The beginning of the first episode is pretty much a naked admission that, yes, they did make a sequel because the first season went viral and everybody was talking about it on YouTube and the TikTok and Carole Baskins was on Dancing With the Stars.
The beginning of the first episode is pretty much a naked admission that, yes, they did make a sequel because the first season went viral and everybody was talking about it on YouTube and the TikTok and Carole Baskins was on Dancing With the Stars.
I like when they did this in American Vandal (even though it's obviously a fake mockumentary)... in the Season 2 opener, they pretty much say "We didn't know this show was going to explode the way that it did." and dealt with it in a similar manner.
The beginning of the first episode is pretty much a naked admission that, yes, they did make a sequel because the first season went viral and everybody was talking about it on YouTube and the TikTok and Carole Baskins was on Dancing With the Stars.
I like when they did this in American Vandal (even though it's obviously a fake mockumentary)... in the Season 2 opener, they pretty much say "We didn't know this show was going to explode the way that it did." and dealt with it in a similar manner.
It's really weird. The man himself is in prison, so the second season looks to essentially be a documentary about the public reaction to the original documentary and how the people involved in it have been impacted by the publicity (such as people harassing Carole Baskins while wanting Joe Exotic pardoned).
I will say wheel of time didn't feel cheap to me when I watched it, they had a lot of physical sets and not just like warehouse cgi land.
I also appreciated that as much as they name drop and reference the action also "told" a story as well, spoiler for episode 1.
We see the sword bro with the mega caster lady and its like "Why is he there if she can literally call down fire from the sky" but its because it takes for her to bring that up and he keeps her clear while doing it.
I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.
We have a Wheel of Time thread if you're interested, Preacher.
Awesome thank you, I somehow missed it.
THough I dunno if I'll read it just looking at the spoiler fest with book spoilers inside that aren't really properly marked and I don't want to have things be spoiled since I never read the books.
Preacher on
I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.
So, I see in my feeds that Foundation wrapped for the season.
There was a modest amount of talk after the first episode or so, but then it's been silence since.
Without going into plot details, as it any good? Did the end of the season match the quality of the start? Am I gonna be pissed if I watch it all the way through?
Is there a good barometer position? How long do I have to stick it out before I know if it's for me?
I've got Arcane, Wheel of Time, and HitMonkey queued up to watch first this weekend, but then there's a couple shows I'm interested in, and should I put Foundation as next in the list, or do I hold off, maybe wait until S2 is about to air?
I’m a little late, but just watched the finale. I’ve been keeping up with watching it every week. As someone who never read to books, I found it fairly enjoyable. Of the three concurrent storylines they had going, the one following the Empire/Cleon dynasty was by far the most entertaining. Lee Pace being amazing was of course a big part of that, but the storylines and legitimate character building between Dawn, Day, and Dusk were very good. Then the way that story concluded in the finale was all at once shocking, sad, and cathartic. I would say the season is worth watching for their stories alone, especially now that the whole season is out and can be watched all at once.
The other two storylines went between meh (Terminus) and lame (Gaal). They mostly felt like setup. Maybe they’ll be better in hindsight after future seasons are done, but as it stands they just kind of happened. Still though, overall if you’re a fan of high-concept sci-fi, there are definitely worse ways to spend your time.
ShadowfireVermont, in the middle of nowhereRegistered Userregular
Finished Cowboy Bebop. Being laid up with Covid booster pain gave me some time today. I quite enjoyed it.
The early fight scenes were kinda bad. Way too many cuts and a lot of what looked like rehearsal going on. But the characters are good, better than I remember.
What I said before about Vicious? How I always thought he was a shitty edgelord that was actively bad in the original show? He's still a shitty edgelord, but he's quite good in this.
Episode 9 was a great addition. A "three years ago" episode was a good bonus, and really set up Alice as a better character. Her heel turn at the end to new villain was great and, because of the new episode, really earned.
I could have done without Ed at the end though. Holy shit, just as obnoxious as before.
Overall, 8/10ish? I think I have the benefit of not having watched the anime since it came out like 20 years ago or whenever because I really enjoyed it.
KasynI'm not saying I don't like our chances.She called me the master.Registered Userregular
I...don't understand the positive reviews Bebop is getting. Did y'all get a different series or something?
