# Love, Death & Robots: major SF authors in a new anthology Netflix series



## Werthead (Mar 15, 2019)

Netflix has launched - today! - a new animated anthology series called *Love, Death and Robots*. It has 18 episodes, ranging from 6 to 20 minutes in length in a variety of styles. Two are original, the rest are based on existing SF short fiction, including three stories by John Scalzi, two by Alastair Reynolds, one by Mark Kloos, one by Joe Lansdale and one by Peter F. Hamilton (_Sonnie's Edge_ from the _Second Chance at Eden_ collection, set in the *Night's Dawn* universe).

I've seen the first three and _very_ impressed so far. The animation is excellent, the scripts are pretty good and the stories quite effective. Hoping the rest keep up the good work.


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## Les (Mar 16, 2019)

Just watched _Sonnie's Edge_ and am suitably impressed. I read this story a couple of years back in _A Second Chance At Eden_ and enjoyed it a lot more than I though I would. Well worth the time to watch. It's a brutal story but it works well. I recommend it.


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## elvet (Mar 16, 2019)

I watched the first two episodes. I was very affected by the first story, Sonnie’s Edge. I had not read the source. I thought the animation was very well done.


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## Werthead (Mar 16, 2019)

Full story roster:

_Sonnie's Edge_ by Peter F. Hamilton
_Beyond the Aquila Rift_ by Alastair Reynolds
_Three Robots_ by John Scalzi
_Fish Night_ by Joe Lansdale
_Secret War_ by David W. Amendola
_Ice Age_ by Michael Swanwick
_The Witness_ by Alberto Mieglo*
_Suits _by Steven Lewis
_Sucker of Souls_ by Kirsten Cross
_When the Yogurt Took Over_ by John Scalzi
_Good Hunting_ by Ken Liu
_The Dump_ by Joe Landsale
_Shape Shifters_ by Marko Kloos
_Helping Hand_ by Claudine Griggs
_Lucky 13_ by Marko Kloos
_Zima Blue_ by Alastair Reynolds
_Blindspot _by Vitaliy Shushko*
_Alternate Histories_ by John Scalzi

* original teleplays not based on existing short stories


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## picklematrix (Mar 16, 2019)

Never thought I'd see the day that Peter F Hamilton and Alistair Reynolds works got adapted. 
Now we just need a big budget COMMOWEALTH or Nights Dawn series on HBO.


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## Dave (Mar 16, 2019)

I've started watching. They really went to town here. 18 episodes!


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## ctg (Mar 17, 2019)

Sonnie's Edge - Peter F Hamilton 



> In the underground world of "beasties" fights, Sonnie is unbeatable -- as long as she keeps her edge.



Beautiful Dark Urban Fantasy set in the Far Future. The technology presented in shorty is already here in the form of telepresence. In Mr Hamilton's story, the technology is more advanced than what we have traditionally used to see in the realms of SF. Yet it is completely plausible and the fight is superb. Netflix made a great job by making bioengineered monsters as real as their "pilots." The double twist was beautifully executed. 





Three Robots - John Scalzi 


> Long after the fall of humanity three robots embark on a sightseeing tour of a post-apocalyptic city.



You'd think that post-apocalyptic stories are often dark, but in this case, the fall of the humanity is marvellously presented by the Three Robots that you cannot but just laugh at the banter, that three totally different Ai's shell out as they try to figure out the past. LOL. Love to the murder cat.





The Witness - Alberto Mieglo



> After seeing a brutal murder, a woman flees from the killer through the streets of a surreal city.



Dark Urban Noir set in the near future at some parallel world. The story is engaging and full of tension as your start to fear for the poor main character from the beginning. The story includes so wierdness that might shock some of the traditional fiction lovers. Also NSFW. Loved the twist.





Suits - Steven Lewis 



> A community of farmers use their homemade mechs to defend their families from an alien invasion.



Funny shorty set in off-world with technology that could be possible tomorrow. The humour suttle and it makes you smile, if not grin as the farmers put their best defence in workman style at their land.  Fear aliens the wrath of an determined farmer. They are not happy for losing any cattle. The story take Moo's to where they have never gone before, and the fight to save them is bar to the StarShip Troopers! Loved every second of it, and also cried at the end. Long live the small people!


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## ctg (Mar 17, 2019)

Sucker of Souls - Kirsten Cross



> Unleashed by an archaeological dig, a bloodthirsty demon battles a team of mercenaries armed with ... cats?



This might sound weird in the synopsis, but the tale is a nice little dark fantasy dealing with the consequences of breaching the unknown. I'm certain the doctor didn't mean, but what he could do when he is playing one of the oldest sins, the explorations. The monster-of-the-tale is terrifying and when the cat walks in the play, the story really twists.

Loved the dialogue and character somewhat desperate acts. NSFW.





When the Yogurt took over - John Scalzi


> After scientists accidentally breed super-intelligent yogurt, it soon hungers for world domination.



Equally as funny as Scalzi's other entry. This is however told in more of classical SF way, by using Douglas Adam style of narrative. However, John adds his spice and makes the tale one of the most lovely SF shorts. The twist at the end.





Beyond the Aquila Rift - Alastair Reynolds



> Awakening after travelling light years off course, a ship's crew struggles to discover just how far they've come.



Beautiful SF shorty. Netflix put a lot of resources into making of this episode as all you see is gorgeous HD CGI graphics, down to last of Captain beard. You are certainly going to have one if you have been in space as long as they've. Unlike in Reynolds main work, you'll see concepts that break traditional physics. NSFW. Tale is one of the longest in this series and it marvels the watcher with a real science and scary fantasy.





