#Gen:Lock Spoilers

[tired-drag0n]

TW: Self Harm, Suicide

reads up on RWBY Spoilers

Well, if I had a nickel for every time Rooster Teeth had a show where one of the themes was explictedly about how it's beneficial for a select group of people to commit suicide, I'd have two nickels.

Which isn't a lot, but its fucked up that it happened twice.

[thuskindlyshescatters]

Old Jaune and the thing about ascension make this Volume sliiiightly resemble gen:LOCK season 2. Only slightly! Still way too much now that I’ve noticed it.

[creepercraftguy]

OMORI - Voice Actor Headcanons.

While I haven’t exactly finished this game yet, I am close enough to the end and have met basically all the characters, so I think it’s time I got around to doing my good ol’ series of VA headcanons for a game that either doesn’t have one, or doesn’t have an English Dub.

This time we’re doing Omori, a game I started playing at the beginning of this year and have fallen in love with very very quickly. I’ve been through a very painful time of my life recently and this game helped me work through it letting me know that it doesn’t matter how I grieve, just that any way I can is correct. 

And the way the characters work together in the game is also incredible, and I was eagerly awaiting to get to the point that I’m at so I could do a VA headcanons section for this. So before we get started, let me once again go two things.

This is NOT CANON. These are HEADCANONS and are unofficial. It’s just a hypothetical situation. If the characters were voiced, this is who I imagine would voice them.

Every major character in the games is included here, so there are HEAVY SPOILERS for the game’s main storylines. DO NOT READ THIS POST IF YOU HAVE NOT PLAYED THE GAME OR DON’T WANT TO BE SPOILED.

Without further ado, let’s get into this.

Omori/Sunny - MILES LUNA

Also Voiced:

Jeane Arc (RWBY)

Migas Garza (gen:LOCK)

David (Camp Camp)

Cliffjumper (Transformers: War for Cybertron)

Kel - JOHNNY YOUNG BOSCH

Also Voiced:

Yu Narukami (Persona 4)

Vash the Stampede (Trigun)

Hajime Hinata (Danganronpa 2)

Ichigo Kurosaki (Bleach)

Izaya Orihara (Durarara)

Aubrey - MAE WHITMAN

Also Voiced:

Katara (Avatar: The Last Airbender)

Amity Blight (The Owl House)

Tinker Bell (Tinker Bell series)

Yuffie Kisaragi (Kingdom Hearts)

Batgirl (DC Super Hero Girls)

Hero - KYLE HEBERT

Also Voiced:

Son Gohan (Dragon Ball)

Fatgum (My Hero Academia)

Kaito Momota (Danganronpa V3)

Miles Edgeworth (Ace Attorney)

Kamina (Gurren Lagann)

Basil - JUSTIN BRINER

Also Voiced:

Izuku Midoriya/Deku (My Hero Academia)

Ryota Mitarai (Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope’s Peak Academy)

Clanne (Fire Emblem Engage)

Alfonso San Valiante (Garo)

Mikaela Hyakuya (Seraph of the End)

Mari - AMANDA WINN LEE

Also Voiced:

Yukiko Amagi (Persona 4)

Rei Ayanami (Neon Genesis Evangelion)

Magnolia Arch (Bravely Second: End Layer)

Yoshino Haruzawa (Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor Overclocked)

Heather Mason (Silent Hill HD Collection)

Kim/Berly - ERIKA LINDBECK

Also Voiced: 

Futaba Sakura (Persona 5)

Celica (Fire Emblem)

Milady (Soul Hackers 2)

Cheelai (Dragon Ball)

Jessie (Final Fantasy 7 Remake)

Vance/Van - CRAWFORD WILSON

Also Voiced:

Beat (The World Ends With You)

Jet (Avatar: The Last Airbender)

Sagi (Baten Kaitos Original)

Robin/Dick Grayson (Batman: The Brave and the Bold)

Angel - GRIFFIN BURNS

Also Voiced:

Tartaglia/Childe (Genshin Impact)

Cyril (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)

Kaito Kid (Detective Conan)

Doppio (Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind)

Muichiro Tokito (Demon Slayer)

Mikal/Mikhael/The Maverick - ARIN HANSON

Also Voiced:

Snaggleback (The Owl House)

X (Omega Strikers)

Scott (Monster Prom)

Gateux (Mighty Magiswords)

Mancubus Bloodtooth (Borderlands 3)

Charlene - ASHELY BISKI

Also Voiced:

Layla (Genshin Impact)

Minato Shishiuchi (PuraOre! Pride of Orange)

Amy (Project “Gemini”)

Juliet (The Nutty Boy)

Captain Spaceboy - YURI LOWENTHAL

Also Voiced: 

Sasuke Uchiha (Naruto)

Yosuke Hanamura (Persona 4)

Suzaku Kururugi (Code Geass)

Marth (Fire Emblem)

Peter Parker/Spider-Man (multiple)

Pluto - PATRICK SEITZ (who else?)

