Red vs. Blue

So I just got caught up with Red vs. Blue.

Started right from the beginning, with my only real knowledge of the series being a vague recollection of early seasons I watched as a kid, and I gotta say, going through it all, it was pretty fucking great.

First five seasons were some top notch comedy. I was surprised at how well they held up. The writing, the acting, the editing, if you looked past the fact that they were 'animating' in a Halo 1 multiplayer map, it was genuinely well crafted.

Seasons 6-8 were an interesting transitional period with a shift to a more dramedy format. I kind of felt like the Blood Gulch Chronicles ended on a well enough note, and I was skeptical that continuing on, they would just be dragging its corpse around, but the move to another genre I think helped justify it. Season 8 in particular was a real high point in the series, and also the point where original animation started cropping up, which certainly was fun, if a bit jarring at first.

The season ended well though, and I kind of thought it could have stopped there again too, and at the start of season 9, I sort of wanted them to.

The beginning of that season was rough. It had a real duality to it, in that half of it was split up with Church, and the characters I like, while the other half was full of what looked like Halo fanfiction OCs doing a completely unrelated side plot. I didn't like it at first.

Eventually though I warmed up to the freelancers, and i think it helped again that by season 10, the casts were meshing, so there wasn't a major divide in narrative. In fact, I loved season 10, which, as well, I think it could have worked as another ending.

That's a theme I'm seeing, where basically the story starts to feel like it could conclude after Church's character gets another resolution- he's had three up to this point.

(Continued)

Other urls found in this thread:

youtube.com/watch?v=3Rj3VZNgUfE&index=11&list=PL2vBnPCQT4WIMtDw9D59K06rc2StPOcYF
youtube.com/watch?v=BhBr9ZvsY8I&list=PLSi4DNApFXsmhXWspkzqnR5P1Qmj3ZbYb
youtube.com/watch?v=8nTZ8Fsht9U
youtu.be/6nDwIB5QZC4?t=5m47s
twitter.com/SFWRedditVideos

At the same time though, the Chorus Trilogy was solid. I liked seeing how the Reds and Blues grew and developed from a bunch of losers, to, due to all the crazy shit they'd went through, become recognized heroes, and I particularly liked how Tucker's characters was, and still is, being handled.

Very early on, you could see set ups for something bigger with him- the sword, the quest, the stuff he went through in season 7, and they really started to move with that idea from 11-13.

Still, like with every major arc, it ended with something happening to Church, but for the first time though, I actually want to really see what happens next, if for nothing other than how pissed Carolina is going to be after finding out about what went on.

...Which we're probably not gonna get to for another year, since season 14 has been a big mishmash of prequel episodes, but to be honest, I liked them. The set up to how things got to where they were in Blood Gulch, the surprisingly stylish episodes with Felix and Locus, and the more experimental things, like the lego episode, were fun.

Anyway, what are Sup Forums's thoughts on this animated web kino?

>That was the worst throw ever. Of all time.
>Not my fault. Somebody put a wall in my way.
>BOOM
Great series with hilarious moments. This latest season is a bit wierd what with all the little vignette stories. My brother ain't a fan of it but I'm sort of meh. Was the show pretty much ended with the prior season or are they just taking a break from the drama storyline?

From what I understand, they're going to pick things up in season 15.

14 is them getting experimental, while making viewers sit on their hands about what happened to the Blood Gulch Crew. I think it ties in to Chruch's ending monologue.

I'm not particularly complaining though, because some of this stuff is pretty fucking interesting and neat.

youtube.com/watch?v=3Rj3VZNgUfE&index=11&list=PL2vBnPCQT4WIMtDw9D59K06rc2StPOcYF

Sorry if my posts reach into tl;dr territory. You spend over 20 hours watching something, you're probably gonna have a few things to say.

I am surprised though at how this seems to fly under Sup Forums's radar. I know there are RWBY threads, but that's not exactly the same thing. Is it cause it lacks waifus?

We talk about RvB there too on occasion. But the prevailing opinion often tends to be that the early seasons were better.

Well the early seasons were different. I mean, an entirely different genre, really. 1-5 was funny as hell, and I love them, but after it, there's plenty of good to be found if you roll with the changes.

The only seasons I particularly took issue with were 9, with its parallel narrative and visuals, and 11, where I don't think there was any original CG at all.

That being said it's not that I didn't enjoy them. There was good comedy to be had with the machinima sections of 9, and I did eventually grow to like the Freelancers. It's just I felt their story there could have used better incorporation with the other stuff going on.

11 was funny too, though I felt like it dragged a little. That was the season where the main animator died though, right? So I can understand production problems.

