she says she'd rather die than be without him, despite having met him only minutes ago, and him at best ignoring her and at worst treating her with contempt.
** Also a point of contention with the movie version of ''Anime/TheVisionOfEscaflowne'', since Hitomi decides that she and Van are destined to be together after a few minutes of conversation, a good portion of which is him ''threatening her with a sword''.
* StoryBreakerPower: Brought up in the reviews for:
** ''Manga/InuYasha''--Miroku's wind tunnel can basically solve all their problems, so the show needs to constantly find ways to sideline him, often when it makes no sense or is contradictory to how his power should work.
** ''Anime/PlasticLittle''--The ship's WaveMotionGun one-shotting the ''entire military fleet" makes no sense, as the crew were talking how their ship was just a whaling ship and no match for military vessels, yet when the time comes they vaporize the entire navy in one single shot. Sage wonders if the ship isn't made for hunting whales so much as hunting '''God'''.
* StrawFan: {{Discussed|Trope}} in the ''[=InuYasha=]'' movie review.
* StrictlyFormula: He holds this view on ''{{Manga/FAKE}}'', to the point of having a Gay Positioning System ([[FunWithAcronyms or GPS]]) RunningGag and not even bothering with the main characters' names and just calling them {{Uke}} and {{Seme}}.
* SuddenDownerEnding: He seems to dislike this trope (or at least how it's sometimes handled), feeling that a downbeat conclusion has to be "earned".
* SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome: ''Hates'' this trope.
** He's incensed at the use of it in ''VideoGame/{{Sin}} The Movie'' to kill off JC, one of your companion characters from the game, with the only apparent reason being to introduce his SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute sister for the purposes of {{Fanservice}}.
** He's similarly enraged by TheReveal in ''8 Man After'' that the original 8 Man was simply deleted -- ''offscreen'' -- so the new 8 Man could replace him. He goes on to explain that not all cases of a LegacyCharacter replacing a character who dies are bad by nature (with a cameo by [[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall Linkara]] specifically comparing it to [[ComicBook/BlueBeetle Ted Kord]], who Sage points out at least got to die ''on screen'' and [[DefiantToTheEnd tell his killer off one last time]]), but the way his show did it was downright disrespectful for the original.
* SurrealMusicVideo: He did a whole TopTenList of them.
* TakeThat:
** He evidently does not like Creator/VicMignogna, judging by the [[OverlyLongGag long sequence]] in the ''Junk Boy'' review where he beats up Floating!Vic Mignogna's head with a baseball bat.
** After realizing that ComicBook/{{Superman}} and ComicBook/WonderWoman are the parents of the title character in the ''Anime/ProjectAKo'' review, he calls the anime the ''Film/SupermanReturns'' we would've gotten if Creator/BryanSinger "weren't up his own ass".
** The ''Manga/PilotCandidate''[=/=]''Anime/BlueGender'' review also has two different takes to Website/{{Tumblr}}'s PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad nature.
** The ''Golgo 13'' review refers to the title character as being pretty much a non-presence in the story:
--->He's like Creator/BradPitt in... well, anything, really.
** He doesn't like the [[Film/RoboCop2014 2014 remake]] of ''Franchise/RoboCop'', as he did a negative review of it for ''Sage Vs,'' and in ''Anime Abandon'', he says the franchise doesn't need help ruining itself after talking about the ''Anime/BubblegumCrisis'' tie-in ''A.D. Police Files'', whose last episode was a DarkerAndEdgier[=/=]HotterAndSexier ripoff of the [[Film/RoboCop1987 1987 original]].
* TestosteronePoisoning: The ''Anime/RidingBean'' review is '''loaded''' with over-the-top manlinesss. Sage does the entire review wearing a Franchise/{{Rambo}}-esque headband and black aviator sunglasses and using a loud gravelly voice, does at least half a dozen shirt rips, and dedicates the review to "MANIME". He even puts Bean in the "Manime Hall of Fame" alongside [[Manga/{{Berserk}} Guts]], [[Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar Kenshiro]], and [[Manga/BlackLagoon Revy]]. This portrayal would eventually be spun into a new character, Savage.
* ThereIsAGod:
** He says this when he thinks Yohko has been killed, and thus a show he doesn't like will end prematurely.
** The HallelujahChorus accompanies Sage's reaction when the AlphaBitch dies [[spoiler:or at least appears to have died, anyway]].
* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: [[invoked]]
** His feelings on the fact that ''Doomed Megalopolis'' only introduces Keiko, who, as he points out, ''is the one who beats the BigBad'', in the third out of 4 episodes. He concludes that she would have been more interesting to focus on rather than her assholish, incestuous rapist husband.
** He also thinks this about the OddFriendship between Elaine and the street urchin boy in ''Anime/{{Genocyber}}'', which he remarks is actually well done since it's done almost entirely without dialog.
** Also thinks this about Count Mecha from ''Galaxy Express 999'', since he appears briefly at the beginning and then is forgotten about for an hour only to get unceremoniously killed off.
** He points out how there's a particularly well-done scene in ''{{Manga/Devilman}}'' between Akira and Miki where she silently motions for him to sit so she can bandage his face and he acquiesces without a word, explaining that that one bit of dialog-less interaction says more about their relationship than any amount of exposition ever could. Unfortunately this almost immediately gets shoved to the side in favor of the plot and isn't brought up again in any meaningful way.
* TinyGuyHugeGirl: In the ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam0083StardustMemory'' review, Sage finds the relationship between Chuck Keith and Moira Bascht, a {{Tomboy}}ish AmazonianBeauty who is almost head and shoulders taller than him, to be utterly adorable.
* ToiletHumor: Sage will occasionally poke fun at a (melo)dramatic scene by adding farts (or worse), especially if there's something jarring about the scene itself.
** One particular instance is in the ''Anime/GallForce'' review, where Sage points out the WTF factor of a character shown mourning another's death while on the can. Cue sound effects.
** At the end of ''Manga/{{X|1999}}'' when the film has a solemn DownerEnding, Sage feels it did nothing to deserve the emotional impact it is obviously going for and proceeds to make it fit his feelings by replaying the scene with fart sounds over it.
** During a scene in ''Anime/HyperDoll'' where a talking anus appears, Sage has Gabe give him a 30 second timer, then rattles off seven poop-based jokes, complete with dramatic bows at the end.
* TokenEvilTeammate: Crossover videos with Sage usually portray him as the spawn of Satan. He occasionally lampshades this with mention of "the other guy" who looks just like him.
* TooBleakStoppedCaring: [[invoked]] This is a major reason for his criticism of anime such as ''Manga/ElfenLied'', ''Manga/{{Devilman}}'' (and ''Anime/DevilmanCrybaby''), ''Manga/ViolenceJack'', and ''Manga/{{Gantz}}''. He finds them too [[{{Gorn}} mercilessly bloody]], [[HumansAreBastards misanthropic]] and [[CrapsackWorld nihilistic]] for their own good. This is much more prevelant with the latter two, as while ''Elfen Lied'' and ''Devilman'' have some hope and levity between the nihilism and cruelty, ''Violence Jack'' and ''Gantz''...don't.
* TooKinkyToTorture: Well, considering that he was pretty cool with being [[BlackComedyRape spooned by Spoony]] and even asked "same time next year?" the second time it happened...
* TopTenList: He's done various list episodes, including his picks for the top 20 giant robots, the 20 worst songs that hit #1 on Billboard, and the 20 best songs that hit #1. The picks in the "Top 10 ''Anime Abandon'' Moments" episode were decided by the fanbase.
* TroubledProduction: [[invoked]] He spends most of his ''Gundress'' review talking about its complicated production history, including its theatrical release in [[ObviousBeta a pitifully unfinished state]], rather than focusing on the film itself, which he finds to be a lackluster retread of ''Anime/BubblegumCrisis''.
* TryingNotToCry: He discusses ''WesternAnimation/TheIronGiant'', and when watching [[spoiler:the giant's HeroicSacrifice at the end]], he says that each time, he tells himself he's not gonna cry, but still finds himself sniffling.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:U - Z]]
* UnfortunateImplications: Brought up in ''Manga/SpaceAdventureCobra'' with the whole romance subplot. Short version: The love interest and her two sisters are essentially part of a HiveMind with each of them forming one third of a whole person. So after Cobra's love interest dies, he meets her sister, who declares that because her sister loved him, she will now love him too and that he will love her, and promptly abandons her role in LaResistance now that he's shown up apparently BecauseDestinySaysSo. ''And neither of them get a say in the matter''. Even though Sage takes a shot at Website/{{Tumblr}} feminists in the process, he describes this plot as deeply uncomfortable for multiple reasons. [[invoked]]
* UnusuallyUninterestingSight: His biggest complaint about the random CatGirl in ''Manga/PilotCandidate'' isn't that she exists or her ears are never explained, it's that ''no one'' reacts to them at all or even seems to notice. He also points out that it could be addressed in only a few lines of dialog that they never bothered to add by creating his own.
-->'''Sage!Zero''': What's up with your cat ears?\\
'''Sage!Cat Girl''': I don't want to talk about it.\\
'''Sage!Zero''': Okay.
* VaguenessIsComing: The ''Violence Jack'' review was ominously announced with "Violence is coming...".
* ValleyGirl: The titular character of ''Anime/DevilHunterYohko'' is dubbed with this style of speech. Sage's annoyance with this finally results in ''himself'' adopting a ValleyGirl persona for an extended gag... for which he slaps himself.
-->''Never again.''
* VerbalBackspace: The ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWingEndlessWaltz'' review sees a skit where Sage, as the grandfather of a little girl questioning why the events of the movie are happening, says Bandai needs money for milk and cookies after saying it was for HookersAndBlow.
* ViewersAreMorons: Sage can come off this way with a lot of his references, especially in his ''[[Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei Tokyo Revelation]]'' review, wherein he claims that the notion of a virus running the background of your computer was 'over the head' of his audience.
* WeAreStrugglingTogether: Censor Kaiser and Suave during the review of ''Angel Blade.'' Censor Kaiser's disdain for Suave is only matched by Suave's frustration at Censor Kaiser's censoring all the nudity.
* WhatAnIdiot: [[invoked]] During the ''Angel Cop'' review, Sage refers multiple times to the title character's idiocy, with the crowning moment being at the climax when an obvious solution to the issue isn't even considered.
-->'''Sage''': *''counting off''* Complete bitch, a total hypocrite, dumber than a bag of hammers, and now, skull-fucking incompetent. [...] The asshole rapist from ''Doomed Megalopolis'' is lower than fucking pond scum, but at least he was somewhat intelligent. Bitch Tits here? Completely irredeemable.
* WhatIsEvil: During the ''Oldtaku, New Tricks'' episode for ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'', Sage calls out Tomura Shigaraki for invoking the trope to All Might.
-->I'm sorry, but if you're gonna use the old chestnut of *''squeaky voice''* "from my point of view, your actions are evil!", maybe you ''don't'' call yourselves ''''[[CardCarryingVillain "the League of Villains"]]''''?
* WholePlotReference: The framing device for ''Twilight of the Cockroaches'' is based on ''WesternAnimation/TheCritic'', with Sage dressed up as Jay Sherman. The commentary for the episode points out that several commenters on the original video [[SmallReferencePools missed the reference completely]].
* WordPureeTitle: In the ''De:vadasy'' review, Sage calls out ''VideoGame/ArTonelicoQogaKnellOfArCiel'' on this.
-->There's only ''two real words'' in that verbal diarrhea!
* YouGetWhatYouPayFor: Sage's summation of his less-than-shining opinion of ''Junk Boy'' comes in this form.
-->True story here, by the way. I got this tape in mint condition, plastic over the tape and everything, for two cents at my local comic shop. I may as well have paid the guy two cents to punch me in the face.
* {{Yarling}}: During the ''Endless Waltz'' review, to sum up the character trope of attractive but {{angst}}y males that was so dominant in the 90s and early 00's, Sage yarls out "Pretty boys with probleeems! (yeah!)"
* YouJustHadToSayIt: This is Sage's reaction in ''Virgin Fleet,'' when the headmaster of the Virgin Academy says that she's responsible for choosing the characters that will be competing for a spot in the fleet (including [[{{Manchild}} one character]] Sage finds incredibly irritating):
-->So ''you're'' the reason we have to deal with this character's loli-schtick? Oh, ''bitch'', you should have kept that to yourself! *''cracks his knuckles''*
* YouNeedToGetLaid: He speculates that this is the reason Sho Aikawa's early work is so nihilistic and hateful, and he thanks the anonymous person who finally did give him the blowjob that led him to tone down his later work.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:A - E]]
* TheAbridgedSeries: ''Manga/ElfenLied Abridged'', which is currently on an "indefinite hiatus".
* AccentuateTheNegative:
** 90% of Bennett's game reviews focus on the negative aspects of whatever he's reviewing, and unlike the ''Anime Abandon'' reviews, the negativity is played completely straight instead of done in a bombastic, jokey manner. It seems like the only triple-A FPS title he genuinely liked over the past few years were ''VideoGame/{{Killzone}} 3'' and ''VideoGame/{{Resistance}} 3'', two titles he really gushes over, while cross-platform and UsefulNotes/{{Xbox}} titles tend to get much more critical treatment.
** Sometimes averted in ''Anime Abandon'' reviews. Even if Sage doesn't like a certain anime he will acknowledge some of its good points, or in the case of ''Manga/{{Akira}}'' and ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'', their influence on anime culture as a whole. This is especially evident in his review of ''Anime/PerfectBlue'', which he says he doesn't ''hate'' but doesn't really ''like'' either, and that he can tell it was Creator/SatoshiKon's first film since certain parts of it feel weak compared to his later work.
* ActorAllusion: In a cutaway gag in the ''Anime/SamuraiChamploo'' review, Marc's playing ''VideoGame/StreetFighterV'', a game he helped localize. Naturally he's playing as Necalli, the character he voices.
* AerithAndBob: Points this out in ''Iria'':
-->Yes, in a world of Irias and Zeirams, there is Bob.
