Rockgiant

Over the Garden Wall
Wirt and Greg travel through the woods in an attempt to get back home.

This show is probably more important to me than I really realize. I actually watched it live when it first came out. I watched it the next year too but they didn't play it on came the next year (at least anywhere that I saw). Even back then I loved the show. Since then I've probably watched it a grand total of 6 times. I even read the comic series that's based off it. I don't really remember it though. I do remember that it was drastically different. It's own unique experience.

There's a reason this show is so special to so many people and that's cause it's just really good. It's characters are well written and undergo some excellent character growth. The show is also really great with its symbolism and messages. The show dares you to face the unknown and realize it isn't as scary as you think. It does this through the awkward and anxious Wirt and it does this from episode 1. The show also urges you to never give up hope and to help others. Despair can be a serious problem and leave you wandering adrift for the rest of your days. Or maybe you'll be stuck in place as it grows roots in you and surrounds you completely, sitting evil else out. Hope can be a necessity at times.

This show also has really awesome foreshadowing. A lot of the dialogue is pretty dense. They tell you things well before they happen. There's also a fair amount of "back-shadowing" too, specifically in episode 9. The dialogue is really well written and well acted too. It feels natural. Beatrice is an especially cool case. She's almost like Wirt's conscious while still getting to be her own character and the dialogue reflects that. This show also had quite a few visual gags and other jokes mixed in. Some of this is presented in the dialogue and some is in the images. The show can also be pretty funny when it wants to.

This show is crazy atmospheric. The worldbuilding in this show is on another level. Every episode helps flesh out this strange world and make it feel more real. And it does so in such a charming, and at times scary, way. The first couple episodes are sort of an adventure of the day. There's an overarching storyline but it takes a backseat. The last few episodes change this though. These early episodes are crucial to development of the world. They also tend to be the heaviest with foreshadowing. These episodes still manage to be great stories on their own though. Episode 2 is a really cool episode. Another thing that makes this show so atmospheric is the old feel to it. It just feels old, rural, dusty, magical. This is fine through the absolutely beautiful artwork and the fitting, haunting music. This is what really draws you in. Another thing that's so great is the Beast. Most of the detail around the Beast comes from the residents vague descriptions and warnings. You rarely actually see the Beast. This contributes to the overall feel of the show. It feels more natural.

This show is a really awesome experience but it isn't completely perfect. It's great but it's early episodes can be a little lacking at times. There's some minor pacing problems at times. However, there are few shows that can match what this does at its best.
Light 9

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1 day ago | [YT] | 0

Rockgiant

Sound of the sky
The lives of some military personnel who are as far away from the action as possible.

If i had a nickel for every time the military was used as an allegory for family and parenthood i would have 5 cents, which isn't a lot but HOW THE FUCK DID I MAKE MONEY ON THAT BET!?

this show is really peaceful and it's simply really well made. It had some of the most perfect pacing in history. The characters are all also really cool and the plot lines are well written. There's some small little details that add a rich texture to the series. There's some great choices with the directing and chronology. There's mostly incredible worldbuilding (more on that later). All of this combined to create a show so good that I spent 22 minutes watching Kanata watch a phone and I didn't get bored at all. It felt like it was 5 minutes honestly.

Speaking of Kanata, the characters in this show are really cool. They kinda look similar to characters from K-on though. Filicia looks like Moogi and acts like her too but instead of being the boring blank slate that Moogi was, Filicia actually gets to be developed in a way that adds depth to all of her interactions. Kureha looks kinda like Azusa bury the two aren't very similar. Kureha is still another really well written character who manages to be interesting and entertaining as a slice of life character whilst also being decently complex. Kanata, the main character, looks like a cross between Yui and Lain. She acts kinda similar to Yui at the start but she's never annoying like Yui could be. Kanata is a really strong character who grows with the show. She's a really strong and compelling lead but she's not really the best character. Part of what makes Kanata so good is that her character can take a back seat to let others shine in the episode but Kanata is also great when she's the main focus of the episode. Nöel is a little less interesting than the others though. She's a typical quiet character but she's still some pretty well and is nice comedic effect at times. Although a lot of this shows feels familiar, it was able to do it in a way that feels fresh and is just really well done. It still manages to feel original despite it's similarities to other shows. Rio is the final main character and she also a really well written character. The way she interacts with the others is really nice and she herself has a great arch. All of the characters on this show are really nice to see. even the townsfolk who don't do much are still a delight when they're on screen.