Good Hunting - Ken Liu



> The son of a spirit hunter forges a bond with a shape-shifting huli jing.



An alternative history paranormal fantasy. This Chinese story is told through traditional anime graphics, and it is tensile from first minute. You easily fall for the main character and his inability to deal with the reality. We humans are so easily put under an illusion. I loved how the story changed simple monster tale to YA, before it transforms to full adult and even brings in the old age and inevitable death. Then it transforms again, bringing in full steam-punk. it is hard to say what it is, because it has everything in mere fifteen minutes. NSFW. 

Don't think for a second you'll know where the story goes. This is a true gem and should get an award. I am amazed by it.


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## ctg (Mar 17, 2019)

The Dump - Joe Landsale



> Ugly Dave calls the garbage dump home, and he's not about to let some city slicker take it away from him.



Another full CGI that could have come from the masters of Pixar, but when you see it, you know they could have never done it. The tale is humourous dark urban fantasy set in the present day. In a way what happens to Ugly Dave could happen to anyone of us. Good one. 





Shape-shifters - Marko Kloos



> Deep In Afghanistan, two marines with supernatural powers face a threat from one of their own kind.



Gorgeous Military SF that mixes in paranormal fantasy. The CGI is top notch. You start to wonder what if as you'll watch this. If you are well versed in the British SFF and H movies, you are not going to be alone to assume that this is Dog Soldiers spiced up with Murican magic. It's is exciting, bloody and terrifying all at the same time.

The fight between the werewolves is amazing. You could not be able to get this done in real. This a rare werewolf tale and it is worth every second if it. It also made me shed a tear. 





Helping Hand - Claudine Griggs



> Stranded in orbit, an astronaut must choose between life and limb before her oxygen runs out.



Super sexy Hard SF set in near future. Everything you'll see is as realistic as it could be. The space is a hard place to scream your lungs out. Nobody hears. So desperate measures know no boundaries. The story left me breathless and wishing for more.


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## clovis-man (Mar 17, 2019)

So far my favorites are the Reynolds, Scalzi and Swanwick.


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## Rodders (Mar 19, 2019)

Looks like an interesting series of stories.


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## ctg (Mar 19, 2019)

I still have five to go. I didn't had a good mindset to review them last night. But, if you don't mind Adult genre shorties, then this is definitely one to check out. I suspect that if this is a success there might be another set coming in the future.


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## ctg (Mar 19, 2019)

Fish Night - Joe Lansdale 



> After their car breaks down in the desert, two salesmen take a dreamlike voyage to the dawn of time.



A classical SF tale set in the real world. The comic or cartoon like graphics works really well for the story as all the hues and colours fits supremely well to fate of the door-to-door sales men. The SF comes through the observations in time and place as the men gets sucked into an quantum anomaly. I wish I could experience something like it in the real life. Although I'd be like the old guy, just observing. 





Lucky 13 - Marko Kloos



> After the drop-ship Lucky 13 lost two crews, no pilot would fly her ... but rookies don't get a choice.



Marko Kloos second story is a Military SF space-opera. A short one, but I certainly packed a lot story for 13 minutes. The narrator is a black veteran female pilot, who tells a wicked tale about Lucky 13's fight on an alien planet. Realistic CGI pays off well for this realistic story. The technology you see in this one closely matches the Pentagon vision about the future of warfare. Watch out for the adrenaline rush and occasional shout of "ef yeah." Hail to Lucky 13!





Zima Blue - Alastair Reynolds



> The renowned artist Zima recounts his mysterious past and rise to fame before unveiling his final work.



Reynolds second work. This time Netflix chose to tell master's tale through a classical cartoon. I loved the twist. You have to see it, because talking about it would spoil the story. Note that this story matches closely Reynolds voice in the famous Revelation Space. It's a great transformation story told in just 9 minutes.


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## Ursa major (Mar 19, 2019)

If anyone wants the opinion of the author of (some of) the original stories, here's the relevant entry from John Scalzi's blog.

(Oh, and a heads-up, or reminder, that John Scalzi is one of the guests of honour at this year's Eastercon.)


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## farntfar (Mar 20, 2019)

Some were a little gory but overall I'd say that I'd enjoyed all of them.

If this were a challenge:

Long list 
*Three robots, Suits,Beyond the Aquila ridge, Shape shifter, Zima blue, Ice age*

Short list
*Sonnie's edge,Helping hand*

But my vote goes to
*Good hunting *
both for the animation and the story.


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## Jo Zebedee (Mar 22, 2019)

Sorry all. Just watched the first 3. Tits out (no dicks on show), rapey overtones, Women in danger, Women shagging each other (no men shagging each other or anyone for that matter).

Great animation. Terrible for women in sf seeking any serious consideration.

I can’t believe the accolades this is getting and no one is mentioning the toxic imagery. In fact, I can’t say how alienated this has made me from fandom.


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## Dave (Mar 22, 2019)

Jo Zebedee said:


> Sorry all. Just watched the first 3. Tits out (no dicks on show), rapey overtones, Women in danger, Women shagging each other (no men shagging each other or anyone for that matter)


And that was just watching _Three Robots!  _

I tend to agree, more than a few had a very _Heavy Metal_ vibe, except that it does get better. I persevered and _When the Yogurt Took Over_ and _Ice Age_ could never be described in that way. Maybe you could just pick out those. I think _Alternate Histories_ is free of that too. Certainly some good stories told well.

It is a pity that considering how poorly served, and how little of written science fiction and fantasy short stories and novellas come to screen, that it should be the case that it made you feel that way. Innovation and creativity is generally seen first in written stories, and TV and Film slow to follow, but some of these were very clichéd.


