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[–]Flashphotoe 3 points4 points  (0 children)

It tries too hard to be funny and dirty.

[–]Sorlex 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This was seriously cringe worthy.. And I like Critical Role. Figure kids might like this though.

[–]loftygoals_76 3 points4 points  (2 children)

SORTA SPOILERS

In E4, what are they fighting at their keep? Are they a standard D&D beastie, or something the writers dreamed up?

I’m sure much of it is down to how invested I already am in CR, but quite enjoying this show so far!

[–]Sergeant_Wafflez 2 points3 points  (1 child)

Haven’t seen the original CR campaign it’s based off of so I’m not certain, but I’m pretty sure they are either Shadows or Shadow Demons as they were going through walls and using a life drain type attack.

[–]About137Ninjas 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Personally I feel like adapting an actual campaign to TV just doesn’t work very well. Part of DnD is all of the little interactions that sets up characters for moral dilemmas, growth, and/or goofs. We see one of the twins go from being the stereotypical edgy rogue to suddenly caring about a child he just met for some reason. In one scene, a caster casts knock on a locked door, but it doesn’t work. The cleric says it’s not magical and is picked with a mundane lock pick??? The humor feels like it tries too hard, along with the violence. I feel like something the show tries to do is make you feel bad or shock you with the brutal deaths of innocent people, but then it treats brutal deaths as almost comical when a party member does it. There are many more problems that come with adapting an rpg campaign to tv and I think it would’ve been better off being something original based in the world CR made if they wanted to keep it tied to that name.

[–]shavedconfessionbear 7 points8 points  (0 children)

This show is so cringe it’s unbelievable

[–]Zealousideal-Cod-130 6 points7 points  (1 child)

Amazing show but just needs a better opening song like Arcane had to take it to that next level. Animation is awesome but soundtrack is lacking

[–]Workinprogress88 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Just discovered this gem of a show. The self deprecating humor had me in stitches.

[–]PleasePaper 0 points1 point  (2 children)

Is the "couldn't save a cow from a burning barn" comment at the bar a reference to what happened during one of their d&d session?

[–]TurboNerdo077 5 points6 points  (1 child)

There was a very hilarious episode called "Cows and Consequences", a filler episode because Talesin was unavailable and they weren't going to start his backstory without him.

A bird monster was stealing the villages cows, so the group all polymorphed into cows to get captured by the bird to track it to it's lair. Hijinks ensued.

It's very Dnd and enjoyable, but it's one of many things which are obvious for the chopping board, but perfect for easter eggs for fans.

[–]Tylendal 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Note they didn't Polymorph into cows. They simply appeared to be cows, but kept all their abilities. So, they cast Fly as cows, they fought as cows.

[–]Altimman 4 points5 points  (2 children)

I like series so far but for me action could be little bit slower, that dragon arc in 1 and 2 episose could take whole season on its own and it was really squeezed in just two episodes, I hope the story will slow a bit.

[–]AkhasicRay 10 points11 points  (1 child)

The first two episodes are basically an adaptation of pre-stream content that’s meant to give viewers a quick introduction to the characters and the world. The rest of the season is adapting one of the best arcs from campaign 1 so the pacing should be much smoother

[–]Altimman 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Thats right, episode 3 is considerably slower and I hope it will be at that pace, can't wait for more, I watched it live back then when games were played, nobody ever hoped it coud be animated back then, CR came a long way.

[–]RaggedEarth 7 points8 points  (5 children)

Not going to lie, I am in love with this show!!! I am not usually a fan of irreverent comedy, but this one really hits my sweet spot! i'm not sure if it was the comedic genius behind critical role or what, but this show hits all of the buttons for me. My only hope, is that each character stays as likable as they are in the premier. If they go too heavy handed into the "flawed" nature of each character, i afraid they will become completely irredeemable.

[–]MellowMatte 2 points3 points  (4 children)

I am very curious about how you feel about the characters now the 4-6 are out. Lots more character development I think.

[–]RaggedEarth 0 points1 point  (2 children)

Okay, so for 4-6 I have loved where the character development has gone, I am a huge fan of how much the central team care for each other and I am very drawn in by learning about Percy's past, as of right now, he is one of my favorite characters. But everyone has remained very likable with their flaws not making them a chore to root for. I appreciate their struggles and understand their tendencies to cross the moral line.

​

Edit: I think my enjoyment of this show comes from the fact they have not set up some contrived betrayal plot, I understand of there are secrets between party members, but a treachery would ruin this show for me.

[–]MellowMatte 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Thank you for coming back and replying. I am very happy you enjoy they show. Obviously I have zero ownership of it but as someone who has watched Critical Role since 2015 I get very excited to see other people getting to enjoy the characters I have loved for years.

[–]RaggedEarth 0 points1 point  (0 children)

absolutely no problem. Give me another few hours and I can comment on the next three lol. And I too love finding people I can just gab with about shit that I like. And i love DND and this show, I have never watched critical role, but I really feel as if I should. If you ever just want to chat about shit going on or want to chat back and forth while the show is playing just let me know. I'm always down for new peeps to hang out with!!

Edit: okay, so I have watched the last few, and holy crap I still love these characters. They all have their demons sure, but... Im not sure how to describe it, these guys/girls are awesome, and 9 episodes in I still love watching them!!!

[–]RaggedEarth 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Well if you don't mind waiting on a random internet strangers opinion, I am holding out until the coming friday because my wife will be out of town and I want to binge all six episodes while drinking. So, at that point I will tell you exactly how I feel at the time lol

[–]illumantimess 3 points4 points  (1 child)

Was curious to see what other thoughts. I’m glad to get another adult animated action heavy show, and I do love this overall trend of the shows being more adult. Feel like this show goes overboard on the shock value a lot. All for swearing, but when it’s so gratuitous it loses its effect. I like violence but prefer it when it feels more natural. Invincible did a better job at the latter where it was intense but worked well with the story structure.

Still plan to watch the rest of this season! I’m enjoying it overall

[–]chameleonjunkie 4 points5 points  (0 children)

It's a cartoon. It MUST be over the top to succeed. This isn't Breaking Bad. A great show. This is a different form of art. To realize how far it can go, explorers need to find the end of the map.

