Netflix
Netflix. It's only the first ten episodes, but they made 20.
Top five
1. Fortress Command 2. Game Day 3. Datastorm 4. Mainframe Madness 5. Emotional Rescue
So it's not that bad?
"They truly were a Aqua Teen Hunger Force"
Okay I'm a third of the way through the second episode and... uh...
...what the sh't? Alright, show, you have my attention.
edited 31st Mar '18 7:41:04 PM by Soble
I'M MR. MEESEEKS, LOOK AT ME!
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
It's not bad if you like Power Rangers, if you're looking for this to have Reboot's level of intellect or humor...forget it
edited 1st Apr '18 1:19:53 AM by Zarius
Alright, I'm not hating this. 5 episodes in.
The plot so far is that Evil Douche Hacker Man wants to be Dr. Wily from Megaman NT Warrior and take over the world. Because the world is conveniently hooked up to the net and evil douchey hackers can take advantage of that. EDHM resurrects Megabyte (because he can do that) to do his bidding and takes 5-6 episodes to realize that Megabyte doesn't have Plot Armor and that the protagonists are mucking with his plans. Scene.
The protagonists are four lucky children who were selected by power or powers unknown to defend cyberspace from digital evil - doing so by gradually leveling up as they complete various missions, like a video game. There's no end goal in sight really. Kind of the same problem Magical Girl shows have when the heroine never asks exactly when their non-paying internship fighting evil is supposed to end. There's not too much initiative from any of these kid heroes - except, amusingly, the geek of the group when he tries to upgrade his weaponry in the third episode and decides to Leeroy Jenkins that episode's problem.
Right now this all feels very formulaic, each episode dealing with a single new kid's adolescent problem that we all relate to and find so very interesting, so that by the end of the episode they can overcome it and be better for it. Like Code Lyoko.
None of the characters have had an interesting subplot yet but, the show's still seems to be figuring itself out seems like. Aelita, I-I mean Vera, is going to be that awkward, Adorakable computer girl and the show's main source of comic relief. Tamra has been The Chick and nothing but The Chick. Jere... Austin... the guy who got upgrades in the third episode is The Smart Guy. Red Power Ranger kid doesn't want to be the leader but he's Red so he doesn't get a choice. And the kid with the demanding father figure seems to have a demanding father figure.
Why these kids haven't told their parents anything is astonishing. Maybe I wasn't paying attention in the first episode when Vera told them they all have bombs in their heads that will go off if they let any reasonable authority figure know about these life-or-death missions they go on, but suffice to say this feels very much like every other show where "kids get superpowers and don't tell their parents."
Megabyte is almost exactly like his original self (so much so it's actually alarming, like, even the voice is a match, better than that guy who took over as Aku's voice actor in Samurai Jack. His scenes in cyberspace are this show's finest.
Seeing Megabyte be under somebody else's heel and still stomp about with his characteristic charm is something else. I'm eagerly awaiting the point where he double-crosses Evil Hacker Man and takes control of a missile platform or something. I honestly think this actor's performance is the best thing about the show. The banter between Megabyte and the teenage heroes is some of the best writing this show has to offer.
This show is meant to be a "reimagining" and I guess that's a pill I'll just have to swallow, and Megabyte acknowledges as much in the first episode when he calls the new guardians "a new version of an old enemy." This would be alright if he hadn't referred to Bob in the same scene, and Evil Hacker Man has no idea who that is. Whether they actually want this to be a sequel or not, dropping references like that and then abandoning the topic for several episodes is frustrating.
There's little nods to the original everywhere - Megabyte's "corrupt and concquer," the sentinels that resemble his old bodyguards Hack and Slash, his pet cat, "warning incoming virus." It feels like this show is suffering from Laser Guided Amnesia, being nostalgic in places and forcing the new material everywhere else, as if to say, "there, we made a reference that only original fans will get, but new fans won't. Happy? Now here's 20 minutes of new stuff completely irrelevant to the old fans that the new fans will cherish."
It might not have pleased me, but if they wanted people to love the new cast and setting then they should draw a line between the old continuity and the new one soon, or else I won't be able to decide whether I should like this show on it's own merits, or for how it reinterprets the ideas of the old show. sidenote
The humor is cringe-inducing at times, and terms like "dark code, sourceror, and cyber patch" bring back bad memories of Megaman NT Warrior and how stupid the concept of a world connected to the internet really is. note I did laugh when Megabyte introduced himself and one of the kids goes, "Ah, so my phone is like 30,000 times more powerful than you?"