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## Jo Zebedee (Mar 22, 2019)

I was recommending it to my kids - no way now. I’ll get it deleted off my profile and won’t be going back. I’m not going to support something that gratifies and doesn’t need to. Except that the kids would put me outside to sleep in the garden I’d be getting rid of Netflix.


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## Dave (Mar 22, 2019)

I'm certain you would like much more of them than you don't if you watched them all. However, most are "adult," if not for the sex themes, then for the level of violence, and consequentially not suitable for children.


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## Jo Zebedee (Mar 22, 2019)

Dave said:


> I'm certain you would like much more of them than you don't if you watched them all. However, most are "adult," if not for the sex themes, then for the level of violence, and consequentially not suitable for children.



I might like them more - but the point is I’d be supporting something which has shown gratuitous imagery of women (in my opinion, of course) where it didn’t need to. So it’s a no for me. 

(My kids are getting well up these days - much harder to police them.)


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## ctg (Mar 22, 2019)

Jo Zebedee said:


> I was recommending it to my kids - no way now.



So, I put in NSFW and you were thinking kids will watch it???? Maybe everything I do just doesn't work.


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## Jo Zebedee (Mar 22, 2019)

ctg said:


> So, I put in NSFW and you were thinking kids will watch it???? Maybe everything I do just doesn't work.


See above. One of my kids is an adult now  the other is younger but is of Deadpool age. This means drawing a line is harder these days.


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## ctg (Mar 22, 2019)

Blindspot - Vitaliy Shushko



> A gang of cyborg thieves stage a high-speed heist of a heavily armoured convoy.



Very short. Very old school cartoon style, but same goes as well to the script as it reminds me stuff from all they back in the 80's.  I personally liked this cyberpunk tale, and I never would have thought something like this would be appearing on the small screen. When the blindspot appears, it's brilliant.





Ice Age - Michael Swanwick 



> A young couple moves into an apartment and finds a lost civilisation inside their antique freezer.



The only entry so far that is mixing realistic CGI with real life footage. The tale is super intriguing Alternate History/Urban Fantasy and it's mostly funny. You could write a whole book or make a movie about it. I really like that they showed the whole arc of a civilisation advancing towards inevitable death as if the fridge had somehow developed a temporal space anomaly in it. 





Alternate Histories - John Scalzi


> Want to see Hitler die in a variety of comically fantastic ways? Now you can. Welcome to Multiversity!



Another very short, and another Scalzi's work. Modern cartoon. Speculative SF. Show dicks, tits and bums, so NSFW. But for a man who likes TT and wierdness, I didn't feel a pull from this shorty. It's strange because I usually like Scalzi's work. I liked the rats. 





The Secret War - David W. Amendola 



> Elite units of the Red Army fight an unholy evil deep in the ancient forests of Siberia.



A hyper realistic CGI SF, set in the alternative history back in the 1940's. Very nice script. Superb voice work. Some very graphic scenes, NSFW. I really enjoyed this dark, sad tale.


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## Susan Boulton (Mar 22, 2019)

Knowing the source material aka : SNAFU Anthologies from Cohesion Press, I knew more or less what to expect. Some worked, and I enjoyed. Some were very Meh..... to the point of being annoying. The sexual exploitative elements were actually a lot milder than I thought they would be, knowing, as I said the source material, and the sub genre of the SF genre.


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## ctg (Apr 3, 2019)

It took wired quite a bit of time to get this article written.



> If you haven't figured it out by the time you see a young Hitler being fellated by a Viennese sex worker, _Love, Death & Robots_ isn't your average Netflix show.
> 
> Of course, if you haven't figured it out, you probably haven't been paying attention: "Alternate Histories," which features said act being performed upon said icon of evil, is the 17th of 18 episodes in the animated anthology. By that point, you'll have seen full frontal nudity (male, female, and demonic); you'll also have seen a zero-G rendition of _127 Hours_ that deserves every Foley Art award possible, plentiful crushed heads, and even more plentiful arcing ichorous spews, and a sex scene that looks like the result of Cinemax becoming a game developer. You may not want to watch with your youth group leader is all I'm saying.
> 
> The anthology, from a team of executive producers that includes David Fincher and _Deadpool_ director Tim Miller, is a viscerally enjoyable (and just plain visceral) conflagration of the senses. It does a great many things very well, a few not so well, and takes absolutely nothing seriously. But most importantly, it signals that Netflix isn't just paying lip service to the spirit of experimentation. The more naked and gleaming the streaming platform is willing to become, the more urgent its programming will be—and the better it will withstand the coming


 'Love, Death & Robots' and the Rise of NSFW Netflix


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## Brian G Turner (Apr 3, 2019)

> you see a young Hitler being fellated by a Viennese sex worker



That's in the show? Seriously?!


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## ctg (Apr 3, 2019)

Brian G Turner said:


> That's in the show? Seriously?!



Yes, Alternate Histories, by John Scalzi. Two posts up. I gave NSFW for that scene alone.


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## REBerg (Apr 4, 2019)

A veritable smorgasbord of entertainment -- horror, humor and SF in digestible, snack-sized servings.
Some duds, but overall worthwhile watching. Definitely earns its TV-MA rating.
I hope Netflix plans more.


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## Rodders (Apr 27, 2020)

Bumping this. Having recently gotten Netflix I finally watched this over the weekend. Some really good stories. My personal favourite was probably Lucky 13. 

It was good to see Alistair Reynolds on the screen.

Does anyone know if it’s returning for a second season?


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## ctg (Apr 27, 2020)

Rodders said:


> Does anyone know if it’s returning for a second season?



