We were all 12 once. This would have been the coolest thing ever back in the day. It may be trash, but it's high quality trash.
Lured me in with it being a story by Yasuo Ohtagaki (Gundam Thunderbolt), but one thing I can't stand in a series is inconsistency in the "rules" for sci-fi concepts. The Tardigrade creatures are shown to be impervious one minute and easily dispatched the next. They consume things at excessively rapid pace and then turn into slow lethargic creatures the next. Just whatever fits the moment, and it just cheapens the whole setup.
From start to finish - an absolute joy to watch. In what I would consider a not particularly impressive anime season, this series really shines out as an example of what you can really do with a bit of creativity. The series (if you don't include the OVA and the Net Episodes from Season 1, which you don't really need to see) is only 10 episodes long but it still manages to tell a fantastic and touching story.
What really amazes me is how good this is compared to what I was expecting. Having watched the OVAs and web episodes that "aired" prior to the TV series itself, I found myself thinking "Looks cool, but doesn't really make any sense or go anywhere". The TV series was able to flesh out the previous content and weave it into a very compelling story. What's even more amazing is that from what I understand, this started out as just a small little collaberation between Toei Animation and a friggin' toy maker (Banpresto)!
I get the feeling that not everyone will be quite as smitten with the series as I was, but it just worked for me. I liked the characters, the fantasy setting, the music, everything. This absolutely shines out as my anime of the season, and possibly the whole year.
Oh, and Koto is love.
Just watched the first episode of this train wreck. Supernatural should've stayed dead. The casting is absolutely dreadful and John especially doesn't feel like John at all. The show is supposed to be set in the 70s and everyone dresses and talks like it's set in the modern day. The CGI is awful and the acting is shite. The script is the poorest I've seen in a long time.
What the fuck is this?! Jensen, you say you are making this for the fans and for people who miss and love Supernatural but honestly, you are beating a dead horse here. The entire existence of this show just pisses all over 15 seasons of continuity and rewrites the entire history of the original show.
Keeping the feminine looking character animation aside, this was a great anime. The story does have some plot holes but the best part was how the entire concept unfolded without rushing for the completion.
The main character didn't became the best magically like in other anime(s) which kept the realistic attribute of the story intact.
This show was definitely a bit underrated but I will still recommend others to watch it.
Interesting premise, but fell a bit flat for me. I'm sure it has it's audience though.
Mike Flanagan continues to channel his love of Stephen King into a miniseries that's actually better than most King TV screen adaptations we see. I wasn't totally won over by his Haunting of Hill House and haven't bothered with the follow up series yet, but this is in a totally different league.
Midnight Mass is absolutely steeped in thematic material. This could be a bit much if it didn't sit so well alongside the characters, the writing and the narrative. The series has hell of a lot to say about religion but it's never coming down for or against it. It allows each character's religious beliefs (even if they have none) to let us understand them and what their faith means to them.
I highly recommend going into this knowing as little as possible. Suffice to say that there are horror elements which creep in and it certainly fits into the classic Stephen King story mould. There are twists which are telegraphed from the start (if you notice the actors in old-age makeup in the first episode then it's a bit obvious where things are going) and some which are much more subtle.
But the show really shines through the performances. Just about every episode has at least one scene which is completely mesmerising. It's not afraid of letting it's characters have discussions and letting us be there for the whole thing. More films and TV could benefit from this approach. I need to highlight Hamish Linklater in particular as doing an incredible job.
If I have any criticism it's that the visuals are a little frustrating. The series has that weird "modern" undersaturated look with minimal lighting which leads to things looking a bit flat. This is offset by some gorgeous cinematography and strong editing.
Also, Bev is the worst.
I still have Absentia and Before I Wake of his non-obscure works left to see, but I find this the best thing Flanagan has done to date. It turns out "original work + heavily literary-influenced" is the ideal middle point of this director, so his preoccupied philosophical/religious ideas don't feel as grafted on as sometimes happen in his adaptations (like the last episode of Hill House), and the influence helps stressed the emotional/thematic resonance further than his more purely formal genre exercises (like Hush or Oculus).
The complexity here feels very much Stephen King-influenced (agreed with some comments of "best King novel that he has never written"), but being original work means Flanagan starts off with pure atmosphere and characterization of his own creation, which is why I don't find the pacing and monologues of early episodes to be too much like others do. They feel like carefully crafted momentums that deepen this rich world and cast of characters to parallel the horror-tinged mysteries taking place alongside them.
In fact, the only time they truly feel their length is when the other shoe drops a full reveal at the series' midpoint in Episode 4, because as good as its "after death" discussion and others are, they now feel in the way of a clear forward narrative now gaining steam proper. This problem persists a bit into Episode 5, but the devastating ending finally has the characters caught up with the audience, leading into the last two episodes that are the best landing in either of Flanagan's films or series. Horrific, supremely crafted, and surprisingly tender, the ending of series sees Flanagan has the characters confront their past traumas and current beliefs (whether firm or wavering) alongside the horror taking place, and the way he clearly grapples and ponders along with his own characters onscreen during the final stretch is the most moving filmmaking this director has ever done.