* AllMenArePerverts:
** Brought up in ''Urotsukidoji''; granted, it ''is'' a hentai.
** Suave, his smoking jacket-wearing, scotch-sipping CasanovaWannabe character.
* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: In Sage's ''Anime/InuYashaTheMovieAffectionsTouchingAcrossTime'' review, [[DiscussedTrope he points out why he hates this trope and how it needs to stop]]. The discussion comes back up in the movie's ''Nuts and Bolts'' video.
* AnimeAccentAbsence:
** Sage notes in his review of ''Manga/{{Fake}}'' that the plot makes no sense when the show isn't a dub, because the reveal that the (British) killer, who has been targeting Japanese tourists, now attacks a specific main character based on someone noting that one of the (American) characters is half Japanese makes no sense when ''everyone, even the killer'', is speaking flawless Japanese.
** In the ''Wild Cardz'' review, the introduction of the racist Chinese caricature leads Sage to point out that a scene in ''Manga/BlackLagoon'' in which the Taiwanese Shenhua threatens to kill Revy for making fun of her bad English doesn't have nearly the same impact in the original Japanese audio.
--->All I'm saying is that this moment, and many more like it, make ''way'' more sense in English than it does in Japanese. If you're going to have your character speak a language other than what the audience is hearing, ''don't draw attention to it''.
* {{Animesque}}: Bennett has dedicated blocks of episodes for reviewing Western works with heavy anime influence, including ''WesternAnimation/BigGuyAndRustyTheBoyRobot'', ''[[ComicBook/LadyDeath Lady Death: The Movie]]'', and ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansTroubleInTokyo''.
* ArtEvolution: In the commentary for ''Anime/MadBull34'', Marc the Engineer notes the horrible animation from the earlier episodes of ''Anime Abandon'', and says that will change in upcoming episodes. Cue the next review, ''Anime/ApocalypseZero'', where Censor Kaiser goes from his original still shot to [[spoiler:an updated animated version based on [[Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex the Laughing Man logo]]]].
* AtomicFBomb: Uttered in ''Virgin Fleet'' when Sage finds out [[spoiler:[[NoOneCouldSurviveThat the class president survived being shot out of the sky]] by TheBaroness]]. He promptly snaps.
* AxCrazy:
** When he hangs around WebVideo/{{Ask That Guy|WithTheGlasses}}. GOODNESS.
** Sage finally snaps in the ''Virgin Fleet'' episode, where he tosses the titular series DVD into the ocean.
* SugarWiki/AwesomeArt: [[invoked]] Sage will give even the worst animes credit if they have good art and/or [[SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome animation]]. In his review of ''Manga/{{X|1999}}'', for instance, he makes clear that he thinks it's absolutely gorgeous before tearing it to pieces.
* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: {{Invoked|Trope}} by Sage for ''Dominion Tank Police''[='s=] opening theme.
-->So...cheesy...yet...so...awesome! [...] What ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales'' is to the Creator/{{Disney}} kids, ''Tank Police'' is to 30-something otakus.
* BerserkButton:
** Sage has a few:
*** Hearing Kuwabara's name mispronounced as "Kuwahara"[[note]]the main difference being the lack of a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dakuten dakuten]] when written in hiragana[[/note]] in the dub of ''Manga/YuYuHakusho: Poltergeist Report''. He yells so loud it ''echoes''.
*** [[Manga/VenusWars Susan Sommers]], a character that enraged him so much that he went as far as to claim that [[Manga/LoveHina Naru Narusegawa]] [[HowIsThatEvenPossible was a better character]], and then later drove him to break off the review and walk out of the room to have a screaming, [[ClusterFBomb expletive-laden]] rant that lasted for nearly a ''minute''.
*** DoubleStandardAbuseFemaleOnMale is a trope that he particularly dislikes. This was one of his biggest gripes about the three ''Manga/LoveHina'' films and ''Manga/InuYasha'': had the relationship dynamics been reversed, everyone would call the main characters' relationships in both shows abusive, but because of the gender flip it's expected to be seen as funny or even [[BelligerentSexualTension romantic]]. He takes great pleasure in often showing how those scenes are almost identical (except for the gender swap) to scenes you'd see in a LifetimeMovieOfTheWeek, such as Kagome assaulting [=InuYasha=] because he's more excited about the ramen (that she brought) than the food she prepared, or Keitaro cringing and begging to not be hurt in expectation of a blow from Naru after a bit of {{Accidental Pervert}}edness.
--->'''Sage:''' [[SarcasmMode Ahaha! Someone cowering in a corner because they are afraid their significant others is going to lash out over an honest mistake! Whooo domestic abuse is hilarious!]]
*** He doesn't care for self-righteous characters one bit, especially if they themselves have done quite a few not-so-kosher deeds.
*** GratuitousRape, big time, along with works that handle rape in an exceptionally poor manner or just play it as a joke.
*** ''Doomed Megalopolis'' manages to push several of the above at once. A character [[MoralEventHorizon goes so far as to rape his own sister]] then has the balls to [[{{Wangst}} whine about having to take care of her in her madness]] (which he is [[NeverMyFault entirely responsible for]]) to someone who actually ''does'' care about her. Sage calls him out on what a pathetic, vile piece of shit he is ''every'' chance he gets.[[invoked]]
*** Atrocious dubs. Sage knows that a lot of 80s and 90s dubs aren't very good, but the truly bad ones really get under his skin, and Creator/CentralParkMedia is a frequent target of his ire for the consistently poor dubs it gave its anime releases. He has a lengthy rant in the middle of the ''Sins of the Sisters'' review regarding its '''terrible''' dub, and Bennett and Marc discuss bad dubs during the review's ''Nuts and Bolts'' commentary.
** Apparently for Marc the Engineer, using two dashes and a carat as an arrow in a review instantly wrecks the quality of the video, according to the ''Anime/MadBull34'' commentary.
** AA reviews have also seen Sage trip other creators' buttons:
*** The ''Anime/MacrossPlus'' review has Creator/RobPaulsen strangling him over his comments on ''[[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Evangelion]]''.
*** Creator/DougWalker actually pulls a gun on Sage during the ''[=MD=] Geist'' review when Sage starts to make a ''Literature/{{Dune}}'' reference. Rob Walker pops in and finishes the line, and Doug chases him out of the room, screaming and shooting.
* BiasSteamroller:
** He's made it clear that he has a strong dislike for [[UsefulNotes/{{Kawaisa}} cuteness in general]] and especially [[{{Moe}} characters and titles that overuse it]], citing the ''Manga/LoveHina Christmas Special'', ''Anime/DevilHunterYohko'', and [[Anime/TenchiMuyo Ryo-ohki]] when the character becomes an extremely cutesy humanoid. The notable exception is [[Anime/ReadOrDie Yomiko Readman]], as he sees her cuteness as a consequence of her personality and not the driving force of her character.
** He's also made it very clear that he ''hates'' vampires and dislikes almost any works revolving around them, with the exceptions of ''Film/FromDuskTillDawn'', ''LightNovel/VampireHunterD: Bloodlust'', and ''WesternAnimation/Castlevania2017''. In his ''Blood: The Last Vampire'' review, he stated that this hatred comes from how overly romanticized vampires have become in media, resulting in excessive levels of bemoaning how they are monsters, often to the point of {{Wangst}}. The only stories revolving around the creatures of the night that he somewhat enjoys either have very few, if any, of them or treat them as genuinely terrifying monsters with no redeeming aspects.
** While he's pretty indifferent to {{shonen|Demographic}}, one thing that he despises that's a recurring trend for the genre is {{Tournament Arc}}s, as they come across as just mindless slug fests that put the plot on hold for characters to fight each other and waste time.
* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: [[InvokedTrope He says that]] the entirety of ''[[Literature/TeitoMonogatari Doomed Megalopolis]]'' is this, since while the scenes leave an impact on the viewer they're perfunctory to the plot.
* BigNo:
** When Sage realizes that Marc the Engineer has sent him the ''[=InuYasha=]'' movie to review, he does several long "Noooooooooooo"s while doing different things like eating and even sleeping, all while holding the DVD case.
** Invoked in the ''Anime/MyMyMai'' review when Sage uses Creator/AlPacino's "NOOOOOOOOO!" at the climax of ''Film/TheDevilsAdvocate'' to address an incredibly stupid question, as he couldn't give one that would do it justice.
** When Sage pranks Savage at the end of the ''Samurai Shodown'' review:
--->[''Sage holds up the DVD case for the'' Anime/{{Tekken|TheMotionPicture}} ''OVA'']\\
'''Savage''': *''tearing his shirt off''* YEEEESSSS!!!\\
[''Sage drops it, revealing the case for the'' VideoGame/PsychicForce ''OVA'']\\
'''Savage''': *''tearing his shirt off''* NOOOOOOOO!!!
* BigWhat: ''Ninja Resurrection''[='s=] BolivianArmyEnding causes Sage to stare blankly at the camera for a few seconds then yell "WHAT?!"
* {{Bishonen}}: Dislikes the trope, as seen in the ''Anime/DevilHunterYohko'', ''[[VideoGame/FatalFury Fatal]] [[TheAnimeOfTheGame Fury]]'', and ''Anime/ArmitageIII'' reviews.
-->I know that I'm a mostly straight male and I'm not supposed to get it, but I just feel like women who like [[DudeLooksLikeALady men who look like women]] are probably lying to themselves a little.
* BittersweetEnding: The review of ''Anime/LittleNemoAdventuresInSlumberland'' ends with Sage wistfully reminiscing about Video Droid, a local video rental store which was a staple of his youth and which outlasted many of the chain rental stores but couldn't weather the revenue losses after the fires that swept through Santa Rosa in 2017.
* BlackSheepHit:[[invoked]] "The Top Ten Worst Songs (By Otherwise Good Artists)", Sage's video done to cover for WebVideo/ToddInTheShadows.
* {{Blackmail}}: The review of ''Anime/PlasticLittle'' sees Sage do this to [[AmoralAttorney his lawyer]] to force him to help cover his ass over the fact that the two leads, Tita and Elysse, are respectively 17 and 16, by threatening his lawyer with calls to both the lawyer's grandmother (the real reason he skipped Passover being trying to help a client screw his ex out of alimony) and the California Bar (the lawyer's last vacation was payed for a slush fund the lawyer's legal partner had).
* BlindMistake: Sage plays pranks on Gabe involving these after Gabe completely blinds himself.
* BloodFromTheMouth:
** In his review of ''Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture,'' after he sees and hears [[{{Camp}} Hauer]], he coughs into a tissue and gasps not just at the blood, but also that it's purple and covered in glitter.
** He does this as part of his HeroicRROD during the ''Ninja Resurrection'' review.
* BoundAndGagged: Sage does this to [[WebVideo/BadMovieBeatdown Film Brain]] in the ''Manga/Golgo13'' review [[CatchphraseInterruptus to prevent him from doing his usual "Symbolism!" line]]...[[DuctTapeForEverything with duct tape]].
-->Not on my show, Cupcake.
* BreadEggsBreadedEggs:
** When reading ''Fanfic/MyImmortal'', the caption states that he couldn't decide whether to voice a character as gay or annoying, so he made the character sound annoyingly gay.
** From his ''Teknoman'' review:
--->'''Old Man Sage:''' Now, Saban wasn't perfect by any means, but they knew what we wanted. What we wanted was giant robots, ninjas, and giant robot ninjas.
* BrickJoke: At the beginning of his ''Venus Wars'' review Sage discusses the nature of comedy and talks about how if he inserted a random fart or if he telegraphed it coming too much, they would both fail as jokes for different reasons. He then looks directly at the camera for several seconds in silence with a smug smile on his face... and moves on to talk about something else. Then, during the end credits of the video it suddenly cuts back to Sage for a moment to play a fart sound.
* BrotherSisterIncest:
** He's particularly incensed by this subplot in ''Doomed Megalopolis'', though his objection has less to do with it being incest and more with it being ''rape''. Presumably if the movie had gone with the book version where the relationship between the two was actually consensual he would have had less of a problem with it.
** Made fun of at length in ''X'' regarding Kotori and Fuuma.
** Happens yet ''again'' in "''VideoGame/VoltageFighterGowcaizer'' (Part I)", with him noting that while it was just a wild guess in ''X'' that he got right, ''Gowcaizer'' straight up shoved it into his face, making him cringe badly.
** He refers to the villains of ''Anime/AgentAika'' as "pulling a [[Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire Jaime and Cersei Lannister]]".
* TheCameo:
** Occasionally, some massive talent from the anime industry pops up on ''Anime Abandon'', ranging from Creator/LisaOrtiz to Creator/ShinichiroWatanabe.
** Creator/DougWalker appears in ''Anime/SonicTheHedgehogTheMovie'' while his brother Rob shows up in ''Manga/UltimateTeacher'', and they both appeared in the ''Sins of the Sisters'' review.
** [[Creator/DarkMazeStudios Ed Glaser]] appears in ''Anime/GarzeysWing'' and ''Animation/SpaceThunderKids'' (the latter of which also has [[WebVideo/TheAngryJoeShow Angry Joe]])
** WebVideo/ToddInTheShadows showed in two music list episodes (Top Five Best and Worst Covers of All Time, asking him to do a music list; and Top 20 Worst #1 Hits, both calling out Bennett for just putting "Glory of Love" at #19 and being called out for not including Music/{{Ciara}}'s "Goodies" in his list of the worst hits of 2004).
** WebVideo/{{Phelous}}, [[WebVideo/TheSpoonyExperiment Spoony]] and [[WebVideo/VampireReviews The Maven of the Eventide]] appear in ''Dracula: Sovereign of the Damned ''
** [[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall Linkara]] shows up in AA episodes for ''Dracula: Sovereign of the Damned '', ''Literature/DemonCityShinjuku'', ''Anime/EighthMan After'' and ''Manga/{{Baoh}}'', plus two episodes of ''Masterpiece Fanfic Theatre'' (one of which had [[OldShame a fic by Linkara himself!]]).
