Elves and Beasts and Lightsabers

SAO or Sword Art Online is a popular and relatively well-known anime/light novel series. It's also terrible, as many people conclude. This conclusion is not misguided, given the series's paper-thin characterization, drunken plot where things just happen for the story, copious use of deus ex machina, and complete failure to achieve the potential of the concept. The series is about our insipid 'hero' Kirito, who is one of the ten-thousand players for a revolutionary virtual-reality gaming experience. But on the first day of gaming, they are trapped within the game by the creator for mysterious reasons. They must beat the game or die, as their real bodies (in hospital beds) wither in the real world each day they stay. It's a fantastic juxtaposition, the fantasy genre reimagined, and combined with sci-fi. A fantastical land that's actually digital, about the danger of the new age. It’s almost a cautionary tale of insidious agendas placed over unfathomably sophis...

Horror and Enlightenment From Above A lot of this particular internet-based media is dependent on personal exposure to it. It's a spooky news channel. LOCAL 58 There's a lore to this channel and all the videos propose different puzzle pieces of an eternally unsolved mystery. I appreciate the passion put into them. Each are distinct, like different genres, and introduce questions, the likes of which raise disturbing implications. The audience has to work a bit to make sense of it. "Contingency" is a 'false' public service announcement commanding all Americans to commit suicide because America has been defeated. It's horrifying, because you don't realise what it means at the start. Then everything clicks together in one swift realization. The U.S. fell? To what/who? Are they human? "Law enforcement has been ordered to ensure your compliance?" "Infants and pets, the smallest patriots?" What the fuck? Why does the US want to kil...

Flowers for Algernon is a book ahead of its time. It features the low-key sci-fi concept of altering a mentally disabled man’s intelligence, unintentionally setting him on a personal journey. This story is about empathy and the treatment of the disabled. In addition to a greater societal piece, it is also merely about the protagonist’s changes and development. Breaking Bad is a series about one person who gained life and another who lost it. It's a gripping tragedy, with the protagonist being an embodiment of a dissatisfaction towards society, a semi-common state of mind. It’s about the common feeling by some that society has wronged them. It's about a man who drags all he supposedly loves into hell. Star Wars is a culturally significant sci-fi escapist monster of a franchise. The original trilogy features its spin-off media, faced with varied reactions. Though some obscure novels/tv shows have received acclaim, both the prequels and sequels are seen as terrible. However, t...