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Better Call Saul: Point and Shoot (2022)
Somewhat stupid and lacking any sense of thrill or suspense
First of all Lalo showing up at Jimmy's place at the same time as Howard is a massive coincidence. Lalo the terminator's plan doesn't make sense. It involved sending one of the Goodmans to Gus' house, and shoot whoever opens the door. Obviously the person who will open the door won't be Gus. This is Gus, not Gale whom we are talking about. Even Saul and Kim should have been able to figure it out because Gus had been taking a lot of safety measures lately going as far as have men follow the Goodmans. So any man with half a braincell would immediately ask one self why did Lalo do such a thing and the answer is pretty obvious. He wants to use a useless assailant as a distraction and use this to cover his next move or drive Gus' men into Jimmy's house and ambush them (maybe Lalo could've brought some kind of bomb attached to the door of Jimmy's house, which would trigger as soon as it was opened killing anyone in the vicinity). Talking about Lalo, how did he suppose that he will break into Gus' home with so much security, men and cameras. Even if he did manage to do that how would he kill Gus or gather the evidence that he had been looking for in less than half an hour? Did Lalo know that the person incharge of monitoring the security camera footage was on a bathroom break when he was breaking into Gus' laundry area? Did he know that the supposedly smart Gus won't see through his plan and was low on security and would stumble upon his hiding location, then Lalo could take his men out being the terminator he is? Compare his plan of killing Gus to that of Heisenberg's. Walt's plan to kill Gus was as certain to succeed as Lalo's was destined to fail. Lalo is a decent character but the writing sometimes really ruin him bad. He is the guy who took down one of the big German guys with a hidden blade when he (Lalo) had been axed in the flank, collapsed on the ground, short of breath? Unfortunately that wasn't going to be the last time this show used a cheap trick like this and once again a similar situation involving thick plot armour and no sense of thrill because the audience already knows the outcome, would be recreated because despite being low on time Lalo would still waste time on Gus' stupid speech, an overused trick that character use to stall for time and escape situations where they should have been killed. Fortunately for Gus, there was a gun in the underground lab to kill Lalo as well as an object to distract him before that. Just like Lalo when he showed up at the German guy's house, Gus after being shot (although he was wearing a vest but it should still hurt) and being kicked to the ground, Gus with a plot armour as thick as his protruding belly, managed to kill Lalo the sharp shooter. The only scene that I liked was Kim driving to her target in a windy night and standing before the door because it looked good.
Death Note: Desu nôto (2006)
An intense supernatural thriller involving mind-games between two geniuses which unfortunately suffers a big decline in quality in its 2nd part
Summary: Dark, atmospheric and complemented by fitting soundtracks, Death note, built upon the dynamics of two polar opposite geniuses playing mind-games as they try to out-maneuver each other at every step, takes the over-the-top nature of anime and combines it with a certain degree of realism, making the perfect formula for a powerful thriller involving tense, complex situations which aren't entirely nonsensical. Unfortunately it is good only for the first half of the show which is a completely self-contained story by the way. The second part fails in multiple ways as it tries to imitate the first half but lacking its heart, only manages to extend it unnecessarily and taint its reputation.
The shows consists of 37 episodes, 25 of which make the fabulous first half.
Premise: It has unique premise involving a supernatural item called Death note, a notebook which can kill anyone whose name is written on it and whose working is described in a pretty detained manner. It falls into the possession of a genius teenager who wants to use it to 'cleanse the world from criminal filth' by killing them off and becoming a symbol of fear and justice but before that he must deal with a certain 'world's greatest detective' who is set to stop this arrogant abuse of power.
First I'll discuss the first half of the show; how it keeps the viewers interested, what are its good points and what are the aspects that felt underwhelming.
How does it captures the viewers interest?
