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christinathegoose
Reviews
We Baby Bears (2022)
i dont understand the issue
Those with more mature tastes in shows seem to be leaving many negative reviews. To each their own, but, really, this is we *BABY* bears, of course it will be more childish and cliche than the original. Babies are annoying. Its not a surprise. I like this show because its stupid bright fun. Thats just my taste. The premise is good, the few songs are really fun, theres a lot of funny moments, animation is good, each episode has a different story and world which is interesting, etc. I always found the original to be annoying at times since grizz and panda acted like babies anyways, now theyre supposed to be that way so i give them a pass and enjoy it more. Ice bear does go off canon though, so i took a star off.
Imawa no Kuni no Arisu (2020)
s2 - even better than s1
Season 1 had me with the synopsis since dystopian thrillers are my cup of tea. A very, very, very large amount of gore, though. Also, this may be harmful for some viewers' mental health (s**ual assault and su*cide are depicted), no shame in avoiding it for this reason.
Although disturbing, I found it to relate to the plot enough so I continued on and I'm glad I did. The first episodes of season one explained the new world in a very show don't tell sort of way which I appreciated. Because of this, there was shock after shock which were like pieces of a puzzle that made sense only after a few of them had been already put in place. In other words, this show has very odd writing since it's genius in retrospect, but it's confusing until the first episodes have passed.
This is something that would've made me remove a point, had I written this before s2 came out. I was initially very annoyed with the fact that viewers had no idea *why* the characters were in this alternate world. I do still think that it lessens our dedication to the outcome, but it makes complete sense after the reason is given in the last episode of season 2. This is what I mean by genius in retrospect, very interesting writing.
The one point I did take off, however, is due to the "Beach Arc" if that's what it may be called. I simply had difficulty staying interested and too many characters were introduced at once. I don't remember it too well either. Nonetheless, I implore people interested in the show to try it until at least episode 3, which I found to be the best in season 1. It had me crying for half an hour.
Anyways, season 2. I'm writing this minutes after finishing it. It's 2am so everyone is asleep, I'm here because I need to put my opinions on season 2 somewhere. Episode after episode, I was able to enjoy *what* was happening in the current plot without obsessing over *why* it was happening. I think it's because the main characters generally came together and emphasized what their goal was ("returning") in s2, whereas the character goals were more scattered and less concrete in s1. Speaking of characters, everyone seemed to get development. From the HOSTS of games to side characters, their current actions were almost always explained through showing their past experiences. This made for plenty of emotional exchanges between game hosts and players, which I was NOT anticipating (there can only be one winning side). The cast for s2 was still large, but those that remain until the final episodes have clear dynamics between them and are recognizable as a team. Also, the acting is just incredible from s1 to s2. The pain is s1 episode 3 was heartbreaking and the heartfelt dialogue shown in the final episode were both genuinely impactful.
I also want to mention the cinematography of this show. It's absolutely phenomenal. I'm not one who knows much about cameras or can typically look at a shot and say if its good or not, but there were some scenes with such high budget sets and great effects that I came to focus more on the camera crew's effort than the actors. This specifically occurred in episode 6 of s2 while the camera was steadily following, turning corners with, and jumping down with the actors while they did their stunts. I felt just like I was playing a video game, incredible!
About the ending of s2, I'm labeling this as no spoilers so I'll just speak generally about how I felt. Again, the writing for this show is super weird but good. Things sometimes don't make sense...until they do, then you can look back and go "oh my god," the final episode of s2 was the epitome of this and I loved it. It was extremely satisfying and, had I known everything about the alternate world the characters ended up in, the ending would not have been so enjoyable. It makes sense in the end, I love this show. (also, I kind of hope there isn't a season 3... I think s2 is a perfect ending!)