** WebVideo/MarzGurl shows up in ''Anime/TenchiMuyo In Love''.
** Given ''Anime/JinRohTheWolfBrigade'', ''WesternAnimation/AeonFlux'' and ''[[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion The End Of Evangelion]]'' are arthouse-like MindScrew, [[WebVideo/BrowsHeldHigh Kyle Kallgren]] had to cameo.
** Creator/LittleKuriboh is a frequent appearance or voiceover in ''Anime Abandon''.
** He filmed a number of cameos at the Too Many Games convention for his ''Manga/ElfenLied'' review. [[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall Linkara]], [[Creator/TeamFourStar Takahata101]], and Erin (his title card artist) all beat him up with bats. Woolie, of then still active ''WebVideo/TwoBestFriendsPlay'', smashes a pool cue on Bennett's back.
* CaptainObvious: ''Manga/{{Baoh}}'' is so full of them, Sage starts a "No Shit!" counter to see how many times people say the blatantly obvious.
* CatchPhraseInterruptus: When reviewing ''E.Y.E.S. of Mars'', the hero of the story, who goes by the name of Du/Doo, returns to his base, with several other characters yelling "Du! It's Du! Hey Du!"
--> '''[[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall 90's Kid]]''': Duuuuuuuuuuuuu--!\\
'''Sage''': Shuttup!\\
'''90's Kid''': ... Well ''okay''!?
* CatGirl: {{Discussed|Trope}} in the ''Dominion Tank Police'' review, in regards to the cat girl twins who are recurring antagonists. Sage notes that living with cats as a child soured him on the fanservice aspect of this particular character type. He's then distracted from his talk by the scene of Anni and Una doing a striptease...until a flashback to a cat yarking up a hairball wrecks everything.
* CausticCritic: Par for the course. Sage will destroy bad anime and doesn't hesitate to point out the flaws in good anime.
* CerebusCallback: Sage gouging out Gabe's eye in ''Anime/JungleDeIkou'' was played for BlackComedy back when it was filmed. In the ''Nuts and Bolts'' for the ''Sins of the Sisters'' review, Bennett admitted that this was such a hateful thing to do that he crafted the ''Sisters'' review's nightmarish eye trauma subplot to show that Sage has some deep-seated guilt over the act.
* CerebusRetcon: Sage torturing Critic, Ask That Guy, WebVideo/JesuOtaku and countless others was played for laughs, but in ''The Guyver'' not only does (actual) Sage call his other self "shadow of a shadow" and "a me that could have been", but he tries really hard to prove himself to Critic that he's not a bad guy and gets rejected thanks to Critic's new douchiness.
* CheapHeat: Sage considers the attempts to make {{hate sink}}s out of the {{gyaru girl}}s in ''Very Private Lesson'' to be lazy and... well, cheap. He compares it to a {{heel}} trying to get boos from the audience by insulting the local sports team.
* CheshireCatGrin: Sage is a master of the really pervy, unsettling grin; the second opening theme included a shot of him doing this. It helps that he has really prominent cuspids.
* {{Chickification}}: One of his major complaints about the movie version of ''Anime/TheVisionOfEscaflowne'' is how it did this to Hitomi compared to her TV series incarnation, stripping her of all agency and turning her into a character who just has things happen ''to'' her. Also, by not having her divination powers from the show she's little more than a bystander.
* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Every character not played by Bennett has completely disappeared from the show without any reference to them, with the exception of Censor Kaiser (who is not even a character anymore, as he no longer speaks and functions solely as a censor bar). The two most notable are the characters of Gabe and Marc the Engineer, two rather prominent characters within the review universe in the early-to-mid 10s. Gabe suddenly disappeared because his portrayer, Ashira Herzig, voluntarily stopped working with Bennett in August of 2017, coming out as transgender a few months later. As for Marc, while he completely stopped appearing in episodes and commentaries after 2016, he still works prominently behind the camera in animation and script supervision. Today, the only ''Anime Abandon'' characters left are Sage, Suave, and Savage.
* ClarkKenting: When dealing with ''Anime/PrettySammy'' OVA series's handling of this trope, Sage is first flabbergasted, then points out the United States has the TropeNamer [[Franchise/{{Superman}} himself]] and thus can't comment on it.
* ClothingDamage: {{Discussed|Trope}} in the ''Anime/MasterOfMartialHearts'' review. Sage notes that it's far from the first anime to have characters' clothes be wrecked during fights, but in most other anime, there's at least some kind of justification, whereas in [=MoMH=], clothes just explode when struck for no discernible reason.
* ClusterFBomb: Sage is no stranger to foul language, but in the "''Genocyber'' Part I" review, [[DiscussedTrope he calls out]] Manga Entertainment for its tendency to load its early dubs with cursing to make them seem more adult and serious, and brings this up in a handful of other reviews.
-->Ah yes, distracting and superfluous cursing. That's the Manga UK we all know and...tolerate.
* CombatCueStick: At the start of the ''Manga/ElfenLied'' review, Sage recalls being lured into a hotel conference room and "beaten" severely by several of his friends and (at that time) co-creators at Website/ChannelAwesome[[note]]everyone was using wiffle ball bats and similarly harmless items[[/note]], which culminated with someone breaking a pool cue across his back as he tried to get away. This was supposed to be faked, as the cue had been set up with a break spot, but [[SpecialEffectsFailure it actually broke several inches below that spot]], meaning he actually took the hit, which left a long welt across his back. This was shown in the episode's credits and the ''Nuts and Bolts'' video for the review.
* ContentWarnings: A small handful of episodes have featured viewer advisories, due to the anime being reviewed featuring disturbing material that goes above and beyond the normal fare. Bennett and Marc {{discussed|Trope}} this at the start of the ''Nuts and Bolts'' episode for ''Sins of the Sisters'', noting that while some viewers were upset that this was done for that review, some were appreciative of the heads-up.
* CountryMatters: Sage has used this epithet in a number of reviews, particularly ''Anime/AngelCop,'' ''Manga/LoveHina'', ''Virgin Fleet'', and ''Very Private Lesson'', and it's his summation of [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Asuka Soryu]] and [[Manga/VenusWars Susan Sommers]]. However, he has said that he wants to cut down on gendered profanity like this, because he knows how much it can offend the female members of his audience.
* CrossesTheLineTwice: [[invoked]] He feels ''Manga/ElfenLied'' is inadvertently prone to this, as its tendency to make its villains cartoonishly evil so that viewers will still sympathize with Lucy causes them to become laughable. Similarly, [[spoiler:Hiromi's death]] is so over-the-top melodramatic that it makes him break into laughter.
* CrossOver:
** He's reviewed ''Animation/SpaceThunderKids'', ''Diatron-5'' and ''Anime/GarzeysWing'' with [[WebVideo/TheSpoonyExperiment The Spoony One]]; ''Dracula: Sovereign of the Damned'' with [[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall Linkara]]; ''Starchaser'' and ''Guyver'' with WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic; ''Film/BatmanReturns'' with WebVideo/FilmBrain; and ''Film/{{Kite}}'' with WebVideo/ChrisStuckmann. The Critic actually kidnapped Sage and forced him to co-review ''Film/SpeedRacer''.
** He did a video with Akidearest talking about [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iflLDNUJte0 some of the more disturbing content in older anime]].
* CryLaughing: Gabe does this in the last shot of the ''[=InuYasha=]'' review. He stands and waves with a big smile on his face...but seeing as he's ''covered'' in Sage's "semen", his smile slowly breaks down into sobs of humiliated rage.
* ADateWithRosiePalms:
** Subverted during his ''Starchaser'' crossover with WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic, while apparently getting orgasmic at the sight of the Critic breaking down upon realizing that both this film and the ''Film/GarbagePailKids'' movie are distributed by the same company:
--->'''Sage''': *''holds up bottle of lotion''* Excuse me for a moment, folks. I've got some business to take care of. [''cut to commercial'']\\
[''cut back after commercial, he is rubbing his elbows''] What? I have crusty elbows!
** Used as a visual gag in the ''[=InuYasha=]'' review. Sage "masturbates" furiously to a particularly angsty scene, ending with an explosive "ejaculation" that, as we learn at the end of the episode, ended up all over Gabe. During the ''Nuts and Bolts'' commentary on the episode, Bennett and Marc talked at length about the difficulties with the scene, noting that Gabe had to endure being slathered with dish soap twice because that shot had to be redone.
** The ''A.D. Police Files'' review focuses on a scene where a woman is apparently driven to compulsively masturbate by the cybernetic replacement for her uterus. Sage notes the disturbing nature of the scene...and then deliberately ruins it by replaying it with the audio replaced by [[Music/{{Divinyls}} "I Touch Myself"]].
* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: He explains that ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'' roughly translates to "Poltergeist Report", making the movie's title ''[=YuYu=] Hakusho the Movie: Poltergeist Report'' being translated as "Poltergeist Report the Movie: ''Poltergeist Report''". He decides to shorten it as [=PRTMPR=] and pronounces the acronym for the rest of the review.
* DirtyBusiness: During the ''Manga/ViolenceJack'' review, Mark invokes this to get Sage to review the series.
-->'''Marc''': I want you to ''do your FUCKING JOB!'' Because if you don't, someone else will {{and then what}}?! You cashed in all your chips on being a clown on the Internet, and now you're backing away at the first sign of trouble! ''YOU CANNOT! LIVE THIS LIFE!'' '''''WITHOUT OFFENDING SOMEONE!'''''
* DistancedFromCurrentEvents:[[invoked]] The reason he decides not to even touch the reference to earthquakes in Japan during the ''Doomed Megalopolis'' review.
* DownerEnding:
** ''The Guyver''. Sage's efforts to get Critic to have some fun again fail, he loses his temper when Critic goes full on condescending hypocritical FanHater, Critic refuses to apologize and storms off, and Sage goes home depressed. [[spoiler:''Lady Death'' twists the knife in even more, as Critic apparently keeps sending Sage rosary beads.]]
** In a bit of {{Irony}}, Critic ultimately [[BecameTheirOwnAntithesis ends up acting like the person he thinks Sage still is]] when he kidnaps him for the ''Film/SpeedRacer'' review, [[EvilIsPetty apparently for smaller things that happened in his later cameos]]. [[spoiler:He intended to go as far as keep him there for who knows how long, [[HumiliationConga but then Rob walks in, scolds him for the kidnapping, offers Sage a flight back home, and allows him to take advantage of the offer by making Critic pay first-class for it under the threat of sending him to jail.]]]]
* DramaticEllipsis: Brought up to the point of overuse in the ''Masterpiece Fanfic Theatre'' episode reading of "''Until the End of Time''".
* DrowningMySorrows: Marc's noting that most Sonic fans treat ''Anime/SonicTheHedgehogTheMovie'' either with FanonDiscontinuity or booze leads Sage to respond with "Whelp, mama didn't raise me to be no liar." and pull out a bottle of Wild Turkey bourbon. He kills ''three'' bottles of it over the course of the ''first half'' of the review.
* DudeNotFunny: [[https://twitter.com/BennettTheSage/status/295880666179072000 What Bennett thinks of]] ''Manga/ViolenceJack''. He later elaborates on this in the review itself, saying that it's actually very hard to say ''anything'' about it because of several reasons: he can't show the violence, he can't make jokes about it because there's basically no humour in it whatsoever (and he doesn't want to make jokes about gang-rape and child murder), and he doesn't hate it enough to rage at it.
* DullSurprise:
** His criticism of several actors in ''Anime/AngelCop''.
--->'''Brian May'''[[note]]nickname based on the character looking like the Music/{{Queen}} guitarist[[/note]]: No, Lucifer... you've gone way too far already. We're not coming with you.\\
'''Sage:''' [''flatly''] Oh, Bridget[[note]]nickname based on the character looking like 80s actress Creator/BrigitteNielsen[[/note]]... you've gone mad with power; I will stop you, I hate you so muuuuuch...
** He also calls out the voice acting in ''Anime/ArmitageIII'' for this, especially Elizabeth Berkley.
** The wooden delivery of a character talking about her parents being killed in ''Maze'' leads Sage to scream "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACT!!!"
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Many of Sage's older works are considerably harsher, angrier, and contain some hypocritical content. Contrast to now, where he is somewhat more laid back and has a much more consistent moral compass.
* EmbarrassingFirstName: During ''Anime/PlasticLittle'':
-->'''Sage:''' This guy's name is ''Nicole''? I didn't think it was possible for Creator/SpikeSpencer to play a character whose parents hate him more than [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Shinji's]]. But I stand corrected!
* {{Engrish}}: Invoked for parody with the "Spot the Engrish" gag where Sage shows a still clip and asks the viewers to spot the goofup, such as "carate" as Ryo Sakazaki's martial art in the ''VideoGame/ArtOfFighting'' OVA review.
* EvenEvilHasStandards:
** Occasionally comes up, though in WebVideo/JesuOtaku's review of ''Eiken'' he subverted it immediately afterwards by suggesting he wouldn't be as offended if it was a GenderFlip. [[CovertPervert His reaction suggests he wasn't far from the truth.]]
** Played straight with his review of ''Violence Jack'', where he couldn't bring himself to actually review it. That's right, the only person to make the Ask That Guy squeamish found something even he was too put off by to review. When commenters called him out on his apparent hypocrisy for reviewing the hyper-violent ''Elfen Lied'', he countered in its ''Nuts and Bolts'' by noting that it has genuine moments of heart and lightness that counter its gore and make it able to be talked about, something completely absent from ''Violence Jack''.
** ''Anime/JungleDeIkou'' gets so disturbing that he has to cut the review short.
* EvenTheGuysWantHim: During the ''Galaxy Express 999'' review, Suave gushes over Captain Harlock, saying some rather...suggestive things about what he'd let Harlock do to him that leave Sage befuddled.
* EveryoneHasStandards:
** Sage and Suave both hate ''Manga/LoveHina'', to the point that Suave renames Naru as "The Intolerable Bitch" and [[CountryMatters calls her a cunt]]. Bennett [[https://youtu.be/F6_vilhpTHs?t=893 summarized his feelings about the show]] during a Q&A session at Mythicon 2014, although he does consider the manga a bit of a guilty pleasure despite the problems he has with it.
