Other Shows I Watched in 2024

So, now that I've gotten back into reviewing longform TV shows, albeit a lot slower, I thought I'd give a quick summary of my thoughts on the other shows I've seen this year but didn't end up doing a full review for, whether it was because of a lack of material or me just not wanting to write TV reviews at the time.

Superman: The Animated Series
A while ago, I watched and reviewed Batman: The Animated Series and I enjoyed it a lot. Between Kevin Conroy's pitch-perfect performance, the on-point villain gallery, and stylishly gothic Gotham, it quickly became one of my favorite iterations of the character despite the occasional rough episode here or there. However, at the time, HBO Max had temporarily removed a lot of DCAU shows before I could really get started on the next series, Superman: The Animated Series, so I kinda just forgot about it for a bit while I got into Precure. This year, I finally went back to give STAS a chance and it was... fine.

If there's one thing I can praise about Superman: The Animated Series, it gets the characters right. I don't want to delve into the many complexities of how to make Superman "interesting", but I will say that STAS's iteration of the character is well-executed in how it focuses on Superman's innate connection to humanity (and not on how godlike he is and how he has no time for normal people, Snyder). Lois Lane is also surprisingly compelling in how snarky and energetic she is, and Clancy Brown's performance as Lex Luthor is obviously fantastic and chilling. STAS is also just a more consistent show than Batman was. It doesn't reach any of the lows that show did and there's some minor story arcs and continuity that help the show feel less like a strict anthology. However, the big problem with STAS is that it also doesn't really come close to reaching Batman's highs, and I think that's because of how much weaker Superman's villain lineup is. There are some solid antagonists in Superman like Toymaker, Metallo, Lobo, and of course Lex himself, but the average Villain Of The Week episode in this series lacks the same level of pathos that they did in BTAS. As a result, I honestly can't remember many episodes in Superman: The Animated Series outside of the few Darkseid ones, the rest just kinda flew by me.
3/5 Stars

Justice League
I then went ahead and tried to work through the Justice League series... and I kinda got bored by Season 2. I went in well-aware people didn't think Season 1 was very good, so I at least tried to power through it, as hard as it was. But while what I saw of Season 2 was certainly an improvement, I eventually quit out of boredom. My biggest issue with the series is the production values. Coming off of the hand-drawn animation and meticulous orchestration of BTAS and STAS, Justice League's crummy MIDI score and digital animation felt like a massive downgrade, and the action just lacked zero impact. I don't really care about the characters either, it feels like they're all so focused on the task at hand every episode that over a season in and I just didn't have any attachment to them or their dynamic. The fact that every episode was a two-parter meant the pacing was horrendously slow, and while I heard Unlimited doesn't have this issue (along with generally being considered better), I just couldn't bring myself to slog through the first series any further. I think I just don't care much about the DCAU outside of Batman: The Animated Series.
2/5 Stars

Dungeon Meshi: Season 1
Dungeon Meshi is easily one of the most hyped-up anime adaptations of the year. I've heard so many incredible things about the original manga, so I was excited to check out the anime, especially after learning it'd be produced by Studio Trigger. And yeah, it really is that good. Dungeon Meshi stands out among the usual fantasy fare in anime for the sheer attention to detail in its world-building, diverse character designs, and cast of likable but flawed adult characters. It does get off to a bit of a slow start, with the first half of the season being fairly episodic and light, but after a pretty spectacular midseason finale, the second half of Dungeon Meshi's first season really strikes a strong balance between gripping drama, hilarious comedy, inventive dungeon monster recipes, and bonkers Trigger action. With the release of the season finale, it was announced that we'd get a Season 2 to finish up the story, which also makes this the longest Trigger anime and the only one to have more than two cours. Great season of anime, one of my favorite shows of the year, and I can't wait to see how the story resolves in the next season.
4/5 Stars

Curb Your Enthusiasm: Season 12
Curb Your Enthusiasm finally ended and it was, once again, fine. I think the show kinda dropped off after Season 7 (barring the fluke that was the Spite Store season), and while Season 12 isn't as poor as 5, 11, or 9, I did find it pretty unremarkable for the most part. It had some neat cameos like Matt Berry and David Levy, and was pretty consistent and reliably funny throughout, but I wouldn't really call any of its first eight episodes all that spectacular. The arc of Larry going on trial for giving a voter a bottle of water was pretty neat and a big improvement over last season's arc, but it didn't get as much focus as I would've hoped. However, the season did end on a really strong note. Ken/Kendra was easily one of the funniest episodes of the season, it had everything. The hilariously realistic chaos of Larry getting covid, some of Susie's most ruthless insults, Matt Berry being himself, the titular Ken storyline, and Leon coining the term "We too'd". 

