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Reviews
Saenai hiroin no sodatekata (2015)
A masterclass in anime tropes
As the fledgling game development team works to assemble itself and the dating sim they are creating, the in-universe characters discuss the many tropes the game is following, trying not to overuse, or outright violating. At the same time the viewer gets to enjoy the characters paralleling those tropes in their own lives. The show occasionally leans on or breaks the fourth wall and lampshades what it's doing as part of its thorough audit of popular anime tropes.
Expect to laugh all the way through Saekano, and to interrupt your own linear watching by replaying scenes multiple times, so as to fully enjoy the layer cake of entertainment.
Note that episode zero serves as an out-of sequence introduction to all the characters' fully developed personalities and relationships - couched, of course, as an in-story discussion of how to best introduce the characters in the game they're working on.
Do yourself a solid and be sure read the lengthy TVtropes page for this anime only after having fully watched it once, unspoiled. Spotting the many subtle references and jokes for yourself is a big part of the fun.
Brilliant work, through and through.
Stargate Origins (2018)
Shame on reviewers who didn't watch it through
All the whining reviews complaining about "all" the canon / continuity problems clearly didn't bother watching it, as most of these "issues" were explained, even if a bit deus ex.
All the whining reviews complaining about how low budget it looked... well DUH, it WAS low budget. It was a web series. It had none of the resources of the original, well-backed productions.
Honestly, keeping those facts in mind I was impressed with how much effort they put into plot continuity and hat tips to the original, including meeting a much younger Kasuf from the original movie and SG-1 fame, and explaining the linguistic history of naquadah. I suspect Eva was intended to be Braun, also a photographer.
Lots of tiny clever things that clearly whooshed over the heads of most reviewers (who cannot honestly be called watchers because they clearly didn't)
Canon was maintained in the end. The most egregious violation was powering the gate with a jump start from a jeep, but at least they had to move it by hand, implying insufficient power for normal operation.
Death Wish (2018)
Refreshingly good classical action entertainment
Every word of the plot point that someone was actually able to *legally *quickly buy a *late-model, *full-auto rifle from a *gun store in *Chicago went well beyond reasonable suspension of disbelief. Other than that, it had a lot of firearms realism. Well, not the dual wield either. Good movie overall. So nice to see something not jam packed with preaching.