This is TikTok-friendly content at it's worst basically. Short videos all based on a repetition of a same nonsensical idea each time growing more and more outlandish and bizarre. There's literally nothing special about it. It's your average SFM animation with contorted faces and such, reused HL2 assets and default Garry's mod maps. If anything this series achieves, is to leave me being perplexed by the fact that while this somehow get literally tens of billions of cumulative views, dozens of far, far more talented and artistic SFM animators out there struggle to get any sort recognition and spotlight. And yeah, sure, you can try to look out for some subplot and "hidden lore" in this mess, but the reality is it's just a high-dopamine, easily digestible content that manages to hit the sweet spot of "bad enough to be funny" and hold novelty factor long enough to last for dozens of episodes.
Reviews
11 Reviews
Prehistoric Planet
(2022–2023)
Once in a generation kind of project
12 November 2022
Prehistoric Planet is a truly genre defining documentary featuring an absolute dream team of CGI specialists with decades of experience across multiple well known projects and credible and legit scientific team both doing the hard work of reimagining the way we see prehistoric animals. And while yes, perhaps some assumptions made in Prehistoric Planet might be revisited and disproven later on as the paleontological knowledge evolves, this doesn't deny the importance and its overall quality. No matter what some wannabe nerds say, you don't call Walking with Dinosaurs a bad documentary just because twenty years after some of the things depicted there are not considered scientifically accurate anymore, right?
With top of the line CGI effects and compositing featuring mind blowing real nature landscapes, with the narration captivating you both from the story and from the science perspective, I think that Prehistoric Planet is a kind of project that comes out only once in a couple of decades or so. And I think we are truly blessed to have one during our lifetime.
With top of the line CGI effects and compositing featuring mind blowing real nature landscapes, with the narration captivating you both from the story and from the science perspective, I think that Prehistoric Planet is a kind of project that comes out only once in a couple of decades or so. And I think we are truly blessed to have one during our lifetime.
This ought to be one of the most contrived pieces of writing I have ever seen
14 May 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Of course they had to kill Bob. Of course they absolutely had to come up with some reason for him to go alone, reason that doesn't make much sense and just comes out of thin air. They hinted his death so heavily - it was painfully obvious that this will happen. But instead of treating his character - one of the brightest moment of this season - with some well earned respect, they kill him in such a cliché way that once again doesn't make much sense. His death never felt tragic or dramatic, but mostly infuriating.
After Bob's death, this episode basically turns into huge exposition dump. Season 2 wasted so much time going around all those little secondary plotlines, they had practically no time left to dedicate to the main one. Season 1 did something similar, but the main story there was much simpler: big, bad monster from the inside out kills people and we must find and stop it. That's it! In season 2 however we have this thing that doesnt have any apparent motivation, that takes control over Will somehow, and so on... It's so convoluted that writers have nothing better to do than dump everything that characters have to do in an extremely contrived scene: lets pretend that our characters are discussing what they have to do, but in reality its the author who is speaking through them.
None of their conclusions is based on something already established in this Season and comes out of nowhere. They suddenly decide that these things have some sort of collective mind - why is that? Than some DnD allegory comes out of nowhere. And then they suddenly understand how the monster is capable of controlling Will - why is that?
All of these things are done in a span of 10-15 minutes but instead they should've been done in a span of the whole season. Everything is so contrived and so hastily explained that the final scene just doesn't come as earned - more like awkward and weird.
Stranger Things is no stranger to combining good and bad moments roughly in a 1 to 1 ratio, but this episode is definitely the lowest for me so far. Everything that was wrong before - contrived writing, nonsensical and cringeworthy character motivations, poorly done horror clichés - is combined here just in the right proportion to create perfect disaster.
After Bob's death, this episode basically turns into huge exposition dump. Season 2 wasted so much time going around all those little secondary plotlines, they had practically no time left to dedicate to the main one. Season 1 did something similar, but the main story there was much simpler: big, bad monster from the inside out kills people and we must find and stop it. That's it! In season 2 however we have this thing that doesnt have any apparent motivation, that takes control over Will somehow, and so on... It's so convoluted that writers have nothing better to do than dump everything that characters have to do in an extremely contrived scene: lets pretend that our characters are discussing what they have to do, but in reality its the author who is speaking through them.