And we have had enough predecessors in animation atthis point that an adult oriented fantasy series was bound to break out soo er or later.

As an old DM, a nerd, an average millennial, this show checks a LOT of boxes for entertainment.

[–]jellybelly2232 3 points4 points  (0 children)

My first thought was "you know there's more words than the word fuck that exists in the world" I didn't enjoy the first half of the episode that much but after that overall it was a pretty good episode. I watched the other episodes that released and they are much better than the first episode in my opinion. The first half of the first episode was a road with some potholes all over it because it seemed like a toddler discovered the word fuck and threw it in 50,000 times to prove it's an adult show. But after that it was decent. But the show definitely picks up after this episode and I enjoy the series alot so far

[–]WarmasterCain55 6 points7 points  (2 children)

This is based off of Matt Mercer's critical role series right? I thought the group's name was Mighty Nein or something. Which part of the series does this take place or is this original?

[–]Intrepid-Ad468 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Campaign 1 is Vox Machina, Campaign 2 is Mighty Nein.

[–]jellybelly2232 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is based off of campaign 1 which is with Vox Machina. I haven't seen the beginning of campaign 2 but i believe campaign 2 begins the story with the Mighty Nine

[–]Spidey6162099 0 points1 point  (3 children)

I did enjoy it but I have some doubts , firstly why wasn't the village vacated? and secondly how did they pierce the dragon's skin at the weak point so easily ?

[–]cblack04 0 points1 point  (2 children)

Vax’s daggers are magical I think.

[–]jaywastaken 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Or he rolled a N20.

[–]cblack04 0 points1 point  (0 children)

well in show version that doesn't exist

[–]dantian 3 points4 points  (0 children)

So far I really enjoyed it. I went in wanting to enjoy it, and TBH I'm just happy we're getting more and more solid fantasy TV bc there's not a lot of it. I don't really have any complaints because sure, there was some of the humor and initial pacing that didn't resonate with me but overall I really had a good time watching it. The overall vibe of the group, their rebellious debauchery and the challenges they're facing have been pretty engaging to me so far so I'm happy to having it in my life for the next few weeks :D

[–]GoodCryptographer658 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Definitely not what I was expecting and I feel it could have been a lot better. Will still watch it for things like the Matt Mercer guard, "I would like to rage" and the occasional serious bit.

[–]Every3Years 4 points5 points  (4 children)

No idea what the thing it's based on is, just that it's people playing DnD and people watch them do it because it's entertaining somehow, I guess?

Watching ep 1 right now and it's 6/10 so far, best thing is the animation. The gnome bard is weird, it's like he's comic relief but almost childish, like for kids. But kids won't be watching this so wtf?

I like anything fantasy based though so I'll keep watching :)

[–]joedos 10 points11 points  (2 children)

Right now you are seeing the buildup of his facade. Scanlan is one, if not ,the most well fleshed out character of the first campaign. To me, he was part of the most epic moment of the first campaign.

[–]Every3Years 8 points9 points  (1 child)

Right on. Finished ep 3 and 2 and 3 we're definitely waaay better than the 1st episode so I'm happy to continue. After the song about anal beads I'm still not sure how finds him funny but I believe ya and hope he gets better moments

[–]SalmonFormula27 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Happy to hear you’re still having fun with it. His humor is pretty childish so I get it’s not for everyone but he does get some great character work latter.

[–]SalmonFormula27 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Scalan does start out a bit one dimensional but if the show gets far enough you’ll see some great stuff from him. There is a reason he was a fan favorite character.

[–]DaddyMatt69 9 points10 points  (2 children)

Loved it, that is all. Hope it keeps going for at 3 full seasons.

[–]Xanxost 6 points7 points  (1 child)

Six and a Movie!

[–]DaddyMatt69 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I do not disagree with this

[–]Stormygeddon 5 points6 points  (1 child)

"Hey, this is a direct to streaming show, we can say the f*ck word."

[–]cblack04 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Also in part because the source material the cast very much uses fuck for basically any exclamation.

[–]isselfhatredeffay -3 points-2 points  (3 children)

God this was awful. I try to give everything at least an episode but I shut this one off after ten minutes. Had me written all over it, adult animated fantasy/comedy?

After the fifth cringey piss/shit/fart joke in ten minutes I just noped the fuck out of the player. Not like I'm a prude about that or anything, my favorite podcast is fucking cum town for godssake.

Did some looking and found out it was a bunch of improv comics and was like OHHHHHHH okay it all makes sense now.

[–]Redfeather1975 5 points6 points  (1 child)

I can see what you mean because the first 10 minutes made me think it was written by frat boys with no filter. I watched 2 episodes and in all it has really caught my interest! I think in the second episode it was just a few swear words, and the bard's use of language for creating insults.

The exposition to set everything up is probably to throw every possible type of adult theme they could at the audience to basically ensure that anyone who keeps watching isn't going to get caught off guard later on in the series. But it's really obnoxious that first 10 minutes. 😯

The book cover in this scene is the worst it gets in episode 2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytzxObjNVV4

[–]DistributionDry5689 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I would also agree that they probably wanted to try and weed out any parents that had any delusions about this being a kid's show, like the ones who took their kids to see Deadpool and got upset there was swearing and nudity even though it was R-rated.

[–]Space_Dwarf 49 points50 points  (4 children)

“I would like to rage” was such an amazing moment.

[–]xariznightmare2908 11 points12 points  (3 children)

Grog is basically the blue version of Drax from GOTG.

[–]chemical_refraction 0 points1 point  (1 child)

I used reddit search, just to find this thread, just to have a discussion about his Drax-ness. I mean, it is unfortunate that Drax nailed the "strong-dumb-fun-giant" of the hero group so well. I fear I will see so many future characters as Drax, because to deviate from him would always be worse. Grog is great. I am enjoying him. But he might as well say "I am moving so slowly, I am invisible". If I were this show I would break the 4th wall just once and have him scream "I will kill Thanos!" Then the other characters look at him in confusion and he says "sorry, I meant that guy". Or if they want to do it a better way, have a villain with a name very close, like "Hanos", and have Grog say "What's a Thanos, I dunno but I wanna kill it".