A large chunk of the show involves:
1. A spirit of rivalry between the main character Light Yagami and the antagonist detective L. Both share moments with each other as suspect and detective. Both are very interesting characters and have some qualities completely opposite to each other, so its interesting to see them juxtaposed. For eg: Light is a liar and a narcissist. He can be charming whenever he wants to be. He deals with problems in a clever but straightforward way. L on the other is honest, doesn't care about how others see him, is quirky and awkward and unorthodox and unpredictable in his way of dealing with things. At the same time both the characters are similar to some extent. Both are very intelligent and are represented as a symbol of justice, when in truth neither care about justice so much as they do about being right and satisfying their ego . L just wants to be right about his conclusions and Light uses his twisted sense of justice to satisfy his God complex.
2. L coming up with clever ways to catch the mysterious, 'supernatural' killer of criminals, that surprises the audience, a feeling shared by the side characters who work with him as well. I find it somewhat amusing when side characters analyse, appreciate and act surprised at the main characters doing extraordinary stuff because of how over-the-top and overused it is. Since L is dealing with a supernatural enemy he knows nothing about, he looks for patterns and tries to figure out, how the killer works.
3. Light also exploring and experimenting with the working of the death note. The notebook which kills anyone whose name is written on it. What if two or more people share the same name? What will be the cause of their death? Can the cause be altered? To what degree? Its interesting to learn about such an elaborate system.
4. Light coming up with an equally clever way to deal with L's plans. You can even hear Light's monolgues about his thought process which makes everything more intense and interesting to follow. Light finds himself in situations that can ruin everything he has worked for, yet he thinks of something clever and works up to get the desired result which is difficult to achieve. This creates a strong sense of thrill. In the beginning episodes, Light goes to many different places to deal with different kinds of situations on the spot. This kind of traveling, change of environment always feels great.
5. Light showing the kind of person he is. Its interesting because Light is one heck of a character. Although usually stoic, nonchalant and reserved, Light is very expressive when it comes to his secret life of 'bringer of justice'. His reactions to whenever he outwit anyone, is a sight to behold. The sly smile followed by crazy maniacal laughter if the place allows it, the desperate obsession to 'defeat' L is really interesting to watch.
The good points:
1. It has one of the most intriguing beginning. It will get you hooked instantly.
2. A very interesting main character. His traits complement each other. These include stoic personality, a detachment from life because its boring, a disgust for filthy criminals, sociopathic personality, narcissism, asexual orientation, high intelligence, ability to socialize and act charmingly whenever required etc. His monolgues and thinking process are interesting to hear, plans are clever and the sheer amount of chaotic aura he emits whenever someone innocent who dared to challenge him falls a victim to his scheming, is beautifully depicted. He is a true villain main character.
3. A perfect antagonist, who as mentioned before shares many similarities and differences with the protagonist. His cleverness combined with quirkiness is charming in its own way.
4. The show doesn't take sides. It doesn't put L on a pedestal and treats Light as a villain destined to lose. You can root for either. One can't predict who will win the battle of wits.
5. Its very thrilling, intense and clever. One genius trying to manipulate the other. One with supernatural aid, other with the aid of the law system and organization. Both finding themselves in tense situations and trying to outwit their rival. The things that lead to the situations and the characters' way of handling it is sufficiently believable. What makes a situation thrilling? There are many factors like the viewers must care about the characters, the stakes must be high, the outcome unpredictable, the actions believable, the directing, silence, music etc. Based on these criterias, Death note is indeed a great thriller.
6. Elaborated rules about the working of the supernatural elements i.e. Death note.
7. The last two episodes and the ending is really good.
8. The visuals. Dark, atmospheric, beautiful, unique. It has a gothic feel in 2000s setting. Sometimes everything becomes sepia, while only L and Light's hair remain blue and red colored respectively which looks really cool. The tall glass buildings at night or dusk is something you'll get to see frequently and its beautiful. Visuals also include character designs and they are perfectly fitting to each character. Light's stoicism, charm and villanous aura and L's calmness and quirkiness are perfectly encapsulated by their respective designs. The artstyle is one of the most beautiful in all of fiction. However the animation while good, could've been better or clearer.