It's awful. I had extremely limited expectations because of the degree of difficulty involved, but it still fell well short. Outside of the main trio, the performances range from bad (Julia) to shockingly bad (Vicious) to cringe-to-death bad (Ed). About 90% of the dialogue is terrible, the action is wooden and uninteresting, the plots are mashed-together scraps of multiple Bebop episodes and it rarely works.
It's just a complete misfire. If the action were good and the world-building were there, between that and the central cast I think it'd be passable. But it just isn't.
I don't think it's impossible to adopt Bebop and succeed, and they didn't get everything wrong, but it damn sure doesn't work overall.
How many braids were tugged in the current WOT episodes?
I am in the business of saving lives.
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KasynI'm not saying I don't like our chances.She called me the master.Registered Userregular
Also, Arcane fucking rocked. The only bad thing I really have to say about it is that the music was sometimes a little too on-the-nose edgelord for my tastes, but with League's longtime affinity for Imagine Dragons I was at least prepared for that. Really looking forward to the next season and I'd love if they brought the series to the other regions - I think there's enough in Runeterra to carry 3-4 additional shows with compelling settings.
How many braids were tugged in the current WOT episodes?
In two episodes I've seen none, but the person in charge also made a big deal about it being in one clip as a big triumphant moment. Which doesn't make sense but also explains a lot.
Arcane had a fairly odd cliffhanger, I thought. It's a good show though. Wheel is alright, there were some bad effects and the Trollocs are not at all as compelling as the Orcs in LotR but we'll see what happens when the other big name villains pop up.
Well, the League of Legends miniseries leaves you with the worst cliff hanger.
Dunno that I'd say it's the worst. Frustrating yeah, cause it leave you wanting more, but it's not as if we can't make a pretty good guess what's coming in the next season.
Edit: Even if it did end there I'd be disappointed but it'd be thematically appropriate.
They did announce today that season 2 is in production, so that's nice.
A trap is for fish: when you've got the fish, you can forget the trap. A snare is for rabbits: when you've got the rabbit, you can forget the snare. Words are for meaning: when you've got the meaning, you can forget the words.
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Ninja Snarl PMy helmet is my burden.Ninja Snarl: Gone, but not forgotten.Registered Userregular
Gave the WoT episodes a watch. Decent production value, significantly above the standard show effects. Maybe not quite cinema quality, but good enough that I have no complaints on that front.
Things start off decently enough, but after three episodes I just could not shake that this felt like long-winded Young Adult Novel. Really long-winded. Seriously, one of the main characters has been laid out unconscious an episode and a half and it's only at the end of the third episode that the team seems to actually get anywhere of significance. She's been unconscious for the span of basically a whole movie at this point.
And there seems to be a strong element of... pulp fantasy, I guess you could call it? Just lots and lots of utterly generic fantasy elements and tropes, nothing interesting or unique being offered. Lots of Big Concepts where you can hear the Capital Letters because of bland Importance.
By the end of the third episode, I was utterly bored to the point of skipping through bits of obvious conversations and whatnot. The story feels pretty aimless already, and I have no investment whatsoever in the Tall and Handsome and Obvious Hero, Roguishly Handsome, Tall and Sensitive and Handsome, and Cute Lady.
Can't speak for how close it gets to the series, but I know I'm not going to be continuing to watch out of sheer dullness.
The first act of the Wheel of Time (books 1-3) has a lot of YA elements, though it doesn't entirely fit the mold—mostly because they came out before the modern genre developed, lol.
I figure the show will cover that in the first two seasons, so if that's not your cup of tea it's good to bug out now instead of getting frustrated waiting for the later stuff.
Mancingtom on
+3
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AbsoluteZeroThe new film by Quentin KoopantinoRegistered Userregular
I...don't understand the positive reviews Bebop is getting. Did y'all get a different series or something?
It's awful. I had extremely limited expectations because of the degree of difficulty involved, but it still fell well short. Outside of the main trio, the performances range from bad (Julia) to shockingly bad (Vicious) to cringe-to-death bad (Ed). About 90% of the dialogue is terrible, the action is wooden and uninteresting, the plots are mashed-together scraps of multiple Bebop episodes and it rarely works.
It's just a complete misfire. If the action were good and the world-building were there, between that and the central cast I think it'd be passable. But it just isn't.