** Even Suave thinks Akira from ''Anime/IDreamOfMimi'' is a scumbag due to how he treats Mimi with disdain and being even lower than ether Tenchi and Keitaro who at least care for the girls who are trying to get them. ''Even Suave shocked himself that he had actual standards.''
** Sage declares ''Manga/UltimateTeacher'' too bizarre to review, and simply decides to break out some popcorn and soda and enjoy the ride. When Rob Walker comes in to berate him for the lazy non-review, it only takes twenty seconds of a clip from the show to reduce him to the same state.
** At the end of the ''VisualNovel/GreenGreen'' review, Suave says that there's a level of acceptable stupidity that goes along with trashy fanservice anime. The mark was cleared by ''I Dream of Mimi'', abundantly cleared by ''Golden Boy'', and even ''Eiken'' squeaked by. ''Green Green''? Not even close.
--->'''Suave''': I shall put it to you as plainly as possible. It has enough cheesecake for an entire 24-hour ''[[Series/TheGoldenGirls Golden Girls]]'' marathon...and it's still not worth the headache. And this is coming from ''me''!
* EvilIsSexy: {{Invoked|Trope}} by Sage during the ''X'' review when the Dragon of the Earth he dubs "Creator/{{Elvira|MistressOfTheDark}}" shows up.
-->Goddammit, does evil have the market cornered for stacked chicks? Why can't the good guys load their side with bountiful blouse bunnies?!
* EvilLaugh:
** After the utter borefest of ''Odin'', Sage needs something to clean his palate. What does he pull out, inspiring him to break into horrible laughter? Why, it's ''Anime/DominionTankPolice''!
** Marc does an epic one as Sage learns that Marc has sent him a copy of the ''[=InuYasha=]'' movie to review.
* EvilOverlord: What Sage would become if he had a Galaxy-Destroying Cannon.
* ExecutiveMeddling: [[invoked]] Parodied in the review of ''Anime/TwilightOfTheCockroaches'' within the framing device of an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheCritic'' with Marc the Engineer taking the role of The Duke. He constantly interrupts Sage!Jay to demand cruder jokes to lower the entry barrier of his show's intellectual level.
* EyebrowWaggle: Suave does this at the camera at one point during the ''Eiken'' review:
-->'''Densuke''': This is ridiculous! Why am I in girls' swimwear competing in this game?! This is awful!\\
'''Suave''': Because perverted girls need their jollies too, little whelp...and certain fellas that don't mind details. *''waggle''*
* EyeScream:
** During the ''Anime/JungleDeIkou'' review, Gabe tries to stop Sage from gouging his eyes out with scissors and ends up getting his left eye put out.
** The ''Sins of the Sisters'' review features three {{jump scare}}s featuring the "bloody eye socket" effect from ''Film/EventHorizon''.
** During the ''Anime/GhostInTheShell 2: Innocence'' review, as Sage makes a joke about what people will do for high-def (in reference to the coroner plugging a fancy cable into a socket behind her eyes), Gabe proceeds to stick one end of a VGA cable into his good eye.
--->'''Sage''': [''after hearing Gabe's scream''] That one's on you!

[[folder:F - J]]
* FaceDoodling: Gabe draws dicks on Sage's face after ''Tokyo Revelation'' puts him in an insanity-induced coma. Sage gets his revenge by making Gabe eat a bowl of Lego bricks.
* {{Facepalm}}: {{Invoked|Trope}} in the review of ''The Samurai'', as Sage says that the sight gag of Takashi's sister constantly wearing a sheer negligee that her breasts are clearly visible through, with no reason given [[IgnoreTheFanservice and no one paying it any attention]], caused him to smack his forehead every time she showed up. He does note, however, that this angering him so much [[ActuallyPrettyFunny was actually kinda funny in hindsight]].
* FailedASpotCheck: Often done intentionally for the sake of humor, but sometimes Sage will ignore obviously plot-relevant stuff for the sake of humor. His ''Anime/StreetFighterIITheAnimatedMovie'' review had him joking about Ken meditating while Ryu is getting his butt kicked by Bison. Sage treats the scene like Ken is just re-leaning some old techniques, when the movie makes it clear that the damage Bison did to Ken has severely scrambled Ken's brain, to the point where he can barely stand up. He isn't meditating to regain any lost techniques, he's focusing his energies to try and regain the ability ''to walk'' so he can go save his friend.
* FanDisservice: Bennett isn't ashamed to use his body as part of a joke... even if it's only for ''this'' purpose, just like the "Diet Sexy" Coke flavor mention (with a drawing of him wearing barely nothing) when he rants about his earlier kill off on the fanfic from the "TGWTG Slashy Extravaganza" episode of ''Masterpiece Fanfiction Theatre''. He takes this to an extreme at the end of his "Top 10 ''Anime Abandon'' Moments" episode when he recreates the "crotch grenades" scene from ''Anime/MadBull34'' (fortunately, he's wearing briefs).
* {{Fanservice}}: {{Discussed|Trope}} every now and then, usually because of how badly it tends to be done.
** Sage really doesn't like it when shows get fanservice wrong, especially when they clearly lack restraint and do things that are laced with UnfortunateImplications. He's also noted how RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil, and hates it when works depict most women in their casts as incompetent or nothing more than fanservice fodder. During his review of the 2012 ''Franchise/TombRaider'' reboot, he also mentions that he was really rooting for it to be a good game, because he wanted there to be a strong, admirable woman to be a real icon in video games again.
** Despite the former points, he will revel in fanservice that is done well, such as in ''Anime/CuteyHoney'' where he explains that he finds fanservice much easier to stomach if the character providing it is actually likable, citing Honey as one such character and also contrasting her with Naru Narusegawa, who he detests for her abrasive, abusive tendencies while noting how she fills a similar role in ''Manga/LoveHina''.
** When he reviews the ''Lady Death'' animated film and discusses [[ComicBook/LadyDeath the comic book it was based off of]], he views its complete reliance upon sex appeal and unrealistic female body proportions very negatively, and gives the film's subpar animation and writing no passes because of it either.
** In the ''Gunsmith Cats'' review, he mentions that he finds the brazenness of its fanservice to be rather charming.
* FanGirl: He doesn't have any, as memorably said in his Mailbag video. He doesn't ''get'' why he has them, even.
* FanonDiscontinuity: Sage finds out that [[InvokedTrope this is a real Sonic fanboy's views]] on ''Anime/SonicTheHedgehogTheMovie.''
-->'''Sage:''' How was the damage?\\
'''Marc the Engineer:''' I don't know what you're talking about. It never happened.\\
'''Sage:''' Marc, if this didn't happen, then what the hell am I holding? *''gestures to video of the movie''*\\
'''Marc:''' Well it's certainly ''not'' the Sonic the Hedgehog movie, because it didn't happen.\\
'''Sage:''' Marc, I don't know what you're--\\
'''Marc:''' IT DIDN'T HAPPEN! Listen, lunchbox, I don't expect you to understand, so let me give it to you like this.\\
[=*=]''Marc goes on to list'' many ''Sonic games, including the less popular ones, and stating how they all "happened".''\\
'''Marc:''' THAT--\\
'''Sage:''' *''gesturing to the movie''* This?\\
'''Marc:''' DIDN'T HAPPEN!\\
'''Sage:''' So, Sonic fans handled this...through denial.\\
'''Marc:''' YES! Well--err--no. Well...it was either living a lie or [[DrowningMySorrows booze]].
* FauxSymbolism: [[invoked]]
** Brings this up in his ''Manga/{{Golgo 13}}'' review, pointing out how the title character being named after Golgotha, the place where Jesus was crucified, as well as the number of people at the Last Supper is the most interesting thing about him as a character.
** He also discusses this trope with regards to the work of Creator/StudioGainax in his examination of ''Anime/{{FLCL}}''.
** He criticizes ''WesternAnimation/AeonFlux'' for its inconsistent use of Gnostic themes and symbols, asking at one point if Peter Chung just read the Cliffs Notes of Gnosticism and made a show about it.
* FeigningIntelligence:
** [[WebVideo/BrowsHeldHigh Oancitizen]]'s appearances on the show are usually to claim that Sage's thoughts about the anime in question are doing this, although in the ''Anime/JinRohTheWolfBrigade'' and ''WesternAnimation/AeonFlux'' reviews, Sage quite adroitly refutes him. Kyle even applauds after Sage finishes dissecting the latter.
** The concept is lampshaded in the ''Doomed Megalopolis'' review, where Sage claims there is nothing as annoying as something pretending to be smarter than it is.
--->...What the fuck are you cutting back to me for?
* {{Fetish}}: "I... [[ParodiedTrope have a naked lady fetish]]."
* FingerMuzzle: Sage does this to Suave from his chair when Suave starts making bad jokes during the ''Manga/BattleAngelAlita'' review...while Suave's standing across the room.
-->'''Suave''': [{{beat}}] ...you have a very long arm.
* FormerlyFat: Bennett gained a ''lot'' of weight over the first few years of the show, but in 2017 he committed to a weight-loss regimen and lost over 100 pounds, as detailed [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1pbofz-2RQ here]].
* FreakOut: Has one in his ''Love Hina Spring Movie'' review during the song section, where he chants a parody of the tunnel scene poem from ''Film/WillyWonkaAndTheChocolateFactory'' and starts screaming before Marc comes in to snap Sage out of it.
* FreezeFrameBonus: In the ''Ninja Resurrection'' review, when Sage has his full-on HeroicRROD, there's a frame or two of [[UsefulNotes/AmakusaShiro Shiro of Amakusa's]] demonic face inserted in an homage to ''Film/TheExorcist''.
* FridgeHorror:[[invoked]]
** Sets in to some degree in ''Anime/NinjaScroll'' when Sage gets to the scene where Jubei interrupts Tessai's rape of Kagero.
--->[...] which actually begs the question...how long was Jubei standing there watching Kagero getting raped? *{{beat}}* He's the good guy, right?
** This is the reason he gives for [[BoyBand B4-4's]] video "Get Down" being part of his Top 10 SurrealMusicVideo list.
** Also invoked in the ''X'' review. He proceeds to scream his head off when he makes the connection.
* FridgeLogic: [[invoked]] He starts to wonder how it is that Koenma in ''Manga/YuYuHakusho: Poltergeist Report'' is not only drowning in the River Styx, but also gargling, when he has a pacifier in his mouth before he interrupts himself with "Wait! Cartoon! Fuck it."
* FrothyMugsOfWater: {{Invoked|Trope}} in the ''Nuts and Bolts'' video for the ''MD Geist'' review, when Bennett says that he doesn't drink actual liquor in ''Anime Abandon'' reviews, specifically noting that the "scotch" he drinks at the end of that review was actually apple juice. Marc is quite disappointed to learn this.
* FunWithAcronyms: His definition of a BAD anime: '''B'''oring, '''A'''nnoying, and '''D'''umb.
* GaggingOnYourWords: After a ''Virgin Fleet'' character says that nobody believes in [[VirginPower Virgin Energy]] anymore and that it's an old myth -- even though it was established earlier that this energy does exist in the OAV's universe -- Sage finds himself forced to apologize to ''[[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Evangelion: Death & Rebirth]]''.
-->[''holding the DVD in his hand''] I'm... I'm s... I'm s... We're cool, right?
* GameOfNerds: Sage outed himself as a baseball fan during the ''Anime/MezzoForte'' review.
* [[MartyStu Gary Stu]]: [[invoked]] Refers to the title character as ''Manga/{{Golgo 13}}'' as one.
* GirlOnGirlIsHot: He laments that the girl-on-girl scene in ''Cloud Mows the Lawn'' comes after virtually nothing but scat scenes.
* GivingUpOnLogic: Subverted. During his review of ''Anime/ProjectAKo'', he starts to wonder about whether he is so used to strange things in anime that nothing can faze him any more. Naturally, we get an immediate cut to something weird that disconcerts him, which prompts Sage to conclude that he hasn't reached that point just yet.
* {{Glurge}}: [[invoked]] Sage feels that ''Anime/GraveOfTheFireflies'' goes ''way'' too far in trying to emotionally manipulate the audience, and that it essentially exploits the tragedies of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII in order to guilt 1980's youth into falling in line and being more like their parents' generation.
* {{Gorn}}: Sage {{invoke|dTrope}}s this at the start of the "''Anime/{{Genocyber}}'' Part I" review in reference to how horrifically gory it is.
-->[...] I've reviewed plenty of gory anime before, but in those cases, the gore seemed so over the top that it's [[BloodyHilarious hilarious]]. In ''Genocyber'', though, the gore reaches this level where it stops being funny and starts being uncomfortable.
* GratuitousRape: He's brought up several times that he hates it when shows use this trope just for shock value. He takes special issue with the incestuous rape subplot in ''Doomed Megalopolis'' and seriously considered ending the review right then because he'll just continue to be pissed off about it for the rest of the review[[note]]And while Bennett doesn't mention this in the review, in the novel the movie was based on the BrotherSisterIncest [[AdaptationalConsent was actually consensual]], making it even more gratuitous[[/note]]. Rather ironic considering how he acts [[TheSociopath in character]]. He even lampshades it:
-->[[HypocrisyNod I know who I am when I'm saying this]], but rape is possibly ''[[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil the worst thing]]'' one person can do to another. Such an act, if included in any kind of a narrative, ''will bring it to a [[WhamEpisode grinding halt]]''. You have to respect your audience and address the issue directly. You do not diminish this violent act by making it the sidestory.
* {{Guyliner}}: Marc points out in the ''Nuts and Bolts'' commentary of ''Ninja Resurrection'' that Gabe was wearing this at the time they filmed his bits for the episode, for reasons neither he nor Bennett are quite sure of (though it's mentioned Bennett had just picked him up from the gym). They note that this emphasized Gabe becoming "evil Gabe" and actually managing to get back at Bennett for once.