9. The music. Again, one of the best ost set in all of fiction. Perfectly fits the visual style and the feeling the anime wants to evoke. The music has a Christian feel to it. Infact, some of the music is inspired from Gregorian chant. It has lots of ominous music that Light would love to hear while celebrating his victory with a smug smile after crushing innocent lives for the 'bigger good'. It also has the music that can be described as the sound of high functioning sociopaths thinking. The intro and outro are also perfect. The second opening in particular which is a metal music evoking the feeling of sheer insanity.
The bad points:
1. Death note isn't exactly rational fiction. The individuals and organizations must act in a believable manner with as little plot convenience as possible. Sometimes the characters may not take the best or safest decision, or may come up with a plan involving too much convenience or luck.
2. Even the first half of the show isn't perfect in terms of enjoyment. There are certain plot points which undermine aspects that made the show good. For example the rivalry between Light and L as well as the villanous nature of Light is temporarily thrown out of the window in the middle of the series for reasons I can't reveal without spoiling. At the beginning of the show, in the first 10 or 11 episodes, Light used to go to different places and deal with various kinds of problems or situations on the spot. This outgoing nature of Light and thus the plot becomes less relevant as the show progresses. As I have already mentioned before countless times, the rivalry between L and Light and the villanous nature of Light drives the show. Without it, there isn't a lot to keep the audience interested. As a result, the quality shakes slightly during the middle of the first part of the show. Anyway the dip in quality isn't too big and the last 2 episodes of the first part and its ending makes up for it.
3. A female character named Misa Amane, a young goth girl with blonde hair plays a very important role in the anime. Unfortunately she is an obsessive simp for Light, who behaves in a dumb manner and is treated as a comic relief. Her character is obviously exaggerated and obsession with the leader or idol of a cult (as Light's action become more and more noticeable, people start supporting the mysterious bringer of justice) isn't entirely impossible but Misa is not a very interesting character and is somewhat incongruous to the tone of the series.
4. Sometimes, the show can become too over the top.
Now coming to the 2nd part of the show. I'll keep it short.
Good points:
The last two episodes and the ending. It was very intense. There were some problems with the ending but it was as good as the ending of the first half of the show if not better, especially in terms of raw emotion.
The animation and music was still good ofcourse.
Bad points:
Tries to imitate the first half but lacks everything that made it good. The new characters weren't very interesting. The cleverness of the show was gone. The pacing was too fast. Felt nothing while watching it.
Pâfekuto burû (1997)
A psychological movie that combines realism and surrealism to 'disturb' the audience and deals with certain themes related to people involved in idol and acting industry
These themes include doubting career choice and wondering about what one really wants, insanity, unhealthy obsession with one's passion, idol worship and actresses having to do obscene stuff for their career despite their discomfort.
Its about a young idol who decides to switch her career from a pop star to an actress, but isn't sure if thats what she really wants especially after she has to taint her pure reputation by getting involved in sex scenes and nude photography. She is also being stalked by a creepy fan who loathes the idea of losing his favorite idol and will cross any line to get her back on the track.
It has a bleak, faded and realistic atmosphere and slightly slow pacing which suits the movie. It involves many scenes based on simple situations (lacking complex character dynamics and variety of events) both realistic as well as surreal ones (while still retaining realism in some aspects) which involve the main character hallucinating and interacting with a version of herself that is true to herself and losing the grip of reality. Most of the scenes try really hard to come across as creepy but are often cliché. The movie subverts the expectations it developed in its audience, blurs the line between reality and delusion and requires rewatching certain scenes to grasp everything entirely.
The main appeal of this movies lies in its realism, disturbing or creepy nature, its surreal nature, its plot-twists, its atmosphere and its themes. Most of these aspects of the film however, were pretty underwhelming. If anyone were to like this movie for being thrilling, it would be hard to believe because it utterly fails in that regard. Its scenes that are meant to stimulate strong emotions feel cliché, lack intensity and are based on very simple events.
Story and its themes:
The primary theme is about how having to give up one one's passion due to various reasons can badly influence a person's mental health. It involves a young girl who decides to switch her career from a pop star to an actress but has to sell her sexual appeal through stuff like doing dirty scenes or nude photography which drives her to insanity in a subtle manner.