I don't think it's impossible to adopt Bebop and succeed, and they didn't get everything wrong, but it damn sure doesn't work overall.
The worst part is anyone who watches the awful live action version probably will never give the anime a chance.
I can’t believe it’s the year 2021 and we still need to have the “people are different than you and like different things” discussions.
I didn’t like the live adaptation, but it wasn’t some sort of travesty upon the world. I can understand why someone might just like to watch it just like I can understand why someone might watch and enjoy WoT.
Watched the first 8 episodes of Netflix Cowboy Bebop with my roommate, who hadn't seen the anime.
I think it is good! Roommate loved it! The retro-kinda shity aesthetic went over well.
I think that folks who think that Vicious should be in it less are being a little nostalgic for a 20 year old anime made under anime conventions. As a modern live action dramedy, what I assume as the season finale would not make sense without building up Vicious and Julia.
I can’t believe it’s the year 2021 and we still need to have the “people are different than you and like different things” discussions.
I didn’t like the live adaptation, but it wasn’t some sort of travesty upon the world. I can understand why someone might just like to watch it just like I can understand why someone might watch and enjoy WoT.
Yes, but how can I validate my shitty life when I let it stand that someone else likes something I don't like? They're clearly wrong, and therefore I must say so, preferably anonymously, to someone who I'll likely never meet in real life.
Watched the first 8 episodes of Netflix Cowboy Bebop with my roommate, who hadn't seen the anime.
I think it is good! Roommate loved it! The retro-kinda shity aesthetic went over well.
I think that folks who think that Vicious should be in it less are being a little nostalgic for a 20 year old anime made under anime conventions. As a modern live action dramedy, what I assume as the season finale would not make sense without building up Vicious and Julia.
Ah yes, the thing Cowboy Bebop is famous for, being chock-full of rote anime tropes, and deliberately eschewing Western media influence.
Watched the first 8 episodes of Netflix Cowboy Bebop with my roommate, who hadn't seen the anime.
I think it is good! Roommate loved it! The retro-kinda shity aesthetic went over well.
I think that folks who think that Vicious should be in it less are being a little nostalgic for a 20 year old anime made under anime conventions. As a modern live action dramedy, what I assume as the season finale would not make sense without building up Vicious and Julia.
Ah yes, the thing Cowboy Bebop is famous for, being chock-full of rote anime tropes, and deliberately eschewing Western media influence.
Yeah, the original is just about the least-anime-anime I can think of, which a large part of why it was received so well by Western audiences. In fact, the original is basically made as if it was a live-action show, with only a handful of moments where they might use some anime expressions for exaggerated effect.
Vicious is kept to a minimum in the original series because it doesn't add anything to the show to give the edgelord psychopath more screentime. We only need enough to know he likes killing, has no morality to speak of, and wants Spike to either join him or die. His brief appearances in two episodes nail this behavior down solidly, and then more facetime at the ending where he belongs.
I don't need further exploration of Vicious' motives and personality, I already know his motives and personality. Very much a case of "less is more".
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TexiKenDammit!That fish really got me!Registered Userregular
Bebop is a definitive case study in less is more. Not only does it make things better in terms of saving animation, it lets the art, music and world explain itself. Jet and Spike looking for the VCR is one of the best scenes in the whole series. Everyone's mushroom experience, very little talking at all.
And now for something calming and full of UwU beams before Netflix fucks this one up, One Piece hit 1000 episodes today and they remade the classic opening with the current crew as of Wano.
I can’t believe it’s the year 2021 and we still need to have the “people are different than you and like different things” discussions.
I didn’t like the live adaptation, but it wasn’t some sort of travesty upon the world. I can understand why someone might just like to watch it just like I can understand why someone might watch and enjoy WoT.
This directed at anyone here, or is there some sort of fanbase-driven shame campaign directed toward the creators that I'm not aware of? I don't really think that line has been crossed with that adaptation yet, at least not as far as I've heard. A lot of people being loudly disappointed doesn't really invalidate anyone's opinion of the show.
I think original cowboy bebop made a smart decision in barely having Vicious and Julia on screen
The theme of the series is cutting ties with the past and moving on. In their own stories Jet and Faye both manage to do it, to let go of their old regrets and move on with their lives.
