catalyst

This season I have been watching…

Goodbye, Lara

Caught my attention initially when I saw people comparing Lara to Suletta Mercury, and honestly, the comparison ain’t that far off. It’s incredibly cute and endearing so far along with being an interesting twist on the story of The Little Mermaid.

Ghost in the Shell

I am absolutely in love with the aesthetic of this adaptation. I adore weird gremlin Motoko vs the more dead serious version we’ve seen in other incarnations. This won’t be everyone’s cup of tea but I am here for it.

The one thing that has surprised me is just how little a lot of the interweaving politics in each episode seems to matter; I started out expecting something of a building or recurring plot thread. I was concerned because the relationships between countries feels fairly complex and I thought I was falling behind. Who’s platinum reserves are they and why do they matter, again? But what I’ve ultimately come to accept is that honestly very little of this actually matters. The platinum ain’t coming back, we’ve moved on to something else. I’m enjoying this show on vibes and philosophy more than the exact nuts and bolts of political intrigue.

Young Ladies Don’t Play Fighting Games

I posted in the past about loving last year’s Rock is a Lady’s Modesty, and Fighting Games is squarely up that alley. Although with fewer BDSM fantasies and the girls are not as foul mouthed when they get worked up. Anyway, I’m finding this show to be an absolute delight so far.

Chainsmoker Cat

Ok, this show has been… controversial, understandably. There’s a ton of humor that is either gross or just kinda low bar. To be honest I’m not really one for fart jokes 99% of the time. But what I appreciate is how Yani Neko interweaves it’s stupidity with moments of real biting commentary, or occasionally even something approaching beautiful. Moments that feel genuinely touching that are then swiftly undercut by the protagonist being kind of the worst. It’s that emotional whiplash that keeps me intrigued because I feel like I never know what is going to happen at any time.

Honorable mention: I’m in the middle of probably the longest Serial Experiments Lain watch ever. I started back in March, fell off, and am working on it again when my other shows are on cooldown. I still don’t really know what the hell is going on in the story. But I really like it especially as a sort of time capsule into what people thought the internet was or could become back in 1998. Also, I now more than ever wish I could lounge around my bedroom with a pair of cozy bear jammies and an old CRT computer screen.

God speed to you, hope your experience is better than mine! 🫡

Ironically if they tried to take a page out of the Lain book a lot of it was actually NOT talking.

This is a great point. NGO characters are incapable of shutting up.

I watched the full season and by the end it was a serious struggle. I think I hated it?

The first episode had me excited. It seemed like it had something interesting to say and a dark mystery to unlock. And I loved all the crazy visuals, especially the OP.

Unfortunately the endless walls of dialogue that felt gripping in the first couple episodes quickly became droning, self indulgent, and well just kinda dumb. The writers like to bring up metaphors and literary references they think make them sound smart but really don’t.

Ultimately the plot didn’t really develop the way I’d hoped and I lost interest. I made myself finish it just in case things got better. There’s an episode near the end, I think it’s 11, that is frankly gross.

I’m not sure how far you are into it; Kache has one “hell yeah” moment but past that her character just kinda ceases to matter, which is odd considering she was kinda the focal point at first.

I’m personally loving the tone and expressiveness of this new adaptation. Her silly faces just make me happy.

This is true, Hidive is terrible. Like I’m not opposed to competition in the streaming market but the Hidive app is incredibly broken.

I second Hell’s Paradise! Season 2 was fantastic.

It’s showtime!

I made the mistake of trying to watch Pluto very soon after reading the series for the first time. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a masterpiece. But I got through two episodes and felt like the adaptation was so 1:1 that I did not feel like I was gaining anything new. It also felt kinda slow to me for some reason. Anyway, probably would enjoy it more if I try again in a few years.

Two shows I adore that I don’t think got a ton of attention are Rock is a Lady’s Modesty and Akiba Maid War.

We watched the first three episodes of See You Tomorrow at the Food Court over the weekend. It’s, honestly, delightful. I love how it blends moments of humor, inanity, and genuine insight so fluidly.

I could watch these two girls talk about nothing for hours.