[Daikaijuman54]

For sure! These last few episodes are where the show really picked up for me.

As for the Solo-Pilot plot hole (if you even want to call it that), remember that Atlas Destroyer is a training Jaeger, meaning it's likely not as taxing as a full-fledged fighting unit like Gypsy Danger.

There's a lot of intrigue in this story, but not fully explored, leaving people to simply speculate how some of it works, unless it's all in Season 2 that I've yet to start. But hey! Looks like we'll be watching it together.

[DreamSword]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daikaijuman54

As for the Solo-Pilot plot hole (if you even want to call it that), remember that Atlas Destroyer is a training Jaeger, meaning it's likely not as taxing as a full-fledged fighting unit like Gypsy Danger.

I just can't get over the fact that a training dummy gets a name as badass as Atlas Destroyer. It's almost like it's a law in universe that every Jaegar MUST have a name that's wicked as hell.

Quote:

But hey! Looks like we'll be watching it together.

I look forward to that! I will say, with only a couple episodes left in season 1, I definitely get the impression that the show was originally going to be twice as long and that they just decided to split it in half.

[DreamSword]

Episode 6: Boneyard

The atmosphere was ON POINT with this episode!

The set-up is that Mei, still having so many conflicting feelings going through her head with all that's happened, splits from the group. No time to chase after her though, because Boy also runs off as a Breach ends up erupting in the area. The ensuing search ends up taking Hayley and Taylor into a graveyard full of the remains of both Kaiju and Jaegar alike.

First off, I really liked how this episode directly connected to the events of Uprising, and just like in that film, Newt's' actions resulted in long-lasting consequences for the Pacific Rim universe at large.

I also really love how this episode further established the dangers of reckless Drifting; It was already shown off a bit in the previous episode with Joel, but having Taylor get his memories confused with those of the dad from the first movie(atleast, I think that's who that was? Correct me if I'm wrong), makes for a great hook and brings forth an idea/theme about identity that I really hope the show follows up on in future episodes.

And of course there's the big highlight: The ever growing mystery of Boy and his connection to the Kaiju Jaegar from the second episode. That entire last stretch, from the Kaiju emerging from the Breach, to the Kaiju Jaegar intervening, to Atlas Destroyer getting its new arm, was all really well done in terms of atmosphere and I really gotta give it to whoever did the directing for this episode. I was genuinely hooked!

Something else I wanna praise this show for too is that, atleast so far, while it certainly has used mecha anime tropes that have been done before, it's also been doing its own unique spin on alot of them. Heck, pretty much all of the other "survival mecha" shows that I've seen(Gundam X, L-Gaim, Zoids) usually totally drop the survival element fairly quickly, but The Black seems to be continuing to go all in on it, which is something I really appreciate.

Really interested in seeing what the finale of season 1 has to offer!

[DreamSword]

Episode 7: Showdown

Ya know, while I still stand by what I said about feeling like this show is one that got cut in half in order to artificially make "seasons" of it, had this episode been the series finale, I don't think I would've minded too much?

Sure, there'd be alot of things still left unresolved, and the last minute hook at the end would've likely annoyed me, but I think I still would've been overall satisfied with what was there, since, when it comes to what I consider the current most important things, there was closure.

Infact, closure, and more specifically the hunt for it, seems to be what this entire episode was about, and I really dug it. There's Taylor and Hayley discovering what happened to their parents, there's the mystery of Boy being mostly resolved(even if the answer to it was pretty obvious), there's Mei finding her old home, and of course, there's the final battle with Copperhead.

The episode had a good balance of pretty much everything. The comedy was surprisingly funny despite how simple the gags were, the atmosphere and pace flowed nicely, and the character interactions all felt genuine. Plus, for a "final battle" while not as bombastic as what some viewers might expect, given the standards of the movies, was nice to watch and had alot of emotional weight behind it.

I'm also really interested in seeing where the plot and these characters are gonna go after this. The Kaiju Worshipers gaining prominence is interesting, considering how they were very much just a background detail of the movies, and the premise of the Precursors sneaking onto Earth to live among us is a great hook. Plus, with the way that the show has followed up on the movies so far, I do gotta wonder what else from those films they could address, since there is still plenty to explore.

But yeah, is it the greatest season finale ever? No, but it was an overall very satisfying one, and I am glad I waited until the show was all wrapped up, since it means I get to keep going. I'm hooked, what can I say?

[Daikaijuman54]

The finale of Season 1 is really good, and I 1000% agree that I would be fine if it ended here.

This series does a good job on staying (mostly) true to its source material, while also creating a unique branch-off of mecha and survival shows. Wandering through a monster infested, post-apocalyptic world with a robot you need to maintain, even replacing its lost limbs in the fight (something I love about this scenario), it sets up a hopeless situation, yet also leaves plenty of room for opportunities to turn it around, much like the first film, but in a completely different way.

The characters got good development, the humor wasn't constant or annoying, the tone felt right for what they were going for. Sure, there's a lot of inconsistencies, maybe a few plot holes, but it's an overall enjoyable series.

[DreamSword]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daikaijuman54

The finale of Season 1 is really good, and I 1000% agree that I would be fine if it ended here.

This series does a good job on staying (mostly) true to its source material, while also creating a unique branch-off of mecha and survival shows. Wandering through a monster infested, post-apocalyptic world with a robot you need to maintain, even replacing its lost limbs in the fight (something I love about this scenario), it sets up a hopeless situation, yet also leaves plenty of room for opportunities to turn it around, much like the first film, but in a completely different way.