* HePannedItNowHeSucks: Sage has made a habit of [[InvokedTrope anticipating this reaction]] whenever he reviews something that he knows is popular.
** At the start of the ''Manga/{{Akira}}'' review, he spends a long time talking about how influential the film was before he starts laying out its flaws.
** Same with ''Anime/PerfectBlue'', complete with anticipatory covering of his ears from expecting boos, only for them to not come at first [[DelayedReaction and start up a second later once he removes his hands]].
** At the start of his ''Anime/GraveOfTheFireflies'' review, he makes it clear he's fully expecting this when he says he doesn't like it.
* HandGagging: Near the end of the ''Manga/{{Guyver}}'' movie review, Sage does this to Critic when he's losing his patience and just wants to get the review over with.
* HasAType: The female characters Sage finds most interesting are what he dubs "[[ActionGirl Valkyrie Bitches]]"--self-assured, fun, slightly insane women who don't take crap from anyone and are eager to rise up against the challenges that come their way. He feels Leona from ''Anime/DominionTankPolice'' is the best example.
* HateSink: {{Invoked|Trope}} by Bennett in the ''Nuts and Bolts'' video for ''Sins of the Sisters'' toward Hans, the principal male character who is a callous, obnoxious, self-righteous jerk. Bennett point-blank calls him one of the most hateful characters he's ever encountered while doing the show.
* HeelRealization: [[spoiler:He must have erased the Critic's common sense along with the memories of all these bad sequels. Then he told him to jump off a cliff, and the Critic did so. He ''is'' the devil!]]
* HerCodeNameWasMarySue: One episode of "Masterpiece Fanfic Theater", ''Bennett vs KFC''.
* HeroicBSOD:
** He has a literal BSOD while trying to process the underground rave scene in ''Manga/DevilMan'', which cuts to a "We'll be right back" screen showing a cartoon of Marc carrying a stunned Sage in a wheelbarrow.
** Has something to this effect towards ''The End of Evangelion'', pondering his life choices.
** Sage has one when he ''tries'' to review ''Violence Jack'' due to his moral boundaries, to the point where [[spoiler:the entire review is him and Marc trying to puzzle out a format he thinks he can stomach, until [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere he decides to not do a review at all]]]].
** The GainaxEnding of ''Tokyo Revelation'' shuts him down completely, forcing Gabe to give the "next time" teaser at the end.
** During the review of ''Ninja Resurrection'', Gabe reveals to Sage that he spent the last two days in that condition following the viewing of that show which Sage has totally repressed his memory of.
** The combined insanity of ''Sins of the Sisters'' and the nightmarish sequence after left him sitting in his chair [[ThousandYardStare staring into nothingness]] and making scratch marks in a notebook.
* HeroicRROD:
** Increasingly during the ''Ninja Resurrection'' review as he starts remembering watching it before, symbolized by a ringing sound and blood coming out of Sage's nose and mouth.
** Censor Kaiser has one in the ''Apocalypse Zero'' review, when Sage badgering him to not censor a particular shot causes him to rage so hard that he explodes. This, of course, leads to his aforementioned resurrection...and he still refuses to show the scene.
* HiddenDepths: Suave gets to show off some of his in the ''Anime/IDreamOfMimi'' review, mainly during his rant about why he doesn't like the male lead. He eloquently explains why he finds the character to be unlikeable, why he thinks it's unrealistic that anybody would want to be around him, and why he finds the lack of negative consequences for him to be insulting and offensive. In the process, he also shows that [[ChivalrousPervert while he's a shameless pervert, he's not really a bad guy]].
* HilariousOuttakes: The ''Little Nemo'' review's credits include an outtake of the "whimsy shotgun" scene in which Bennett (as Savage) accidentally snaps the gun's front handgrip off and repeatedly tries to get it back on, {{corpsing}} the entire time.
* HomoeroticSubtext:[[invoked]]
** If he catches very blatant examples, he'll call attention to it and lampshade it for comedic effect, such as in the interactions between the leads in ''Psychic Force'':
--->Two close friends, grunting and panting together, remarking about how they've "come" to save each other. Is there such a thing as homoerotic ''over''text?
** He's got a few good examples of it himself, most notably in the Sonic review where he '''graphically''' tells Doug (acting like Doug, Critic was dead at this point) to give him a blowjob and Doug's fine with it.
** During the ''Virus Hunter Serge'' review, he brings this up as a pervasive element in Creator/MasamiObari's work, noting that his female character designs, while fanservicey, are distorted and unattractive while his male characters have supermodel-like physiques and are often costumed so as to show off their abs. In ''Serge'''s case, he also notes that Serge's "weapon" against the Virus is a collar, there are multiple slo-mo shots of Serge undressed, and more heterosexually-focused scenes are brief and quickly cut away from.
--->'''Sage:''' This is ''Film/YoungGuns'' gay. This is ''Film/TopGun'' gay. [...] Do you get it?! This isn't [[CampGay ga-aaayyy]], this is '''[[ManlyGay gay]]'''!
* HookersAndBlow: Sage invokes this for a joke about ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'' being Creator/{{Bandai|NamcoEntertainment}}'s CashCowFranchise in his review of ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWingEndlessWaltz''. When a little girl asks about the events of the movie and asking why people are fighting, Sage in a skit as her grandpa replies that Bandai needs the money for "coke and whores" before [[VerbalBackspace correcting himself and saying "milk and cookies"]].
* HowIsThatEvenPossible: During the review of ''Anime/PokemonTheFirstMovie'', Sage is dumbfounded when he sees Gabe playing ''VideoGame/PokemonGo'' when by this point Gabe has been completely blinded.
-->'''Gabe''': It's all in the wrist!
* HypocrisyNod: In the ''8 Man After'' review, he acknowledges he's hardly one to criticize the pronunciation of names, then cuts to the still shot of the SEELE monoliths from the ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' review and clears his throat.
* IAlwaysWantedToSayThat: In his review of ''Anime/CyberCityOedo808'', Sage uses a clip from the end of ''Film/{{Commando}}'' where [[Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger John Matrix]] has impaled the villain ([[NamesTheSame also named Bennett]]) on a steam pipe. After Matrix quips [[BondOneLiner "Let off some steam, Bennett"]], Sage retorts he is, then chastises himself for waiting 160 episodes to use that clip.
* ICallHimMisterHappy: In his review of ''Anime/DevilHunterYohko'', a character that is '''far''' too happy with "chopping up demons" scares his "General".
* INeedAFreakingDrink:
** He keeps a bottle of scotch on hand during the ''Doomed Megalopolis'' review, and runs out near the end.
** He drinks three bottles of Wild Turkey over the course of his ''Anime/SonicTheHedgehogTheMovie'' review.
** During one of the fugue sequences in the ''Violence Jack'' review, there are several empty bottles of scotch lying on the floor, and he kills one while he's talking to Gabe.
* ImGoingToHellForThis:
** Said in the second part of the ''Anime/{{Genocyber}}'' review when he dubs over a genuinely heartwrenching scene at the end where the doctor is having a breakdown about the wild child (who she thinks is her dead daughter) with dialog from ''Manga/GoldenBoy'' where the biker chick is begging Kintaro to screw her. The joke comes from Laura Chapman being the dub actress in both roles.
** Invoked in ''Masterpiece Fanfic Theater'' episode 2 as he announces a crossover of ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' and ''Theatre/TheDiaryOfAnneFrank''.
--->If I wasn't going to hell before, I certainly am now.
* IndecisiveParody: Discussed extensively in his review of ''Anime/AgentAika'', but to humorous effect. He notes that the excessive amount of {{Fanservice}} can either be seen as a parody or just indulgent.
* InSeriesNickname: Marc the Engineer often refers to Sage as "Lunchbox."
* InsaneTrollLogic: What Bennett used to figure out Linkara's old Website/FanfictionDotNet [[OldShame penname]]. While not being lucky at the first try, he proceeded on watching ''WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall'' until he focuses on a single clue: Linkara's love for ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}''. He analyzes his personality further, until he "deduces" that his pen name used to be "Psyweedle", and ends up finding his old fanfics within seconds.
* IntendedAudienceReaction: Sage has {{invoked|Trope}} this in multiple reviews.
** In an example that ''doesn't'' involve him, he got kidnapped by WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic for a crossover to review ''Film/SpeedRacer'', and there's a montage of Gabe having fun. Sage later returns to his house. Who expected Gabe to be starting to host his own episode of ''Anime Abandon''?
** At the end of his review of ''Anime/PokemonTheFirstMovie'', he mentions that you can only talk about ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' for so long without someone bringing up "another nostalgic kids anime that also had an ill-advised movie made from it". Who was honestly expecting him to hold up a copy of ''Anime/YuGiOhTheMoviePyramidOfLight'' or ''Anime/DigimonTheMovie'' instead of what he actually held up, ''[[Anime/TheVisionOfEscaflowne Escaflowne: A Girl in Gaea]]''?
** When he did review ''A Girl in Gaea'', he invoked this a second time, holding up ''Digimon The Movie''...but he seems aware of the fact that some fans were expecting him to hold up ''The Pyramid of Light'' instead.
** He did this yet again at the end of his review of ''Judge'', where he says that his next title is "one of the most manly anime to have ever come to the States"...yet he holds up ''Anime/RidingBean'', instead of what many fans had expected (and had been requesting), the OVA adaptation of ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders''[[note]]he had already reviewed TheMovie for ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'', and he wouldn't review the live-action adaptation of that without a good reason[[/note]].
** In the review of the aforementioned ''Riding Bean'', he ended the video by saying that next month would be ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'' month...yet instead of holding up ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing''[[note]]the most popular ''Gundam'' anime in the states, and the one that made the biggest impact; he did eventually review ''Endless Waltz''[[/note]] or ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam0083StardustMemory''[[note]]the first ''Gundam'' series he name-dropped on ''Anime Abandon'', as well as a title he's refused to talk about on Toonami month, due to him needing to talk about ''Gundam'' at length to do so[[/note]]...he holds up ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamF91'', which results in him being booed.
* JailbaitTaboo: Along with his hate of treating rape cavalierly, Sage doesn't like when young teens are used in blatantly sexual contexts.
** Sage is horrified when the two leads of ''Anime/PlasticLittle'' are revealed to be 16 and 17 respectively during a scene of them bathing together ''completely naked''. When the review comes back from the commercial Sage is on the phone with his lawyer.
** This comes up repeatedly in ''VideoGame/{{Devadasy}}''. For instance, after a particularly innuendo-laden bit from Not-Asuka, Sage looks shocked while a blinking, klaxon-blaring subtitle lampshading the sexual tension pops up, then he slaps it off the screen and yells "''Fourteen-year-olds'', assholes!"
** He mentions repeatedly that he wishes ''Manga/ElfenLied'' had less underage nudity in it, though he says that to the show's credit, he doesn't think it's generally meant as {{fanservice}}.
** Worse still, ''Anime/JungleDeIkou'', where the protagonist and her friends are ''twelve years old.'' This leads Sage to multiple fits of screaming rage and eventually to end the review on the spot when the main character's friend starts doing her own transformation dance, which is even more erotically charged than the main character's and even includes [[{{Squick}} a close up shot of liquid falling on the floor from between her legs]].
** In the ''Manga/GunsmithCats'' review, he mentions being uncomfortable with Creator/KenichiSonoda's tendency to use young-looking characters for fanservice, citing May from ''Gunsmith Cats'' and ''Manga/CannonGodExaxxion'' in general.
** He cites this as one of the problematic parts of episode 12 of ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamThe08thMSTeam'', noting that Toonami chose not to air the episode at all, although he has far more issues with it than just that.
* JustAStupidAccent:
** Combined with WhatTheHellIsThatAccent, it's brought up in ''Anime/PlasticLittle'', as some of the crew speak in obvious forced accents so odd and weird that it makes Sage begin to doubt one of the characters in question even speaks English to begin with.
** The racist caricature character in ''Wild Cardz'' speaks with such a thick, fake, vaguely Chinese accent that Sage can barely figure out what he's actually saying and can't figure out what he has to do in the story because he's barely understandable.

[[folder:K - O]]
* KarmaHoudini:
** He's incensed by the fact that the rapist brother in ''Doomed Megalopolis'' gets off with only a few punches to the jaw.
** He's similarly angered by ''De:vadasy'' for Minato not facing any consequences for raping Not-Shinji, since the scene was never brought up again.
* KnowWhenToFoldEm:
** Sage's "review" of ''Manga/ViolenceJack'' consists of Sage trying different ways to review it without actually showing anything. At the end of the review, he gives up and says there's really no good way to do it, throwing in the towel on trying.
** After his review of ''Tenchi Forever'', Sage says that he's done with ''Tenchi'' as a series, even though there's other continuities and entries in the ''Tenchi'' series that he hasn't touched. Sage admits that he really doesn't have anything else to say about the series and its many different continuities, and he chose ''Tenchi Forever'' to end on because it ends the Universe continuity and carries an air of finality throughout the film. (At the time, ''Forever'' really was going to be the last ''Tenchi'' animation ever made, but it got a ContinuityReboot years later.)
* LamePunReaction: Sage makes a series of bad puns during the ''Viper GTS'' review. The first two get groans, the one about ''Film/MadMaxBeyondThunderdome'' causes Gabe to jump on him and choke him.
* LeeroyJenkins: Sage [[InvokedTrope describes]] Leila as such in the ''Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust'' review after she takes off on her own to confront Meier Link...although he admits that it may have been just to get away from Borgoff's dad jokes.
* LetUsNeverSpeakOfThisAgain: After Sage and Gabe are forced into a temporary [[SwappedRoles role reversal]] during the InfoDump segment of the ''Bubblegum Crisis'' review, Gabe tries to let Sage know that he'd like to do it again, only to be told to can it and never bring the subject up again, lest he suffer the consequences.
* LongList:
** During the ''Manga/CityHunter'' review, Sage gives a list of all the euphemisms the dub ''could'' have used in place of "Nookie" to refer to sex, with the final one simply being [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking "fucking"]].
