Topic: The TV Show Thread

Finished up IRIA: Zeiram the Animation earlier today. Sci-fi anime OVA miniseries that follows Iria, a bounty hunter of sorts whom, after being sent on a mission to rescue the crew & cargo of a ship that has sent out a distress signal, gets caught up in an entanglement involving a deadly & nearly indestructible alien presence & a company conspiracy to hide it.

Clearly it's base elements are inspired by Alien, but it does a lot to set itself apart, whether it be the aesthetic that mixes in a lot of traditional Japanese or otherwise Asian design with the deep space sci-fi stuff (kinda like Tenchi Muyo, Outlaw Star, & Photon, it's a vibe I've noticed a lot of 90's sci-fi anime fall under), the "alien's" largely unique appearance/skill set, & ultimately a more personal connection between Iria & her foe.

It can be watched free on Retro Crush & Tubi (at least in the US), so check it out if it sounds like it floats your boat.

Oooooh there is a new animated Castlevania Netfilx show coming soon

Finished up season 2 of the Man in the High Castle this morning, & I thought it was even better than the first. I do hope they eventually explain the mechanics behind traversing realities, but otherwise things are really starting to get going.

Finished up Wanna be the Strongest in the World! the other night. If that name makes it seem like an anime, it's because it is. J-Pop idol Sakura Hagiwara decides she's going to join the pro wrestling circuit & beat them at their own game after her group is humiliated during a cross promotional event.

Doesn't have that big a budget as it's primarily a fan service show (the premise gives the animators ample excuse for crotch or butt closeups, plus the after match showers), but it actually kinda works. They manage to get by effectively with a lot of relatively static action involving submission holds (I exaggerate, but it seems like someone's in a Boston Crab for 50% of the show's runtime). It helps that it's actually pretty well paced for the first half (she really struggles to make it & doesn't get her first win until the show's half done), though it gets overstuffed in the latter half as she immediately gets the attention of the world champ, gets her own protege (in a storyline that doesn't really go anywhere), and is menaced by a mystery assailant. That said, it actually manages to end in a pretty good place.

Binged through Aika R-16: Virgin Mission this weekend (currently free on Tubi), which wasn't that hard as it's only 3 episodes long.

Anime OVA miniseries that follows high school student Aika Sumeragi whom after obtaining her salvager's license, she can pilot a sub, is invited by her school's "Adventure Club" to take part in an expedition to a set of mystery coordinates which were hidden in a message within a butterfly tattoo that another, amnesiac, student has. Things won't be easy however, as there are forces aiming to kidnap said student during the trip.

The best I can describe it as is dumb, guilty pleasure, fun. It's so short it's really impossible to become attached to the characters or for it to build any sort of engaging narrative, so it just jumps from one zany scenario to the next. It's full of cheesecake fan service (if you couldn't tell from that title), and it's hard to be disappointed if you're going into it for that (the art direction is pretty simple, but things are typically animated & detailed well. I've seen much worse). The biggest negative I can think of is that it's a bit blurry, either an SD product that's been stretched to fit modern aspect ratios, or an SD copy of an HD production.

Finished watching season 8 of Homeland. I pretty much binged through season 1-7 back in 2019 but then I had to wait until 2020 for season 8 and I had completely forgotten about it until now that is. After subscribing to Disney+, I saw that they had Homeland and the last season, so I decided to finally watch it. And overall, it was a really good season. A lot of stuff happened and I was impressed that they managed to wrap up the show in a good way. Granted, the final episode was pretty brutal but at least it ended on a positive note.

Really glad that I decided to give this show a shot back then. It's such a good TV show, especially for people who are interested in world politics (which I am), and I'm happy that I've finally watched the last season.

@LtSarge I watched all 8 seasons on Netflix, started the first last summer and finished it a couple months back.

Overall it's good, first season the best BUT my God is Carrie one of the worst protagonists in modern TV history. Seriously she drove me nuts!

Poor Brody, poor Quinn. Poor anyone that allows her into their lives lol.

The Boys, best comic book show of all time?

Yes.

It's so damned good it's almost unfair on everything else. The Umbrella Academy is back and I'm really enjoying this new season, but The Boys is another level entirely.

Latest episode was fantastic viewing, so many highlights (and lowlights if you're called The Deep 😉) and still two more to go.

@Col_McCafferty Yeah, Carrie is definitely one of the most annoying protagonists of any TV show that I've watched. She's completely unbearable and doesn't care about other people. But at the same time, it's very satisfying to watch her get punished for her actions because she deserves it.

Fortunately though, the show has tons of other great characters that help carry (pun unintended) the show.

Finished up Obi-Wan Kenobi. It was okay.

I think it was definitely at it's best when it was focusing on the Kenobi/Vader angle, and seeing Vader absolutely own the room in the other scenes he was in. You can definitely feel the bloat with how they had to pad it out from it's initial inception as a movie though.

That, and I'll have to cut Moon Knight some slack as Kenobi had the same issues in terms of darkness. The scenes in the rebel hideout in episode in episode 5 were super muddy, and I could barely see what was going on in the final episode when Luke was getting chased in the mountains & when Kenobi got buried under ground. Clearly there's something wrong with how Disney is making these shows.

@Col_McCafferty
Agreed. If I find and enjoy another show as much as The Boys this year then I will have been spoiled. Looking forward to seeing how it plays out.

I raise you: Watchmen and Legion. I think they're both miles ahead of The Boys. That said, I'm not a big fan of that show to begin with. For me it very much feels like a show being edgy to the extreme with no real purpose or enough substance to justify it. Have you seen Watchmen or Legion? I wonder because I'd say they're equally stylistic shows, but in my opinion are better at each of their shticks. And if we're gonna talk about shows that enjoy being weird for the sake of being weird, I did also really enjoy Doom Patrol, but I think that went way downhill after the first season.

@LN78 I rewatched Daredevil’s first season and had forgotten just how brilliant it actually was. I really liked the third season as well but the second did my head in and I never did watch Defenders. Jessica Jones also had a great first season but I never got round to the rest.

All a matter of opinions but whilst the first season of Legion is sheer genius (and probably led to The Umbrella Academy TV adaptation being greenlight), subsequent seasons were nowhere near as good and the Netflix Marvel stuff were good but really bloated and repetitive.

The Boys is a superhero show popular with people that don't normally like such things, like Game of Thrones was liked by many people that weren't usually into fantasy.

The Boys holds a mirror up our world and criticises almost everyone: the alt-right, the extreme work crowd, corporations, celebrity worship, the superhero genre itself. If it does nothing for you? Your loss I guess

😁

Just bought the entire 60s Batman series on the cheap. Very excited. Sit it next to Gilligan’s Island and Rocky and Bullwinkle.

@LN78 Hmm no, there really aren't!

😂

Point to the doll.where Butcher and co. hurt you!

😉

@Col_McCafferty @Tjuz For me, the best comic adaptation was Sin City. It was almost frame by frame. Not a show, but as an adaptation, number 1 on my list. The Boys knows what it is doing. Although a bit different from the comic, they are both meant to be over the top. Well done in their own right.

@RogerRoger Do it. That series is gold. Adam West was wonderful, and the stars they landed to play the villains were awesome. And yes, just what we need indeed.

I was gassed, and my wife gave me the big smile/eyeroll "You're so cute" reaction. Bonus.

I wonder if Master of Puppets will get to number 1 in the UK charts too? It would be funny if it knocked Running Up The Hill off from the top spot.

@JohnnyShoulder I will be watching those episodes this weekend, looking forward to it.

The Boys season finale next week will be interesting!