I don't remember the last time I felt so conflicted over a TV Show. Maybe never.
Books spoilers ahead, btw.
If I see this just as a Show, I was thoroughly entertained and invested. If I watch this as an adaptation, well that's really depending on what book you are looking at.
Season 1 was actually pretty great. I had my doubts when they first announced that the Crows would join the cast, but despite changing the timeline of the stories, it really worked well. The characters of Six of Crows were introduced in a prequel kind of way with their storyline intertwining with that of Alina and it gave us some fun crossover opportunities that we wouldn't have seen otherwise. The actual first book, Shadow and Bone, was also done quite well. I admit, apart from great world-building and introducing some fantastic characters, the original Grisha Trilogy are my least favorite books in that universe Leigh Bardugo built. The Crows Duology are some of the best books I've ever read and the King of Scars books are right behind it. So, I didn't mind the changes made to the trilogy. Especially Alina and Mal were done so much better.
Going into Season 2, the trailers made it already clear that this wouldn't just be Siege and Storm added with some Crow shenanigans, but also Ruin and Rising. Totally fine by me, because apart from introducing characters like Nikolai, Tamar and Tolya, most of the second book is focused on romantic tension and lots of angst. Barely anything happens until the end. Combining it with the third book always made sense, because otherwise there wouldn't have been much story to tell.
I think they did most of Siege and Strom well and pulled very much a Catching Fire here, by taking the middle book and improving on it in almost every way. Gone is a lot of the teen angst and story and character growth are more at the center. Mal especially benefits from it because he is allowed to be his own character instead of Alina's whiny boyfriend.
They tweaked some aspects of it, but again that is fine and worked very well. Only issue I have regarding that is the treatment of Sturmhond, Nikolai's alter ego, who is treated as such in the books, but just Nikolai in a different coat on the show. I don't blame actor Patrick Gibson for that though, he is great as Nikolai and Sturmhond is on the writing.
It's Ruin and Rising when the problems start. Or rather it's the entire final episode that goes completely off rails.
While the involvement of the Crows (and we get to them) changes the status quo a bit (honestly, it does feel like Kaz and his Crew could've taken down the Darkling alone at this point) it makes for a very action packed and fun penultimate episode. The rest however feels like that every person who complained about Alina's initial ending and happily ever after in the books just won by whining loud enough.
I'm one of those people who enjoyed her ending in the books. I think choosing a quiet life and being with the person she loved after all the horrors of war made sense for her. Same goes for the consequence of losing her powers. It didn't weaken her, something Rule of Wolves also showed, it just took her into a direction of living freely for the first time in her life. Same goes for Mal.
The show completely changed that. Not only was the Darkling's death rather underwhelming compared to his book counterpart, Alina didn't sacrifice her powers. A newly resurrected Mal falls into an existential crisis (granted, that one makes sense) and leaves her to become the new Sturmhond. I think the writers confused Sturmhond briefly with the Dread Pirate Roberts from The Princess Bride here. Sturmhond is Nikolai, not a title.
Alina stays in Ravka to form the triumvirate with Genya and Zoya (David is missing or dead and I am confused about this decision) and can now use the shadow cut and is apparently turning evil. Or at least loses herself to her powers.Choices were made, people. They did fine with the Grisha Trilogy until this final episode. This ain't it, folks.
But let's move to Ketterdam for a moment.
I mentioned before that I liked the inclusion of the Crows last time and would they have done another prequel-esque story here, it would have been fine.
They got a lot of things right, don't get me wrong. Them getting to know and befriending Nina worked very well. Wylan's introduction was a lot of fun. Matthias in Hellgate was handled well. I liked the Shu Han heist that re-introduced them to Alina's storyline and I think would that have been it, it would have been fine.
The elephant in the room is Crooked Kingdom, the second book in the duology.
Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom are masterfully build up upon with so many great twists and turns and emotional payoff. Now, why would you get the really stupid idea to take a lot of the second book, without any build up, and cram it into a season that has a completely different focus? Not only was it disconnected to the rest of the storyline, it also ruins so much for a potential spin off.
My best guess is that, despite the show doing well, the producers are afraid that Netflix won't greenlit the spin off because they love to run with their axe through everything these days and wanted to do as much with these characters as possible. Fine, I can understand that to a point... and as just part of the TV show it kinda works (apart from the disconnection to the rest and it feeling slightly rushed) but as an adaptation of two of the best books in the fantasy genre, it is atrocious.
A lot of emotional moments from these characters are half-assed because the proper build up is missing. How can you tell the second part of a story without the first?
It's like doing The Empire Strikes Back but without the original Star Wars. Sure, Season 1 introduced these characters and made audiences care, and I assume non-book fans will be fine with it, but as a fan of the books, it feels like a proper slap in the face. Some changes when adapting a book to screen are necessary, these however were not.Kaz's backstory, the relationship between Kaz and Inej, Tante Heleen, the entire story with Pekka Rollins - all half-assed because of...reasons, I guess.
