I think the lack of continuity was because Chung didn't think the show would last, so he made it as inconsistent as possible so it can end satisfyingly.
Maybe things were different 6 years ago but I watched the whole series recently and it was cool as fuck and weird as fuck. I went into it with no expectations and was very satisfied with what I got. The show follows the beat of its own drum and if you go in expecting different then you are a fool.
I've watched the commentary for all the episodes and it really does sound like a couple of stoners watching old art and being embarrassed by what they see
That....actually explains why I was never able to get into Aeon Flux. Always thought the animation was beautiful, my teenage hormones kept screaming for me to watch more and I always thought the visuals and everything that was happening was intriguing and unusual...but I was never able to make heads or tails out of it. Never dug too deep into it, but this analysis does explain much of the confusion I had back in the day. Hell, I had a better time understand Evangelion or The Maxx than Aeon Flux.
You don't seem to like non-linear story telling or anti-continuity, which is part of the appeal IMO. I could see thinking it's too pretentious, though I think it puts in enough dark humor to prevent it from being a problem. A nice thing about Aeon Flux is that it's way different than most other Western animated shows. It's not a glorified sitcom, it's not another super hero show, and it's not family friendly or aimed at general audiences or revolving around magical kingdoms or princesses.
+marshmallowok Sage never mentions to have a problem with non-linearity, just non-linearity done poorly (though he does say to have a problem with non-continuity which is perfectly understandable). Either way, he admits that it's unique and visually stunning, so he does realize that Aeon Flux has redeeming qualities, just none of them happen to be with its plot, use of theme or how deep it is.
Hey Sage, heard what you said about Aeon Flux... and I won't argue with you. But I will say this: when I watched Aeon Flux, my imagination filled in a lot of things in ways that made me enjoy the mystery of these characters and their world. The reflection of their mortality was intense and saddening at the same time, and that feeling it created in me was unique to Aeon Flux. You're probably just doing a bit and roasting the show and its creators though. ^_^
Gnosticism, like Taoism and Zen Buddhism, often uses linguistic or symbolic paradox to communicate its message, and this is because linguistic or symbolic representations are often incapable of communicating deep spiritual truths. The reason Aeon Flux doesn't give a consistent representation of hero and villain or use traditional narrative structures is because the Gnostics are weary of dogma or of ascribing permanent meaning to any particular symbol. So when Trevor alternates between hero and villain in the show, I interpret that as a way of destabilizing the traditional / familiar narrative dynamic of movies and shows that give us an easy hero and solidify our understanding of authority. Gnosticism is all about distrust in authority. In Gnosticism the Archons are the perpetuators of illusory reality and they are the figures of authority. One must not be controlled by their manifestations of reality if one wishes to gain enlightenment (or whatever you wish to call it). But Archons can take any form, so the show wants to prepare viewers to be able to recognize an Archon in anyone at anytime, even "familiar and trusted figures of authority". Other shows that use more traditional narrative structures condition viewers to recognize a good guy / hero and then assume the world is that simple and that if someone was good once they will always stand for what's good, no matter the context or circumstance. That's one reason I think your review misread the Gnostic elements of Aeon Flux.
what happened with the sound at 15:28 ? it ends up sounding kinda creepy after a while, it's like damned souls are trying to escape through your mouth as you speak
I watched the original Aeon Flux series when Liquid Television was shown on UK TV (either BBC2 or Channel 4, can't remember which) back in the day. "Plop"
MTV Europe, surely, I don't remember it being on terrestrial TV (which is a shame as I think Daria would have been right at home on Channel 4) but then again, I was too busy watching Most Wanted (and Lifestyle Satellite Jukebox) to notice
Nope. Didn't have satellite or cable TV when I was a young un. Wiki spake thusly: "The first season of Liquid Television also aired on BBC Two in co-production with MTV. "
It was BBC2 IIRC as that's when i first saw it too, although we didn't have MTV on terrestrial TV (and couldn't afford satellite TV - no cable in UK, if folks in the US didn't know) they played many of the short animations on BBC2 [i think] and saw and recall many a great one-off animations and shorts during around the mid-1990s [i think, again]. Great times. Channel 4 did show some stuff too. It was so long ago now - hazy memories...
I understand this is a year old, and I'm new to your content. Can't help noticing you dis on Peter Chung in your description, but have the full series of Reign The Conqueror right behind you! You have some good points, if Aeon Flux was to be dissected as a literary work. I've always viewed it as a disjointed cat-and-mouse type romance, though. It's confusing, and should be, especially with the unpredictable memories of clones and the weird technology. The only real constant that matters is that Trevor and Aeon are both attracted and repulsed by one another. I've always seen Aeon as more of an anarchist, too. But Aeon and Trevor are the dynamic, and the ultimate appeal for me. I want to see them go back and forth, and everyone else is just peripheral to that. I don't really care about the Gnosticism in the lore. I don't need to understand that on any deep level to enjoy the series, and honestly I don't think it has that kind of depth. This is a more sensational and base story. I feel like people project more cerebral meaning on it than is there. P.S. The movie was a horrible disappointment. Charlize Theron, though hot, was wrong for Aeon. The whole aesthetic was off. They had a chance to go weird, and they blew it.
HE mostly reviews anime he thinks of as bad, and 99.99% of the time will only review if he has the physicla media. Of course he has Reign The Conqueror in his collection. He has Violence Jack. He HATES Violence Jack.
Aeon Flux was made by and for people who enjoy the surreal and the abstract. You obviously were not one of those people. I don't say this as someone holding my nose in the air and looking down in contempt, but rather as someone who can appreciate the weird when I see it. There is something beautiful about a creator allowed to have free reign over the story he wants to tell, even if it turns into an acid-trip dreamscape.