Also Voiced:

Dio Brando (Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure)

Scorpion (Mortal Kombat)

Franky (One Piece)

Endeavour (My Hero Academia)

Ragna the Bloodegdge (Blazblue series)

Sweetheart - ASHLEY TISDALE

Also Voiced:

Candace Flynn (Phineas and Ferb)

Stealth Elf (Skylanders)

Sabrina Spellman (Sabrina: The Teenage Witch)

Camille Leon (Kim Possible)

Mr Jawsum - SUNGWON CHO

Also Voiced:

Kage (Ousama Ranking)

Tesso (Lost Judgement)

Vaseraga (Granblue Fantasy Versus)

Mustard (Pokemon: Twilight Wings)

Holst Sigeswald Goneril (Fire Emblem: Three Hopes)

Hungry Humphrey - IAN SINCLAIR

Also Voiced:

Brook (One Piece)

Whis (Dragon Ball)

Dandy (Space Dandy)

Yomotsu Hirasaka (Future Diary)

Mezo Shoji/Tentacole (My Hero Academia)

Molly - NATALIE HOOVER

Also Voiced:

Sonia Nevermind (Danganronpa 2)

Tomoyo Daidouji (Cardcaptor Sakura)

Yamada (New Game!)

Elizabetta X (Welcome to Demon School Iruma-kun)

Eru Aharen (Aharen is Indecipherable)

Marina - DINA SHERMAN

Also Voiced: 

Yachiru Kusajishi (Bleach)

Diona (Genshin Impact)

Ara (Elsword)

Ayame Oguni (Rurouni Kenshin)

Carbine (Biker Mice from Mars)

Medusa - XANTHE HUYNH

Also Voiced:

Haru Okumura (Persona 5)

Marianne Von Edmund (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)

Ui Hirasawa (K-On)

Hanayo Koizumi (Love Live)

Kanon Tachibana (NEO: The World Ends With You)

Doughie- JESSICA DICOCO

Also Voiced:

Flame Princess (Adventure Time)

Lynn Loud/Lucy Loud (The Loud House)

Giffany (Gravity Falls)

Turner (Craig of the Creek)

Yukika Saegusa (Fate/Stay Night)

Biscuit - RICO FAJARDO

Also Voiced: 

Mirio Togata/Lemillion (My Hero Academia)

Daryun (The Heroic Legend of Arslan)

Kyosuke Munakata (Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope’s Peak Academy)

Leon Luis (Garo)

Fu (Dragon Ball)

[historyhermann]

My Dad the Bounty Hunter Review

My Dad the Bounty Hunter is a coming-of-age animated sci-fi adventure series by Everett Downing Jr. and Patrick Harpin. Both have worked in the animation industry for many years, often as storyboarders or writers. However, this is their first series they have created on their own. This review will have spoilers.

Reprinted from Pop Culture Maniacs and Wayback Machine. This was the twenty-fourth article I wrote for Pop Culture Maniacs. This post was originally published on February 14, 2023.

This animated series centers on the story of Terry (voiced by Laz Alonso), a Black father who has a secret job: he is a bounty hunter named Sabo Bok. One day, his children, annoyed by his constant disappearances, stowaway in his flying car, and find themselves in a spaceship. Terry is forced to care for his precocious daughter Lisa (voiced by Priah Ferguson), and his nerdy, but anxious, son Sean (voiced by Jecobi Swain). All the while he faces his former business partner, Gorlox (voiced by Rob Riggle), and the Conglomerate, represented by The Fixer (voiced by Jim Rash) who is a bit like Agent Smith in the Matrix franchise.

Personally, I was not planning on watching this series, and knew even less about it, as no one has even bothered to create a Wikipedia page for it! In an effort to watch more shows made by Black creators, I decided to give this series a chance, and I was impressed by what I watched. The voice actors and animation was top notch, as is the music selection.

In some ways, My Dad the Bounty Hunter felt familiar. That's because voice actors like Yvette Nicole Brown, Kari Wahlgen, Yvonne Orji, Christian Lanz, Keith Ferguson, Andrew Morgado, and SungWon Cho, who voice Krs, Lootbat, Tess and other assorted characters in this series, are all well-known voice actors. They are known for their roles in The Ghost and Molly McGee, Velma, Fairfax, Elena of Avalor, Victor and Valentino, Craig of the Creek, High Guardian Spice, Gen:Lock, and The Cuphead Show.