The animation is pretty-looking, fast, barely anything recycled as far as I can tell. It's animated in a game engine, Unreal I think? That's neat. Especially neat because Reboot's game was actually animated using the same software that made the original show. So the game was made with an engine purposed for a TV show, and now the sequel show is being made with an engine purposed for a game.
It bears repeating that this is so Code Lyoko it hurts. Vera is actually making me appreciate Aelita more and how well she integrated into the group, because clumsy, socially awkward robot girl feels like a washed-out trope. Nobody else in the main cast feels like they exhibit anything more than the usual bag of teenager tropes. It should be said that the aesthetic of this is pleasing and far more substantive than any of its cast, but at the same time none of it truly stands out as the same backgrounds seem to repeat throughout the first ten episodes.
With dull protagonists and a cliche setting I probably shouldn't keep watching. I shouldn't, but OG Reboot was pretty formulaic right before the Cerebus Syndrome kicked in, so I'm willing to give this a shot.
edited 1st Apr '18 1:37:53 PM by Soble
I'M MR. MEESEEKS, LOOK AT ME!
Episode 10 at last. They've got brass balls.
Alright, pros:
- They've got all of the old voices back. Incredible.
- Megabyte's relationship with Hexadecimal is balanced, so his "upgrade" actually feels like it has weight and wasn't done just for aesthetic.
- Starship Alcatraz was my favorite Game from the original series.
- Seeing everybody again is nice. At least they acknowledge close-minded nerds like me who are only watching this because of brand recognition.
Cons:
- Except close-minded nerds like me are only watching this because of brand recognition and nerd loyalty, so why they waited ten episodes to do this is baffling.
- The exposition in this episode is cranked Up To Eleven.
- While I can get behind Megabyte being more powerful they made his relationship Hexadecimal a little too in his favor.
- They got all of the voices back and this is probably just the creators throwing the old fans a bone in a dickish sort of way. The way they reintroduced everyone without regard for continuity screams, "we will never do this again."
- How can the new Guardians tell that Mainframe looks "ancient/retro?" They've been in this digital dimension for all of a week and everything looks about the same. Mainframe just looks like an actual city.
- No Matrix, Andr-Ala or Mouse? Bob doesn't even give Glitch any commands? And why is Hexadecimal not obsessing over Bob? Is this a new Hexadecimal?
- A guy wearing a Reboot shirt with a giant Mike the TV in the back who lives in his mom's basement. Bob saying the old intro, and Enzo his old catchphrase in the most awkward ways possible. This is starting to feel like Teen Titans Go where the new writers are pointing fingers at anyone who would dare compare their totally new show to the original show it was based on.
- I can't tell if they're seriously trying to be nostalgic, making fun of people who want that nostalgia, both, or if this episode is just poorly-written. You could write a "throwback episode" while updating it, acknowledging the differences. But this feels like satire, a way for the show to point at old Reboot fans and go, "see? This show was never going to be what you wanted, but we're going to show you just how silly it would look if we brought it back exactly the way you remembered it. See how cliche it was?"
- Um, no, no, no. You don't get to make that criticism when your show is just as cliche, if not even moreso than the original. You haven't earned the right to laugh at genwunners.
- Reading this episode symbolically - old fans, represented by the neckbeard User playing Starship Alcatraz and surrounded by Reboot paraphenelia, are getting in the way of the heart and soul of the franchise, a la Bob and the new Guardians who can exist simultaneously and work together. This is represented by them beating the old Reboot fan at Starship Alcatraz.
- That's really insightful. But all that this episode is really showing me is that this would be a much better show if they just took the original premise and re-did it with better animation and a modern setting. The episodes featuring games have been far more entertaining than the ones dealing with cyber space attacks and stupid ideas like viruses controlling weather-altering technology. Hell just make this show about Trey, Parker, Tamra, and Austin fixing online games and the show practically writes itself.
Not So Awesome Quotes:
- "Looks like cyberspace is in good hands." - Bob
- "Come on guys this new show isn't so bad."
- "Bob, Dot, and Enzo were there the whole time. We can check in on them whenever we want." - Parker
- "People who want to watch the original show can do so at anytime."
- "You can catch up with your old friend Bob." - Megabyte
- "Ha hah, look at all those people want to see the main character of the old show again."