I think made his criticisms pretty clear: the narrative and characterizations were poor period making them a poor vehicle for conveying the larger ideas and themes of the series. The show was not made for purely aesthetic reasons it was made to convey ideas and notions through a narrative and it did so poorly.
@Terminalsanity Yes, I understood what he was saying. My point was that the narrative and characterizations were *not* presented in a poor way, but in an abstract and bizarre way, and he simply didn't enjoy that. The same goes for the themes. He was also continually upset that each episode was a stand-alone entity which would routinely use its own logic and changes the rules in the next episode. The one episode he falsely presented as evidence that this *wasn't* what was happening was where Aeon is tripping balls, looking across different dimensions, seeing the outcome of her various incarnations, which we the viewer had seen in the previous episodes. That was the part in this video that he demonstratively *didn't* understand. So then the only other point he wants to make is that "the show is stupid." Well, that's a nice pseudo-argument that is based only on opinion. My own opinion is very much the opposite.
The show never tried to convey the theme and ideas through narrative,thus the confusion on some viewers. The show was indeed presenting via aesthetic avoiding restriction of most narrative .
Aeon Flux is suppose to elicit emotion in the viewer. For me, it did it's job perfectly. Feeling's of eroticism, paranoia, claustrophobia, desolation, hope and more. It is a work of art, there's not much to get. You either enjoy how you feel when you watch it or you don't. It's a truly subjective experience and to judge it as shit is missing the point, it's a piece of art, some connect with this art, other's wont. There's nothing wrong with not connecting with it, but to try and apply a universal grade to this piece doesn't make sense.
What you are describing is the first half of the series. That was totally the point of the first half - to exist as an experimental art piece trying to invoke those feelings. Sage said as much, and said he highly enjoys those first episodes. Everything after those episodes is an insult. It's all hot garbage draping itself in the trappings of artistic integrity to trick people into buying its bullshit (and buying the DVD). It is no more different than Lady Gaga wearing a meat dress - more concerned about the statement it is making than the content of the artistic work.
@@MeepChangeling imo art doesnt fail, it just is what it is, for better or worse. Its really all on the artists intentions if it succeeds or fails. Art doesnt have to have a point, and if it elicits any reaction its done its job
Say what you want about AF, but I'll remember both the shorts and the series long after a 100 different same-look, same-voice, same-plot anime's come and go.
I actually really like Aeon Flux. I never really thought too much about what any of the stories meant, to me it was just bizarre things happening for the sake of being bizarre. I never really thought to read too much into it because I kinda viewed it the same way someone would view a slasher flick. No logic necessary, just entertainment.
i love aeon flux. the art direction and surreal world. its incredibly unique and you cant really put a label on it or "put it in a box". Aeon is like a real person, shes self-absorbed, but has other qualities that make her interesting. the show is unpredictable. I'm just seriously confused that anyone would have to say something nasty about it. i thought the amount of original thinking and design gives it its own standing. There is only one AEON FLUX.
I find it bizarre how someone can decide to pick a key for interpretation (in this case Bennett says "it's about Valentinianism") then look for a one to one correlation within the work of fiction, and when you find it doesn't add up- instead of changing your approach, you'll call it out as a fault of the art piece. It is like me deciding that Blade Runner is about the bushido code, looking for links, seeing that this reading doesn't add up and then claiming the film is at fault. That is a deep lack of charity, for only a very poor work of art could provide a one to one correlation to some system of thought, because it was too impoverished to make a contribution of it's own. In truth we can find interesting conceptual parallels between fiction and works of say philosophy or esotericism, but these links are never exhaustive as the work can never and should never be reduced to just that, it is always something new and we aught to approach it that way, as something that has it's own voice that we have to listen to charitably. Aeon Flux is rich enough to allow for very profound readings and all of it's many elements work in concert to provide for such an experience. Beautifully made and carefully written. Sadly this review was an ugly, pretentious mess. Pretentious in a sense it pretends to extrapolate an exhaustive reading via character names (LOL) and ugly in that it lacks charity.
I like Aeon Flux, but the fact of the matter is, Sage has some valid points. But here's my thought is, if Aeon Flux was remade today, I am sure it'll be much better. Sadly I do not think Peter Chung has it in him to do it.
So many fanboys ignoring the arguments presented on why the story is a mess.You can like what you want,but when you people start saying "you're just dumb" without countering his points,it just shows how biased one is.
true, people hate Bennett because he picks sides in his reviews, sometimes the unpopular side(see Grave of the Fireflies review) But what I like about Bennett is that not only is he not afraid to say his opinion(Violence Jack) but that he HAS AN OPINION. I've noticed many full time anime reviewers just simply don't get opinionated on a lot especially Anime that are shall we say divisive, and so therefore they LACK the passion that Bennett has.
You get off on the completely wrong foot by assuming this is a show about Gnostic ideology. Yes, the main character's name is a term used by Gnostics, and yes, one episode has a creature called a demiurge. But both of those terms also exist in Plato. The Gnosticism stops at the names of two characters. Most of the ideas the show deals with aren't remotely in the realm of Gnosticism: id vs. superego, anarchy vs. totalitarianism, questions of free will, police state, etc. Gnostics had zilch to say about any of those topics.
Gnosticism in certain contexts can also be a word to describe the degree of someone's faith. For example a Gnostic Christian does not simply believe Christianity he "knows" Christianity is the truth. Which is opposed to Agnostic Christian who believe but they aren't 100% sure.
He's refering to Gnosticism as in Valentinian Gnosticism. Completely different from the prefix to a certain religious belief, as Valentinian Gnosticism is it's own sect of faith.
