[DreamSword]

Oh yeah, the heavy use of Indian and Hindu Mythology and themes most certainly made for a very unique feel to the whole show.

Also, funny bit when it comes to Shiva: I deadass did not realize they were talking about a compound at first whenever characters were discussing it. I just immediately assumed they were talking about another Kaiju or a God or something, haha. Thankfully, the final two episodes make it very clear what that group was talking about the whole time.

[DreamSword]

FINAL THOUGHTS ON GODZILLA: SINGULAR POINT

I could very easily see this show being divisive.

It's a very specific style of storytelling that I imagine won't work for everyone, especially those who watch Godzilla media to see the King himself blow stuff up.

The pacing lends itself more towards binging rather than casual viewing, the show itself is more based in the Godzilla multiverse rather than being about the monster itself, and the characters are very much in service to the heavy plot.

Heck, the characters themselves, for the most part atleast, are just serviceable. It was clear from the outset that the show's' primary focus was on the atmosphere, the mystery, and lots and lots of heavy science talk that makes people like me do double takes.

And yet... I think it all came together pretty well? The show is very honest about what it is and what it wants from the outset, and the way in which it's all presented managed to draw me in. And hey, speaking on a personal note here, I actually found it to be a refreshing change of pace from the media I've been experiencing recently.

Having lead characters who are actually smart for once is especially a big standout given that alot of the more recent stories I've gone through have been full of either muscleheads or characters whom the story insists are smart and yet are never actually shown doing any thorough thinking about anything. The heavy use of Indian and Hindu themes was also something that I don't think I've ever seen before, making for even more of a unique experience.

Serviceable or not, I also did at the very least like all of our main cast. Are they super well developed with arcs that span the whole show? No, but their personalities and the way interact with both eachother and the world forming around them really did endear me to them. I never found any of the characters annoying, or stale, or even a waste of space. They have their roles to play, they play them well. And heck, at the very least alot of them are proactive, something a certain other show I've been watching recently fumbles hard on.

Beyond that though, the score is nice, the animation is great for the most part, and the action, when it shows up, is always great fun to watch. Biggest plus goes to the overall atmosphere of the show though. They absolutely nailed it for me on that front, and it's what kept me hooked all throughout the show.

Maybe one day I'll look back and go "Eh, Singular Point was just fine." But right now, with the headspace I currently have, I come out liking it and feeling it as something refreshing to watch experienced. As such, I give the show a 4/6. It's not some perfect show that'll absolutely blow you away, but if you recognize what it's trying to do and are down with lots of science talk and Kaiju investigation(and Jet Jaguar being the best like he always has been), then I think people will find stuff to enjoy. I sure did.

[Daikaijuman54]

There's something about the tone and atmosphere that makes this reminiscent of the Showa Era Godzilla Films, and I love them for that.

If you watch a Godzilla or most other old films from the 50s and 60s, there's not too much going on with characters, or at least not as much as people expect nowadays, that this show nails. They just feel like they fit into that timeline, showing that the creators cared about how to make it like a Godzilla film during his Golden Age. Also worth noting, the Characters were designed by the Blue Exorcist, I forget if it was the Creator or the Character Designer, yet another talent to compliment the Kaiju Designer.

The Red Dust, based off Red Tides, a phenomenon in which some bacteria pollute the water and sometimes the air, which works for Godzilla in making him radioactive and dangerous to be around, while not necessarily making him that. So much thought is put into how to make Godzilla work in a modern environment, while staying true to what made him what he is in the first place. Sure, there's lots of times you can compare Godzilla Ultima with Shin Godzilla and say they're basically the same, but as we've seen from this Anime, there's much more to it that makes them not even close.

It's definitely not for everyone. All the science talk, the expectations people have been used to in this day and age, and what really makes Godzilla more than just a giant monster who wrecks things (sure, that's kind of what he is, and I love him for that, but that's beside the point). But Godzilla: Singular Point brings something familiar and different to the table with Godzilla, and that's what I think is a good direction after Shin Godzilla.

Toho's been trying to reintegrate Godzilla in a way that works for all of his fans and invite new ones into the fray, and I've heard many people say they don't know what they're doing with Godzilla anymore. Maybe it's because people are happy with the Monsterverse Godzilla (I like him too, but Japan's Godzilla, especially Tokusatsu, will always be my favorite), or maybe because said Godzilla is more in line with the Godzilla we know and love, while Japan is trying to find a different way to make him while we have the traditional one (though, I'm quite satisfied with Godzilla vs Kong being the finale, I don't want them becoming the MCU), which I think is for the best.

Anyway, I've nerded out on a lot of Godzilla Lore, and I'm quite positive I've either missed or misinterpreted many details, heck, I'm not even sure if some of the connections and references were intentional or not. But either way, I should revisit this show again, since I quite enjoyed it, and I'll probably get back to work on my own projects in the meantime.

