Recent Posts by Glitch
- 0 posts
And so, with cherished memories in hand, we might as well th...
Posted in The Story so far..., 4 years ago
I'm an Englishman. I'm 20 years old, and I grew up, quite literally 'over the years', watching ReBoot (Yes, we had far worse airing times than you lucky Americans/Canadians/Everyone Else Everians™). I grew up watching the adventures of Bob, Dot, Enzo, Matrix, AndrAIa, Phong and everyone else, just like I imagine a lot of you did. I have a lot of fond memories of that show, particularly Bob's Birthday (Megabyte with a guitar? YES!) and the later series, where everything just seemed to 'grow up'. I've had to traverse OUR net to locate Series 4 and I've had no end of joy and disappointment collecting a myriad memorabilia from that show. I've written fan fiction, helped in the construction of fan art and at one point even had a limited run of ReBoot fan comics printed for circulation around my old college, having found people there who loved the series just as much as I did.
In short, I'm a fan.
So WHY then, am I so put off by most of these new pitches? Do I really want to see the child of Bob, Dot, Megabyte and, oh God I dunno, Frisket? No, because that simply seems like a fangirl's wet dream with absolutely no thought for the original characters whatsoever. I'm aware that in some form or another, all of these pitches are fanfiction, but that's just bad fanfiction. I'm not going to go into raging reviews of all the pitches, but the artwork of The Last Guardian makes Bob look like Guybrush Threepwood, the main protaganist of the Monkey Island series. Or is that just me?
ReBoot Regenerated, I... Well, no. I just won't. It has no Bob. It has no Dot. It has no Enzo. It has no Matrix. I quite like the art style, but they're not doing anything with it, so why bother?
Infact, the only project of them all that has any real hope for me is Reboot 2.0, and even then simply because Enzo in a scarf looks relatively cool. Doesn't look like ReBoot, but cool nontheless.
Up until now, it obviously seems like I'm just ranting, semi-baselessly criticising other people's work and generally being a whining fanboy, right? Well, that's true. Because for the most part, I am. However, I'm also practical, and I offer an alternative. Ways in which all of these pitches could be improved or, more specifically, a brand new one that I think would appeal to fans such as myself.
For a second, I offer up Final Fantasy VII as a means of comparison. Don't switch off just yet; I'm not your simple early teenage otaku with a bishi fetish. Simply a means of comparison.
Now, Final Fantasy VII was regarded for years by many as the finest of the series (I disagree, but that's not for now). It cultivated a MASSIVE fan following, and was recently revived in the 'rebirth' project, including new spinoff games and, more importantly, a CGI movie called Advent Children. This movie was a stroke of genius. It was, in effect, an hour and a half of fight scene. Rendered in beautiful CG, it showed the most favoured Final Fantasy VII characters in, quite simply, the coolest way possible.
It was made for the fans.
They didn't try and reinvent the series, give it a 'fresh new look' or mess around with the fundamentals of why people loved who they loved. They just gave fans more of what they wanted, and the fans loved them for it.
This is what we need.
As my profile says, I'm a writer. I personally think I could craft a simpler story, bringing in characters that actually mean something to fans of ReBoot. What, pray tell, would be wrong with Bob/Glitch Bob, Matrix and AndrAIa taking on, I dunno, a constantly regenerating, hyper-powerful Megabyte in a final showdown of epic proportions? Dot, Phong, Mouse etc could run in support roles, having their 'vital moments' for their own individual fan-followings to scrap over whose was best. Lesser known but still loved characters like Ray Tracer and Captain Capacitor could even be brought back for such a purpose. It wouldn't need a hell of a lot of plot, really, would it? It writes itself.
ReBoot: The Epic Battle Where Everything's Resolved And All The Characters Get Their Time In The Spotlight To Please The Fans.
Needs a better title, I grant you. But the idea's there.
As for art style, well, that's up for grabs. I'm a writer, not an artist.
This is what infuriates me about this new idea. I'm a writer. I only found out about this project this morning, and already I've been up in arms about it all day, purely because I can't get this simple yet, I think, highly effective and fan-pleasing idea out there, to you guys. Where's the option to upload your own treatment/portion of script, hmm?
I realise that none of these ideas was ever going to please everyone, but I genuinely think mine would have more of a chance of reaching out to older fans, purely because I am one.
So, I think for the forseeable future, I'm going to have to stand stocily in front of my childhood memories, protecting them from whatever hideous changes and abuse they're about to suffer. Why?
My format. Guardian.
...Sorry.
