[Off-Topic] Community Chat Thread

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Post by Legend » 2 years ago

So, it's Black Friday. Which Magic products do y'all plan to buy today? I myself intend to draft (and therefore buy) Crimson Vow for FNM tonight, but I'd be doing that regardless.
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Post by pokken » 2 years ago

Absolutely nothing. I don't buy anything or go anywhere (that requires someone to be working) or make anyone work on thanksgiving or black friday.

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Post by Rumpy5897 » 2 years ago

I've been slacking on getting the requisite outer layers for one of my decks, so I figured I may as well wait a bit longer and try to find a Black Friday discount online. I ended up saving 25 cents on a deck box, and nothing on sleeves. I overpaid by more for the Mirage Phalanx I included in the order out of sheer laziness. Wow :P

That said, I've now got 6 out of my 7 active decks assembled, and just need to sleeve up the last one. For the first time since the pandemic kicked off, I've got my primers up to date with where I want them. I even got to host a number of EDH sessions in person, and damn does it feel nice. One time I was playing my flagship Daxos deck, and ripped Cosmic Intervention to protect my Bolas Rock and simultaneously get Skyshroud Claim tier ramp out of a sandbagged fetchland. I looked at the pretty TBD basics, at the weird humming engine in front of me, and realised just how much love and fiddling went into the list over the years.

Since I'm already posting here, may as well air a bit of stuff that's been sitting on my chest EDH-wise lately. Gavin Verhey has been doing pretty stellar YouTube content, and started a series not too long ago wherein he sits down with Melissa DeTora, the new lead of the casual play design team, and they started dissecting prior Commander precon sets. The C14 episode was quite jarring, as a number of concerning things came up in discussion:
  • Ghoulcaller Gisa was called a clumsy design, and her ability to turn a 2/2 token into two 2/2s was singled out as poor gameplay. Folks, this is not what makes Gisa good. Sticking "nontoken" on there would do nothing to stop Phyrexian Dreadnought consumption, and it's in that sort of stuff where Gisa's potential resides.
  • They spent quite a while going off at Feldon of the Third Path. Melissa in particular hated the design, and the discussion went deep on various knobs that could be twiddled to make it more palatable. Do something about letting it spam the same creature over and over again. Make it sorcery speed. That was the most blood-curdling moment of the episode. I'm very lukewarm on the current design trend to go super ham on the knobs to produce neutered, lifeless cards that play adequately. Reading something like Elvish Warmaster or Midnight Arsonist just sucks any excitement I may have before I'm even done with the text box with the various neutering clauses. I'm sure both cards play fine in practice, but they're just so dry. And just to add insult to injury, every single 2021 set has had some stuff that's removed from this paradigm, and has yielded obnoxious legends more potent and consistent than Feldon.
  • There were a number of potshots taken at deck construction, that the card choices were driven by limited designers as commander designers are a newer thing. Is this necessarily a good thing though? How much of a positive impact is that having on the format? You get cards like Storm-Kiln Artist, a damned uncommon which then proceeds to immediately become the MVP of my somewhat established Feather deck. While not every card goes everywhere, when the stuff finds a home a lot of it tends to be disproportionately good there. I had to add Harmonic Prodigy to my Ghired deck, despite its focus being on beef copying, just because paying two mana for this thing is too good to pass up. We're in the age of the Skybind.
 
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Post by pokken » 2 years ago

Rumpy5897 wrote:
2 years ago
They spent quite a while going off at Feldon of the Third Path. Melissa in particular hated the design, and the discussion went deep on various knobs that could be twiddled to make it more palatable. Do something about letting it spam the same creature over and over again. Make it sorcery speed. That was the most blood-curdling moment of the episode. I'm very lukewarm on the current design trend to go super ham on the knobs to produce neutered, lifeless cards that play adequately. Reading something like Elvish Warmaster or Midnight Arsonist just sucks any excitement I may have before I'm even done with the text box with the various neutering clauses. I'm sure both cards play fine in practice, but they're just so dry. And just to add insult to injury, every single 2021 set has had some stuff that's removed from this paradigm, and has yielded obnoxious legends more potent and consistent than Feldon.
This one like super chaps my hide the most - feldon is incredibly interesting and priced almost exactly right to be cool and powerful but rarely broken wide open.