Also fuck it, one last thing. I really grew to appreciate the music in the series. Trocadero's stuff is pretty chill.

youtube.com/watch?v=BhBr9ZvsY8I&list=PLSi4DNApFXsmhXWspkzqnR5P1Qmj3ZbYb

There's a reason /RWBYg/ is exiled to the . It's all waifufagging and and little to no show discussion.
RvB has no such thing and thus we tolerate it far more easily.

I have never actually watched RWBY. I know it was directed by the Monty guy who was there from seasons 8-10, so I'm sure there are some decent visual moments, but the premise doesn't really sound too spectacular.

The action in RvB also carried itself pretty well even without him. It was different- 8-10's action was really stylish, but also kind of floaty. It lacked weight which kind of bugged me.

12-13 was heavier, and while 12 was lighter on action as a whole, 13 had some really good stuff.

And by heavier I mean the movement. Hits carried more weight behind them, and characters looked to move slower as a whole.

Not a particular negative, though.

That was one of Monty's weaknesses, imo. At least as far as RvB.

It works great in a show like RWBY, but giant suits of armor shouldn't move and float like butterflies.

Ah man, it's been a while since I've watched RvB. Think I stopped at 13.
>S14 already has 17 episodes
MARATHON HO

Just be prepared that the cliffhanger for 13 isn't going to be resolved until 15.

I can deal with cliffhangers. Besides, that's just one episode.

He means Season 13.
Season 14 is an anthology and doesn't continue the story.

Actually the entire season.

They're doing prequel and experimental episodes for 14.

It ties into what Church said at the end of the last season. You gotta have faith that they pull through.

Oh
So, an entire season's worth of a cliffhangers
No, yeah, I can deal with that. Hell, I barely remember the ending of S13. It's been a while

I marathoning seasons six through eight, and I just started seven. Should I keep going after that and just watch all of it?

Oh yeah. I don't think there's a particular drop in quality, just some shifts in genre that may not appeal to everyone.

The Blood Gulch Crew exposed Hargrove, and he's out for revenge against them and all of Chorus. He's got them cornered in a room on his ship, and the guys are making a last stand against his troops while waiting for Wash and Carolina to bring back up. They squire the Meta's suit, and Tucker puts it on. Church, realizing he's too outdated as an AI to run it, basically commits suicide to make himself compatible.

Also, the Grifshot's back.

It went to shit when he started doing actual plots instead of LOL FPS GAMES and started drinking MS's kool aid

Well it always had a kind of serialized plot, it's just it became more focused and started treating itself a bit more seriously.

There were hints of the direction as early as the Out of Mind miniseries, which even introduced characters like Delta way before season 6.

I guess I'll re-watch the S13 final
After I blitz through S14

I'm still hoping Epsilon-Church's actions mean Epsilon versions of the original AI. Would be cool to see the best two again. I just wonder if we'll get an Epsilon-Epsilon to go with it.

Season 14 is fun if you're not feeling blue-balled by last season's ending. The Mercenary's trilogy is a particular highlight, as well as the episodes that set up the Blood Gulch saga. Explained a lot of lingering questions.

The shit that happened to Jimmy is pretty fucked if you think about it.

I just got to the Jimmy episode too
Jesus fuck. Poor kid

I don't mind the change, mostly because I'll never get enough of these fucking morons taking out space badasses.

Felix's take down was probably one of the most satisfying I've seen for a villain in recent memory.

I liked his and Locus' arc a lot. You think at first Felix is one of those mercs with a heart, but they definitely managed to make him come off as an arrogant scumbag by the end.

Locus felt, and even looked, like a retread of the Meta, but they managed to humanize him really well, and I'm looking forward to seeing what he does in the following seasons.

i'm sure Wu will show up again at some point too.

Tucker is best boy.

He's used goods, user. A single father.

That makes him more attractive. He's got that single dad appeal.

Technically he's the mother.

Junior called him dad at the end of season 13.

>Epsilon-Church's actions mean Epsilon versions of the original A
That seems very meta.

The next episode is going to be the 300ths in the series.

Being meta while in the suit of the Meta?

youtube.com/watch?v=8nTZ8Fsht9U

I didn't ask for any of this

I think this will be the third time Caboose 'lost' Church.

Second time due to him dying.

youtu.be/6nDwIB5QZC4?t=5m47s

This scene is seriously fucking great.

Which one is that? I don't remember Jimmy showing up in any of the episodes I've seen this season.

It's either episode 3 or 4.

Jimmy is the host for the Alpha AI, so basically up through his death early in season 1, Church is controlling the body of a dead man.

