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The Mandalorian: Chapter 22: Guns for Hire (2023)
Step in the wrong direction
With only 2 episodes remaining, this season of The Mandalorian still has no direction and I fear it's already a lost cause. There is no central purpose or narrative driving the story, there is no primary conflict to create any tension or excitement. Quality has taken a dive into the deep end, with dialogue, visuals, and writing at an all-time low. There are attempts at meaningful content, like trying to develop the First Order and Palpatine's Cloning Program, however it has ultimately lead to nothing. Any pursuit of these ideas in the remaining episodes will feel rushed due to how little development we've gotten into these concepts.
My biggest gripe is how this season seems to be working backwards on all the progress made in previous seasons. It seemed clear to me that Din and Grogu were meant to spend more time apart in order to send the story in a different direction, however to cling onto their cash cow, the producers of the series were forced to come up with a new storyline. Din made all this progress towards accepting his love for Grogu and choosing him over the Creed, however this season immediately forced the helmet back onto him, undoing all the sacrifices he made. His quest for redemption was seemingly meaningless, as Bo Katan is clearly being built up to reclaim Mandalore instead of Din. They've also seemingly forgotten Din's acceptance of droids, which was basically his entire arc in the first season, as this episode just had him butchering droids for kicks.
Outside of Andor, Disney has completely missed on all of their live action Star Wars projects this year, and I'm not quite sure who or what to put the blame on. All I can say is I've been incredibly disappointed thus far. While I wish for the best, I can't say my hopes are particularly high.
The Mandalorian: Chapter 21: The Pirate (2023)
Cinematography Lacking
This week we received an overall great episode that got the ball rolling on the future for Bo Karan and the rest of the Mandalorians. I'm glad to see that the events of episode 3 are also coming back to actually play a significant role in the story. My sole complaint, as evidenced by the title, is that this season's cinematography has been subpar at best. Greig Fraser, the cinematographer for the first two seasons was also responsible for projects like Rogue One, Dune, and The Batman, all of which were incredibly visually stunning works. With his absence, season 3 feels more like a cartoon than anything else. Seeing Mandalorians fight in the broad daylight with no particle effects outside of blaster sparks just takes me completely out of the story. It makes it obvious that this is shot on a set and takes me out of the immersion of what is otherwise a good story. The shots inside of the pirate ship are front lit, which eliminates any feeling that we're bunkered down with the pirates. It's definitely a nitpick, but I feel the difference in quality is extremely noticeable and should not be glossed over just for the fact that we're getting good Star Wars content.
The Mandalorian: Chapter 18: The Mines of Mandalore (2023)
Finally some good pog soup
The pilot episode had me worried about the future of the series but I'm glad to see that we're already back on track. The acting and dialogue are back to par and this episode did a phenomenal job at giving us the world building we're used to in the franchise. The spider mecha reminded me a lot of General Grevious, and it's the little creatures and freaks like this that make the galaxy feel so unique. What I'm really interested to see is where the story will go from here. As far as the trailers let us know, bathing in the waters of Mandalore was Din's only goal he had in mind. Now that they've rediscovered the ancient mythosaur, I'm excited to see where they might go from here. Two episodes in and we've already got a clear slate for the rest of the season.
The Mandalorian: Chapter 17: The Apostate (2023)
Wildly Disappointing
This episode had its redeeming moments, but the fact that I have to start with that already means I'm grasping at straws. Everything has taken a significant dive off the deep end. The acting and dialogue is laughable, especially in comparison to the recent series Andor, which featured some of Star Wars' best performances. Everything is told, not shown, and we should be far beyond that by this point. The action feels very clunky with some very awkward shots and choreography that just completely take you out of the moment. However, I will admit the starship scenes were quite good. The main thing that was redeemable was Grogu and Din, who are as fun to watch as ever. However, what made the dynamic so special is that their interactions were used as relief following intense sequences. If there's nothing going on, you don't get that relief. It's cute to see Din explain like things to Grogu, but when he's explaining every minute detail to him, it becomes a burden to the audience. As a writer/producer, you need to trust the viewer's intelligence to follow along and keep up with what you're doing. "This is a Mandalorian castle" might be up there with "I don't like sand" for worst dialogue in the franchise. I have no way to put it other than lazy. I'm hopeful for the coming episodes but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't concerned. Especially when the premier falls short in so many regards.