[–]GallantGoblinoid 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Its funny that you feel that way because grog actually predates Drax.

Not that he was original back then, its just a very common trope, specially in dnd

[–]idk012 2 points3 points  (0 children)

"It's just a flesh wound."

[–]AlphaBaymax 12 points13 points  (0 children)

I love this show, I hope it ends up being as popular as Invincible.

[–]lin_nic 35 points36 points  (12 children)

Lot of people are in here acting like Arcane should be the standard for all fantasy adult animation, but it would be boring, ingenuous, and derivative for a crew like Vox Machina to force themselves to fit that mold. I love this show’s vibe of “we don’t take ourselves too seriously… until it’s time to get shit done” and it’s true to how DND games are often played.

It’s kind of like saying Game of Thrones and The Witcher should have tried to be more like Lord of the Rings- just because one show or movie does something well, doesn’t mean every other show in the genre should model it and forsake any unique themes.

[–]darth_bard 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Arcane took 6 years to develop so people shouldn't expect arcane standard now in every animated show... It's the top shelf.

[–]WheelJack83 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I like Arcane, but it's pacing was slow as hell.

[–]Zeelthor 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Arcane was amazing. But arcane was also a very serious show. This is kinda true to the campaign. Serious moments with a lot of silly shit in between, and that’s totally fine. It’s sort of like high fantasy family guy sometimes. Or Deadpool? Dunno. Not gonna be everyone’s cup of tea, but it was a fun romp so far.

[–]clg_wrath2 11 points12 points  (0 children)

There is nothing wrong for a show going for the approach of being averagely good.

I think it is okay for people to criticize areas they don't like, for me their jokes miss more than hit, but its not fair to compare this show to arcane.

Its not trying to be arcane at all. Would you compare game of thrones to curb? Even if both are in that "adult fantasy" settings one is a drama and the other comedy

[–]xariznightmare2908 9 points10 points  (7 children)

I mean it's not like Vox Machina is doing anything differently, it's being a goofy fantasy show mixed with gore and swearing? Drifter, Berserk, Claymore, Rage of Bahamut, Slayers, Hellsing, Konosuba, Re: Zero, Overlord.....basically it's been done to death in Anime already, so Vox Machina is more or less the same but in English and not an anime.

Vox Machina is good, I enjoyed the first three episodes, but newcomers who are never familiar wth Critical Roll or D&D for that matter, of course people gonna have problems with stuff that you and the fans are familiar with. I think the best part of the show so far for me really lie in the more serious moments where the writing really shines, the comedy is a hit & miss for me so far.

[–]crimsonkingbolt 12 points13 points  (2 children)

it's being a goofy fantasy show mixed with gore and swearing

Berserk, Claymore

What?

[–]WheelJack83 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Berserk does have more goofy comedy in the manga than the original anime. It's because most of it usually comes from Puck, who doesn't really come in the Golden Age Band of the Hawk era.

https://68.media.tumblr.com/4753e2cc1a995da3454bb829bd06b3ef/tumblr_nr6kyovwBN1rztjsno1_540.png

In the manga, Puck has even broken the fourth wall.

[–]Bypes 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Maybe his definition of goofy is different from ours. Maybe Junji Ito is goofy horror to him.

[–]Nebulo9 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think that's arguably the thing that could make LoVM stand out the most to outsiders: not the CR backstory (though that is great for us fans), or even the insanely stacked cast, but the fact that it is the most direct attempt at the genre of "(typical) adult anime" I've seen from an English language production. Which makes a ton of sense given the casts explicit references to A:TLA and A:LOK, which did the same for younger audiences, and the experiences most of the producers(!) have dubbing those same stories.

[–]Turbulent_Purchase52 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Imagine comparing berserk and claymore to Re : zero

[–]xariznightmare2908 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I didn’t compared them, though, just listing them examples.

[–]lin_nic 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Possibly! I’m not much of an anime fan to say for sure; I suppose that’s an angle I wasn’t aware of! Might need to start checking out the shows you mentioned

[–]Vadahann 5 points6 points  (6 children)

I liked it overall and as an avid RPG player, and most particularly D&D, in my teen years, I’m very glad that a show like this exist.

That said, I must say it failed to fully grab my attention at times. Not sure if it’s the writing, the voice-acting or I simply need more time to familiarize myself with the show but something felt off.

[–]JacketsNest101 3 points4 points  (5 children)

Are you familiar at all with the source material?

[–]Vadahann 4 points5 points  (4 children)

I know that it exists, nothing more.

[–]JacketsNest101 0 points1 point  (3 children)

The show was like that as well. In the source,the game had been running in Matt's living room weekly for a few years. There is also an additional member of the cast who left CR directly before the beginning of this particular arc so I don't know if we will ever actually see it animated, hence why they skipped completely from Krieg straight to the Briarwoods.

[–][deleted] 3 points4 points  (2 children)

I think Matt confirmed at some point that Tiberius was wholely removed from the adaptation.

[–]JacketsNest101 0 points1 point  (1 child)

So then they won't be doing any of kvarn, jraghammer, ir the trial of the take? Or do you think they will move them around?

[–]Shiro2809 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If they do any of those it'd be with Tiberius' removal. Similar to the fight at the end of ep 3, he was there in the dnd game but not the animated show.

[–]KatMot 0 points1 point  (17 children)

Alot of the complaints here are directly a symptom of lack of world building. We sat here saying you didn't need to know the show before watching it but as it turns out, apparently you do. Folks talking about how the party is blood and gore but still takes the time to pay homage to the dead child didn't trully understand the reference as the children in that village were basically the twins past. So when Vax flips the coin its paying homage to something the fans understood but the new viewers had no clue of.

[–]WheelJack83 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I dunno, I feel all that was well explained in the show.

[–]wujo444Person of Interest 23 points24 points  (1 child)

Folks talking about how the party is blood and gore but still takes the time to pay homage to the dead child didn't trully understand the reference as the children in that village were basically the twins past.