Inej is especially done dirty. Her character arc and trauma feel completely erased in favor of her romantic relationship with Kaz. And look, I love their relationship. It's beautiful and unique, but it is not the focus of her character. By killing off Tante Heleen in a throwaway line, so much is taken from her. Replacing her parents with a random brother, making her part of the Sturmhond crew in the end, takes away so many moments from her that I have no idea how they want to salvage this should the spin off happen. At this point I don't even see how they want to re-introduce her to join the Ice Court Heist, if the show gets renewed (or spin off greenlit).
I'll give them Jesper and Wylan though. Why their relationship is build up better and perfectly in the books, they just won me over on the show. The chemistry between Kit Young and Jack Wolfe is just amazing and every scene with them was just adorable and serotonin inducing.
The real shame is that the characters work so well together. They deserve their story properly told. Same goes for the King of Scars duology which also seems at risk here by keeping Alina in the story like they are doing.
The show has such an amazing cast. They shine together on screen as well as off screen and for them I still wish for a renewal or spin offs or whatever. They deserve it.
Looking at it just as a TV Show, it's definitely one of the better fantasy shows around and easily defies any teen drama clichés with it's rich world-building and well written characters. It's production value also increased.
As a book fan I'm disappointed. As a book fan I can't wrap my mind around the decisions made. As a book fan I want better things for these characters and I want the full amazing story written so masterfully by Leigh Bardugo told. The ending of this season unfortunately feels like some alternate take (the Grisha version of Marvel's What If so to speak) inferior to the original.
I do admit that as a TV watcher I'm intrigued with the possibility of this direction though.
I try to be fair here, I try so separate Books and Show, but it's very hard in that case. I think it's always easier to do so when you watched the adaptation before reading the source material.
As I said, I'm conflicted. I liked a lot about this season. I also disliked a lot. I think I really need some time to make up my mind.
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You really hit up a lot of my thoughts on the new season, as a fan of the original Grisha Trilogy myself.
I was okay (for the most part) with how the first half of the final episode played out, very action packed, a strong finale. But then they played out the final half hour (yes, they spent a full half hour on epilogue) making poor decisions, and half assing the loose ends.
Then by the time the final scene rolled around, I thought they’d really gone and ruined any chances of there being a worthwhile third season or any kind of continuation. When they can’t end the season without making it seem like a cheap horror movie ending, it doesn’t provide me a lot of faith for the next one.
Shout by drbi
I don't know if it is a faithful adaptaion or not. But I like it and it is one of my favoutie zombie shows.
Pros:
1. Relatable characters with good character development. The bonds between multiple characters are a joy to watch.
2. Terrifying but realistic world.
3. Superb plot.
4. Dark and gritty undertone, still manages to land some jokes
5. Talented Cast (Oberyn Martell and Lyanna Mormont as central characters, what is not to love?)Cons:
1. Felt too short
2. Need more of bill and frank
3. Minor gripe: Some inconsistencies with how the zombies acted and how it is explained.loading replies
@drbi Did you really just refer to them as their GoT characters, in which they were relatively minor roles? lmao
That was pretty bad.
From the scenario that probably took two minutes to write, to the shitty blurry fx, and the constant inconsistencies.
The story is so basic and predictable it hurts, and basically nothing happens.
1) He finds a cure
2) It turns him into a superhuman monster
3) His friend take the cure anyway and becomes a killer
4) He chases him
There's basically no side plot or anything else happening. The cops part are 100% useless. The romance is almost inexistent, but still turned into an important plot point.Most of the action is just blurs. Blurs because they're moving fast (with shitty effects, see below), and falling a lot, and if it wasn't enough let's add a batnado so that it's really really unwatchable.
The echolocation effects are just as bad and useless.The other bullshit:
:arrow_forward: Of course the science part, but that is expected
:arrow_forward: When he measures his need for blood, it's 6h and he basically reverts and suffers almost immediately, and duration is going down. However later in the hospital, it's 6h and nothing happens. Later in prison it's very probably a lot more than that. Honestly we don't care, but then why the constant repeated shots of his watch ringing 6h ?
:arrow_forward: Nicholas has time and ability to call him but let himself die without calling an ambulance
:arrow_forward: It's all about "they will die young", since they are children. But then we're 25 years later and it's the same.
:arrow_forward: The bats are supposed to be secret, but as soon as she finds them, they are always exposed
:arrow_forward: The bats "would kill anyone but accept him" because he's like them, well they didn't kill him the first time, when he was still human
:arrow_forward: We never hear again of the little girl, what was the point ?
:arrow_forward: Why are they smoky when they move ? They just move fast because they're strong, they're not magically changing themselves into smoke. This is stupid, very annoying and unwatchable.
:arrow_forward: Why can't Milo do the same thing he does ?Ending is very anticlimatic, with no post resolution, it just ends.
Then come the post credits. And I was like "wtf, this looks like DC". In the sense that it was trying to very hastily trying link / create a hype / build a universe believing that hastily adding a glimpse of information or characters plus a post credit scene would be enough to build the MCU. The I realized this is not Marvel, this is Sony trying to build a Spiderverse, and boy are they as shitty as DC to do that.