I think of all this stuff as the nickelbacking of Magic cards - taking everything that makes them interesting and unique out until only they're so bland. Reducing everything to the lowest common denominator.

It also reminds me a great deal of the way corporate America approaches solving problems :P "We have a problem." "OK, let's individually solicit ideas about how to solve it from a bunch of teams with different goals and constraints and do them all! That'll be the best!"

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Post by toctheyounger » 2 years ago

Hearing that sort of stuff from the head of creative play is ominous and disappointing if I'm honest. I get that Gisa doesn't make sense in some ways, but both Feldon and her I feel hit a nice spot for the format where they're strong but not broken, and there's enough restriction there to give room to get inventive.

I keep calling out Dockside for how obviously busted and literally include everywhere it is, but honestly I'd prefer to see Feldon any day to that busted garbage. Its nice to have strong things, but when it gets to the point that you have literally no reason not to run it in every deck you can afford it for theres a problem.
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Post by Dunharrow » 2 years ago

I am definitely planning on buying singles that rotated out of standard from 3 of my LGSs. We're in Canada so they are all working anyway, lol. But there are some discounts to be had (since Canada runs black friday deals to entice Americans traveling for thanksgiving) and it's time I get my Ashaya.
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Post by toctheyounger » 2 years ago

Dunharrow wrote:
2 years ago
I am definitely planning on buying singles that rotated out of standard from 3 of my LGSs. We're in Canada so they are all working anyway, lol. But there are some discounts to be had (since Canada runs black friday deals to entice Americans traveling for thanksgiving) and it's time I get my Ashaya.
Did Zendikar: Electric Boogaloo rotate already? I'm after a copy myself and been waiting patiently. Itd be nice to stock up on MDFCs as well.
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Post by Hermes_ » 2 years ago

The Secret of Commander (EDH)
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Post by Dunharrow » 2 years ago

toctheyounger wrote:
2 years ago
Dunharrow wrote:
2 years ago
I am definitely planning on buying singles that rotated out of standard from 3 of my LGSs. We're in Canada so they are all working anyway, lol. But there are some discounts to be had (since Canada runs black friday deals to entice Americans traveling for thanksgiving) and it's time I get my Ashaya.
Did Zendikar: Electric Boogaloo rotate already? I'm after a copy myself and been waiting patiently. Itd be nice to stock up on MDFCs as well.
That was my thought - fun fact Bala Ged Recovery // Bala Ged Sanctuary is more expensive than any other MDFC I wanted. Wow.
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Post by toctheyounger » 2 years ago

Dunharrow wrote:
2 years ago
toctheyounger wrote:
2 years ago
Dunharrow wrote:
2 years ago
I am definitely planning on buying singles that rotated out of standard from 3 of my LGSs. We're in Canada so they are all working anyway, lol. But there are some discounts to be had (since Canada runs black friday deals to entice Americans traveling for thanksgiving) and it's time I get my Ashaya.
Did Zendikar: Electric Boogaloo rotate already? I'm after a copy myself and been waiting patiently. Itd be nice to stock up on MDFCs as well.
That was my thought - fun fact Bala Ged Recovery // Bala Ged Sanctuary is more expensive than any other MDFC I wanted. Wow.
Likewise, other than Agadeem's Awakening // Agadeem, the Undercrypt. Fingers crossed they do drop on rotate because there's a significant number of them that are just universally useful. Even just the idea of having a land thats sometimes utility gives you the option of dropping your land count and becoming a lot more efficient. I guess how good they are means prices will probably stay high though.
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Post by Dunharrow » 2 years ago

@toctheyounger the rotation happened with Midnight Hunt so I am skeptical about prices dropping.
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Post by toctheyounger » 2 years ago

