I'm in episode 3 now, because I try to delay gratification.
My friend who had binged season 1 and 2 in 3 or 4 days told me he's disappointed. We both didn't quite like the turn in season 1 when mid season, they change it from tension to cheat mode (weapons to kill the tigers and such) and party all the time.
I did feel however that despite one or two rather "meh" episodes in the middle, season 1 was overall very strong.
I am also surprised to see how many reviews of the first 2 episodes so far complain that the show is "too slow", "too much talking" or "not enough action".
This may sound racist, but I assume those people are Americans or Western people? People who like the boring and generic superhero or action movies that are all going by the same cookie cutter pattern since 2011? I for one like this show because it is so Japanese. Not that I'd call myself an expert on Japan, I only spent a few months living there, but I feel most Japanese or Korean or Asian movies are often very dialogue-heavy and action is only used when it's really making sense! This is very different to US productions where action and CGI covers up that there IS no story or dialogue to speak of.
I thought it was actually good that the game was rather slow and not some blind killing. Even though we barely knew the adversaries, I felt the pain they must have felt when their team member (and creator of the game!) died.
Also, for those who don't know, Osmosis is when a liquid passes through the smallest cells to nourish a plant. One could see the whole game as a metaphor then where our heroes team has to pass through the enemy lines to flower their continuation of their journey, but they have to water it with the blood of others (the way it sadly has been the whole show).
People need to stop seeing shows like this as mindless, they aren't! It doesn't mean we have to overthink everything either, but I thought it's really good to have a more humanized enemy here, one that we could have even rooted for.
Heck, who knows...they killed his best friends in season 1, I wouldn't have been totally against it if our hero had died here and we would have seen the King's team from now on. Isn't it those unexpected surprises that make a show good?
All in all, I very much enjoyed the episode and thought it was plenty exciting and I didn't feel bored for a second.
My friend who had binged season 1 and 2 in 3 or 4 days told me he's disappointed. We both didn't quite like the turn in season 1 when mid season, they change it from tension to cheat mode (weapons to kill the tigers and such) and party all the time.
I did feel however that despite one or two rather "meh" episodes in the middle, season 1 was overall very strong.
I am also surprised to see how many reviews of the first 2 episodes so far complain that the show is "too slow", "too much talking" or "not enough action".
This may sound racist, but I assume those people are Americans or Western people? People who like the boring and generic superhero or action movies that are all going by the same cookie cutter pattern since 2011? I for one like this show because it is so Japanese. Not that I'd call myself an expert on Japan, I only spent a few months living there, but I feel most Japanese or Korean or Asian movies are often very dialogue-heavy and action is only used when it's really making sense! This is very different to US productions where action and CGI covers up that there IS no story or dialogue to speak of.
I thought it was actually good that the game was rather slow and not some blind killing. Even though we barely knew the adversaries, I felt the pain they must have felt when their team member (and creator of the game!) died.
Also, for those who don't know, Osmosis is when a liquid passes through the smallest cells to nourish a plant. One could see the whole game as a metaphor then where our heroes team has to pass through the enemy lines to flower their continuation of their journey, but they have to water it with the blood of others (the way it sadly has been the whole show).
People need to stop seeing shows like this as mindless, they aren't! It doesn't mean we have to overthink everything either, but I thought it's really good to have a more humanized enemy here, one that we could have even rooted for.
Heck, who knows...they killed his best friends in season 1, I wouldn't have been totally against it if our hero had died here and we would have seen the King's team from now on. Isn't it those unexpected surprises that make a show good?
All in all, I very much enjoyed the episode and thought it was plenty exciting and I didn't feel bored for a second.