The second season has been commissioned. When it comes out, we don't know and we certainly cannot be certain it would be this year, because the corona is affecting soo many things.


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## Toby Frost (Apr 27, 2020)

I saw half a dozen of these a while back. I felt that the lighter, more whimsical ones were better: the "darker" they got, the more puerile and computer-gamey they felt. _Fish Night_ and _Ice Age_ were particularly good. More slick than deep, overall.


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## Guttersnipe (Jul 25, 2020)

"Beyond the Aquila Rift" horrified me in so many ways. "Three Robots" is my favorite so far, in a great part due to the triangular robot's joking.


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## ctg (May 5, 2021)




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## Rodders (May 5, 2021)

Looks good and i can't wait to binge series two. 

Nice that S3 is approved, too.


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## Matteo (May 7, 2021)

I've only just got around to sorting out Netflix on the tv (though my wife has been improving her Spanish by watching Spanish shows/films with Spanish subtitles for a while on the laptop) so have only seen a few of these this week.

*Sonnie's Edge* had a great fight sequence and a nice twist, _*Beyond the Aquila Drift*_ looked gorgeous but I would have liked a little more expanation - and _narrowly_ avoids gratuitous nudity* as it was the guy's fantasy, *Three Robots* was funny, clever, cute, _*Secret War*_ was another great looking piece and had a good story, _*Ice Age*_ was good, *The Witness* had a fantastic twist but I thought the fetish club was gratuitous (the story would have worked without it) and the jump-cuts(?) and loud music was distracting, _*Suits*_ was OK, but the final shot didn't really make a awful lot of sense, *Sucker of Souls* was nothing special, _*When the Yoghurt Took Over*_ was clever and very funny - my favourite so far.

As someone else has said, certainly a _Heavy Metal_ vibe about the stories - which is fine - but I hope there is more of the lighter material.

*hmm...maybe.


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## ctg (May 7, 2021)

Matteo said:


> As someone else has said, certainly a _Heavy Metal_ vibe about the stories - which is fine - but I hope there is more of the lighter material.



Thing with the Heavy Metal is that they have now own studio, with those famous artists lining up for work on their animated stuff. So it's not really fair to compare this to the Heavy Metal, even if both shows naked bodies and other things. But do you mean with the lighter stuff comedy or something else?


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## Matteo (May 9, 2021)

I meant the comedy/quirky stories.


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## Dave (May 9, 2021)

Season 2 hasn't come to UK Netflix yet. I expect it will come soon?


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## ctg (May 10, 2021)

Dave said:


> Season 2 hasn't come to UK Netflix yet. I expect it will come soon?



This week. Friday.


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## ctg (May 10, 2021)

Spoiler: NSFW - 2nd Trailer - "Sorry kids..."


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## Matteo (May 11, 2021)

Saw a bunch more on the weekend: *Fish Night *was pretty but that's all, *Good Hunting* I liked, _*The Dump*_ was fun, but the ending was obvious, _*Shape Shifters*_ looked great and the action was good, _*Helping Hand*_ was the best of this lot - but if only she had a cricket ball , _*Lucky 13*_ was another great looking piece but lacked something for me, _*Zima Blue*_ I suspect was much better as a written piece; on screen it didn't come across so well, _*Blindspot* _was stuck in 80s.

I'm bracing myself for_ *Alternate Histories*_...


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## ctg (May 11, 2021)

> While it’s tough to make out much in the frenzied video other than a lot of gore, we know some of the eight episodes of the season are based on the stories of classic sci-fi writers Harlan Ellison (“Life Hutch”) and J.G. Ballard (“The Downed Giant,” which will be directed by _Deadpool_’s Tim Miller) as well as modern sci-fi writers John Scalzi (“Automated Customer Service), Neil Asher (“Snow in the Desert”), and Paolo Bacigalupi (“Pop Squad”).











						This NSFW Love, Death, and Robots Trailer Emphasizes the Death
					

Since the second season of Love, Death, and Robots is arriving on Friday, the streaming service has unveiled a new, NSFW red band trailer where "love" and "robots" are in comparatively short supply. However, if you're looking for violence... step right up.




					io9.gizmodo.com
				




The only one I don't know is Paolo Bacigalupi. 








						Paolo Bacigalupi
					

Author of The Windup Girl, Ship Breaker, and The Water Knife



					www.goodreads.com


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## Matteo (May 17, 2021)

Well, *Alternate Histories* turned out to be quite silly and funny.  Also saw a few of the new episodes: _*Automated Customer Services*_ (when vacuum cleaners go rogue!!) was fun, *Ice* (teenagers on an ice planet) was mediocre, and _*Pop Squad*_ (controlling the population) was very good - though would have benefited from more background.


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## ctg (May 17, 2021)

I'm sorry for not writing the reviews. Was not in the right mindset. Hence I reserved the episodes and didn't watch them.


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## Dave (May 17, 2021)

I watched them all in one sitting. Hit and miss. I can't remember the first series to say whether the second was better.



Matteo said:


> _*Automated Customer Services*_ (when vacuum cleaners go rogue!!) was fun, *Ice* (teenagers on an ice planet) was mediocre, and _*Pop Squad*_ (controlling the population) was very good - though would have benefited from more background.


Those were the standout episodes. *Pop Squad* was the most thought provoking, but nothing told me why the policeman suddenly had such a change of heart. It couldn't have been the woman's little speech. Yes, more background needed.


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## ctg (May 17, 2021)

Dave said:


> I watched them all in one sitting.



I wanted to do that. I really did, but if I would have, no reviews.