The worldbuilding in this series is kinda odd. On the one hand, their worldbuilding around the town is incredible. In the other hand, their worldbuilding around the world leaves a little too be desired. It doesn't leave unanswered questions but I'm not fully sure that's a good thing. It would've been nice to keep a little mystery maybe. I'm also not a big fan of the "old age" idea of history cause it just feels a little cliche and the name is frankly terrible. The worldbuilding is still really well written actually which is kinda surprising. Every element of this show ends up being important later. This really helps you feel engaged if you for some reason aren't.

This show kinda feels similar to Haibane Renmei honestly. Both are calming and start off pretty lighthearted. They both take place in small towns where the main cast is separated. Rio feels vaguely reminiscent of the show too. However, Haibane Renmei is much better (no offense to this show is just that Haibane Renmei is a masterpiece).

This show isn't flawless however. The full overarching story starts to devolve a little at the end. You know how i said it's near prefectly paced? That's only really for the episodes. The series as a whole could have used a little more time to fully flesh out the story of the last two episodes. It feels a little sloppy as is but it ends with a great message. The message is obvious and an anti-war message is always a good thing but, they definitely could have done it better. This series is fantastic but it's a little worse as a whole than it is episode for episode.

I watched this because Nöel is Sobe Sophea's pfp on yt (and SoundCloud I'm pretty sure). Sobe made the lonely God and the defective vessel which is one of my favorite albums and I must say, Sobe had some great taste. This show is really good.

Light 8

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1 week ago | [YT] | 0

Rockgiant

Orange
Naho receives a long ass letter from better future that tells her what to do about that new kid Kakeru.

This show is kinda infamous for being tense and heartwrenching. Um, no. This series is still solid though. Just not tense. The main characters are great but the supporting cast all feel a little undeveloped. Honestly, Naho and Kakeru are slightly unoriginal but they're still well written. The whole plot is actually really interesting and the concept of the letters is used really well. The show can also be pretty funny without trying at times while still holding a serious air about itself. It's a great story.

In the first half at least. In episode 7 the show starts to take a turn for the worse. It just starts to fall off a bit in its writing. The plot feels a little more predictable and the pacing starts to feel slightly awkward at times. You know where it's gonna end for a while before you get to the ending. The writing also feels a little more plot convenient in the back half and less natural for the characters. Like In episode 11 Naho chose all the worst Possible dialogue options.

I also wish they did something a little more with their two timeliness but the main?/future timeline doesn't get much attention. It would've been a good way to reduce some of the repetitive themes and conversations and maybe fix some of the pacing issues. It also would add a lot more to an underutilized yet important piece of the show.

Overall, the first half of this show is actually really good. It's got an interesting concept that it uses well and it's got interesting characters that don't seem to outstay theirs usefulness. The second half is definitely a step down however. The ending to the show is good yet a little predictable (although tbf, I think it was trying to be). Might be a bit overrated though.

Light 7

1 week ago | [YT] | 0

Rockgiant

Watched a lot of short shows today so well be making short reviews

Swam boy:
Cool Evangelion reference. This show is kinda loaded with movie references. It's about Swan Boy who's just a big asshole. Decently funny and the characters are actually interesting. Short too short though. If it was 11 minutes an episodes I'd like this a lot more.
Strong 6

Two pink doors:
Skit comedy that involves two pink doors. Every episode is one skit that uses the same two pink dots as the set. It's one long camera take and the camera only zooms in or out. Not particularly funny but it's very creative and kinda unpredictable. Their black comedy leads to some awkward endings though.
Light 6

Black death:
Kinda standard adult comedy in a medieval animated setting. Decent social commentary but really boring. The art style is alright. The story's are kinda predictable and a little peachy. Not very original outside setting though. It was predictable and got annoying at times. The last episode is great though.
Light 5

Drifters:
This is basically just black death but with sea plankton and much worse. Black death war interesting at times. This isn't. This isn't funny at all. It's just boring and kinda annoying. At least it's ridiculously short.
Decent 3