None of their conclusions is based on something already established in this Season and comes out of nowhere. They suddenly decide that these things have some sort of collective mind - why is that? Than some DnD allegory comes out of nowhere. And then they suddenly understand how the monster is capable of controlling Will - why is that?
All of these things are done in a span of 10-15 minutes but instead they should've been done in a span of the whole season. Everything is so contrived and so hastily explained that the final scene just doesn't come as earned - more like awkward and weird.
Stranger Things is no stranger to combining good and bad moments roughly in a 1 to 1 ratio, but this episode is definitely the lowest for me so far. Everything that was wrong before - contrived writing, nonsensical and cringeworthy character motivations, poorly done horror clichés - is combined here just in the right proportion to create perfect disaster.
Fanbase in denial
4 September 2021
Fly is a truly bizarre episode of BrBa. Hands down, it has one of the best camerawork in the whole series, it elaborates further into uneasy relationship between Walt and Jesse. But at the same time... it's just weird. At first most of the fans hated it, but as of now the fanbase is kinda in the denial state, throwing left and right excuses about symbolism and all.
But the truth is, it's just a filler episode, plain and simple. The single reason it exists is that production team just ran out of money and had to film something, anything that will mostly take place in a single place with as few actors on set as possible. Anything that Fly episode achives, everything it is prased for could've been done much better, in a much more engaging and entertaining way. Which is pretty much by the book definition of being mediocre.
But the truth is, it's just a filler episode, plain and simple. The single reason it exists is that production team just ran out of money and had to film something, anything that will mostly take place in a single place with as few actors on set as possible. Anything that Fly episode achives, everything it is prased for could've been done much better, in a much more engaging and entertaining way. Which is pretty much by the book definition of being mediocre.
Don't even waste your time
29 August 2021
Warning: Spoilers
It's just... baffling to me, how True Detective series manages to have nearly perfect ending for S1 and literally the worst kind of ending for S3.
I was giving a lot of credit to S3 to be honest. It was overly long, overly stale and - to be honest - really boring sometimes. Both Hays and West are simply nowhere near as interesting as S1 main characters, the investigation overall felt bland. But I waited, I waited expecting that in the end everything will change, everything will be resolved.
And just as pace started to pick up - we got final episode 8. Man, what a lame ass excuse of an ending. As it turns out, nothing really mattered. The investigation was pointless, all the suspence in the world was pointless. There were no mystery, so nothing is really resolved. In the end you just feel... cheated. Like you waited for eight hours for an exquisite meal you ordered and in the end you got some freaking instant noodles in a plastic bowl.
So, don't even waste your time. If nothing in the story mattered after all, why this story should mean anything to anyone?
I was giving a lot of credit to S3 to be honest. It was overly long, overly stale and - to be honest - really boring sometimes. Both Hays and West are simply nowhere near as interesting as S1 main characters, the investigation overall felt bland. But I waited, I waited expecting that in the end everything will change, everything will be resolved.
And just as pace started to pick up - we got final episode 8. Man, what a lame ass excuse of an ending. As it turns out, nothing really mattered. The investigation was pointless, all the suspence in the world was pointless. There were no mystery, so nothing is really resolved. In the end you just feel... cheated. Like you waited for eight hours for an exquisite meal you ordered and in the end you got some freaking instant noodles in a plastic bowl.
So, don't even waste your time. If nothing in the story mattered after all, why this story should mean anything to anyone?
Cuties
(2020)
Valid point - questionable execution
13 July 2021
Sometimes movies have to tell an uncomfortable story, sometimes movies have to depict uncomfortable trurh. Despite all storytelling shortcomings Cuties has - I can agree that it at least has a valid point about children oversexualization these days. But you don't have to depict it so bluntly! Some may say that this is the point, you have to watch it and think to yourself: "Damn, this is sickening". But this is just mental gymnastics at its finest. You don't have to depict a litetal murder to tell that "murder is bad", you don't have depict real, unacted abuse, rape, torture to say that these things are bad! I get it, maybe Cuties story never could've worked if they haven't depicted oversexualizing scenes. But if that's the case - this movie shouldn't even exist. It should be a book, an animation with adult actors, whatever. Just something that doesn't take this message too far into reality.
