dmshrmed

I enjoyed watching this for the most part, but it often felt like watered down Adventure Time fan fiction. There's a good chance that that's what Fionna and Cake is supposed to be, so I'm not going to be too harsh on it. I just didn't feel as much of a connection to it as I wish I did.

Adventure Time is one of my favorite, if not my favorite, animated shows. I remember seeing the first few commercials for it ages ago on Cartoon Network and honestly thinking that it looked stupid. But when I watched it, I realized just how wrong my perception had been. The show undisputedly had a soul, and was unlike anything I'd seen up to that point.

Fionna and Cake, however, seems to be lacking some of that soul and imagination. It's not totally without it by any means, but it isn't able to match Adventure Time. It also feels strangely depressing in a way that is hard to describe. It's like it knows that it's depressing, but doesn't want to admit it. Maybe that feeling is intentional, but I can't say it improved the experience for me.

I feel like I'm going to get a lot of hate for this, but it also needs to be said. There is almost nothing redeeming about this show. Nearly every single aspect of it is subpar.

I have never watched a live adaptation of an anime, so it makes me question just how incredibly awful other live adaptations must be for this to be considered a good one by so many.

I'm not saying that there's no passion or effort behind this show, but it really doesn't show. All of the fun, energy, and thoughtfulness present in the anime's visuals and Japanese voice acting is just no where to be found here. The visuals are cheap and amateurish, while the acting is stale and unconvincing.

Animation and live action are two equally great but very different mediums. They are both visual and auditory experiences, but the way to make each convincing is not the same process. Bridging the gap is no easy task, so I respect the attempt, but in the end, this show just doesn't work.

I didn't expect much better, considering the quality of some of the recent Disney Star Wars shows, but I'm still ultimately disappointed.

I feel like there was no heart behind this episode, like no one involved, aside from the cgi artists, actually cared about what they were working on here. The cinematography, costume work, pacing, writing, and editing, were all let downs.

Each shot was very unimpressive (especially compared to the concept art shown at the end). The quality of most of the alien costumes immediately distracted me from the story (I swear it's somehow significantly worse costume work than the original Star Wars, like Lucasfilm is pretending poor costume work is a stylistic choice, in order to cut costs). The grass pirate guy looked especially laughable. The pacing was erratic at best, making for an awkward experience. The writing, in terms of story, was questionable, as too many different side quests were thrust upon Mando too quickly (and that monster attack scene at the beginning felt poorly implemented, like Mando just needed a cool looking entrance, and this random scenario is what the writers came up with). The editing was really distracting throughout the episode, but especially in the monster attack scene.

The two Mando episodes embedded in The Book of Boba Fett were very good (the rest of The Book of Boba Fett was awful), so I was hoping that some of what made those so good would have carried over to the third season of The Mandalorian. Unfortunately, only the questionable alien costume work (the low point of those episodes) appears to be the only thing that made it to season 3 of Mando.

I am not convinced, yet, that this season will be a loser, but this was not a good start.