December Disassociate and Chill TV Thread

[sonatine]

last of us is exactly what hbo is best at; high end big budget pop horror trash.

i havent even watched the last ep that aired and im 100% going to but im just not in the mood for body horror and grim apocalypse shit. its just not a fun genre, regardless of production. like does anyone want to rewatch 'the road'? probably not.


also alice is so weird because it faked me out by pretending it was a low brow anime violence porn and then coquettishly revealing itself to be an existential mind fuck love story with a dash of redemption arc without ever really changing its vibe, and that really is some shit that should be discussed in film classes.

[betcheckbet]

I admit alice is far from my favourite show but was a nice surprise for me. Don;t think I'll watch the anime as book series is more japanese than I need.

Before pandemic my consumption of japanese media was limited to Bill Murray and scarlet johanson, casual play of historical war games, and an odd fascination with baby metal.

This past six months I've watched all of alice season 2, played 40 hours each of persona 5/xenoblade 3, and now reading first manga. I think I'm all japansed out for now.

Only watched pilot for Last of Us but numerous friends of mine telling me how good it is so at some point will get around to it I'm sure.

[gimmick]

Out of other random stuff I finally found the last hardcover Sandman collection book I was missing. I think I have most of them now. It's possible I'll find time to read them again one day. Still haven't finished Umbrella Academy. Haven't opened Incal. Likely bought other stuff I can't remember. Apparently I know collect comics and art books so I'm prepared for a global EMP event.

[gimmick]

Re: Alice, I watched the first 3 episodes when it was released and bailed at that point. For me it doesn't really start before the beach. I don't really watch horror things. Doubt I've ever watched Saw.

Squid Game became interesting faster, but I do consider Alice better. Squid Game wasn't typically Korean. That type of setting is more common for Japanese shows/movies. Can't really add anything to the discussion. Only random observation I have, is that in ep3 1 of corpses/deaths isn't shown. Oh and I fast forwarded every flashback buddy moment clip.

Binged it in a few days after this thread. Liked the gray haired dude, mostly neutral about everyone else, tranny was ok and male/female leads are really boring.

[sonatine]

nbd but its literally the 2014 anime online:

https://www.bilibili.tv/en/video/2044010853


im figuring out how to download it, presently.

[sonatine]

imma fuck with those mangas for real. how is it that we dont have the ability to point and click translate them, how is there not an app for that...

[betcheckbet]

Yes the marble game was definitely the most emotional for numerous reasons (the old man was great in that game too).

Gf now on to volume 4 of AiB and decided she will read through the series entirety. She did comment the female characters are drawn fairly sexually (long legs perky tits) but otherwise no complaints. I will read all as well at some point. Super easy read obv. Volume 5 not translated until end of March. But final volume 9 will likely be done by end of the year.

[sonatine]

But gf liked it very much and wants to keep reading all of it. They introduce a few new games in it. This is the first one where you have to answer questions and the further you are away numerically the more arrows are launched at you. It’s set up that by the end millions are being shot but they figure out the questions have hidden messages about what direction to hide from. I’m image below you can see it’s west.

oh ya and you have to read the book backwards from right to left for the entire series.

you know whats crazy....


i think i liked alice in borderland more than squid game.


im not saying AIB is 'better' than SG just that AIB really did hit much stronger high notes.

SPOILER

like the decision to kill both of arisu's friends in the final minutes of the third ep, thats fucking bold.

other shit that absolutely 100% transcended the whole manga genre vibe;

arisu screaming that he doesnt want the king of clubs to die after defeating him.

king of diamonds suffering an absolutely horrific death at his own hands to reclaim his humanity, sparing chishiya who essentially offered to die in his place. that scene was fucking masterful.

honestly the whole season 2 chishiya arc / reveal / real world awakening was unbelievably dynamic and nuanced.



SG was slick and shiny and polished and unflinching and just like AIB, suffered from a few shitty genre tropes and definitely stumbled now and again but the only scene i remember in SG that honestly had me emotional was:

if there was another moment in that entire season that came close to that one for wrenching guts ive forgotten it.

i can think of about 6 scenes in AIG that were every bit as impactful.

and whats funny is i was googling for an episode guide to check notes after starting this post and like, result #3 was a thought piece about how AIG was categorically better than SG.

its funny how that works. SG was an absolute juggernaut but AIG, for all its many many flaws, had so much more heart and so much more ambition.

anyway.

fun fact; we probably wont see squid game 2 until 2025. like apparently they havent even started casting for it beyond the principles and they sure as shit havent started filming, by all accounts.

gotta wonder if netflix looked at the screenplay and had some 'suggestions'.

[betcheckbet]

But gf liked it very much and wants to keep reading all of it. They introduce a few new games in it. This is the first one where you have to answer questions and the further you are away numerically the more arrows are launched at you. It’s set up that by the end millions are being shot but they figure out the questions have hidden messages about what direction to hide from. I’m image below you can see it’s west.

oh ya and you have to read the book backwards from right to left for the entire series.

[betcheckbet]

Yes definitely felt like Alice in borderland was a cult hit. Reminds me of something like the movie heathers. Many flaws but what it does well makes you overlooked it’s drawbacks.

Still will be another year before all mangas have been translated. There will be 9 books total with two volumes in each. I was a little hesitant whether gf would like it after seeing this on page 3

[sonatine]

fwiw one thing that i do think deserves to be called out is how they reallllllly half assed some of the games in season 2.

id like to check out the manga and see what the games were supposed to be like but ive also had enough PTSD for this viewing month so..

[sonatine]

ive said it before, ill say it again; we live in pretty fucking magical times, where people can just whip up a 16 hour movie based on a manga and it ends up on netflix.

its a very charming, very compelling, very well done piece of prose regardless of its inconsistencies. i enjoyed it a lot.

based on the meaning of the joker in the manga, its unclear how well that will translate to a third season, but the door is wide open for them to try. i hope they do. i expect they will.

[sonatine]

the turning point for me tbh was Kyuma.

[sonatine]

ok im half way done with season 2.

im going to avoid getting into specifics until i wrap but.... i actually kind of love it.

[betcheckbet]

Lol was about to warn you that for season two that sort of shit is even worse. Second to last episode is beyond ridiculous. But yes things involving king of spades will drive you crazy. There is also is capture the flag game that goes on for too long and has some big flaws. You have a lot more of these scenes which probably can be given a pass in the manga but don’t translate as well on video.

still if you’ve made it this far you will likely fee closure with finale.