Change Your Image
morganleedame
Reviews
Jigeum uri hakgyoneun (2022)
Exactly what I wanted. (And maybe something I didn't know I'd love)
I can honestly say this show is both a ton of fun and fun in the way I wanted it to be. With also a twist I never knew I wanted.
Going into a genre heavy show like this one I change my perspective on what I want and expect. So I was actually pretty pleased and found it really enjoyable that this ended up being about following a group of high schoolers over the course of the very beginnings of a zombie virus. The action was fun, the characters were archetypical (but really in the way I wanted them to be. Mainly because of how great I found the acting.)
Okay spoiler time!!!
First and foremost, here are my few nit-picks. The reason for the virus (my kid is being bullied) its justttt silly enough that I found it a bit distracting. Second, I found the pacing over people getting bitten to be a bit odd at times. I'll put it this way, there are a few episodes where really no one dies and then once their in the rain/gym a pretty good amount of people get bit/die. I would have preferred that sprinkled out a bit more. Lastly, I didn't find every group or person we followed to be equally interesting (but thats real hard to pull off.)
What I LOVED, and am really excited about for season 2 and onward. Is that this isn't just a zombie show that becomes people v people. Which it might have some similar beats to (and I also would have liked that fine) BUT what we get instead is two types of zombies. The Half-bie puts a really fun monkey wrench into the mix. It made character interactions complicated. It also made the characters who become this half-bie have really interesting personal conflict (or lack thereof).
For what its worth within our own group of survivors I found it thoroughly entertaining to see how some of them becoming half-bies effected romance, friendship, and just forced proximity with other survivors. It also works that this is a group of teens without any real (lasting) adult supervision. So you end up with a group of kids with big emotions about protecting the afflicted person, or coldly wanting to cast them out. While I assume the growing problem in the show (as it goes on) will be how the military reacts to their friend/partner afflicted with something that they are trying to eradicate.
I loved rooting for these little half-zombie kids trying not to eat the people they love. Or even the friend/partner being WILD enough to offer themselves up to be bit, what a wild choice!
Gakkô no kaidan: The Soul-Stealing Mirror!! Utsushimi (2000)
Another personal favorite of the Dub.
In this episode it starts off with Leo being the first to be attacked by the mirror ghost. As the episode plays out it seems the only people left in town are Hajime and Satsuki. Oh, and their lovable feline.
This one is one of my all time favorites for the very reason that it cuts the cast down. Not that I don't love Momoko, Leo, and Keiichiro's humor, but they are also the three cast members with the most stagnate humor. Momoko especially really only says born-again type humor. Which is both some of the best moments of the show, but is also mostly the same ep to ep. That said, this episode still has some strong Keiichiro and Leo moments, like the Xanax lines in the bathroom between Keiichiro/Leo was golden.
That said, this episode follows what was true of its Japanese counterpart - following Hajime and Satsuki as they find themselves to be the only ones left in town not taken over by the mirror ghost. Which they funnily handled with about as much panic as irritation/annoyance. (I find) Almost a relatable "real world" humor when you're left to save yourself from an inconvenience.
To me, the best parts of Satsuki and Hajime as characters is that their humor changes the most ep to ep. Sure Hajime will probably say something about having sex and Satsuki will be interested in alcohol and/or drugs but they are also the characters who most change to fit the particular episode problem and/or ghost. So with them as the only ones left, their story roles of being the "reluctant hero" Hajime and "final girl" Satsuki are on full blast. Bitterly cracking jokes and being left to save the day.
Two strong moments in this episode is Hajime shock at being glad to run up to a police station and for the cop to drop the Krispy Kreams, even calling him Serpico. As well as a great moment of Hajime saying later that he can read, not well, but he can read and those letters are BACKWARDS. Both jokes feel so unique to this episode and oddly show the duality of being both a fourth grader in school, as well as a fourth grader in this world, where everyones doing something against the law. Fun world building - (But not really the show that needs to be told it has good "world building" though.)
