Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: Irina: The Vampire Cosmonaut
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09jcg
Posts: 523 |
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I think the insert song was what made the ice skating part jump the shark for lack of a better term. It was just trying too hard at that point. Other than that it was a really nice episode, Irina is probably my biggest surprise of the season
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Karasu-Lacryma
Posts: 113 |
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I hope we get faux-Soviet space-testing hijinks in faux-Kazakhstan next.
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11331 |
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The sequence was nice, but those skating sound effects were atrocious. It sounded like raccoons raiding a metal garbage can. They shoulda cribbed from Yuuri on Ice sound files.
Don't vampires have some enhanced physical abilities compared to humans? I don't see why it's a surprise that she can ice skate, since she's probably been doing so since she was a child. Yes, the sequence was a bit hyperbolic for visual effect, but I'm not sure it was all that over the top. |
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phia_one
Posts: 1657 Location: Pennsylvania |
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On the one hand, I like the show, but on the other hand, I'm not a fan of the frequent pandering camera angles. The ice skating sequence definitely had multiple instances of it.
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jdnation
Posts: 1995 |
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This show seems to be one of those little gems that come out in a season. An out-of-left-field mish mash of premises that when blended together creates something that magically works! I'm strapped in my rocket to see how this goes!
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MFrontier
Posts: 11111 |
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I'm liking the slow but steady progression of Irina and Lev's relationship. You can tell how far their relationship has come and how important they are to each other now, and that they've pretty much fallen for each other at this point. Although short of a full adaption (considering the novels just finished) I'm not sure how much resolution we'll get this season.
I'm glad one of the jerks who always insulted Irina got his just desserts so Lev could take his spot and stop being a reserve. What happened to Irina's parents was horrific. No wonder she hates humans so much (aside from Lev and maybe Anya). That parachute jump was surprisingly romantic. Seems like they're trying to find any excuse to blow Irina up, either deliberate or otherwise. |
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18168 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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No concerns about this on my front, at least. I'm perfectly fine with the pacing the show is using, especially with how it's gradually building up the potential romance as the trust factor increases, and I fully agree that the procedural aspects here are important. (Besides, they're the focus of the show, not a supporting details.) After 86, this is probably my second-favorite show of the season. |
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zrdb
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This show has settled out pretty much the way I anticipated it would and I'm enjoying it much more than I did in the first 2 episodes.
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jdnation
Posts: 1995 |
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Not bored at all. The romance building and background political intrigue are compwlling reasons why. The training's ups and downs demonsrating that Irina isn't some mary-sue vampire are really good. She'll have earned her place.
Naturally the show isn't for everyone. But its slower pace is deliberate and necessary. Those who'd be bored likely checked out a long time ago. |
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The Scream Man
 Posts: 152 Location: Sydney, Australia |
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I want to describe the series as 'economical elegance'. it clearly has an ok, but not amazing budget; but what it does with that is extremely well handled. It uses what it has to make extremely compelling characters and situations, and make you care about these 2 kids in a place where their whole world is literally against them. The Not Russia country is so clearly in disgust of Irena, and indifferent to Lev that its hard to see how this will all end well. But damn if Im not rooting for them the whole way.
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MFrontier
Posts: 11111 |
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This show may be downplaying a lot of the more notable Vampire superstitions, but you couldn't really do a vampire romance if the vampire never drank their love interests arm. And it's pretty clear now how much Irina and Lev care about each other.
If Lev was going to risk his career and freedom to finally stand up for Irina against that racist quack, the least he could've done is punch him. I think one of the animators actually drew a picture of that happening. I really wonder what Franz's deal is. He obviously seems like the saboteur but it feels like he has some sympathies for Lev, although maybe not to the same extent for Irina. Well, we're at the midway point and we have 5 episodes left, and with how they've been emphasizing the lack of a good safety percentage for the flight and how much it seems like the government wants Irina dead, I don't see it ending well. Especially without Lev there. |
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Key
Moderator
Posts: 18168 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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My impression on this is that Franz thinks Lev should be the one doing the flight, not Irina. He isn't necessarily racist, but doesn't want to see a vampire steal the thunder of the legitimate test pilots; even if she's never acknowledged by official records as the first person to fly, even if she's killed off afterwards, the pilots and scientists working on the project will know. Of course, Franz could also be a foreign agent intent on espionage, but that feels less likely. |
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11331 |
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Huh. I just interpreted that as him looking at his arm which reminds him of Irina and feeling angry and really frustrated by both the enforced inactivity and his inability to be with her for her final training and launch. I'd be arrrghhhing over that too in his shoes.
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Penrhos
Posts: 167 |
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That last section where Lev is in solitary confinement is it some type of foreboding?
LEV always complained he was cold, Irina said the didn't feel the cold, but he's sat on the floor without his jacket on holding the bite on his arm..... The high-ups have always suspected there's a mole/saboteur in the camp so who is it? The racist Dr, Franz or even the pink haired Dr. Both Franz and the racist have good reasons to see Irina dead (even if thinly veiled as "Lev should be the one to go first" or a "Vampire is scum") - the rest of the high-ups see her as 100% expendable, but they want her in space as an expendable non-human test-subject. I think the racist Dr. is too obvious to be the saboteur - he just hates Vampires so I'm putting my money on Franz (as he made no attempt to help and just stood back). There's also the possibility that Lev is secretly being protected by one of the high-ups to flush out the spy. (who might let Lev out of solitary to get him framed for the launch going wrong). Whatever happens - this has turned out to be much better than I thought it was going to be, pity it didn't have a bit more animation budget in places. But I suspect it's going to get dark before it finishes. |
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Agent355
 Posts: 5113 Location: Crackberry in hand, thumbs at the ready... |
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I knew Irina would drink Lev's blood at some point, but episode 6 was way earlier than I expected! It's interesting how matter-of-fact and understated the scene is, especially compared to The Case Study of Vanitas in which most blood sucking incidents are basically fully clothed sex scenes (I recently binged the first cour of Vanitas. It isn't subtle, but it's having a lot of fun). Vampire Cosmonaut is committed to the slow burn of it's primary relationship, and the therapeutic bite subtly underscored how emotionally close Irina and Lev have grown. Which makes me terrified that this story will be more tragedy than romance, and that is a narrative achievement, indeed. I am invested. I want to see these two characters making it out of this situation alive together. And I can genuinely see it going either way, with the odds leaning more towards a devastating end, and that scares me. (no spoilers, please!).
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