- "Looks like you new Guardians are playing a whole different game." - Bob
- "Our show is better. Deal with it."
/anger.
edited 5th Apr '18 1:36:37 PM by Soble
I'M MR. MEESEEKS, LOOK AT ME!
Is it a requirement of writers for kids shows to have both thin skin and self loathing?
It’s like how every single pro wrestling fan these days engages in self flagellation while reminding themselves it’s fucking fake and only the lowest of low would watch it. MMA exists. Deal with it and put down the rod.
edited 1st Apr '18 10:50:46 AM by Beatman1
You know what's coming next?
Gargoyles Season 4. Except it won't be about Goliath or Eliza Maza, and none of the old Gargoyles will appear. In fact it'll be about a bunch of kids who can turn into Gargoyles. They don't do it at night and they don't have wings. So it really has nothing to do with Gargoyles whatsoever. Oh but wait, David Xanatos is in it and he's an evil old wizard who wants world domination and falls into Black And White Morality! So it's like totally a sequel guys! But don't think too much about it! It's just meant to recapture what Gargoyles would be like if Xanatos had the same voice but a completely different personality.
Ah so fans aren't happy with this approach? Alright fine, we'll make Xanatos more like his old self and bring back Demona too. There, happy? Now people can stop complaining about how different it is?
It's still not Gargoyles enough for them? Fine! We'll write a whole episode where we take all of the superficial elements of Gargoyles and embellish them. The plot will be that the new characters get sent back in time by a magic spell and they end up in a simplified, continuity-removed version of the original Gargoyles. So old fans can see just how dated the old cartoon was while coming to appreciate our product more!
That. Is not. How fandoms work. If you want to make your own thing, and this cannot be stated enough, make your own thing. If you do not want fans to compare your new thing to the original thing then don't compare yourself to the original thing in the first place.
In general, I've come to see re-imaginings as a bad idea, unless the original thing was just really bad, or lacked continuity. Look at the difference between the Tomb Raider and Mortal Kombat reboots, and the Devil May Cry reboot. The former are praised for reinventing an old formula, celebrating it while also mocking it to create a superior whole. The latter did not receive similar accolades.
I give this show a season. One should not be getting this bent out of shape about a kid's show, but it strikes at a particularly sour point for me given what it's based on. It's like when they bring back an old cereal you love but they take out all the sugar because society is health-conscious, or when they re-release an old video game but they take out all the music and replace it with some bland alternative. They might as well not have brought it back at all. They should have released a new cereal, or a new franchise.
edited 1st Apr '18 1:45:59 PM by Soble
I'M MR. MEESEEKS, LOOK AT ME!
I do find it continually amusing/frustrating when the makers of (non)sequel series complain that viewers seem to want and expect the new series to either be a remake or have closer ties to the original series. If you want people to approach your series as something completely new and different, make it completely new and different. By using the name and premise of a previously existing series for your new series, you create the expectation in the minds of viewers that your new series will in some way tie-in with the old series. For creators not to expect this expectation is disingenuous at best and bewilderingly obtuse at it's worst. Also, your project ends up looking extremely cynical in that it seems to be solely trying to cash-in on name recognition, while not giving the folks who would actually recognize the name what they want to see.
If they want to see a remake done successfully, I suggest they take a look at Voltron. It's even on Netflix, just like they are.
edited 1st Apr '18 11:53:37 AM by Robbery
Uh, NO. Don’t make it like Voltron. The toys don’t sell, the EP’s hate the original premise, and the fandom is horrible.
There’s this anger though from anyone who works in children targeted media that what they are doing is fraudulent or not worth thinking deeply about. At least that’s what it seems like to me. I get hardcore fans are annoying but still, I don’t believe self hatred is the answer.
edited 1st Apr '18 12:16:41 PM by Beatman1
Wants Captain N for SSBU
"The fandom is horrible" is not valid criticism. Like, the Rick and Morty fandom is horrible, but the show still is good.
My honest opinion is, the show isn't awful, but it could have been so much better. It barely touches mediocre ground.
My main issue, the acting, or, lack thereof. Like, I've seen people complain about Vera, and, while she is indeed an annoying character, she's not the worst part of the show, it's the wooden acting of the one who portrays Trey. Like, none of his power grunts come off as convincing.