Chainsaw Man (2022)
Final Verdict
As a manga reader, I came into the series with very high expectations. Although it didn't meet the standard I had hoped for based off the manga content, I still enjoyed it quite a bit.
I'll start with what the series does right. The show is absolutely visually stunning. Every set shot establishes the atmosphere for that scene perfectly. If you take a screenshot at any point while watching, the frame will be stunning. It does all the little things well too: the voice acting is great, there's good sound effects, and the music is pretty good, although I will say it doesn't stand out like some other series' scores. The best part about the anime by far though is how well it adapts the source material. Every character looks, sounds, and feels exactly how I would've imagined from the manga. The series is nothing if not a faithful adaptation.
I do, however, reserve some criticisms. My first issue is pacing. A lot of people will dispel this complaint immediately because of how many chapters they adapted, but that's not what I'm talking about. The scenes within the episode themselves feel very drawn out to make the characters and the world seem more realistic. While I respect this decision, I just don't think it fits the feel of the manga. The source material is some of the most over the top, out of nowhere twists I've ever read. EVERYTHING felt rushed, but that was kinda the charm to the manga. In the anime however, we get a lot more time to sit with everything, which I think just doesn't work considering how the upcoming arcs need to be paced. I extent this complaint to the animation style too. I'm not mad about them using CGI; I know it was necessary to meet time constraints and MAPPA has the best CGI in anime by far. However, the fights in the manga show these quick slide shows filled with explosions with blood and guts going everywhere, whereas the anime choose to have the fights be more down to earth and realistic. I was expecting senseless violence but instead I got well thought out joists. If I was an anime only, this wouldn't be a complaint because the fights are still brilliant. Having read the manga though, I know what we could've gotten and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't let down.
The best thing I can say is that all the material remaining has a completely different tone to the introduction of the series. If MAPPA is planning on shifting the pacing and embracing a different animation style, this is the perfect opportunity to do it. Given how faithful to the manga it's been so far, I think they have no choice other than to switch things up in part 2 in order to keep up with what's going to happen. I'll reserve any serious complaining until then, but since it looks like we'll be waiting a couple of years for the next season, I figured now is as good a time as ever to drop my thoughts on the series so far.
NieR: Automata Ver 1.1a: Or not to (B)e (2023)
early shortcoming
Based off of the trailer and A1's history, i was anticipating the animation for this series to be one of the strong suits, however it seems like that won't be the case. The 2D animation scenes are fairly good, however they are far out numbered by the embarrassing CGI for the machines and flight units. Cowboy Bebop came out 25 years prior and it gave us much better high-flying action scenes than this. If anyone wanted to watch something with video game graphics, there's no reason to produce this series when you can just play the actual game instead. I will say though, they have stuck to the source material extremely well thus far, so at the very least the first episode had that going for it. For the most part though, my thoughts are that this already feels like a waste of potential, which is a quite a shame.
Chainsaw Man: Meowy's Whereabouts (2022)
Great but held back by CGI
I'll skip most of my praise for the episode because overall it was still great. The voice actors continue to give high quality performances and MAPPA's ability to stick so close to the manga makes the show incredibly enjoyable as a reader of the series. My only complaints stem from their overuse of CGI with the Chainsaw Man. The series relies on 3D animation quite heavily but for 99% of the episode it works. Plenty of series like Demon Slayer or Fate use CGI to get through less important passages more quickly so they can turn their resources towards the crazy 2D action sequences. My issue comes from the fact that they rely on CGI almost entirely for all the fight scenes so far. For the bat devil, I think this worked extremely well, however whenever they animate Denji in chainsaw form it just seems clunky and out of place. They repeatedly switched back and forth between 2D and 3D animation throughout the fight, which just takes me even further out of the action but of how different every shot looks and feels. Nearly everything else is exceptional, so I have hope that this cour will conclude with a massive hand drawn fight scene, but if it doesn't continue to improve then I think the show will end up as a ton of wasted potential considering how heavily it relies on the action. All signs point to greatness but I'm still apprehensive about this potentially turning into another Berserk 2016.
