AXIS

Do you seek something that you have been yearning for or received due to a happy coincidence?

Was it a love that seizes you and takes hold, making it feel as if it is branded on your skin, muscles, and bones, leaving scars of betrayal or fondness? Or maybe you were a witness to a death that shows you it was for the grand scheme, that it wasn’t for nothing, to find out later that the pain and truth of that significant incident was, in fact, truly insignificant. Maybe, trying to find a life or reality that is further than yours, that is neither here nor there, alternating and rotating with intelligence that could help seek out this new meaning of profoundness. But how can we put this into words, this calculating thought?

Nevertheless, before I run away with my thoughts, this all boils down to one evening when Love, Death and Robots volume 4 was released, and only one thought sprouted at that point:

‘ I Love, Death & Robots You’

The highly anticipated Anthology series Love, Death and robots’ volume 4 came out on the 15th of May with volumes 1, 2 and 3 doing so well as people still talk about the strong contenders such as Jibaro (Volume 3) ICE (volume 2) and Zima Blue (volume 1) so there was always this expectation of whether volume 4 can exceed the opinions of the previous volumes

Let me go first and share what I thought about the volume, as I have a couple of favourites and not-so-favourites.

episodes that were to my liking:

–   Spider rose

–   400 boys

–   The screaming of the Tyrannosaur

–   How Zeke Got Religion

Episodes that are on the opposite side of the spectrum:

– close encounters

– The other large thing

I do not want this to cloud your judgment, so please go ahead and watch the show before we discuss.

…

Okay, you are back, let’s carry on. 400 Boys was another Robert Valley gem, which I enjoyed, drawing inspiration from the short story by the writer Marc Laidlaw. What threw me off was that the 400 boys were toddlers, so I had to read the actual short story, and a direct quote of description was:

     ‘They look seven or eight years old for all their size, and there is still baby pudge on their long, sweaty faces. Their eyes have a vicious shine like boys that age get when they are pulling the legs off a bug, laughing wildly but freaked and frightened by what they see their own hands are doing.’

even though that was the design and the outline of the 400 boys look an interesting take could have been to not make them toddlers but maybe that’s the was the whole point to create this spectacle that within all these teams of brothers and groups that they are perceived as these macho characters with names like slicker and slash gearing up on their high horses just to be crushed by toddlers but being the size of skyscrapers. Robert Valley sure knows how to keep it entertaining with his striking and sharp 2D animation style.

I do understand that some episodes do better than others and people seek sequels and prequels for episodes, but if we are going to do that, we might as well just make a show for them, right?

Another thought is whether there will be more sequels and prequels for those episodes that people like, then you must add other episodes with strong storylines, so it does not feel like they are filler episodes, as that’s what the atmosphere of this volume was. The good storylines seemed clouded with filler and just made you judge it as a whole volume, and not individual, whereas the previous volumes had no trouble separating individuality and unity.

Now, after watching all these episodes, I went down a Reddit thread spiral and was trying to understand and see what others thought, because where else are you going to find passionate individuals discoursing whether their opinion is above all. (Don’t worry, I am one of these individuals, so I can say this.)

The consensus was that volume 4 left disappointment and was not as moving, which I don’t wholeheartedly disagree with, as volumes 1,2 and 3 had this collection of episodes that had striking visuals, but to amplify these visuals, they had storylines that would be cemented in your brain and cause discourse between friend and foe. So, there was this high expectation of the newest volume to have this huge gusto effect, but the storylines were not as strong as they were in previous volumes. However, it is a show based on animation, we know that and understand that, so episodes such as How Zeke Got Religion have this gritty overlaying animation with warm tones to make you feel the camaraderie between the soldiers. For He Can Creep had similar animation to the mystery mansion puzzle game Blue Prince, and Spider Rose, being inspired by Schismatrix, the novel by Bruce Sterling and having themes of love and betrayal, due to Spider Rose’s vulnerability of wanting a connection, from having lost loved ones.

In my opinion, the best story lines in the volume, as you can see, they were well thought out, and so as a whole, for those episodes, you can think of them individually. That, to me, is what makes an episode a strong contender to be the best.

The first episode, being Can’t Stop, left some discourse on whether the episode should have been in the show. When I first read that, my initial thoughts were that’s a crass statement, so I submerged myself in the Reddit thread where a user goes and writes:

‘LDR is supposed to involve love, death and or robots. You know, like seasons 1 to 3. A music video, which is worse than the original clip, is not what LDR is.’

which I think I know what they are trying to say, meaning that the love is supposed to strike you in your heart, rip it apart, and then mend it back together. creating this rollercoaster of emotions. The death is supposed to shock you with vindication of victory or a knife of betrayal. And the robots are supposed to show you this other world. this world that is far from ours or close in proximity, whether in light years or in seconds. So, they are arguing that what is the love in watching the Red Hot Chilli Peppers perform. Where is the death and meaning in this puppet-style animation, probably drawing inspiration from Ben Hur, and robots? Where are my robots!?

However, I do have to disagree with this statement. Some people love the Red Hot Chilli Peppers. Others hate them, which is not a crime. The love is there, as this can strike up memories. These memories are for those who tried to attend these concerts, who listened to them on the radio and have posters on their wall. I do not need to say much. This is true for the point that I am trying to get across. So, I don’t think that they should have removed it, scrapped it, or whatever. I enjoy the idea that the Red Hot Chilli Peppers went to do motion capture animation with real instruments to sort of recreate their 2008 show. The whimsicality of them in puppet form, getting tangled within their strings.

But I am getting beside myself as this is what Reddit discourse does. I found it interesting to read all these viewpoints of a show that I love. Even though the conclusion was disappointing and lacking vigor from the previous volumes, I thought to myself, well, didn’t they do what they intended to do? prickle the feathers of their audience, defy expectations, and show other stories. Make a new experience every 10 minutes. We do have to remember that these are all just advertisements for animation studios. I just assume that the storylines were lackluster. This time was just to show the skill of the studios.

However, in the next volume, as I hope there will be 50 more in the future. I hope they bring the same vigor they had in volumes 1, 2 and 3. I also hope they bring in some new writers and animation artists. But what do I know? I’m just a lowly audience member. I couldn’t stop thinking about it. My laptop was the only outlet.