Soul Power

Egregiously bad localization. Suikoden 2 was and is my favorite game of all time. This is trash and I hate it.

A lovingly crafted and faithful adaptation of a literary masterpiece. The show is visually stunning, but also incredibly well written. There are a lot of fantasy aspects such as magic and mythology, and it is unapologetic about its inherent weirdness but that's what makes this show so good. You won't find forced comic relief here, there is substance to be had for those craving real story telling that takes itself seriously. If Netflix cancels this show, I cancel Netflix.

The Good The idea that music should set the mood of the show was not lost on the producers of this newer version. The show exemplifies its respect for the original in many nostalgic scenes and with the use of a musical blend of Cowboy Bebop classics with original score almost indistinguishable in style. The show succeeds in being a celebration of the original. The Bad What was lost on the producers of this show is the idea that much of the charm of the original comes from it's production style. Rather than try to approach this version the mindset of doing something unique and stylish (such as the producers of the original had done), I think the producers mistakenly try to mimic the decidedly dated production style of the original and to some degree of disaster. Characters are not believable and many of the moments seems exaggerated and over the top. There are at times moments of conflict where I felt the show couldn't decide what it wanted to be, and many of the throwback scenes seemed in contrast to the character development that had been going on up to that point. The Ugly Tragically another project with near limitless creative potential wasted on a conservative attempt to simply apply Marvel's formula for success when in doubt. The over use of comic relief at critical juncture of the show only serves to illustrate this. They will recreate a throwback scene with stunning visual accuracy... then change the character's lines totally undermining the whole nostalgia process in the first place. Why go to such lengths to have these juxtaposed throwback scenes in there, only to change it at the last second.

There is a small stretch of the show that is straight up John Constantine origins story. I highly recommend this for fans of Justice League Dark and DC animated in general