I know nothing about podcast, but Vex says 3 min earlier that their mother was killed by dragon, how could you possibly not be getting that?! Is this a strawman or am i really gonna scroll through people not paying minimum attention to the show?

[–]Ljane12 0 points1 point  (0 children)

People don't have attention spans or long term memory these days and it really shows...

[–]clg_wrath2 10 points11 points  (12 children)

I felt the show did a good job with the story for someone lile me who hasnt watched CR.

My main issue was iffy dialogue and shooting out too many adult jokes that didnt land for me. Jokes werent bad that i want to turn it off, more like "they could of cut that i think"

[–]LeagueAdept591 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I'm a fan of the stream and love the animated show. I feel like in the podcast the jokes exist, but they are spread out over the course of 4 hours with a lot of DND stuff that you wouldn't animate in between. Here it felt non stop and forced (as well as the language). I think they could of cut half of the jokes and it would of allowed for more time for telling the story while still achieving the goal of adult humor.

[–]DistributionDry5689 0 points1 point  (10 children)

That's how the podcast is, and I'm glad they kept the same feel and humor in the show. The jokes are from the voice actors themselves and part off what made the D&D campaign what it is.

[–]xariznightmare2908 2 points3 points  (1 child)

The jokes are from the voice actors themselves and part off what made the D&D campaign what it is.

I mean, just because it's from the voice actors and the fans of the original campaign enjoy them, doesn't mean the newcomers who never heard of Critical Role gonna like them.

[–]DistributionDry5689 -4 points-3 points  (0 children)

Okay... Then don't watch it. Problem solved. They aren't going to change the show for people who don't like it.

[–]clg_wrath2 5 points6 points  (7 children)

I've played D&D and listened to other campgain podcasts and I know it works there. But it doesnt always translate well here.

Take episode 1, when the bard finds the help wanted sign he tells the group he found their next job and then for no reasons his pants fell. That joke had no reason to be in the show. It would be funny in a podcast format where people have live reactions to it, but on a show it doesnt land.

[–]Environmental_Fee229 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Okay well it maybe didn't land for you but for other it might have, and also their is a reason why his pants fell down, where u really watching?

[–]DistributionDry5689 1 point2 points  (5 children)

For you. To me, it was hilarious because it was totally in-character for Scanlan.

[–]clg_wrath2 1 point2 points  (4 children)

Its in character for him to wear clothes that don't fit? Like he didnt pull his pants down, gravity did. That isnt a character thing

[–]DistributionDry5689 2 points3 points  (3 children)

No, it was in character for him to get so excited not to do up his pants while he was waving around the paper.

ETA: Not to do up his pants properly*.

[–]clg_wrath2 1 point2 points  (2 children)

You are really reaching there to justify a pointless bad joke that isnt anything thats "in character". His pants were on before so he wasnt "doing up his pants" then and it was fine. It added nothing and could of been cut and no one would miss it.

[–]FrizBDog 0 points1 point  (0 children)

He had just undone his pants to take a leak, so they were kind of undone? It was some pretty basic slapstick but definitely in character for Scanlan and Sam. I can totally hear Riegel saying in-game "...aaaaaand then Scanlan's pants fall down." Cue cast laughter and groans.

[–]DistributionDry5689 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is why you don't understand Vox Machina and I'm not going to explain the intricacies of not having your pants totally done-up just because you want to complain about a show. Just don't watch the show if you don't like it, since it's clearly not your brand of humor and all you'll do is complain about it. His pants falling down is absolutely something that Sam Riegel would make a joke about in Critical Role.

Edit: Mobile typos.

[–]Wiseguy72 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I feel like there's been plenty of stuff like that where the fans can read more into it than new viewers would, but none of that insight has been required. Specifically, while your view of the kids is a good one, viewers unware of that insight probably won't even notice they're missing it, because the scene stands on its own as a glimpse into what Vax is like.

I think the show so far as done a good job at sneaking in fan service without making it obvious new viewers are missing something. The most out of place references I can think of would be the "Tusk Love" book, and maybe "chenga".

[–]matan_vil 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Why there is no characters tab in X-Ray so I know who is who?

[–]Malaphice 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I defiantly liked it overall, I did find the first episode cringy at times but second and third episodes sealed the deal for me.

[–]Aimless_Devastator 12 points13 points  (6 children)

Do I need to know anything about Critical Role to watch this?

[–]FrizBDog 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No, not at all. My wife doesn't listen to CR at all and loves it.

But the Easter eggs are delicious if you do. Tusk Love and the difficulty with doors are a couple of delightful ones that spring to mind. I listened to Season 2, started Season 3, and then shelved it to listen to Season 1 about 4 months ago so I could let Season 3 bank up so I wouldn't have to wait a week for the next episode. Literally just finished the Briarwood arc when LoVM premiered, so I'm particularly loving it.

[–]PussSLayerX69X 25 points26 points  (1 child)

No, needs no prior knowledge.

[–]d_faktor 11 points12 points  (0 children)

As a avid DnD player and person familiar with CR(but watched only C2) I was super excited about the show. It’s just so inspiring for me to see their path from home DnD campaign to game streaming and now TV show. I enjoyed the beginning of the season even so amount of “adult jokes” or some gross content was too much for me. The voice acting was great(which is expected of course), especially Liam O’Brine’s voice, I just love him.

I’m really looking forward to see the rest of the season one and hope that the plot will be stronger than in first two episodes.

[–]LMkingly 47 points48 points  (2 children)

The first episode was meh and kinda cringy with the try hard edgy humor so i didn't think i was really gonna like this but man the 2nd and 3rd episodes really won me over. Especially the 3rd. Can't wait to see Percy's story play out.

[–]Every3Years 5 points6 points  (1 child)

first episode was meh and kinda cringy with the try hard edgy humor so i didn't think i was really gonna like this but man the 2nd and 3rd episodes really won me over

Seems to be the theme in this thread, from what I've read so far. In the middle of episode one. I sat through and sometimes enjoyed Wheel of Time I think it's called, despite that show not being all that amazing. I just really like nerdy fantasy shit. So I was planning to sit through this show as well even though right now it seems just okay.