Furthermore, the plot line of this series reminded me, in more ways than one, of episodes of Dogs in Space and Cleopatra in Space, which share some of the same voice actors. It even made me think of the first season of Star Wars: The Bad Batch, when Omega and the Bad Batch are on the run from various bounty hunters who want to kill or capture Omega.

Since the series is for all ages, there rarely blood spilled, just some laser battles, fights, and the like. Sure, no one is invincible, but also, no one gets seriously hurt, apart from Terry crash-landing on a planet and some scuffles. There aren't assassinations on the scale of the Immediate Murder Professionals in Helluva Boss or mass murder akin to the season one finale of Invincible.

All in all, I found My Dad the Bounty Hunter a fun watch. Even so, I would have preferred, just as I did with Season 2 of The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder, for 1-2 episodes to air every week, rather than all the episodes dropping at once on February 9th. That would allow for more time to take in what is happening in each episode. On the other hand, the series almost seemed to be designed for a binge, since a lot happens in a short period of time, assisted by music and fast-pacing. The series was undoubtedly affected by the fact that, reportedly, 99% of it was produced "at-home" because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

There was nothing to dislike when it comes to the show's cast. This is despite the fact that this is Laz Alonso's first major voice role, while Jecobi Swain and Priah Ferguson are new to voice acting. They only voice characters in Hamster & Gretel and Firebuds. The same can be said for the more seasoned voice actors, including, apart from those I mentioned earlier, Jamie Chung (as Vax) and Maddie Taylor (as Torga). There are other new voice actors such as Leslie Uggams (as Grandma), Everett Downing Jr. (as Bogdog), and Devin Bright (as Player 2). This gives the series life and makes the characters much more relatable.

Just as The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder is likely to garner a Black audience, the same is the case for My Dad the Bounty Hunter. It is designed for families, especially, like many other all-ages series currently out there. In addition, characters like Lisa, who is sassy and intelligent, may become beloved. Some might even connect to the fact that she organized a gambling den at her local school and held high-stakes poker games. She is like Maya in The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder, in that she when she gets passionate and determined, no one can stop her. In fact, Lisa becomes skilled with a sword, and plays a vital role, especially when helping her dad out of some tough situations, as does her brother Sean.

As I've said in other reviews, 3-D animation is not always my favorite. For instance, I think the Tales of Arcadia can be a bit hard to watch at times due to the animation style. However, the animation is done very well in this series. It is as strong as the flowing animation in D4DJ. Computer generated images can be good if they are animated with a distinct style, but traditional, 2-D animation, is just as good. The series was supposed to be 2-D originally, but it cost less to do 3-D, as they didn't have to build sets, while flashback scenes were 2-D, which separated "the present from the past" as Harpin noted.

Due to the fact that My Dad the Bounty Hunter is only 10 episodes, there isn't much time for lore, or even exploration of everyone's backstory. There's some backstory given for Terry, Tess (Terry's wife), and a bit for Lisa, but that's it. Even so, this doesn't take away from some of the messages in the series, emphasizing the importance of family, togetherness, and overcoming obstacles. This creates a wholesome series which sticks with you, episode-to-episode.

This fades away when the story centers on brutal exploitation of the Chillas by the Conglomerate. These creatures are imprisoned and forced to mine minerals for no pay (i.e. as slaves), with the materials only used to make the Conglomerate that much richer. Unlike Qui-Jon Jinn, who only freed Anakin from slavery on Tatooine, Lisa, with the help of Vax and her comrades, frees all of them. She ultimately convinces her dad, Terry, to side with her, once he realizes he is doing the wrong thing.

Watching My Dad the Bounty Hunter made me think of the exploitation of the worms in Futurama, especially exemplified by Slurms MacKenzie, who caused the caves to collapse, when he parties one last time. There are similarities to the Ewoks in Return of the Jedi in more ways than one, or rescue missions in Star Wars Rebels and Star Wars: The Bad Batch, which ends up freeing those imprisoned, often by the Galactic Empire, even if it puts their lives in jeopardy.

The season one finale of My Dad the Bounty Hunter leaves the door open for more seasons. It remains to be seen if Netflix will go that route, or whether it will treat it like City of Ghosts, a curiosity which executives deemed as needing no continuation. I remain hopeful that despite all the shenanigans going on at Netflix right now, they will renew the series.

