I love reading your endpoint analysis. The way you dissect what ticked and what didn't really expresses the things that I wanted to comment on more eloquently than I can. The funny thing is that I was introduced into the Ben 10 series watching both the original as well as the sequel (AF) back to back. I enjoyed the original, it made me want to plop on the couch and grab some popcorn and enjoy myself. But in all honesty, Alien Force finally got me invested. To be honest, I wasn't entirely sure what it was. Something about it made me not just sit down and enjoy while it was on, I started to think about it outside of when I was just watching it. I started to look through it, flesh out its themes, try to understand what made it so solidly created
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I hate leaving a fandom like this. It's like a breakup, only this one was onscreen through the course of very painful and messy reviews.
It's July now, and I still can't articulate how I feel on all of this. How my favorite characters mostly all progressed into this mess. How the story just fell apart at the seams. And then the sense going around that the best thing to do is to scrap everything and go back to Ben 10 original in terms of style and substance.
I guess what I've been trying to get at is that I got into Alien Force because it was a series that appeared to be growing with its fandom and its star. It was slightly darker than the original and significantly more mature. It focused on friendship and family. It made Ben into a leader, while the first series focused on him as a hero. That was the first two seasons. After slipping in season three, Ultimate Alien got back on track by having Ben as THE hero--the one who everyone now was looking to to save the universe. All of the planet, all of the galaxy, all of the universe was
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It's always hard leaving a fandom openly. I had to go through a sad one through Naruto and I don't know if I'll be back - if only to see it end maybe. Completely understandable. It's a miserable experience but if it's not working out anymore there's no point in staying just to get further annoyed
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Ben 10 I really think has the potential to be a big franchise like the trio above, and its international popularity certainly shows that. But storywise, it's flailing. The story only ever focuses on Ben and doesn't offer a large enough glimpse into his universe. What happens when Ben is an adult? Are kids still going to want to watch the adventures of college-age Ben? Nobody planned for that. What about his supporting cast? Max has a great backstory and should get his own show from his days as a Plumber. Kevin had a hell of a character arc and is still interesting enough that he could have his own show and it would be amazing. Now, yes, the show is called Ben 10 for a reason. And to be perfectly honest, this is where it flounders. Even Superman and Batman have a larger world that they explore. And they're locked into a specific age unless you want to do something like Batman Beyond where a younger hero takes the reins
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It's July now, and I still can't articulate how I feel on all of this. How my favorite characters mostly all progressed into this mess. How the story just fell apart at the seams. And then the sense going around that the best thing to do is to scrap everything and go back to Ben 10 original in terms of style and substance.
I guess what I've been trying to get at is that I got into Alien Force because it was a series that appeared to be growing with its fandom and its star. It was slightly darker than the original and significantly more mature. It focused on friendship and family. It made Ben into a leader, while the first series focused on him as a hero. That was the first two seasons. After slipping in season three, Ultimate Alien got back on track by having Ben as THE hero--the one who everyone now was looking to to save the universe. All of the planet, all of the galaxy, all of the universe was ( ... )
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