Jesus Christ. At least that ties up one of my biggest plothole gripes with their retconning of the whole ghost angle.

He was never a ghost.

He was a zombie.

I really should pick RvB back up.
9 had such a solid, satisying ending, but the newer stuff sounds really cool.

>That entire arc with Felix, Locus, and Wu in S14
Well that was the best series of episodes right there

I really like the Chorus Trilogy. Season 11 is kind of slow at first, but 12 and 13 have some of the best stuff in the series in my opinion.

Fucking great, right? Hoping Wu shows up at some point in season 15.

It's kind of bizarre though to hear professional voice acting in the series. Wu was done by Chris Sabat.

I was about to write that I didn't expect Vegeta to show up in my animated Halo fanfiction, but honestly, that sounds about right.

As a long time watcher and fan of RvB I pretty much agree with every point you made.

Season 9 was definitely a low point in the series, with jagged cuts between church/epsilon being stuck in the memories of Blood Gulch and the freelancer prequel story. It did get better with season 10 when both stories came together but overall the Freelancer Saga left a lot of questions unanswered and could be a bit hard to follow sometimes, but overall still enjoyable.

I found the Chorus Trilogy to be a great breath of fresh air. While it still has some loose ties to the Freelancer Saga, it largely remained its own thing and was solid. Season 11 was a little slow but I could forgive that after seasons 9 and 10 moved along at such an intense pace for the majority of their run. I loved how they put the usual "follower" characters into leadership roles for season 12, it gave a lot of them, especially Tucker, some great character building moments.

While the newest season is a great compilation of experiments and side stories, I'm excited to see where the main story will proceed after that cliffhanger on Season 13, glad they're taking their time though.

I'm especially pleased with how things are going with Tucker. His arc over the series have been subtle, but they've really ramped it up with 12 and 13.

Wonder if he's gonna end up keeping the Meta's armor?

I personally hope so, he looked badass in it, and it was a really powerful moment for his character to step into a position of "I think I finally know what I'm doing, and can handle myself like a leader". Honestly that whole ending scene of the season 13 finale made me teary-eyed, with seeing all of these characters that I pretty much grew up with and church's monologue just make that entire season

It was really fucking great. Doc/O'Malley showing up, and all his parts, put a huge smile on my face.

"Fly, you fools."

I mean, I know in the end, that's just a Lord of the Rings reference, but after so many seasons, and after going through so many things, him being part of the team really carried a surprising amount of weight that was just fantastic to watch.

Yeah Doc/O'Malley felt like a character they never really knew what to do with after Season 5, but now I feel like he's going to get a more stable role in the series, like in The Blood Gulch Chronicles

Considering the size of the ensemble, I'm surprised at how well they've been able to keep things together though. Some characters may step out for a season or two, but I never felt like they were forcefully trying to think up things for people to do.

One of my biggest gripes with season 9 was that, other than the freelancer plot feeling disjointed from everything else, there were just so many other characters that I liked, and here was this basically whole new cast, that took a while for me to come to appreciate.

I mean I was still a little bit iffy on Wash up to that point.

By the end of season 8, I had come to accept Washington, but it actually wasn't until season 9 and 10 that I actually started to like him. I liked seeing in 9 that out of all of the freelancers he seemed the weakest, and in season 10 he had begun to fit nicely into the core cast.

Yeah, I'm pretty cool with Wash now. He mostly plays out as being a straight man, but considering the cast, that's fine. He works well to bounce jokes off of, and provides some good action scenes.

Carolina I was a little iffy on, but I think she started to gel once Church became her AI. I liked their interactions. Plus it was cool to see Church acting more analytically. That whole slow-mo scene in 12 where he plans out how to help her with that attack was really neat.

Wondering how things are going to be with him gone now. Probably going to have a few issues with Tucker, considering he's now walking around in Maine's armor, and has the remnants of Epsilon powering it.

Yeah the continuation of the main story will be very interesting. The only thing we really have to go on is The Chairman, guessing they'll try to feature him as the new central villain. I also hope they'll use this opportunity to tie up some loose ends with the freelancer saga, as a lot of things seemed to be left out in the open with no real explanation or closure, though I'm sure they are keeping that stuff in mind.

As for Carolina I kinda agree, I wasn't too sure about her character in 9. 10 sorta helped me come around on her a bit more, and when church started becoming her dedicated AI along with them sorta becoming their own duo team is when I started liking her more

I'm guessing Hargrove is going to stick around. If Dr. Church can evade the law for so long, so can he, but there are definitely a lot of directions to go, and even some of the prequel stuff in 14 has some potential to be led up with. Wu I'm almost certain will show up again. Plus Locus wants redemption.