Chainsaw Man: Arrival in Tokyo (2022)
Already great
Episode 1 gave us a lot of beautiful static shots but I think the overall feel of the episode was off due to the constant use of CGI among these static shots. Episode 2 continues to rely on CGI, as I would expect to be the case for the rest of the series as well, however it does so to a much lesser extent. Even when it does use CGI, it fits in seamlessly with the 2D animation.
Outside of animation, the adaption has stayed very close to the manga. This episode exempted a brief passage from the manga but those panels aren't necessary in order to understand the story. Another strength so far is that the voice actors fit their roles perfectly and every character has been brought to life exceptionally well.
CSM leaves quite a bit of room to improve thanks to the potential brought along with the source material, however two episodes in and you can already tell this show is destined for greatness. I can't wait to see what the rest of the series has in store.
Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)
Just plain fun
Love and Thunder doubles down on the success Ragnorak had and just tries to be a funny and light movie. Whereas Ragnorak had a little bit of something for everyone, this movie clearly targeted a much younger audience. The film doesn't take itself seriously at all and the pacing is probably the fastest we've ever gotten out of the MCU. Whether or not this works for you or not is completely subjective. I would've preferred a more mature approach to Gorr and Jane but that just isn't what this movie was going for. If you're expecting a complicated and nuanced story you won't be getting it, but if you're looking for a fun and heartfelt movie that is exactly what you'll get.
Obi-Wan Kenobi: Part VI (2022)
Missed the point of Vader
This finale showed out far better than the previous episodes of the series, however I still feel that the conclusion completely missed the mark on what the story is actually trying to tell.
The Clone Wars was able to build on Anakin's character by showing how he was a caring and compassionate person and how he was manipulated to do what he did out of desperation because of how passionate he is about the things he loves. We understand his perspective when Anakin taps into the dark side because in TCW he does so in order to protect his friends, save his men from fighting needless battles, etc. Kenobi abandons all of that compassion on focuses only on Anakin's brashness and overconfidence. This is fine for the fight scenes, but in six episodes we didn't see any of Anakin's PTSD, no scenes of him visiting Padme's grave, no clone wars flashbacks, nothing. The wording of Vader's finale scene was also poorly executed as it doesn't show Palpatine's manipulative nature, but instead makes Vader out as his obedient lap dog.
It not only misrepresents Anakin as a character, but it also retells his story through Reva. After she brings back Luke, Obi-Wan tells her that she chose to not be like Vader and that she's now free. This is precisely Vader's conclusion when he saves Luke in ROTJ. When you already have one of the best redemption arcs in fiction, you don't need to retell different versions of it over and over. (Reva, Ben, Boba) Some characters need to be bad, and not just pure evil like Palpatine or the GI. Some people are just too far gone to be saved and that message is okay for the audience. At this rate we'll be trying to redeem Sidious in the next series.