I will admit that watching the show as an adult and not having to lock my bedroom door from my parents while doing so did mildly kill the nostalgia I had for the show. but I personally have a deep love of anything with a hard to follow almost psychedelic story and/or art style, but that being said the show will also continue to b one of my favorites forever. on a side note did anyone else here watch the phantom series? now that one sucked baaaalllls but the animation style(anorexic spider people) was very similar. honestly as an 11 year old watchin mtv in the wee hours the animation style freaked me the fugg out, but it was like a car crash I just couldn't look away! anyway love me some Bennett wish I could've found this channel sooner he seems to have some pretty similar tastes with me wow that was one long paragraph of run-ons my bad
I've never seen a human being misunderstand a work to such an extreme degree. The show isn't about heroes and villains, it's about control and liberty.
I'm going back and rewatching the older Sage videos on a binge-spree and man, I guess someone posted this on some kind of Aeon fan forum because it seems like roughly a year after this video came out all these Aeon/Peter stans came in and shat up the comment section.
I'm glad to find someone with a large audience isn't just talking about how wonderful it is. It's one of those pieces of pop culture that makes it's fans feel intellectual for liking it. You're no more intellectual for liking it or disliking it though.
In defense of psuedo-Anime works, they have had a few accomplishments like the original Teen Titans cartoon, the Avatar series and maybe RWBy depending on how that develops.
"The first two seasons are more like Dragon Ball Z: Focused mostly on the action." i only rembember like 3 big fight scenes in the first 2 seasons...i do remember the first 2 seasons being high school dramas that seemed like they were never gonna get to the story and action implied from the original trailers
"Pretentious, aimless, and infuriatingly smug." You know, we often insult things with the characteristics we dislike about ourselves... (A favorite "shadow work" technique - write a hatemail to someone you dislike, then turn all the "you's" into "me's", you'll learn a lot about yourself.) On a warmer note; excellent if cursory overview of Gnosticism - but you left out some of the more mystical elements. Kudos on that point. And great taste in music / opening montage!
"You know, we often insult things with the characteristics we dislike about ourselves... " Indeed. I insult vandalism, petty-mindedness, bigotry and carelessness. I really must hate those characteristics in myself. Not.
aeon flux is like an acid trip. you gotta just go with it. analyzing the plot wont give you anything other than headaches. its just fun to experience .
But what language is that experience? Or what is that experience trying to tell you? If it's just meaningless nonsense, then there's nothing deep about the show at all and it's just being pretentious.
AxelXGabriel its the language of art. Try and explain your last dream and make sense of it. Do you think thats meaningless? Ur subconsious does not. You dont get to decide what makes somthing worth watching.
The show is clearly pretentious because it claims to have a message and is smug about it, but doesn't understand a thing about what it's talking about.
Huh. I've only just now realized Bennet must own a teleporting BBQ. It's in tbe background of shots where he isn't actively using the BBQ, then cuts to the BBQ itself in the foreground. Start at 17:45 and you'll see what I'm getting at.
9:00 Kyle: "It's the fucking can't stand, okay? There is no way you can just offhandedly know everything about everything." Was this written ironically? Those two sentences encapsulate Kyle perfectly.
Not your cup of tea then? Aeon doesn't have to make sense... There is no linear form, like a dream. It can be chilling and titillating all at once and it's big "FUCK YOU" to normal codes and conventions of all film not just animation, is something to be applauded. The 4th wall is broken in that knowing way that comic books and cartoons do... You cannot kill Daffy Duck. Space dandy is another example of such story telling... There is an infinite number of realities and who is to say you don't jump from one to another in a dream state. Don't fear the chaos; embrace it. You don't like it and that's fine... But you are wrong when you call it bad. It upsets you... Perhaps because it cuts too close to what matters to you.
I really think he wasnt paying attention when he says the episode's are aimless. Theres definitely a progression from beginning to end, even if it does have chaotic elements or need for interpretation. Regarding continuity, well, that's just his opinion. Even the shorts had no continuity from one short to the next, so at least it's something that was established from the beginning of the series. Theres plenty of shows out there that have a vague continuity, and it's not something to knock the show for unless you really hate the format.
Hmmm I think there is a lack of arguments in your critic. I mean, do you always need a shakespeare dramatic structure? Why cant be independent episodes and get linked when they needed? What about the composition of the animation it self, AF haves some kickass frames and nice anamorphic drawings. The sound design maybe? Maybe its related to the time when it was aired, 1993 was very different than now... Maybe you need to watch it without "thinking" that much...
That basically amounts to...nothing. You're saying it's different because it can, and that somehow that's a good thing. Let alone, like Sage said, that works better on the shorts format, not an episodic series that is poorly put together narratively. It's break of sequence doesn't really create any subversion or point to be made, and for something "not meant to be thought much about" it tries to induce pretentious elements to it.
But it does induce elements just not on a regular dramatic way, theres so many angles of views for a serie like aeon flux, weather u wanna focus on things i mentioned above or in pseudo theories like the critic overhere mention, if you want to like it u will like it and if u want to hate it you will hate it and both are ok but dont ignore the drawing, the concepts, the music designs, the fiction world thats created, the character it self, i mean, saying that this is a piece of garbage is really IMO a mistake.
clubluchadormma The things he focuses on are objectively flawed though, so alternate takes basically ignore narrative cohesion. He also admitted the aesthetics are unique, but that the story is shit regardless.
Samael16661 Why not? Is there any rule? I dont get confused by AF and I think theres a lot of people that think the same way, anyways, Im not going to start an argument so have a good one.
I remember watching a movie based on this. Mistakes were made. Memories were sealed in a chamber of the mind where even the dread priest of the Great Old Ones would not venture. I normally don't take most stuff Bennett says that seriously, but I'll say this, if the show was as bad as he says it was, than the film was just slightly above it if only because of the existence of an actual plot (however terrible it was.)
