everyone that says 'percy is not stupid he just thinks he is' is actually so right, that's like borderline self-sabotage and sometimes adhd-ers does that. it's just that this time the show isn't fully from percy's pov. the boy can think when he wants and needs too, he's just slow sometimes.
i read this book back in like 2019 and i liked it so much i wanted my own copy and then found out it was out of print, despite having been published in 2015, AND there was an article from 2018 saying they were making a movie adaptation of it?????
Hamster and Gretel does have a VERY week first episode. However, it does get better and really hits its stride around episode 5 or so. So please don't write it off based on the first couple episodes. If you are a fan of PnF and MML, then you will probably enjoy it. It's full of the clever, slightly meta humor PnF and MML are known for. It's a little more modern in its humor, and that doesn't always work. But PnF itself ALSO had its contemporary humor that didn't really age, so that's nothing new. I'd say it falls in the middle of these two shows in terms of serialization, which isn't saying much, but it is in fact lightly serialized.
I understand preferring serialized shows (as usually I do too). However, that doesn't mean more episodic shows are bad.
It's first and foremost a comedy. And it works at that. Granted, humor is pretty subjective, but I think its pretty funny. Its clever, and the unique situations the characters find themselves lends itself to originality. Obviously not all the jokes land, but I think each episode has something I laugh at every time.
It is clearly a project that is dear to Dan Povenmire's heart, with references to his family practically everywhere. And that shines through in the interactions between the main cast. The characters are all very entertaining and our main cast show simple, but effective character growth. The characters I think are definitely the main appeal of the show.
As is to be expected this show excels in wholesome and realistic family dynamics. Many of the characters echo previous archetypes shown in the Flynn-Fletcher and Murphy families. However, those families worked for a reason, and the Grant-Gomez family has enough of its own spin to keep it fresh.
"I gave birth to both of you. This is nothing."
If you haven't seen any episodes, here's a rundown of the characters.
Kevin. The Guy with the minivan. He's the normie older brother, and the real main character, who feels overshadowed by his younger sister by the universe. But he's eager to insert himself into Hamster and Gretel's heroics and carves out a role for himself. While he works from the sidelines, he is a crucial member of the team. His actions often come from a place of protectiveness for his sister, in addition to the jealousy. However he never takes it out on her. Kevin is a teenage boy, and everything that entails. Awkward, a bit of a dumbass, and desperately trying to establish his identity. But he's also genuinely well intentioned, resourceful, and is a sweet and protective older brother to Gretel. I really appreciate how seriously the show, and the other characters treat Kevin and his contributions and struggles.
Gretel is an energetic, cheerful, reckless and stubborn girl. She's often oblivious to how Kevin feels about certain things. Despite her love for Kevin doesn't always take him seriously and is often annoyed with him and how he manages her superheroing, and tries to do things her own way, even when Kevin protests. Though she does value his attention and assistance. Kevin is the first one who Gretel will call out to for help in a pinch and he'll always jump in without a second thought, even if he's literally powerless.
The core of the show is the dynamic between Kevin and Gretel.
They love each other, but also do get on each others nerves, and aren't afraid to tease each other. When they first received powers, Kevin was genuinely excited to be a superhero with his little sister, and though that didn't pan out the way he thought it was going to, both are genuinely happy to be a team. They trust each other immensely, and while the first episode is rather weak it does establish the amount of trust they have in each other. Despite Kevin's lack of powers.
The other titular character, Hamster is a talking hamster. He will not allow anyone to expect anything more than what he's already giving (he can talk what more do you want). But he's got a surprising amount out of depth. He's generally pretty inexpressive, but that contrasts with his petty hamster problems and his surprising variety of skills. Hamster's unflinching loyalty for Gretel, dry wit, and a penchant for messing with Kevin, really adds to team and family dynamic. Kevin and Hamster's growing friendship, built on friendly rivalry is another highlight of the show. Hamster may be a bit of a sarcastic grump, but we see him having to swallow his pride and ask for help and accept assistance somewhat regularly.
"We're more like neutral coworkers who live together."
