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Unicorn: Warriors Eternal Episode 1 and 2 talkback

Jman

By Jman
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Jman Hero

Jman

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A young girl, unwittingly infused with magical ability, discovers that she is part of a group of eternal heroes destined to fight a supernatural evil throughout time.

 

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OwlChemist81 Monster Mutant

OwlChemist81

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11 hours ago, mochi said:

time for what might very well be the last animated series written by Human Beings

...that's absurd.

Everyone thought CGI would completely replace hand-drawn animation and it didn't. AI animation will be the same way.

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Jman Hero

Jman

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18 minutes ago, OwlChemist81 said:

Saw Episode 2 just now, well, sort of.

Pretty cool, but nothing we haven't seen before!

It’s got the Genndy style, but I’d say it’s a downgrade from Primal, which was much more free with how it used the medium.  And since I beat the dead horse in the other thread, it’s the clear inferior of Hell’s Paradise.

But it has a lot of style points and Genndy is the only one doing this kind of animation.  That goes a long way.

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I liked it.

I’m not really into mystical wizard shit, but I could see this being one of those exceptions.

A bit of the humor reminds me of pre-S5 Samurai Jack. Like the random cowboy from the first episode.

Primal did have more liberties to go on, but I don’t consider this a demotion. They knew they couldn’t have Spear and Fang battling forever.

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saito34 Hero

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6 minutes ago, OwlChemist81 said:

This is pretty silly!

I was a tad confused by that scene in the school, but was also a little distracted by some work. It did seem a little unnecessarily weird, but I like the art and I'm open to unconventional. Will have to go back and re watch.

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Sketch

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I appreciate the character designs showing so much classic cartoon influence. Popeye, Betty Boop, Looney Tunes, vintage Disney, you name it. Though yeah some are rather ugly.

Interesting enough concept but I don't really like that each time these souls are passed on it completely erases the life of someone else, that's rather f'd up and they'll probably go into that. I'll see how they go about it before I make any judgements.

Honestly I don't love these characters, certainly not as much as Spear and Fang, Jack or the Sym-Bionic Titan trio but that's kind of a high bar. They might grow on me but my initial impression is "why do I care?" and I kinda just don't. The monk boy and robot make for good visual gags but I'm getting increasingly irritated at the elf and Melinda. I totally understand Emma/Melinda is having trouble accepting everything at face value (and should) but her attitude and outbursts is already tiresome. Meanwhile the elf guy is trying to force her to just go back to being the former Melinda (and his lover) and it makes me dislike him the most.

 

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Jman Hero

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There's a lot to go over here, but I took a break after the first episode so I'm not going on that endless "This sucks because it's not Show X!" train, which is rough.  I don't want to be that guy, especially given how different 2008 ASA was from 2023 Toonami despite the equal lack of shows.

There's two things that interest me intellectually about this series, unfortunately neither makes this a good show.  The first is that while Genndy is claiming that he's been working on this story for quite a while, it feels like it's channeling a lot of his recent frustrations on the screen.  Characters that he's said he wants to work on, characters from an entire movie Sony canceled for the Emoji movie (which I think hardcore animation enthusiasts haven't quite forgiven Sony Animation for, Spider-Verse be damned), and a plot that centers around a "You want to do this thing with your life, but boo friggedy hoo, forces more powerful than you have their own plans."  It's very tragic from that angle as a creative.

That unfortunately leads to what will likely be the big issue with this show.  None of the main heroes are remotely likable, nor are they given any agency in their actions.  The whole bit of the wedding being interrupted by this mechanical monstrosity and trying to frame it as Melinda heroically emerging, but it doesn't work.  None of these characters are endearing, and the fact that we're supposed to root for them to essentially take over the lives of others doesn't make the sympathetic in the least.  And I know this dead horse has been beaten into glue by me, but I do find it funny how the character development in Unicorn and Hell's Paradise among their leads are essentially inversions, which also serves to demonstrate why people like Hell's Paradise. (spoilers for the first episode)

Spoiler

The first episode of that show had Gabimaru come off as an emotionless killing machine when facing execution despite shrugging off the attempts, but the big reveal is he actually has a reason he's doing all this, he seriously misses his dear wife and jumps at the opportunity to earn a pardon from the shogun to be together with her again.  Meanwhile Emma/Melinda starts in a relationship, but we're supposed to root for her to forget it ever happened and go back to her duty.  

Also, Genndy totally thought Copernicus was going to be the show's mascot when it was still earmarked for regular Cartoon Network.  He probably saw toys of the robot.  Not happening now.

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PokeNirvash Monster Mutant

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Solid premiere we've got here. Definitely more Cartoon Network-oriented than [as]-targeted - the lack of the Williams Street vanity plate says just as much as the lack of prominent objectionable content beyond violence - but like many PG-level Cartoon Network properties, Sym-Bionic included (though you can't really call it a CN property now, since the IRS technically owns it), it's far from being childish like you'd expect based on the name association. You bet I'll be continuing to watch this one.