Dunharrow wrote:
2 years ago
@toctheyounger the rotation happened with Midnight Hunt so I am skeptical about prices dropping.
Sad panda. Yeah I doubt it overly too. Hopefully at least the MDFCs get reprints moving in precons and such. Most of them are too flavorfully tied to Zendikar to see printing in another story set so non standard product is the best we can hope for to even prices out I'd guess.
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Post by Dunharrow » 2 years ago

toctheyounger wrote:
2 years ago
Dunharrow wrote:
2 years ago
@toctheyounger the rotation happened with Midnight Hunt so I am skeptical about prices dropping.
Sad panda. Yeah I doubt it overly too. Hopefully at least the MDFCs get reprints moving in precons and such. Most of them are too flavorfully tied to Zendikar to see printing in another story set so non standard product is the best we can hope for to even prices out I'd guess.
Biggest issue is their reluctance to have DFCs in precons. Look at how Midnight Hunt didn't have a werewolf commander deck.
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Post by 5colorsrainbow » 2 years ago

Zendikar 3 is still standard;

its Zendikar, Kaldheim, Strixhaven, DnD, Midnight, Vow right now, later this/next year is Kamigawa and New Capenna and finally next rotation happening with Dominaria United which will knock out Zendikar-DnD.
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Post by DirkGently » 2 years ago

Woo Netflix show review time! (I think I may have already talked about some of these but I can't be arsed to look back in the thread so deal with it)

Katla - Very eerie and suspenseful, with a really intriguing plot that handles its weirdness well - it doesn't try too hard to make sense of itself, but doesn't leave things entirely vague either. The direction/editing kept me off-balance in a good way. Admittedly it's pretty slow-moving, but the acting is all excellent and the characters were all great. Would definitely recommend. 5/5

Locke and Key - Cute at first, and season 1 was overall pretty solid if a bit...kid-friendly. Season 2 was just awful, though, starting with the decision to functionally-recast the villain from its intimidating S1 actress into a scrawny unintimidating twerp, and it doesn't help that his diabolical master plan makes as much sense as the casting change. Season 1 was fine popcorn entertainment, season 2 was pretty trash...I'll be generous and go 3/5.

The OA - Absolutely bananas concept that definitely had me intrigued, even when it was making me laugh at how utterly ridiculous it is. Can't accuse them of playing it safe, that's for damn sure. Season 1 mostly worked well as a standalone, somewhat ambiguous plot, whereas season 2 is outright fantasy that gets a bit absurd. I think with a few small tweaks it could have been a lot easier to take seriously, and there are definitely a few parts that made me roll my eyes (the ending...) but I wasn't bored. I think I've gotta go 4/5 for sheer entertainment value.

Away - I love a grounded, near-future sci-fi that takes its scientific problems really seriously, and this...was the cheap version of that. Ultimately I think this was largely doomed from the idea of stretching it into a series, because the number of mechanical problems make NASA look absolutely incompetent, and the constantly clashing personalities of the main cast make me wonder if they were recruiting from the top professionals in their field, or from reality TV rejects. Gotta find a new conflict every episode somehow I guess, but I'll take the Martian or Apollo 13 over this in a heartbeat. 3/5.

Stowaway - speaking of, stowaway was a movie, and it did a much better job with the concept. One main problem, with a lot of smart people trying to solve it, thankfully devoid of petty squabbling. The space scenes were very effective and inducing anxiety, and unlike Away the interiors looked much more believable as a near-future spaceship. 5/5 is a little generous, - it's not as memorable as Katla and the ending is a bit abrupt - but compared to most of the competition I think it was high quality.

Fate: the Winx Saga - so first of all, I didn't pick this show out, but I'd already picked the sci-fi stuff and Lily wanted to watch something fantasy and we ended up on this. There's already plenty of takes about how bad it is in terms of acting, pacing, plot, characters, and costumes, but I wanna focus on how stupid the magic is. Everyone has a different element or whatever - fire, water, grass, psychic, your basic pokemon flavors - and they use those elements to fight...and essentially nothing else. When they want to communicate, they use cell phones (and lord do they all like to talk about instagram). When they want to travel, they use cars. Regular, human-made cars! Faeries using cars! Even stupider, in the climax of the show, a character is badly wounded, and the doctor tells one of the main characters that they can relieve the injured person's pain by psychically taking it instead. So they imported instagram and BMWs into the faerie world, but not %$#% aspirin? It's among the only times magic is used for anything other than combat, and it's so stupid. 1/5.

