Not going to lie, I did enjoy this series a lot. It was good, but could've been so much better... and shorter.
First, let's start with one of its biggest problems: the pacing. It moves like a snail and you'll feel like watching 20 minutes or so of episodes where almost nothing important ever happens. Not even the last movie is safe from this, as in one moment, you'll feel like the world is about to end, then cut to the protagonists having long, drawn-out conversations they had a million times before, only for the same feeling to come back rushing at you in a cliffhanger. Rinse and repeat.
That leads straight to the second big problem with the series: the padding. With all the pointless scenes and "character development" (in quotes) that keep being retooled over and over again, there's no way in hell you won't feel like this series should've been much shorter.
And that leads straight to the third big problem with the series: THE WANGST. Holy fucking shit, if it isn't filled to the brim with it. By the last movie, any emotional impact whatsoever that these movies tried to convey went right past my head simply because I was past done with these characters. While angst is great for a series with the right dosage, it becomes unbearably annoying when you overdose it.
Combine how slow the pacing is, how long the series is, and how much the characters keep angsting about "Should we do this? Should we not do this? I hate myself, it's all my fault, I want to die" over and over and over and over again, and you'll be literally begging for one or two characters to be killed off early. Specially taking the finale into consideration where all of the freaking wangst you had to endure the entire time turned out to be absolutely pointless.
Don't get me wrong, I didn't hate this series, it was actually pretty good. It clearly has a lot of effort put into its story and its characters, but it could've been so, so, so much better if it was at least 80% shorter and less angsty. I get it, they wanted to make this series for "adults", but filling it non-stop with angst is not how you do it.
Wangst: The Movie
Not going to lie, I did enjoy this series a lot. It was good, but could've been so much better... and shorter.
First, let's start with one of its biggest problems: the pacing. It moves like a snail and you'll feel like watching 20 minutes or so of episodes where almost nothing important ever happens. Not even the last movie is safe from this, as in one moment, you'll feel like the world is about to end, then cut to the protagonists having long, drawn-out conversations they had a million times before, only for the same feeling to come back rushing at you in a cliffhanger. Rinse and repeat.
That leads straight to the second big problem with the series: the padding. With all the pointless scenes and "character development" (in quotes) that keep being retooled over and over again, there's no way in hell you won't feel like this series should've been much shorter.
And that leads straight to the third big problem with the series: THE WANGST. Holy fucking shit, if it isn't filled to the brim with it. By the last movie, any emotional impact whatsoever that these movies tried to convey went right past my head simply because I was past done with these characters. While angst is great for a series with the right dosage, it becomes unbearably annoying when you overdose it.
Combine how slow the pacing is, how long the series is, and how much the characters keep angsting about "Should we do this? Should we not do this? I hate myself, it's all my fault, I want to die" over and over and over and over again, and you'll be literally begging for one or two characters to be killed off early. Specially taking the finale into consideration where all of the freaking wangst you had to endure the entire time turned out to be absolutely pointless.
Don't get me wrong, I didn't hate this series, it was actually pretty good. It clearly has a lot of effort put into its story and its characters, but it could've been so, so, so much better if it was at least 80% shorter and less angsty. I get it, they wanted to make this series for "adults", but filling it non-stop with angst is not how you do it.