Fred is an amazing character and rounds out the main quartet. Kevin and Gretel's cousin, a woman of many skills. A computer wiz, anime nerd, and talented gymnast among other things. Someone who on the surface seems far more suited to Kevin's role than he is. There's hardly ever a dull moment with Fred on screen who's constant cynicism contrasts nicely with Gretel and Kevin's more cheerful attitudes. Fred has grown up with the two of them and knows them well. She very clearly cares a lot about the two of them, though isn't afraid to call them out and isn't nearly as proactively concerned as Kevin. She's able to act as a mediator of sorts at times between the two of them. Fred also shows growth as she in individual episodes comes to appreciate people who aren't like her (emotional and cheerful), and comes to realize they have more in common than she initially thought.
"Yeah, they're still evil, 'cause you know, they're like teenage girls, but not supervillain evil."
The rest of the extended family is also delightful and has significant presence. Family is a central theme in this show, and the whole extended family often plays key roles in episode plots. It's very clear how important everyone is to each other and how family has made these people who they are.
Carolina and Dave are very involved in their kids lives and have their own subplots and developed personalities. In addition Churro the family dog, Carolina's mother, her sister Meli, and Dave's sister (Fred's mom) Stacy really flesh out the family despite their limited appearances.
The rest of extended cast is also fun, really fleshing out the world.
Bailey is Gretel's best friend and a particularly important reoccurring character. She starts as Hamster and Gretel's (superhero) biggest fan. Often oblivious, she's confident, energetic, intelligent and a genuinely supportive friend. She's still a somewhat reckless and obnoxious little kid, not unlike Gretel, but her passion, and strong principles help highlight Gretel's strength's and weaknesses. She's definitely the kind of weird little girl whose always got some weird facts on hand about some niche topic, which sometimes comes in handy. Her and Gretel's relationship is also a highlight as they unconditionally care about each other, but still often experience conflict, usually do to external forces.
Hiromi is the girl Kevin has a crush on, but a fully fledged character in her own right. She's goofy, passionate, hardworking, works at a comic shop, is the editor for the school newspaper, and ends up forming a fun friendship with Fred.
"I must point out again that vikings did not have canons. Or singing."
"mmm. Wouldn't be much of a musical without the singing."
"A girl can dream."
The villains are mostly one offs, but their often quite unique in premise and their motivations are often quite hilariously petty. Though, there is a slight overarching plot as the mystery behind the aliens motivations, which involves certain members of Gretel's rogue gallery. The plots are moving slowly, but developing nevertheless.
The reoccurring villains also play a part in emphasizing the themes of family. Even minor villains occasionally have motivations related to their families. Two of the most frequent reoccurring villains, are Fistpuncher and the Destructress. A twins with the same powers as Hamster and Gretel who were given their powers by the same aliens, except to use for evil. They act as foils to Kevin and Gretel. Fistpuncher and Gretel are both impulsive younger siblings. Destructress and Kevin are both responsible older siblings, who want acknowledgement. Both sets of siblings are competitive, but care deeply for each other and have had their lives changed by powers beyond their understanding.
Professor Exclamation, from the first episode, is also a reoccurring villain whose relationship with his son is also a major subplot. Nordle is a fun character who highlights Gretel's character strengths, as he develops out of his father's shadow.
I think some of Hamster and Gretel's main themes are family, trust and community, as it is in Phineas and Ferb and Milo Murphy's Law. I'll probably got more into those eventually. But I think there is another theme here of not underestimating people or making assumptions about them. Without giving too much away, whether its people repeatedly underestimating Kevin's skills, Fred learning that cheerleaders are just people, Hamster having a rich life outside of the Grant-Gomez's, or even just a grumpy clown being nice, characters are constantly subverting expectations. It may not be anything particularly mindbreaking to the audience, but to the characters they are constantly having to break through others expectations, or adapt how they view others.
Music, as always is top tier. I don't have anything else to add except that they're funny. Admittedly the opening is pretty weak. But there are plenty of other fun songs. I particularly like Don't Steal From the Banks, My Best Friend Bailey's Birthday, Ropa Vieja, I Think We'll Break for Lunch and How You Feel About Me.