Oh Jerome, no:
Diagonally. This is more of a real show as it tells a full story throughout whole still being greatly comedic each episode. "Don't be crazy. Listen to the voices in your head. We both agree." This show is really funny and it's got a great comedic sense. Jerome is also a really interesting character and is liked seeing his development with the show and his development could be somewhat therapeutic for the viewer as well. This started as a really great comedy with a slightly surreal twist but on the second half of got a little more dramatic and slightly more predictable. Still great though. Not a big fan of the entire ending but overall the show was a gem to find today.
Decent 7

Poorly drawn lines:
This is so boring. It's painfully unoriginal and it's just not funny at all. None of the jokes land and they just fall really flat. Some of the jokes in have actually heard before in other shows. The art style is nice I guess, of you don't pay too close attention cause then the animation starts to look glitchy and the voices start to sound off. The plot lines are really boring or sometimes even annoying. The characters are also really bland. Anyone outside of the main 3 is just a nuisance and the main 3 are really uninteresting. There is nothing about this that i don't feel like I've seen done better somewhere else. This show just irks me.
Light 3

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1 week ago | [YT] | 2

Rockgiant

Texhnolyze
The reason why I'm not giving a plot synopsis will become apparent soon

Wow the title is in like the worst Possible slot on this poster. There is no good positions for a square version that aren't ugly af.

I find it odd that Ran is the mascot of the series yet she barely in it.

This might be the best tv soundtrack ever, next to sonny boy. The music on this show is actually so peak. It's the nicest thing keeping me going through their bad parts. This show is really profound (well, that's a slight exaggeration but I do agree). It actually touches on a lot of interesting topics and can handle is messages in a nice way. There's themes of eternal life, human growth and development, evolution, stagnation, nihilism and why is wrong, absurdism and why it's right, the human will to survive, an anti suicide message (seriously don't do that shit, it kills people), but most of all (in my experience with this at least) is about the human ability to change. I'm really not sure they did the best at handling all of these but they definitely did well on most of them at least. However, these are literally the only things this show does well.

Starting with the characters, they're all pretty boring. Some are lives clichés and most aren't well developed at all. Ichise and Oshino are kinda alright but everyone else is a nothing burger. Except for the doctor. She's actually a pretty well written character. She had such a large ego and she's so self centered. She does sneaky things to get herself ahead in the game. But at the same time, she's completely pathetic during any conflicts she's in during the show and this contrast is just really cool to me. This show also has a ton of characters in general and, like I said, most of them are boring. This leads to SEVERE pacing issues too. This show moves at a snails pace during the first half and in the second half is pacing is really inconsistent. They have SO many characters and they feel like they have to be constantly doing something with all of them so they try to combine a hundred different stories into this thing. It's just doing too much and it leaves several characters stories not progressing for several episodes at a time despite the fact that they're still in every episode. It's really hard to watch and gets chaotic at times. It's just vastly annoying how slow this is. There's literally a 3 episode arc where Ichise climbs a staircase. That's how bad the pacing is. This show is also stupidly dark. And I don't mean that figuratively I mean that literally 40% of the show is a near pitch black screen. You can't see anything that's has most of the time. 40% is probably an understatement or at least out feels like one. Lastly, for the first half of the show, Ichise (and the occasional other character) keep making these annoying ass grunting and panting and gasping noises and it just hurts to listen to. ESPECIALLY CAUSE YOU HAVE TO HEAR IT FOR LIKE 2 MINUTES STRAIGHT!

This is the most frustrating show I've ever watched cause it probably could've been a lot better. It's got a great message and the intelligence is there, it's just that no one on the team knew how to write a decent plot. Then there's some stylistic decisions that are just annoying and comes out a mess. A smart message isn't the only thing that makes a show good.

Decent 4

1 week ago | [YT] | 0

Rockgiant

Elfen lied
Psychic powered mass murderer loses their memory and gets adopted.