The other theme is about how some mentally ill, creepy, obsessive fans would go to any lengths to preserve the image of the idols they worship.
Some people might complain that the movie tries to incorporate too many themes for its own good and turns out to be a mess but its themes are highly related to each other and only feel like a mess because of some coincidences the story requires to move its plot and how it intentionally tries to confuse or mislead the audience.
Another problem with the story or the themes is that even though the movie is somewhat confusing but it still involves extremely simple events or scenes to convey them.
It did manage to show somewhat intense scenes about the theme of having to do dirty sex work in the acting industry even if the actress is uncomfortable about doing so.
The scenes that are supposed to show the mental state of the main character mostly involve the MC zoning out, the MC seeing an illusion of herself in her idol star dress talking to herself sometimes through her mirror's reflection and sometimes from outside the mirror (hallucinations). There isn't anything that great about seeing a character zone out if you can't feel their pain or relate to them or like them, which wouldn't be the case here since the MC is portrayed as a very simple and naive character without much complexity or interesting personality traits. The scenes involving hallucinations are only there to create false sense of thrill and instead create cliché representation of a person's psychology.
Coming to the theme of creepy obsessive stalker, there aren't many scenes involving complex events related to this theme. Just some gore involving characters about which the audience isn't supposed to care about, some scenes emphasizing on how the stalker keeps staring at the MC and keeps track of her and acts slightly creepy. These things would be extremely disturbing in real life but while watching a movie, extra effort need to be put if you want to recreate realistic emotions to the events that play out which this movie fails to do. Heck, the stalker is made to look so hideous just so that the audience would feel disturbed but again its not enough. There was only one major scene involving an interesting situation or event involving the stalker, which was (I hope this doesn't come across as spoiler since its predictable considering the theme), the stalker trying to assault the MC but that too was cliché.
Maybe if the movie had more complex and interesting events related to its themes that actually feel intense or thrilling (like in death note or Fight Club), the movie would've been much better even if it required some more plot conveniences. The events and characters are too simple.
To make up for this simplicity the movie tries to confuse and mislead. An example of how it does that are scenes when it cutts off to the part where MC wakes up on her bed after something bizarre happens, so that the line between dream and reality blurs. A simple way to keep track of whether something happened or not is to think about the consequences. No consequences mean it did not happen. Speaking of consequences, there should've been horde of police or investigators at the front door of the MC asking questions related to criminal activities that she got herself involved in, adversly affecting her acting career. Another thing which might've caused some confusion is the fact that the condition of the role the MC is playing as an actress in a movie is similar to her real life conditions which might confuse some. The rest of it are just some cheap and misleading tricks to create confusion.
The disturbing part:
There is very little human warmth in this movie. Whatever there is, is very formal and is for the sake of character study. It involves gore and the female MC having to sell her sexual appeal for the sake of her career. There are (almost) rape scenes shown in a disturbing and realistic manner which can make some audience uncomfortable. The MC also gets creepy hallucinations because of her problems making the movie surreal. The creepy, hideous looking stalker who is obssesed with the MC, also adds to the disturbing nature of the movie. There are some other factor as well, adding to this aspect but I didn't find any of it intense enough. There is a scene in which the MC spots the creepy MC near the place where the film shooting is occurring but the moment she turns away and then looks for him again, he vanishes like Batman which is a really cliché scene. While I don't get disturbed by fiction but I can still feel the intensity of its supposedly disturbing or creepy scenes like in surreal fiction like Fight Club or Berserk or realistic fiction like Schindler's list.
The psychological and surreal part:
Since the characters are delusional and the MC hallucinates a lot, she imagines a visual embodiment of her 'true self' a lot.
It has lots of those cliché scenes in which a person's subconsciousness talk to them through their mirror's reflection. Anime is guilty of not being subtle enough and this movie is no exception in certain aspects. I say this particularly because of those mirror scenes. Black Swan is very similar to this movie yet it keeps the hallucination scenes to a minimum and involves very small but intense interactions between the MC and her hallucinatory self.
