Kiwi

Where did you get the idea I think scores indicate quality? The very fact of them being varied, which is what I highlighted, makes that nonsense. what is interesting are the comments, where people actually discuss the show as they watch each episode, and the written reviews, where people outline the reasoning behind their review scores. We can enter a score in the episodes watched UI, the overall series reviews UI, and for each episode individually, on the episode UI. How the series score is calculated could come from any or all of these. it’s not really important, except as a vague, high level indicator. What people say is much more valuable, so long as you read a decent cross-section. It’s this which guides me whether or not to watch a series I am considering.

I’m halfway through episode four, and I have to ask: is Tee’s girlfriend shifting between herself and someone/something else, who’s/that’s very watchful of Ken? I get the feeling she’s a host.

It’s down to taste. Not everyone likes the same things, and one man’s treasure is another man’s trash. That’s a big reason why resources like MDL can be really helpful. You can get a wide array of perspectives and opinions. I doubt it’s hate. I rated it lower than average because, while I quite enjoyed the first episode, I think it could be much better than it is. I clearly don’t enjoy it the same way others do. I don’t hate it at all. I like it. I just don’t love it. This is normal, and the more people with varying views review and discuss it, the more informative this MDL listing will be for future viewers.

Yeah, I’m a bit fascinated by Boat. It probably biased me.

https://tenor.com/bOGfo.gif

☺️

Yeah, zero time-wasting.

Now it’s on Viki. It’s not on IQIYI for my territory.

Yes, James can read people. The blood only affects Ken’s output of whatever he reads. I didn’t mean blood effects James. It might not be supernatural though. It may be a factor of receptors, just as predator eyes are, if it’s temperature or EM field, and thus superhuman. If he’s psychic or magically sighted he’d be supernatural.

Super-human means greater than human. Supernatural means greater than what is natural, i .e. magical. I was making that distinction independently of what you said. It was with reference to my own use of the word vampire.

Yeah, I don’t see it in Viki either 🥴

Sorry for the repetition. I’d lost track of which discussion I was in. I’ve replied to a few for this drama 🥴

I think James reads emotion and/or energy, because Ken was monochrome until he tasted the blood James wiped off his lip, which I assume was accidental transfer from James’s knife wound. Blood would change his energy, but the intimacy would also evoke feelings, so I can’t guess for sure. Either way, it’s kind of funky. I’ll be interested to see where they go with it.

With respect to Ken, he is red colour blind, which is in line with predatory sight. Red colour blindness stems from retinal receptor differences in canines and felines. They simply lack one of the receptors humans have. I think Ken is a predatory species that depends on blood, but not the traditional vampire. He’s alive, for a start. He’s an evolved predator, going by diet and sight. I think he’s just an evolutionary branch, which has developed insane regenerative functionality. Because he’s not undead I doubt he’s supernatural.

One downer of living in Aotearoa is that you see a release date and get excited, but it turns out to be a very different time zone. The 29th is almost over here 😆

Possibly. The word is ancient and Arabic, and isn’t part of Thai folklore. The Arabic meaning is a type of light that is cold and clear, and completely lacking in passion. It’s counterpart is light with heat and passion (nar). The two types of light are represented by the moon and the sun. Nour is the material of intellect and angels. If this is an adaptation and Nour is meant to be a name for a creature, it’s entirely made up by the author, from what I can find.

I’m pretty sure he’s a vampire of some sort. Vanilla, but covers what we know so far.

Well, the Arabic origin of nour is worth reading up on. It’s not a creature originally. It’s a material force. Its light without heat, a passionless, cool clear material, more cosmic than earthly. It’s not evil, but it’s very far from sympathetic. It’s the fabric angels are cut from. Ruthless but calm. Just like Ken’s reputation, really. I’m thinking of the victims we have context for having been in conflict before being attacked.

If you haven’t seen it yet watch The Wicked Game. He plays a tormented addict in it, and is rock solid, even in such an expressive role. The boy has range.

As someone who’s worked with effects artists I can tell you it won’t give you any ookies. Whoever the prompt engineer was, they know their bananas. It’s better than most. I only pulled a face once, and that was momentary.

As someone who’s worked in the games industry, I doubt Fire and Water effects are much derived from special effects sources. The training content will include mostly actual footage of Fire and Water interacting with other materials and surfaces. It doesn’t make sense to train AI on rendered versions when the real thing is so prolifically available. Ragdoll physics is also a rich area in online video. While effects artists are losing work generating these effects manually, new creatives roles as AI engineers are taking their place. The same eye for what works is still needed. New jobs, but probably employing the same people, just in much smaller numbers.

Also keep in mind that these effects still use immense computing power to render what effects artists create. It takes more to do the creative work, granted, but possibly not as much more as you might think.

I’m not a fan of AI generally. I think it should be used sparingly outside STEM. That being said, the way it’s used for effects only, with real actors and locations, is so minor, and so proportionally minuscule, when compared to all the kids playing with it online for fun, it’s a non-issue. It’s more problematic in other applications. this is the least of the crimes committed in the name of training or using AI.

In the opening sequence of episode one (timestamp is around 00:00), when the nice police doctor was on fire. I’ve only watched episode one so far, but I think all the fire is gAI rendered over existing footage. I suspect the subsequent underwater sequences are entirely gAI rendered, too. The perception effects tied to James’s little confrontation with Ken probably are(from about 36:00), as well.

You have a novel and interesting perspective.

I give it a six, where I’m up to. I have just dipped into episode five to check nothing has improved since I watched four. I doubt I’ll finish it, but I quite like Boat, so it seems a pity. It has some comedy value. I think of it as a toasted sandwich, full of cheese, corn, and ham 😆