Peter Chung is brilliant. Aeon Flux is a masterpiece. The correct blend of Sci-Fi elements and the bizarre. I am truly hoping this guy gifts us more in his lifetime.
The first I ever heard of this title was that live-action movie from a few years back. I didn't even know there was a cartoon of it until stores started selling new edition DVD's of it to promote the aforementioned movie.
3:50 I used to tape Liquid Television back in the early '90s (when I had a mullet), mostly because of the Aeon Flux. The shorts were great. The series with the dialog just wasn't the same. Boring by comparison. 5:22 My first was 'The Lost Cities of Gold' back in the '80s. 6:30 She's brought back to life by essentially the Monican version of a New-U station. Hyperion can't sue because they exist in a different timeline (and most likely farther into the future). 9:41 It's pronounced "BREN-yuh." I think Peter Chung was going for sort of an Italian thing (like "Bologna"). 9:43 Monica represents freedom, individuality, and chaos, whereas Bregna represents oppression, collectivism, and order. In some ways, it's similar to Clive Barker's "Cenobites Vs. Nightbreed" mythos with Monica corresponding with the Nightbreed and Bregna corresponding with the Cenobites. 15:05 It's "Cliff's Notes," not "Cliff Notes." Everyone says that wrong. 15:27 She probably died and respawned at the usual Monican New-U station.
I was going to sub UNTIL I saw this video. I suppose that you're not a David Lynch fan... surrealism in film is open for personal interpretation and you were so caught up in your own ego that you wanted to make some sense out of the plot in Aeon Flux, but the truth is that you can make your own sense out it. Bravo for destroying a perfectly good box set copy rather than giving it away to someone that might want it or be interested in it. It doesn't affects me though, I have my own box set and it's kept nice and safe :)
Except he brought up how the show has linear storylines and a semblance of continuity yet at the same time it's incredibly inconsistent, which shits on the notion of "lol, it's surrealism". We're not talking about the Holy Mountain or Eraserhead, many of the supposed surreal stuff has a clear cut symbolic foundation that is poorly used on the symbols themselves, and ins't exactly open to interpretation just because it fails to be consistent.
Maybe part of the reason he doesn't like Aeon Flux is because he assumes that he Gnostic references means that there is Gnostic symbology and themes, when in reality the creators didn't really understand nor care about Gnoticism. The Gnostic references just sit ontop of the story and themes. I haven't actually seen Aeon Flux, but I know that Evangelion has the same relationship with Christianity. The creators mined Christianity for some impactful (pun intended) imagery, but they didn't understand the particulars. Thus on a deeper level the correlation between the show and the religion disappears.
Maybe they are multiple outcomes from linking timelines. Some episodes are canon and others are branching out comes from the canon episodes? It would explain the continuity errors
Isn't a show allowed to be weird for the sake of being weird? And are you saying we are wrong for enjoying that? I also think you failed to mention the themes of Authoritarianism versus Anarchy. Plus I thought the ending, where she opted out of her reality in order to raise the boy in suburbia, was brilliant. Bennett, sometimes you just have to let go and enjoy the trip
may be every Aeon Fulx is not same Aeon Flux from the previous episode,may be when one Aeon is killed another one is cloned and the new one has the memories of the old one,
I do think the show suffers for trying to apply logic to the surrealism of the shorts. That said, I don't think it does so in a way that is unfaithful to them - it simply answers the question "what's up with this stuff?" with "a bunch of crazy nonsense." It's not really meant to make any more sense, just to be a more elaborate mass of goofy nonsense.
hi dude!! love your reviews!! i know you dont review tokusatsu series but could you make an exception for kamen rider ryuki or kaizou sentai gokaigers. it would love to see you do a review on either series. keep up the good work!
WOW! I feel like I'm in an art school with all of the pretentiousness going on in the comment section. "YOU JUST DON'T GET IT 'CAUSE YOU'RE STUPID!" You people get so fucking uptight when someone has the balls to challenge a popular belief. I hope Bennett tears into more overrated shit like Aeon Flux just to piss off more these people.
I never knew about the whole Gnostic thing about the show (hope I'm spelling it right) and that honestly is why I love Aeon Flux. I just love how out of left field the show is. I remember when the show first came out and I kept feeling like I was missing something as I watched the show since I thought there was more to the show then it was... I gave up on that after a while but still liked what I was watching. Sometimes you just have to embrace the insanity.
I kind of always just took Aeon Flux on an individual episode basis. Each one was just a different story with the same characters. Even when it threw the previous stuff in, I pretty much just ignored it because otherwise it just doesn't make sense at all. However, I still love the series because it is genuinely an interesting idea.
Even though I completely disagree on Aeon Flux which I adored back when it first aired and still look fondly upon to this day, I respect your eloquent barrage against it and well structured admonishment. I greatly enjoyed your review and the ultimate destruction of the box set at the end provides a satisfying conclusion to the review. You don't have to mirror all my views for me to enjoy your opinion and analysis. It's what review and criticism is all about.
I enjoy your reviews, but I'm at odds with you here. You say that your "hate is sharp, honed, and well-informed," when really there's little of this sort of criticism in your review. You attempt to impress and appear "well-informed" by giving an explanation of gnosticism in order to make the argument about how Aeon Flux mishandles this concept. But what this all boils down to within your video is evidence of how series contradicts itself in two episodes, even though you've already established within your review that the series operates on an episode by episode basis, and is frequently contradictory. In fact, in the second episode, "The Purge", that you use to prove this contradiction, the issue that you discuss is in the background for most of the episode. You say that this contradictory nature is a major fault, since it is briefly established in one episode that there is something of a continuity. Yet this episode, supposedly acting as an establishing point for the show's continuity, is perhaps the most contradictory episode in the show's run, as it's focus is on repeated and paralleling narratives, having Aeon die multiple times within one episode. Essentially, what you have done is that you have picked up a minor detail and, using 4 minutes of Oancitizen-esque pseudo-intellectualism, have used it as the crux of your argument, making for a weak one at best. What you haven't been able to argue is supplemented with yelling about how shitty the show is. I know from some of your other reviews that you can be a good critic. But your flaw seems to be that you are willing to spend the time deeply examining and looking critically at things that you like, such as Jin Roh and Ghost in the Shell, while completely dismissing any sort of valuable analysis of things that you don't like, like this or Evangelion. Aeon Flux does a lot of great things that aren't at all touched on here, and it's a pity you've totally ignored them.
