Poppin' Off- Netflix Picks #2

Netflix and I have still been copious amounts of time together, so I thought I'd share some more of what I've been watching lately :) And there might be spoilers. I don't know, I try to describe things without giving too much away...

Knights of Sidonia

This anime follows Nagate Tanikaze from his journey as an under-dwelller to top pilot. Sidonia is a ship, but it looks like a planet and they are fighting an alien being called a Gauna. Its a pretty involved plot, as most animes are, and based off a manga. There are hermaphrodites, a bear that's a cook, and all kinds of cool science-y things. Apparently episodes are still currently airing in Japan, while Netflix only has two seasons available. This article on Forbes sums up KoS quite nicely.

Sword Art Online

Sword Art Online is the first anime I seriously sat down and watched. It has a very WoW element to it, which I think is why I was drawn to it. The virtual reality aspect to it really isn't too far off, which is another draw. Not all of SAO is on Netflix, my husband and I had to continue our watching of it on Hulu and then Crunchyroll, but there is a good amount to start with. The premise is that everyone logs into the game one day, and finds out that they are trapped in it. The only way to escape the game is to reach the 100th floor and defeat the final boss. If you die in the game, you die in real life, thanks to the VR set up. Kirito, the main guy, was a beta tester, so he navigates the game fairly well. The problem is, he tries to go it alone, as beta testers are considered cheaters, and have targets on their backs. Along the way, Kirito does pick up a few friends, including Asuna, who becomes much more (but that's for another story arc). This one is a lot of fun if you like playing games like WoW or any MMORPG. 

Attack on Titan

So I'm a little late to the AoT party, but this one is really good! I mean, once you get past those horrible Titan faces! Like seriously, could they have made those any creeper? I definitely understand why so many people cosplay this now, its pretty amazing. I really love Eren and Mikasa together (I've only watched what's available on Netflix, so if something horrible happens to them, I don't want to know!!), so I hope they get to continue being in each other's lives. So for this one, there are Titans, big creepy people that run around killing people and destroying cities and then the non Titan people learn that some of their own can transform into these creepy people and fight them. Eren (our main dude), can transform into a Titan, and it is weird. I need to read the manga or find more episodes or something because I want to know more!! 

What have you been watching on Netflix? Let me know in the comments below.

Poppin' Off- Netflix Picks #1

Netflix has been my best friend for quite some time now, so I thought I would periodically share with you guys what I've been watching.

Jericho
The premise is an interesting one- some major cities get nuked, then the rest of the United States falls apart. Everyone is receiving different information about who attacked the US, but none of it turns out to be true. After the attacks, people have to learn how to survive on limited resources, almost reverting back to the olden days, except they can still manage to find ways to make their electronics and cars work periodically. The United States splits off into new mini countries, and they basically are at war with one another. The show was cancelled abruptly in the beginning of it's second season, so it kinda leaves off in a place where you can feel alright about the ending, but you know there's more to the story. And there is. The writers were kind enough to continue the series in graphic novel form. You can pick up  "season" three and  "season" four and jump right back into the story :)

This how the US gets split in Jericho

Revolution

I'm actually still watching this (almost done with season one), but I really like it. In this one, the post apocalyptic world is created because someone turned off all the electricity. Yep, all of it. So the world gets taken way back in the day; they're using candles, swords, horses and buggies-everything old school. Or, as I once said while looking at Monroe's office (he's the main bad guy), it all looks like it from the Revolution. So maybe that was done on purpose. Anyway, the show has a lot of action, but the characters do make a lot of dumb decisions that can sometimes get irritating to watch. Irritations aside, I'm looking forward to watching season two, and its too bad that season three won't get to happen. Revolution also got cancelled. Here's the opening spiel, to give you an idea on what the show's about:

 We lived in an electric world. We relied on it for everything. And then the power went out. Everything stopped working. We weren't prepared. Fear and confusion led to panic. The lucky ones made it out of the cities. The government collapsed. Militias took over, controlling the food supply and stockpiling weapons. We still don't know why the power went out. But we're hopeful someone will come and light the way.

The US map from Revolution

What I like most about these shows is that these post apocalyptic scenarios are a little more realistic than say, zombies. Now don't get me wrong, I love the Walking Dead, I watch it every Sunday (and I am loving Carol right now! Shes like a bad ass Mr Rogers, going hard on that kid while baking cookies and wearing her sweater sets!). But the likelihood of a zombie outbreak happening is still very slim at this point. While viruses are getting more resistant to antibiotics, its not say that something resembling a zombie can't happen someday; but someone attacking us or us losing our power at the hand of another (probably Mother Nature, not a person though), is much more likely to occur. And I like these shows because of that. They didn't get super crazy with their scenarios, and well, I'm a fan of dystopian themed shows/books :) 

Are you a fan of shows like this? Have any recommendations? Leave them in the comments below. Have a great weekend!

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