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ulrichbrodowsky
Reviews
Baelin's Route: An Epic NPC Man Adventure (2021)
Why did they chose Baelin of all people as protagonist?
Baelin not very likable, because he's kind of annoying. That works well in the sketches, because it's funny. But in this film, we're supposed to root for him. At least for me that doesn't really work. To make matters worse, he can only say two things: "Mornin'!" and "Nice day for fishin', ain't it!". That's not enough to get you emotionally invested. In addition, his development comes out of nowhere and doesn't feel very believable. Why the heck can a fisherman fight? He might have worked better in a comedy, but this film isn't that funny, most of the time.
Otherwise, the story is predictable and the action not very good, but I can live with that.
On to the positive: Firstly, I like Phoenix Cross as Willow, the girl Baelin saves. However, I wish, she had anything to do except for being thankful. (Then again, being an NPC, she's programmed to be that way. She could however have gotten some development away from that.)
Also there is a lot of nice scenery to be seen.
Last thing to note: I would have liked to see more of the other people inhabiting this world except just Baelin. We do get some glimpses, but this film is really about Baelin and not Greg or any of the other characters we know from the series.
In the end, I'm disappointed by this movie, and even though I like the idea for them making a movie out of the series, I can't give them a positive review.
Onyx Equinox (2020)
Bad in a lot of ways, but has some redeeming qualities
I stopped watching after episode 5, this review stating the reasons why.
Story:
This one is jarring. In the first episode we get some glimpses of the Gods (more on them later) and human sacrifices, which I found to be an interesting premise. But then it turns out the story isn't about the cool Gods but about some random boy who has to save the world.
Characters:
They are all over the place. I rarely understood why they behaved like they did and often they change from one emotional state to another within seconds.
Setting:
Great, actually. Firstly I don't know much about the precolumbian mesoamerican culture, but this feels like the writers did their job here. We do see them working and trading, which gives a feeling for the culture. However there are different tribes and since I never heard of any of them and no map is ever presented. I cannot pick them apart. I'm happy whenever a non-standart culture is presented in media.
That aside I find the Gods fascinating. They treat humans like ants beneath their feats and not without reason: These Gods are almost all powerful and can wipe out and recreate humanity whenever they see that fitting. Fascinating concept that unfortunately isn't explored enough.
Unlike in a lot of media, blood sacrifices aren't treated as evil, but as a necessary tribute humanity has to give the Gods. In fact, nobody is happy about it, but since the Gods are as powerful as they are, it's still better than being wiped out. Again, fascinating but not explored enough in this series.
Voice acting:
Horrible. Not sure whether they feel bad because the characters are written inconsistent or whether it's the other way around but I didn't like the voice acting. Also while every thing looks Indian, nobody talks like it. (Obviously they need to talk English, but they could choose their vocabulary more fitting.)
Visuals:
I can't quite point my finger on what it is, but sometimes I find it ugly and other times it's the visuals that keep me watching. You'll probably either like or hate it.
It's however at it's best when it shows big stuff like Gods or Buildings.
Action:
Sometimes horrible sometimes subpar. Also brutal.
Whenever the protagonists are outmatched, their opponents wait to give them a fighting chance. (That's at least how it felt for me.) That means, there are no stakes and whenever they are paired against some strong monster, it drops in quality, but is watchable when fighting weaker monster.
Fazit:
You can watch this one if you like the visuals or the fact that it's about mesoamerica. Otherwise skip it.
Why 4 stars? Firstly I want to preserve anything below 2 stars for series that I find insulting as a viewer, which is not this one. Plus two stars for the two things I liked.
Memorias de Idhún (2020)
I wonder who thought this might be a success...
If you don't like animation, this show is not for you.
If you don't like storys written for children, this show is not for you.
If you don't like shows getting somewhat bloody, this show is not for you.
If you don't like fantasy, this show is not for you.
And if you like all of the above? Then it's... okay.
This show feels like it's made for children but somehow the creators thought the fights should be realistically brutal -- and didn't consider the consequences for the age limit (16 here in Germany). There are storys that look like they are for children, but aren't in a awesome way (e.g. Made in Abyss) but this is non of that.
However, it has one thing going for it: It's fantasy. Not that it is particularly great, but if you really need a fantasy series and have no other left, you might give this one a try.