First of all, the animation team was amazing. they knocked it out of the park and deserve ALL the praise for this show. The homages to classic rubberhose animation were tastey af; loved the ghost of stephen foster homage.
The writing, however, is where the show trips and falls on its face. I don't think the writing is abysmal, but that's the nicest thing I can say about it. It kind of hits like the later seasons of Fairly Odd Parents with how... bland it is. It doesn't help that the titular character is insufferable half the time. I think the King Dice intro episode has the most blatant instances of it, least as far as I've gotten. I gave up after the 5th episode.
I've been trying to figure out WHY I hate the writing, and I think it might have to do with just how much better the animation is by comparison. When your visuals are 10/10, having writing that's 4/10 becomes far more noticeable. no shade to people who like it; you're valid, as are your opinions
I have been a gamer all my life and was eleven when the first Kingdom Hearts hit the PS1. However, I never got to play Kingdom Hearts. I was a Nintendo kid. Didn’t own any consoles or handhelds outside of Nintendo. The only person I knew who had a PS1 and let me play it was a fan of Jak and Daxter and Sly Cooper. He didn’t play Kingdom Hearts. Or if he did, I didn’t know about it.
Fast forward to 2019 and the long awaited Kingdom Hearts 3 was finally on its way. I had a PS4. I knew the games by reputation, so I decided to pick up KH 1.5+2.5 HD Remix (my gods Square Enix, what is with these names?). Because I never played KH or even Final Fantasy (outside of FFXV), the only nostalgia I have associated with the KH series comes from the Disney movies. That being said... the games didn’t exactly do a stellar job when they were trying to remake the movies. I know it hurts, but it’s true. However, that’s not to say that I didn’t enjoy the games. Oooh no. Far from it.
As I’m writing this, I’m currently siting in my Riku jacket while several of my new KH shirts are in the wash. The background of my phone depicts Sora and yes, I am considering making a Sora or Organization XIII cosplay.
I love Kingdom Hearts. A lot. The series has a lot of high and low notes, but it still resonated with me even though I’m an adult. Yes, it totally jumped the shark with Dream Drop Distance (which I have a love/hate relationship with) and the whole X Series is a massive pain; but that didn’t stop me from enjoying DDD, KH3, or any of the other games.
The biggest thing that I notice with Kingdom Hearts as an adult fan is that the series has reconnected me with things I loved as a kid. It’s reminded me of my love for Winnie the Pooh, something I’d forgotten about by the time I was 10. I’ve fallen in love with the goofy main characters. Yes, the series has issues. But even though I’ve only been a fan for a few months, I’m just as deep down this rabbit hole as lifetime fans. I noticed that people like to bash on this series and others claim that fans only enjoy it because of the nostalgia factor, but there’s something magical about Kingdom Hearts.
So here I, a grown ass adult who never played these games as a child, telling people that these games are good and I can’t wait for Re:Mind. May your heart be your guiding key and may the gods help me cus what the hell have I done to myself?
Jess? Ohhhhhhhhh yeah. I am so into Jess. And Dean? Oh dear. Luke and Lorelai again. And awww the lovebirds of Sookie and hat guy. I just don't remember his character's name, but he's so cute. Sookie looks very beautiful in this episode.
And Stars Hollow silliness, of course. This is definitely a highlight episode.
Right, Christ I really need to stop declaring anything “best of season” because within a week the writing team will personally come for me and metaphorically break my shins.
Between yet another cryptic insight into the Doctor’s childhood and the whole sentient universe separated from ours and desperate to get back It Takes You Away really felt like it was playing in the same field as the better Virgin and BBC Books Who-output. Everything from the arrival of “Grace” was near perfect.
The Doctor’s finial conversation with the universe was wonderfully low-key, I’ve never been keen on NuWho’s tendency towards grandiose speech as climax so to have it play out as just a conversation was incredibly appealing.
Kinda reminded me of Dirk Gently Season Two at points, but that sorta ties in with the first point. Frog-Dimension should 100% be a recurring character.
Some strong character work for both Graham and Ryan this week, and while the resolution to their relationship’s been fairly clear from the get go that isn’t a bad thing, and doesn’t make it any more effective when it arrives. My only issue is that Ryan’s initial interactions with Hanne are a bit too on the nose.
Once again, frog dimension.
For what was basically just a low-range ghost-tour with better lighting the anti-zone was a really well realised set, but somehow less sinister than the inverted house.
That Grace sequence was a hell of a gut-punch, let Graham be happy and have his sandwich in peace.
Again it goes without saying that the show has never looked as good as it does right now, those establishing shots were gorgeous.
Frog on a chair, 10/10 best Doctor Who climax.
Season 11s focus on compassion (the concept rather than the sentient time-ship) is once again front and centre, again in a nice, understated way rather than grand soliloquises on the nature of love or whatever bollocks. Stripping everything down this basic element for the climax is fairly daring for a show that more often than not plays things safe.
They’ve really started to get the hang of balancing the cast since Kerblam, and the fact that they all interact with each other like regular people is still the best choice the show could make. I understand that conflict can often be conducive to drama, but too often it feels contrived and artificial rather than something born out of the characters personalities. It was about time Who moved away from the Buffy/X-Files formula anyway.
There is a frog on a chair, this is the zenith point for sci-fi drama.
Though I wasn’t a fan of the book, the Netflix film adaptation of TO ALL THE BOYS I’VE LOVED BEFORE by Jenny Han is ridiculously adorable. A must-watch if you love contemporary YA romance!
Okay I initially thought Kendra is like, universe hopping or time traveling, basically? Because a) in the two lead up comics to this event (Forge and The Casting) she’s not around, it’s Shiera (although admittedly she has NO fucking lines! Which is par for the course with DC’s treatment of Shiera but that’s another rant for another day) but we know that there is at least one alternate universe out there where Kendra is alive, and b) the way she introduces herself sort of implies those shenanigans (“you don’t know me but I know all of you”). HOWEVER they don’t really get into that at all and it seems like it might just be that Shiera has died and reincarnated as Kendra again, which I guess means, uhh, I dunno. Whatever. I’m exhausted just thinking about it. I am happy because I’m super into older, more self-assured Kendra bossing around the Justice League but this still makes very little sense and I dunno how much of that is deliberate and how much is bad writing and a general disregard for past stories!