The 100 - I wanted to watch this because a review/analysis of my WIP book mentioned it as being similar in some ways. I made it about 70% through the first episode and couldn't take any more. Outside of a few interesting-enough CGI exterior shots, the show looks extremely cheap and the setting feels extraordinarily boilerplate. The acting is uninteresting. The entire premise makes no sense. But worst, by far, are the characters. The protagonist is so boring she seems to have been created in a lab, and almost everyone around her was given exactly one personality trait, most of which are "SNARK" (in all capital letters). It reads like someone trying to force a teen drama into the mold of a dystopian sci-fi with a hammer. Earth has been uninhabited for 100 years, and 100 teenage delinquents are sent as a probe to see if radiation has gone down enough to be livable (and they couldn't just send a Geiger counter for some reason). Within 10 minutes of being shanghaied and crash landing on what is, basically, an unknown alien world, one character says "I just wanna have a good time," as though she had just gotten dropped off in Miami. But the moment I had to stop was when one character, whose every line of dialogue requires her to explain how much she doesn't care about anyone else, jumps into a river and is attacked by some massive sharkodile of some kind which drags her around for several minutes until our heroic protagonist decides that dropping a rock into the water will distract it for some reason (also keep in mind these people probably have never seen a non-human animal in their entire lives), which somehow WORKS, and then the girl is pulled out of the river to reveal what appears to be a red handprint on her thigh as her sole injury from this encounter, whereupon everyone has a good laugh, including the character who was recently almost ripped to pieces - I am not kidding about any of this. 0/5.
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Post by Dunharrow » 2 years ago

5colorsrainbow wrote:
2 years ago
Zendikar 3 is still standard;

its Zendikar, Kaldheim, Strixhaven, DnD, Midnight, Vow right now, later this/next year is Kamigawa and New Capenna and finally next rotation happening with Dominaria United which will knock out Zendikar-DnD.
Woops @toctheyounger I am pretty out of the loop it would seem.
Now I feel bad for having ordered so much Zendikar lol.
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Post by Dunharrow » 2 years ago

DirkGently wrote:
2 years ago
Katla - Very eerie and suspenseful, with a really intriguing plot that handles its weirdness well - it doesn't try too hard to make sense of itself, but doesn't leave things entirely vague either. The direction/editing kept me off-balance in a good way. Admittedly it's pretty slow-moving, but the acting is all excellent and the characters were all great. Would definitely recommend. 5/5
Will Keep my eyes out for this one, thanks.
Locke and Key - Cute at first, and season 1 was overall pretty solid if a bit...kid-friendly. Season 2 was just awful, though, starting with the decision to functionally-recast the villain from its intimidating S1 actress into a scrawny unintimidating twerp, and it doesn't help that his diabolical master plan makes as much sense as the casting change. Season 1 was fine popcorn entertainment, season 2 was pretty trash...I'll be generous and go 3/5.
I did miss the Dodge actress quite a bit in season 2 but I think there were compelling story reasons for this (mainly that she faked her death in S1). Still enjoying this one but it is a bit kid-friendly.
The OA - Absolutely bananas concept that definitely had me intrigued, even when it was making me laugh at how utterly ridiculous it is. Can't accuse them of playing it safe, that's for damn sure. Season 1 mostly worked well as a standalone, somewhat ambiguous plot, whereas season 2 is outright fantasy that gets a bit absurd. I think with a few small tweaks it could have been a lot easier to take seriously, and there are definitely a few parts that made me roll my eyes (the ending...) but I wasn't bored. I think I've gotta go 4/5 for sheer entertainment value.
Love your take on this. My wife watched 10 minutes of season 2 and wasn't feeling it so I still haven't watched it. I loved season 1 and am a bit bummed season 2 is the last one.
Away - I love a grounded, near-future sci-fi that takes its scientific problems really seriously, and this...was the cheap version of that. Ultimately I think this was largely doomed from the idea of stretching it into a series, because the number of mechanical problems make NASA look absolutely incompetent, and the constantly clashing personalities of the main cast make me wonder if they were recruiting from the top professionals in their field, or from reality TV rejects. Gotta find a new conflict every episode somehow I guess, but I'll take the Martian or Apollo 13 over this in a heartbeat. 3/5.