Bettett you smoking some crazy shit, AEON FLUX was the best show on Liquid Television!!!! What a great time to grow up in the 90s, everything sucked balls but at least we got 90s anime dub and Aeon Flux!
Yeh, think ya thinking abit too much into this one, the for 3 seasons it just felt like a bigger budget version of the shorts, with some semi continuity. Dnt get all the hate, enough to burn the dvd anyway.....
Yeah sorry no the series is good there's a reason why people like it. And all honesty I feel like you actually didn't get it sooo yeah sorry. you even see in the comments people are like I actually liked it.that series was entertaining.
Bennett, i was shocked/disappointed with your opening hate statement, being a fan of AF from when it first aired in the UK in the 1990s an all, but as you went on i got what you were trying to say - indeed, i agree, the shorts were the best - they were short & to the point, left u thinking + felt like something Peter Chung dreamed; however the series' _are_ weaker and a bit all-over the place but did have good moments of dark humour and things like the 'custodian' were proper creepy, i'm still glad for them to exist and don't deserve so much hate to be BBQed! Animation style still unique feeling and great unconventional characters. During the Covid Pandemic Lockdowns when we were lined-up outside supermarkets i immediately thought of those people from AF lining-up for their cabbages 😬
He totally needs to review Reign the Conqueror: Alexander A.K.A. Alexander Senki. The art in that show is also done by Peter Chung and its weird as fuck. I think its weirder and more pretentious than Aeon Flux because its supposed to be historical fiction. Aeon Flux is like a guilty pleasure for me because I know its supposed to be this deep cartoon, but its so weird and bizaar it made laugh, stare at the screen in aw at the batshit insanity I'm looking at, and wondering what the fuck I just watched. I had that exact same experience with Reign the Conqueror: Alexander. I recently checked out some of the shorts and episodes of Aeon Flux and have to admit the shorts worked better than the series because of the lack of dialogue.
I can respect your opinion sage, but saying that anyone that disagrees with you is a 'fanboy', that's a punk move to try to discredit dissenting opinion. It's dishonest. And even though I'd love to hear your analysis(no sarc) I just can't through all the useless screaming.
I think the lack of continuity was because Chung didn't think the show would last, so he made it as inconsistent as possible so it can end satisfyingly.
He did it because the shorts didn't have continuity, so he carried on the trope in the 30 min. episodes.
Maybe things were different 6 years ago but I watched the whole series recently and it was cool as fuck and weird as fuck. I went into it with no expectations and was very satisfied with what I got. The show follows the beat of its own drum and if you go in expecting different then you are a fool.
Couldn't have said it better.
creative, bizarre and entertaining, it must be taken for what it is, which is up to everyone, for my part I loved AF
Like it or not, we can say we will never get anything remotely close to Aeon Flux again.
yeah whats up with that? most animes got to look the same just slightly different
I've watched the commentary for all the episodes and it really does sound like a couple of stoners watching old art and being embarrassed by what they see
I love Trevor's quotes in some of the episodes. Dude is deep. Sadistic, but deep
greyfox37 Yeah, I always got the feeling Trevor was at least TRYING to do the right thing, even if it was his own view of the right thing.
+wayfareangel You have to remember that we only perceive Æon as heroic because we're told to.
+ikarikid () "Plop".
so was the gemeni killer
He sounds like a pretentious stoner - which I am willing to bet most fans of this show are/were.
every year that passes, aeon flux just gets better and better
This video made me want to watch all the episodes :)
...how?
yeah how
...of Flux or Abandon??
Out of spite lol 😂
That....actually explains why I was never able to get into Aeon Flux.
Always thought the animation was beautiful, my teenage hormones kept screaming for me to watch more and I always thought the visuals and everything that was happening was intriguing and unusual...but I was never able to make heads or tails out of it.
Never dug too deep into it, but this analysis does explain much of the confusion I had back in the day.
Hell, I had a better time understand Evangelion or The Maxx than Aeon Flux.
Watch it again with fresh eyes.
You don't seem to like non-linear story telling or anti-continuity, which is part of the appeal IMO. I could see thinking it's too pretentious, though I think it puts in enough dark humor to prevent it from being a problem. A nice thing about Aeon Flux is that it's way different than most other Western animated shows. It's not a glorified sitcom, it's not another super hero show, and it's not family friendly or aimed at general audiences or revolving around magical kingdoms or princesses.
+marshmallowok Sage never mentions to have a problem with non-linearity, just non-linearity done poorly (though he does say to have a problem with non-continuity which is perfectly understandable). Either way, he admits that it's unique and visually stunning, so he does realize that Aeon Flux has redeeming qualities, just none of them happen to be with its plot, use of theme or how deep it is.
Aeon Flux is like a Jungle Girl.
I always assumed each episode in the series was it's own story. None had anything to dowith the other aside from recurring characters.