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## alexvss (May 17, 2021)

I did watch them all in one sitting last night, and, although I like the first volume more, I don't regret it. I think that this one is much more escapist. The one I liked the most was *Pop Squad*, it reminded of the French comic *Androïds*--it's the same premise.


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## ctg (May 17, 2021)

Automated Customer Service - John Scalzi

Modern CGI with the art style leaning towards the spitting image. In the futuristic retirement community all care is applied by robots. An ideal situation we've toying for a while. It just Scalzi shows us that it might not be a good idea of replacing carers with robots, completely. Loved the robot more than the old lady and her yapping god ... er, dog. Laughed at the "super helpful" customer service.





Ice - Rich Larson

Old school cartoon. The author might be strange to some, but if you have been reading the magazines, you can find this Nigerian born Canadian master in the Asimov's, Analogu, Clarkesworld etc. The story is a dark SF coming-to-age YA. Wait for the cyberwhales. They are gorgeous, but at the end don't really play a big role. No deaths in this short. Lots of drug references, so mildly NSFW.





Pop Squad - Paolo Bacigalupi.

Modern 'realistic' CGI. Like I said before this multiaward winning author was completely unknown to me. So apologies for ignorance. The story is a futuristic cyberpunk noir. It is also super dark, so NSFW. I loved the main character struggle. It is the same tale that you can find in Braddenbury's Fahrenheit 451 essentially. Loved the tale twisting, especially seeing the anti-transhuman angle and the urban decay spreading everywhere. In the Bladerunner Gaff's words all I can ask is: "Who would want to live forever?"


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## ctg (May 17, 2021)

Snow in the Desert - Neal Asher

Modern Hyper-realistic CGI. The tale is set in far futuristic alien exoplanet, but in the heart it is a 'twisted western' survivalist story. Not only you'll see aliens, but there is a strong presence of mutants and other oddities. Unlike in the last one, the transhumanism is strong in this one, like it is present in so many Neal's stories.  There are also shades of Neal's Military SF tied in tale. So, there's a lot of things that are very SF. Wait for the twist at the end. NSFW - for violence.

One of my favourite.





The Tall Grass - Joe Lanstale

Old school artistic cartoon mixed with CGI. I was surprised by the water colour art style. It really fit well both the story and the characters. The story is a grim mystery with strong horror vibes, which should be no wonder as the author is major horror, crime, mystery master. Absolutely loved it.





All Through the House - Joachim Heijndermans

Stop animation with mixed CGI. It is a Christmas tale, but for adults only. I surely wouldn't be showing it to the young ones. Teenagers maybe. But only if they understood grim humour, as the Santa Claws is a terrifying nightmarish creature that some adults might find quite disturbing. "What would happen if we weren't good?"


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## ctg (May 17, 2021)

Life Hutch - Harlan Ellison

Hyper realistic CGI. Grandmaster Ellison's tale is set in the far future. It is a short survivalist tale, with mixed in Military SF and space opera. Just wait for the robot to appear. I would not have known what to do in his shoes. NSFW - for injury detail and graphic violence, so I'm going to add PTSD warning as well.





The Drowned Giant - JG Ballard

Hyper realitic CGI. Grandmaster Ballard's tale is set in the present day. It's a twist to the classic Lilliput story with a giant washing up to the beach. NSFW for showing a gigantic cock, and a composing corpse in detail. I ended up wondering what would we do if a giant washed up on one of our beaches? 

Note also that the tale is set in the Ipswich.


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## Guttersnipe (May 24, 2021)

My favorites so far are "The Drowned Giant" for its sheer strangeness and "All Through the House", which made me frightened for my younger self.


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## Matteo (May 25, 2021)

I just saw the remaining five episodes. *Snow in the Desert* looked great and had a nice twist but otherwise fairly ordinary. *The Tall Grass* looked beautiful and had a hint of a Twilight Zone episode (though more violent) - liked that one.  _*All Through the House*_ was fun.  *Life Hutch* failed in logic.  I've not read the short story *The Drowned Giant* but can imagine it is a good read - unfortunately it did not work as a piece of film (any imagination one would have reading the story is immediately lost).

However, on the whole, this collection was better than the first.


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## alexvss (May 25, 2021)

Matteo said:


> I just saw the remaining five episodes. *Snow in the Desert* looked great and had a nice twist but otherwise fairly ordinary. *The Tall Grass* looked beautiful and had a hint of a Twilight Zone episode (though more violent) - liked that one.  _*All Through the House*_ was fun.  *Life Hutch* failed in logic.  I've not read the short story *The Drowned Giant* but can imagine it is a good read - unfortunately it did not work as a piece of film (any imagination one would have reading the story is immediately lost).
> 
> However, on the whole, this collection was better than the first.


I'll bite. Why do you think *Life Hutch* failed in logic?


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## Matteo (May 26, 2021)

Spoiler



I felt it was too much a stretch that a maintenance droid would act that way - even one that was malfunctioning. And were there no other ships in the area to pick him up? (I assume they had all been destroyed, but still...).


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## alexvss (Apr 19, 2022)

Volume 3 has been announced! It will come out around the same time as last year. An announcement teaser was released today, but it doesn't have any information on the actual episodes (they just show scenes from the previous volumes). I guess it's time to rewatch everything.


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## Rodders (Apr 20, 2022)

Yes. Something to look forward to.


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## alexvss (May 9, 2022)

The actual trailer is up:


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## Mon0Zer0 (May 9, 2022)

Does everyone know how Love & Robots came into being already, and how Netflix kind of screwed over a large magazine? Has this ever been discussed?


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## alexvss (May 9, 2022)

Mon0Zer0 said:


> Does everyone know how Love & Robots came into being already, and how Netflix kind of screwed over a large magazine? Has this ever been discussed?