The actual nature of Spike's regrets aren't really all that important. There was a bad guy, and a dame. It's all very archetypal and the series knows that. Whether Julia is really worth Spike's love or what makes her so special or any of that... None of the whys or hows really matter, and it's actually more powerful when the audience is filling in that part of the story with their own imaginations. What matters is that she IS important to Spike, he can't let go, and when it comes time to decide whether to move on or die, he chooses not to move on. If Julia was an actual character we could then be like, dude, Spike, she's not worth it, why are you doing this I hate it.
Expanding Julia and Vicious's roles feels like a symptom of a lot of streaming shows in general these days. Like you wanna promise the service writing the checks that you can expand this shit out to 3-4 seasons minimum, and so every side character gets their motivations explained and literalized and spun out into More Content.
Kana on
A trap is for fish: when you've got the fish, you can forget the trap. A snare is for rabbits: when you've got the rabbit, you can forget the snare. Words are for meaning: when you've got the meaning, you can forget the words.
A trap is for fish: when you've got the fish, you can forget the trap. A snare is for rabbits: when you've got the rabbit, you can forget the snare. Words are for meaning: when you've got the meaning, you can forget the words.
I finished Arcane and it may sound hyperbolic, but for every 99 stories that end up disappointing wastes of potential, there sometimes come one that makes it worthwhile to continue caring about popculture.
For me, Arcane ended up being that series. I never belived that it would be good, and it turned out to be great. Everyone should watch it, even if you despise LoL.
I finished Arcane and it may sound hyperbolic, but for every 99 stories that end up disappointing wastes of potential, there sometimes come one that makes it worthwhile to continue caring about popculture.
For me, Arcane ended up being that series. I never belived that it would be good, and it turned out to be great. Everyone should watch it, even if you despise LoL.
Yeah I ignored it at first because its LoL but it's so damn good, I probably found it more enjoyable than Squid Game tbh. Nothing in it ever felt contrived to make something happen, it's all just a natural progression of events.
Like, I would need to rewatch it to write down all the cool tropes and motives that it uses to make the story interesing.
Dramatic irony, gray and gray morality, back to back badasses, Even Love Has Loved Ones, hourglass plot,
you name it - there are a lot of things to like here.
I also like that the story is pretty... non-fiction like in the way, that there are no brilliant plans allowing the story to unfold - instead of this, we get flawed people making decisions based on incomplete information, influenced by other people making well intentioned mistakes. There are characters that can be called good guys, there are antagonists, but pretty much no one important is left without depth allowing us to understand, why they do what they do.
I never expected Arcane to be this good, considering that this is a Netflix show, based on a infamous video game, telling an origin story of one of the most shallow characters from it, but here we are - and its brilliant.
+1
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TexiKenDammit!That fish really got me!Registered Userregular
This was a long, deep dive into a Channel 4 show called Utopia and it's shitty Amazon US version, so much so you probably don't need to watch the series proper. Very similar parallels to having one fan favorite thing being adapted horribly by another country and missing everything in the process.
Like, I would need to rewatch it to write down all the cool tropes and motives that it uses to make the story interesing.
Dramatic irony, gray and gray morality, back to back badasses, Even Love Has Loved Ones, hourglass plot,
you name it - there are a lot of things to like here.
I also like that the story is pretty... non-fiction like in the way, that there are no brilliant plans allowing the story to unfold - instead of this, we get flawed people making decisions based on incomplete information, influenced by other people making well intentioned mistakes. There are characters that can be called good guys, there are antagonists, but pretty much no one important is left without depth allowing us to understand, why they do what they do.
I never expected Arcane to be this good, considering that this is a Netflix show, based on a infamous video game, telling an origin story of one of the most shallow characters from it, but here we are - and its brilliant.
The only nitpick I could possibly make is
that it seemed to be that Cait and Vi are meant to be into each other, but I don't really recall them being around each other to warrant it? Especially when Vi took Cait away on the bridge over helping Jinx.
Like, I would need to rewatch it to write down all the cool tropes and motives that it uses to make the story interesing.
Dramatic irony, gray and gray morality, back to back badasses, Even Love Has Loved Ones, hourglass plot,
you name it - there are a lot of things to like here.
I also like that the story is pretty... non-fiction like in the way, that there are no brilliant plans allowing the story to unfold - instead of this, we get flawed people making decisions based on incomplete information, influenced by other people making well intentioned mistakes. There are characters that can be called good guys, there are antagonists, but pretty much no one important is left without depth allowing us to understand, why they do what they do.