Now THAT'S what I'm talking about!
31 October 2020
After Season 4 being mostly a compilation of "meh" and "not quite there" episodes with only a handful of exceptions... After all sloppy arcs and underwhelming battles comes Episode 25, like a fist in the face, like a smoldering punch in the guts. Now that's what we have been waiting for! Studio Bones nails not only the storytelling aspect but presentation as well which was so far quite lacking in Season 4. Everything is just spectacular. The fighting scene is probably one of the best in the entire MHA series, overshadowing even All Might vs All for One. And not only this. Finally, we got a rewarding resolution for Endeavor story arc - something I personally have been waiting for a long time. Bravo, Studio Bones. After all my suffering with Season 4, once again I'm hyped for the next installments.
Seemingly filler episode surprisingly comes out on top
31 October 2020
Season 4 was a major disappointment for me. I was not expecting much of this episode, especially after the previous one: boring 24 minutes about one of the most underwhelming and boring characters of the whole MHA cast. But boy, I was wrong. I never thought that Kirishima's side-story will be more engaging than the main story arc. Everything was just plain epic and on point. Animation, emotion, surprisingly touching story - that's what I'm here for, and that's what I got. And the music theme... it's just pure perfection. One of the best pieces of music ever written for MHA. The only question left... Why the hell main story episodes felt so much sub-par to this? I don't know.
Long awaited climax with unacceptable animation quality
31 October 2020
During Season 4 it was fairly obvious that Studio Bones threw most of its resources on Heroes Rising leaving only the fracture of manpower to work on TV series. As the result, animation quality dropped down substantially, but still, I was hoping that they will be able to gather their strength and give us a climax episode to justify the build-up and hype. To no avail. One static shot after another static shot, flashbacks breaking the pacing, abrupt cuts and so on. Bones animators did their very best, used every trick they had to hide significant manpower and budget restrains Season 4 had. When you take a close look at animations frame by frame, it becomes painfully obvious how they are trying to mask lower quality by specific angles and cuts, how they are trying to hide all the action that is difficult to animate by villains conveniently blocking the field of view and etc. But despite all their valiant efforts, it still looks underwhelming. For filler episodes that's acceptable. But for a climax - not only for this season but for the entire series so far - this is unacceptable and painful to watch. I've been a huge fan of MHA series since 2018, but this?.. This is probably the lowest point of MHA so far.
Surprisingly weak execution of the otherwise great plot
30 October 2020
Story and character development have been major strong points of MHA and so far. And this episode is no different. In fact, it is one of the best in this department. Emotional and dramatic and so on - all this fine and dandy but what the hell is going on with the animation? Static shots, abrupt cuts, slideshows - this is barely acceptable for one of the biggest anime series. And this is vastly sub-par compared to the MHA quality bar. Heck, even Kirishima/Fat Gum fight few episodes earlier had better, more fluid, and detailed animation! It feels like something gone terribly wrong during the production stages. Maybe Studio Bones did not have enough time to animate everything on a proper level? Who knows... Still, it is quite sad to witness such a great story squandered by sub-par animation.
Great finish to otherwise mediocre story arc
30 October 2020
Warning: Spoilers
So far, Provisional License Exam Arc is one of the weakest points of the whole entirety of MHA. Up until this moment, each arc brought something new to the table. New enemies, new tests, and trials. But Provisional License Exam Arc basically felt like a repetition of an already tired trope in MHA: student fighting other students to achieve something. Even character development - something that could be considered the strongest point of MHA - felt repetitive. Todoroki once again being troubled by his heritage, Momo being insecure and etc.
But then a fight between Deku and Kacchan comes out of nowhere to save the day. To put it simply: it was great, almost perfect I would say. Learning more about Bakugou and his rivalry with Deku, witnessing a preliminary conclusion to it - that was a really enjoyable experience.
But then a fight between Deku and Kacchan comes out of nowhere to save the day. To put it simply: it was great, almost perfect I would say. Learning more about Bakugou and his rivalry with Deku, witnessing a preliminary conclusion to it - that was a really enjoyable experience.
Tell Your Friends