Jay Q

This show is not what it purports to be. It's a reality show pretending to be an exposé. It's mostly full of unlikeable, immature people putting themselves into situations that will create conflict. If you like trashy reality shows, this'll probably work for you, but it wasn't at all what I was expecting.

If you're an anime fan, don't waste your time. The show has a moderately interesting setup involving a teen boy (Jack) whose life is turned upside down when his parents are killed and he's saved by mysterious, powerful strangers, but it eventually becomes a muddled, poorly executed teen drama. The whole thing feels very amateurish -- it's like a student project. The animation ranges from mediocre to bad, and the pacing is hopelessly awkward. The show jumps the shark when the girl (Victoria) falls for the guy (Kirtash) whom she literally wants/tries to kill. The script just gets worse and worse. I stopped watching.

Like many other reviewers, I was taken aback by the fact that there was no conclusion to the stories, so after watching the first 2 episodes, I looked up Oats Studios and found an interview with the director where he explains that these are intended to be the seeds for full-length features rather than complete short stories. Without that context, watching these shorts would undoubtedly be frustrating. Once I understood their intent, I enjoyed them for what they are (though the gore was occasionally too much for me).

VS is a slow burn. Yes, it takes a while to get going, but the unfolding of the story is worth the wait. It's based on the actual history of the Vikings/Danes during the 11th century. The story unfolds in a natural, believable way (with just a touch of some typical anime fantasy elements) which makes it all the more engaging. There are some interesting twists which don't feel contrived -- that's always appreciated. There's a surprising amount of depth in the story and in the characters, all of which reveals itself slowly as mentioned. Just give it a chance and let the story wash over you; you'll be glad you did.

When a show is this misanthropic, I can't help but wonder what the real intent of the writers is. And Search Party isn't merely an indictment of Millenials, it's an indictment of humanity. But if the writers are just trying to tell us that people suck, well... ok, tell us something we *don't* know. Do you want us to feel better about ourselves by watching a bunch selfish jerks? I really don't know what the writers are trying to achieve. There isn't a single likable character on the show -- characters range from annoying to contemptible. Dory, the main character, starts off almost likable in that she seems to be aware of the narcissism that surrounds her, but she eventually makes some terrible, self-absorbed choices, and that leaves pretty much no one to care about. Because of the mostly over-the-top characterizations of narcissism, much of the humor potential is lost on me -- it's just too heavy-handed to be funny. The laughs were very few and far between. A friend told me the show gets better, so I've forced myself to stick with it, but I'm in the middle of season 3 and can't put up with much more of this.

I imagine that one's reaction to TLoVM may depend on one's familiarity with Critical Role. I came into CR towards the end of campaign 1 (Vox Machina), and have been watching ever since, so I'm quite familiar with the whole CR vibe. TLoVM is light and fun, but it tries a bit too hard with the potty humor and swearing. The presence of those things is no surprise given how the CR crew plays D&D, but they really dialed it up on the animated series. It feels somewhat forced and pandering as a result. The show is at its best when it focuses on the story and the characters' motivations rather than just going for cheap laughs. I'm glad I waited till episode 3 to write this because that episode promises better things to come. The story starts to get interesting when we learn something important about Percival's past and see his dark side truly emerge. And kudos to Taliesin Jaffe (Percival) whose voice work is excellent in this. The whole cast are professionals, of course, but Taliesin's work really stood out to me -- very mature and nuanced. The art style is generic, though it's executed well enough. My feeling about this is probably affected by the fact that I recently finished Netflix's "Arcane" which was fantastic -- a visual (and storytelling!) delight -- and raises the bar for adult animated storytelling. With 7 more episodes to go in this season, I may revise my review, but as it stands, this is worth checking out for fans of adult animation. Just be prepared for a heavy does of adult-yet-puerile humor and language. I hope later episodes tone that down a bit as the story progresses since the frequent use thereof tends to make the story less engaging. 3.5 rounded up to 4.