** During the ''End of Evangelion'' review, Sage pulls out a list of the show's {{plothole}}s and related questions. The list is apparently made up of over 2,400 entries.
* LoopholeAbuse:
** Suave admits during the ''Angel Blade'' review that he cannot show the audience a certain scene, which Censor Kaiser agrees to. Suave simply plays the audio, making what's going on quite obvious.
** This is also done in the ''Mezzo Forte'' review during the second pornographic sequence. Sage notes that he can’t show what’s happening but plays the audio from the last few scenes, which is ''very'' clear about what's happening.
* LovesTheSoundOfScreaming: Critic's crying {{angrish}} in ''Starchaser'' leads to the ADateWithRosiePalms subversion up above.
* MachoMasochism: Sage mocks ''Anime/ApocalypseZero''[='s=] protagonist's [[RatedMForManly one-note machismo]] and willingness to take injury just to prove his toughness.
-->Scars? Don't you mean ''man tattoos?''
* MadeMyselfSad: Jokes about this in the ''Anime/MacrossII'' review, where he utters this after imitating the mustached pilots' ContemplateOurNavels speech about how the Earth isn't the center of the universe.
* {{Manchild}}: Sage's opinion of Creator/MasamiObari's mindset, noting the similarities to Creator/FrankMiller, including how both abuse MaleGaze to the extreme.
-->When you examine [Obari's works] they follow a very 'pubescent boy' kind of motif. Fighting is awesome, giant robots are awesome, boobs are awesome. All else is in the background.
* MemeticBadass: InUniverse. Like WebVideo/JesuOtaku, Sage and Suave both marvel at how awesome Harlock is, Sage even citing him as one of the most Baller Baddasses to ever live.
* MicDrop: During the ''[[VideoGame/FatalFury Fatal Fury: Double Impact]]'' review, Sage says that [[BigBad Krauser]], after unleashing an epic NoHoldsBarredBeatdown[=/=]BreakTheBadass moment on [[TheHero Terry Bogard]], has essentially just done the equivalent of the following:
-->*''drops a mic''*\\
[=*=]''holds out his other hand, holding two mics, and drops them''*\\
[=*=]''pulls out a sack filled with mics, and starts spilling them out onto the floor''*
* MindScrew: His view on the old dub of ''Manga/{{Akira}}''.
* MoodWhiplash:
** He had to snap his head loose after an extremely bad instance from ''Doomed Megalopolis''.
** One of his and the Nostalgia Critic's biggest complaints with the first ''Manga/{{Guyver}}'' live-action movie is that the film can't decide whether it wants to be dark and violent or DenserAndWackier, and ends up wildly schizophrenic as a result.
** He cites this as one of the major problems with ''Puppet Princess'', as it frequently switches from gory violence to slapstick comedy on a dime.
** He discusses a specific version in the ''Voogie's Angel'' review which he calls "Final Act Syndrome", in which a comedic series, rather than going through CerebusSyndrome, suddenly and drastically switches to tragic in its last episode. He also notes that ''Voogie's Angel'', in his opinion, took over from ''Manga/DesertPunk'' as the defining example of this type of shift. He brings this up again in the ''Master of Martial Hearts'' review, although in that one, he describes the tonal shift in the last episode as being so out of nowhere and so ludicrously exaggerated that it causes the plot to circle all the way back to black comedy.
* MoralEventHorizon:
** He [[InvokedTrope says]] that he can't have any sympathy for the protagonist of ''Junk Boy'' after he tells a starlet that masturbating to photos of her is probably the only reason he's not a rapist.
** He is absolutely repulsed by Shinji [[spoiler:[[ADateWithRosiePalms jacking off to the comatose Asuka]]]] in ''The End of Evangelion''. In his opinion, this scene doesn't make Shinji an unlikely hero, it makes him a douchebag.
* MoralGuardians: Sage has noted that he would like to do more reviews as Suave, but [=YouTube=] demonetizing them kills the incentive. Suave lampshades his absence as host in the ''Green Green'' review.[[note]]This review was sponsored, getting around the demonetizing issue.[[/note]]
* MotorMouth:
** Sage's all-in-one-breath explanation of UsefulNotes/{{Gnosticism}} during the ''WesternAnimation/AeonFlux'' review.
** His breakneck-speed rundown of ''Anime/{{Kite}}''[='s=] climax takes him three deep breaths to get through.
* MundaneMadeAwesome: In order to deal with ''Odin'', which he claimed was the most boring anime he'd ever seen, Sage decided to set the mood... with Suave's light jazz and [[spoiler:a copy of ''Highlights'' magazine]]. After a while, though, that doesn't cut it anymore, and he brings out "the big guns": [[spoiler:''National Geographic'']].
-->Let's ''do'' this bitch!
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Declared in his ''Top Ten Worst Songs (By Otherwise Good Artists)'' list, after realizing that he resuscitated Music/{{Genesis}}' otherwise under-the-rug "Illegal Alien".
* {{Narm}}: [[invoked]]
** Discussed in regards to Tetsuro's character design in a flashback in ''Galaxy Express 999'', where the fact that he looks so strange completely kills the mood of a scene where he watches his mother die.
** Also brought up in his discussion of ''Gall Force'', saying the mourning montage was ruined by one character doing so while sitting on a toilet.
* NatureVersusNurture: Discussed in the ''Manga/ElfenLied'' review as one of the work's core themes. Sage argues that, while the show sets up the question "are we born evil, or are we made evil?", it ultimately plays the two extremes against the middle and never picks a side.
* TheNicknamer: In ''Anime Abandon'', he hardly ever calls any character by their actual name unless he can't find anything he can compare them to.
** He takes this [[UpToEleven to an extreme]] in his ''Super Atragon'' review, where he refers to the main character by a different nickname every time he mentions him.
** He plays around with this finely in his ''Wild Cardz'' review, where the four main characters are card-themed with each representing a suit, and every time Sage refers to them with song titles containing the suit. Fortunately, Spade deserves the least mention.
--->Clubland and Total Eclipse of the Heart manage to blow their way onto the white knight, leaving Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds to fend off... him.
** Ironically, the one character in his ''Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie'' review that he calls by name is Miles Prower, referred to as Tails rather than his real name in almost all ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' media.
** Noting how much ''De:vadasy'' is a ripoff of ''Evangelion'', Sage refers to its three teenaged protagonists as Not-Shinji, Not-Asuka, and Not-Rei.
* NightmareFuelStationAttendant: Given that he reads the most vile, disgusting and horrendous fanfics in existence without batting an eye... yeah. And that's not even getting into his guest appearance on Ask That Guy, where he manages to do the impossible and makes ATG {{squick}}.
* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: At the start of the ''Elfen Lied'' review, Sage is lured to a hotel by the Channel Awesome crew, who proceed to beat the shit out of him...[[SubvertedTrope with wiffle ball bats]].
* NoSenseOfPersonalSpace: Even when Sage is trying to convince Critic that he's a good guy, he still can't resist grabbing him more than he should.
* NostalgiaFilter: Sage has admitted on more than one occasion that he looks back on the anime of the past a lot more fondly than those of today. He states that back in the anime boom, creative freedom was at its highest and it allowed creators to fully realize their vision and push the limits of the medium. He feels that the market for today, being smaller, takes less risks and adheres to formula in order to make a secure profit. However, he also notes that while anime was at its best in his time, it was also at its worst, and said freedom spawned enough terrible anime to keep his show afloat for a good while to come. While he may not prefer today's shows, he agrees that the quality control is a lot better.
* NotHelpingYourCase: While ''The Guyver'' has Sage displaying saint-like patience with Critic and trying to get him to have fun again, the NoSenseOfPersonalSpace (and liking a voice actor who played a rapist) along with the ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' rip-off movie involving also a DisneyDeath and Creator/MarkHamill turning into a gross cockroach wasn't exactly the best way to prove anything.
* NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer: Since reviewers do frequently edit video clips for comedic effect, Sage often points out when he ''hasn't'' done this to a particular clip.
** In ''Odin'' after the soundtrack suddenly goes to, as Sage puts it, an "out of place {{Engrish}} HairMetal montage" it cuts back to him staring into the camera and saying "I shit you not, I did nothing to that footage."
** He reassures the audience in the ''Anime/ArmitageIII'' review that [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiefer_Sutherland Kiefer William Frederick Dempsey George Rufus Sutherland]] isn't a joke he made up, the guy really does have an OverlyLongName.
** At the end of the ''Tokyo Revelation'' review, he emphasizes the utter WTF factor of its conclusion.
--->Now, I'm going to show you the ending, and I swear to you by all that is holy that I have not edited this in any way. This is ''exactly'' how this anime ends.
** He leads into a ''very'' jarringly edited sequence in ''De:vadasy'' with "Even their painful expository scenes feel like they were edited by a chimp with ADD. I promise you, I've done ''nothing'' to the footage you're about to see."
* NotWhatItLooksLike: In the review for ''The Samurai'', one scene in which Takashi's teacher and another girl try to help him get over his fear of women by first showing him a skin magazine and then stripping, only to be caught by Takashi's mother, brings this line out:
-->'''Teacher:''' Mrs. Yamaguchi, it's not what it looks like!\\
'''Sage:''' You're right, this isn't what it looks like. It's arguably much worse.
* ObligatoryJoke: {{Invoked|Trope}} in the "Top 10 Worst Songs by Otherwise Good Artists" video. When Sage notes that [[Music/BillyJoel "We Didn't Start the Fire"]] is a lazy song, the video cuts to [[Music/BrunoMars "The Lazy Song"]], then back to Bennett writing something on some paper.
-->Obligatory joke quota... done!
* OnlySixFaces:
** Sage notes in the ''Manga/LoveHina Spring Movie'' review that there's no reason for Shinobu and Nyamo to be identical. It plays no part in the plot, and is only barely remarked upon. He figures that Creator/KenAkamatsu just ran out of character designs and decided to re-use Shinobu's with a tan and longer hair.
** Sage mentions some of the re-used character designs of Masami Obari that show up in ''Angel Blade'' and ''Voogie's Angel'' but originated from other works, most notably "Taint Misbehavin'" and a blond-haired villain from ''Voltage Fighter Gowkaiser''.
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Most of the time, Bennett remains in-character for his reviews, with Sage delighting in the perversity and wrongness of many of the shows he reviews. The major breaks are the "review" of ''Violence Jack''; when he doffs his hat and speaks frankly about the rape subplot in ''Doomed Megalopolis''; and when he, as Bennett and not Sage, breaks into the review of ''Anime/{{Memories}}'' to speak to the audience about ''Magnetic Rose'', encouraging viewers to skip the rest of the review and watch it if they haven't already and don't want spoilers, and talking about how personal the short is to him. The ''Manga/BarefootGen'' review is probably the best example. Bennett was '''deeply''' affected by his visit to Hiroshima months prior, and while he does the review as Sage, it's the most somber and serious review he's done to date, with not even a hint of humor, and by the end his composure is starting to crack.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:P - T]]
* {{Padding}}: At one point in ''Series/{{Kikaider}}'', Mitsuko has an encounter with her long-lost mother which goes very badly. In a later scene Jiro says that they need to leave, only for Mitsuko, after a long pause, to say that she's going to try to talk to her mother again. Sage feels it's insultingly obvious that [[InvokedTrope this was only done to pad out the episode's run time]].
-->They obviously did not give one tiny, microscopic particle of a gerbil shit about what they were writing. They just needed for it to meet a 22 minute running time. [...] It's the only time that I've felt that an anime was deliberately and obstinately wasting my time.
* PantsFree: During ''Anime/TwilightOfTheCockroaches'', after Jeremy suggests giving the female viewers some {{fanservice}} in the form of Sage's bottom half, the camera cuts to a full body shot of Sage showing him in boxer shots while Sage says he doesn't think that's such a good idea.
* ParentalIncest: During the ''X'' review, Sage notices that, since [[BrotherSisterIncest Kotori is the lover of Kamui/Fuuma]] and she carries the Sword of the Dragon of Earth in her body, this implies something similar between Kamui and his mother. [[ScreamingAtSquick He isn't pleased.]]
* ParodyProductPlacement:
** At the end of a gory scene in the "''Genocyber'' Part I" review[[note]]in which a scientist wakes up to find that he's handcuffed to a bed and his torso has been flayed down to the skeleton[[/note]], a "Not going anywhere? Grab a Snickers!" "ad" pops up.
** In the ''X'' review, he calls out a blatant scene where the main character drops down in front of a Coke billboard.
--->Subtle product placement there, Potzi. Well, you can count on me to keep artistic integrity and keep corporate sponsorship at a bare minimum...just like the prices at your local Sizzler. *''cut to a Sizzler "ad" that ends with "At least we're not Denny's!"''*
** While reviewing ''Anime/BurnUp'', Sage notices that one of the bit bad guys looks a lot like Creator/WilfordBrimley, which leads to an extended parody of Brimley’s {{memetic|Mutation}} plugs for Liberty Medical.
* PassThePopcorn: Sage sits back, drinks a soda, has some popcorn and just shows clips of ''Manga/UltimateTeacher'' until Rob Walker calls him out on it. [[spoiler:Then Rob starts to watch the show... and joins in.]]
* PlayingAgainstType:[[invoked]] Discussed in his review of ''Manga/Golgo13: Queen Bee'', as Golgo was voiced by Creator/JohnDiMaggio, to which Bennett 1) confirms that this is the same guy who voiced [[WesternAnimation/AdventureTime Jake the Dog]], [[WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack the Scotman]], [[WesternAnimation/KimPossible Dr. Drakken]], [[WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold Aquaman]], [[WesternAnimation/BatmanUnderTheRedHood the Joker]], and (of course) [[WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}} Bender]], and 2) given Golgo is generally cold and quiet, compares it to casting Creator/GaryOldman as, of all people, [[Film/TheViewAskewniverse Silent Bob]].