Put some clothes on

The first half of this is kinda bad. It's not completely atrocious but the first half is really not that impressive. As with the entire series, there's a ton of unnecessary nudity. In the first half though it's used more lightheartedly which just becomes annoying any time it happens. The show as a whole isn't very well written in the first half. The characters get better as time goes on though. Well, most of them. Nyu is empty for the first half which makes her really the worst character cause the show kinda revolves around her and for a significant portion of the series, she's not doing anything. In the second half they start to develop her character a bit more. On the second half they work on a lot of characters more. Yuka didn't get this for some reason though. She's just lazily written for the whole show. Oddly she was actually better in the first half. Nana, Mayu, and Kohda grow and develop throughout the show though. Also the little shenanigans that Nana and Mayu have are just really cool. They have so much chemistry somehow, any scene that's just those two is automatically peak. The rest of the show isn't that great. Theres some interesting moments and some sloppily embedded messages against violence and discrimination but at least there is something. The art actually looks nice (the backgrounds) too. They do have a bit of a problem with their explanations though. They kinda fail to properly explain the powers that these characters have. It would've been fine if it weren't for the sloppy explanation. They also kinda fumbled one of their twists and then completely ignored another at the end. There's some light symbolism in the show too that doesn't fully pay off until the end. The story does unfold in an interesting way.

Overall pretty good but definitely could've been better. Some very unnecessary graphic moments but otherwise ok.

Strong 6

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 0

Rockgiant

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 0

Rockgiant

Vinland saga
Uhhh, viking stuff i guess?

This show is a sort of typical viking show, in season 1 at least. Season 1 is a gripping story with compelling characters. It's pretty action heavy but it's well written enough to make this action good and not just feel cheap. However, season 1 kind of feels like a worse version of Berserk. Askalaad and Canute are somewhat similar to GRIFFITH. The rest is just a similar story without similar characters. It's worse though cause it isn't quite as well written. There isn't as strong a message. It isn't as psychological. It doesn't feel unique really. Season 1 is great but it is a little overrated. Thorfinn, the main character, can be a tad annoying in this season at times. Thankfully, the rest of the cast is really great to offset this. Askalaad is a really awesome and well written character in particular. This season is also more comedic than season 2 is. I like this comedy and it's nice seeing it the proportions that we do. There's some scenes, mostly with Thorkell, that are genuinely hilarious. Most of the season is serious though. The season starts off pretty good but not great. While Thors in this season he's the best part of it. These early portions are crucial but not as good. The middle section is alright but the end to this season is amazing. I will say it is a bold decision to have your best fight scene of the season in episode 4. End of the prologue had a 9.9 on imdb btw. I don't completely agree but it is an amazing episode. (Side note, ozymandias doesn't deserve the perfect 10, 407 proxy authentication error absolutely deserves its 9.9, the view from halfway down does as well, the magician doesn't come back isn't really a 9.9 but I'm glad it had the 9.9)

Season 2 is very different from season 1. There is a drastic change in tone on this season. There's a change in message and theme in this season too. A change that's well-built off of season 1. Season 2 is one of the best seasons of television that I've seen. This season is just immaculate. It's a farming arc as I've seen it called. It's peaceful at times yet still intense. It manages to be more intense and gripping with significantly less action. The season also introduces a lot of amazing new characters. It then develops them really well. This season is immaculate with its messaging and character development. Thorfinn goes from a pretty good character to one of the best ever. The scenes are all very well written and performed and executed. It's just an immaculate season of television. However, it does have a bit of a problem with repeating small sections of scenes.

This show also looks amazing. The art and animation is so beautiful. This is probably the best looking animated show I've ever seen. I'm very thankful that it's also a really good show too. It sorry of seems like they might have skipped over a couple of arcs for the sake of time but it all comes out great in the end. Season 1 i thought it was a little overrated but season 2 carried this thing hard. Season 2 greatly surprised me with how amazing it was. Very good show.