SheaKoshan commented 4 years ago
0
You know, I don't see why we can't offer up a couple extra options for plot, character and story. Like, I don't know what's holding us back from it. Why aren't more people just posting what they think they should be doing rather than just critiquing?
I mean, we don't have to choose between these ideas. They're just springboards for what will eventually develop. So until they come up with some more direct means for the writers to offer a treatment, why not post up your own interpretation? Who knows, maybe the buzz around your version might end up being the thing instead of any of the five offered.
Of course, I'm speaking idealistically, but it could happen.
Caswin commented 4 years ago
0
I just wanted to say... I agree. I like some of the pitches in their own right, but with every single one of these ideas, I've always essentially had "wrap up the original series" as a prerequisite.
EagerArtis... commented 4 years ago
0
I agree. This actually what made the 7th Harry Potter such a great success. It was epic with a lot of resolution, though the ending was very open. They could do the same thing right now. Very easily in fact. But there's a problem. This idea would cater only to old fans, and not draw in new ones. The companies backing this don't want that, they want to increase the market. So, they need a new plot. Why not just merge the two, a new plot with a heavy resolution and major battle scenes? It could very easily be done and I think either 2.0 or Arrival have the best chance at succeeding in this endeavor. Also: http://www.rbcorner.com/cgi-bin/eblah/Blah.pl?b-news/m-1185491506/
is a good thread to lurk because the authors of Arrival are there and are taking the fans ideas seriously. They are coming up with new ideas and will probably be updating their pitch sometime next week.
JenKollic commented 4 years ago
+1
*applauds* My sentiments exactly. Except the bit about Bob in Last Guardian looking like Guybrush Threepwood, because Guybrush isn't Matrix in a clever Bob disguise.
Electra_Pr... commented 4 years ago
0
I think, That with all the ideas that Rainwater had for this, was to start again, Or rather, like a movie made out of a tv show, make it again, from beginning. This means (To me anyway) that fans have input on generally what happens. Didn't like how Hex died? Vote and she can live!
I think the reason why Rainwater don't really want to do a continuation is because the previous continuation did poorly in rating, It was just the fans watching and so far, We aren't as big a fan base as FFVII.
Anyway, that's just my thoughts on it.
Stimulatio... commented 4 years ago
0
Electra is right. We are a dedicated group of fans, but we aren't that large. We can't support Rainmaker into giving us DVDs after DVDs because we don't have the money to keep them afloat.
They need to bring in other viewers as well, so by letting us in on all the pitches and giving them feedback to re-write, re-draw things. We can make a ReBoot that is faithful but has a starting point so that everyone can see from the beginning.
This show has been around since 1994, not everyone knows or has the emotional commitment that we have for this show. That is why they want to make a good starting point again. Bring the core fanbase and bring in other viewers as well.
rek commented 4 years ago
0
I'm a fan too, but I *like* the idea of a relaunch! Reboot was more than just Season 3, which a lot of people seem to be ignoring. S3 was great, don't get me wrong, but the series didn't start there. Matrix only worked as a character because we knew he came from Enzo's experience as a failed guardian trapped in games.
I *don't* want a series that just showcases the old characters -- those things never advance a story, they maintain the franchise. It's the exact same problem that plagues the comic book industry. Magneto always comes back from the dead, Superman always goes back to his old uniform, etc. When it becomes about the *franchise* and not the *story* it's not worth buying.
rek commented 4 years ago
-2
And "Advent Children" was a terrible movie.
Megababe commented 2 years ago
0
I agree 100%, im not a big fan of the fact that ppl are interested in chaging the looks of the characters completely. All your points are valid! I think there should be a few more writers like you in the process. Im not trying to bash the other writes because we all have our own styles, but i think we have been thinking too hard trying to come up with something new and different when the answer is right under our nose.
Devilight commented 1 year ago
+1
I have an idea of what should be done (and I don't think Advent Children was terrible). If you want to wrap up the story and continue from where the series left off, introduce new characters that crosses paths with the original ReBoot cast at the point where Megabyte takes over the the office. Or you don't even have to do that. You could for the first 20 minutes have a recap of what already happened by having a few guardians being briefed on what is going on like they are on a mission and they get sent to mainframe and they get critically injured or deleted so that they don't steal the spotlight. It's like in other movies where they tell the audience what the main conflict is without having to waste an hour or so building up to that point. And when the guardians are being briefed about what is going on, when they first say the name like "megabyte" or "bob", just show a quick clip or picture of them... like "Megabyte has taken over the office and is a threat to the supercomputer".