Aphrael (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
silverthunder) wrote2012-10-12 01:49 pm
silverthunder) wrote2012-10-12 01:49 pm
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Fantastic Children
Just this morning, I finished watching Fantastic Children.
It was very good. I'd go so far as to say that it's a shame it's never going to break away from being a "fringe" series, because I found it entertaining and the plot was fairly well thought-out. A lot of people are probably going to be turned off by the art or the title before even looking at an episode, and then more will be turned off by the lack of fast-moving action and the fact that it takes a while before the viewer is able to figure out what's actually going on (although this was really part of the fun for me). But while I wouldn't say this is going on my list of favorites, I was still very glad to have bought it, because it was worth the money in my opinion.
Mood was one thing I thought this series did particularly well; it did a very good job of setting the atmosphere for any given scene. Even during the first half of the show, when I didn't know what was going on or really who the people involved were, it still managed to engage my emotions. The music helped a lot with this; it was pretty, sometimes haunting, and overall very nice in my opinion.
Considering the series had so many characters doing so many different things, it did an admirable job of creating individuals with relatable motivations and goals. I wouldn't say the characterization was particularly deep, but it wasn't shallow in the cases where it counted. I might have wished for some further exploration in a few cases (Hesma especially) but overall it was done well enough that I didn't wonder why I was bothering to care.
The only major character I couldn't really get attached to at all was Helga (and by extension, Tina). The problem with her was that she was far too passive. She just accepted whatever came to her, and for the most part sat around waiting for someone else to do something that would lead her off in some other direction. It was to the point where I started to wonder if the plot would suffer all that much if she was replaced with some kind of precious item that everyone wanted. Other than the fact that we wouldn't have a love story (Palza and Mel notwithstanding), you could probably get away with it. Which is kind of sad.
Speaking of the (main) love story! It was not particularly inspiring, at least to me. The fact that it was cliched (they meet once when they're young, and then again as adults and - boom - instant true love) doesn't bug me; most love stories these days are cliched, but they can still be done well. This one was just... kind of boring. There wasn't a lot of believable chemistry between them, in my opinion.
My favorite characters - the characters who were the reason I kept watching - were the Befort Children. I was really glad to see the extended ending that tied things off for them, because each one of them was way more interesting to me than both Thoma and Helga together.
In the end, while I don't think this series would be for everyone, it's a pretty enjoyable watch and I'd definitely recommend giving it a try.
It was very good. I'd go so far as to say that it's a shame it's never going to break away from being a "fringe" series, because I found it entertaining and the plot was fairly well thought-out. A lot of people are probably going to be turned off by the art or the title before even looking at an episode, and then more will be turned off by the lack of fast-moving action and the fact that it takes a while before the viewer is able to figure out what's actually going on (although this was really part of the fun for me). But while I wouldn't say this is going on my list of favorites, I was still very glad to have bought it, because it was worth the money in my opinion.
Mood was one thing I thought this series did particularly well; it did a very good job of setting the atmosphere for any given scene. Even during the first half of the show, when I didn't know what was going on or really who the people involved were, it still managed to engage my emotions. The music helped a lot with this; it was pretty, sometimes haunting, and overall very nice in my opinion.
Considering the series had so many characters doing so many different things, it did an admirable job of creating individuals with relatable motivations and goals. I wouldn't say the characterization was particularly deep, but it wasn't shallow in the cases where it counted. I might have wished for some further exploration in a few cases (Hesma especially) but overall it was done well enough that I didn't wonder why I was bothering to care.
The only major character I couldn't really get attached to at all was Helga (and by extension, Tina). The problem with her was that she was far too passive. She just accepted whatever came to her, and for the most part sat around waiting for someone else to do something that would lead her off in some other direction. It was to the point where I started to wonder if the plot would suffer all that much if she was replaced with some kind of precious item that everyone wanted. Other than the fact that we wouldn't have a love story (Palza and Mel notwithstanding), you could probably get away with it. Which is kind of sad.
Speaking of the (main) love story! It was not particularly inspiring, at least to me. The fact that it was cliched (they meet once when they're young, and then again as adults and - boom - instant true love) doesn't bug me; most love stories these days are cliched, but they can still be done well. This one was just... kind of boring. There wasn't a lot of believable chemistry between them, in my opinion.
My favorite characters - the characters who were the reason I kept watching - were the Befort Children. I was really glad to see the extended ending that tied things off for them, because each one of them was way more interesting to me than both Thoma and Helga together.
In the end, while I don't think this series would be for everyone, it's a pretty enjoyable watch and I'd definitely recommend giving it a try.