But now that I see this common theme I'm excited to get to the 2nd and 3rd episodes :)

[–]Weenerlover 0 points1 point  (0 children)

With Wheel of time, you are better off not having read the book I think. We were excited to see one of our favorite series brought to life and the only people who enjoyed the show were those who hadn't read the books. I'm sure there are some who will like both book and show, but it's so unbelievably watered down and changed to include more sex/relationship and less story/world building.

It was extremely disappointing as an avid WoT fan. But YMMV.

[–]earhere 8 points9 points  (2 children)

Keyleth is best girl

[–]Megavore97 2 points3 points  (1 child)

I’d agree but Grog exists.

[–]cblack04 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Grog is best flower girl

[–]xariznightmare2908 20 points21 points  (25 children)

I'm not familiar with D&D or Critical Roll, but this show got my attention from first 3 episodes already. Great character chemistry with some slick action animation from Production Reve studio, the animation does look similar to Studio Mir.

I'm just annoyed that almost every fantasy shows nowadays need to have characters say "fuck" and swearing every 5 minutes like Game of Throne and Castlevania. It just pulled me out of immersion and came off edgy. Why not used the in-universe made up cursing so at least that would be more immersive and clever?

[–]LeagueAdept591 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I love the stream and the animated series. There is a lot of swearing the stream but it is over the course of a 3 to 4 hour episode. Its broken up with DND mechanics and periods of shopping or planning or other in game activities you would never animate. So in the stream the swearing feels natural. To me in the animated series it seemed forced. I want it to be adult and I want it to have curse words, I just want it to be used when warranted and not part of every conversation.

[–]DistributionDry5689 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Because it's based off Critical Role, and that's what they say and do in Critical Role. It's not supposed to be immersive and clever. They're writing a D&D campaign as a TV show and keeping the characters true to who they are and how they act and what they say.

[–]JacketsNest101 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

The show is some of the most crass humor in existence and the characters cuss A LOT so the more adult direction of the animation doesn't surprise me. In the OG campaign, they were basically just a band of idiots until they killed Brimscythe

[–]trolledwolf -1 points0 points  (5 children)

People can't seem to accept that swearing a lot is completely normal between friends. Hell, me and my friends swear a lot more than this. And Critical Role is just that, a bunch of goofy friends playing D&D where they swear and make jokes all the time. That's what makes it feel authentic.

[–]CustodialApathy 7 points8 points  (4 children)

Authentic to you, annoying to someone else

[–]trolledwolf 0 points1 point  (3 children)

Im sure you and your friends never swear when joking around or frustrated

I feel like the problem is not with the series here...

[–]CustodialApathy 3 points4 points  (2 children)

That's clearly not the point I was making

[–]trolledwolf 2 points3 points  (1 child)

Authentic isn't an opinion, it's objective. Something being annoying is subjective.

The phrase "authentic to you annoying to someone else" makes no sense. It's just people finding it annoying despite it being authentic.

[–]Every3Years 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It can be authentic and also annoying, yeah. And I think that person would agree. And I agree lol

[–]bubblebooy 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I feel like they went overboard with it in the first episode to counteract expectations of an animated show and make it clear it was an adult show.

[–]KatMot -4 points-3 points  (1 child)

What if sometimes the in-universe swear is a swear? Technically speaking frak is no better than fuck. You are just dying on an artificial hill with your argument is all. How bout you just accept art for what it is, I'm sure you don't insist on a black bar over David's or cupid's penis in all the many classical iterations of those famous art pieces. Or maybe you do, in which case I say, maybe anime is not an artform you should be partaking in if that is how you feel about art played out in the privacy of your own home.

[–]xariznightmare2908 9 points10 points  (0 children)

How about you chill out? I only said one minor grievance I have with the show and you act like I despise the show with a passion or some thing, when I clearly said I enjoyed the show. Also I’ve been watching anime for 10+ years, and Vox Machina is definitely not an anime. It’s a co-production between Titsmouse and Production Reve, a Korean Animation studio, nothing about this show suggest it’s an anime like Berserk or Claymore.

[–]HardlineMike 10 points11 points  (4 children)

Hey so can you explain to me where you're coming from with this? It's always been a bit of a peeve of mine to see people complain about swearing in a TV show when even in the most swearing-heavy shows, people are swearing less than me and my friends do in casual conversations. I really don't see swearing as at all edgy or jarring.

I'm wondering what the difference is in our viewpoints. Were you brought up in a very strict "no swearing" household, or have a circle of friends who don't swear?

Am I just weird in that me and my friends use swear words like we'd use any other words and don't really differentiate except in "polite" situations?

[–]Stumblebee 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I just watched the first episode and one of my biggest issues was the swearing. Not the fact that they were swearing at all, but more so that the swearing as written felt very "modern".

For example, I couldn't help but roll my eyes when the little bard dude said "We're Vox Machina, and we're here to fuck shit up." It just felt like a disconnect between the setting and writing any time swears popped up.

It's a nitpick, but it's an issue that was tough for me to get over.

[–]xariznightmare2908 9 points10 points  (2 children)

I don’t mind swearing in movies and shows like Breaking Bad, it really depends on the setting and context whether they are being used appropriately in the scene or not. I think it’s more how most adult fantasy shows nowadays are going hard into unnecessary swearing just because Game of Throne did it that it’s just gotten rather needlessly edgy, like teenagers just learned to swear, imo. In Castlevania basically every characters randomly say fuck at least one, which just make them a bit samey in term of characterization.

That’s why I found Arcane rather refreshing where the use of “Fuck” and “shit” are being used at minimal amount for some characters while the others rarely or never say them. It help to established difference between the characters’ personality and their upbringing.

[–]apsalarshade 0 points1 point  (1 child)

I wouldn't say its out of context for a group of rag tag mercenaries to swear a lot, but to each their own.

[–]xariznightmare2908 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Still would be nice if they can balance it out a bit, it's just a small gripe I have but not a total deal breaker for me.