Best season: 2 (obviously)
Best episode: two paths (season 2, 23)
Worst episode: the land on the far bank (season 1, 12)
Decent 8 (bro how😭(season 2 really carried it to here though))

My writing really fell off didn't it

3 weeks ago | [YT] | 1

Rockgiant

Rough draft top 100

Danny Brown - Atrocity Exhibition

10/10
C'est la key - Superflat
Lupe Fiasco - Tetsuo & Youth
Billy Woods - Hiding Places
Tokyo Shoegazer - crystallize
Nas - Illmatic
Travis Scott - Rodeo
Boris with Merzbow - Rock Dream
Freddie Gibbs - Piñata
Billy Woods - History Will Absolve Me
Billy Woods - Maps
Billy Woods - GOLLIWOG
Blu & Exile - Below the Heavens

Strong 9:
Lupe Fiasco - DROGAS Wave
Earl Sweatshirt - Some Rap Songs
Sorbet - the lonely god and the defective vessel
JPEGMAFIA - OFFLINE!
Coin Locker Kid - The Salmon of Doubt
Have a Nice Life - Deathconsciousness
McKinley Dixon - Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!?
OutKast - Stankonia
Armand Hammer - Paraffin
McKinley Dixon - Magic, Alive!
Billy Woods - Aethiopes
David Bowie - Blackstar
JAY-Z - 4:44
Tokyo Shoegazer - Moonworld Playground
The Microphones - The Glow, Pt. 2

Decent 9:
Joan of the Stockyards - Joan of the Stockyards
JAY-Z - The Black Album
Anri - TIMELY!!
David Bowie - Heroes
SB THE MOOR - El Negro
CQ - Communication, Cultural, Curiosity Quotient
Candy Claws - Ceres & Calypso in the Deep Time
Tyler, the Creator - CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST
Caroline - caroline 2
Lupe Fiasco - Food & Liquor
Mach-Hommy - THE G.A.T
Coin Locker Kid - Traumnovelle
CQ - what a Wonderful World's End
Coin Locker Kid - The Holy
Armand Hammer - We Buy Diabetic Test Strips
JAY-Z - Reasonable Doubt
TURQUOISEDEATH - Se Bueno
Denzel Curry - TA13OO
Me oh myriorama - Iris
ザ・なつやすみバンド - パラード
JAY-Z - The Blueprint

Light 9
Merzbow - Hybrid Noisebloom
Michael - Exmilitary
OutKast - Aquemini
Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx
Little Simz - Sometimes I Might Be Introvert
Death Grips - The Money Store
World's End Girlfriend - Hurtbreak Wonderland
Mos Def - Black On Both Sides
Death Grips - Jenny Death
Swans - Birthing
Alvvays - Blue Rev
my bloody valentine - Loveless
Jane Remover - Revengeseekerz
Swans - The Seer
Coin Locker Kid - Hailstorm & Malestrom
o0o - Album Music
Swans - To Be Kind
clipping. - Visions of Bodies Being Burned
Devon Hendryx - The Ghost~Pop Tape (Remastered + Original)
Merzbow - Venereology
Coin Locker Kid - The Ghost Sonata
MF DOOM - MM..FOOD
JPEGMAFIA - EP!
Kelly Moran - Ultraviolet
Earl Sweatshirt - Live Laugh Love
JID - The Forever Story
Denzel Curry - Imperial
Lupe Fiasco - Lupe Fiasco's The Cool
ballerine nadiya - ballerine nadiya
18 days - 宇宙の青 [Uchū no Ao]
Tame Impala - Currents
Ab-Soul - Control SYSTEM
bl4ck m4rket c4rt - Today I Laid Down
Racing Mount Pleasant - Racing Mount Pleasant

Strong 8:
東京酒吐座 - turnaround
Coin Locker Kid - manic pixie dream world
Ghais Guevara - BlackBolshevik
Aesop Rock - The Impossible Kid
Madvillain - Madvillainy
Lil B - 6 Kiss
Swans - The Beggar
JPEGMAFIA - Veteran
A$AP Rocky - AT.LONG.LAST.A$AP
Coin Locker Kid - Empathica
Billy Woods - Today, I Wrote Nothing [Explicit]
JPEGMAFIA - communist slow jams
David Bowie - Low
Marvin Gaye - What's Going On
Billy Woods - Terror Management
Parassitismo - Parassitismo
A$AP Rocky - LIVE.LOVE.A$AP

3 weeks ago | [YT] | 2

Rockgiant

The promised neverland
Sort of like prison break as a horror anime but also absolutely not even close.

If you haven't watched the show, you probably shouldn't read it as it's kinda spoiler heavy but I just had to write this.

