By Yesenia L. Pineda
Looking for that new attention clenching show that fills you with the thrills and chills of excitement, perhaps the one that will be binge worthy? Here’s the Raptor round up on what you should watch!
On this week’s first ever edition of Raptor Round up we’ll be looking towards Netflix for the hottest shows and the latest in recent releases.
SHOW: The Sandman
SEASONS: One (for now!) + one additional episode
SYNOPSIS: When the sandman, a cosmic being who makes and controls dreams, is captured and held prisoner for more than a century, Dream must travel across domains of all kinds and rectify timelines that have suffered from the chaos of his absence.
RAPTOR CLAW RATING: Being a huge Neil Gaiman fan and seeing how his comic book story is becoming adapted to the silver screen with an inclusive cast makes the wonder of watching out of this metaphysical world. The show is worth the long awaited adaptation and includes a bonus episode that is a blend of animation and live action. The Sandman gets a solid claw rating of ten talons!
SHOW: The Umbrella Academy
SEASONS: Two
SYNOPSIS: One day in 1989, 43 infants were born unexpectedly to unconnected and random mothers who showed no signs of pregnancy the day prior. Seven of which were adopted by billionaire Sir Reginald Hargreeves, who founded The Umbrella Academy to save the world from the apocalypse and the threat of alternate timelines.
RAPTOR CLAW RATING: Not only does this series focus on the aspects of an apocalyptic world and the idea of time traveling into different timelines, but it comes from the mind of Gerard Way aka lead singer and founder of My Chemical Romance. Focusing on the aspects of a chaotic family, strange powers, ground breaking strength within sibling bonds The Umbrella Academy earns itself a solid claw rating of seven talons.
SHOW: ARCANE
SEASONS: One (season two is in construction)
SYNOPSIS: Animated and set within the universe of Riot’s League of Legends, Arcane follows the journey of two champions (sisters Vi and Jinx) as tensions run high between the utopia of Piltover and the crackling undercity of Zaun as conflict brews and spews into technology.
RAPTOR CLAW RATING: Having heard of League of Legends through multiple online tournaments and personal connections I wasn’t huge on the game. However, seeing the story of both Vi and Jinx as they go through different journeys in the upper city and lower city while being animated in such a beautiful way the lore started adding up and making the plot of League of Legends more interesting. Paired with a wonderful and out of this world style animation plus voice casting Arcane earns itself a solid claw rating of ten talons!
SHOW: Love, Death + Robots
VOLUMES: Three
SYNOPSIS: A collection of visually stunning animated shorts centering around adult animations, dark humor, horror fiction, and dark comedy as robots explore what life was like for humans, the exploration of alternate universes with exaggerated timelines and vastly different styles of animation.
RAPTOR CLAW RATING: While anthropology series aren’t typically on my plate for viewing, the interesting use of animation be it animated, clay animation or live action combined with the subjects like dark humor, horror fiction, and dark comedy plus alternate history was too golden to pass up the watch. Episodes like The Witness, Good Hunting, shape-shifters, The Tall Grass, The Drowned Giant, The Very Pulse of the Machine and Jibaro will leave your jaws on the ground and your mind in a loop of thinking. With beautiful and groundbreaking animation that changes the narrative of the very medium Love, Death + Robots earns itself a solid claw rating of nine talons!
SHOW: Bridgerton
SEASONS: Two
SYNOPSIS: Based on the popular regency era romance series written by Julia Quinn, Bridgerton follows the up and down of eight tight knit siblings in search of love, friendship, adventure, drama and their place in the matriarchal regency era of London.
RAPTOR CLAW RATING: I have to admit, I’m not one to watch series based on romance or regency historical style novelas yet Bridgerton was different. With the subtle hints of lady whistledown involvement in romantic affairs and the interesting dynamics of having eight siblings with growing drama regarding the royal crown, I simply couldn’t say no. Bridgerton earns itself a solid claw rating of ten talons!