The benefit of having an antagonist as powerful and layered as Vader is that the protagonist (in vaders case luke and obiwan) has to change and improve significantly in order to overcome that antagonist. In Kenobi though, the characters get by only due to the villain's negligence. The Grand Inquisitor survives because Reva doesn't finish him off, Reva survives because Vader doesn't finish her off, Kenobi survives because Vader doesn't finish him off. (and vader can't feel kenobi's force energy either apparently??) If your villains consistently let people live, there is no stakes in their actions. In some cases no finish the job works, like Obi-Wan being unable to kill Anakin due to their history together. However, all of these examples are just lazy writing that aim to create an intense moment without that moment having any consequences. So having Obi-Wan overwhelm Vader thanks to his strength gained by a flashback is the pinnacle of this sloppy writing. Obi-Wan did not defeat Anakin because he's stronger in the force, he beat Anakin because he outsmarted him. In no world should Obi-Wan be able to bombard Vader the way he did. Having him get that power boost from a flashback is also contradictory to the power system because using emotion in combat is a path to the dark side, and since this isn't expanded on at all, it's clearly not intentional. Regardless, even if Obi-Wan gets an emotional power boost, the boost Vader gets from his trauma trumps anything Obi-Wan can muster for Luke and Leia. No stakes and abandoning the power system leads to a cheap victory with no fulfillment at the end.
I thought the actors did an incredible job. Ewan was great, Hayden was phenomenal in the finale, and even Reva was a compelling character in the last two episodes. However, these actors were failed by the writing and directing crew that gave them absolutely nothing to work with. I hope this is a lesson to Disney that you can just slap a fan favorite's name on a product and just throw out whatever. It's lazy and it's a disservice to those who play the characters we already know and love.
Obi-Wan Kenobi: Part IV (2022)
Disappointing
This episode is as disappointing as the rest of the series has been. Weak plot, extremely subpar vfx, and the Third Sister continues to be an extremely unlikeable character. This was meant to be a character driven narrative but it has instead turned into a continuous fetch quest about nothing. So much potential going to waste.
Obi-Wan Kenobi: Part II (2022)
Promising, but still lacking
I'll begin with the good; I thought the live action design for the Seventh Sister was beautiful, even there it was only briefly shown, the choreography for the hallway fight scenes were surprisingly good, and I was a fan of how the new planet looked.
My first complaint is about the Leia chase scene. You'd think that we would've learned about how boring these chase scenes are from TBOBF, yet we're only two episodes in and both of them have featured adults struggling to catch a slow 10 year old girl. You can make an argument for the Boba Fett chases to be slow, but this is just embarrassing.
Reva continues to be one of the most annoying characters we've gotten in a while, which is frustrating considering she's the main antagonist of the show. It was pointless having her "kill" the Grand Inquisitor, especially since Kenobi takes place before Rebels, so it's a fake out death we already know is coming. I also thought the Vader reveal was handled horribly. This is a major turning point for Obi-Wan and it was so abrupt and horribly paced. The reveal should've come when they were face to face, not behind a set of boxes.
Obi-Wan Kenobi: Part I (2022)
Doesn't quite hit the mark
First and foremost I want show appreciation for how they've handled the characters we already know and love from the movies. Luke is still a naive kid who just wants to explore the galaxy, Leia is as intelligent and stubborn as ever. Even Owen Lars stays true to the man we briefly knew and I think this performance was surprisingly compelling to watch. I'm particularly a fan of seeing Mr. And Mrs. Organa interact with Leia to really show the type of environment she grew up in, which we've gotten little to nothing of up until now.
That said, this episode is still very flawed. Reva appears to be the main antagonist of the series, which is frustrating because there's nothing to like about her character. Perhaps she'll be more interesting when we get a backstory, but for the time being she's acting like the other Inquisitors' annoying little sister.
Also, the forest chase scene sucks, plain and simple. I don't understand how that got the green-light during test screenings.
Shingeki no Kyojin: The Dawn of Humanity (2022)
The cost of war
This world is so cruel, but it is also very beautiful. Despite all the hate and horror the world wants to inflict on Eldia, even the devils of paradis can find a moment to laugh among their "enemies." The Rumbling is all of those horrors personified; it will lead to nothing but terrible pain and suffering. However, it's still incredible to witness what the will of one man is capable of. Perhaps Eren's actions are justified, or maybe he truly is in the wrong. Only one thing is certain: there are no winners in this war, but Eren is the only one willing to fight it.
Shingeki no Kyojin: Sunset (2022)
Solid
Not every episode needs insane action or crazy plot twists. Transitional episodes like this are essential to making the story flow. It's a solid, necessary episode, nothing more nothing less.