Some episodes in this show are great despite the lackluster foundation of the original show, while some like this one seem like the og episode was probably "fine" (all things considered) - so the better ghost, pacing, and ending only add to the experience. Also, talk about a wonderful ending. Amanojaku's mirror speech where he "blew my mind man" - just great fun.
Gakkô no kaidan: Requiem from the Dead - Elise (2000)
One of my favorite of the Dub.
In this episode Satsuki has to avoid hearing the piano ghost playing Fur Elise three times or she dies.
I think this episode has been re-watched by me so many times because its both a relatively tame episode (I'll explain) while feeling the most "believable" to this world (okay I'll have to explain that too).
What I mean by this episode being relatively tame is about where the humor is coming from. Most of the humor comes in how lax each of the characters are about Satsuki being close to death. Even Satsuki. Because the humor can only be dialogue based the jokes can come in the characters making fun of what their doing, explaining what they are doing, or getting angry at the show itself (in fourth wall breaks) as to why they don't just do *this/that*. So, the episode rolls with the punches and realizes that Satsuki really doesn't seem that worried for the first half. So they have her laughing off the threat saying things like, at least its not creed.
Which brings me to my second reason for liking this episode. For me, obviously I love this show for what the dub gets away with. The fact that this is the real dub and not an abridged series is always a buck wild shock when its watched for the first time. But I'll admit that now when I re-watch an episode, I find it far funnier to think of this world and characters as real.
Not to say this episode isn't funny, those cow print pj's deserved what they had coming.
So, for me, this is the episode where the ghost stories crew feels arguably the "nicest" to each other. (well, nice for them, most of them start of pretty A-Okay with Satsuki dying). But because this isn't family guy where all parts of writing and development can be decided by Seth Mcfarland or other creators - ghost stories always has to make the animation make sense. Therefore, characters (especially Hajime) can talk a big game about not caring and only wanting to have sex/drugs/etc. But when it comes down to it they always help out and stop the ghost, even if reluctantly. (Who else is going to go in first, again!)
Like any good show, even an outrageous one like this. The ideal is for the show to feel lived in. So these character switches may seem/or could be out of character - or we can chose to believe that these characters know what's going on. Even if they would prefer to be doing literally anything else, they know they have to stop the ghosts. Or maybe the ghost stories crew just enjoy's pretending they're all hardheads who don't care about Satsuki dying, but they do actually care, even if just a little (Well, keiichirou actually cared a lot.)
Gakkô no kaidan: Tonight, the Spirits Will Be Resurrected! Amanojaku (2000)
A perfectly unhinged start. (Dub that is.)
Okay so I'll start this out with saying that this is an anime thats infamous for its dub. From what I've found the story is both blown out of proportion, but pretty believable given what this Dub ends up being. A condensed version - From what I understand (and have read) Stephen Foster was given more control that typical (pretty much having to keep the names the same) but was told to find a way to get the mediocre at best show to make some money. So what we have by the end of this show is closer to that of a family guy/South Park/rick and morty type of American adult cartoon. But given some of the other VA's interviews (Obi Frostips) it seems there was never a full script (or anything close) so its a mix bag of early 2000's pop culture references, character "types", and all around off-the-wall adult humor.
But for this first episode it's actually the most tame this show gets. In other ep nearly every line is designed to be a joke or set up a joke. But here they seem to be figuring some jokes out. Things like Leo being jewish, Momoko born-again evangelicalism, and Keiichirou speaking gibberish.
All in all its the most tame of the set of 20, but it deserves its 8 out of ten for all the running jokes it started. Who knows where things could have gone had they not started off with this?
Glee: Prom Queen (2011)
First watch, years late, pretty damn impressed.
Okay. So I re-watch season one of glee pretty frequently and then stop there. I've never seen the whole show, but I have been watching season two recently. As a matter of fact I had never seen this episode before. I agree with some of the reviews above that maybe some of the songs would not be my first pick. Or that the fight with Finn and Jesse happened and then was never resolved. But truthfully, I was really pleasantly surprised with this episode.
I've long since known that glee at best is sort of messy. At least in the character beats. What all happens with who, and what that looks like ep to ep is sort of a nightmare to keep track with. So I keep most episodes as their own mini movies. Or just a grain of salt.