After all, since the series is based on the dynamics within the family of co-creator Everett Downing Jr., there is likely more to explore in that realm. There are other plotlines which could be told in a second season. Perhaps Lisa will have a boyfriend, or even a girlfriend, and family conflicts may erupt, changing this from a happy family-friendly series into a more mature one.

Even so, it is likely, more than not, that a second season would continue to portray a loving Black family, and have additional sci-fi elements, which the creators said they incorporated into the series the best they could. When asked about another season, one of the co-creators said he would like to focus on Tess and "give her a shot in the captain’s seat."

Furthermore, since the first season of My Dad the Bounty Hunter was said to be a "love letter to animation, science fiction, and Black families" rolled into a wild action-comedy, it is possible that another season would go even further. There is a lot which can be done with animation, unlike any other medium, which makes it apt for storytelling. Of course, not every animated series is superb, and some are subpar. But, when animation is done well, it shines like nothing else. This series shines.

This series is unique, even on Netflix. While the streaming platform hosts shows like Princess Power, Ada Twist Scientist, Dogs in Space, Hilda, The Dragon Prince, Bee and Puppycat, and Dragon Age: Absolution, nothing even comes close to this series. The same can be said for the upcoming Agent Elvis and Mulligan.

The only comparison with this series is on other streaming platforms, specifically in the Star Wars franchise, a flagship grounding Disney+ in the streaming wars. Perhaps, My Dad the Bounty Hunter is being used to compete with those series. Although, if that is the case, it would be absurd, since the other series are much longer lived, and likely have more money behind them.

In the end, while My Dad the Bounty Hunter is not my favorite series ever, I thoroughly enjoyed watching it and I'd definitely recommend it, as it can be watched in its entirety during a morning, or an afternoon.

My Dad the Bounty Hunter is currently streaming on Netflix.

© 2023 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

[yourwolfmuzzle]

This episode was...not okay.

I have so many problems with a lot of thing in this episode, but i kinda dont want just rant there too much (i get back into tumblr to post my stuff and not for this?? :”D).

I rewatch this episode multiple times and i still thinking that this episode is “shock content for shock content (and fanservice because OH BOI WE NEED ONE TO MAKE VOLUME 10 HAPPENS) because people love edgy drama” and again im love edgy dark bloody stuff but this was mine “hello wtf and why”. I love my dark stories and i love when characters falls for one reason and another. This is no about “never do this” its about “you can do better and not just shock stuff”.

------

Listen. Its hard to trigger me with blood or with killing someone. But for a love of god, WHY not put AT LEAST “contains suicidal themes”? You didnt spoiler anything (especially since episode already did You already did stuff like this in volume 8 with Penny! EVEN if you dont think that because “oh she still alive and tree will bring her back” - Rudy is still pretty suicidal with this whole “i dont want to be me anymore” and she did “drink forever tea”.

------

No matter if the tree will make “a new person” (just hardcore reset, dead, that on paper sound unique ngl - but again, you can do this without suicide), reset her depression into “oh wow i want to fight again! C:” (no development into Ruby emotions which is very sad because it was one of the most interesting parts of this season for me) or bring her back to home (...gen:lock s2, when everybody basicly “dissolved themself” to safe the world, but there is “do this to yourself so you can fix one of the problems!”) or even evil!Rudy (which is..sound like a cool idea for me personally, but you can do this without commit “tea party” u know?) or EVEN Summer Rose transformation (...YEAH UH THANK NO?) - this whole episode left a bad taste in my mouth.

Was wishing to see how Rudy can “fall so low and painfully and then get up slowly to keep fighting” or “run away from problems and everyone, reaching the lowest point, but stand up again”. By “falling so low” i didnt mean “metaphorical suicide for good thing” for fuck sake!

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Also pls can people stop use excuse “they are shocked!”, there was 20+ seconds after they got in Neo house and all they did was stand a little closer to her and watch her drink tea with NEO NEAR THEM. This is not the first time when “they was in shock” was using for argument. I dont even ask them to success to help Rudy, but they didnt even try to do something, and that make this whole episode even worst. (i have a small theory that in first drafts they were not in this scene or WAS but after Rudy “fall”. But because they want to make this dramatic, like OHH SHE DID THIS INFRON OF HER TEAM OHHHHH they decide to put them in the final script and didnt have time to polish this idea? Or they will use “bu-but this is animation error!” again?)

And i will not talk about Yang stuff, all this “she dont know/have hard time to real emotions” please did people sleep volume 4 with volume 3 ending? You tell me that after she was in depression she didnt “tried to compare” why Rudy didnt talk to her?