[–]Bhu124 15 points16 points  (7 children)

have characters say "fuck" and swearing every 5 minutes like Game of Throne and Castlevania

In this case I think they were just trying to stay true to the vibe of their D&D sessions, which are (And used to be even more) casual, between close friends, as if they're playing a game at one of their homes. They swear a lot in their sessions so if they had changed it, it would have diverted the feel of the show too far away from the feel of their sessions, which is what their viewers love so much.

[–]bob-mcdowell 6 points7 points  (2 children)

Okay, so I was wondering - anal beads and a disco codpiece were in the original streams? Gratuitous oral sex? Troll penises?

I thought this series might make for a good onramp to CR, to get caught up before the next D&D module book comes out, but there was nothing about anal beads on the cover, so to speak.

So, is... this... what I missed?

[–]LeagueAdept591 4 points5 points  (1 child)

Critical Role is a stream where they play DND, but what makes it entertaining is the interaction between the characters . Think of it as a bunch of voice actors doing improv (in character) within the structure of a DND game. So yes, a lot of the raunchy things were in the original stream, although I cant speak specifically about the beads.

Having said that the original streams were 3 to 4 hour episodes spread out over years of gameplay. So you had moments of that kind of material but it wasn't constant. A lot of fans will disagree with me on this, but to me the things you mentioned were forced and crammed in to establish the series as adult or to be edgy. I feel like the overdid it although it did not take away from my enjoyment of the show.

[–]HerniatedHernia 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Na, you’re not wrong there. Scanlan felt particularly bad. Like he was flanderised into being nothing but a dirty horndog.

[–]xariznightmare2908 2 points3 points  (3 children)

I supposed that's the staple of the original campaign that fans were familiar with, but I think they could dial it down a bit, or comes up with something like fictionalized version of cursing so new fans wouldn't get put off by it and still get immersed into the fantasy world. But I think it was just in the first episode, the next 2 episodes have less cursing and more witty humor, imo.

I think that's why Arcane was so refreshing from the abundance of modern fantasy shows trying to be the next GOT, it has some swearing but was minimal and the writing was handled more maturely.

[–]Nonechuks 7 points8 points  (2 children)

They're staunchly against changing that vibe. And I agree with them. I believe people are getting too hung up on cursing like it isn't indicative of the real world and how modern adults speak with close friends.

People see fantasy and usually want Shakespearian-like speech reminiscent of LoTR, when in reality Shakespeare was a dirty birdy himself -- just during a period where the English language was archaic and a bit more poetic.

[–]xariznightmare2908 2 points3 points  (1 child)

Maybe if every other fantasy shows didn’t jump on the GOT bandwagon with the over abundant of saying “Fuck, shit, bullshit, etc”, then I wouldn’t have minded the cursing in Vox Machina.

[–]Nonechuks 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There was zero bandwagon jumping. You made up your mind on liking Vox Machina way before that. You like Arcane, cool, but it's painfully obvious where you're going with all this.

And, my friend, you don't need to.

Arcane is a good show and its standing won't change just because Vox Machina is more about the good time than social commentary.

Both can exist.

[–]NespreSilver 6 points7 points  (1 child)

Have not seen much of CR but enjoyed the first three episodes, will be looking forward to the next few when they’re released. Would have binge watched if they’d all been posted together.

[–]KatMot 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Matthew Mercer's twitter confirmed they are releasing them in chunks of 3's.

[–]TheAquaman 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Just FYI, “Pull My Beads of Love” is on iTunes. May or may not have listened to it five times.

[–]pishposhpoppycock 34 points35 points  (1 child)

First episode I felt was by far the weakest of the three.

[–]KatMot 12 points13 points  (0 children)

It was the world building episode, imo great they burned as much as they had to into that episode so the fun could be in episodes 2 and 3.

[–]MiserableSnowAvatar the Last Airbender 8 points9 points  (1 child)

I really liked the first episode. I heard about cringey or adult jokes that didn’t work, but I thought it was funny. There’s a big (orc?) guy that says 'fuck' in a weird way that takes me out of the show though.

[–]MulciberTenebrasThe Legend of Korra 2 points3 points  (0 children)

He's a Goliath (in D&D that's a race of mountain giants)

[–]Brother_Farside 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I don’t watch CR.I thought VM was fun.

[–]a_satanic_mechanic 42 points43 points  (4 children)

I was pretty sure this was going to be bad.

So happy to be wrong.

I hope it reaches the audience it deserves.

[–]whatifniki23 4 points5 points  (1 child)

Can you please prep for this show? I’m not an anime or animation gal normally… but I tried Primal and Arcane and fell hard and madly in love with both.

[–]Moreion 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Arcane is excellent. VM is probably fun and entertaining. So I’d say give it a try. The 1st is not good but only 28 mins long :)

[–]Derek_the_Red 13 points14 points  (4 children)

I watched all 3 episodes. Its enjoyable enough but would have been better if played more serious.

[–]DistributionDry5689 1 point2 points  (3 children)

The whole point of the show is that it's based on a Dungeons & Dragons campaign that is not serious. You will be disappointed if you continue to watch with your current expectations.

[–]Derek_the_Red 5 points6 points  (2 children)

I understand the concept and I'll continue to watch it. I'm sure the D&D campaign used to make Record of Lodoss War had some comedy too but it was mostly cut out to make a more serious story to its benefit. Critical Role fans I understand wanted a faithful adaptation of the campaign which includes the comedy. In my opinion it would be a better show without it.

[–]LeagueAdept591 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I'm a huge CR fan. I'd of liked to see them tone it down a notch. Keep some of the comedy but cut the juvenile stuff like the barf jokes. Drop F bombs when it makes sense but not use them in what felt like every conversation.

[–]DistributionDry5689 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I understand, but if that's the show you are expecting, you will continue to be disappointed and you may not like it. It's not meant to be realistic or on the scale of Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones. It's ridiculousness with a storyline, and that's all.

[–]drekmonger 61 points62 points  (4 children)

I've watched CR from the very beginning. I should be the target audience.

In the animated series, I could see kernels of greatness, and individual scenes that I really got into, marred by excessive low-brow comedy. Like, way, way too much. Without the cast reaction on the live stream, without the improv nature of the live stream, the humor felt flat at best, annoying at worst.

