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Nov. 24th, 2014 06:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jtniehofYowapeda Season 1, Akame ga Kill, HaNaYaMaTa, GLASSLIP, Blue Spring Ride, The Loyal Lieutenant, Never Cry Wolf, Blue, Jetpack Joyride.
Yowapeda Season 1: Although it's hard to imagine something geekier than a cycling anime (where one character is also an anime fan), man does it work. Starts out very strong; by season end it falls a bit into Every Sports Anime Trope Ever (including glacial pace, not quite knowing the sport...). Those tropes can be a lot of fun, though, and in the end the whole thing's just funny and aw-shucks earnest.
Akame ga Kill: A great big ball of "don't care". Two episodes in, something seemed...off, like there was some cool conspiracy going in the background but it was mostly an excuse to stick swords in people. The jarring, no-good-guys style may be intentional, but it didn't work for me.
HaNaYaMaTa: Tossed in two, again. The apparent tie-ins to folklore and mythology were my hook; once those disappeared and we were just dealing with some very annoying characters, out the window it went.
GLASSLIP: Another case of wanting to like a show. If it had decided between slice of life and weird supernatural happenings, I might have slipped into it better; as it was, the "what's going on" factor was distracting. Also too many characters thrown in right from the get-go.
Blue Spring Ride: Three episodes in, hate all the characters, done. Sort of reminded us of Say I Love You, which we also bagged awhile back...
The Loyal Lieutenant (George Hincapie): In broad strokes, it's a cycling memoir and fun to read. Seriously overshadowed by the doping issue, and I felt Hincaipie spent too much effort justifying his decisions in that regard. Absolutely no question it was a tough environment, but writing off everything as external pressure seems too pat.
Never Cry Wolf (Farley Mowat) (reread): Still funny the second time around, but knowing how much it was fictionalized really undermined the emotional impact.
Blue (seasons 1-3): A "mother doing sex work to support her kid" show where the kid is actually present rather than just an excuse! Also like: a "struggling single mother" show where she lives in a small apartment and brings her lunch to work! This is played completely for the characters -- specifically, the relationship between Blue and Josh -- not for the titillation. There are definitely some rough, triggery moments, and the production isn't slick, but it's pretty well done. I hope they actually try for a resolution at some point; this business of making a few episodes every whenever is a pain.
Jetpack Joyride: It's hard to say when you're "done" with an endless runner, but having gone through all the "missions", I think I am. This is a brilliant little one-control game, really obvious to figure out, and with just the right amount of stuff to do: get more coins for an upgrade, go for distance, go for one of the missions.... Price is right, too; I didn't spend a cent on in-game content, so no play to win. Do watch your data connection if you use it on a phone, though; I'm not sure what all it's doing, but on my tablet it's pulling ads if there's wi-fi, so it might use some of your data allocation.
Yowapeda Season 1: Although it's hard to imagine something geekier than a cycling anime (where one character is also an anime fan), man does it work. Starts out very strong; by season end it falls a bit into Every Sports Anime Trope Ever (including glacial pace, not quite knowing the sport...). Those tropes can be a lot of fun, though, and in the end the whole thing's just funny and aw-shucks earnest.
Akame ga Kill: A great big ball of "don't care". Two episodes in, something seemed...off, like there was some cool conspiracy going in the background but it was mostly an excuse to stick swords in people. The jarring, no-good-guys style may be intentional, but it didn't work for me.
HaNaYaMaTa: Tossed in two, again. The apparent tie-ins to folklore and mythology were my hook; once those disappeared and we were just dealing with some very annoying characters, out the window it went.
GLASSLIP: Another case of wanting to like a show. If it had decided between slice of life and weird supernatural happenings, I might have slipped into it better; as it was, the "what's going on" factor was distracting. Also too many characters thrown in right from the get-go.
Blue Spring Ride: Three episodes in, hate all the characters, done. Sort of reminded us of Say I Love You, which we also bagged awhile back...
The Loyal Lieutenant (George Hincapie): In broad strokes, it's a cycling memoir and fun to read. Seriously overshadowed by the doping issue, and I felt Hincaipie spent too much effort justifying his decisions in that regard. Absolutely no question it was a tough environment, but writing off everything as external pressure seems too pat.
Never Cry Wolf (Farley Mowat) (reread): Still funny the second time around, but knowing how much it was fictionalized really undermined the emotional impact.
Blue (seasons 1-3): A "mother doing sex work to support her kid" show where the kid is actually present rather than just an excuse! Also like: a "struggling single mother" show where she lives in a small apartment and brings her lunch to work! This is played completely for the characters -- specifically, the relationship between Blue and Josh -- not for the titillation. There are definitely some rough, triggery moments, and the production isn't slick, but it's pretty well done. I hope they actually try for a resolution at some point; this business of making a few episodes every whenever is a pain.
Jetpack Joyride: It's hard to say when you're "done" with an endless runner, but having gone through all the "missions", I think I am. This is a brilliant little one-control game, really obvious to figure out, and with just the right amount of stuff to do: get more coins for an upgrade, go for distance, go for one of the missions.... Price is right, too; I didn't spend a cent on in-game content, so no play to win. Do watch your data connection if you use it on a phone, though; I'm not sure what all it's doing, but on my tablet it's pulling ads if there's wi-fi, so it might use some of your data allocation.