So, Dan Harmon and Justin Roiland create this particular animated series, that gets quite famous.
They need a ridicolous amount of time writing new episodes despite a 70 episode deal they got at one point and I am sure they will never be able to deliver upon just by how much time they need for ten episodes. Then Justin has the "idea" of doing his own animated series that's copying Rick and Morty basically, just without Rick and Morty and without multiverse? Timeline is important here, Wikipedia says, the series was shelved but not for how long.
The art style is the exact same, the randomness and over the top stories are the same, several voices are the same, all that this is lacking is good writing. Solar Opposites, funny name considering the not so much "opposites", is airing on another network. In other words going into competition to R&M. Is this a very elaborate prank from DH and/or JR, even though DH isn't mentioned? Or does Justin want to piss of DH? How's this even legal from a business standpoint?
SO does scratch the R&M itch. But it's nowhere near the greatness of R&M. SO doesn't try as hard, though.
There's almost no continuity. The stories of the main characters are so random, as random as any interdimensional cable episode, there's no point in watching. You could watch any episode in any order you wish, without losing or missing anything regarding the main characters. That makes this series incredibly boring for me personally.
The most interesting subplot, with actual continuity so far that needs a certain episode order, is "The Wall". That part is the best part of this whole season 1 and really a good idea with actual fun, consistent characters. If Cherie survives for revenge in S2 it would make me gladly come back. Other than that I don't particularly care for this to get a second season.
If JR wants to do R&M, he should focus on R&M and push Harmon (and all the other writers) to do more, instead of half-assing his own stuff. Other than that I simply fail to understand why this exists other than to leech off of the success of R&M. Creating an instance of "you like R&M? You must like this, too. It's from one of the creators". But no. I do not like this. I don't hate it, but I certainly do not like it. Would this not rely on so many similarities or be a direct and open spin-off I wouldn't mind, though.
Kristen Schaal should have been cast as the voice of Jesse as well. Mary Mack sounds way too much like her and Schaal's voice would fit that character very well.
Season 2 edit:
Season 2, which is more like S1 Pt 2, has improved on a lot of the early issues.
It's still very episodic without consequences but the stories and the chaotic energy of Roiland seem to fit and work a lot better in these 8 episodes. Korvo, the most unlikable of the aliens, tones down his Jerry-ness by not being constantly obnoxious. Glad they do go forward with evolving Pupa and the Wall substory was - again - the best part of these episodes with S02E07 the best episode of this show so far. Absolutely great how that turned out. Going to bump this from a 4 to 5. First 8 episodes are meh at best (excluding anything Wall related, those parts are a 7 at worst and 9 at best), later 8 episodes are okay and overal more entertaining.
I was disappointed at first. Then it blew me away!
Possibly the worst marketing for a tv show ever. In the first season we won't follow a crew's journey to Mars like everyone thought, but we will instead see people preparing to go there. Their struggles, problems and everything in-between. We won't see what we thought we'd see. Because of that, I was disappointed, but one episode later, I saw the real beauty of this show and what makes it (in my eyes) worth watching.
Having binged it in two sittings, I won't deny that this is a slow show or that - at times - not much happens. But what I won't say is, that it's boring. At the core, the story is about the characters and how they're dealing with the fact that they are actually going to Mars. How it affects not only their lives, but also the lifes of and the relationships to their loved ones.. It surely is more drama than sci-fi, but not in a bad way.
Along the way you'll start to care about the characters and you'll realize how well-acted this show is. With a great cast, the show tells a compelling story. You'll see incredible cinematography not many shows have. You'll appreciate the variety of music throughout; epical, magical, partly eery and mysteriosly beautiful music.
To me, this show was a real surprise and I give it a 9/10. I'm really hoping for a second season!
So I finished Part One and had a few hours to think about it. The show is definitely interesting. It’s not perfect but I see it setting-up to something bigger in Part Two. The first few episode are a bit off, not horrible or unwatchable but, does have some questionable pacing, lack of music, and some of the more direct jokes aren’t as funny as I would like them. A lot of the “good” jokes seem to be sprinkled in the background or hidden inside of other dialog, I wouldn’t be surprised picking-up on new jokes on a second re-watch. That said episodes 1-5 would be a 5-6/10. Normally a weaker opening to a series would lean me more towards dropping, however...
The reason I say the show is interesting is that the trailer and promo material advertises the show as a comedy first with some adventure on the side, however, it’s very much a slice of life series with hints of adventure down the line in Part Two. I wasn’t expecting this and I actually like this angle more. In fact I wouldn’t be surprised if Part Two was exclusively adventure focused. Most of the episodes in Part One are about the daily life of the disobedient princess and falling into situations, all the while adding a LOT of world building. Part One seems very focused on familiarizing you with the world, people, concepts, etc... While this is taking place we get short cutaways to an unknown group of wizards/sorceress monitoring the situation in Dreamland, the main location in Part One, suggesting something bigger going on.
