Right of the bat I was very intrigued by this show. The premise could have been more original but I liked it and I liked the tone. We had a fun narrator-protagonist making the best of a bad apocalypse. They way that video game mechanics are liberally integrated into the visual style are fresh, vibrant and also add a poignant edge as we realise that this is his coping mechanism to not deal with the vicious reality.
"Book 1" is our feature length pilot that "Book 2" sadly never quite equals because there's simply too much filler. There's something very charming in this band of kids that would mostly never socialize in real life becoming a surrogate family including a school bully with some nerds and *that* kind of girl.
I think June is a pretty well developed character but a part of me can't shake that she is a very deliberate and somewhat pandering example of the "strong female". It's not that she's a caustic and strong that I dislike, I think it's awesome, but she has Hermione Granger syndrome where she is blatantly the most competent and emotionally mature character and must remain a sort of mother to the male characters that surround her. I know that's a rather pedantic issue but I've been reading Firestone...
Jim's very well acknowledged crush on her from the beginning prevents them ever being a satisfying romantic interest. As for Jim himself, he gradually becomes a less and less relatable character from his incorrigible habit of going rogue.
As I mentioned, a lot of this is filler, but at it's best we have a mature story of people dealing with formidable situations and learning to trust each other. At times very predictable, it was easy to want to see what they were dealing with this week. The set pieces, epic monster battles and superb creature design never disappoint.
Could it be better? Sure. But you could do so much worse.
"Book 1" is our feature length pilot that "Book 2" sadly never quite equals because there's simply too much filler. There's something very charming in this band of kids that would mostly never socialize in real life becoming a surrogate family including a school bully with some nerds and *that* kind of girl.
I think June is a pretty well developed character but a part of me can't shake that she is a very deliberate and somewhat pandering example of the "strong female". It's not that she's a caustic and strong that I dislike, I think it's awesome, but she has Hermione Granger syndrome where she is blatantly the most competent and emotionally mature character and must remain a sort of mother to the male characters that surround her. I know that's a rather pedantic issue but I've been reading Firestone...
Jim's very well acknowledged crush on her from the beginning prevents them ever being a satisfying romantic interest. As for Jim himself, he gradually becomes a less and less relatable character from his incorrigible habit of going rogue.
As I mentioned, a lot of this is filler, but at it's best we have a mature story of people dealing with formidable situations and learning to trust each other. At times very predictable, it was easy to want to see what they were dealing with this week. The set pieces, epic monster battles and superb creature design never disappoint.
Could it be better? Sure. But you could do so much worse.