Shingeki no Kyojin: Thaw (2022)
Fan service done right
I will admit I'm being extremely biased when I say this, but this was my favorite episode of part 2. It felt like it came straight out of season 3 with how good the odm scenes were and barricades was reused perfectly.
Obviously AOT is known for its dramatic plot twists and we've gotten plenty of that in the past three episodes, but I love episodes like this one where we just get to experience the consequences of those actions. This was a breath of fresh air and I hope there's more episodes like this before we undoubtedly go back to the constant plot twists.
The Book of Boba Fett: Chapter 7: In the Name of Honor (2022)
Lacking
I have not been a fan of the action sequences in the episodes directed by Robert Rodriguez and this is no exception. There's an excessive use of slow mo, the choreography is awkward at best, and the pacing always feels a little off. In most cases these little details would get a pass, but there isn't much else going on in this episode to make up for it. You can't have an action packed finale when the action isn't exciting.
Shingeki no Kyojin: From You, 2000 Years Ago (2022)
It's coming...
Most reviews while focus on how stunning the rumbling was, and rightfully so. However I wanted to talk about how brilliant the storytelling for Ymir's backstory was.
In Midnight Sun, no music plays until the very end of the episode, which makes the episode much more immersive because it forces you to focus on the character interactions instead of how the music makes you feel. Similarly, in Ymir's backstory there's very little dialogue, and it only comes from the king, however you don't need dialogue to get the point.
Ymir's eyes are blank for most of the episode, suggesting she doesn't have a soul; that she's "just a slave." It's only when Eren convinces her that she can be free that she has an iris. We don't need dialogue from Ymir to tell us that Eren has freed her. The visuals tell you everything.
Similarly, we don't need an explanation that Ymir died because she lost her will to live, or that Maria, Sina, and Rose inherited her titan abilities. We don't need a lengthy monologue to understand those intricacies, however most anime would take that route instead of executing its storytelling like this.
I also wanted to point out that the tree Ymir inherited the first titan from looks very similar to the tree Eren slept under when he had his "dream" in episode one and I don't think that's a coincidence. Isayama thought of everything.
The Book of Boba Fett: Chapter 6: From the Desert Comes a Stranger (2022)
Book of...?
Boba has gotten 30 seconds of screen time in last 2 episodes and honestly it's for the better. This episode did a great job of revisiting where we left off in Mando ep 16 and it did Cad Bane's character justice with his live action debut.
The visuals were also stunning and I thought the soundtrack was particularly good this episode, but maybe I'm just a sucker for the binary sunset theme. Can't wait to see what the finale has in store.
Shingeki no Kyojin: Memories of the Future (2022)
Wow
I'm not even going to bother writing an actual review, this was absolutely incredible and supposedly this isn't even as good as the story gets. Next Sunday can't come soon enough.
Shingeki no Kyojin: Two Brothers (2022)
Another one of Isayama's plot twists
I won't state any of them here, but I've seen a lot of manga spoilers since s4 originally dropped. So much so that I thought I basically knew the entire plot going forward, but nothing prepared me for this.
Falco killing Colt, Porco sacrificing himself, and most importantly Zeke turning the tables on Eren and using the founder's powers for himself.
Even when you know what's coming next, you have no idea what's coming next. One of the most brilliantly written stories ever.
Kimetsu no Yaiba: Layered Memories (2022)
Haters creating low rating
The anime community is so upsetting. Last night when the episode first dropped it was a 9.8 and many fans seem to believe this is the best episode of the series. One day later and the episode isn't even a 9/10 because of an unnecessarily high amount of 1/10 reviews. I'll never understand why anime fans hate when popular shows do well. Same exact situation with the first episode of AOT last night. It's embarrassing how sad some of these fans are; going out of your way to bring down a great show instead of encouraging it.