This has not been discussed in this thread. Not that I know of. But I'd sure like to. Please share.


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## Mon0Zer0 (May 9, 2022)

alexvss said:


> Not that I know of. But I'd sure like to.



Basically, the series was developed in conjunction with a famous monthly magazine. You'll know the magazine from two well known compendium movies in the eighties and noughties, the artwork of which is iconic and was parodied in South Park. Enough hints? 

The CEO of the magazine at the time was a film producer who was trying to use the years of ip it had accumulated to produce a black mirroresque animated show - it would feature stories by Moebius, Druillet etc plus some impressive shorts made by budding animation directors that had been flying round as sizzle reels. The latter made it into the final show. So, the producer put the whole package together, got Fincher onboard and started pre-production. 

Netflix and Tim Miller then, apparently, simply approached the directors themselves behind the magazines back and packaged the show very cheaply and put it out as Love & Robots. CEO, as you can imagine, was spitting feathers.


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## alexvss (May 9, 2022)

Mon0Zer0 said:


> Basically, the series was developed in conjunction with a famous monthly magazine. You'll know the magazine from two well known compendium movies in the eighties and noughties, the artwork of which is iconic and was parodied in South Park. Enough hints?
> 
> The CEO of the magazine at the time was a film producer who was trying to use the years of ip it had accumulated to produce a black mirroresque animated show - it would feature stories by Moebius, Druillet etc plus some impressive shorts made by budding animation directors that had been flying round as sizzle reels. The latter made it into the final show. So, the producer put the whole package together, got Fincher onboard and started pre-production.
> 
> Netflix and Tim Miller then, apparently, simply approached the directors themselves behind the magazines back and packaged the show very cheaply and put it out as Love & Robots. CEO, as you can imagine, was spitting feathers.


Yeah, you gave enough hints. I even found the South Park episode. It's called "Major Boobage" btw   

Gee, I didn't know about that. Has any legal action been took? If the rights were already reverted back to the authors, then there's nothing that the CEO can do, actually.


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## Mon0Zer0 (May 9, 2022)

alexvss said:


> Yeah, you gave enough hints. I even found the South Park episode. It's called "Major Boobage" btw
> 
> Gee, I didn't know about that. Has any legal action been took? If the rights were already reverted back to the authors, then there's nothing that the CEO can do, actually.



They didn't use any of the mag's ip, so I don't think there was anything they could do - all the shorts in series one are originals. It's shady, but this kind of thing happens all the time.


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## ctg (May 9, 2022)

Mon0Zer0 said:


> They didn't use any of the mag's ip, so I don't think there was anything they could do - all the shorts in series one are originals. It's shady, but this kind of thing happens all the time.


Are you saying they were commissioned pieces?


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## Mon0Zer0 (May 9, 2022)

ctg said:


> Are you saying they were commissioned pieces?



I'm not sure about all of the episodes in the first series, but at least a few were shorts that animators had made (or showed around the industry as demo reels to get financing) prior to the show being commissioned. Others may have been retooled / voiced / re-animated after Netflix stumped up the cash - I'm not entirely sure of the order of events. I think they had a writer come in to edit / write / polish the bulk of the stories.


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## Ursa major (May 19, 2022)

One can, at the moment, watch the "3 Robots" episode from Love Death and Robots season three on John Scalzi's blog.


*Note*: Don't read the comments before watching: there's at least one spoiler.


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## Dave (May 19, 2022)

Loved it, but I almost posted the spoiler too!


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## alexvss (May 20, 2022)

I was ready to rant about how Scalzi depicted survivalists (I'm a beginner prepper myself), but I realized he roasted everybody in that story so I'll let it pass. I mean, he literally roasted all mankind   Gosh, that ending!


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## ctg (May 20, 2022)

Three Robots: Exit Strategies. John Scalzi.



> Three robots walk into the post-apocalypse... and take a whirlwind tour of humankind's last attemps to save itself.



Modern CGI. Another super-funny entry from a grandmaster. It is the irony that tickles me the most in this short tale about analysing failings of the last days of long-lost human civilization and what remains after we are gone. It is not just a black comedy, but also a grim SF-tale, where the Three Robots could've as well been aliens. Wait for the ending.





Bad Travelling. Neal Asher



> Release the Thanapod! A ship's crew mamber sailing an alien ocean strikes a deal with a ravenous monster of the deep.



Hyper-realistic CGI. NSFW. A dark fantasy set in a stormy sea. It is slightly surprising that the tale is set in old times, with timber-creaking ships, in a time when nobody could come to your aid in emergency. Theirs, a bus-sized (not double decker) one deciding to hitch a ride, while nom-noming on the crew members. It is a wonderful horror story, straight out of Davy Jones locker.

"Let the consciousness be your guidance."





The Very Pulse of the Machine. Michael Swanwick.



> When an exploratory mission to a Jovian moon ends in disaster, the lone survivor must being a perilous but a mind-bending journey.



Old school cartoon with mixed CGI. NSFW. A dark SF-tale that reminded me of the Heavy Metal magazine stories straight from the beginning. It is equally compelling, and it shows an aspect of love and caring that is quite unique to the short stories. Wait for the twists that make this story equivalent to 2001 and Interstellar movies, in terms of what it does.

The best out of these three.


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## Dave (May 20, 2022)

Where are the other two available to watch? Netflix tells me I have to wait until 27th May. (Same as Stranger Things season 4.)


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## ctg (May 20, 2022)

Dave said:


> Where are the other two available to watch? Netflix tells me I have to wait until 27th May. (Same as Stranger Things season 4.)


Netflix. Today, right now.