Stowaway - speaking of, stowaway was a movie, and it did a much better job with the concept. One main problem, with a lot of smart people trying to solve it, thankfully devoid of petty squabbling. The space scenes were very effective and inducing anxiety, and unlike Away the interiors looked much more believable as a near-future spaceship. 5/5 is a little generous, - it's not as memorable as Katla and the ending is a bit abrupt - but compared to most of the competition I think it was high quality.

Fate: the Winx Saga - so first of all, I didn't pick this show out, but I'd already picked the sci-fi stuff and Lily wanted to watch something fantasy and we ended up on this. There's already plenty of takes about how bad it is in terms of acting, pacing, plot, characters, and costumes, but I wanna focus on how stupid the magic is. Everyone has a different element or whatever - fire, water, grass, psychic, your basic pokemon flavors - and they use those elements to fight...and essentially nothing else. When they want to communicate, they use cell phones (and lord do they all like to talk about instagram). When they want to travel, they use cars. Regular, human-made cars! Faeries using cars! Even stupider, in the climax of the show, a character is badly wounded, and the doctor tells one of the main characters that they can relieve the injured person's pain by psychically taking it instead. So they imported instagram and BMWs into the faerie world, but not %$#% aspirin? It's among the only times magic is used for anything other than combat, and it's so stupid. 1/5.
Haven't seen any of these. Stowaway sounds intriguing but will avoid the others, thanks!
The 100 - I wanted to watch this because a review/analysis of my WIP book mentioned it as being similar in some ways. I made it about 70% through the first episode and couldn't take any more. Outside of a few interesting-enough CGI exterior shots, the show looks extremely cheap and the setting feels extraordinarily boilerplate. The acting is uninteresting. The entire premise makes no sense. But worst, by far, are the characters. The protagonist is so boring she seems to have been created in a lab, and almost everyone around her was given exactly one personality trait, most of which are "SNARK" (in all capital letters). It reads like someone trying to force a teen drama into the mold of a dystopian sci-fi with a hammer. Earth has been uninhabited for 100 years, and 100 teenage delinquents are sent as a probe to see if radiation has gone down enough to be livable (and they couldn't just send a Geiger counter for some reason). Within 10 minutes of being shanghaied and crash landing on what is, basically, an unknown alien world, one character says "I just wanna have a good time," as though she had just gotten dropped off in Miami. But the moment I had to stop was when one character, whose every line of dialogue requires her to explain how much she doesn't care about anyone else, jumps into a river and is attacked by some massive sharkodile of some kind which drags her around for several minutes until our heroic protagonist decides that dropping a rock into the water will distract it for some reason (also keep in mind these people probably have never seen a non-human animal in their entire lives), which somehow WORKS, and then the girl is pulled out of the river to reveal what appears to be a red handprint on her thigh as her sole injury from this encounter, whereupon everyone has a good laugh, including the character who was recently almost ripped to pieces - I am not kidding about any of this. 0/5.
I unfortunately watched the whole series, and I think you did right to drop it. I actually really enjoyed the first 2 seasons, although there were a few weak points (especially in the first few episodes). Season 3 is where things really got tough for me. A lot of majorly illogical decisions being made every season. There were great moments that were overshadowed by dumb as **** moments. Then the final season came with way too much exposition, a plug for a prequel series, and more majorly dumb decisions. It was hard to enjoy. I would rate it as a whole around 3/5 because there was a lot to enjoy, but the writers really made some bad decisions (especially at the end).