There are scenes in this movie in which the MC runs from and after her hallucinatory image. After the twist is revealed, you'll realise that there is a great difference between the the nature of the said image in the two scenes. Some will say that the former is some kind of foreshadowing but its really no big deal if you think about it since it doesn't take a lot to come up with foreshadowing in one and a half hour movie. That scene, frankly speaking, sucks. Its not thrilling, not beautiful, not deep. It tries to be those things but fails and is simply meaningless. It only manages to confuse the audience slightly as it cutts of to the MC waking up on her bed. As for the latter, I can't say much without spoiling but it requires two characters to have mutually consolidating mental diseases which is highly unlikely but an entertainment piece of fiction usually requires such improbable stuff to happen. That chase scene is shown from a mentally ill person's POV who hallucinates a lot but also in a manner that doesn't make sense as if she is only seeing stuff that would make the scene look more surreal for the audience. She should've seen her hallucinatory self running directly after her like a person would logically speaking but was seeing her flying and jumping as she chased her. Another weird thing is that no one tried to stop the MC since during the chase they should be seeing the real PoV but lets assume that no one saw her even though its unlikely and dismiss it as a minor issue. Neither of the two chase scenes are particularly beautiful or intense.
Surreal scenes must look good, have some meaning and feel intense but the budget of this movie is too low and the surreal scenes aren't up to the mark.
All these scenes which attempt to show the psychology of the MC like whenever the MC is zoning off, talking to her hallucination, running because of it, throwing away her stuff in anger, they feel cheap, clichés and lack any kind of intensity.
Plot twist:
The plot twist is very interesting and will change the perspective of how you saw the movie and gives it a new dimension. It is also heavily foreshadowed.
Atmosphere:
Bleak, faded, realistic animation of how you'd imagine pre 2000s Japan. Would recommend to watch at night. Slightly low on budget but decent nonetheless.
Mieruko-chan (2021)
A unique supernatural slice of life anime with a comedic tone and occasional bursts of mild horror with interesting rules about the behavior of supernatural entites
Story:
Its about a girl named Miko who suddenly starts seeing supernatural entities everywhere. These supernatural entities cling on to people without their knowledge. Miko does her best to stay away from them pretending she can't see them, afraid of what their reaction to her unique powers might be but whenever one of them gets too close to her, she gets really scared yet continues her act with a poker face. She tries to lead a normal life but fears that these ghosts can harm the people they cling to and sees it as an act of haunting, so she must look for ways to protect herself and those close to her. This premise is perfect to blend of slice of life with horror.
Slice of life, comedy and characters:
Its a very unique kind of slice of life which those who aren't very interested in the genre like myself might enjoy because it combines it with an interesting premise involving elements of supernatural, horror and comedy.
The characters always find a reason to go on everyday adventures to lots of different places. These include a sight-seeing trip for which they must go through a dark tunnel beneath a bridge, search for a scared dog in a gloomy abandoned building, a visit to a shrine free from human activities to get blessing against evil spirits, shopping at an occult shop, a visit to a horror house etc. All these places I mentioned and even regular places like a dark store-room in school's gym or the hall where Miko is watching TV with her brother or an empty street at night where Miko once went to get a drink from the vending machine, they all look really good, peaceful and evoke a very cozy feeling as if you are present there with the characters. These qualities nail major aspects of a slice of life series involving cute girls doing cute things in a world of terrifying spirits doing weird things.
There are three major characters:
Miko, a usually quiet girl who can see supernatural stuff most of which scares her so she pretends not to see them. She helps people around her and puts on a poker face even when she is scared out of her wits from ghosts a hair's breadth away.
Hana, a kind, cheerful, plump, airhead girl with a huge appetite who is oblivious to the supernatural stuff around her. She is Miko's best friend whom she must protect.
Yulia, a short, slightly awkward girl who too can see the supernatural but only the weak ones. Due to some misunderstandings she is scared of Miko and considers her a rival.