As an aside, I thought it was cute that the kid playing the 'Overlord' in the lego episode of season 14 was named Malcolm- the same first name was the Chairman.

Well the body didn't start to rot until the Shelia incident so that's a plus...

Damn fine life support in those suits.

Thank you NASA.

So am I the only one who wants a short about the Freelancers that weren't in the top 10. The episodes dealing with Flowers assembling the Blood Gulch team showed that there were still a handful of agents still active and loyal to command(California,Missouri were two on the list). I just want to see how they dealt being shit tier considering how things went for CT and South Dakota

That could be real interesting. Maybe we'll get something like that for the season finale? They've probably got something lined up that's interesting, considering they didn't save the three-part mercenary story for the end.

Speaking of mercs was Sirus a character in the past seasons or is he new?

I really hope Tucker keeps the Meta armor when the next season comes. They are pretty good at keeping development and progress as long as the Halo games allow them to (The reason why Grifshot took so long to be back was because the particular weapon didn't appear in Halo 4 and 5 so no Machinima scenes could be shot with it, or so I heard.)

The idea of such a powerful armor being in hands of Tucker is an open canvas for both cool fights or hilarious moments.

Brand new, and voiced by the guy who does half the cast for the American dub of Dragon Ball.

I assumed he was going to die at the end of the trilogy, but he's alive, which makes me think he'll pop up again. Especially since Locus is now down a partner, and between the three of them, Siris was the most sensible and level headed. Probably not a bad guy to get in touch with if you want to try and set things right.

>been looking for something long to watch
>seen RvB before, enjoyed it
>apparently doesn't go to shit a few seasons in
Guess I know what I'm doing tomorrow.
Which one does Chris Zito voice again?

They've been building up over the seasons that between most of the Reds and Blues, Tucker has something new to him. He's a "true warrior", and the key to fulfilling an ancient prophecy. Plus, he's been maturing a lot over the past few seasons.

Him getting a 'power boost' like this seems kind of fitting.

I don't think anyone?

Elijah Wood voiced a character, though.

I agree. But besides just seeing it from the character growth's perspective, on the funny side the idea of tucker learning to use the armor of one of the biggest antagonists in the series is comedy gold in the making

Seasons 12 and 13 really sold Carolina for me. The buddy cop relationship between her and Chruch as her AI worked incredibly well. Also, they were pretty good at showing her growth from the over-competitive cold-hearted person she was, showing actual tough care and respect for the Blood Gulch crew as well as her whole apology scene with shark-face.

Also, the scene of her trying to understand Tucker's Bowchikabowwow was strangely adorable.

>Having more of Theta being adorable.

Yes!

My mistake then. From the FF7 Machinabridge collaboration RT did with TFS, I assumed Zito was with RT and that I remembered his voice from RvB.

I like how the Death Battle episode implied they hung out and watched movies together.

I'm guessing Church's death is really gonna sting for her. I mean in a way, he was her father.

That was a collaboration with RT? I assumed it was just TFS doing it one their own.

I actually liked FF7 Machinabridged. I do agree the first episodes were kind of weak but it really felt they got a better hang of it halfway through the season. Try watching the first episodes of DBZ Adbridged and is basically the same, them growing in the writing and improving with time. I feel next season it's gonna follow DBZA's newer style of "Follow and respect the plot and character growth but with more funny"

Also, their Hojo was perfect.

>Carolina basically is losing her father again / the closest thing to a brother (Being the original Chruch's "creation" like Carolina, in a way.)

>Caboose is gonna lose his best friend for the third time

The ones in blueish armor always have it rough...

youtube.com/watch?v=8nTZ8Fsht9U

You can always make more friends.

From what I understand though, Church is supposed to be done for good here. Unless the guys are RT are being big teases, the best we'll get from him are flashbacks.

Definitely gonna change up the team dynamic.

So would the blue team's Church actually look comparable to this guy? If say he were to take his helmet off in AI form?

Can AIs even take their 'helmets' off?

>there's a reason
I mean, not really. It's just cause the show wasn't getting new episodes, despite the shorts coming out.

I keep hoping the Reds would get an arc but it will never ever happen

Yeah... It's a shame.

Well Alpha church had a biological body but it was Private Jimmy's. So he would look like him but I don't think the AIs can take off their helmets

I always thought the blue ODST freelancer was going to be Sarge since that character usually had a shotgun,he's able to keep up with Washington, he managed to take down Tex before and he formulated the plan to take down the Meta. I thought something would happen to him during the fallout where his memory gets fucked up and he hates the blues with such a passion because of his former armor.