Black Lotus

[The Crawling Chaos]

Has anyone seen this? I finally caught up with the latest episode (at the time of writing, Episode 8) and it has started growing on me. I'll be honest, the only thing that kept me watching after episode 3 was my love for the universe of Blade Runner, plus a craving for stories set in a cyberpunk universe. I dislike CGI cartoons immensely: The textures are always too clean, too smooth, which is practically the antithesis of what you'd expect from a Blade Runner cartoon, and the animation always hits that nasty spot of being too realistic for its cartoonish visuals yet too twitchy and clumsy to look real. So it took some time to ease myself into this version of the Blade Runner world and its character design. I think bingeing the episodes helped, and watching a single 22-minute long episode every week would have made it much harder.

I cannot say that the main plot is anything to write home about (

Spoiler: SPOILER

Roughly halfway between the first and second films, new replicants are created and tested as part of a "doll hunt" - rich and influent people hunt them down in the desert to satisfy their sadistic urges - but one girl, Elle, survives and makes her way to the city where she endeavours to identify and take revenge on those who organized the hunt

) but the series has its moments and after leaving me cold for the first couple of episodes, the protagonist has finally become endearing to me. Episodes 6 and 7 stood out the most as the series seemed to have finally found its feet, offering great set pieces and introducing new characters (or offering revelations about other characters) that kept me involved with a show that so far I only watched "in passing". Chapter 8 however was an absolute joke of a filler episode (80% of its runtime was made up of flashbacks to earlier episodes) that should have been left out entirely.

I do have questions when it comes to what the show reveals about the world and how it functions (how and why replicants are made, how their memories work), and even more questions about how the show fits within the chronology of the franchise, since it's set after the great blackout of 2022 yet does not reference it nor how the world has changed after that event. In fact it seems much closer to the thriving, neon-lit megacity of 2019 (in Blade Runner lore, the year the first movie was set in) than the post-blackout, storm-swept and desolate world of 2049 (the year the sequel was set in).

The last peeve I'll mention is the soundtrack. The episodes themselves offer an immersive if unimpressive soundscape of drones and synthesizer sounds, which is great. But the opening and closing titles inevitably get on my nerves with their insufferable, languid pop songs that fail both at representing the world of the story and keeping my ears entertained. A real shame because the images of the opening title on the other hand are simply breathtaking and the best visual rendition of the Blade Runner mood and atmosphere since the original movie came out in 1982.

I cannot say I recommend it to everyone because I don't, but fans of the Blade Runner universe might want to give it a try.

 

[Rodders]

Interesting. I've heard of Black Lotus, but haven't yet made the effort to seek it out. (I will soon, though.)

Anime isn't my kind of thing usually, but I saw "Altered Carbon: Re-sleeved" a few months ago and enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. Cowboy Bebop will probably be my next Anime.

 

[Mon0Zer0]

The last peeve I'll mention is the soundtrack. The episodes themselves offer an immersive if unimpressive soundscape of drones and synthesizer sounds, which is great. But the opening and closing titles inevitably get on my nerves with their insufferable, languid pop songs that fail both at representing the world of the story and keeping my ears entertained.

This was exactly how I felt about Kenji Kamayama's other controversial show: Ghost in the Shell, 2045. Just a terrible, terrible opening track.

Similarly to your opinions on BR:BL I thought GitS 2045 started off terrible with that awful animation, but ended up being a properly compelling series that felt like classic GitS.

The stiff 3D is clearly for budgetary reasons, but i wish they'd stuck with hand drawn animation.

I gave up on BR:BL by episode 2, if it manages to turn it around like 2045, I might give it a rewatch.

 

[The Crawling Chaos]

Cowboy Bebop will probably be my next Anime.

This show is just unbeatable. I'm not an anime person either but I just can't get enough of it. Binged it close to 10 times since it came out. To be honest I also expected a lot more from Black Lotus because Shinichiro Watanabe is involved.

This was exactly how I felt about Kenji Kamayama's other controversial show: Ghost in the Shell, 2045. Just a terrible, terrible opening track.

So they're from the same guy... That explains it I guess. I'm a fan of GitS too but I never managed to get past the first SAC 2045 episode and I tried at least 3 times. First and foremost I blame the smooth textures again but also that darn car chase in the desert... Usually you start a show with a bang to capture the attention of the viewers. When I watch a GitS cartoon, the last thing I'd call a "bang" is a scene in an empty, bland desert of smooth sand. I want a maze of skyscrapers and neon signs everywhere. But as you seem to confirm, I heard it gets better once you get used to the style.

So I'll give it another shot. As for Black Lotus, I can confirm that the biggest hurdle is making it through episodes 1 - 3, and it does get a bit better later on.

 

[Mon0Zer0]

This show is just unbeatable.

If you like Cowboy Bebop, try Space Dandy next. Same director, same universe. It's more of a comedy than CB, but it is a real work of art.

 

[Rodders]

Interesting. Anime is something new to me so i'll be sure to check that out at some point.