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## Dave (May 20, 2022)

ctg said:


> Netflix. Today, right now.


But I checked just last night!!! I don't have time to watch them for a few days now.


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## ctg (May 20, 2022)

Night of the Mini Dead. Jeff Fowler and Tim Miller.



> A bit of unholy cemetary sex ends badly, kicking off a worldwide zombie plague. It's the cutest apocalypse you'll ever see.



Stop-motion animation, with mixed CGI. A truly wonderful dark comedy that became one of my favourites straight from the beginning. Not because I particularly like the Dead, but because it made me laugh straight from the beginning. I'm not going to put in a NSFW, but be careful as this is hilarious, and it might cause some attention. It also includes zombie vehicles. 

I already watched it twice. Also, note it is a very short one.   





Kill Team Kill. Justin Coates.



> US Special Forces are trained to neutralise any threat -  even a cybernetic killing machine, created by the CIA. Their secret weapon? A sense of humour.



Old school cartoon. Military SF, with some very dark jokes and military humour. NSFW because of the language in the dialogue and the images. Wait for the bear, the explanations and the twist in the end. The best action music. 





Swarm. Bruce Sterling.



> [Two human scientists study the secrets of an ancient alien entity - but soon learn the horrible price of survival in a hostile universe.



Hyber-realistic CGI. Far future SF with the ultra-tech and space-opera. I recommend wearing headphones with this one. Also watch the story as in places it's very hard SF. The aliens itself are truly remarkable and a joy to watch. NSFW because of the sex scenes. Greed is strong in this one tale.


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## ctg (May 20, 2022)

I'll reserve last three for later.


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## alexvss (May 20, 2022)

*In vaulted halls entombed *is one of my favorites of the entire show. It's a combination of military sci-fi and uncanny horror.

I really like the kind of story where armed-to-the-teeth soldiers get dominated by a much stronger force. It contrasts with the dumb teenagers in most horror movies (or, even when they’re not dumb teenagers, they’re probably untrained civilians), and that’s scary because you know if you were in that situation you too would be effed. Hey, if Delta Force is getting screwed, what could your lazy-ass do? Off the top of my head, I remember two similar movies: *Baskin* and *Dog Soldiers*.

The adaptation is inaccurate with guns, laughably so. The sergeant easily kills two guys from a distance with an assault rifle, and he throws a frag grenade just two meters away from him (uh, fragments? It’s a frag grenade for chrissakes!).

The ending puzzled me because it wouldn’t work in prose, so I went after the original story. It has been published in an anthology by Cohesion Press (those guys rejected me twice. Argh!) titled SNAFU:Survival of the Fittest. You can read it for free if you have Kindle Unlimited.

There are some minor changes like gender-bending (as they do in other episodes), and I found the prose much more accurate when it comes to guns and explosives (of course, it was published in a military sci-fi anthology). But the biggest difference is the ending. As I thought, it had to be different in prose. It’s better and much more haunting!


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## farntfar (May 22, 2022)

I've only watched the first one so far. But yes. That's exactly who I was expecting.


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## ctg (May 22, 2022)

farntfar said:


> That's exactly who I was expecting.


the cat or the person?


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## farntfar (May 22, 2022)

The person. (One or two similar characters were equally possible)


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## Dave (May 23, 2022)

ctg said:


> Bad Travelling. Neal Asher


I don't see why he had to kill the other sailors before setting fire to the ship. I know the Therapods were very hungry, but they were already in sight of the island (maybe that is an error) so they could all have rowed ashore. Maybe he never liked them anyway, and this was just good excuse to get rid of them.


ctg said:


> Night of the Mini Dead. Jeff Fowler and Tim Miller.


Hmm! Did anyone ever watch "Michael Bentine's Potty Time" in the 1970's? It was something that I felt I should like and wanted to like, but never did. I feel the same way about this.

I'm working my way through them.


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## alexvss (May 23, 2022)

Dave said:


> I don't see why he had to kill the other sailors before setting fire to the ship. I know the Therapods were very hungry, but they were already in sight of the island (maybe that is an error) so they could all have rowed ashore. Maybe he never liked them anyway, and this was just good excuse to get rid of them.


It seems that all of them never liked each other in the first place. It's a very bleak world, survival of the fittest. The other sailors were all keen to let a whole village be eaten just to survive a little more, and the protagonist had to keep feeding the creature until they got close to an uninhabited island. 

Also, maybe there was only one boat, and that's not enough to carry them all at the same time.


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## ctg (May 27, 2022)

A week later...





Mason's Rats. Joe Abercrombie.



> Welcome to Ratcolypse! Farmer Mason knows he has a real pest problem, when they start shooting back. Bloody h*ll!



Modern CGI. A grim fantasy. Animal fantasy that are rare. In places, it was verging towards horror, but I chose to go with the fantasy, because it's not most certainly not a SF piece, even if it features deadly robots... er, traptech-nology. For a short story, there's quite a bit of it, as you can guess the rats put up a good fight. Bloody h*ll!





In Vaulted Halls Entombed. Alan Baxter



> Modern warfare meets elder gods. A special forces squad on a hostage rescue mission finds themselves trapped in a prison containing an ancient evil.



Hyper-realistic CGI. Modern day Military SF/Horror. I can see why people liked it. The elder horrors are nasty and in this one the spiders are truly creepy. I laughed so loud, when they tried to do the traditional thing by shooting the little ones. Then the story got fascinating, and it's better that you'll wait to see the face of the Old One. A true Eldritch horror. 





Jibaro. Alberto Mialgo



> A deaf knight and a siren of myth become entwined in a deadly dance. A fatal attraction infused with blood, death and treasure.