Also on Netflix
I am watching the Cowboy Bebop anime and it is fantastic. Somewhere between Firefly and a dream version of what a Han Solo tv show would be about. They launched their live action show but I haven't checked it out yet. Cast looks good though.

Sense8 - one of the best sci fi shows I have ever seen, unfortunately with a rushed ending due to the show being too expensive to shoot. Still rate it 5/5. Super cool concept and some incredibly memorable fights.

I also highly recommend all the Miyazaki movies - Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle being my two favourites.
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Post by 5colorsrainbow » 2 years ago

DirkGently wrote:
2 years ago
Fate: the Winx Saga - so first of all, I didn't pick this show out, but I'd already picked the sci-fi stuff and Lily wanted to watch something fantasy and we ended up on this. There's already plenty of takes about how bad it is in terms of acting, pacing, plot, characters, and costumes, but I wanna focus on how stupid the magic is. Everyone has a different element or whatever - fire, water, grass, psychic, your basic pokemon flavors - and they use those elements to fight...and essentially nothing else. When they want to communicate, they use cell phones (and lord do they all like to talk about instagram). When they want to travel, they use cars. Regular, human-made cars! Faeries using cars! Even stupider, in the climax of the show, a character is badly wounded, and the doctor tells one of the main characters that they can relieve the injured person's pain by psychically taking it instead. So they imported instagram and BMWs into the faerie world, but not %$#% aspirin? It's among the only times magic is used for anything other than combat, and it's so stupid. 1/5.
I'm young enough I saw the original cartoon when it was on Fox and its very much the pre-teen girl focus show I personally love magical girl stuff and am gay enough to not mind as much LOL I was very disappointed with this show and the Riverdale effect its got. And while not ground breaking writing I really like some world-building of the cartoon that wasn't the most typical that the Netflix show made more generic;

The original cartoon did have the elemental stuff though it wasn't strictly just elements. Like you had nature, light (sun/moon) and (dragon) fire that are pretty much play straight but then the "water" fairy did all kinds of liquids and often did green lantern like stuff, the air/psychic fairy was originally a fairy of music and could use sound waves and the 6th member (whom they cut) element was "digital", She could control and do stuff with technology and had electric based attacks. Jumping off that the show was more science fantasy than tradition fantasy, the fairies come from other planets and often use space ships, the Specialists used basically lightsaber, ect. And the magic tech leaned more star trek/fantastical than just using real world tech. Again nothing terribly original but I did feel like its own creative identity vs the adaption thats really made it feel a lot more generic. It also kinda bugged me how all the girls seemed to just hate each other in the netflix show vs the cartoon where they have that "friendship is magic" vibe you get from other magic girl groups.
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Post by DirkGently » 2 years ago

Dunharrow wrote:
2 years ago
I did miss the Dodge actress quite a bit in season 2 but I think there were compelling story reasons for this (mainly that she faked her death in S1). Still enjoying this one but it is a bit kid-friendly.
I didn't love that fake-out in season 1 tbh...it felt like one of those twists that sounds super clever going forwards but makes no sense going backwards. She had so many powers at her disposal, and the best idea she could think of was to fake her own death and try to blend in with a different face? Couldn't she have just done that as soon as she got free? Why didn't she use the face-changing key more often? What really killed me was her/his/its desire for Kinsey in season 2 though - first of all, it seems to be some ageless demon, why is it lusting after a 16-year-old, and second of all, what's the point of threatening her relatives if its goal is to make her "choose" to become a demon? Doesn't that kinda invalidate the whole concept?

Also I hated Duncan in season 2 once he got his memory back. He's constantly a useless idiot, and he barely puts up any fight to avoid helping Dodge along the way to its world-ending plans.