Also, see you later when Sentai becomes The Boys from the same author who gave us five women to choose for a bride...

[DreamSword]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daikaijuman54

Also, see you later when Sentai becomes The Boys from the same author who gave us five women to choose for a bride...

...Please elucidate.

[Daikaijuman54]

So, basically, the author that made The Quintessential Quintuplets made a new Manga about Sentai. Here's the trailer for the upcoming Anime Adaption.

Personally, I kind of enjoy the Manga (localized as Go! Go! Loser Ranger! also known as Sentai Daishikkaku or the Ranger Rejects), which has been described to me as "The Boys but Sentai."

[DreamSword]

Oh! Right, I remember hearing about this. It seemed interesting, though I dunno if I'll be watching it immediately. Looking forward to your thoughts if you watch it though.

[DreamSword]

Hey all, so while I don't have the next show that I plan to cover in this thread chosen quite yet(though I do have a suspicion on what it might be), I am here to say that general updates to this thread are gonna be a bit more spaced out than usual for awhile, as I have another project that I'm gonna be focusing on for a bit. You'll all see what exactly that is soon enough, and if you like my style of writing and wanna see what I'm up to, well, stay tuned, and I hope to see you all there.

[DreamSword]

I just wanted everyone to know that I commissioned this.

[DreamSword]

Heart Catch Pretty Cure!

Tonight I completed my third foray into the Pretty Cure franchise.

Heart Catch is one that I had a passing familiarity with going in, as it's often considered one of the best seasons in the entire franchise and responsible for giving the series a rather big newbie boom when it aired.

And just to get it out of the way, I will say that I don't think it's as good as Kira Kira or Hug. Infact I think it's a touch overrated?

Don't get me wrong, I do still think that the show overall is good and I had a good time watching it, but from what cursory reading I did around the internet, I do feel as though its reputation precedes it a bit. If you're going in expecting one of the greatest magical girl shows of all time, temper the expectation a bit.

From what I can tell, most of the praise the show tends to give comes from its third act, which is very good I will say, but it doesn't account for the rest of the show, which in my opinion, while good, isn't anything super incredible. Again, nothing wrong with that, but I myself was kinda unsure as to why this was considered one of if not the best season.

For example, one point viewers tend to give is the show's' "realistic/dark" scenarios it presents. And yes, they are there. But it's mostly in the later parts of the show, with most episodes actually being rather light and fluffy. Fun to be sure, but in terms of more mature subject matter it sort of doesn't compare to, say, Hug, which had depression and anxiety as running themes throughout almost the entirety of its run.

I also think that one thing that definitely threw me off when it came to comparison of the two shows that came before it is pacing. Now, the pacing in Heart Catch isn't exactly bad, but the advantage that a la Mode and Hug had over it was better utilization of the character arcs they had. Many an episode had to deal with a personal struggle of a member of the team, and as such even when the main "plot" wasn't exactly moving forward, it still felt as though progress was being made at a steady pace.

Heart Catch, meanwhile, definitely only brings up character arcs once in awhile and a good chunk of episodes are instead all about side characters who never appear again and aren't all that memorable, which in turn made it feel as though the show was coming to a dead stop at a handful of points. Heck, Chypre and Coffret, two of the mascot characters, are barely even characters in HC, especially in comparison to Pekorin from Kira and Harry from Hug, who had fully fleshed out arcs and multiple aspects to their characters and personalities. Heck, we learn basically nothing about the big bad!

But, all of that aside, Heart Catch does do what it does have to it rather well. Even if the arcs weren't as prominent, I did like most of the cast. It has one of the best movies in the franchise so far. The soundtrack goes incredibly hard. And most of the fight scenes are outstanding. It's also easy to see how this would be the show that would sow the seeds for alot of staples in the franchise going forward, whether or not one feels certain things are done better or not. It's also clear that the show did actually have a roadmap and that most of the plot wasn't exactly made up on the spot. Again, I did have a good time with the show, it just wasn't incredible to me.

As such, I give Heart Catch Pretty Cure a 4/6. It doesn't live up to the hype surrounding it nor does it have the big aspects I appreciated most about the previous two Cure seasons I've seen, but what it does have it does do rather well, and I can definitely see why it's commonly recommended as an entry point into the franchise as a whole. It's good, just don't go in expecting to be absolutely blown away by it.

[Enchilada645]

Understandable.

I watched it first because I heard it was a good starter and was basically the second of the two series (Fresh being the first) to really lay the groundwork of what would come afterwards for a majority of the franchise. Enjoyed it quite a bit.

Glad you still had fun regardless of if it was overhyped or not though!