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Do u just love, when you think antagonist, who in series for pretty long time (even if we will not count volumes, whe she was “dead”) who was just assistant for other bad guys, finally will be main villain...only to find out that ACTUALLY she is not main evil girl - but this brand new character who is TWISTED VILLAIN? I know, there is still a chance that evil!Rudy can happens and she will be kinda main “bad guy” for final episodes but...yeah. I didnt think they will have “gray morally character” because they have REALLY hard time to write one like this

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I guess the only thing i did like-like is “the fanservice” with characters, who i love to see again but its impossible because...they dead or in real world (or they can be there, but not because Neo semblance, but this is absolutely different script...), or characters who dont even have maya models. Like...i will not lie, okay? I lost my SHIT when i saw spoilers because OHOHOH ROMAN OHOHOH PYRRHA OHOHOH CLOVER AND IRONWOOD AND A LITTLE BIT OZPIN (i know we already saw his maya model, but he was active only in openings). Like good for uuuu using characters who is not longer there to make fanservice (even know...there is no reasons for Lionheart and Clover to be there outside of...symbolism maybe? Also NOOO dont transform Clover into Qrow, whyyyyy pain again). Wish that what Ironwood said was something, that main cast finally (or writers) analyse more, because rn i feel like its will be “Oh its was Neo manipulate Rudy AND Ironwood was a baaad guy, so who cares?”. Like the fact that Rudy shout at Little and then was aggressive with Neo-Roman. Absolutely love the beginning of the scene where Rudy “Im sorry, i dont want to be me anymore” and Curious Cat starts to calm her down. For a seconds i was hoping there will be calming scene after such a breakdown. Something soft. But oh well, only in my dreams.

[leviticus101st]

My Live Tweet thread of Gen:Lock

(I copy and pasted a Twitter Thread of my reaction to Gen:Lock. I'm more active on Twitter, so if ya want to see more from me, my @ is LeviJones101st)

I don't usually do this, but I decided to live tweet my watch through of Gen:Lock.

Let's see if this shit show was worth all the workplace abuse and fucking over of the Nomad of Nowhere.

Spoilers: I believe the answer is gonna be no.

Okay. Starting out and this is more of a small thing, but I've gotten really sick of Sci fi settings that always like showing off how super advanced they are by showing technology that does not look like it'd be used.

Like Dave and his girlfriend decided to take leave to visit his mom with……some kind of physical hologram?

Why? Why do this instead of just physically going there?

My nitpicking aside. This opener is actually really solid, establishing this mysterious threat that I totally didn't spoil myself on and making the main hero look likable.

"How did it get so close?!" Lady. If nome of you noticed that thing, ya'll would have fallen apart even if this Union thing wasn't around.

Okay, this opening episode was actually pretty good.

And….wooow that Theme Song does not match this kind of show. It's apparently a licensed song, which is just baffling to me.

They forced people from their other projects to rush their work on this show, they had a moral line not to force a rush job from Jeff and Casey Williams?

I mean, I'm happy for them not being forced to crunch out or anything, I just find it funny that's where they draw the line.

I like that Chase is actually taking all of this very well.

It's actually quite nice.

OH MY GOD! THEY SAID THE THANG! can I go home now?

Doc….I think they're meeting their future regardless……I mean the future is the time that isn't now…….so technically they'll never meet it.

Also, I do believe that people should grieve however they can……but Miranda is kind of an asshole. At least the lady in MoU said 'good to say ya again'

I actually really love Weller. He is just so casual about everything and I love it.

I'm actually getting into this show. It is a bit slow though, ESPECIALLY for an 8 episode season.

"Making soldiers out of children!" Lady. These are grown ass adults. We're these guys meant to be like teenagers originally?

WELLER! JUST TELL THEM THE SPY WASN'T COMPATIBLE!

Weller's speech about "making a difference" is actually quite nice.

I'm already halfway through S1 and while it's been slow going, I'm actually really enjoying myself so far.

Hey. They're saying the RWBY thing.

This Nemesis thing is actually pretty cool.

And the action is actually pretty solid.

Being in a digital space where you control the mech and can affect the mind and personality of the mech pilot is actually a very interesting concept.

I'm sure somewhere this idea was done before, but this is an interesting concept.

The Chase clone twist is actually very compelling.

"Your Deus Ex Machina!"

That's actually a very clever double meaning with the phrase, kudos.

It took us til the end of the season, but we finally got the genlocks in their promoted designs.

The designs do clash with the shows visual aesthetic, but they are actually cool.

Okay. Overall, this first season was actually pretty good.

I'll be watching the second season tommorow, since it's like 10:00 where I live and i have a cavity filling tommorow.