But season 1 was fine, and I always like the discovery phase with these sorts of shows. Season 2 was always going to have a harder time since most stuff was already established.
I unfortunately watched the whole series, and I think you did right to drop it. I actually really enjoyed the first 2 seasons, although there were a few weak points (especially in the first few episodes). Season 3 is where things really got tough for me. A lot of majorly illogical decisions being made every season. There were great moments that were overshadowed by dumb as **** moments. Then the final season came with way too much exposition, a plug for a prequel series, and more majorly dumb decisions. It was hard to enjoy. I would rate it as a whole around 3/5 because there was a lot to enjoy, but the writers really made some bad decisions (especially at the end).
Interesting to get a take on the whole series, thanks for that. Morbid curiosity got me to finish the first episode - it got slightly better, but only because it didn't have anywhere deeper to dig imo xD. I looked it up after and a lot clicked into place when I saw it aired on the CW. Still shocked at how positively-reviewed it is tbh. Maybe it didn't feel as played-out in 2014.
Sense8 - one of the best sci fi shows I have ever seen, unfortunately with a rushed ending due to the show being too expensive to shoot. Still rate it 5/5. Super cool concept and some incredibly memorable fights.

I also highly recommend all the Miyazaki movies - Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle being my two favourites.
I have really mixed feelings about sense8 - as with L&K I liked a lot of the discovery phase, but it had this weird tone where sometimes it felt like it was a superhero saga with world-ending stakes and sometimes it spent forever on personal minutiae like the actor dude's career even when way-more-important-stuff was happening. And trying to justify why they were so important was pretty hit-and-miss, their abilities never seemed that useful and some of them really had to stretch to justify their usefulness. Also probably one of the horniest shows I've seen lol. The ending was definitely rough. I think I'd go 3/5.

It's nice how available Ghibli is on Netflix. I went through all of them last year at the height of the pandemic when I was fully locked down. I even made a list from favorite to least:

princess mononoke
spirited away
howl's moving castle
my neighbor totoro
laputa: castle in the sky
the tale of princess kayuga
arrietty
the wind rises
marnie
ponyo
poppy hill
porco rosso
the cat returns
only yesterday
nausicaa and the valley of the wind
pom poko
tales from earthsea
kiki's delivery service
whisper of the heart
my neighbors the yamadas
ocean waves

I assume I'll now be torn to pieces for ranking Kiki and Nausicaa so low lol. I can't completely remember what I disliked about Nausicaa anymore, but I found Kiki really boring. Felt like a story I would have been read as a kid, where there's a bunch of meandering episodic adventures and the stakes never rise to much of anything. Though maybe that's colored by the fact that I was watching them as entertainment while stairclimbing and it did a terrible job of distracting me from the pain of exercise xD

Oh and the most bananas ones are Pom Poko and the Cat Returns. Drugs are probably recommended for those two.

edit: oh, I think I remember about nausicaa. I think I just didn't really like any of the characters, and the message felt really heavy-handed.
5colorsrainbow wrote:
2 years ago
And the magic tech leaned more star trek/fantastical than just using real world tech. Again nothing terribly original but I did feel like its own creative identity vs the adaption thats really made it feel a lot more generic. It also kinda bugged me how all the girls seemed to just hate each other in the netflix show vs the cartoon where they have that "friendship is magic" vibe you get from other magic girl groups.
I read about that a little after watching it - having sci-fi tech would have made it a lot more interesting and different. Instead it was just confusing. Why do they have magic powers but still rely on cars? lol. I think I saw a clip where they had hoverbikes or something.
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Ulka
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Post by Ulka » 2 years ago

I agree with katla. Very well done. Other shows to watch are Occupied, the Dark, and Shadow and Bone
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Post by toctheyounger » 2 years ago

Mononoke is top of my list, but honestly I kind of just love all the Ghiblis. The animation is all pretty awesome and they're all just very whimsical, despite the overarching messages pervading a lot of them of the preciousness of the world around us. Theres a few I've not seen but I always enjoy them whatever the case.

I just started cowboy bebop myself for the first time ever. Its very clear where Whedon got the inspiration for Firefly, and thats cool. I like both shows. The standout to me though is the soundtrack, its super cool. You just don't get jazz and blues on a soundtrack virtually ever, unless that's the subject matter at hand.