It had a great start but as the story progressed the plot felt like a bit stretched and repetitive. Moreover the different kind of elements like Time Travel, Another World, etc. didn't blend together that well which gave this show an underwhelming vibe.
This anime was decent at the most. If you've got other better things to watch then leave this one out.
Like your first scrapbook, you glue in some action cartoons and some colorful speeches but none of it is very original.
It's ok for a live-action remake if you don't expect it to be good. Since the live-action is not proper to its original, I guess this is an alternative. The fight scenes are a bit off, the dialogue between characters is wacky, the casting is a bit of a problem for Faye and Jet but casting "John Cho" was a perfect idea, and the art and the special effects are outstanding at best. There are some problems with the alternative cowboy bebop through with the theme of it. The original was darker and more depressing than the live-action. The anime consists of loneliness, corruption, destruction, and most parts relating to the modern aspect in 1998. While the live-action version is more child-friendly with the bebop crew being less aggressive and plays the bounty game like "Hungry Hungry Hippo." idk why Julia is introduced too soon into the series.
live-action series is a bad idea. idk why people still do it. I think it will actually be better using CGI like "The Adventures of Tintin" or 3DCG like "Lupin III: The First."
Dutch angled, Shallow focused, Room Spaced, Messy Trash.
Vicious's subplot is patetic and Julia is ruined. an amateurish parody of the original. bleah!
As per usual with many popular shows and films, it’s overhyped, overly serious, emotionally manipulative and mostly dumb.
It’s a show that thinks that people with shitty lives and gambling problems are willing to die for a 0.1% chance of winning a lot of money.
Bit of a thin motivation, wouldn’t you say?
Wouldn’t you probably flee the country, if your financial situation was that shitty? Wouldn’t you rather rob a bank, or a rich family? Yeah me too, I wouldn’t hesitate for a single second if it was between that or participating in some sadistic game.
It’s such a silly concept, and yet it’s presented as if this is some sort of serious and important drama with a lot of social commentary about poverty.
I’m sorry, but this is a show where the big villain looks like he walked out of a comic book (he literally looks like Victor van Doom from the Fantastic Four), and his minions have masks with Playstation buttons on them.
It’s schlock, but it thinks it’s Parasite.
And don’t get met even started on the acting, it’s fucking horrible.
This might’ve worked if our characters would be forced to participate involuntarily, but at that point you’re just remaking Battle Royale and The Hunger Games, so you’re kinda screwed regardless with this concept.
[spoilers sorry lole]
last 2 eps completely ruined the show; too many things left unexplained or given corny ass reasons; last episode REALLY horrendous; tried to make us sympathize with psychos; mid ass ending; hella plot holes and pretty predictable (was able to guess that front man was cop brother cus like who else would it be + old man was behind it all due to the fact that he was #1 like srsly) . really peaked in the "game" part of the show. why fly the vips in so late too? why have the organ plot? and in the marble game, why did ali lose since one of the rules were they HAD to play a marble game, yet lost despite not playing any? i get theres very few rules but one of the rules was they HAD to play a marble game but idk. they should have both died at least as a compromise lole. and final fight was so predictable with the anime-ass rain + ground stab near head instead of the finishing blow and suicide lmaooo.
game-part alone nice 7.5. kinda stupid fun to watch and shit.
kinda psuedo deep commentary on society (yea bro ur not wrong capitalism is ass and pushes us to do wild shit) and show was also pretty corny lolz
Starts off amazing for first 5 eps. When Ali died, the show lost its way a little. I’m also not sure point of the body organ subplot. Didn’t really lead to anything.
I’d also have rearranged the final scenes: have G sad and despondent, but also let him do charity stuff for Sang Woo’s mum etc. THEN let him not touch his own money for a year, as that still conveys his guilt and hopelessness. It still works. Otherwise, Seems bit weird and pathetic in order we got it in on the show. I get he was sad that his mom died, but bumming around for a year after seems quite a leap.
Lastly, did they really fly in the VIPS just to watch two games? A cool bridge one, and then what’s basically a cheap playground game of hopscotch? I think they should have come in earlier on the show.
So, which exec at ABC network said, "We need some melodramatic crap like This Is Us, get on that ASAP."?
Let me quote a Google audience review:
"I'm only about half way through the fifth episode but I'm so frustrated. I read through some of the other comments and I'm glad I'm not the only one pulling their hair out over the stupid decisions some of the characters make, especially Kinsey. Don't get me wrong it's an incredibly interesting concept and the some of the effects are super cool but certain aspects have me banging my head against the wall. There's a bunch of discoveries that are forgotten like the ghost key or characters that seem important but disappear for multiple episodes such as Ellie or the great great grandfather. Ellie made some kind of huge discovery where she yelled for Lucas into the well but then she's just gone. And the dad's just dead so they have a sad backstory and unanswered questions.