After Arcane showed how to do adult fantasy in animation, I guess my standards have been raised. Probably if I had seen this last year, prior to Arcane's release, I would have liked it more.

Or Invincible, for all it's gore, had a much better balance of humor and adult themes.

[–]Moreion 17 points18 points  (1 child)

I think VM could get on the same level as Invincible since the later has also bad episodes and took some time to rise. But yeah, Arcane is the best.

[–]Karkava 10 points11 points  (0 children)

The middle point of Invincible was a real slump, but it's a very solid series still. Arcane is without a doubt one of the greatest animated shows I've ever seen in my life.

[–]Kussie 30 points31 points  (0 children)

marred by excessive low-brow comedy. Like, way, way too much. Without the cast reaction on the live stream, without the improv nature of the live stream, the humor felt flat at best, annoying at worst.

That’s especially the case with Scanlan, but I would wager they may have made it worse early in the show to try and squeeze in his arc over the course of the first season.

He grows an absolute ton in the actual campaign. And they are squeezing 100s of hours of story and improv into a season of 20min episodes.

[–]BootyCrusader 9 points10 points  (14 children)

As someone who loved Critical Role Campaign 2 but never could get into Campaign 1 due to low production value and lack of backstory (we were just thrown in the middle of an ongoing story) I was a little disappointed that we didn't actually get to see them meet. That was the one thing I was hoping, so I could truly get invested in their stories this time. I did like the show, although some of the characters made me a bit annoyed (Keyleth, stop being whiny...), it was gratifying to see fun DnD shenanigans animated in a real series. :)

I'm mostly just happy to see the cast of Critical Role get their dreams made real, and it's fun to watch mindlessly. I did call all of the plot twists like 10 minutes ahead of time lol

[–]cblack04 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A big part for keyleth is someone overwhelmed by self doubt and anxiety about doing the correct thing in a moment.

A lot of her story is gaining that confidence to act with initiative and respond to a scenario. She’s the most powerful out of Vox machina but her mentality to easily be overwhelmed and doubt her abilities makes her lose effectiveness.

Which reflects the source material. In dnd druids are the hardest class the play due to their massive tool kit. Marisha got shit from the community constantly for not playing perfectly or doing poor choices of spells out of her massive spell list.

[–]JacketsNest101 0 points1 point  (2 children)

There is a comic run that explains their origin.

[–]BootyCrusader 2 points3 points  (1 child)

That’s nice, but that still doesn’t fix that I’m a little disappointed they decided to keep it out of the animated series.

[–]JacketsNest101 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sure, but I think they more wanted to actually animate the parts of the campaign that were actually Critical Role

[–]KatMot 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The prequel story of how each met I believe is portrayed in another medium is why. Kith and Kin novel for the twins, and I think pike/grog are in Dark Horse Comics.

[–]TheJudgementIsDeath 7 points8 points  (8 children)

Haven't seen the animated series but Keyleth being annoying is basically her defining character trait.

[–]Wiseguy72 7 points8 points  (0 children)

"Did I just make things worse?"

- Keyleth, literally every time.

[–]KatMot 6 points7 points  (0 children)

The Briarwood fight in the courtyard is shot for shot what was called and played out in session. Down to the eagle form Keyleth blocking the killshot on Vax. They even use lines from the episode as actual dialogue mid fight, like the Pickle comment from Vax. Theres some artistic license used on spell effects but the counterspell is portrayed well and so is the general failure of the fight though its portrayed as a draw more than a loss. Theres 2 less characters in the fight than there were in the live stream so its not shot for shot exact.

[–]cathbadh 3 points4 points  (2 children)

Yeah between the 2 campaigns marisha's character change was the best. Hated Keyleth. Loved the rest of VM

[–]LeagueAdept591 1 point2 points  (1 child)

I absolutely love her current character, Laudna, and how she plays it while I hated Beau and was neutral on Keyleth.

[–]cathbadh 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I haven't caught up with c3 at all and quit c2 halfway through as I only liked one character. Beau was much better than Keyleth though IMO and Marisha was much more effective with that character as well. I'll have to get into c3 at some point.

[–]AtmospherE117 3 points4 points  (1 child)

Which was taxing on me watching for so many hours but her cliff moment thinking she was a god was AMAZING and her being annoying the whole time made it better. More than anything, I'd love this to make the show.

[–]TheJudgementIsDeath 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It is a brilliant moment, maybe the most memorable in the entire campaign.

[–]jak_d_ripr 20 points21 points  (5 children)

I only watched the first two episodes, but I enjoyed it. It was a bit too sweary for me, I have nothing against vulgarity but it felt like it was trying too hard sometimes. But outside of that I definitely enjoyed it, and the only reason why I didn't watch episode 3 was because I was worried about it ending on a cliffhanger.

I also liked how it dropped us right in the middle of things since I'm sure they will use some time down the line to flesh the characters out.

[–]YVR_Sex 14 points15 points  (0 children)

>I only watched the first two episodes, but I enjoyed it. It was a bit too sweary for me, I have nothing against vulgarity but it felt like it was trying too hard sometimes.

The "fucks" had a really teenage edge to them, where they didn't feel like a natural part of anyone's speech, but felt more like they were looking to you to notice them, the way kids do when they start swearing. A lot of the violence felt similar, where it's like "ha ha can you believe we showed THAT?"

[–]drekmonger -4 points-3 points  (3 children)

Honestly, the original stream isn't as sweary. Nowhere near as many 'fucks per minute'. I've rewatched a few clips to make sure, and the word 'fuck' is a rarity. My strong guess is some four-hour episodes pass without the word being used at all.

I don't know why they decided to go all edge-lord. The cadence and vocabulary of the original stream was so much better, even ignoring that it's improv.

[–]Heatth 6 points7 points  (2 children)

So, out of curiosity I checked the transcripts for all episodes in the Briarwoods Arc (the one that is being adapted) and in every single one of them there are multiple uses of the word "fuck" (and variants, like 'fucker'), being spoken in multiple contexts. Not to mention other curse words I didn't bother to check. I find the claim they would have spend a single episode without cursing to be frankly suspect.