As you would expect from the description above, the characters with their traits and dynamics add to the comedic-tone to the slice of life aspect of the anime. Its no top-tier character writing but it never intended to be. The characters are cute, quirky and wholesome and their design compliment their personalities.
Another character I liked is an old lady who has a lot of experience in occultism. She had a shop where she sold supernatural stuff to repel spirits. I love it when world-building involves a town or city having small locations like parks, houses, shops etc. Where you can find an interesting or eccentric character who plays a certain role or gets involved in events of the story, some of which occur at that very location. This is a type of world-building very common in video-games. I hope this series does more of this thing.
There are several scenes in which we can hear Miko's monolgues. However I would've really appreciated if there was more of Miko's monolgues of her thinking about obvious questions like why she has such unique powers? Did supernatural entities exist even before she got her powers or did she get those powers after they started showing up? If they were always present and everything went normally for her, then maybe ghosts clinging to her friends isn't something to worry about etc.
Spirits, good or bad have longing for something they did not get when they were alive. As she is the only one who can see them, it is only Miko who can deal with them. This, as one would expect, creates opportunities to come up with story arcs about the spirit forementioned and those related to them and finally putting an end to their story in a meaningful way. Mieruko-chan did have a few stories like this to tell especially one at the end of season 1. However these stories felt fairly simple, had somewhat bland characters about which the audience did not know much about or cared about. Despite all this, the show presented those stories in an emotional manner and expectedly failed to invoke any real emotion in the audience. Also not all spirits need to have a short arc. Some spirit can stick around as a fun side character and get their story completed at the end of the series.
Supernatural elements:
The entire world is filled with supernatural entities of various types. Their concentration varies from place to place depending upon the amount of negative energy i guess. Their behavior and interaction also vary with people, other supernatural entities and the place where they are. There are supernatural objects to repel them as well. The supernatural elements are coherent/sensible/inter-related unlike many other series. I like portable or small fantasy/supernatural elements and it even has those. The sheer quantity and variety of supernatural entities is another strong point of the show.
As mentioned earlier it also explores the mechanics of the supernatural which is really interesting to learn about along with the main character. It is slightly similar to Light learning about the rules of Death note. This is one of the strongest aspects of the show and I fear that as more of the rules are revealed, the show will either have to come up with new ones up until the end or create interesting situations based on those concepts or mechanisms.
Horror:
Miko avoids ghosts but sometimes she finds herself in unfortunate situations where she must pretend that she can't see them or sometimes do something else about it. Horror anime avoid jumpscares and this is no exception. Mieruko chan does not intend to be scary so it may not be entirely appropriate to call it horror. It wants the viewer the feel the uneasiness of Miko. Sometimes it even intends to be somewhat thrilling. However, the show is very light-hearted and grim consequences aren't something you can find here. The outcome of supposedly thrilling situations never involve permanent effects, as expected. As a result there is a lack of any sense of thrill and suspense. Miko doesn't even have any clever ways to deal with dangerous spirits as of now. So her dealing with scary stuff, when she is mostly useless frankly speaking, despite her bravery and efforts, can be criticized as repetitive. However for some reason I still like those scenes in which Miko pretends that she can't see ghost even if they are repetitive.
Animation:
The animation is great. As mentioned before, most places look good. Their choice of colors is absolutely perfect. Everything looks cute, vibrant and colorful. Nothing to complain about here.
Sound:
Pretty good. The soundtracks suit the series. The opening and ending are great. The voice actors did a flawless job. Again nothing to complain here. Highly recommend sub even though I usually watch dub but maybe thats because I grew too used to the subbed version.
Tldr; Mieruko chan absolutely nails it as a slice-of-life show with peaceful and immersive environment explored or inhabited by cute and fun characters. It has an interesting premise that blends SoL, comedy and horror. It won't scare you or make you laugh but has ghosts and a comedic tone instead. It has an elaborate mechanism and wide variety of coherent supernatural elements. Its light-heartedness, lack of danger and lack of clever means to deal with supernatural entities implies lack of tension and repetitiveness in situations that were meant to be high on tension. Despite the repetitiveness of same type of situation, it still fun to watch. Its emotional story arcs are too simple in story and characters and couldn't evoke strong emotions. The animation, character design and sound is great.