The characters got good development, the humor wasn't constant or annoying, the tone felt right for what they were going for. Sure, there's a lot of inconsistencies, maybe a few plot holes, but it's an overall enjoyable series.

Yeah, this show is very much carried by its characters and atmosphere, which is something they really started pulling off alot better come episode 5. And again, I do really love how every Kaiju encounter feels like a major event, or a really big boss fight, to put it in videogame terms.

There's for sure some inconsistencies in characterization and finer plot details, especially early on, but I overall feel like they're minor.

Looking forward to season 2!

[DreamSword]

Episode 8: b0y

The scenario that gets the ball rolling on the plot is a little contrived, but I'm willing to let it slide thanks to all the great character interaction this episode offers.

Essentially, tensions are running high after the events of the season 1 finale, resulting alot of debate between Taylor, Hayley, and Mei over what exactly to do about Boy, the situation they're in, and their own moralities and insecurities clashing with one another.

That's all fine and good. The contrived part is that, despite having the raw strength to tear Kaiju Hounds apart, Boy apparently doesn't have the strength to crush a Kaiju Tick the size of his torso.

But again, minor, because the arguments between the main trio stretch all throughout the episode, and even when they come together to help Boy by searching for a Kaiju researcher that Mei used to know, nothing is just cleanly resolved right then and there.

And ya know what? I'm all for it.

Because the thing is, not only is the conflict true to all the characters at their core, but everyone involved actually has a point in what they're saying. And that is incredibly rare in terms of the stories I've experienced!

Taylor and Hayley both have their own forms of optimism and sense of doing the right thing, just aimed in different directions. Taylor of course is focusing on his sworn mission to protect Hayley and find their parents, and he does have a point in that there's no telling when Boy could go berserk again and kill them all.

Hayley, meanwhile, still firmly believes that their parents are long gone and points out that Kaiju or not, Boy DID protect her, both against Copperhead and against Apex(the Kaiju Jaegar); She's focusing on her found family rather than her biological one, and thus can't just leave Boy for dead.

And as for Mei, she's taking the "realist" approach to the whole thing: Ditch both the idea that Boy isn't a danger and that Taylor and Hayley's' parents are somehow still out there, because the Kaiju wasteland has claimed almost the entire population as it is. In her way, she's essentially telling the siblings to go and live a safer life on their own, rather than continue to struggle for all of this extra baggage that, frankly, alot of people wouldn't even find worth it.

It all made for some really engaging character drama, which more than made up for the fact that this episode was about 80% talking. Good stuff!

[DreamSword]

Episode 9: The Never Never

Well this episode was incredibly predictable.

And really, I'm not exactly sure what else to say other than that? The episode isn't really bad per se, but it's not anything super incredible either.

The set up is that the crew reaches the Never Never Valley where the Bunyip Man, someone who's supposedly learned how to tame Kaiju, lives. He says he can help cure Boy of the Kaiju Tick venom, but things go south fast.

And yeah, that right there should tell you basically everything you need to know. Like, the second Mei started talking about the "alternative option" with the Kaiju Sisters, I knew exactly where this episode was gonna go, to exactly where it was gonna end up.

It's very much a transitional episode to serve as a way to get our heroes to interact directly with the Kaiju Sisters, and to that end, yeah, sure, it works, but it's also not very engaging. There's no real character drama or unique interaction, there's no shock value to the death or destruction that occurs, and outside of one sequence(using the chain whip to surf around the valley), the action isn't much to speak of either.

Overall it's just a thoroughly meh episode. Hopefully a necessary one for episodes to come.

[Daikaijuman54]

I have just started Season 2 today, three episodes in, and I'm glad it still stays consistent with Season 1 (I was worried it wouldn't be the same after all this time, but thankfully that's not the case).

We get Jumbo Gremlin- I mean *in Kratos' voice* "Boy," leading us into the next stage of the plot. And the moral is, "don't trust the creepy masked robe people," but it's great to see how no one is exactly wrong in how they react to this situation, and all three have their own view, where Taylor feels like his the middle-man in this scenario, looking at both sides, Haylee wanting to save the only constant companion they had on this trip and his only family member, whilst Mei picks the logical course to stay on track and not get involved with too many side stops.

Then we get one that's a little more simple in the terms that you can just sit there and think to yourself "this isn't going to end well." I definitely agree that this one was predictable, but I feel there are quite a few moments in this show that follow suit, though not in a bad way. It also makes clear the things I heard that the Kaiju have evolved into something that could literally take over the world, being able to reproduce, adapt, and even become herds of different species that can all serve different purposes. And here I was thinking:

Anyway, I will say I'm ahead by one episode, so I won't spoil anything, but I am hoping the Kaiju Sisters plotline is done well, since I think that's probably the one that could fail very easily if done wrong. But other than that, this show has still been able to keep on it's feet well.

(Good gosh, I forgot about the Kaiju dogs, it really has been a while..."

[DreamSword]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daikaijuman54

(Good gosh, I forgot about the Kaiju dogs, it really has been a while..."

Yeah, I agree that despite it having like, what, a year or two since season 1, season 2 feels like it hasn't really skipped a beat at all.

Probably the most surprising thing in episode 9 was Kaiju eating other Kaiju. I mean, I suppose it makes sense, considering there are only so many humans and fish to go around in The Black.