DVD/TV Meanderings, as of 11/23/10
Tuesday, November 23rd, 2010 02:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
retsukoOne of the side effects of breastfeeding is that I am suddenly parked on the couch for long spans of time, with very little use of my hands. Reading is basically out; I tried it several times and it takes either a very lightweight book (in terms of actual weight, not the content, ha ha!) or magazine, and even then it's really the luck of the draw whether it will work or not. So, I've been watching a lot of Netflix things, some old and some new. Catching up on every 'Futurama' episode is good, and at about the intellectual level I'm at these days, what with the very patchy sleep and all.
In Manga:
Rinne, Vol. 4: I did manage to read one volume of manga, and this is it. Fortunately, this was a very good volume, which heaped trouble on trouble upon our hero's already overloaded and in debt head. Hero's father turns out to be a good-for-nothing spendthrift who has nothing better to do in his (after-)life except create get rich quick schemes that don't work out and ultimately ruin his son's life. Our heroine continues to be completely oblivious to the hero's feelings for her, to somewhat plot-contrivance degrees, but this is a Takahashi manga, so I don't expect the love story to happen in the first 20 or so volumes. In the meantime, there's lots of comedy and glimpses of an underworld that apparently runs on scantily clad demon ladies and ridiculously handsome demon guys... and despite our hero's warnings to the contrary, the heroine never seems to keep away from ending up there. I would like the hero to catch a break, but I'm not holding my breath.
On TV/Netflix:
Avatar: The Last Airbender: So I held off watching this series for a long time. There were a lot of reasons why, some better than others. First and foremost was my rule about new fandoms: if they're featured more than three times on Fandom_Wank, or if the fans involved in said wank sound particularly immature, I'll generally avoid the show. (Currently based on the repeat offenders on F_W, the forbidden titles are Bleach, Supernatural, and Twilight.) (I do realize that Fandom_Wank is a hive of scum and villainy, but I've come to view it as a gauge of how much crazy I might expect from any fanbase, and what sort of quality I'll find if I go looking for fanfic/fanart.) But I'd heard enough good things about Avatar and decided to give it another chance.
And I'm glad I did! There's a lot of good things about this show: an all Asian cast, strong female characters, and an interesting incorporation of Buddhist and Hindu philosophy. I was very impressed that the writers managed to build to a dramatic ending and maintain suspense all the way through, despite some well-timed comedy relief episodes. My only quibble with it was the childish nature of some of the early episodes. If I had the elemental powers the characters did, I certainly wouldn't waste my time in fights arguing about which side was right or wrong; I would dispense with my opponents in a much cleaner and nastier fashion. I was also surprised there wasn't more character death, given the subject matter and scope of the series.
My favorite characters turned out to be, as usual with American animation, the bad guys. Zuko's redemption was especially well-written and poignant, mostly because the choices that he made in the course of the story felt real. Aang's struggle, by contrast, was far more internal, and didn't resonate as much. (Although the greater philosophical implications of his actions are far more interesting than Zuko's. It just feels more like a heavy religious text and less like part of a compelling story.) I also loved the role that Uncle Iroh came to play in the whole thing and his interactions with all of the characters were simply wonderful. Out of all the characters, I like his ending the best. I did enjoy seeing Katara mature and progress through the series and Toph is just plain fun. And Azula's final descent into madness, while not entirely unexpected, was almost pathetic to watch.
I do have to ask: where was Zuko's Mom?
Better Off Ted: I am amused that everyone I have talked to who's watched this show swears it was based on *their* office with [insert name of X huge company here]. If this is indeed true, then I weep for the soul of the American workplace. While I'm doing that, though, I'll be watching this sly little comedy with no laugh track (yay!) and a cadre of excellent actors.
Spartacus: Blood and Sand:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
orichalcum recommended this and even though yebisu9 and I have enjoyed it so far, I feel like it's pushed the TV-violence envelope even further than the most recent season of 'True Blood' did. I'm not sure I like that fact too much. OTOH, I do like several of the characters, and I'm reasonably intrigued such that my interest outweighs my gross-out factor. I will admit that I went into it thinking that if it were good, I would show an episode to my humanities class; ten minutes in, I realized that if I did that, I would probably create all kinds of controversy on campus and possibly get fired. So, a cautious yay for the time being.
In Manga:
Rinne, Vol. 4: I did manage to read one volume of manga, and this is it. Fortunately, this was a very good volume, which heaped trouble on trouble upon our hero's already overloaded and in debt head. Hero's father turns out to be a good-for-nothing spendthrift who has nothing better to do in his (after-)life except create get rich quick schemes that don't work out and ultimately ruin his son's life. Our heroine continues to be completely oblivious to the hero's feelings for her, to somewhat plot-contrivance degrees, but this is a Takahashi manga, so I don't expect the love story to happen in the first 20 or so volumes. In the meantime, there's lots of comedy and glimpses of an underworld that apparently runs on scantily clad demon ladies and ridiculously handsome demon guys... and despite our hero's warnings to the contrary, the heroine never seems to keep away from ending up there. I would like the hero to catch a break, but I'm not holding my breath.