So if what I heard about Season 2 is true, ill be in for a double whammy of pain.

Got a cavity filling and I can't feel the left side of my mouth.

Sounds like the perfect condition to watch Gen:Lock S2. I might be out of it, so maybe there won't be much live tweeting.

Hopefully, people were just overexaggerating how bad it is and it's just okay at worst.

Though I doubt it given what I've heard.

Okay this theme song matches the show better……but honestly this one just sucks.

And immediately it's clear that it's a different person writing for the show.

"Kazu is just whining" no, he’s not. You're just being childish Chase.

Aside from some awkwardness with the new creative team, this first episode was actually pretty solid.

Are they…….are they trying to make the Union look like they were in the right?????¿

Also, a good showcase of why you can't just stretch something into a 16:9 screen format

The Union:

Did the priest dude just use a deadass evil switch.

Wow, they really are tying to present this as a grey on grey conflict, aren't they?

Oh my lord they are.

OH WOELW! THAT SEX SCENE JUST CAME OUT OF NOWHERE!

It was a literal sex scene jumpscare.

Hmmmmmmm. I wonder if the Union, the guys who committed mass Terrorist actions, make machines that are over the topply evil, and took over the world, are the good guys.

Yasamin is the only character making sense in this damn show.

"They were so peaceful!" NO THEY WEREN'T! WE SAW GROUPS OF PEOPLE COMMITING SUICIDE! THERE IS NO RELIGION ON THE PLANET THAT ENDORSES IT!

HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN FROM A RELIGION FUSION DANCE ANYWAY?!

Cammie girl, lass, my sister in christ….YOU LITERALLY CHANGED YOUR PERSONALITY! WHY CAN'T KAZU DO THE SAME!

Whose idea was it to throw in all the sex stuff?????? It's not gritty or gross or whatever, IT'S JUST BIZARRE!

Also, why did nobody mention this climate crisis in Season 1?

Also, are they trying to make the Union look like a cult, because that's what it looks like to me.

This shallow samurai shit made to crap on old school anime is actually crapping on bad modern anime.

No seriously, this roboshogun stuff makes me cringe so hard.

It's trying to mock old mecha anime like Gundam and the like, but instead it's giving me the vibe of a bad high-school anime that came out in the early 2010's.

Also, this might just be a me thing, but this attempt to jump around the timeline is really annoying. Just transition to one story and say their happening at the same time, yesh.

Toxic masculinity stuff. I am totally tapped out on this.

Another JumpSex. That's my new nickname for it.

AND WHY IS THIS BEING SHOW WITH INTERCUTS TO CHASE'S ACTUALLY INTERESTING STUFF.

"See how the Polity wars!" I do see……it is significantly better than how you guys do it

Wow…..Cammie is kind of a brat.

Wow. This making the polity bad shit is annoying.

And of course……Kazu's dead.

Who the fuck kills off a character after their arc just finished?!

Like……..narratively what does this accomplish????? And no 'showing the hardship of war' is not a good reason.

All this 'grey on grey morality ' shit has done is make me hate all the characters.

Except for Kazu and Yasamin…….and they killed the former. And the latter I only like because she is the only one calling out everyone's bullshit.

And now I have to listen to Marin try and justify fascism.

MAYBE TURN OFF THE SCREAMING HEADS WHEN PRESENTING YOUR SELL'S PITCH!

'Like my old one, but different' I want to throw a dictionary at your head.

This Chase corruption plot is actually cool and interesting, a shame it's not the actual focus of this damn season.

They're trying way too hard to portray the 'Flow' as a good thing.

"Man, this roboshogun thing is so graphic!"

Why are you people affected by a 2D cartoon with blood in it when you've seen a bunch of corpses.

Also, mandatory joke about how 3D characters see live action shows and that kinda thing.

Ew……just ew.

Marin is trying to stop a cult from ruling the world and everyone is trying to stop her 'evul' plan.

I hate well intentioned extremists Union. I hate it so much.

I love mechanic dude and I can never remember his name.

I have to say the LowTierGod cinematic universe is turning out to be extremely lame so far.

I praised RWBY Vol9 when It did this thing, but I think this show makes that stuff worst in hindsight.

Also, why is Cammie's model look so weird????

Does…..typo

WAITAMINUTE! YOU MEAN THE EVIL CULT WHO TRIES TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD IS EVIL?!

God, the ceo mech is so ugly

I haven't mentioned this, but man this show is so much uglier now

I actually really like the Chase plot, it's just a shame that it's buried in so much crap.

Oh my god, the last episode, I'm almost done here.

I'm all burnt out on this show. I'm just gonna point out what's funny from now.