Hey Sage, heard what you said about Aeon Flux... and I won't argue with you. But I will say this: when I watched Aeon Flux, my imagination filled in a lot of things in ways that made me enjoy the mystery of these characters and their world. The reflection of their mortality was intense and saddening at the same time, and that feeling it created in me was unique to Aeon Flux. You're probably just doing a bit and roasting the show and its creators though. ^_^
Gnosticism, like Taoism and Zen Buddhism, often uses linguistic or symbolic paradox to communicate its message, and this is because linguistic or symbolic representations are often incapable of communicating deep spiritual truths. The reason Aeon Flux doesn't give a consistent representation of hero and villain or use traditional narrative structures is because the Gnostics are weary of dogma or of ascribing permanent meaning to any particular symbol. So when Trevor alternates between hero and villain in the show, I interpret that as a way of destabilizing the traditional / familiar narrative dynamic of movies and shows that give us an easy hero and solidify our understanding of authority. Gnosticism is all about distrust in authority. In Gnosticism the Archons are the perpetuators of illusory reality and they are the figures of authority. One must not be controlled by their manifestations of reality if one wishes to gain enlightenment (or whatever you wish to call it). But Archons can take any form, so the show wants to prepare viewers to be able to recognize an Archon in anyone at anytime, even "familiar and trusted figures of authority". Other shows that use more traditional narrative structures condition viewers to recognize a good guy / hero and then assume the world is that simple and that if someone was good once they will always stand for what's good, no matter the context or circumstance. That's one reason I think your review misread the Gnostic elements of Aeon Flux.
15:29 unintentional sound glitch creates cool sound effect
Blood for the blood god.
what happened with the sound at 15:28 ? it ends up sounding kinda creepy after a while, it's like damned souls are trying to escape through your mouth as you speak
TindraSan I believe they're cutting out the background music.
I watched the original Aeon Flux series when Liquid Television was shown on UK TV (either BBC2 or Channel 4, can't remember which) back in the day.
"Plop"
MTV Europe, surely, I don't remember it being on terrestrial TV (which is a shame as I think Daria would have been right at home on Channel 4) but then again, I was too busy watching Most Wanted (and Lifestyle Satellite Jukebox) to notice
Nope. Didn't have satellite or cable TV when I was a young un. Wiki spake thusly: "The first season of Liquid Television also aired on BBC Two in co-production with MTV. "
It was BBC2 IIRC as that's when i first saw it too, although we didn't have MTV on terrestrial TV (and couldn't afford satellite TV - no cable in UK, if folks in the US didn't know) they played many of the short animations on BBC2 [i think] and saw and recall many a great one-off animations and shorts during around the mid-1990s [i think, again]. Great times. Channel 4 did show some stuff too. It was so long ago now - hazy memories...
I understand this is a year old, and I'm new to your content. Can't help noticing you dis on Peter Chung in your description, but have the full series of Reign The Conqueror right behind you! You have some good points, if Aeon Flux was to be dissected as a literary work. I've always viewed it as a disjointed cat-and-mouse type romance, though. It's confusing, and should be, especially with the unpredictable memories of clones and the weird technology. The only real constant that matters is that Trevor and Aeon are both attracted and repulsed by one another. I've always seen Aeon as more of an anarchist, too. But Aeon and Trevor are the dynamic, and the ultimate appeal for me. I want to see them go back and forth, and everyone else is just peripheral to that. I don't really care about the Gnosticism in the lore. I don't need to understand that on any deep level to enjoy the series, and honestly I don't think it has that kind of depth. This is a more sensational and base story. I feel like people project more cerebral meaning on it than is there.
P.S. The movie was a horrible disappointment. Charlize Theron, though hot, was wrong for Aeon. The whole aesthetic was off. They had a chance to go weird, and they blew it.
HE mostly reviews anime he thinks of as bad, and 99.99% of the time will only review if he has the physicla media. Of course he has Reign The Conqueror in his collection. He has Violence Jack. He HATES Violence Jack.
I remember watching Flux on MTV, and Reign on adult swim. Flux was TOO weird, and Reign sucked.
Aeon Flux was made by and for people who enjoy the surreal and the abstract. You obviously were not one of those people. I don't say this as someone holding my nose in the air and looking down in contempt, but rather as someone who can appreciate the weird when I see it. There is something beautiful about a creator allowed to have free reign over the story he wants to tell, even if it turns into an acid-trip dreamscape.
I think made his criticisms pretty clear: the narrative and characterizations were poor period making them a poor vehicle for conveying the larger ideas and themes of the series. The show was not made for purely aesthetic reasons it was made to convey ideas and notions through a narrative and it did so poorly.
@Terminalsanity
Yes, I understood what he was saying. My point was that the narrative and characterizations were *not* presented in a poor way, but in an abstract and bizarre way, and he simply didn't enjoy that. The same goes for the themes.
He was also continually upset that each episode was a stand-alone entity which would routinely use its own logic and changes the rules in the next episode. The one episode he falsely presented as evidence that this *wasn't* what was happening was where Aeon is tripping balls, looking across different dimensions, seeing the outcome of her various incarnations, which we the viewer had seen in the previous episodes. That was the part in this video that he demonstratively *didn't* understand.
So then the only other point he wants to make is that "the show is stupid." Well, that's a nice pseudo-argument that is based only on opinion. My own opinion is very much the opposite.
The show never tried to convey the theme and ideas through narrative,thus the confusion on some viewers. The show was indeed presenting via aesthetic avoiding restriction of most narrative .
@JOE SANCHEZ You're what's wrong with fandoms.
I like the surreal and the abstract. This show is hot garbage. Thy point is thus refuted.
Aeon Flux is suppose to elicit emotion in the viewer. For me, it did it's job perfectly. Feeling's of eroticism, paranoia, claustrophobia, desolation, hope and more.
It is a work of art, there's not much to get. You either enjoy how you feel when you watch it or you don't. It's a truly subjective experience and to judge it as shit is missing the point, it's a piece of art, some connect with this art, other's wont. There's nothing wrong with not connecting with it, but to try and apply a universal grade to this piece doesn't make sense.