I never expected Arcane to be this good, considering that this is a Netflix show, based on a infamous video game, telling an origin story of one of the most shallow characters from it, but here we are - and its brilliant.
The only nitpick I could possibly make is
that it seemed to be that Cait and Vi are meant to be into each other, but I don't really recall them being around each other to warrant it? Especially when Vi took Cait away on the bridge over helping Jinx.
Yeah, I can kinda agree that the story sometimes goes too quickly, and it could actually use one or two more episodes to allow characters time to properly bond.
If I had to nitpick something, it's that I feel like something more interesting was planned for
Marcus, but it was cut out. He is conflicted over what he does, but dies without accomplishing anything, and I have no idea what his plan for Vi was - was he going to just keep her in prison until the end of ther life? Until Silco dies? Even if he tried to protect her, It seems over the top.
I have only ever played a tiny bit of LoL, and my knowledge of their worldbuilding is limited to their big cool cinematics they release now and then, and I really thought Arcane was dope. You can definitely sense how much of a passion project it was.
regarding Caitlyn and Vi
They're definitely shooting sexual tension vibes at each other from very early on, but it's also the joint realization that they can actually trust each other. Caitlyn's been kinda locked in a jeweled prison by her parents, and Vi has been in a constant fight for survival, neither of them has any sort of relationship of like equality and mutual trust. It's kinda rushed but I think the sudden intensity also kinda makes sense between them. Like, yeah they totally wanna bang, but Vi's not freaking out trying to save Caitlyn because she's hot, but because she just plain likes her. To her Caitlyn's an innocent who deserves to be protected, whereas Jinx is... a bit more of a complicated question.
Jinx
In the games she's kind of an obvious Harley Quinn type character, blowing shit up and wackily crazy but never actually like, a bad person. Very lovably chaotic neutral. So I like how Arcane actually breaks that down and makes her simultaneously super sympathetic but also dangerous. The fun wacky crazy surface level cracks pretty quickly and underneath that is someone who's like, actually mentally ill and a threat to herself and others. You want Vi to rescue her even as the show points out repeatedly that there's nothing to rescue her from, she's not the bad guy's prisoner. When Jinx starts kidnapping people it seems entirely possible that she murdered Caitlyn and put her head on a plate just out of petty jealousy over her sister. Which makes it a bit hard for Vi to still entertain fantasies about saving Jinx from the baddies.
It's a nice little storytelling bait and switch, we're expecting Harley Quinn and instead we get the Joker.
Kana on
A trap is for fish: when you've got the fish, you can forget the trap. A snare is for rabbits: when you've got the rabbit, you can forget the snare. Words are for meaning: when you've got the meaning, you can forget the words.
The biggest problem I've had with the show so far is how much pointless padding they seem to have included to stretch these episodes out to an hour long. In the cartoon, they need one line of dialog where Spike asks why there's no beef in Jet's "Peppers and Beef" to establish their relations, current situation and motivation. They're out on the bounty in about 3 minutes. In the live action version, we're 30 minutes in, and they're still setting up how poor they are and if they really want to take the bounty!
I'm still hopeful for the second half of the season, cause I've enjoyed most of the action in the first half, but I really feel like most of these episodes could be cut in half and come out stronger for it.
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TIGER KING: SEASON 2
The beginning of the first episode is pretty much a naked admission that, yes, they did make a sequel because the first season went viral and everybody was talking about it on YouTube and the TikTok and Carole Baskins was on Dancing With the Stars.
It's really weird. The man himself is in prison, so the second season looks to essentially be a documentary about the public reaction to the original documentary and how the people involved in it have been impacted by the publicity (such as people harassing Carole Baskins while wanting Joe Exotic pardoned).
I also appreciated that as much as they name drop and reference the action also "told" a story as well, spoiler for episode 1.
We see the sword bro with the mega caster lady and its like "Why is he there if she can literally call down fire from the sky" but its because it takes for her to bring that up and he keeps her clear while doing it.
pleasepaypreacher.net
Awesome thank you, I somehow missed it.