Motion-captured hyper-realistic CGI. A dark fantasy. It is a very weird tale. I was stunned by the graphics and the details. In places, it looks so real that you'll forget. Then you'll get dumped into my gruesome fight that is also so weird that I for some reason wished that to call a Witcher to come sort the monster out. Why the camera lenses needed to be splattered with the droplets?


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## Mouse (May 27, 2022)

The Kill Team honey badger thing was hilarious.


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## alexvss (May 27, 2022)

Mouse said:


> The Kill Team honey badger thing was hilarious.


I keep rewatching this.


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## ctg (May 27, 2022)

alexvss said:


> I keep rewatching this.


Why? The whole series is good. Not just the individual stories. So, why the Honey Badger one?


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## Guttersnipe (May 27, 2022)

I thought all of them were quite good, but I liked Mason's Rats the most. I'm a sucker for happy endings.


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## alexvss (May 27, 2022)

ctg said:


> Why? The whole series is good. Not just the individual stories. So, why the Honey Badger one?


Not enough time to keep binging everything, is it?  I agree that the series is good as a whole, but there's always some episodes that will stand out to one's personal tastes. As I said before, I like stories where armed to the teeth special ops face such a danger that they can barely do anything about. Think *Dog Soldiers*.

Also, there's much more to *Kill Team Kill* than meets the eye; the machoness is just the surface. In the beginning, the soldier who's pissing says that he feels like a god and wants to know how far he can reach. There's your theme: playing god. This is a cautionary tale about playing god and messing with nature.

And if you don't give a rat's ass about any of that, just watch for the fun of it


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## alexvss (May 27, 2022)

Guttersnipe said:


> I thought all of them were quite good, but I liked Mason's Rats the most. I'm a sucker for happy endings.


I found that happy ending to be a little forced. I understand Mason's feelings, but I just don't get the rats forgiving him so fast. Hundreds of them died because of him.


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## Mouse (May 28, 2022)

alexvss said:


> I found that happy ending to be a little forced. I understand Mason's feelings, but I just don't get the rats forgiving him so fast. Hundreds of them died because of him.



Yeah, I actually thought the rats were going to offer him a poisoned drink.


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## ctg (May 28, 2022)

Mouse said:


> Yeah, I actually thought the rats were going to offer him a poisoned drink.


I thought he was complimenting the product and definitely approving it, cause more business for him.


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## Guttersnipe (May 29, 2022)

alexvss said:


> I found that happy ending to be a little forced. I understand Mason's feelings, but I just don't get the rats forgiving him so fast. Hundreds of them died because of him.


Good point. I also liked the animation and humor.


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## Droflet (May 29, 2022)

The Three Robots for me. But as CTG said, they were all good.


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## Guttersnipe (May 29, 2022)

I quite liked the voice of the protagonist's partner/Io in "The Very Pulse of the Machine." Very soothing, and the poems, most if not all of which I never read before, gave me goosebumps.

I found the part in "The Swarm" where two characters get intimate kind of awkward, considering they barely knew each other.


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## ctg (Jun 1, 2022)




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## ctg (Jun 3, 2022)

I was right about the Heavy Metal Magazine, but I didn't guess that the director were after Moebius style. Very lovely interview.


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## Guttersnipe (Jun 4, 2022)

Jibaro is one of the very few that's pure fantasy. I would like to see more like this.

Kill Team Kill was quite funny, but when I read the summary, I thought the use of humor against the monster was going to be more literal.


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## ctg (Jun 4, 2022)

Guttersnipe said:


> Kill Team Kill was quite funny, but when I read the summary, I thought the use of humor against the monster was going to be more literal.


Well, the swearing didn't have an effect on the enemy, but it sure was fun and funny.


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## Matteo (Jun 16, 2022)

Just finished watching these - over several days (no binging...).  Some short thoughts.

*Three Robots* was good and the ending funny but the lack of opposable thumbs would have been a problem - I would have gone with a chimp (perhaps with a Cesar name plate?).
*Bad Travelling* was OK, but why did the crab thing need a boat?
*The Very Pulse of the Machine* was gorgeous and rather wonderful - loved it
*Night of the Mini Dead* was funny but a bit difficult to see
*Kill Team Kill* was a bit too frantic for me
*Swarm* felt like bits had been edited out and it also seemed a bit obvious
*Mason's Rats* was fun but the ending was unrealistic (would they forgive so quickly?)
*In Vaulted Halls Emtombed* - not bad, but why didn't they just run out of the cave? Or were they cut off from the entrance?
*Jibaro* - didn't really do it for me


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## Rodders (Jun 22, 2022)

I saw the first two episodes last night and really enjoyed them. 

Bad Travelling made my think of Neal Asher's "Voyage of the Sable Keech".


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## alexvss (Jun 22, 2022)

Matteo said:


> *Bad Travelling* was OK, but why did the crab thing need a boat?


Maybe it already knew it would have its offspring? Nevertheless, it didn't really need a boat; it needed to be guided to an inhabited island.


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## therapist (Jun 22, 2022)

I liked Jibaro the most. Just from the first ten seconds alone the sound and visuals stood out to me. Narritively it was a bit vague for my liking yet I the whole thing was so mesmorizing and enchanting, I couldn't look away.


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## Rodders (Jun 22, 2022)

i felt the same way about Jibaro. Not the best story, but the aesthetic was amazing.


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## Rodders (Jun 23, 2022)

Overall, this was a really good batch of stories. Better than the second season, I thought.


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## ctg (Aug 15, 2022)

4th season confirmed.


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## SilentRoamer (Aug 15, 2022)

Really looking forward to watching these - they look really awesome.


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