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  • The Expanse. I forgot how good the earlier seasons were, and looking forward to seeing the newer stuff for the first time.

  • Arcane.

    I missed the hype for Arcane season 1, mostly because it didn't really seem up my alley. I figured it'd be boring to me because I wasn't into that specific game, or too juvenile for me, or something.

    I was really wrong. Really, really wrong. It stands on its own and season 1 has the strongest storytelling I've seen in anything in a good, long time. You don't need to care about or play League of Legends to watch the show. And it's very much NOT a kid's show even if it starts with kid characters...it touches a lot on crime, poverty, mental illness, etc. It's very honest and truthful and complex and nuanced on these things.

    And every aspect of storytelling was strong. EVERY ONE.

    What I mean by that is this...in most TV shows, animated or live, you usually have one form of strong(ish) storytelling carrying the entire thing and compensating for other things that are weaker. So a show will have one or two stand-out aspects, and others that are okish to bad, but able to be overlooked because of the other awesome things going on.

    Like, you might have a poor script but really good actors who can elevate the poor script with their spoken intonation or physical acting. Or you might have a good script and really good soundtrack but mediocre acting and bland costume/set design. Basically, script, art/costume design, music, and actor ability all play together to deliver a story, and usually you have one or two of those that are strong, and the rest are being carried by the strong parts and ranging from competent-but-not-awesome to mediocre to bad.

    Arcane's not like that.

    Arcane has top-tier storytelling on the writing level, AND on the art and animation level, and in the choice of songs for the soundtrack. Like, the script itself is fantastic, but then you watch the animation and see they decided not to use common animation shorthand. Instead, they went back to actually LOOK at how humans display emotion and move their bodies and translated THAT into their animation. So you have a strong script AND strong "physical acting". How they frame shots is fantastic too. And if that wasn't enough, all the music is stellar and pertinent to the scenes it's used in. And if THAT wasn't enough, even the design of the characters BEFORE they even move or speak is top-notch. And if THAT isn't enough the voice actors are phenomenal too.

    For Season 1, nothing's carrying anything else, everything is strong. And that's EXTREMELY rare in ANY show. So, so, SO rare.

    Season 2 is not as good--but that's really just in comparison to how outrageously and unusually good Season 1 was. I'd say in Season 2, the script is not as tight, but all the other things are still as good as Season 1. So the animation/art design/music/etc. carry the script a little in the second season. The script isn't HORRIBLE though...it's mostly the pacing is off and it's missing some appropriate build-up in some parts. I've read they had to cut some scenes, and if that's true it would completely explain the flaws. The second season also suffers a bit in comparison to Season 1...Season 1 did everything right, so anything that's not perfect in Season 2 naturally sticks out. It doesn't make it bad though.

    Anyway, yeah. Watch Arcane, if you missed that boat previously.

  • Frazer Cain recommended Dr. Stone, an anime series that features the scientific method prominently in a scenario about rebuilding civilization. I haven't watched it though. I don't agree to the Netflix terms of service with stalkerware and exploitation.

    • Dr Stone

      The scientific method for the various inventions are shown quite well. But that's it. The character art is strange, the main characters are all unlikeable/arrogant tyrants, the storyline is barely coherent. It really seems like the hastily put together premise is just there to enable one character to demonstrate his skill.

      Plenty of anime's out there where the world revolves around a single person, but they usually make an effort with their other characters. I dont feel that's the case here.

  • I love Vox Machina. Give it three episodes though, it needs the Briarwood ark to really get going.

  • I feel like I'm hating on this thread too much.

    Invincible Fight Girl is a surprisingly good (cartoon) show.

    I've heard good things about Taskmaster

114 comments