* PlotHole:
** He points out the rather large one in ''Doomed Megalopolis'' concerning the fact that Yukiko claims to know that her father is really her mother's brother, even though he supposedly impregnated her ''after'' Kato tried to use her as a conduit to summon the spirit.[[note]]the actual explanation seems to be that he raped her more than once, but it's still not clear in the show[[/note]]
--->Either the asshole has time-traveling sperm, or we've got a plot hole the size of fuckin' China.
** {{Discussed|trope}} during the ''Kikaider'' review. Sage brings up the tendency of critics to focus on plot holes when lambasting a work, noting that they're inescapable, that ''every'' film has them regardless of overall quality, and that over-emphasis on pointing them out is an intellectually lazy and dishonest form of criticism. On the other hand, he says that a work has to be solid enough to make flaws such as plot holes easily overlooked and/or outweighed by what it does right, otherwise they just stand out that much more.
* {{Prequel}}: Sage spends most of the ''Anime/IriaZeiramTheAnimation'' review complaining about them, using most of the arguments on the page.
* PunnyName: He frequently points out the various Japanese puns that don't translate to English, such as the fact that in ''Anime/MezzoForte'' the names Momokichi and Momomi Momoi are roughly the equivalent of "Peach Peacherson and his daughter Peachy Peachman."
* RageQuit: {{Invoked|Trope}} in the ''Series/{{Kikaider}}'' review. Sage leads off the discussion of the "Mitsuko tries to talk to her mother again" scene by noting that it's the only time an anime has ever made him "throw down [his] notes and just rage quit", and he later says that it infuriated him so badly that he actually had a tantrum over it.
* RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil: Sage clearly believes this as he describes it point-blank as "possibly ''[[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil the worst thing]]'' one person can do to another [...]" in the ''Doomed Megalopolis'' review. Seeing such a serious subject treated in a juvenile manner, such as in ''Anime/MadBull34'', generally disgusts him as well.
** He makes a point to note this during the review of ''Vampire Wars'':
--->Japan, what is this, the third fucking time in a row we've had this discussion? If you can't write a story without rape in it, could you at least wait until '''after''' the five minute mark?
** Brought up again in the first part of the ''Anime/{{Genocyber}}'' review, with the added {{squick}} that the victim is a ''child'' who's being molested, and Sage comments that he doesn't even feel comfortable showing the censored scene.
** This comes up again in the ''De:vadasy'' review when Not-Shinji is raped by his female superior under the pretense of obtaining a semen sample. Sage leads into his dissection with "This...isn't the most egregiously terrible thing I was allowed to show you, but it probably is the most morally repugnant." and adds another layer to it being a bad rip-off of ''Evangelion'' by comparing the scene to the "Misato kissing Shinji" scene in ''The End of Evangelion'', noting that while there are surface similarities, the latter has plot- and character-relevant context to offset and even justify its squicky nature whereas the former simply tries to gloss over its grossness.
--->It's never brought up again, there's no repercussion for Minato, and the anime clearly portrays not-Shinji being traumatized from it.[...] Not-Shinji is trying to deal with this horrible situation by just laughing it off, but it's undercut with these dark looming shots of Minato to clearly show what he's thinking. [''clearly incensed''] 'Depraved' is too short a word for this.
* ARareSentence: From his ''Night Warriors'' review:
-->'''Sage:''' We cut to Felicia the cat woman--or "waman"[[note]]as an on-screen typo from the movie suggests[[/note]] as it were--running into Raptor, an undead cockney rock star. *{{beat}}* ... aaaaaaand yes! I just confirmed that this sentence has never been uttered in the history of language.
* RealLifeWritesThePlot: Bennett was originally going to do a normal episode for the ''Voogie's Angel'' review, but his script-writing program seized up and corrupted the episode's file, killing a week and a half's work. Rather than trying to blitz through a rewrite to get the episode out on time, he decided to do an off-the-cuff commentary-style episode as himself and not Sage. In the ''Master of Martial Hearts'' review, Sage says that this format got such a warm reception that he decided to make it the norm for anime that are so lackluster that they don't deserve an in-depth review, with [=MoMH=] being such a case.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: He gives an extended one to the brother in ''Doomed Megalopolis'' after he launches into a {{wangst}}y whine session about how hard his life is since he has to take care of his sister, who, Sage points out, ''he raped and impregnated'', and his own niece/daughter, and Sage concludes that he should have a fundraiser concert thrown for him. The pure vitriol in the last line really sells it.
-->[[SarcasmMode Oh my dear sweet Lord, how tough do you have it?]] Not only do you have to take care of your mentally damaged sister that you '''raped''', but you also have to take care of your daughter/niece. You know what? I think I'm gonna start a fundraiser to help you out, in fact, someone get me Bob Geldof's number, I'm sure he'd bend over backwards to throw a benefit concert just for you! Don't you worry, asshole, because when [[Music/{{U2}} Bono]] is up there on stage, guilt-tripping the audience about you and your plight, you'll finally get all of the sympathy you've been waiting for since you first took your sister's virginity, '''''you worthless sack of shit!'''''
* ReformedButRejected: The ''Manga/{{Guyver}}'' review has him being really nice to Critic because he's trying to convince him that he's not Devil!Sage, but Critic keeps throwing any kindness back in his face. Given that the reboot reviews have made it very likely that Critic CameBackWrong though, it also works to further that StoryArc.
* ReusedCharacterDesign: He will point this out for creators whose work features more than once on the show, for instance Levih Rah from ''Literature/DemonCityShinjuku'' sharing his design with Zack from Kawajiri's earlier work ''The Running Man''.
* RevisitingTheRoots: {{Invoked|Trope}} in a couple of reviews:
** In the review of ''Anime/CyberCityOedo808'' in 2016, Sage first discusses how he started ''Anime Abandon'' in 2011 mainly to mock bad anime, and says for the aforementioned title, "I want to return to my roots." Gabe sends him back in time to 2011, and when Sage sees his original set, he remarks "Lack of [=DVDs=] on the shelf? Horrible lighting and camera angle?! No Gabe?! [[LampshadeHanging It's 2011, mo'fuckers!]]" The video then does the original opening theme, and Sage does the review in his more sardonic, snarky, unrefined riffing style of the era, instead of the more mature, nuanced opinions he gave by 2016. In the ''Nuts and Bolts'' commentary, Bennett mentioned his plan was to originally use the then-mediocre editing methods of the time as well, but later decided that was unnecessary.
** In his review of ''Galerians: Rion'' in 2019, he talks about how the anime was based on a [=PS1=] game called ''Galerians''. To elaborate on it, he announces "Time for us to hop into the Wayback Machine!"; the review then immediately transfers to the style of ''Sage Reviews'', his review show he retired 6 years prior and which was his start on Blistered Thumbs. He returns to his dry, humorless tone of informing the viewers how the game completely rips off ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'' and how disappointing it is. However, unlike those videos, which were usually 5-10 minutes in length, he stops this "review" 30 seconds in and then returns to his contemporary format.
* RootingForTheEmpire:[[invoked]] Sage ''cheers'' when TheBaroness in ''Virgin Fleet'' blows up the class president's plane. [[spoiler:[[AssPull Too bad for him she survives.]]]]
* RougeAnglesOfSatin: Several stories reviewed on ''Masterpiece Fanfic Theater'' suffer from this to a ridiculous degree (troll fics or not), particularly in episodes 2 and 10.
* RuleSixtyThree: Referenced by name in ''VideoGame/{{Sin}} The Movie'' where Sage refers to Jessica, the SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute of her brother JC, who suffers SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome early in the film, as "Rule 63 JC" which wasn't helped by her also being ''called'' JC in the film.
* RunningGag:
** Outside of videos, his refusal to admit he has fangirls.
** During the ''Mad Bull 34'' review, the "Blondes in Peril" count.
** His "No Shit" counter in response to characters making narrations and statements on the obvious in his ''Baoh'' review.
** Not a "gag" per se, but his constant refusal to review ''Violence Jack'', culminating in him [[spoiler:throwing his copy into a river...and then the actual "review" came along]].
* {{Satan}}: He's the devil, to nobody's surprise. Okay, not really. (''Or is he?'')
* ScreamingAtSquick:
** Lots of it during his ''Manga/{{X|1999}}'' review.
** He shouts in horror during his review of ''Tenchi the Movie 2: The Daughter of Darkness'' when Yosho apparently starts hitting on his own great-granddaughter.
* ScrewThisImOutOfHere:
** Sage bails out of the reviews of ''Anime/SwordForTruth'' and ''Jungle de Ikou!'' before they are finished. With the former, it's because he's so pissed off with the show. The latter is due to the '''incredible''' creepiness of one character's transformation dance; he's already thoroughly uncomfortable with a lot of what's happened before this scene, but that's the final straw.
** Sage preemptively quits before the ''Love Hina Again'' review because he can't stand ''Love Hina'', leaving it to Suave. Suave himself tries to quit halfway through, but he finds that the doors to the review room are locked and he can't leave.
** Gabe runs out of the room and locks the door behind him when he sees Sage about to have an apoplectic fit at the end of the ''A Very Private Lesson'' review. [[CreditsGag Over the credits]], Sage can be heard banging on the door yelling for Gabe to let him out, along with "I NEED TO PUT MY EVIL INSIDE YOU!!!"
* SadisticChoice: The review of ''Violence Jack'' turns out to be this: Bennett doesn't love the show enough to give it a glowing review, but he doesn't hate it enough to go on a screaming rant about it. He knows that it's possible to make the show's horrific material (which includes child murder, gang-rape and cannibalism) funny, but he actually doesn't ''want'' to. And even then, there's one huge overriding problem: half the show is too obscene, too violent, or too gratuitous to show. Ordinarily, he'd just say 'OK, let's try something else' and do another show, but after months and months of hyping it, he feels that he has an obligation to his fans to give them ''something''. He finally ends up realizing that the show isn't worth the agony he put himself through and ditches it.
* {{Sexophone}}: Suave's {{Leitmotif}}, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izGwDsrQ1eQ "Careless Whisper"]]. It's also used when sexy things happen in general.
* ShareTheMalePain: In the ''My My Mai'' review, Sage winces and cringes through an extended scene talking about curing split personality disorder...through an acupuncture needle to the base of the testicles.
-->'''Sage''': [''strained, high-pitched voice''] Let's...move on, please!
* SharedUniverse: The Reviewaverse. [[spoiler:Considering the controversy around Channel Awesome and [[WebVideo/YouCanPlayThis JewWario]], and that Bennett is no longer a CA creator and no longer has Justin's hat on the shelf by his chair, it remains to be seen if this is still the case.]]
* ShowDontTell: {{Discussed|Trope}}. One of Sage's most widespread criticisms of anime in general is the tendency to flat-out state what characters are thinking and feeling instead of invoking it through actions and body language. He does understand the economical reasons behind this, but doesn't like it.
* SincerityMode:
** His video game reviews are done as dryly as possible without any real humor to them, in contrast to most of the rest of the TGWTG stuff.
** Also pops up occasionally in ''Anime Abandon''; see RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil for an example of something he does ''not'' take lightly at all.
** As explained in the commentary, Critic!Sage's comments on ''Anime/TwilightOfTheCockroaches'' also more or less match up with what he actually thinks of it.
* SkinshipGrope: {{Discussed|Trope}} in the ''Strange Love'' review. After the lead character does this to her love interest, Sage asks the audience to tell him in the comments the level of bullshit the trope itself actually is.
* SkywardScream: Done by the Critic when Sage's snarky comments about ''Gunsmith Cats''[='=] depiction of Chicago traffic cause him to lose his cool and try to drive to Sage's place to pummel him...only to get stuck in traffic.
-->'''Critic''': SAAAAAAAAAAAAGE!!!\\
'''Sage''': Ahhhhh...you hear that? That's the sound of me being right.
* {{Slapstick}}: Sage [[DiscussedTrope discusses]] the universal appeal of slapstick in the review for ''The Samurai'', noting that while it's bottom-tier humor, it's humor everyone gets, without a need for culture-specific knowledge or history, and proves the point with a scene where Takashi and the ninja sisters all {{pratfall}} in different ways during a chase sequence through a woman's bathroom.
* SoBadItsGood: [[invoked]] A small handful of the clunkers Sage has covered on ''Anime Abandon'' have earned this distinction. It's also his general opinion about Masami Obari, as the detail and attention he puts into the focal points of his works (namely, fighting, mecha, and fanservice) give them a certain infectious charm even though they're generally terrible.
-->[''from the ''Gowcaizer'' review''] It's nothing but shiny, glorious failure and I love it like a mother loves her child who can't stop eating paste.
* SoBadItWasBetter: [[invoked]] His view of Uwe Boll and Masami Obari is that they're best when they're doing off-the-wall stupidity. Boll's original films had terrible acting, plots, etc. and were SoBadItsGood, and when he improved the films lost their insane charm, and just became regular bad instead of the fun kind. He feels that Obari is an inversion and comes to enjoy the insanity in his later works.
* SophisticatedAsHell:
** His ''Masterpiece Fanfic Theater'' segments have him read rather dreadful stuff in as sophisticated a tone as he can muster.
** Parodied in his review of ''Anime/CyberCityOedo808'', which had an episode featuring two characters speaking formally--while threatening to shove the remains of a robot and a person respectively up the other's ass. Bennett's response? A hammy, faux-English accented, handkerchief-waving faux-classy threat of threatening to shove a sphere up someone's urethra.
* SoundtrackDissonance: In the ''Masterpiece Fanfic Theater'' [[http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/bt/the-sage/fanfic-theatre/15170-ep012a episode]] for ''Fanfic/MyImmortal'' (considered a legendarily bad fic even by bad fic standards), Sage plays [[Music/AntonioVivaldi Vivaldi's]] ''Four Seasons'' as the background music.
* SpitefulSpit: Done by Sage after he throws the ''Violence Jack'' tape off a bridge.
* {{Squick}}:
** [[InvokedTrope He shudders in pain]] in reaction to the voice acting of ''Anime/GarzeysWing.''
--->I never thought the sound of laughter could be so... agonizing... *''shudders''*
** One of the captions during ''Clowd Mows the Lawn'' is "No! No! Do not want!" once the scat scenes start.
* StealthParody: He says that it's possible that ''Anime/AgentAika'' is actually this instead of wank material due to the ludicrously overdone {{panty shot}}s and the villain's master plan being to turn the world into his own harem.
