I say childish because the show really acts like Richter is so cool and funny but he's really not. His jokes are not funny or smart, he's got zero charisma (no matter how much the show might wanna act like he does), and he really doesn't seem very cool as a fighter when next to what the other characters can do. You're not allowed to be portrayed on this pedestal as a super awesome sexy vampire hunter man if you can't show us why we should feel that way about you in the first place. All the fire and energy of an anime protagonist, but none of the actual swagger. I don't even think this younger, more spunky, anime protagonist version of Richter is impossible to make work. You just need to actually write cool stuff for him to say and do...it seemed so easy with the 2017 show, idk why they're fumbling the bag here. It's not just a Richter problem btw, Annette and Maria have some really great moments as the season goes on, but in all of that they still don't feel fully fleshed out. The main 3 don't bounce off of each other very well either. Not nearly as well as Alucard, Trevor, and Sypher did. Any part where they get super sappy with each other is cool enough to work in a vacuum, but feels unearned in the grand scheme of the show.
I will admit, sprinkled throughout the whole thing there are some really cool "works in a vacuum" moments that were hard for me not to get swept in. The writing goes REALLY hard in very specific scenes (the ending of Episode 4 is probably the best scene, even more so than the final battle imo). And for these small pockets of brilliance you can see what this show is trying to be. You can remember why you loved the 2017 series. But that empty feeling of knowing that the show isn't matching to the 2017 show, with the Rondo of blood crew that you actually know, is depressing to say the least. These one off banger moments happen frequently enough and are honestly cool enough to where...I kinda am excited to see where it goes. In spite of the criticisms I like the ending and both of the main antagonists enough to kinda let this messy show take me along for the ride. And I won't lie...It's hard not to crack a smile when Richter, as cringe as he is, whips out the *minor spoiler I guess* Dante devil may cry fists and starts throwing hands like he's tryna get a triple s rank.
Yes, the writing choices are baffling at best and offensive at worst but...I can't help but be charmed by the sappiness. It's moving enough that even when the show commits so many sins, it does win me over in those one off moments, which are abundant enough to keep an eye on when season 2 comes out. (I can't exaggerate though how much the ending makes me interested in season 2. Like it was a good cliffhanger)
I will admit, sprinkled throughout the whole thing there are some really cool "works in a vacuum" moments that were hard for me not to get swept in. The writing goes REALLY hard in very specific scenes (the ending of Episode 4 is probably the best scene, even more so than the final battle imo). And for these small pockets of brilliance you can see what this show is trying to be. You can remember why you loved the 2017 series. But that empty feeling of knowing that the show isn't matching to the 2017 show, with the Rondo of blood crew that you actually know, is depressing to say the least. These one off banger moments happen frequently enough and are honestly cool enough to where...I kinda am excited to see where it goes. In spite of the criticisms I like the ending and both of the main antagonists enough to kinda let this messy show take me along for the ride. And I won't lie...It's hard not to crack a smile when Richter, as cringe as he is, whips out the *minor spoiler I guess* Dante devil may cry fists and starts throwing hands like he's tryna get a triple s rank.
Yes, the writing choices are baffling at best and offensive at worst but...I can't help but be charmed by the sappiness. It's moving enough that even when the show commits so many sins, it does win me over in those one off moments, which are abundant enough to keep an eye on when season 2 comes out. (I can't exaggerate though how much the ending makes me interested in season 2. Like it was a good cliffhanger)
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