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@fly_ Yeah you pretty much nailed all the weak points of the film on the head. I was thinking it might be defensible as an action flick that allows more subpar plotlines, but then I realized all the action was just blurred out anyways
Like an acquaintance's b-day party, I enjoyed this one without feeling overly passionate about it.
In fact, I really wish this movie had been 'Princess Mononoke' and not what it was, because it would've been fascinating to watch a movie based on an enigmatic young woman who leaves her people to live with Gods and spirits in nature.
The film should have instead been called "Prince Ashitaka", because he's the true focus of this fantasy anime. The well-written story follows his hero's journey from his lost natal village to the magical forest where he fights both natural and supernatural monsters.
The animation is fantastic, the editing is on point and the arc of the film is satisfying, I just didn't find myself mentally cheering for the good guys to win and praying for the bad guys to lose.
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@saint-pauly I'd go as far to argue that part of the point in the movie is that you cannot cheer for the good guys to win and the bad guys to lose. No one was truly evil but the conflict and hatred was inevitable anyways.
Good story but unclear ending. Hoping for a Second Season!
Even in the last episode it was not clear who the bride was, But She somewhat looked like Miku :fingers_crossed:.
PS: Anime covers the it till Volume 04 Chapter 32 of the Manga.loading replies
@supriyo8799 tbh, I'm Team Miku, but considering the way the series started on the first episode and the way events have unfolded, we know that the girl he met 5 years ago has got to be Itsuki and that's who he'll end up with.
Great episode. I really needed that :grin:
A-1 Pictures is doing a very good job enhancing the original manga with their ideas, the soundtrack and overall production quality. From small things like sound effects to the more prominent touch-ups like the Peanuts-reference :wink::thumbsup:loading replies
@slyazx That Peanuts reference was phenomenally well done
was good until it got transphobic. yeaaah, no.
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@undeify I'm not sure it was all that transphobic. It could've probably handled the subject better, but Okabe simply didn't want the relationship and it would have been incredibly inconsiderate if Okabe led him on.
90% of jokes and stupid tricks, 10℅ of the episode about story. I don't understand why, after ten episodes, this series has such high marks.
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@ezrapace I'd guess it's because people like jokes ;)
Tito is the best. Why should I worry is a pretty good song. The story is fine and it has a short run time so that is nice. I had a good time.
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@nmahoney416 Why Should I Worry? is a great Billy Joel song that so few people know about.
While ERASED finished on a positive note (especially with dat Airi ending!!), I can't help but feel that things were just a bit too predictable and cookie-cutter during the second half of the show. The first half of it was riveting and amazing, but the show really started to lose itself once Kayo's problem got resolved. Overall, it's a solid show and thriller, but it didn't really break any new ground especially with how everything progressed towards Yashiro being the way too obvious "ultimate villain". Also, it might have been a little rushed in the last few episodes and could have probably benefited from a 13th episode to add a little more filler and depth to the final sequences, Yashiro's motives/intentions, and the events post-time-skip.
I'll give the show a solid 7.5/10 or so. Not the greatest thing since sliced bread, but I was entertained. Plus, you can never go wrong with having too many loli characters ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
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@deanzel I think the real power of the parts of the show where they were trying to save Kayo is the fact that she was facing death from both her own horrible circumstances (an abusive mother, no friends at school, no money, etc.) and the race against a serial killer. To increase the power and tension, there was the fact that he failed to save her the first time around.
I haven't been this moved by an anime since Miyazaki. Looking forward to a [likely] season 2.
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@midoriha_senpai No season 2 :cry:. You may have jinxed us all....
Damn. While the teacher was super obvious as the killer, I was hoping that the creators were throwing us off on purpose with a blatant red herring. Other than that flaw, this was a fantastic episode with a "mini-showdown" between Satoru and sensei. With only two more episodes to go, it's f'n game time.
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@deanzel I see what you mean. They could've at least thrown in a few more adult male characters with somewhat more visible roles but that probably would have disturbed the flow of the story. Besides, the slow revealing of obvious clues helps build suspense and allows even the least perceptive viewers to feel a part of the story. I also wanted to know what drove him to murder these children. Pedophilia is an obvious motive (he's a teacher, the dream job of a pedo), but the show also seems to point to a potentially more complex motive. And that's what really draws me in -- to understand how and why.
The teacher really creeps me out coz I’m like 70% sure he’s the murder, he’s the only adult male that’s important to the story, also he’s creepy, he’s really gotta stop telling him stuff when he shouldn’t be trusting anyone.
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@kieranlittleuk I pretty much suspected him from the beginning. But the candy stash in the car sealed the deal.
Some monologues and dialogues are so frustrating in this show. I often wish that I could strangle the character (or the writer) and make them shut up. Example in this episode: The "motivational" speech Eren receives at the end.
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@silrog And don't forget Eren's response to the speech: "Right!"