Season 1 is one of the best things I've ever watched. I was worried it was gonna be overhyped when I was going into this but no. It's really that damn good. This might be the best first season in tv history. Mr. Robot season 4 might be the only season I put over it (obviously just counting shows with more than one season). This season is immaculate. Right out the gate it's perfect. They manage to cram so much characterization into a six minute game of tag. It's miraculous. Everything starts off so clean and inviting and then it isn't. This show has some really great characters with Norman, Emma, and Ray. The rest of them are good too but not as developed because they aren't used as often. This show also had the absolute joy of sheer terror. This a horror show/movie that's actually scary. There's a character, Sister Krone, who lives to be terrifying. The smile plastered on hers and the mother's faces are so creepy. It's genuinely scary. The way they move is so weird and horrific. They use this so well too. Not so much that it becomes a problem but 100% enough to scare you. It's so genius that they made the horror villains the humans. There's demons in this show and you know that from episodes 1 but they're never actually the foe. It's always the humans. Pay of why this is so terrifying is because of the other humans greed and abuse of power. The evil of those who step on others to get their way and the good of those who will help others is such a great juxtaposition in this. They use juxtaposition pretty often here and it's always so frigging good. Also the house is so goddamn creepy. The colors and the way it's drawn is so off-putting and it feels so tense and just plain creepy. It's really so perfect. The settings are used so damn well in here. The house is creepy and scary cause it's where the children have to deal with the evils of the mom. It's the place where they are trapped and oppressed. The house means certain doom for them. The outside world looks so much more inviting. It's the domain of the children. A land where they can be free and escape the evils of the house. Further more, the animation and art contribute to this atmosphere significantly. There's scenes that just look wrong. Like they absolutely shouldn't be there. They seem so disconnected from the background at times. I'm talking about Norman walking to go get the water(i couldn't see it coming down my eyes so I gotta make this song cry). It's so perfectly done too. They're so good at building tension and suspense in this show.

Speaking of children. It is a little unrealistic that all of these kids are so much more mature than actual 4-12 year olds but it would be kinda insufferable if they weren't. You still get the occasional moments of childish situations though. The characters are so good. A big part of this show is everyone's conflicting desires. The children want the same thing but through different means and for different reasons. The villains want similar things but not quite the same. They all have to deal with each other while pushing for their goal. It's really awesome seeing how this affects their decisions and planning. Speaking of planning, there are some really cool plans and decisions in here. There's some sort of Death Note-ish deductions in this but they make a hell of a lot more sense and actually have a proper lead up. The deductions here are completely justified. All of the twists are honestly.

This show is also just really damn good. There's some great symbols, really great narrative, and it's just really impressive. Every episode from 4 onwards is immaculate. The pilot is one of the best I've ever watched honestly. Every episode from 7 onwards has one of the best scenes or sequences I've ever seen in my life, with episode 12 basically just being one long version of that. This show is amazing and it's ending is perfect in every way.

I don't know why I referred to this ad a "season 1" I'm not entirely sure why I put a season 2 on the screen. This is only one season. It's just a perfect 12 episodes of television. If there were a season 2 though it would probably be kinda mid. It wouldn't entirely be their fault though, season 1 kinda made it difficult for a season 2 to work. First off, the house is gone and so are the creepy characters. This would keep it from having that brilliant atmosphere that season has. It also would probably focus on the demons as an enemy which is a problem because it no longer highlights the cruelty of man. In sure they would probably try to keep that theme in some sort of bs way though. They'd probably try adding a lot more lore, including some last minute, underdeveloped characters. It probably wouldn't be that good. They also would probably make some really bad moves with some really bad twists towards the end of the season. Yeah they probably would severly mess up the ending with corny clichés. It's still the promised neverland though. I'm sure they would have at least a few great moments mixed in there. You know, in between the lonely attempts to recreate similar situations as in season 1. I'm sure they would also make things too easy this season with everything just being handed to them. It probably wouldn't be complete garbage though. Just really mid.

But I don't know why I spent so long on theoreticals. The facts are, this show is one of the best I've ever seen. It actually might be a little underrated honestly. It is a masterpiece in every sense. It's just so frigging peak.

Best episode: 150146
Worst episode: 131045
Decent 9 (if it had a second season it would probably still be like a decent 8 cause season 1 would carry it that hard)

4 weeks ago (edited) | [YT] | 0