YOU SHOULD KILL YOURSELF NOW!-The Ultimate Message of Gen:Lock

I love this dumb fucking ai thing so much.

God, at times the dialogue is so fucking bad.

God, I hate Sinclair so bad.

Also, the body horror is so lame.

Lmao! This beast thing was made out to be so big and might and yet it's so small next to the skyscrapers.

That's it? That's the climax???????????? WHAT?!

THAT'S THE CLIMAX?! THAT WAS SO ANTI CLIMATIC WHAT THE HELL!

Also, Genlock's message…..it's proud theme?!

What did Chase's sister do to get to New York exactly????

I'm gonna fucking scream.

That's it? THAT'S IT?!

Fuck this 2nd season!

Fuck the higher ups for abusing the staff!

Fuck the pornbots who keep liking this thread!

IM DONE!

I did this whole ass thread and I appreciate absolutely none of it.

On the plus side, I can feel the left side of my face again….mostly.

[autisticblueteam]

[maxiemumdamage]

I just wanna say right now that the animation and lighting for this season looks beautiful. The extra time RT had to animate really shows!

[petrichorpearl]

[implodingcacti]

here you go shogun sniper fans, the only part of this episode i can share that's both that good good shit and also able to be posted on tumblr with a tag that won't blast my account into the void

[dontexpecttomakesense]

Cammie being alive doesn't even fix anything because they made such a big deal about her death, her suicide, they even put the message about reaching out to people and those who you think they are in need of help.

And now turns out she's not even dead.

Her death wasn't meaningful in a thematic sense, it was just some bait-and-switch made for shock and drama.

[dynared]

Sex is a part of the human experience. If a rating increase allows Gen:Lock to explore that (especially in the episode *about* boundaries [especially especially in a show where the human body is literally being phased out of existence]) it is not inherently a bad thing. In fact I appreciate the attention it draws to those ideas. Gen:Lock, the name of the show, isn't about the mechs. It's about mind-share. It's about connection. Sex is 100% a part of that.

HBO often gets a bad rap as the “Home Boobs Office” with naysayers claiming the sex in its shows is mostly for shock value. 9 times out of 10, I disagree heavily since it shows either a plot or thematic advancement in the act and people’s interpretations of it.

This is that 1 time out of 10. There is no point, nothing in the previous season that made this kind of content seem anything less than jarring, and no, it doesn’t accomplish anything. It’s a shock tactic designed to show how much more “mature” and “adult” this season supposedly is.

Even if there was a way to make it work, the animation was not up to the task anyway. So showing full blown sex with your lowest bidder animation isn’t doing the scene any favors.

I’ve repeatedly railed against mecha shows that don’t use their mecha or seem disgusted with the concept, so I won’t dig up that argument again. Unless you want to see how the Voltron franchise is doing (the answer is “not well”).

[xaq-the-aereon]

I think I’m done with Gen:LOCK.

When this show first started, I absolutely LOVED the concept, and Rooster Teeth did a great job with it.

Then they handed it over to HBO, and while the first 3 episodes were good...well, the 4th kinda hurt, but this last one just plain fucked me up.

I don’t give a damn if I’m dropping major spoilers here, I have to get this off my chest.

TW: Suicide

SPOILERS WILL BE UNMARKED FROM THIS POINT ON, SO **DO NOT** CLICK THE READ-MORE IF YOU DON’T WANT A MAJOR CHARACTER DEATH SPOILED.

FINAL WARNING. SPOILERS IN THREE...

TWO...

ONE.

Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

There is no arguing that Cammie is... was... my favorite character in all of Gen:LOCK. Which makes it royally piss me off that Season 2 abused her so badly. She lost her entire family, including her younger siblings, and finally found a new life, a new family, with the GL team.

And then they let their growing anger and frustration over the war ground out on her. Yaz yelling at her in Vegas, Chase snapping at her and smacking a tray of (virtual) cookies she made for him out of her hands...learning that the cause they’d been fighting for was a lie...

And then the man who had taken the role of Older Brother in her life, Kazu, gets ganked by a lucky shot from a Nemesis. No glorious death in combat, no sacrificing himself to save another, just SHANK, dead.

The writers didn’t just break her, they destroyed her, to the point that the glimpses of the Union capital, Babylon, that she’d gotten from mind-sharing with Yaz came off as a solution to her problems...in the form of Ascension, the Union Omnifaith’s suicide ritual wherein they allow the “Flow,” the nanotech, to consume them at the atomic level.