So I'll be totally honest and say that it was in small moments with various characters that I adored. Like Rachel knowing to match the ribbon to Quinns eyes and Sam and Mercedes moments.
But this is getting an 9 out of ten for two reasons. First, I gasped when I saw that Eric Stoltz directed this ep (Seriously, maybe I'm a bad person but I had no idea he was a director as well.) I saw his name in the bottom right and about died. Lance from Pulp Fiction? I was blown away.
Second. Blaine and Kurt. Yeah, I gasped when Kurt won Prom Queen. I absolutely should have seen it coming in hindsight with all the foreshadowing of pitting girl against girl, Blaines warnings, and Kurt feeling like nothing could go wrong or that maybe people were past bullying him. With how much the crown got built up, it was more than just giving it to a girl who didn't want it. It was bullying and an embarrassment I can't imagine. It was demanding that Kurt had the wrong idea, and that yes, people were still going to be jerks, just in a no-name sort of way. Nobody had to prove it was then who wrote in. But they wanted to shame him with a spotlight. (insert Carrie joke here).
I don't know if it was in just how quiet the moment was. Like I was stuck there with Kurt and Blaine that what had happened was real. It really let the moment wipe over me. I also think the moment was given a great amount of time. Kurt has a moment of reaction and then we know Blaine goes after him. Then they have a really wonderful conversation in the hallway. I was so glad there was no "I told you so" or anything. They just talk and figure out what they want to turn this moment into. Going home and watching a movie COULD have been the happy ending, I would have been okay with that, but they go back in. Kurt gets the crown, and then Blaine agrees to be his first dance.
I don't really care if the show "stays good" or when it "goes bad" I love these moments. For me Glee has always been the "moments" I want to go back to far more than the whole ep. This episode (in parts) was just as heartbreaking as I wanted, and more than deserving of dancing queen by the end.
So in the end this was my first time watching this episode, but I'll go back and watch the scenes I want later.
H2O: Just Add Water (2006)
GREAT FOR KIDS- enjoyable for nostalgia
I watched season one when I was in elementary school and loved it, now I'm in college and figured I'd re-watch season one for the laughs and nostalgia. In all honesty the show holds up pretty well, but definitely has its problems. I am going to go into what the show does well as well as problems the show has, but keep in mind if you just want to show it to it's proper age group (tweens and kids) the show will work great! And in all honesty the problems I had with the show I think added to the laughs! And this review is only over season one (didn't love the show enough to watch 3 seasons- lol)
H2O introduces three girls who are not (all) previous friends who become mermaids together from a mysterious island they get stranded on together. They find out that if they touch water (just a drop) they will become a mermaid until dry. The three girls have varying personality's of the fearful nice one (Cleo), the (kinda bossy) responsible one (Emma), and the (kinda moody) rebellious, funny one (Rikki). They learn to deal with this situation, and juggle high school.
First off think what the show does great is introduce a situation where I really feel the curse of the superpower. Pretty early on we find out that "touching water" can be as simple as moisturizing your face or getting any form of drink (soda, juice, etc) on you. This helps make the world feel more "lived it" because this would technically be true. It also creates some reasonable drama that I agree with. Normally when a character with a superpower doesn't want to do things because of their power it seems a little melodramatic and forced. Here, in any given episode they will argue if they can host a party, go to a pool party, get a job at a marine park- and each time the arguments still seem warranted (for the most part- I'll get to that later)- because it's a fair argument that going to a pool party would give you a really good chance to get wet. But it's also a fair argument that you shouldn't let situations hold you back from living your life. Also a show that can get me to stress about water (even if it's in the background-I mean seriously did they have to live so close to the water) is doing something right.