Shingeki no Kyojin: Judgment (2022)
Absolutely stunning
MAPPA has outdone themselves. The visuals and sound design were incredibly well done and this is easily the best use of CGI I've ever seen, it blends almost seamlessly with the hand drawn animation.
Outside of that the voicing acting was as good as we've come to expect and the story speaks for itself.
Everything is coming together and the stakes have never been higher. The War for Paradis has begun.
Shingeki no Kyojin (2013)
Attack on GOAT
We're about a week away from S4 part 2 and I haven't stopped thinking about this show since I watched it a few months ago. It is truly one of the best the genre has to offer.
The pacing is some of the best I've seen. There's no filler and you'll never have to go long without a new story beat to get the plot moving. Plot twists are frequent but not cheap. There's no a-ha moments at the end of an episode just to make you watch another 24 minutes of monologue. Twists are meaningful and well-developed. You'll appreciate the story even more a second time through when you recognize all the little hints that build up to those reveals.
Admittedly, the story does take a while to pick up. Characters don't develop much depth in the first season and likewise the themes addressed early on are fairly elementary. AOT's idea of world-building in the first two seasons is to present a lot of questions and give very few answers. However, the pay-off when these questions are finally answered in seasons 3 and 4 can not be understated. Every single scene matters and anything that is mentioned is a plot point later on in the show, even if it takes a while to get there. The show is known for having some of, if not the best foreshadowing in the medium. You need to rewatch the show at least one other time to appreciate all the nuances in characters' body language or side comments in particular situations.
The action/animation is a strong point throughout the entire series. Even still shots of the landscape are a joy to stop and look at. The motion animation for ODM gear scenes in seasons 1-3 are particularly captivating to me. Most well-animated fights in other anime are just a wide shot of the battle field with flashes of bright colors and cubes bursting out of the ground, but fights in AOT transition between so many different angles and shots that you can't miss a single frame of action. In seasons 3 and 4 the large scale battles are particularly interesting because of the amount of strategy involved. Both sides of the conflict have entirely unique advantages and disadvantages and it's wonderful to see how both sides play their cards during these drawn out fights.
Once the show settles into its own it's impossible to put down. The fights are brilliant, the themes are incredibly nuanced, the characters are well developed, and the plot will always keep you on toes.
For those who care, the show is great subbed or dubbed. I watched it my first time dubbed because I didn't like reading during fight scenes, but on my second go through I watched it subbed. Both are incredibly well done, don't both trying to debate which is better. Watch it however you prefer.
No matter how you watch it, Attack on Titan is a show I can't recommend enough and I'm thrilled to be able to watch the final season as it comes out.
The Book of Boba Fett: Chapter 1: Stranger in a Strange Land (2021)
Nothing special just yet
There was nothing particularly bad with the first episode but nothing special either.
The fighting is definitely a step down from what we've gotten used to with The Mandalorian. The action we got from this episode felt very stiff and rigid in comparison to Mando's high octane and fluid fight scenes. Comparing their pilot episodes is night and day in this aspect.
I'm glad we got some more context on how Boba escaped the sarlacc pit. It definitely filled some gaps, such as how Cobb Vanth got the armor, and where Boba got his experience fighting with the weapons of the Tusken Raiders. Still, I think his character feels very off. The Boba Fett we knew in TSB and ROTJ was a menace, I wish this episode did a little more to show how he transitioned into the honorable fighter we see today, instead of instantly making him the same man we knew in Mando.
That leads into another concern I have about this show: tone. The Boba we have currently is an honorable man who "intends to lead with respect." I don't know how well that characterization will fit for someone who's supposed to be a crime lord. I wouldn't expect a Disney+ show to get dark, so I'm not surprised, however I think the quality of the show will suffer as a result of this limitation. I hope to be proven wrong by the end of the show, but as of right now I don't think a crime lord with good guy morals is going to be particularly entertaining.
Overall a decent episode. It did what it needed to and the show will have another 5 episodes to get where it needs to go. As of right now though, the show is just alright; nothing more, nothing less.