* StrangledByTheRedString: [[invoked]] The trope shows up sometimes and he calls it out:
** As the entire plot of ''Anime/WickedCity'' revolves around it, it annoys him that the two leads don't really interact in any meaningful way. Just suddenly they are in love out of nowhere.
** ''Manga/BloodReignCurseOfTheYoma'' also annoys him as the main female character becomes immediately so infatuated with the main male character that she says she'd rather die than be without him, despite having met him only minutes ago, and him at best ignoring her and at worst treating her with contempt.
** Also a point of contention with the movie version of ''Anime/TheVisionOfEscaflowne'', since Hitomi decides that she and Van are destined to be together after a few minutes of conversation, a good portion of which is him ''threatening her with a sword''.
* StoryBreakerPower: Brought up in the reviews for:
** ''Manga/InuYasha''--Miroku's wind tunnel can basically solve all their problems, so the show needs to constantly find ways to sideline him, often when it makes no sense or is contradictory to how his power should work.
** ''Anime/PlasticLittle''--The ship's WaveMotionGun one-shotting the ''entire military fleet" makes no sense, as the crew were talking how their ship was just a whaling ship and no match for military vessels, yet when the time comes they vaporize the entire navy in one single shot. Sage wonders if the ship isn't made for hunting whales so much as hunting '''God'''.
* StrawFan: {{Discussed|Trope}} in the ''[=InuYasha=]'' movie review.
* StrictlyFormula: He holds this view on ''{{Manga/FAKE}}'', to the point of having a Gay Positioning System ([[FunWithAcronyms or GPS]]) RunningGag and not even bothering with the main characters' names and just calling them {{Uke}} and {{Seme}}.
* SuddenDownerEnding: He seems to dislike this trope (or at least how it's sometimes handled), feeling that a downbeat conclusion has to be "earned".
* SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome: ''Hates'' this trope.
** He's incensed at the use of it in ''VideoGame/{{Sin}} The Movie'' to kill off JC, one of your companion characters from the game, with the only apparent reason being to introduce his SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute sister for the purposes of {{Fanservice}}.
** He's similarly enraged by TheReveal in ''8 Man After'' that the original 8 Man was simply deleted -- ''offscreen'' -- so the new 8 Man could replace him. He goes on to explain that not all cases of a LegacyCharacter replacing a character who dies are bad by nature (with a cameo by [[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall Linkara]] specifically comparing it to [[ComicBook/BlueBeetle Ted Kord]], who Sage points out at least got to die ''on screen'' and [[DefiantToTheEnd tell his killer off one last time]]), but the way his show did it was downright disrespectful for the original.
* SurrealMusicVideo: He did a whole TopTenList of them.
* TakeThat:
** He evidently does not like Creator/VicMignogna, judging by the [[OverlyLongGag long sequence]] in the ''Junk Boy'' review where he beats up Floating!Vic Mignogna's head with a baseball bat.
** After realizing that ComicBook/{{Superman}} and ComicBook/WonderWoman are the parents of the title character in the ''Anime/ProjectAKo'' review, he calls the anime the ''Film/SupermanReturns'' we would've gotten if Creator/BryanSinger "weren't up his own ass".
** The ''Manga/PilotCandidate''[=/=]''Anime/BlueGender'' review also has two different takes to Website/{{Tumblr}}'s PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad nature.
** The ''Golgo 13'' review refers to the title character as being pretty much a non-presence in the story:
--->He's like Creator/BradPitt in... well, anything, really.
** He doesn't like the [[Film/RoboCop2014 2014 remake]] of ''Franchise/RoboCop'', as he did a negative review of it for ''Sage Vs,'' and in ''Anime Abandon'', he says the franchise doesn't need help ruining itself after talking about the ''Anime/BubblegumCrisis'' tie-in ''A.D. Police Files'', whose last episode was a DarkerAndEdgier[=/=]HotterAndSexier ripoff of the [[Film/RoboCop1987 1987 original]].
* TestosteronePoisoning: The ''Anime/RidingBean'' review is '''loaded''' with over-the-top manlinesss. Sage does the entire review wearing a Franchise/{{Rambo}}-esque headband and black aviator sunglasses and using a loud gravelly voice, does at least half a dozen shirt rips, and dedicates the review to "MANIME". He even puts Bean in the "Manime Hall of Fame" alongside [[Manga/{{Berserk}} Guts]], [[Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar Kenshiro]], and [[Manga/BlackLagoon Revy]]. This portrayal would eventually be spun into a new character, Savage.
* ThereIsAGod:
** He says this when he thinks Yohko has been killed, and thus a show he doesn't like will end prematurely.
** The HallelujahChorus accompanies Sage's reaction when the AlphaBitch dies [[spoiler:or at least appears to have died, anyway]].
* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: [[invoked]]
** His feelings on the fact that ''Doomed Megalopolis'' only introduces Keiko, who, as he points out, ''is the one who beats the BigBad'', in the third out of 4 episodes. He concludes that she would have been more interesting to focus on rather than her assholish, incestuous rapist husband.
** He also thinks this about the OddFriendship between Elaine and the street urchin boy in ''Anime/{{Genocyber}}'', which he remarks is actually well done since it's done almost entirely without dialog.
** Also thinks this about Count Mecha from ''Galaxy Express 999'', since he appears briefly at the beginning and then is forgotten about for an hour only to get unceremoniously killed off.
** He points out how there's a particularly well-done scene in ''{{Manga/Devilman}}'' between Akira and Miki where she silently motions for him to sit so she can bandage his face and he acquiesces without a word, explaining that that one bit of dialog-less interaction says more about their relationship than any amount of exposition ever could. Unfortunately this almost immediately gets shoved to the side in favor of the plot and isn't brought up again in any meaningful way.
* TinyGuyHugeGirl: In the ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam0083StardustMemory'' review, Sage finds the relationship between Chuck Keith and Moira Bascht, a {{Tomboy}}ish AmazonianBeauty who is almost head and shoulders taller than him, to be utterly adorable.
* ToiletHumor: Sage will occasionally poke fun at a (melo)dramatic scene by adding farts (or worse), especially if there's something jarring about the scene itself.
** One particular instance is in the ''Anime/GallForce'' review, where Sage points out the WTF factor of a character shown mourning another's death while on the can. Cue sound effects.
** At the end of ''Manga/{{X|1999}}'' when the film has a solemn DownerEnding, Sage feels it did nothing to deserve the emotional impact it is obviously going for and proceeds to make it fit his feelings by replaying the scene with fart sounds over it.
** During a scene in ''Anime/HyperDoll'' where a talking anus appears, Sage has Gabe give him a 30 second timer, then rattles off seven poop-based jokes, complete with dramatic bows at the end.
* TokenEvilTeammate: Crossover videos with Sage usually portray him as the spawn of Satan. He occasionally lampshades this with mention of "the other guy" who looks just like him.
* TooBleakStoppedCaring: [[invoked]] This is a major reason for his criticism of anime such as ''Manga/ElfenLied'', ''Manga/{{Devilman}}'' (and ''Anime/DevilmanCrybaby''), ''Manga/ViolenceJack'', and ''Manga/{{Gantz}}''. He finds them too [[{{Gorn}} mercilessly bloody]], [[HumansAreBastards misanthropic]] and [[CrapsackWorld nihilistic]] for their own good. This is much more prevelant with the latter two, as while ''Elfen Lied'' and ''Devilman'' have some hope and levity between the nihilism and cruelty, ''Violence Jack'' and ''Gantz''...don't.
* TooKinkyToTorture: Well, considering that he was pretty cool with being [[BlackComedyRape spooned by Spoony]] and even asked "same time next year?" the second time it happened...
* TopTenList: He's done various list episodes, including his picks for the top 20 giant robots, the 20 worst songs that hit #1 on Billboard, and the 20 best songs that hit #1. The picks in the "Top 10 ''Anime Abandon'' Moments" episode were decided by the fanbase.
* TroubledProduction: [[invoked]] He spends most of his ''Gundress'' review talking about its complicated production history, including its theatrical release in [[ObviousBeta a pitifully unfinished state]], rather than focusing on the film itself, which he finds to be a lackluster retread of ''Anime/BubblegumCrisis''.
* TryingNotToCry: He discusses ''WesternAnimation/TheIronGiant'', and when watching [[spoiler:the giant's HeroicSacrifice at the end]], he says that each time, he tells himself he's not gonna cry, but still finds himself sniffling.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:U - Z]]
* UnfortunateImplications: Brought up in ''Manga/SpaceAdventureCobra'' with the whole romance subplot. Short version: The love interest and her two sisters are essentially part of a HiveMind with each of them forming one third of a whole person. So after Cobra's love interest dies, he meets her sister, who declares that because her sister loved him, she will now love him too and that he will love her, and promptly abandons her role in LaResistance now that he's shown up apparently BecauseDestinySaysSo. ''And neither of them get a say in the matter''. Even though Sage takes a shot at Website/{{Tumblr}} feminists in the process, he describes this plot as deeply uncomfortable for multiple reasons. [[invoked]]
* UnusuallyUninterestingSight: His biggest complaint about the random CatGirl in ''Manga/PilotCandidate'' isn't that she exists or her ears are never explained, it's that ''no one'' reacts to them at all or even seems to notice. He also points out that it could be addressed in only a few lines of dialog that they never bothered to add by creating his own.
-->'''Sage!Zero''': What's up with your cat ears?\\
'''Sage!Cat Girl''': I don't want to talk about it.\\
'''Sage!Zero''': Okay.
* VaguenessIsComing: The ''Violence Jack'' review was ominously announced with "Violence is coming...".
* ValleyGirl: The titular character of ''Anime/DevilHunterYohko'' is dubbed with this style of speech. Sage's annoyance with this finally results in ''himself'' adopting a ValleyGirl persona for an extended gag... for which he slaps himself.
-->''Never again.''
* VerbalBackspace: The ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWingEndlessWaltz'' review sees a skit where Sage, as the grandfather of a little girl questioning why the events of the movie are happening, says Bandai needs money for milk and cookies after saying it was for HookersAndBlow.
* ViewersAreMorons: Sage can come off this way with a lot of his references, especially in his ''[[Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei Tokyo Revelation]]'' review, wherein he claims that the notion of a virus running the background of your computer was 'over the head' of his audience.
* WeAreStrugglingTogether: Censor Kaiser and Suave during the review of ''Angel Blade.'' Censor Kaiser's disdain for Suave is only matched by Suave's frustration at Censor Kaiser's censoring all the nudity.
* WhatAnIdiot: [[invoked]] During the ''Angel Cop'' review, Sage refers multiple times to the title character's idiocy, with the crowning moment being at the climax when an obvious solution to the issue isn't even considered.
-->'''Sage''': *''counting off''* Complete bitch, a total hypocrite, dumber than a bag of hammers, and now, skull-fucking incompetent. [...] The asshole rapist from ''Doomed Megalopolis'' is lower than fucking pond scum, but at least he was somewhat intelligent. Bitch Tits here? Completely irredeemable.
* WhatIsEvil: During the ''Oldtaku, New Tricks'' episode for ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'', Sage calls out Tomura Shigaraki for invoking the trope to All Might.
-->I'm sorry, but if you're gonna use the old chestnut of *''squeaky voice''* "from my point of view, your actions are evil!", maybe you ''don't'' call yourselves ''''[[CardCarryingVillain "the League of Villains"]]''''?
* WholePlotReference: The framing device for ''Twilight of the Cockroaches'' is based on ''WesternAnimation/TheCritic'', with Sage dressed up as Jay Sherman. The commentary for the episode points out that several commenters on the original video [[SmallReferencePools missed the reference completely]].
* WordPureeTitle: In the ''De:vadasy'' review, Sage calls out ''VideoGame/ArTonelicoQogaKnellOfArCiel'' on this.
-->There's only ''two real words'' in that verbal diarrhea!
* YouGetWhatYouPayFor: Sage's summation of his less-than-shining opinion of ''Junk Boy'' comes in this form.
-->True story here, by the way. I got this tape in mint condition, plastic over the tape and everything, for two cents at my local comic shop. I may as well have paid the guy two cents to punch me in the face.
* {{Yarling}}: During the ''Endless Waltz'' review, to sum up the character trope of attractive but {{angst}}y males that was so dominant in the 90s and early 00's, Sage yarls out "Pretty boys with probleeems! (yeah!)"
* YouJustHadToSayIt: This is Sage's reaction in ''Virgin Fleet,'' when the headmaster of the Virgin Academy says that she's responsible for choosing the characters that will be competing for a spot in the fleet (including [[{{Manchild}} one character]] Sage finds incredibly irritating):
-->So ''you're'' the reason we have to deal with this character's loli-schtick? Oh, ''bitch'', you should have kept that to yourself! *''cracks his knuckles''*
* YouNeedToGetLaid: He speculates that this is the reason Sho Aikawa's early work is so nihilistic and hateful, and he thanks the anonymous person who finally did give him the blowjob that led him to tone down his later work.
[[/folder]]

** Sage really doesn't like it when shows get fanservice wrong, especially when they clearly lack restraint and do things that are laced with UnfortunateImplications. He's also noted how RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil, and hates it when works depict most women in their casts as incompetent or nothing more than fanservice fodder. During his review of the 2012 ''Franchise/TombRaider'' reboot, he also mentions that he was really rooting for it to be a good game, because he wanted there to be a strong, admirable woman to be a real icon in video games again. That being said, he will revel in fanservice that is done well, such as in ''Anime/CuteyHoney'' where he explains that he finds fanservice much easier to stomach if the character providing it is actually likable, citing Honey as one such character and also contrasting her with Naru Narusegawa, who he detests for her abrasive, abusive tendencies while noting how she fills a similar role in ''Manga/LoveHina''.

* ''[[Manga/GenmaWars Harmagedon]]''