The entire point of art is to provide lots to get. If art doesn't provide much to "get" it has failed.
What you are describing is the first half of the series. That was totally the point of the first half - to exist as an experimental art piece trying to invoke those feelings. Sage said as much, and said he highly enjoys those first episodes.
Everything after those episodes is an insult. It's all hot garbage draping itself in the trappings of artistic integrity to trick people into buying its bullshit (and buying the DVD). It is no more different than Lady Gaga wearing a meat dress - more concerned about the statement it is making than the content of the artistic work.
@@MeepChangeling imo art doesnt fail, it just is what it is, for better or worse. Its really all on the artists intentions if it succeeds or fails. Art doesnt have to have a point, and if it elicits any reaction its done its job
aeon flux is amazing because it's super dream-like.
Exactly I love it
Aeon Flux takes place in North Korea.
surrealism doesn't make something good.
The whole bug caught by eyelashes is fucking creepy
Say what you want about AF, but I'll remember both the shorts and the series long after a 100 different same-look, same-voice, same-plot anime's come and go.
I actually really like Aeon Flux. I never really thought too much about what any of the stories meant, to me it was just bizarre things happening for the sake of being bizarre. I never really thought to read too much into it because I kinda viewed it the same way someone would view a slasher flick. No logic necessary, just entertainment.
I did too..this review makes love it even more.it makes want to understand the symbolisms even more.
You can't give it, you can't even buy it and you just don't get it.
It's a pretty damn good show to smoke and watch though. I used to catch it on Liquid TV haha
So did Liquid Snake run it?
i think he doesnt get the series
Aeon Flux is an amazing show
maplecolor1 not really,it sucks
Eh… The movie was beter.
At least the movie made sense of all this and had a better story. A contrived story, but at least it was something.
czcams.com/video/_n5E7feJHw0/video.html
@@Snowmon89 honestly I thought the movie being quite enjoyable an at least was going somewhere
i love aeon flux. the art direction and surreal world. its incredibly unique and you cant really put a label on it or "put it in a box". Aeon is like a real person, shes self-absorbed, but has other qualities that make her interesting. the show is unpredictable. I'm just seriously confused that anyone would have to say something nasty about it. i thought the amount of original thinking and design gives it its own standing. There is only one AEON FLUX.
HEAR HEAR!
My props on all the Tenchi's in your collection behind you, Sage. And not to mention "Girl's Bravo" as well.
I find it bizarre how someone can decide to pick a key for interpretation (in this case Bennett says "it's about Valentinianism") then look for a one to one correlation within the work of fiction, and when you find it doesn't add up- instead of changing your approach, you'll call it out as a fault of the art piece.
It is like me deciding that Blade Runner is about the bushido code, looking for links, seeing that this reading doesn't add up and then claiming the film is at fault. That is a deep lack of charity, for only a very poor work of art could provide a one to one correlation to some system of thought, because it was too impoverished to make a contribution of it's own.
In truth we can find interesting conceptual parallels between fiction and works of say philosophy or esotericism, but these links are never exhaustive as the work can never and should never be reduced to just that, it is always something new and we aught to approach it that way, as something that has it's own voice that we have to listen to charitably.
Aeon Flux is rich enough to allow for very profound readings and all of it's many elements work in concert to provide for such an experience. Beautifully made and carefully written. Sadly this review was an ugly, pretentious mess. Pretentious in a sense it pretends to extrapolate an exhaustive reading via character names (LOL) and ugly in that it lacks charity.
Jano
Thank you. This dumb kid, think he is all that but really he is boring and full himself. He himself is a pretentious mix of existence!
Pretentious is Bennett's middle name.
I like Aeon Flux, but the fact of the matter is, Sage has some valid points. But here's my thought is, if Aeon Flux was remade today, I am sure it'll be much better. Sadly I do not think Peter Chung has it in him to do it.
So many fanboys ignoring the arguments presented on why the story is a mess.You can like what you want,but when you people start saying "you're just dumb" without countering his points,it just shows how biased one is.
true, people hate Bennett because he picks sides in his reviews, sometimes the unpopular side(see Grave of the Fireflies review) But what I like about Bennett is that not only is he not afraid to say his opinion(Violence Jack) but that he HAS AN OPINION. I've noticed many full time anime reviewers just simply don't get opinionated on a lot especially Anime that are shall we say divisive, and so therefore they LACK the passion that Bennett has.
You get off on the completely wrong foot by assuming this is a show about Gnostic ideology. Yes, the main character's name is a term used by Gnostics, and yes, one episode has a creature called a demiurge. But both of those terms also exist in Plato. The Gnosticism stops at the names of two characters.
Most of the ideas the show deals with aren't remotely in the realm of Gnosticism: id vs. superego, anarchy vs. totalitarianism, questions of free will, police state, etc. Gnostics had zilch to say about any of those topics.
Completely off topic but both John Rafter Lee and Denise Poirier have some of the most sultry voices in recent memory.
8:14 Thank God! A guest critic means I can stop screaming at my phone.
9:45 Kyle No! Come back!
Gnosticism in certain contexts can also be a word to describe the degree of someone's faith. For example a Gnostic Christian does not simply believe Christianity he "knows" Christianity is the truth. Which is opposed to Agnostic Christian who believe but they aren't 100% sure.
Thanks for catching that mate I meant to type "%" but I guess i wasn't holding the shift key.
But that's not the context anyone uses that when they refer to gnosticism.
That's because most gnosticism information are laid down by persecutors of gnosticism. Saint Irenaeus' ideas still rule supreme among them.
Papa Figo Well....we do have stuff like the Nag Hammadi codices to refer to. And those tell us a lot about what Gnostics believed.