The mother is scarily detached from her kids' life and lets her youngest son who seems to be in grade school stay alone in a mansion by himself, even though he shows repeated concerning behavior talking about a lady in the well and whispering. I know her character is supposed to be a grieving mother who was never good at parenting but they just made her useless and pitiful. I'm seriously curious as to why we follow her story even though she seems kind of unimportant and neglectful.
And don't even get me started on Kinsey. She was already very rude from the beginning but she was traumatized and grieving so it wasn't that weird. But then she literally kills her ability to feel fear??? Like she's in high school she should know it's a vital feeling in order to survive!! After that her character just becomes painful to watch, she straight tells her mother that she's bad at parenting and she should just stick to painting and house renovations because "that's what you're good at" and she sees absolutely nothing wrong with that until she finds out her mom was in her life more that she thought she was. It's purely downhill from there, she then shows the guy she likes the keys which is a stupid thing to do you, don't just start showing people magic! He's freaked at first but then afterwards is totally chill about it?? She then abuses the music box key to absolutely humiliate this one girl, who, sure was mean, but she took it way to far! And then Gabe joined in on it and he was totally fine with the fact that she was using magic??? All the girl did was say that Scot was mediocre, and they made her humiliate herself in front of the school. Kinsey isn't cute or quirky and is far from the yeah new confidence you go girl! She became an awful character to watch and main characters with bad personalities makes it hard to cheer them on. I'm sure it was to show the addicting power to abuse the keys but still!
There are moments when the acting is a little lack luster, like most of it is totally fine but then it's just these odd few second scenes where the actors are just weird and 100% unnatural. Also the Well lady straight up killed two people for like literally no reason?? And we're just fine with that? If she's into killing why doesn't she use her power to threaten Bode into giving her the keys? And Kinsey and Tyler keep going back and forth from super close and buddy buddy to I hate you and at each others throats.
Hopefully the show gets better!"
- Marissa Hebert
Unfortunately, as Marissa likely discovers, it does not get better.
Too bad there’s so much stupidity and useless teen drama as the premise of the story seems interesting. It’s like they had material for 4 episodes but had to push 10 and blurted out 6 hours of annoying filler content. The only character that is decent seems to be Bode. Tyler and Kinsey as written really bad and super annoying and they are stupid as a rock.
This show is the pinnacle of stupidity and you will see this with each passing episode.
Three episodes in and I'm already seriously annoyed by the characters' irrational choices and unrealistic behavior. Keeping secrets or lying for no good reason, promising one thing and doing another, etc. And they keep doing it over and over. And I'm not even mentioning their almost casual reaction to discovering a magic mirror that serves as a gateway to another realm. After such an experience any real person would start to seriously question their f****ng sanity or at least have a panic fit and leave that house to never come back again. I know I would. But no, these kids are like: "Wow, magic door. I guess that's nothing to be seriously alarmed about." Even after losing their father in a horrific and traumatic event it doesn't seem to bother these kids at all that they just almost lost their mother too inside this magic mirror maze. And these are just a few examples on the top my head. There's much more where that came from.
It's like watching an '80 horror movie where someone in an already dire situation hears a scary noise and decides to go towards it instead of running to safety. And sure, that was okay then. Maybe fun even. But today, these 30-40 old "proven devices" have become just that: old. Really old, both literally and figuratively. But apparently 30-40 years was not enough time for these writers to come up with something different or original.
It's a shame really, because I think the story overall is quite interesting. But it is starting to become almost unbearable to watch when the only reason the characters behave the way they do is because it's the easiest way to move the plot into a certain direction. It's lazy writing like this that makes characters unbelievable and unrelateble.
Other then the last one (which I found quite disturbing) this series of 5 shorts is a mess and really does not make any sense.
The Promised Neverland started great and compelling until Season 2 comes and pulls away from the source material, they had to skipped 140+ chapters just to end so abruptly awful.
It's actually pretty boring, if there's a second season someday, I won't watch it.
You like overpowered MCs? What the MC in this anime does is downright illegal :laughing: Enjoyable from start to finish.
The main character of this anime is one of the most annoying that I have ever seen.
cringy, edgy, but for some reason quite interesting to watch
It was a decent "Slice of Life" with nothing extraordinary. I won't recommend anyone to watch if they have other better anime(s) on the list.
Season 1:
This show failed in my eyes. It lacked consistent, good writing. It had a great premise with a lot of potential... but many things that happened broke the suspension of disbelief in this viewer because they are fabricated for an unnecessary and pointless dramatic effect, break physical laws, or ignore obvious intelligent decisions. There are too many contrivances. Characters make the most irrational and illogical decisions for absolutely no reason whatsoever multiples times. Many main or likable character deaths are forced and pointless beyond being incredibly unbelievable and useless. The deaths serve next to no purpose and would be avoided by any human with even the most average intelligence. Examples can be found in my comments for each episode in spoiler tags.
Story way underperformed for the premise it started with at the beginning. Music and sound was great. Some amazing backdrops and still scenes. The art does a good job of showing how ugly human emotions can be at times.
BORING. SO VERY BORING. I CANNOT BELIEVE IT IS THIS BORING.
This show is insane! haha I love it!