Hagane no renkinjutsushi (2009)
A battle shounen that doesn't suffer from the usual flaws found in other battle shounen and does almost everything right
Summary:
Good points: Does almost everything right. Really shines out in terms of consistency of quality, crazy pay offs for build-ups, diverse atmospheric steampunk world, dark conspiracies, osts, and a long adrenaline fueled final arc involving a massive showdown between the good guys and the bad guys, which converges (and terminates) numerous character arcs as well.
Bad points: Some people may not find the beginning episodes good enough. Some fantasy elements (mostly related to the powers of villain's goons) can feel random and there's one inconsistency in the laws of its magic system (alchemy) but its not that big a deal.
The story is simple and nice. There are no fillers. It has lots of super epic moments (pay off for build-up or abrupt shocking scenes) that are super fast faced and involve lots of energy, chaos and destruction. All build ups are paid off. All the themes it raises like 'flying too close to the sun' or 'to gain something, something of equal value must be sacrificed' are integrated very naturally in the story and are depicted through various events. Nothing is forced.
Characters are decent, unique and understandable in actions and motivations. No one is obnoxious. All character arcs converge in a massive finale. No character is ignored. MC grows in maturity (and height) gradually that you wouldn't even notice. Everyone gets some lesson or what you call development till the end.
There are many action scenes which are among the best in the medium. Alchemy makes the fight scenes somewhat diverse and unique since each alchemist has a unique power that must be used in a unique way. It doesn't involve ass-pulls or bizarre logic or strategies. The power levels are consistent. Some characters are op (like a touch can kill, or a snap of fingers can burn you) but thats the best part because all fights go as expected (no asspull) and some massacres (one sided fights) are incredibly satisfying. Op characters vs op characters fights are incredible.
The world design is immersive, atmospheric, vibrant and diverse. Full of energy. This along with decent characters makes it good as an adventure series.
The comedy isn't its strong point. It has a lot of tonal shifts (comedy to serious or vice versa) but it never ruins the experience. Sometimes it can get unexpectedly dark.
Fantasy elements consisting of alchemy (a very balanced power system, great for action) and a tiny bit of mythology is great but it also involves human transmutation or soul alchemy which allows the division of the soul of the villain into 7 sins with random powers which is weird. Also there's a plot hole or inconsistency when it comes to conversion of a substance into a different one. It shouldn't be possible according to the show but happens once anyway (coal to gold)
The mystery is intriguing and we learn secrets and conspiracies along with the MCs. The conspiracy part is handled very well and can be surprising especially because of great music.
Talking of music, easily among the best. Music for all kinds of situation is there. Shock, epic scenes, sad scenes etc you name it. Also the openings and endings are fantastic and very immersive visually.
Animation is flawless.
Among very few shows that ends satisfactorily. The last arc is insane. It may not have the best start and may lose some momentum in the middle but it still pretty good during those parts. Its 60+ episodes long but its very consistent and ends amazingly.
Also the dub is very good.
Dark (2017)
Most plot holes I've ever seen in a piece of fiction
Summary: Its a soap opera set in a german town where characters encounter time travel related stuff. The tone of the show is very bleak. For a soap opera the characters are very boring. Don't expect any thrill, its not a thriller. There's mystery in the sense that you wouldn't know whats going on till the last episode. Most importantly, it has the most plot holes I've ever seen in a show and the mystery reveal and sci-fi elements are therefore, absurd. As a drama, sci-fi, mystery show, it fails in each genre. The few redeeming qualities are the cinematography, the bleak atmosphere, the perfect casting, a few themes it raises and how it makes you want to know the answer to the mysteries.
