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The Last of Us: Look for the Light (2023)
Love or the world
This episode brings up probably one of the hardest choices you'll see in a story. The desire to save and protect one person you love or to save the whole world. It was a brutal, action-packed episode. Eli's trauma after the events of the last episode and Joel's effort to make her feel better and protect her foreshadow his decisions in the much darker second half of the episode.
It will be interesting to see what people's thoughts are on Joel's decision to save Eli. It really is an impossible situation for someone who feels like they are a parent to be in. I'm personally nervous and excited to see where the next episode goes.
Kami no Tou (2020)
Tower of God season 1 is unique and stunning
The first thing that will capture your attention with Tower of God is the frankly beautiful art style they went with, likely followed by the chanting, almost primal soundtrack. However, these two artistic choices actually serve to enhance my personal favorite part of this show so far - the unapologetically complex and interesting world they have built.
Right from episode one, you are thrust into the unique world of Tower of God with borderline zero explanation, just like the show's protagonist, Bam. You only learn details about the tower and character's when the plot immediately demands it, and as such, the mechanations of the world are slowly revealed to the watcher. By the end of season it is clear that this will NOT be a simple story. This style of open world storytelling reminds me of shows like Game of Thrones, and also boasts an impressive number of interesting characters. The tower in Tower of God is unlike any setting I've ever experienced before. However, if you like some level of handholding in your storytelling this show may not be for you.
I found myself caring for (or hating) nearly all of the characters as the show slowly unravels their pasts and individual motivations for climbing the tower. Deception, trust, jealousy, and pride are all major themes that show up many times and are clearly a part of the message of the show. Be prepared to have your expectations for characters broken more than once, but never without prior justification.
All in all, Tower of God season 1 is a visual masterpiece, with an enchanting, primal soundtrack and an enrapturing world that is slowly revealed to you when its nature directly interacts the plot of the show. There is very little information initially given to the viewer about the world of Tower of God and they need to earn the information episode by episode, as the plot unravels. The character's are interesting and all have clear motivations for climbing the tower, which is why the show seems to work so well. I definitely recommend giving this show a shot if you enjoy unique, complex stories and good action. 10/10 for fans of complex, engaging anime.
The Haunting of Hill House (2018)
So much more than just a horror show
There's something so beautiful about the way this show was filmed. The characters felt so alive and complex. The story unfolds so methodically and completely that you can almost anticipate the reward of sticking around to figure out why all of the family members act in the alarming ways that they did.
If you remove all the shocking moments and bone-chilling horror, this becomes a raw story about a family that has to learn to deal with loss and to rely on one another instead of pushing each other away. The camerawork was phenomenal. The color contrasts from scene to scene throughout the show did an amazing job of capturing the feeling of what was happening. There are very few experiences I've had that have at different times left a pit of dread in my stomach and then tears of hope in my eyes. Somehow, The Haunting of Hill House had this effect on me.
If you like good pacing and tension in your horror movies and shows and you like complicated, rich characters then I definitely recommend this show for you. It raises the bar on what a horror could be and pushes the boundary between genres in all the right ways.
Fate/Apocrypha (2017)
Great Action but Rough Second Half
This is the third Fate series show I've watched. Fate: Zero and Fate: Infinity Blade Works were both very good shows that had interesting characters and solid english dub voice acting. They also got better as the show progressed and the story built upon itself. Fate: Apocrypha unfortunately falls short in this way. The characters initially seem very interesting in the first half of the show. The fights are beautifully animated and there's a sense of mystery that kept me watching. However, in the second half of the show things seem to fall apart. After a big reveal at the end of the first season the mystery is gone and the characters seem flat and boring. There's hardly any character development and the voice acting falls of a cliff for whatever reason. The action kept me watching but I couldn't find myself less interested in the story or characters (other than the Saber and her master who get far too little screen time in the second half).