"I'm a lemur and I love it and I'm standing on my toes"
Overall, the writing is witty, and there is a sense of continuity, between episodes in a lot of subtle ways so even as the episodes are largely self-contained. Conflicts are largely comedic in nature, and often absurd, which leads to creativity in how they are resolved. While they often are pretty predictable, they aren't particularly repetitive. I'm not really one to comment on voice acting, but the delivery of many lines really elevates the writing. Hiromi, Fred, and Fistpuncher in particular have really had some solid deliveries in my opinion that make okay dialogue, hilarious. I wasn't sold on Meli Povenmire as Gretel at first, but as the show has gone on I think she's improved, and really brings Gretel to life.
Overall the show is just a good time, and a sweet show about family and superhero shenanigans. The show is just fun to watch, simple, but effective and its a shame to see it go not only overlooked by people but looked at with disdain. It is definitely in part the shows fault for its weak start, I can't defend that. It's also not a particularly dramatic or emotional show, so if your looking for something like The Owl House or The Ghost and Molly McGee, you're not going to get it here. Though that isn't to say it doesn't have it's heartwarming moments. And it's not exactly Phineas and Ferb or Milo Murphy's Law either. But it's not fair to punish the show for something its not. Hamster and Gretel is delightful. So watch it cowards.
just watched the fnaf movie and omg ?? i actually really liked it ?? i had no expectations for it, as in, i didn't expect it to be good or bad, but i am still incredibly surprised by it ! i am pretty glad they decided to not follow all the lore entirely and kind of gave it their own twist because if they attempted to make it 100% cannon it would have all been an absolute mess . . really enjoyed the movie, really happy i went out to see it, and as far as i could tell by the reactions of the people around me, everyone seemed to like it too hehe. sort of a spoiler ahead ig so be warned, but my fav character was 100% balloon boy because why was he there ? what was he up to ? did i miss something ? i'm assuming maybe it was supposed to be a little easter egg, but i absolutely loved it either way — in fact, i loved all the little more direct references to the games that i caught ! like the scene where they all ganged up on afton ?? hello ?? absolutely fantastic. also adored the music they played when the movie ended there possibly couldn't have been a better choice for the soundtrack ! the most op character was 100% the cupcake tho also loved that little guy ngl
Keep alternating between feeling really psyched by the prospect of applying for these MA programs & suddenly feeling crushed by the reality of money and career prospects etc etc etc
2023/02/06 Blog post by Wakana ソロになって4周年!〜2月6日はふむふむの日!〜
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4th Anniversary since my Solo Debut〜February 6!〜
Everyone! Today, on February 6th, I was able to celebrate my 4th anniversary as a solo artist! \\\\٩( 'ω' )و //// I owe this achievement to all of you who always support me. Thank you very much. I made a little video featuring some thoughts about the current me and my future (*'▽'*) So today, please enjoy this VLOG-like video♪
From now on, I would like to share a lot of behind the scenes footage with you\(^-^)/ Thank you for your continued support! ! Until the album release, I will do my best to show you glimpses of the album production! (Please forgive me for not being able to edit this as much as my usual videos. I was quite busy working on the album so I didn’t have any time (T-T))
Next time, I will film a video of me in the recording booth! (o^^o)
Last but not least, please look forward to the fan club exclusive live stream event "Wakana Spring Shark Festival Vol.2 ~Talk & Mini Live~" on March 25th! \\\٩( 'ω' )و ////
Date: March 25, 2023
Time: 15:00~
Starring: Wakana
Yuuka Nanri <Guest>
Shin Hashimoto (Piano)
Ticket details will be revealed at a later date.
Thank you all for your continued support! Until next time☆( *'▽'*)/
***Wakana***
Note: Ahhh, it’s so nice to see a fan club video from Wakana after such a long time. And I LOVE that we are getting some behind the scenes footage of the album production. That studio looked amazing. However, it seems like the production isn’t as far ahead as I had hoped. The mastering that took place the other day wasn’t actually for the album itself but for something else. This is what Wakana is referring to in the little snippet I am posting here (towards the end of the video). She says that she is allowed to reveal a tiny bit of information. Apparently the album will come with a special kind of tokuten (benefit/bonus content). She can’t say too much but it will be video & audio which is why they had to do some mastering. She is super excited for everyone to see it. Pretty sure this is footage from her Christmas Live. I mean, what else would it be.