I honestly had no issues with the live-action part, or at least, I wouldn't have any problems with them if they actually added something. Like, most of the teen drama outside Cyberspace felt like afterthoughts, like, "How can we fit the real world parts with what we do in Cyberspace?" It should have been balanced better. Like, a show like this can't be purely Cyberspace, that wouldn't work, at least not for the target audience, but the non-action stuff should also be as engaging.
And the B-plots were pretty below standard most of the time, or at least the execution left a lot to be desired. Like, the episode with Vera installing an emotion plugin. It felt so shallowly executed, it was actually pretty bad. Not that the main plot did any better. I honestly wasn't sure what the point in everything was, like, most of the time, the main plot was resolved halfway through the episode, so they decided to just add a twist somewhere in the middle. The story progression was pretty inconsistent, and oftentimes it just made the team seem a bit incompetent, even worse than inexperienced.
What I also didn't like were the pieces of live-action inside the visor. Like, there's nothing substantially wrong with them, it just felt like the bits of dialogue inside them were disjointed, not connected, as if they just read their lines without any audible feedback, without somebody actually reading the lines of other characters to them.
Like, I wouldn't say the final episode made it worth going through the entire series, but, it was a nice throwback. And, well, remember, this is part of a 20-episode season, from what I understand in Canada, this series will be released like an actual series, so it isn't the last episode of this season.
This show could have been good, even with the premise they worked with, but they really dropped the ball here. Like, I wouldn't say this show is the opposite of what ReBoot was, but it at least didn't feel like ReBoot.
edited 1st Apr '18 12:26:20 PM by GaryCXJk
Signatures are for lamers.
There's another point...creators of sequel series dismissing criticism as fanwank.
So it seems Gavin Blair(one of the co-creators of the original) doesn't like the new show going by his Twitter.
"They truly were a Aqua Teen Hunger Force"
King of Anime
I never watched the original show but I'm enjoying this from where I'm at so far. Probably would fit better in the Live Action section though.
Planeswalker
I haven't watched the episodes yet, but based on that synopsis I'm really hesitant to do so. While I liked Megabyte I was always more interested and invested in Hex, and I'm not really interested in going through nine episodes of meh content to get there.
Worth noting is that Hex wasn't always obsessed with Bob, she was always attracted to him but the obsession and protectiveness came about as the result of her going through a Trauma Conga Line in season 3 and becoming even more unstable, then getting healed from that trauma. In seasons 1 and 2 she was okay with him getting hurt or dying (as long as it was at her hands). So if the Mainframe showed in the show was a Continuity Reboot it kind of makes sense she wouldn't be so Bob-crazy.
edited 4th Apr '18 9:03:04 AM by PhiSat
Oissu!
I had no idea this Redundant Redundant was happening, and boy.
Boy.
Here's a thing from someone far more invested than me and I'm so sorry for him and everyone else who is.
I wasn't following Mainframe over the years since the first Paradigm Lost, so I can't say my level of disappointment was the same, but I can feel where he's coming from.
Daemon completely blew my little child mind. The concept of a villain being affable, friendly, and genuinely curious why the heroes are fighting them, while simultaneously pursuing a course of action that would kill everyone and herself was something I had never seen. Daemon isn't a villain by choice, she's a villain simply by existing. Her corruptive nature isn't just an instinct to her, it's the core of her very being, the foundation of her entire personality, and Mainframe's writing and Colombe Demers's delivery of the character nails that shit in a way I haven't seen since. Her existence isn't even tragic, in a way so many "Anti-villains" are, because you know she feels no remorse for her actions.
Though this is definitely pouring gasoline over whatever good will I had left for this show.
edited 4th Apr '18 8:05:29 PM by Soble
I'M MR. MEESEEKS, LOOK AT ME!
Does any one feel like it's a massive fuck you to old fans by not putting it on Netflix Canada.
Perpetually Confused
I assume coz YTV has the Canadian distribution rights? They were producers on the Original Reboot (And Beast Wars) and I'd not be surprised they maintain first dibs on those in Canada.
Them being involved in the production was why we got those shows ahead of the USA in the 90s
IIRC YTV is going to air it weekly in a month or two. Not sure anyone would want to see it, but that’s their plan.
Perpetually Confused
YTV's likely aiming for kids, not veteran Reboot fans.
...that baffles me. But, okay, this show has my interest now. Where do I watch it?
I'M MR. MEESEEKS, LOOK AT ME!