THough I dunno if I'll read it just looking at the spoiler fest with book spoilers inside that aren't really properly marked and I don't want to have things be spoiled since I never read the books.
pleasepaypreacher.net
I’ve not seen the anime, but I liked the first 2 eps I watched earlier. I’ll be watching the rest.
I can also recommend a new Korean drama called Hellbound, only 6 episodes, as it’s a Netflix produced show.
I’m a little late, but just watched the finale. I’ve been keeping up with watching it every week. As someone who never read to books, I found it fairly enjoyable. Of the three concurrent storylines they had going, the one following the Empire/Cleon dynasty was by far the most entertaining. Lee Pace being amazing was of course a big part of that, but the storylines and legitimate character building between Dawn, Day, and Dusk were very good. Then the way that story concluded in the finale was all at once shocking, sad, and cathartic. I would say the season is worth watching for their stories alone, especially now that the whole season is out and can be watched all at once.
The other two storylines went between meh (Terminus) and lame (Gaal). They mostly felt like setup. Maybe they’ll be better in hindsight after future seasons are done, but as it stands they just kind of happened. Still though, overall if you’re a fan of high-concept sci-fi, there are definitely worse ways to spend your time.
Oculus: TheBigDookie | XBL: Dook | NNID: BigDookie
What I said before about Vicious? How I always thought he was a shitty edgelord that was actively bad in the original show? He's still a shitty edgelord, but he's quite good in this.
Episode 9 was a great addition. A "three years ago" episode was a good bonus, and really set up Alice as a better character. Her heel turn at the end to new villain was great and, because of the new episode, really earned.
I could have done without Ed at the end though. Holy shit, just as obnoxious as before.
Overall, 8/10ish? I think I have the benefit of not having watched the anime since it came out like 20 years ago or whenever because I really enjoyed it.
It's awful. I had extremely limited expectations because of the degree of difficulty involved, but it still fell well short. Outside of the main trio, the performances range from bad (Julia) to shockingly bad (Vicious) to cringe-to-death bad (Ed). About 90% of the dialogue is terrible, the action is wooden and uninteresting, the plots are mashed-together scraps of multiple Bebop episodes and it rarely works.
It's just a complete misfire. If the action were good and the world-building were there, between that and the central cast I think it'd be passable. But it just isn't.
I don't think it's impossible to adopt Bebop and succeed, and they didn't get everything wrong, but it damn sure doesn't work overall.
In two episodes I've seen none, but the person in charge also made a big deal about it being in one clip as a big triumphant moment. Which doesn't make sense but also explains a lot.
No braid tugs so far though there is one braid flip in ep 3.
Dunno that I'd say it's the worst. Frustrating yeah, cause it leave you wanting more, but it's not as if we can't make a pretty good guess what's coming in the next season.
Edit: Even if it did end there I'd be disappointed but it'd be thematically appropriate.
Things start off decently enough, but after three episodes I just could not shake that this felt like long-winded Young Adult Novel. Really long-winded. Seriously, one of the main characters has been laid out unconscious an episode and a half and it's only at the end of the third episode that the team seems to actually get anywhere of significance. She's been unconscious for the span of basically a whole movie at this point.
And there seems to be a strong element of... pulp fantasy, I guess you could call it? Just lots and lots of utterly generic fantasy elements and tropes, nothing interesting or unique being offered. Lots of Big Concepts where you can hear the Capital Letters because of bland Importance.
By the end of the third episode, I was utterly bored to the point of skipping through bits of obvious conversations and whatnot. The story feels pretty aimless already, and I have no investment whatsoever in the Tall and Handsome and Obvious Hero, Roguishly Handsome, Tall and Sensitive and Handsome, and Cute Lady.
Can't speak for how close it gets to the series, but I know I'm not going to be continuing to watch out of sheer dullness.
I figure the show will cover that in the first two seasons, so if that's not your cup of tea it's good to bug out now instead of getting frustrated waiting for the later stuff.
The worst part is anyone who watches the awful live action version probably will never give the anime a chance.
I didn’t like the live adaptation, but it wasn’t some sort of travesty upon the world. I can understand why someone might just like to watch it just like I can understand why someone might watch and enjoy WoT.
I think it is good! Roommate loved it! The retro-kinda shity aesthetic went over well.
I think that folks who think that Vicious should be in it less are being a little nostalgic for a 20 year old anime made under anime conventions. As a modern live action dramedy, what I assume as the season finale would not make sense without building up Vicious and Julia.
