What Show are you currently watching?

That 100% sounds like a shounen anime! I'll have to check it out sometime!

--- Double Post Merged, Feb 10, 2021, Original Post Date: Feb 10, 2021 ---

All along the watchtower...

 

Following in @Mando LXXXV's footsteps...



Clark and Lois have two twin 14 year old sons, Jonathan and Jordan. Jonathan is older, more athletic, and more popular. Jordan is shier and is dealing with severe anxiety issues. After tragedy strikes the Kent family, the four end up back in Smallville, where things seem to be taking a dive for the worse. Clark must now decide whether he can put his family first when they need him, or if new dangers in the world need Superman more.

I've only watched the first of the two episodes, given I have a test in the morning and I still need to do some last minute cramming...and early morning cramming...(yeah yeah this was a bad idea), but I liked the episode!

The first episode really sells itself as the middle-ground between Man of Steel, CW stuff, and classical Superman in both tone and aesthetics, and I really hope they can keep it up for the whole season.

Superman & Lois also continues the trend in modern media of what I've heard called the "Daddening." This is when characters we know and love are aged up and now have to deal with issues that they didn't before, such as: parenthood without time-travel shenanigans, divorce, mid-life crises, work-family-superhero balance, keeping their child(ren) safe, esoteric thoughts about legacy and what they've accomplished on this earth, etc.* Stuff that younger more novice protagonists don't really have to do.
This isn't the first time the CW has done this with their superheroes since Black Lightning did it first on this network, and it's too soon to see if they did it better. But I enjoyed it a lot.





(These are the big examples, but smaller ones such as Iron Man's arc in Endgame and the Han, Luke, and Leia's role in the ST also counts IMO.)



The acting was spot-on all around, with Tyler's acting carrying the show in a perfect way. Fans of Superman who don't like the Snyder movies should be happy with this interpretation.
The boys actually look like teenagers this time around, although late teens as opposed to the young teens they're supposed to be, and are properly awkward. But the two act like brothers. If one is a fan of Stormlight Archive, it's not hard to overlay Adolin and Rerarin's relationship on top of this one (although Renarin isn't a surly teenager like Jordan is).
I'll also admit that Jordan's name choice weirded me out. Jonathan is the go-to for a son of Clark, and is indeed the name of Clark's son in the comics. But Christopher has also been used, and Connor is Superboy's name, which I think could also have been fine. The point is, they went for the similar twin naming when I feel like it would have been more natural to use a previously established name from the comics. But overall this is a nitpick.

There wasn't a lot of action in this first episode, and I'm totally fine with that. I'd rather have a few well-done action scenes than multiple bad ones.

This is all a bit of a ramble because I need to get to bed and because I don't feel like I can adequately judge this show off of one episode, especially the pilot. Tomorrow I may change my mind. In a few weeks the show might go down hill. We'll have to wait and see.

Lastly, Jonathan Kent looks a little like YouTuber Daniel Greene, and I can't help but laugh at that. (It's the hair style and color.)

As a probably very controversial aside:
There was one comment that I loved and one thing that I worry about going forward. When the twins find out Clark's secret, Jordan freaks out about how Clark has been keeping things from them and gaslighting the boys, making Jordan feel even more of an outsider than he already does. Lois immediately snipes back retorting that Jordan's anxiety and mental battles don't have to do with Clark's kept secret or his Kryptonian heritage. AND SHE'S RIGHT. The whole "hurt people hurt people" or "I'm damaged and can only damage others" can only go so far. I've seen and definitely heard about people using their own trauma as bludgeons to hurt others, and I was very pleased when Lois shut that down here.

The other issue I worry about is with Jonathan. I'll put it in spoilers below, since I don't want to spoil everything, but I'm pretty sure it's a minor thing at best going forward.

Spoiler: Minor Superman & Lois Spoilers

Jonathan plays the role of "My Brother's Keeper" throughout this episode, trying to cheer Jordan up, making sure his brother takes his medicine (in a very sardonic reminder), acting as a wingman, and even making sure his brother is okay at an underage drinking party. And then at the end, Jordan is the one with superpowers. This isn't uncommon, but I do fear that the show will use this to drive a wedge in the two's relationship - that Jonathan will be jealous of Jordan because now Jordan has all the powers and special attention, and can connect to their dad in a way Jonathan can't. That it'll be a Cain and Abel story. The rise of a new Lex Luthor, but one who Jonathan would justify being taken down due to Jordan's anxiety and neuro-divergent stuff.

I wouldn't worry too much about this either, but this is the CW we're talking about. As much as I love their shows, they're nothing if not trope heavy and predictable.

*I think the theory is that the main audience who follows these characters are now older and nearing middle age themselves, so the content now needs to reflect that.

 

I'll probably finish my review of Superman & Lois, but today I watched the first two episodes of Power Rangers Dino Fury. The show has barely begun, so all of my thoughts may change in time.



Overall I liked it! The characters are pretty interesting so far: Zayto (Red) is the last of his kind and has been frozen since the age of the dinosaurs, making him a bit of a foreigner to modern human customs, but his leadership abilities are solid, as is his wry humor. It's interesting, because Zayto has more of a reason to be the Stoic Red than the Megaforce Red Ranger apparently did, but he's also far more emotive. Ollie (Blue) is headstrong and (relatively) cynical, refusing to believe some of the more superstitious stuff that Amelia (Pink) does. The three have a solid dynamic. It's not new, but it's there.

The show's humor so far has been a very solid mix of childish, modern, and self-referential. There are fart jokes, applicable uses and talks about social media, and even some pretty meta stuff. For example, as the Mentor of the season was going over the Zords this episode, Amelia excitedly asked who named the Zords. The mentor and everyone else sort of went awkward and quiet for a moment, and then brushed the question aside. And since this takes place in the main timeline, Ollie and Amelia have an idea of what becoming a Ranger will have in store for them in terms of gadgets and upgrades and are open to the alien threat they're facing.

The show also isn't as preachy as other seasons have been...at least yet. The theme this episode was being on the same page/listening to the warnings of others, but it was never really in your face.

We haven't met the rest of the team yet, but I'm excited to see how and when we do.

The main downside to the show so far is how weak the voiceover for the morphed sequences are. Everyone sounds so...unhurried. They don't sound flat, but they don't sound like they're in a fight either. It's not the worst, but it's also far from the best.

Overall, Dino Fury is shaping up to be a solid win for Hasbro. The cast hasn't grabbed me in the same way my favorite seasons have, but they haven't lost me yet either. But the show has a long road ahead, so let's see what directions it takes.