Two days ago, a new drama that had been waiting for 2 years finally arrived.
Just after it was launched, it was scored a high score of 9.0 by the long-awaited fans.
But what followed was all kinds of bad reviews given by the audience after watching the play.
As of now, it has fallen below 7 points.
The divine drama fell off the altar, what was the problem?
Let's talk about it today .
Love, Death and Robots Season 2
Love, Death & Robots Season 2
Director: Tim Miller / Meat Department / Robert Wally / Lu Yinrong
Lyon Berel / Dominique Boydine / Remi Kojira
Writers: Tim Miller / John Scalzi / Meat Department
Richie Larson / Philip Gallat / Paul Bazi Gallupi
Starring: Nolan North / Emily O'Brien / Ellotti Yuan
Ike Amadi / Michelle C. Bonilla / Nohill Dalar
Genre: Sci-Fi/Animation/Fantasy/Horror/Short
Premiere: 2021-05-14 (USA)
Episodes: 8
Love, Death and Robots (hereinafter referred to as "Love Death Machine") is an adult animated short series that aired in March 2019 for the first season.
Once launched, it became a hit on the whole network, and its popularity and reputation soared.
On Douban, more than 320,000 people rated it with a high score of 9.2.
In addition, it won four awards at that year's Annie Awards, including Best Production and Best Screenplay.
In terms of volume, each episode of Love Death Machine is no more than 20 minutes, which can be called short and concise.
In terms of story, it covers various themes such as science fiction, horror, suspense, comedy, action, politics, war, fantasy and so on.
But what is the same is that each episode has new thoughts about "love", "death", and "robots", three common elements of science fiction films.
For example, from love to lust, from death to human nature, from robots to the awakening of artificial intelligence, and so on.
Behind the seemingly yellow, violent, and dirty animation, there is a spiritual core of deep thinking about human beings and the future world.
It is precisely because of the amazing brain hole and scale of the first season of love death that the audience is full of expectations for the second season.
But after the second season aired, word of mouth fell off a cliff.
In my opinion, the problem mainly occurs in the following aspects.
First of all, it is the reduction of volume and the homogenization of the subject matter.
Strictly speaking, the first season is not every episode of the best work.
However, due to the large number of episodes and the variety of content and themes, it is easy for every audience with different tastes and preferences to find their favorite story expression.
For example, the philosophical Zen "Zima Lan", the violent stimulation of "Sonny's Advantage", the visually gorgeous "Witness", the earth-shattering reversal of "Beyond the Crack", the steampunk and Chinese fantasy combination of "Good Harvest" and so on.
Because there are these outstanding players, it is also natural to ignore the episodes that perform mediocrely.
Season 1 "Zima Blue"
By the second season, the number of episodes had shrunk to 8, less than half of the first season.
Not only that, but there is also a great convergence in theme and content.
For example, the first episode of "Automated Customer Service" and the seventh episode of "Life Cabin" are all about the awakening and rebellion of artificial intelligence.
Overall, only the eighth episode of "Drowning Giant" is more prominent, and the other episodes are more mediocre, which leads to the average level of the entire series being far less than the first season.
The Drowning Giant
The second problem with Love Death Machine 2 is the thinness of the story content and the lack of originality.
In fact, from the sharp reduction in the number of episodes, we can feel the bottleneck of the creative team in content creation.
As we all know, the polishing of a very elaborate animated film often takes longer than shooting a live-action movie.
The first season of Love Crash took a decade from the initial idea to the final film completion.
The second season of Love Death Machine has only two years from production to broadcast, and its contrast can be seen.
《Automated Customer Service》
Viewers who have watched the series should also find that many of the plots, scenes, settings, etc. in the play make people feel familiar.
For example, the cyberpunk style, hunting setting, and even the character styling in the third episode of "Kill Squad" are very similar to "Blade Runner".
The scene at the end of thinking and questioning the nature of life in the rain is also the same as "Blade Runner".
Part 1: Blade Runner 2049 Part 2: Annihilation Squad
The sixth episode of "The Whole House" makes people feel as if they are in the scene of the children's version of "Alien" and the Christmas version of "Pan's Labyrinth".