Another thing I thought was done well was the friendship and independence of each of the girls. Let me explain, I like that Rikki joins cleo and Emma's established friendship after they all find out their mermaids. I am a big fan of people sorta running into a bond or creating a friendship over a shared experience. It wouldn't make sense that these three clearly different personality's would have been friends for years, and it's more fun to watch people have to learn to work together because of a common goal. The friendship they form is nice enough for me too root for it, but also rocky enough for me to buy into arguments. As for the characters independence- it's a small thing but it makes the world feel real, I really liked how self motivated a lucid each character is. For the most part the characters do their own thing,Cleo could spend an episode cleaning out her closet. Most "teen" group or power shows tend to keep the cast together or one member is off. But that one member tends to have to ask for permission or it's a big deal that their not all together. Each character just tends to do their own thing unless something happened that involves all of them. Like the episode where Cleo decides to go to a pool party, Emma and Rikki aren't interested and don't even notice her absence until they get called. This aspect to the show also helps make the romance seem more believable. Rikki and Zane get stranded together on a roof and have a natural (enough) conversation that leads to them dating. I buy that the experience they had forms a relationship, and I also buy it when the other characters seem shocked and still don't really like Zane when they eventually find out Rikki is dating him.
My last few positives are that the mermaid tails seem really believable and still hold up. I like that we don't get a ton of information (at least in season one) about how they are mermaids. (I just don't think you can come up with a good enough explanation, it's better that it's just a weird thing that happen, and it feels a little more special when we get some information every now and then) the romance is delightfully awkward (Zane and Rikkis overall relationship works the best) and the color coded characters is kinda a fun touch (seriously Emma wears blue/white- Cleo wears Pink/purple- and Rikki wears red/black)
Ok now into the negatives, first off the writing. The dialogue isn't great (kinda stereotypical teen show writing) but by no means even close to the worst of tween dialogue I've seen. Some episodes are way cringer than others (nearly any episode with the younger siblings or Cleo's family are worth skipping) But there's a handful of other episodes in season one with pretty bad main or side plots- but that being said some of those episodes I also found those to be the funniest to watch.
Going right into my second negative, the acting. Once again not the worst, And they don't have the best dialogue to work with. Cleo is probably the worst, she does ok in episodes where she doesn't have to be fearful, overly weird (her moon episode), or mad. So she's fine when she's just being generally nice or supportive (which is a decent chunk of her character), but this really makes her one of the weakest characters and she's probably the most forgetful of the main three, though at times her acting did make her the funniest. Emma's a little better than Cleo, though she can be pretty bad too. Her character suffers from a decent chunk of the bad writing so that's apart of it, but for the most part she comes across as a kinda mean overly organized somewhat leader of the group, but I do think this was intended for the character to be like this. (It doesn't make her terribly likable though) Rikki really made this show for me, the actress is the best (by quite a bit/ though she does also have her moments) she really feels like a self assured, headstrong teen who really believes that this is the coolest thing to ever happen to her, but admits it can be hard to deal with. Honestly her acting was good enough that it made her character more likable than the other two, she just has more of a physicality and a delivery that worked. (I think the episode that's most worth watching is bad moon rising (rikkis moon episode)) Lewis and Zane are also some of the better actors. lewis's curiosity makes him likable and also is how we get most of the information over the logistics of being a mermaid. Zane is made sympathetic by his father (who also is a pretty good actor- seriously every scene he comes out I could see his disappointment -and Zane just seemed so over it that I couldn't help but laugh) Zane scene where he almost drowns is one of the shows best moments, mainly for how stressful it is. I also think Zane and Rikki have quite a bit of chemistry that makes there scenes really worth watching.
Overall I don't think I'll watch all of season one again- unless I'm just really in the mood to laugh at some of those episodes. but the show is entertaining enough for a nostalgic re-watch -seriously Zane's drowning scene, rikkis moon episode, Zane and rikkis talk of the balcony (as well as some of their dates), and even the moment when Lewis finds out their mermaids (particularly Cleo)are much better than they should be. For the most part the shows a cheesy, funny, and a overall great time if your up for it!
The Walking Dead: The Day Will Come When You Won't Be (2016)
The Episode to kill the show
I followed the show from the very beginning, I loved watching it each episode and it kept me on my feet for what was to happen next. This show operates on being depressing, it has to being an "end of the world" Drama. However it was clever in showing its hard situations with a underlying of humanity. Even the "evil" or "bad guy" characters always had a sense of humanity to them, Shane was good friends with Rick and felt great jealously. The Governor's daughter also played a role in his demise. Both characters were scary and compelling because they were human in a world that wasn't.
