Semantic Nonsense: Second comings for Animaniacs and the Bravely Default II demo

Animaniacs reboot

The new show is very much in style with the original, just with updated pop-culture references and 90% of the cast stripped out.

The new writers capture all the pieces of the Yakko/Wakko/Dot story structure from the original cartoon (but they seem to be overplaying their hand on original songs).

Most of Hulu’s 13 episodes Are split up between a Yakko/Wakko/Dot segment, A Pinky and the Brain segment, and a short that will probably get cut out in syndication. There’s a little give and take between the lengths of the primary segments, but much less verity in sketch length overall compared to the original show.

(I have no idea why the new Animaniacs is a Hulu property and the upcoming relaunch of Tiny Toon Adventures is on Netflix when WB has had its own streaming services this whole time. It’s an especially bad look with them redoubling their efforts and shoving all their other eggs into HBO Max.)

There’s a lot of nits to pick if that’s what you’re into. The new animation style looks cheaper. The orchestra is thinner. Tress MacNeille and Rob Paulsen (specifically as Yakko) sound their age, slur their s’s and sing flatly. WB’s acquisition of Hanna Barabara is weirdly demonstrated in once episode which features a barrage of HB characters in cameos alongside Looney Tunes alumni.

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Bravely Default II Final Demo impressions

You’ll have a strange feeling of Deja Vu if you played the first demo, as they take place in the exact same locations. The difference this time is that the story and balance are as they are expected to be in the finished product.

The battle system is a bit more enjoyable this time around, now that the demo isn’t trying to deliberately wreck the player (except for the boss fights, but that’s kind of the point of a boss fight so it gets a pass). That’s not to say the game isn’t pushing you to get stronger, but the difficulty no longer spikes suddenly and repeatedly in a short amount of time.

Compared to last go round, the characters are a little more animated, but still have a creepy mannequin look to them — especially in their faces.

Overall, I’m looking forward to the game, though I don’t feel as hype as I did for Bravely Second. But there’s still a lot of game left to discover.

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Kit Kat of the week: Raspberry

This was not one of the better fruit flavors. There’s definitely raspberry in there, but somehow it TASTES smooshed. While certainly an impressive achievement on it’s own, it’s not something that’s going to move candy bars.