Copernicus is the best character, accept no substitutes.

On 5/5/2023 at 12:03 AM, mochi said:

time for what might very well be the last animated series written by Human Beings

...I can't tell if you're joking or serious and that's honestly scarier than ChatGPT taking over the industry (which isn't as likely as the end to that one South Park episode wants you to think).

4 hours ago, Sketch said:

Interesting enough concept but I don't really like that each time these souls are passed on it completely erases the life of someone else, that's rather f'd up and they'll probably go into that. I'll see how they go about it before I make any judgements.

From what I could tell, I can see they're going about it by varying the level of identity death between each reincarnation. Edred completely takes over Dimitri in every way, to the point of having his original accent instead of his host's Russian; Emma and Melinda's consciousnesses seem like they've fused, seeing how they know they're no longer the former but have enough memories of that host life that it's clear Melinda's not in complete control; and Alfie seems to have kept his sense of self intact - at least, that's what I got from him conversing with a prior Seng as opposed to getting his body hijacked by him - but you can't really tell because he's trapped in what I can only describe as a "cosmic high".

As for why Edred is so insistent about resuming his relationship with Melinda as it was instead of understanding that it won't be that easy, I think that has to do with every reincarnation prior to this current cycle being executed as intended, with the spirits taking over 100% each and every time. He's so used to that, that he assumes the same happened this time, and is having trouble accepting that this time, things are different. Keep in mind, this is not an excuse, but a reason. (And tonight, everything seems so reasonable...)

13 minutes ago, Jman said:

And I know this dead horse has been beaten into glue by me, but I do find it funny how the character development in Unicorn and Hell's Paradise among their leads are essentially inversions, which also serves to demonstrate why people like Hell's Paradise.

I swear, your near-constant shilling for Jigokuraku is making me want to watch it less and less.

Spoiler

There's a good reason I've kept it one rung above Ittoki in my "final thoughts" for the latter show after the "it hasn't even aired yet" reason reached the end of its shelf life.

 

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Jman Hero

Jman

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It's not shilling, it's just me finding that opposite content and characterization interesting.  This is why I didn't want to bring it up.  I'll stop now.

I still contend that none of these characters are very likable as characters, but they are fascinating as creator avatars for Genndy and his own frustrations with the industry and the forces that claim to know better leading his career around.  The problem from that angle is...shouldn't we be rooting for the characters to throw off their spirits and live their own lives in that case?  You've set up a scenario where we're sympathetic with the people whose lives have been usurped, and we're supposed to root for them to...lie down and take it?

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mochi Monster Mutant

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16 hours ago, PokeNirvash said:

 

...I can't tell if you're joking or serious and that's honestly scarier than ChatGPT taking over the industry (which isn't as likely as the end to that one South Park episode wants you to think).

F

Joking because I'm pissed off at hollywood for seriously considering using ChatGPT to replace their writers during the writers strike

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OwlChemist81 Monster Mutant

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1 hour ago, mochi said:

Joking because I'm pissed off at hollywood for seriously considering using ChatGPT to replace their writers during the writers strike

I could see a future where AI is used to augment animation production rather than outright replace human artists, sort of a hybrid approach where the AI is used for "in-between animation" that greatly speeds up production times even to the point of making working as an animator feel less like slave labor.

But that's just me being naïvely optimistic about AI, I guess...

Beavis And Butthead Whatever GIF by Paramount+

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Jman Hero

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1 hour ago, PokeNirvash said:

Surely that's the case. If a show starts with its protagonists as unlikable difficult to get behind, it means either development for their characters or them being terrible is the entire point.


I’m a big proponent of the mantra “You have one chance to make a first impression.”  There should be something hinted at which makes it either funny to revel in their terrible nature or to make us root for their development.  I’m not sure if I see either.  Especially since the stated goal for the characters is not a sympathetic one in the least.  If they are meant to be terrible people and this series ends with them all dying horribly, well, that might make it worth it.

Still, I’m not giving up on them yet.  Genndy has earned at least a little benefit of the doubt at this point, wouldn’t you say?

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Top Gun Centurion

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I think it's pretty obvious that we're not supposed to buy in to what's happened to them right now. Emma was clearly set up as an object of sympathy and/or horror with how her life was ripped away from her. It wasn't okay, and we're meant to think it wasn't okay. There's definitely going to be a lot more going on with her character moving forward, and I'm interested in seeing where Genndy takes her. Likewise, Edred is meant to come across as a dickbag, because like Poke said he doesn't realize that something's off this time, and here's this woman he's loved across millennia suddenly not knowing he exists. I'll give him a bit of benefit of the doubt for now. And then Alfie...well, Alfie is tripping balls. Interesting that he's the only one of the three who sees to have a separate consciousness from the original Seng.

At any rate, color me intrigued by the first two episodes. I'm seriously digging the aesthetic here, such a cool classic-feeling style. Genndy is an absolute master at taking bits of inspiration from disparate genres and smashing them together into an entertaining whole. Forcible soul transfers aside, I love our robot fren Copernicus.

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