Most people have pointed out Negan's fakeness, so I won't go into too much detail, but nothing about him is human. The overall show began to go downhill for me past season three. I really liked a lot of the relationships so I kept watching. However the show started to become WAY to repetitive for me and I was starting to lose interest, They would find a place to stay, place is corrupted/overrun, then they find new place. This is pretty much the show over and over again. However that wasn't the worst thing in the world if the audience and characters were given good reasons to believe that it would get better. This episode ruined that.
Glenn for lack of a better term was needed. I want to say that I'm not just a fan who was grossed out by his death and was upset that he died. Its more than that. from a story telling standpoint you need a character who is not corrupted. this is a world where even the best of characters face corruption and losing humanity.- Glenn is the opposite in many ways Glenn is arguably living a better life with Walkers covering the earth, he's married, has a kid, and has made many friends. He was the warm center this world crowded around. And then the show runners decided to bash his head in with a baseball bat. rather that's in the comics or not doesn't matter. This show won't come back from that, this episode isn't underrated for how great it is, its being realized for how bad the shows gotten. This episode was too depressing, too gross, and it left no reason's for me to stick around. maybe people will riot when Daryl dies. but for me I'm going to start my silent riot for Glenn. This is me quitting the walking dead.
Code Lyoko (2003)
A Great show! With heavy atmosphere an believable characters!
Code Lyoko is one of my favorite shows of all time!!! I decided to re-visit it as an adult recently and the show really proves it can interest a multitude of age groups. The show follows five kids, Ulrich, Odd, Yumi, Jeramy, and Aelita. (plot summery) Jeramy finds a supercomputer one day in a abandoned factory(shown in Xana Awakens). When he turns it on he find Aelita, who is held prisoner by the "bad guy' virus Xana. so Jeramy and the rest of the "lyoko warriors" band together to fight the virus. Xana can effect both the computer and the real world. in the real world by, possessing people, animals, or things powered by electricity. (this can become more complicated in later seasons) However in Lyoko, he "activates" a tower and has monsters Ulrich, Odd, and Yumi fight. (if they are not stuck in the real world)- this premise is repeated every episode.
First I want to mention some of the shows problems. Although mainly in the first season, the animation can be clunky, and voice acting a little off. (over-acting or just weird readings) the show also has a look/animation that takes some getting used to. However, when this show does something well, it does it great! the three things I really think make this show one of the best are as followed. First off, this show feels "lived in", in most shows where the kids go to school, you barely see it. that's not the case here, the show goes out of its way to make sure we get a taste for each of the main characters everyday life. even Lyoko feels "lived in", the show doesn't over complicate the plot for each episode and really lets the environment soak in. each episode is repetitive, but I always felt it was repetitive the same way real life can be.
second, I really believe the relationship of the five friends, sure they are archetypes (like the smart character has glasses). However the way each character works off each other, feels like friend groups I had when I was there age. They aren't all equally best friends, which is believable, such as Ulrich and Odd, Jeramy and Aelita, and Ulrich and Yumi are the closest pairings. Also the romantic relationship between Ulrich and Yumi is all over the place, but still feels true to the age of the characters. it is just freaking adorable at times, but is smartly played for laughs (which is how most adults remember middle school love)
And thirdly, Each character is layered and feels real, also matching their age. (this is more true in later seasons) for instance Ulrich is arguably the best fighter, and stays silent about most hardships in his life, and in the episode "vertigo". we find out he has Vertigo (a complicated fear of heights). And has kept this hidden from his friends, when they find out, he's distant, embarrassed and angry. I find it incredibly believable that the cool, well liked,and athletically confident character would react this way. and I also believe that he would have the condition in the first place. although i used this episode as an example, most episodes of the show take time with each character to layer them.
This was a admittedly a long winded review, however I felt it was worth mentioning. Id say if your looking for a plot heavy, constantly on your toes show with perfect episodes/animation. you'll probably be disappointed. however if your curios or feeling nostalgic for a show with memorable characters and a great sense of atmosphere- check it out!!