Change Your Image
neilrmcinnis
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Reviews
Stranger Things (2016)
Spielbergian Goodness
If you're familiar with Stephan Spielberg's films, and find yourself enjoying them more times than not, then you really owe it to yourself to watch this series. Story: 9 The main plot revolves around finding a lost boy, Will, and a government experiment gone horribly wrong. This plot is extremely thrilling and sucks me into the screen every time the show is focused on it, however, the rather generic high school subplot that laces most of Nancy's story line lacks some creative "umph" if you will. But that's where the characters come in. Characters: 9 Stranger Things does an exemplary job of building a believable, well directed, well scripted main cast, yet, the side characters suffer from blandness. The three boys are phenomenally well written, it was a nostalgic rush of hanging out with my friends as a kid. Sound: 9 The techno beats underlying the tense scenes are gorgeous and give this series a unique musical identity. Visuals: 8 The sets were amazing, they appeared and felt exactly like an 80's town. The monster, however, is clearly not where most of the budget went. Overall: 9 You'll laugh, cry, and scream as you watch this cast suffer through and eventually triumph over a daunting mystery.
Trigun (1998)
Morals, Religion, Love, and Peace.
Trigun is a story of characters more than anything else. Vash the Stampede, the main character, is extremely memorable and endearing. His dichotomous nature allows the audience to explore two sides of him while never seeing the other side of the coin at the same time, giving it tons of re-watch value. Meryl and Milly are also very complex and well fleshed out characters that expand as the story grows, acting as fantastic moral supports and foils for Vash. Wolfwood is an exemplary supporting character for Vash, acting as the cool headed giant gun slinging bad ass when Vash isn't. The tonal shift covers Vash's moral dilemma and depression beautifully whilst also highlighting the author's conversion to Catholicism in a way that any viewer could understand. It's beautifully directed, written, and composed. Must watch series for any lover of animation.
Rurôni Kenshin: Meiji kenkaku romantan (1996)
Very entertaining
A very engaging and fascinating series taking place in turn-of-the-century japan. I'll keep this very short, this series would be nearly flawless if it weren't mired in filler and clunky dialogue; but the show manages to make both of those normally seriously detrimental aspects and makes them extremely charming and endearing. The characters in the series have amazing chemistry with one another, and it really shows in the more serious parts of the series in the middle. Kenshin himself is great protagonist and the supporting cast all have unique and appealing personalities that mesh well with one another. Watching the film Trust and Betrayal first might leave fans of the film disappointed with the show's more comedic episodes and "cuter" art style, but when Wandering Samurai wants to be taken seriously, it is, and it is taken very well.
TOME: Terrain of Magical Expertise (2011)
Character depth
This series takes the idea of normal people interacting in a huge online game down every right path. The characters are so genuine and heartfelt, it's as if you just jumped onto your favourite MMO and played with your online friends. I was also very impressed by the voice acting! The voice of Alpha, our protagonist is a Brit, but his accent never slips, not once! While the role-playing dragon Nylocke is voiced by a Brit doing several different accents throughout the series; talent like this doesn't show up in YouTube often. Then we have an AI torn between the dark and loving sides of humanity.. In a YouTube flash animation?! With wonderful video game-like music to accompany the eye catching fights and dialogue, this series is more than any YouTube animation enthusiast could ask for.