Season 1 of North of North was okay, kinda cute, if slight, but decent enough that I finished it. Maybe it’s just reaping the rewards of getting invested, but Season 2 seems hugely better. The writing has found its voice, the actors are more comfortable in their characters, and the stakes seem perfectly balanced. I binged the whole thing and don’t regret it.
I also got caught up on the new Ranma 1/2, and it’s good, if occasionally showing it’s age. Still, it is really interesting to see what had to be a truly groundbreaking subversion of martial arts stories and cheesecake art in manga and anime, and Rumiko Takahashi is unmatched at slotting “will they, won’t they, but of course they will” into a cast of crazy characters. Maison Ikkoku is an old favorite.
Finally, I guess this counts as streaming now so I’ll mention Masters of the Universe. It’s not good, and the lead in particular is nice but has no charisma. Even with their morose tone of defeat and decay as the fanbase ages, the Kevin Smith stuff was better. Still, the new one is not so awful that I couldn’t finish it, and it had its moments. I will also give partial credit to the filmmakers: while there clearly were budget constraints, they spent way less time on Earth than I had guessed they would.
Season 1 of North of North was okay, kinda cute, if slight, but decent enough that I finished it. Maybe it’s just reaping the rewards of getting invested, but Season 2 seems hugely better. The writing has found its voice, the actors are more comfortable in their characters, and the stakes seem perfectly balanced. I binged the whole thing and don’t regret it.
I also got caught up on the new Ranma 1/2, and it’s good, if occasionally showing it’s age. Still, it is really interesting to see what had to be a truly groundbreaking subversion of martial arts stories and cheesecake art in manga and anime, and Rumiko Takahashi is unmatched at slotting “will they, won’t they, but of course they will” into a cast of crazy characters. Maison Ikkoku is an old favorite.
Finally, I guess this counts as streaming now so I’ll mention Masters of the Universe. It’s not good, and the lead in particular is nice but has no charisma. Even with their morose tone of defeat and decay as the fanbase ages, the Kevin Smith stuff was better. Still, the new one is not so awful that I couldn’t finish it, and it had its moments. I will also give partial credit to the filmmakers: while there clearly were budget constraints, they spent way less time on Earth than I had guessed they would.