On TV/Netflix:
Avatar: The Last Airbender: So I held off watching this series for a long time. There were a lot of reasons why, some better than others. First and foremost was my rule about new fandoms: if they're featured more than three times on Fandom_Wank, or if the fans involved in said wank sound particularly immature, I'll generally avoid the show. (Currently based on the repeat offenders on F_W, the forbidden titles are Bleach, Supernatural, and Twilight.) (I do realize that Fandom_Wank is a hive of scum and villainy, but I've come to view it as a gauge of how much crazy I might expect from any fanbase, and what sort of quality I'll find if I go looking for fanfic/fanart.) But I'd heard enough good things about Avatar and decided to give it another chance.
And I'm glad I did! There's a lot of good things about this show: an all Asian cast, strong female characters, and an interesting incorporation of Buddhist and Hindu philosophy. I was very impressed that the writers managed to build to a dramatic ending and maintain suspense all the way through, despite some well-timed comedy relief episodes. My only quibble with it was the childish nature of some of the early episodes. If I had the elemental powers the characters did, I certainly wouldn't waste my time in fights arguing about which side was right or wrong; I would dispense with my opponents in a much cleaner and nastier fashion. I was also surprised there wasn't more character death, given the subject matter and scope of the series.
My favorite characters turned out to be, as usual with American animation, the bad guys. Zuko's redemption was especially well-written and poignant, mostly because the choices that he made in the course of the story felt real. Aang's struggle, by contrast, was far more internal, and didn't resonate as much. (Although the greater philosophical implications of his actions are far more interesting than Zuko's. It just feels more like a heavy religious text and less like part of a compelling story.) I also loved the role that Uncle Iroh came to play in the whole thing and his interactions with all of the characters were simply wonderful. Out of all the characters, I like his ending the best. I did enjoy seeing Katara mature and progress through the series and Toph is just plain fun. And Azula's final descent into madness, while not entirely unexpected, was almost pathetic to watch.
I do have to ask: where was Zuko's Mom?
Better Off Ted: I am amused that everyone I have talked to who's watched this show swears it was based on *their* office with [insert name of X huge company here]. If this is indeed true, then I weep for the soul of the American workplace. While I'm doing that, though, I'll be watching this sly little comedy with no laugh track (yay!) and a cadre of excellent actors.
Spartacus: Blood and Sand:
orichalcum recommended this and even though yebisu9 and I have enjoyed it so far, I feel like it's pushed the TV-violence envelope even further than the most recent season of 'True Blood' did. I'm not sure I like that fact too much. OTOH, I do like several of the characters, and I'm reasonably intrigued such that my interest outweighs my gross-out factor. I will admit that I went into it thinking that if it were good, I would show an episode to my humanities class; ten minutes in, I realized that if I did that, I would probably create all kinds of controversy on campus and possibly get fired. So, a cautious yay for the time being.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2010-11-24 03:11 am (UTC)"Did I ever tell you why they called me the Dragon of the West?" *MOTHERFUCKING BREATHES FIRE YO OMG*
Zuko: I know what you're going to say. She's my sister, and I should love her, right?
Iroh: No, she's crazy and needs to go down!
I think there may have been an instance of liquid shooting out my nose at that line.
And as for what happened to Ursa - while I would dearly love to know what happened to her as well, I kinda like that they didn't wrap everything up all tidily by the end.
no subject
Date: 2010-11-24 05:00 am (UTC)I just want Ursa to be alive, somewhere, and imagine her meeting Zuko several years later. That's a very nice image.
I didn't mind the loose ends at all, mainly because the series' internal continuity held together so well. I loved that one shot characters suddenly reappeared many episodes later because the other characters remembered them, not because it served the plot.
no subject
Date: 2010-11-24 04:40 am (UTC)How timely given that I just redbox'd Shyma-lol-man's version. And terribly tragic it was.
Azula is my faveeeee 'cause she's just seriously insane. Her descent to madness may have been sad but damn, was it entertaining. Also, she is a huge dork heavily fortified by a massive wall of kick ass and bitch. <3
Zuko's a great character too and definitely the most compelling for us older kiddies.
Here's something for you, now that you're all caught up!
Extremely talented
She just takes the world and just makes it a playground for Zhao. :) Definitely worth a read.
Looking forward to The Legend of Korra!
no subject
Date: 2010-11-24 05:04 am (UTC)Azula was the best villain! And even though Mei and Ty Lee shifted over to the other side, watching the three of them work together was a great pleasure. It's satisfying to have an evil character who was so un-repently and unapologetically manipulative and selfish. I'm just sad that the final image of her was so... uhm... awful? (For lack of a better word.)
ETA: And thanks for the comic rec! I will definitely be checking it out. Didn't you do an Avatar fan comic too? I want to read it, now that understand who's who and what's what!
no subject
Date: 2010-11-24 05:32 am (UTC)Oh that must have been the time when I wanted to draw Zuko actually finding his mom! (and get some badly needed closure! hahaha)
http://psychoe.livejournal.com/470239.html#cutid1
Yeahhhhh, thankfully, she's also part of Ruff's comic. :D :D :D
no subject
Date: 2010-11-24 11:04 pm (UTC)