Star Wars Andor S1E10: "One Way Out" (continued more)
Live Action Leila Hamm Live Action Leila Hamm

Star Wars Andor S1E10: "One Way Out" (continued more)

Star Wars Andor has been accurately described as a scifi spy thriller, or political thriller, or dark adventure story. Looking at the ten episodes I've reviewed so far, I'm going to propose an alternate interpretation. Not as a replacement, to be clear, more of a supplement.

Andor is a horror story in which violence itself is the monster. Like many horror stories, this one sees the monster winning.

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Iruma-Kun: Welcome to Demon School #6-7
Comics Leila Hamm Comics Leila Hamm

Iruma-Kun: Welcome to Demon School #6-7

Apparently, this comic is something of a fandom darling. Which baffles me. Not because I think it's bad - there are a lot of fandom darlings that I dislike - but because there is *literally nothing* in here that you haven't already seen in other shonen manga written before, concurrently with, and after it.

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Iruma-Kun: Welcome to Demon School #1
Comics Leila Hamm Comics Leila Hamm

Iruma-Kun: Welcome to Demon School #1

There are some clever, funny, and inventive moments throughout this double-length intro chapter. There just aren't enough of them, and the stuff between them is a boring, forgettable, poorly-paced, generic slog that fails to distinguish itself from the thing it's ostensibly parodying.

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Star Wars Andor S1E8: "Narkina 5" (continued more)
videogame Leila Hamm videogame Leila Hamm

Star Wars Andor S1E8: "Narkina 5" (continued more)

To some degree, this episode felt like emotional torture porn. Not enough to make me call it distasteful, but still, it was a lot. The more I think about it though, the more I think that the misery really was necessary, and that dialling it down would have weakened the story even if it would have made for a better viewing experience. We need to see what the stakes really are. What an ultimate Imperial victory actually means.

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