So she abandons the GL team, leaves the people who were supposed to be her friends, catches a Union transport to Babylon, and when she is told she’s not ready to Ascend just yet...she performs the rite herself. And this is where it fucked me up. Her last memories are of her biological family, and with a last tear, she’s just...gone. No pain, no suffering, just...release. They portrayed her taking her own life as if it were a thing of beauty.

And then they have the nerve to follow that scene up with a message about the Suicide Hotline, as if they didn’t just flat-out glorify Cammie taking her own life and make it look like it was the right choice.

I don’t think I can watch this show anymore after that. Not only did they kill the best character in the show, they crushed her soul so badly beforehand that they made her committing suicide into nothing short of a mercy kill.

Just thinking about it makes me want to vomit.

[19-bellwether]

Shout out to the intern at RT that had to model a dick

[vesperlord]

gen: LOCK season 2 wouldn't feel so frustrating to me if I didn't like so many of the concepts and the ideas it has. There is something good, buried among this uneven, rushed, janky, grimdark mess we've gotten with this first half.

There are ways to gray the morality of the fairly black and white setup we got in the first season, but retcons, character assassinations, and just making everyone into an asshole is not the most compelling way to do so. Marin, for example. I love characters who cross lines and make hard decisions and have to reconcile with that. But that does not feel like what they're doing with her. It just comes across like her seeing the "don't do war crimes" line and gleefully jumping over it. This wouldn't be as much of an issue if it was how she was presented before but it isn't. There has been no reconciling.

There are ways to mature the show beyond upping the sex and gore. Those two things wouldn't be an issue necessarily if it didn't feel like such a tryhard attempt to go "oh, look at us, we're AdultTM". I get what they were trying to do with the two sex scenes- for the Miranda one, she's detached and desensitized, and can't find pleasure in things she used to anymore, becoming increasingly focused on the war and caring about little else. We didn't need a graphic sex scene with porn-worthy dialogue to convey that, and it's not like we as an audience have anything to contrast it with, we have basically nothing of Miranda enjoying herself (sexually or otherwise) in previous episodes. Even the scene with Chase's family feels like a stretch (though I haven't rewatched season 1 since it came out).

The scene with Kazu and Val has a bit more weight and is more justified as a sex scene, with Kazu exploring his identity, though I must confess I didn't totally get the angle they were going with, I got that it had to do with him learning to be vulnerable but I couldn't tell if they were trying to lean more into gender or sexuality, or both? (I'm a straight cis man with little experience in these matters, I'll admit, so it's quite likely stuff flew over my head here) However it's all immediately undercut by killing Kazu at the end. So many people, especially queer people, have said it before and better, but Bury Your Gays is a horrendous trope and it can fuck right off, not to mention it feels like a way to just shock the audience rather than feeling earned or compelling. And sure, people die randomly, horrifically, and tragically all the time in real life, especially in war, and this can work, but it's not always compelling storytelling and we didn't need a main character death to get that point across. And if Kazu is brought back, that could end up being even more detrimental to the story. If it's a fakeout and he recovers, well, the scene was framed as a death so the show just up and lied to the audience and manipulated our emotions in a way that isn't fun or interesting. If they restore him from a backup or something, then that'll probably undo all his character development from this episode and that'll either be ignored or have to be redone, and I really cannot see a situation where this works.

There are ways to dent or even break the bonds of a found family (and personally I like bringing them back stronger as part of the conflict resolution) but making it seem like everyone hates each other out of the blue is not interesting, especially with the strong bond the team developed in Season 1.

There are ways to comment on and explore issues like climate change, using the internet for escapism, the horrors of war, religious fanaticism, capitalism, transhumanism, gender and sexuality, and I'm sure there are ways that you could comment on all of these effectively within an eight episode season of a tv show.

gen:LOCK season 2 just isn't.

[probably-chase]

Hm... I’m all for shows taking a bit of a darker turn or a more mature turn, but 3 episodes into this new season and so far, it’s... Not the best, especially with them really wanting to push the fact it’s for mature audiences now. You can really feel where HBO has taken control, and... While I do enjoy seeing them give us a bit of back story into everything, I’m not liking the general direction so far.

It’s tragic because I have been so excited to get a season 2, but it has not been... Amazing so far. It has its moments, and I honestly have to say I’ve enjoyed the first episode the most. Every thing after just feels... Wrong. I’m going to continue to watch to see how it goes, see if it does something that makes it feel worth it again, but I am not going to hold my breath.

There are trying a lot of things, and have retconned some things (like Yaz’s minimal backstory we got in season 1), and so far none of it has been amazing. It’s just been... Confusing.

I do hope it gets better - but I really don’t know how they’re going to fix any of this.