ReBoot

So I'll lay out some ground rules:

1: Spam shall be nonexistent.

2: Flaming shall not be done. Not to say you can't disagree with me.

3: ReBoot was, in its day, the cutting edge of CG. It paved the way for every other full CG show the followed it, essentially creating a good potion of much of what's on many cartoons today. This, combined with the fact thatit was and is one of the most original ideas in recent memory means that it is made of win, and this shall be the base assumption of everything after this. If you believe otherwise, shame on you. :P

 So, having established that, I guess the next logical move would be to give a review of each of the ReBoot pitches.

Well, heck, why not?

 ReBoot ReGenerated:

The art: This is a case of something where I like the look and not the style. The rough feel of the characters actually appeals to me, Cache especially. Simple, but they have certain objects that make them unique. However over all, the art style itself just doesn't appeal to me. It's a bit too... Drawn, I think. That is, it looks like it's on paper. That's fine, but it's a look that doesn't fit ReBoot. It actually reminds me of Disney's Atlantis: The Lost Empire (One of their better movies, if you ask me.)

 The story: The story here is actually a fairly good story; it has a beginning, cause of conflict, and well-enough-defined goal. But where it really falls short for me is the characters; it's not that they're bad charaters. In fact, quite the opposite, they're very well put together, they each have a designated function in the story and in the group, and the origin of dot [insert country abreviation] idea works well with their themes. But it's less of a come back, and more of a re-start.

 Really, the major problem this pitch has is timing. Maybe later, when old fans have some closure, and ReBoot needs another fresh breath, we'll see this again. But not now.

ReBoot 2.0:

The art:  ... No. It's not that they don't explain it. They explain it fully. It's just wrong. It's dark, it's dirty, and it's nothing like ReBoot. Bob is unrecognizable. For that matter, they're all pretty much unrecognizeable. And why do they look dirty? Isn't Serenity O.S. supposed to bring a bright utopia? Here they just flat-out ignore the old story art; the old story had dark parts to it, but the art itself was never that dark. Here it all seems like they're in a back alley in the poor part of town, broken and falling apart. It's not ReBoot, especially not a triumphant come-back.

 The story:  The idea of an O.S. update is a good idea. The idea that sprites might not like an updated look is actually brilliant, but it's an excuse not to change art styles. Control, Alt, and Delete are a nice play on words, and make sense as police. In fact, over all, this is really a very good story, at least at the base idea level. A bit darker than the ReBoot we know, but I could see our old heroes going through this.

This pitch fails in the art. It's too radically different, too dark, and doesn't match with the idea of the O.S.

ReBoot: The Last Guardian:

The art: The art itself here is good, but again, not ReBoot. It's cartoon punk. If ReBoot ever becomes cartoon punk, somebody slap me. Please. That's really it, though... It's just not right. Good art. Not ReBoot art.

 The story: I'll be frank. They made an enemy of me as soon as they made Dot marry Megabyte. But I'm a fair guy, so I forced myself to read past this. They made me actively oppose them when they made them have a kid. But I'm nice. Don't judge a book by the cover, right? Or in this case, the first couple of pages. But then they just ticked me off by completely re-writing Bob. Ok, so they effectively murdered the old show. Surely the actual story could be good, right? Well, maybe, but it isn't. Why? Because the whole story essentially revolves around the very fact that Bit exists and Bob's gone mad.

What is there to learn from this pitch? If you're pitching the comeback of an old story, don't start by saying, "What would happen if we do everything to and with the characters that they would never do?" Sorry guys.

ReBoot: The Last User:

The art: Art? What art? There's no art. There's abstract shapes thrown together to kind of maybe resemble something that could possibly be mistaken for something that might have thought of ReBoot at some point, if the lights are off. It's abstract shapes trying to be something. It sucks.

The story: "ReBoot? What's that again? Oh right. That's nice. Just vote for us. And send us stuff. 'Cause we've obviously never even looked at this show before." I kid you not. Check the team's only blog entry. Look at this thing they call a story. It doesn't mention about thinking about the hunt. They don't have the major five major characters, but throw in Phong and Mouse. And Migrant Workers? Guys, this is ReBoot, not a way to make social or political commentary. "But wait" You say. "Surely there's an actual story to comment on." Well, hold on, let me look. User creates virus to combat alien virus overthrowing humanity. Virus is broken. Virus is helped along in quest to combat alien virus. It's a standard quest story, sure. Kinda like ReBoot: ReGenerated, but apocolyptic. So the story itself has something to be said. After you get past all the other stuff that essentially beats ReBoot to a bloody pulp.

Over all? I'll be blunt, as I was in the comments on the idea.

Is.

Made.

Of.

FAIL.

ReBoot: Arrival:

The art: Ok, I said I'll only look at the current versions. But I really feel the need to make a comparison here to where this is and where it was at first. The first thing that hit me was the lightness compared to the other styles. It was clean. Gnosis aside, everything has a light on it, or uses light in a way that keeps it serious, but also stays with the a feel of the old show. infact about the farthest Arrival goes from the old style is in the drawing of Gnosis itself, and even that's not a real far cry. The second thing that struck me were the lack of cloths, or any real uniforms; I didn't really like it as they had it done, but the current versions are much better. They left the entirely no cloths feel, and went for a more updated, sleeker look. They don't have clothes, but each character's outfit makes them easy to recognize from their old cloths, as a rule. They don't have much in the way of worlds, but what they have is promising. The look here is almost exactly the look that ReBoot had before; it's just updated, smoothed out, and given a fresh look.

The story: Ok, so at first it was messy; alien program and goodness knows what else. But Gnosis itself was a fair idea; like Daemon, but with more Megabyte. But the big attraction for me was that it didn't fundamentally alter anything; no change of time frame, no changing the main characters, it was just ReBoot, like we knew it, but, new, fresh, and upgraded. It also ties in to the series; at first just by wrapping up the Hunt, but the latest version traces Gnosis back to the Codemasters, from season two! While I'm not entirely familliar with that season (I need to watch it again, I missed half the episodes way back when, I think...), I know enough to know that the Codemasters are not something new to Arrival. Plus, so long as they introduce everything again, it wont be hard to pick up by people who don't know ReBoot. I love this. It's great.

Is made of win. That's all I can say.

So that's that over with... Yeah, in case you couldn't tell, Arrival gets my vote. :P I think ReGeneration should get a bit more credit for what it is and what it could be, but Arrival is definitely the best for a come-back.

That's all for now, folks. But tune in later! I'll have studies of some of the characters and their looks in Arrival!

-Tolan