Netflix is generally filled with a lot of tripe. Especially in the SF/fantasy area. The drop off from The Witcher et al is enormous. I tend not to bother. Usually I can even tell if its going to be had just based in the types of people they've cast and the stills they use to advertise.
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Post by Hermes_ » 2 years ago

I'm planning to resub to netflix next month, rewatch Call the midwife from the start, Narcos: Mexico's final season, catch up on Wyonna Earp
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Post by pokken » 2 years ago

I have been watching a *lot* less TV lately, trying to finish up my 60 books this year :P But I'm listening to a history of china podcast on spotify, and mixing that up with trying to work my way through Manu Chao's discography.

Last thing I watched I really liked was the new He Man stuff, but it's so brief.

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Post by DirkGently » 2 years ago

Ulka wrote:
2 years ago
I agree with katla. Very well done. Other shows to watch are Occupied, the Dark, and Shadow and Bone
I did enjoy shadow and bone. Dark was great at first but outstayed its welcome and ventured too far up it's own ass imo xD
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Phelddagrif - Kaervek - Golos - Zirilan

Flux Decks
Gollum - Lobelia - Minthara - Plargg2 - Solphim - Otharri - Graaz - Ratchet - Soundwave - Slicer - Gale - Rootha - Kagemaro - Blorpityblorpboop - Kayla - SliverQueen - Ivy - Falco - Gluntch - Charlatan/Wilson - Garth - Kros - Anthousa - Shigeki - Light-Paws - Lukka - Sefris - Ebondeath - Rokiric - Garth - Nixilis - Grist - Mavinda - Kumano - Nezahal - Mavinda - Plargg - Plargg - Extus - Plargg - Oracle - Kardur - Halvar - Tergrid - Egon - Cosima - Halana+Livio - Jeska+Falthis+Obosh - Yeva - Akiri+Zirda - Lady Sun - Nahiri - Korlash - Overlord+Zirda - Chisei - Athreos2 - Akim - Cazur+Ukkima - Otrimi - Otrimi - Kalamax - Ayli+Lurrus - Clamilton - Gonti - Heliod2 - Ayula - Thassa2 - Gallia - Purphoros2 - Rankle - Uro - Rayami - Gargos - Thrasios+Bruse - Pang - Sasaya - Wydwen - Feather - Rona - Toshiro - Sylvia+Khorvath - Geth - QMarchesa - Firesong - Athreos - Arixmethes - Isperia - Etali - Silas+Sidar - Saskia - Virtus+Gorm - Kynaios - Naban - Aryel - Mizzix - Kazuul - Tymna+Kraum - Sidar+Tymna - Ayli - Gwendlyn - Phelddagrif - Liliana - Kaervek - Phelddagrif - Mairsil - Scarab - Child - Phenax - Shirei - Thada - Depala - Circu - Kytheon - GrenzoHR - Phelddagrif - Reyhan+Kraum - Toshiro - Varolz - Nin - Ojutai - Tasigur - Zedruu - Uril - Edric - Wort - Zurgo - Nahiri - Grenzo - Kozilek - Yisan - Ink-Treader - Yisan - Brago - Sidisi - Toshiro - Alexi - Sygg - Brimaz - Sek'Kuar - Marchesa - Vish Kal - Iroas - Phelddagrif - Ephara - Derevi - Glissa - Wanderer - Saffi - Melek - Xiahou Dun - Lazav - Lin Sivvi - Zirilan - Glissa - Ashling1 - Angus - Arcum - Talrand - Chainer - Higure - Kumano - Scion - Teferi1 - Uyo - Sisters
PDH - Drake - Graverobber - Izzet GM - Tallowisp - Symbiote
Brawl - Feather - Ugin - Jace - Scarab - Angrath - Vraska - Kumena
Oathbreaker - Wrenn&6

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Post by materpillar » 2 years ago

Cowboy Bebop (the anime) is fantastic. I would highly recommend it.

Does anyone have any good audio book recommendations?

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