I wont spoil anything at the end of Part One but the world building and hints towards a grandeur story definitely make this series interesting and I want to learn more. Obviously these are just promises for the moment but the care put into the world and the slower pace at the start to familiarize the characters gives me hope that this series will offer more. For now it’s a 6/10, good but until we see the rest I wouldn’t put much into the rating.
Also the 2D animation is very good. CGI blending is better than most shows and a surprising amount of the scenes have a lot of animation in areas you wouldn't expect it. Casual walks in the city treat you to scenes with plenty of bystanders moving and interacting with each others in 2D (some are 3D). Lots of other shows would offer stills & pans so this gives this show's world a lot of life.
It does not happen often these days that an anime, or any tv show for that matter manages to get such a tight grip on me. But Made in Abyss manages to do it with flying colors.
For me Made in Abyss is the complete package. The story is captivating, the characters are very likeable, the music is perfect for setting the overall feeling you are supposed to get, and above all, that feeling for wanting to experience the unknown, to venture out into the debts of the abyss (no pun intended) and that feeling you get when watching this anime in your underbelly of yearning for something more, and to press on, no matter the consequences or the dangers is in my opinion one of the absolute cornerstones of this anime that makes this a masterpiece!
The story starts off very innocent and cute. And from the first few episodes you might think that this anime might be just a light anime because of how young the children are, with some comic relief. But if you keep watching that you will see that with every episode as Rico and Reg go deeper into the Abyss the story gets more darker and more disturbing.
To be frank, i did not fully understand when Rico and Reg said goodbye to their friends in episode 3 that goodbye really meant farewell forever. But as you can see in the later episodes (at the very least for Rico) there is no coming back alive once you go down the Abyss deep enough. In my opinion that makes Rico her fortitude and resolve to venture into the unknown, and leave everything and everyone she loves and knows behind even more daring and captivating.
I really REALLY hope that this anime gets a second season. Because this anime is the very reason i watch anime in the first place. I can wholeheartedly recommend this anime to anyone. Trust me, you will not regret it.
The movie hypnotized me in my late teens... thought it was the best film ever made. I rewatched it just before the HBO series started and wondered just how many bong hits I'd taken before watching it the first time around.
The HBO version is great, but very slow moving. Events from the season finale should've unfolded by at least the 3rd episode. During the final 2 episodes there was a lot of explaining going on, and some good action sequences -- but I wish the explaining had taken place much sooner -- characters engaged in lengthy talking-head explanatory scenes seemed forced, more like a recital than watching a story. I was never a fan of the series "Lost", but I think this method of storytelling should appeal to those that were.
In the movie, the android's eyes lit up indicating a malfunction, then the amusement park went crazy. With the series, no eyes light up and instead there's a gradual buildup as to what was happening behind-the-eyes. It's so gradual though that I would've enjoyed the series more if I'd binged it -- a week at a time of snail-paced plotting can be frustrating. It's good, but lacks the pacing that made the original movie so engaging.
Medieval World and Roman World -- with 'spy' androids to integrate the subplots would've been great -- but those worlds have disappeared from the story -- likely it might have been too expensive to produce. Unfortunate, as it would've helped with pacing. As it's been renewed for a 2nd season, I'm wondering if those worlds might be worked in. Slow pacing or not, I'll be watching as many seasons as they put out... ;-)
I can see why they're pacing the series, why new characters are necessary, newer villains, etc. but it's not intriguing. it's lifeless. The show could have an episode dealing with paper cuts and having to find toilet paper over 35 minutes, fans would still watch it with anticipation.
I can see the writers and directors trying to replay /recycle new antiheroes and heroes learning the ropes, facing enemies, but it's just not fun to watch Noah Bennett run around doing his thing.
It should be, it fails to live up to the hype because they're afraid of delivering too much too early. When Noah isn't on screen, the show fails to be interesting.
There's no charismatic personalities other than maybe luke/zachary (unrecognisable as chuck, or johnny flame), and even more rarely miko/kiki (katana girl) is emotive or likeable beyond the wooden, stereotyped doll caricature. There's no tension or loss, no risk, no reward, and there's no confluence of ordinary characters with abilities. Hiro and Claire, and later, Sylar, were iconic because they were normal, with abilities. Not so much with the new class.
The show's desperately trying to get the audience to like ... someone, but there's too much mary sue, nobody has failed in a big way, and the season arc is disconnected from the plot in a massive way, there's no fatality or risk in the deus ex machina, already depicted in the poster (avoiding spoilers)
The ensemble cast are "good", but this would get better if it did not exist in the same story as Heroes, it's significantly weaker and less enjoyable as a result of being dragged around by the coattails of the original ensemble of Heroes, that haven't shown up but keep getting name-dropped every few minutes.
This could change, but the show should be so much better or even possibly darker than it is.