Yes, but how can I validate my shitty life when I let it stand that someone else likes something I don't like? They're clearly wrong, and therefore I must say so, preferably anonymously, to someone who I'll likely never meet in real life.
Ah yes, the thing Cowboy Bebop is famous for, being chock-full of rote anime tropes, and deliberately eschewing Western media influence.
Rock Band DLC | GW:OttW - arrcd | WLD - Thortar
Yeah, the original is just about the least-anime-anime I can think of, which a large part of why it was received so well by Western audiences. In fact, the original is basically made as if it was a live-action show, with only a handful of moments where they might use some anime expressions for exaggerated effect.
Vicious is kept to a minimum in the original series because it doesn't add anything to the show to give the edgelord psychopath more screentime. We only need enough to know he likes killing, has no morality to speak of, and wants Spike to either join him or die. His brief appearances in two episodes nail this behavior down solidly, and then more facetime at the ending where he belongs.
I don't need further exploration of Vicious' motives and personality, I already know his motives and personality. Very much a case of "less is more".
And now for something calming and full of UwU beams before Netflix fucks this one up, One Piece hit 1000 episodes today and they remade the classic opening with the current crew as of Wano.
This directed at anyone here, or is there some sort of fanbase-driven shame campaign directed toward the creators that I'm not aware of? I don't really think that line has been crossed with that adaptation yet, at least not as far as I've heard. A lot of people being loudly disappointed doesn't really invalidate anyone's opinion of the show.
The actual nature of Spike's regrets aren't really all that important. There was a bad guy, and a dame. It's all very archetypal and the series knows that. Whether Julia is really worth Spike's love or what makes her so special or any of that... None of the whys or hows really matter, and it's actually more powerful when the audience is filling in that part of the story with their own imaginations. What matters is that she IS important to Spike, he can't let go, and when it comes time to decide whether to move on or die, he chooses not to move on. If Julia was an actual character we could then be like, dude, Spike, she's not worth it, why are you doing this I hate it.
Expanding Julia and Vicious's roles feels like a symptom of a lot of streaming shows in general these days. Like you wanna promise the service writing the checks that you can expand this shit out to 3-4 seasons minimum, and so every side character gets their motivations explained and literalized and spun out into More Content.
For me, Arcane ended up being that series. I never belived that it would be good, and it turned out to be great. Everyone should watch it, even if you despise LoL.
Yeah I ignored it at first because its LoL but it's so damn good, I probably found it more enjoyable than Squid Game tbh. Nothing in it ever felt contrived to make something happen, it's all just a natural progression of events.
I also like that the story is pretty... non-fiction like in the way, that there are no brilliant plans allowing the story to unfold - instead of this, we get flawed people making decisions based on incomplete information, influenced by other people making well intentioned mistakes. There are characters that can be called good guys, there are antagonists, but pretty much no one important is left without depth allowing us to understand, why they do what they do.
I never expected Arcane to be this good, considering that this is a Netflix show, based on a infamous video game, telling an origin story of one of the most shallow characters from it, but here we are - and its brilliant.
This was a long, deep dive into a Channel 4 show called Utopia and it's shitty Amazon US version, so much so you probably don't need to watch the series proper. Very similar parallels to having one fan favorite thing being adapted horribly by another country and missing everything in the process.
The only nitpick I could possibly make is
Yeah, I can kinda agree that the story sometimes goes too quickly, and it could actually use one or two more episodes to allow characters time to properly bond.
If I had to nitpick something, it's that I feel like something more interesting was planned for
regarding Caitlyn and Vi
Jinx
It's a nice little storytelling bait and switch, we're expecting Harley Quinn and instead we get the Joker.
The biggest problem I've had with the show so far is how much pointless padding they seem to have included to stretch these episodes out to an hour long. In the cartoon, they need one line of dialog where Spike asks why there's no beef in Jet's "Peppers and Beef" to establish their relations, current situation and motivation. They're out on the bounty in about 3 minutes. In the live action version, we're 30 minutes in, and they're still setting up how poor they are and if they really want to take the bounty!
I'm still hopeful for the second half of the season, cause I've enjoyed most of the action in the first half, but I really feel like most of these episodes could be cut in half and come out stronger for it.