Should I Watch Basilisk: Ouka Ninpouchou?
This show is Star-Wars Prequel level bad. Just like those movies did, it is retroactively making me love the first series less. Skip it. Like for real, and I'm not talking about the 90s toy Skip-It. Don't watch this show.
I must preface that this review is heavily colored by my love of the original Basilisk anime, which in my not particularly humble opinion was a masterpiece. I cannot help but to compare them, but to be honest that is fine. Nobody who didn't watch Basilisk OG is going to sit through this travesty anyway. This will contain some very mild spoilers, but it doesn't matter because if you watch this and love the original it will just make you sad. Don't make the same mistake I did.
Story:
Basilisk OG had a tight, cohesive story that was set up in the first 5 minutes of the first episode could be summed up in a sentence: a macabre battle royale between two rival clans of ninjas with bizarre abilities. As of 4 episodes into Basilisk 2018 I have no idea what is going on, who anyone is, or why the hell I should care. The story is the worst aspect of this disaster of a show, and that is saying something. If I could give it a 0 I would, because as of yet there does not appear to be a story.
Art: Fine, I guess. That is the best I can say. The original had a distinct style and tone, and a dark and oppressive color palate that suited the bleak story. This one is bland and uninspired, with nothing at all of interest. Nothing stands out as being either good or bad. It just is. It's like a bowl of oatmeal.
Sound: Maybe the best part, although that isn't saying anything. The voice acting is good and the soundtrack is inoffensive. The best thing about the show is the sound, and the only good thing I can say about it is that it is not actively bad and some of the actors are talented. Yikes.
Characters: Offensively, aggressively, devastatingly bad. This was the best part of Basilisk OG. Some of the characters you hated, some of the characters you loved, but regardless of how you felt about a particular member of the cast the show gave you strong characters who knew who they were and what they wanted. I still remember their names, motivations, relationships, and abilities all these years later. By contrast, I watched an episode of this show five minutes ago and could not tell you anything about anyone. We don't know anything about the characters, about who they are and what makes them do the things they do. Or rather the things they would do, because as of episode 4 they haven't done a damn thing. At least 6 named characters have died so far. We know nothing about them, what their goals are, or even whose side they are on. Hell, we don't know if there are sides. We don't know what's happening.
Oh and the main characters are twin brother and sister and they are being set up to f*** each other. Wonderful. What a great replacement for Oboro and Gennosuke. Also they are apparently Oboro's and Gennouske's children even though we know that not to be possible because we saw them both die and Oboro was not pregnant, and particularly not with no damn twins. Also she stabbed herself in the stomach. Unless my high school sex ed class fails me, I'm pretty sure that's where the baby goes. It was Catholic school though so I may be wrong about that. This is the most disappointing part of all. It gets 10/10 sad pandas.
Enjoyment/Overall: Trash. I only gave it a 3 because I decided to go re-watch the original, and that made me happy again. The only reason I am going to finish this show is for nostalgia's sake. It is insulting to my memory of Basilisk. I'm not even going to acknowledge that this show exists. I am going to go full Indiana Jones Crystal Skull and block this out of my mind completely.
Basilisk Sequel, what Basilisk Sequel? Basilisk can't have a sequel, because everybody is dead as fuk. And it was glorious. Go watch it! Don't watch any hypothetical and nonexistent sequels to a show that was perfectly good as written.
Author: Jradi522
This show is Star-Wars Prequel level bad. Just like those movies did, it is retroactively making me love the first series less. Skip it. Like for real, and I'm not talking about the 90s toy Skip-It. Don't watch this show.
I must preface that this review is heavily colored by my love of the original Basilisk anime, which in my not particularly humble opinion was a masterpiece. I cannot help but to compare them, but to be honest that is fine. Nobody who didn't watch Basilisk OG is going to sit through this travesty anyway. This will contain some very mild spoilers, but it doesn't matter because if you watch this and love the original it will just make you sad. Don't make the same mistake I did.
Story:
Basilisk OG had a tight, cohesive story that was set up in the first 5 minutes of the first episode could be summed up in a sentence: a macabre battle royale between two rival clans of ninjas with bizarre abilities. As of 4 episodes into Basilisk 2018 I have no idea what is going on, who anyone is, or why the hell I should care. The story is the worst aspect of this disaster of a show, and that is saying something. If I could give it a 0 I would, because as of yet there does not appear to be a story.
Art: Fine, I guess. That is the best I can say. The original had a distinct style and tone, and a dark and oppressive color palate that suited the bleak story. This one is bland and uninspired, with nothing at all of interest. Nothing stands out as being either good or bad. It just is. It's like a bowl of oatmeal.
Sound: Maybe the best part, although that isn't saying anything. The voice acting is good and the soundtrack is inoffensive. The best thing about the show is the sound, and the only good thing I can say about it is that it is not actively bad and some of the actors are talented. Yikes.
Characters: Offensively, aggressively, devastatingly bad. This was the best part of Basilisk OG. Some of the characters you hated, some of the characters you loved, but regardless of how you felt about a particular member of the cast the show gave you strong characters who knew who they were and what they wanted. I still remember their names, motivations, relationships, and abilities all these years later. By contrast, I watched an episode of this show five minutes ago and could not tell you anything about anyone. We don't know anything about the characters, about who they are and what makes them do the things they do. Or rather the things they would do, because as of episode 4 they haven't done a damn thing. At least 6 named characters have died so far. We know nothing about them, what their goals are, or even whose side they are on. Hell, we don't know if there are sides. We don't know what's happening.
Oh and the main characters are twin brother and sister and they are being set up to f*** each other. Wonderful. What a great replacement for Oboro and Gennosuke. Also they are apparently Oboro's and Gennouske's children even though we know that not to be possible because we saw them both die and Oboro was not pregnant, and particularly not with no damn twins. Also she stabbed herself in the stomach. Unless my high school sex ed class fails me, I'm pretty sure that's where the baby goes. It was Catholic school though so I may be wrong about that. This is the most disappointing part of all. It gets 10/10 sad pandas.
Enjoyment/Overall: Trash. I only gave it a 3 because I decided to go re-watch the original, and that made me happy again. The only reason I am going to finish this show is for nostalgia's sake. It is insulting to my memory of Basilisk. I'm not even going to acknowledge that this show exists. I am going to go full Indiana Jones Crystal Skull and block this out of my mind completely.
Basilisk Sequel, what Basilisk Sequel? Basilisk can't have a sequel, because everybody is dead as fuk. And it was glorious. Go watch it! Don't watch any hypothetical and nonexistent sequels to a show that was perfectly good as written.
Author: Jradi522
No comments:
Post a Comment