zoratwilight Reviews

Sonic Boom (2014–2017)

Good Comedy, Okay Sonic Show

[8/10 · 29 September 2016]

With this show following an unfinished and poorly reviewed game, coming out to an unplease-able fandom, and very under-advertised, it seems like a wonder the show got a second season.

But is it really that surprising?

I went into this show clinging to the desperate hope that it would be good. With many of the Sonic games being disappointing as of late, I at least wanted some Sonic I could enjoy.

After watching all of season 1, I must say, I love this show.

There really is a lot to love about it. The animation is bright and smooth. The voice acting is well done. Many of the jokes are very funny, and I have laughed out loud multiple times. Since the show's goal is to be an action-comedy, if the action is good and you laugh at it, then the show has succeeded.

That isn't to say there are no flaws. I've noticed a few animation errors in a few episodes (i.e. Sonic falling face first but is shown right side up when he hits the ground). Some of the jokes do fall flat and the Knuckles-centric episodes are much weaker than many of the others. However, the above-mentioned pros make it a show worth watching.

Then again... there is one thing I have not addressed. As a show about Sonic the Hedgehog, how does it fare?

Well... It's okay.

Since Sonic Boom is a spin-off series, it does well as a show that is a part of the Sonic Boom universe, but many fans are enraged that they aren't getting the Sonic they know and love from the mainstream games. We aren't seeing the same personalities or character designs that we all grew up with, which is why this is only an "okay" Sonic show.

I consider myself to be a long-time fan of the Sonic franchise. Even though my first Sonic Game was Sonic Heroes, I fell in love with all of the characters. The Sonic Adventure series remains one of my favorites gaming series of all time (despite the fact that it appears I've lost my touch...). But as someone who loves Sonic the way he was in the mainstream games, please don't condemn this show so easily. Yes, I know Knuckles is an idiot and yes I know Kirk Thornton isn't a good fit for Shadow, but that doesn't change the fact that this is a good show that can be enjoyed because of its own merits.

In short, the show is good and fun with a few flaws, and even though it is not Sonic as many fans like to think of him, the show can still be enjoyed.

(... hey, why are people so mad about Tails's voice actor being a girl? She does a good job.)

Exchange Student Zero (2015– )

Cool Concept, Incredibly Bland

[4/10 · 5 April 2016]

Note that I am writing my thoughts and impressions of the show based off of episode one, so there is a chance that episodes 2 through 5 or the movie are much better.

I am an avid anime watcher/manga reader (from popular shows like Naruto to more obscure ones like Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo), so when I encountered a show that mixed western-style animation with anime, I got really excited. Unfortunately, my expectations were not met. The characters weren't very interesting, the animation looks like cheap flash animation, and the comedy wasn't anything new.

Almost all of the characters fit into some kind of stereotype. John is an average nice guy though a bit of a loser, Max is a lisping nerd, and Charity is the perpetually irritated and mean older sister. All of the adults have proved themselves completely useless and practically unnecessary for the plot. You could remove them and the episode would play out just the same save for a few jokes. Many of the background students are typical high school stereotypes (dumb jock, preppy girls, nerds, etc). Put simply, everyone is bland. However, I was willing to overlook this if the introduction of the anime characters would make the show much more entertaining than it was currently proving to be.

I did not understand the first thing that came out of Hiro's mouth. I understand what they were going for by having him say something really simple in a complicated way, but since I didn't know what he was trying to say in the first place, I didn't find it funny. After witnessing more of his behavior, Hiro felt like more of an exaggeration of what someone who has never seen anime before thinks anime characters are like. In other words, Hiro is an extremely overpowered and loud character armed with all sorts of laser weapons.

The animation here is rather... Johnny Test-y. I have seen flash animation done well (Wakfu), and this is nothing to write home about. I do like the anime characters' designs though. The hair is spot on.

The comedy in this is about as bland as everything else. There's some lame toilet humor, but most of the humor falls on Max and Hiro. Max is always acting like a slightly misogynistic nerd who is waaaay too invested in a card game and only talks about fantasy/nerd stuff. Basically, nothing that hasn't been done before. Hiro is always running around screwing things up with misunderstandings and his stereotype-ness. Again, nothing new. The only thing that made me laugh was when Hiro referred to his yelling as the way of his people. The show would be a lot funnier if it was more about the interactions between Hiro's stereotype and everyone else's stereotypes.

Perhaps episode 2 fixes things I have complained about, but as a start of a series, episode 1 of Exchange Student Zero is a disappointment.

Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant (2009)

Unimpressed

[3/10 · 20 September 2013]

Before you keep reading, I will say that I read the books and so my own opinion will be heavily influenced by the books. When I read the entire Cirque Du Freak series, I was amazed by it and I got hooked on it. There was always an astounding plot twist waiting in each book, which made it amazing. I can't say I feel the same way about the movie. This movie is basically the main idea of book 1 with a whole bunch of random stuff thrown in. Many movies mostly follow the main idea of a book but change a few scenes here and there and throw in a few changed details. This basically rewrote everything. Things like the extent of Darren's abilities are over-exaggerated and other things like the vampaneze are nothing like their book counterparts. I could go on for a long time about the many differences between the books and the movie but I won't. One thing that really bothered me was Darren's expressionless-ness. It seemed like he wore the same face throughout the movie. On a more positive note, the action scenes were pretty good although at some points they felt a bit fake. The special effects were also pretty good.