Part 1: Alien Part 2: The Whole House
Part 1: Pan's Labyrinth Part 2: The Whole House
There is also the fifth episode of "Tall Grass", adapted from the work of Joe Lansdale.
But from either angle, it's like Netflix's film "In the Tall Grass" adapted from Stephen King's novel.
Top: "In the Tall Grass" Part II: "High Grass"
The reason why the love death machine of the first season is a blockbuster is largely because it brings a refreshing feeling to the audience -
Strange brain holes and imagination, coupled with visual presentation beyond scale.
Such originality and breakthroughs have not been inherited and inherited in the second season, which is an important reason for its reputation to slip.
Snow in the Desert
The third problem with Love Death Machine 2 is the weakening and castration of the core theme.
As we all know, most of the stories in "Love Death Machine" are adapted from existing science fiction novels and works.
However, in terms of adaptation, as well as specific presentation and expression, the two seasons feel completely different.
The first season can be called bold and naked, and all kinds of violence, lust and other 18 forbidden plots abound in the play.
But these adrenaline-inducing elements are absolutely subordinate to the expression of a thought-provoking theme itself, surprising and evocative from the inside out.
Season 1 "Good Harvest"
In the second season, when the production team created and adapted, it was not only more restrained in the presentation of the 18 forbidden elements, but also obviously insufficient in digging into the theme.
To give you a few examples to get a feel for it:
The first episode of "Automated Customer Service" is about an aging society, and intelligent robots cover all aspects of people's lives.
An old lady bought a robot that could only sweep the floor, but was accidentally attacked and hunted down by the robot.
When she called the call center, she was told that she could only save her life by spending money.
In the end, she refused such consumption and drove a car with her wife to embark on a journey of desperation.
Such an ironic story can actually be extended to many of the topics discussed.
For example, the reflection on consumerism, the vision and exposure of new consumption traps in the future, and so on.
But the play only stays in the awakening and rebellion of the robot, which is too old-fashioned.
There is also a second episode, Ice, about an alien colony where humans are transformed into mutants.
Only one boy did not accept the transformation and became an outlier in everyone's eyes.
These transformed children often go together to see a spectacle on the planet: frost whales breaking through the ice.
One day, this normal boy was also invited by his brother to enjoy the spectacle and, after this adventure, he broke away and became one with everyone.
The episode "Ice" was written by the team of "ZimaLan" in the first season, but the depth of the theme is far from the former.
In fact, in the original work of this story, a lot of ink was spent to lay the groundwork and describe the contradictions and estrangements between the older brother as an ordinary person and the younger brother as a reformer.
It explores the relationship between people of different genes and races represented by this.
And the relationship between nature, represented by frost whales, and machine production represented by colonies.
But in this episode of the adaptation, these profound themes are not presented, and it is a pity that they only fall on the level of a brotherly relationship.
Tim Miller, the initiator and director of the first season of Love Death Machine, introduced the series:
It's a "love letter to the freak."
Jennifer Yul Nelson, executive producer of the second season of Love Death Machine, said in an interview:
"What we want to pursue is to create entertainment value, optimism and positivity."
Comparing the two, it is not difficult to find the reason why the second season of Love Death machine weakens the dark visual presentation and conceals the profound theme expression.
Season 1 "Witness"
Overall, the average level of Love Death Second Season is far from that of Season One.
But even so, it still has something to commend, the most obvious of which is the more refined CG processing technology.
In some passages, you can't even tell if it's an animation or a live-action, and the technical advances in its production are evident.
"Living Cottage"
Did Love Death Machine 2 fall off the altar? truly.
But is Love Death 2 a bad drama? Not really.
Even if it's not as good as the first season, it still has something to see, especially for viewers who like this type of sci-fi animation episode.
At present, the evaluation of "Love Death Machine 2" at home and abroad is not good, largely because of the pearl jade in the front, too high expectations and the sharp contrast with the first season, resulting in a sharp decline in reputation.
However, this is not a bad thing.
Hopefully, this situation will remind the creative team that the third season must be given to us!
*This article is written by Ah Wei