Story: Despite how complex it seems on the surface, the story is of a scientist who invents a time machine to save his children from an accident but when he uses it, it creates two parallel worlds where the lives of several families go horribly wrong and the world eventually comes to an end because of a nuclear plant catastrophe caused by Eva's child dropping a bizzare fuel for time machine in nuclear waste barrels to ensure his existence
The show is made purposefully complex, you won't understand whats going on untill you come to the last few episodes. There's a scene in which Noah kills Bartosz but most viewers wouldn't even know that because when it was shown, the audience didn't know what adult bartosz looked like.
Themes: The end theme of erasing one's existence because of their suffering is an interesting one. Jonas working against his future self and parents and children killing each other was also interesting. Still Adam and Eva are incredibly dumb for thinking they can break free of the loop, destroy the origin using that bizzare method and destroying the world for her child respectively.
Character interaction: Don't expect comedy, interesting conversations, romance, or anything deep. The characters and their relationship, interactions and conversations are very shallow. Emotional scenes are mostly about parents or children dying.
Now coming to the plot holes and loose ends:
1) Why did tanhauss' time machine create only 2 new worlds? Why specifically 2?
2) What determines the state of the 2 worlds i.e. How things will unfold in both these worlds.
3) According to butterfly effect a small change in past can lead to severe changes in future. Time travellers do things differently in both the worlds, everything should be different including the people and how they look like, because different sperm and egg will fertilize each other.
4) A loop is formed by the resultant interactions of various time travellers but why did the time travellers in the 2 worlds made such horrible decisions that it lead to such horrible situations? For eg: I want to mug up everything a night before exam but light goes out, and there's no matchstick. However luckily i get a time machine in future so my future self travels to me to give me a matchstick (not the question paper since I am an honest person) and I decide to do the same when i get the machine. My will decides how the loop of time will play out. Similarly the resultant time loop is shaped by the will of all time travellers but why was the will of time travellers in this show so stupid that everything goes wrong?
5) Eva wants to destroy the world for her child whose chemistry with his mother we never get to see. Its a pathetic motivation.
6) Adam thinks he can break the loop by killing the child using energy of the 2 worlds' apocalypse. Firstly if he had made right decisions or someone else (in case he didn't exist) none of this would've happen. Also its shouldn't be possible to break the loop. Why would it be different this time? Also why energy of apocalypse? Why not a simple abortion? Dumb motivation and actions of adam.
7) The time machine in jonas' world created two wormholes. It wasn't designed to do that. It isn't explained what determines the position of those 2 wormholes. A person like him creating a time machine or its fuel is ridiculous.
8) How did eva's time machine travel across worlds? Did tranhauss there know that another world exist which was created from the origin world?
9) The case of Charlotte and Elisabeth being mother and daughter of each other. Why does it exist?
10) Why didn't Ulrich tell the police about what was going on to escape from there?
11) How does time stopping for a moment break the loop? Time stopping simply means that it will resume from where it stopped at. It doesn't mean the loop can be broken.
12) How does time being stopped for a moment split Eva's world into 2? What did she have to do to ensure that? She said martha had two choices so it happened? Does that mean anyone in dilemma would create multiple worlds?
13) How did claudia break the loop? Even if that pathetic time stopping argument is assumed to be true, why only this specific claudia could break free?
14) Why didn't both the world collapse as soon as the loop was broken? Whats with the stupid fragmentation into yellow orbs? What determines which piece of matter turns into yellow orb 1st? At which moment everything will change anyway when the loop breaks since a moment can't be defined?
15) Why did claudia know about origin world? Next level deduction right here.
16) Why didn't claudia save tranhauss' children herself? Why seek adam to seek jonas and martha? For MCs to save the world? Also even if she saved the children, doesn't mean that tranhauss would be unable to create the time machine in origin world. She took a big gamble. It would've been better to kill him or talk to him. Also someone else might try to do the same things i.e. Make the time machine and fail. Not like tranhauss is the only intelligent person in the world.
17) Whats with that stupid time tunnel connected to jonas and marthas' closet? Why the closet? Why could only their younger self see them in there and not their parents?
18) What they did in the end would lead to grandfather paradox. If they saved the children of tanhauss then they wouldn't exist in the 1st place then how will they save them?
19) Hannah dreamt about all of that. Ridiculous.