The series finale, No Lessons Learned, was as expected, a recreation of the infamous Seinfeld finale. I hate the Seinfeld finale, but it worked here for a number of reasons. First off, it just fits Curb better. Larry David is more blatantly an awful person, the show gets so cartoonish that Larry being put in prison doesn't feel as jarring, and the show doesn't have any clip shows outside of this one. But also, Larry instead ended the finale with him being let out of prison over a clerical error, so we get the "life goes on" ending that Seinfeld should have always had. The episode was called No Lessons Learned and yeah, that's the perfect ending to Curb. Larry has never learned his lesson, and he never will learn his lesson, and that's how it goes.
3/5 Stars

Strange Hill High
Strange Hill High is one of those shows that I kinda just randomly stumbled upon on YouTube only to be immediately drawn in by the character designs, and the more I looked into it, the more I was convinced that this was something I need to watch. Strange Hill High is a British stop-motion animated comedy with an artstyle inspired by Japanese vinyl figures, co-created by Josh Weinstein of The Simpsons fame, with the ever-hilarious Richard Ayoade playing one of main characters. And yes, it is as incredible as that sounds. I can not understate how fresh and unique this series looks, all of the characters boast these really simple but appealing designs that conveys their personality perfectly. The puppetry is consistently ambitious and the production values are high throughout between some elegant CGI integration for mouth movements and frequent destructible scenery, and did I mention the character designs are absolute peak? The figure designs really tap into that early 2000s pop art style I keep raving about all the time (which is apparently called "superflat pop"?), and it creates this strange feeling of nostalgia despite this being a show from 2013.

Of course, great visuals means nothing without great writing, and Strange Hill High is a very funny show. The main premise involves three students who go to the titular high school and investigate weird happenings ranging from a school clock that can turn back time, to..., to... There isn't much of an overarching storyline, but the individual episodes are so inventive and surprising that it's just fun to see what the show tosses at you next. The writing is incredibly sharp and witty, with an impressive joke-per-second ratio and a charming sense of self-awareness. For what's supposed to be a children's show, the writing feels a lot more Adult Swim, in a good way. It's very unhinged and offbeat in a way that constantly catches me off-guard. The cast of wacky students and teachers are immensely charming and likable, especially the main trio who are all wonderfully voice-acted. The perky and naive Becky is probably my favorite character, but the witty slacker Mitchell works as a great protagonist, and Ayoade's performance as Templeton is predictably consistently hilarious. My one gripe with the writing is that some episodes kinda spiral out of control by the end into sheer convolutedness, but even then it remains fun.

While only 26 episodes (which is still a lot by British TV standards), Strange Hill High manages to squeeze so many brilliant episode ideas, top-notch gags, and wonderfully inventive visuals into its short runtime. It simultaneously feels like it came out ahead of and before its time, and was an unpredictable delight from start to finish. I've noticed increasingly more people are became aware of Strange Hill High this year and I'm here for it, it's a series with some serious cult classic potential that you should absolutely watch.
4/5 Stars

Laid Back Camp: The Movie 
Okay, this one's a bit strange. So I watched the Laid-Back Camp movie around when it came out in the west, but since I didn't have as much to say about it, I decided to jot down my thoughts and add it to the next season's review. Little did I know I would be shifted to another medium by the time Season 3 came out (which I still haven't watched yet), so I thought this was as good a place as any to finally release my review of the movie:

Laid-Back Camp seems like it might be a weird series to give a film, considering its general lack of plot, but I like the approach they took. The main plot of the Laid-Back Camp movie is that the cast are now adults. Chiaki calls them together to set up a camping ground in Yamanashi, during which they relive their own high school memories. It's very simple and there isn't much in the way of conflict, but you don't watch Laid-Back Camp for the story. You watch it for the lush backgrounds, calming and optimistic tone, comfy music, and most importantly, the characters. I loved getting to see the whole cast as adults, it's something we rarely see from a slice of life show and the crew went all the way with it. The characters are more mature and adult, but still very much themselves, almost as if they've all completed their character arcs. Rin is still an introvert, but she's less averse to interacting with people. Nadeshiko is still an extrovert, but she's less aggressive about it and her tone of voice has grown more gentle. The ways in which the characters have grown into adulthood makes perfect sense too, like Nadeshiko selling camping goods, Aoi being a teacher, and Chiaki getting drunk. The movie also expands on the show's themes of technology supplimenting how people engage with nature, with the characters branching out towards Zoom calls and FaceTimes for communication, and a PR robot serving as a somewhat important plot point. As a whole, I really enjoyed the movie. It's more Laid-Back Camp goodness, but with a unique twist that helps it stand out.
4/5 Stars