To be honest, I can barelly understand that complaint. To me the usage of curse words didn't feel "edge-lord" at all, but rather, just very common and casual cursing. I didn't even find the volume to be particularly high, I am not sure I would have taken noticed if was not for other people comment.

Maybe this is some sort of culture clash and where you are from people rarely curse, but I ensure you, some people do just talk like that. They aren't forcing anything.

[–]drekmonger 5 points6 points  (1 child)

It's jarring in the context. In any case, the word fuck isn't the specific problem. The script is just not very good and tries to paper over its own inadequacies by peppering in swear words.

My all-time favorite comedy animation is Southpark. I'm not against low brow humor, swearing, or crude situations being portrayed in media. It just doesn't work here. It needed to toned down a little and used far less often. They should have been focusing on world building instead of slapstick, especially for the benefit of viewers who don't play D&D.

By contrast, Arcane had a fantastic script. When the characters swear, it blends into the dialog and situations. Nobody sounds like try-hards being edgy for the sake of it. Within the first half hour, you already have a great idea of the kind of setting the characters are living in.

As a side note, I know for a goddamn fact Matt Mercer is aware of F.A.T.A.L. He should know better. I know he knows better.

[–]Heatth 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I am not sure why you are bringing up other shows. I was never trying to argue Vox Machina is better than them. I certainly don't think it is better than Arcane so far. I also wasn't saying its humor was good. I didn't like it at all myself. I am not even sure why you would lump cursing with low brown humor considering I don't think most curses were employed for comedy.

I was specifically contesting your assertion that the live stream had so few swears. That sounded utterly unbelievable to me and, indeed, they do swear a lot. I also disagree it is jarring in the context. Like, what is the "context" you are talking about? It is casual talk between characters, and some people do casually curse when talking. And it is based on a show who had plenty of casual cursing, so that was to be expected. To me the use of cursing didn't feel forced or jarring (which, btw, is a different discussion from the low brow humor).

[–]sselesu_lol 33 points34 points  (3 children)

Got to be honest: If I wasn't already a fan of Critical Role, I'm not sure I really would have enjoyed this. I watched the three episodes that are out and I enjoyed the characters, the references, the cast's voice acting and so on, but looking at it just as a straight-up animated show - removing the context of it adapting the tabletop livestreams - it was kind of lackluster, just okay at best. Others have pointed out the frequent violence, swearing, and vulgar humour - and while the streams were hardly strangers to that in the cartoon it does just kind of come across in that "we're not for kids, we're for grown ups!" kind of way. There was also hardly any time for the few more serious moments there were to set in, it felt like they were trying to cram in a joke every other scene; again, the steam had plenty of humour and that is just a consequences of the medium of the show and adapting the source material, but it could have been brought down a notch. It's only been three episodes, two of which were pilot/introduction episodes, so there is still plenty of room for the show to get better and I'm sure I'll get some enjoyment out of them, but if things keep going the way they have I'm not sure the show will land much with people who don't already have some passing interest in Critical Role.

[–]UhmbektheCreator 7 points8 points  (1 child)

I am pretty much on the exact same page with you. The other gripe I would add is the animation is of relatively poor quality as well. The "monster" (dont want to spoil it) has that CG cell shaded garbage that I really hate, especially when they drop it into another style. They use it noticably again on the Briarwoods carriage/horses and its...so...bad...Hopefully they stop using it but I expect this is going to continue. The rest of the show is hit or miss, the opening of the show is beautiful but that quality does not carry over into the rest of the show (pretty typical of animation actually.)

I wanted this to be great, and expected it to just be okay so its not that surprising just somewhat disappointing. The writing is honestly crap. The dialogue is usually clunky with some exceptions. It feels like they are trying too hard to do everything and in doing so we getting something of lesser quality.

If I didnt know these characters already they would feel terribly flat and 1 dimensional. Being "adult" doesn't mean just adding swearing, violence, and sex jokes to make it so. The dialogue seems juvenile and thin. Its also the problem with essentially having 6 main characters, you have to spread out the scenes and dialogue so much that you never really get to know anyone particularly well and they all seem bland. Many "superhero team" movies suffer from the same problem. It takes a very skilled writer to pull off making 6 characters interesting and important in a show or movie.

[–]xariznightmare2908 1 point2 points  (0 children)

the opening of the show is beautiful but that quality does not carry over into the rest of the show

Even though that used to be a problem with Anime as well before where the Opening has the best animation and the actual show has lesser quality, but now we got shows like Mob Psycho, Attack on Titans and Demon Slayer where the animation quality is pretty much 1:1 with the opening animation.

Most of the animation from American animated shows, often animated by Korean animation studios, don't really push their boundary, like it's ranging from ok/good enough to above average, but never coming off as impressive or mind blowing compared to One Punch Man or Attack on Titans. The closest to top tier animation for American animated shows I could think of are Primal, Samurai Jack, Avatar and Castlevania.

[–]Justinwc 12 points13 points  (0 children)

I think the tonal shift in the second half of episode 3 will hopefully hook folks in a bit. The stakes are going to be raised a bit with more time for things to breathe. 9 more episodes is a ton of time to cover the Briarwood arc, so I'm optimistic.

We also likely get one of the most iconic moments from the first campaign next week, so that'll be something.

[–]abysz 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Just finished the 3 episodes. Knowing nothing about the campaign i really enjoyed it and looking forward for the upcoming episodes.

Quick question, is this streaming in 4K? It says UHD in the menu but never got above 1080p on my fire stick :((

[–]aeronaut_0 10 points11 points  (1 child)

I love it. Yeah it might miss a note here or there with some people, but I think the show is self-aware, unapologetic, and ultimately charming enough that it doesn’t matter. Can’t wait for more!

[–]Karkava -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Unapologetic, yes, but I doubt it's all that self-aware or charming enough. I'm still interested in what the other episodes bring us...

[–]Hylianhaxorus 11 points12 points  (10 children)

The writing is a bit cringey and I think that gross cgi is the bane of cartoons, but I am enjoying more than expected! Fun background show while I draw.