He's refering to Gnosticism as in Valentinian Gnosticism. Completely different from the prefix to a certain religious belief, as Valentinian Gnosticism is it's own sect of faith.
Oddly the live action movie puts it all into perspective.
I will admit that watching the show as an adult and not having to lock my bedroom door from my parents while doing so did mildly kill the nostalgia I had for the show. but I personally have a deep love of anything with a hard to follow almost psychedelic story and/or art style, but that being said the show will also continue to b one of my favorites forever. on a side note did anyone else here watch the phantom series? now that one sucked baaaalllls but the animation style(anorexic spider people) was very similar. honestly as an 11 year old watchin mtv in the wee hours the animation style freaked me the fugg out, but it was like a car crash I just couldn't look away! anyway love me some Bennett wish I could've found this channel sooner he seems to have some pretty similar tastes with me
wow that was one long paragraph of run-ons my bad
how can you do liquid television and not talk about The MaXX, confusing but i thought it was still great
The Maxx is... Not anime.
@@EmpressTiffanyOfBrittany neither is Aeon Flux but he’s reviewing it
I've never seen a human being misunderstand a work to such an extreme degree.
The show isn't about heroes and villains, it's about control and liberty.
I grew up watching Aeon flux it's nothing less than a masterpiece in animation , love it and always will , I wish there was more like it.
I'm going back and rewatching the older Sage videos on a binge-spree and man, I guess someone posted this on some kind of Aeon fan forum because it seems like roughly a year after this video came out all these Aeon/Peter stans came in and shat up the comment section.
The animation from Aeon Flux looks so much like the old Heavy Metal film.
I'm glad to find someone with a large audience isn't just talking about how wonderful it is.
It's one of those pieces of pop culture that makes it's fans feel intellectual for liking it. You're no more intellectual for liking it or disliking it though.
In defense of psuedo-Anime works, they have had a few accomplishments like the original Teen Titans cartoon, the Avatar series and maybe RWBy depending on how that develops.
Well RWBY so far has like 2 seasons of garbage, 1 season of being ok and the new season seems promising so far. So lets see.
ethan .calkin
I respectfully disagree. The first two seasons are more like Dragon Ball Z: Focused mostly on the action.
"The first two seasons are more like Dragon Ball Z: Focused mostly on the action."
i only rembember like 3 big fight scenes in the first 2 seasons...i do remember the first 2 seasons being high school dramas that seemed like they were never gonna get to the story and action implied from the original trailers
"Pretentious, aimless, and infuriatingly smug." You know, we often insult things with the characteristics we dislike about ourselves... (A favorite "shadow work" technique - write a hatemail to someone you dislike, then turn all the "you's" into "me's", you'll learn a lot about yourself.)
On a warmer note; excellent if cursory overview of Gnosticism - but you left out some of the more mystical elements. Kudos on that point. And great taste in music / opening montage!
*so your first sentence **_APPLIES TO YOURSELF?? _**_#IRONY_*
"You know, we often insult things with the characteristics we dislike about ourselves... " Indeed. I insult vandalism, petty-mindedness, bigotry and carelessness. I really must hate those characteristics in myself. Not.
@@equestriangirly2296 Don't you know a reviewer is only pretentious if they have opinions you dont?
Uh huh. I see the full DVD set of Reign, right behind you.
aeon flux is like an acid trip. you gotta just go with it. analyzing the plot wont give you anything other than headaches. its just fun to experience .
But what language is that experience? Or what is that experience trying to tell you? If it's just meaningless nonsense, then there's nothing deep about the show at all and it's just being pretentious.
AxelXGabriel its the language of art. Try and explain your last dream and make sense of it. Do you think thats meaningless? Ur subconsious does not. You dont get to decide what makes somthing worth watching.
AxelXGabriel the only thing pretentious is this review. The ammount of hard work to get on mtv with a fucking cartoon is pretty far from it.
The show is clearly pretentious because it claims to have a message and is smug about it, but doesn't understand a thing about what it's talking about.
Huh. I've only just now realized Bennet must own a teleporting BBQ. It's in tbe background of shots where he isn't actively using the BBQ, then cuts to the BBQ itself in the foreground. Start at 17:45 and you'll see what I'm getting at.
It looks likes Heavy Metal (animated movie) tried to make their interpretation of anime.
with a soundtrack comparable to a team of monsters going out for an evening scare while dodging the monster hunter
The animation is superior to heavy metal.
KMFDN is to music what Blockbuster Buster is to actually breaking a DVD.
There was a movie about this wasn't there?
9:00
Kyle: "It's the fucking can't stand, okay? There is no way you can just offhandedly know everything about everything."
Was this written ironically? Those two sentences encapsulate Kyle perfectly.
You left off "arogance I" in the first sentence. Now it just says "fucking can't stand".
The themes of esoteric extinct religions are really cool in here
Not your cup of tea then?
Aeon doesn't have to make sense... There is no linear form, like a dream.
It can be chilling and titillating all at once and it's big "FUCK YOU" to normal codes and conventions of all film not just animation, is something to be applauded.
The 4th wall is broken in that knowing way that comic books and cartoons do... You cannot kill Daffy Duck.
Space dandy is another example of such story telling... There is an infinite number of realities and who is to say you don't jump from one to another in a dream state.
Don't fear the chaos; embrace it.
You don't like it and that's fine... But you are wrong when you call it bad.
It upsets you... Perhaps because it cuts too close to what matters to you.
I really think he wasnt paying attention when he says the episode's are aimless. Theres definitely a progression from beginning to end, even if it does have chaotic elements or need for interpretation.
Regarding continuity, well, that's just his opinion. Even the shorts had no continuity from one short to the next, so at least it's something that was established from the beginning of the series. Theres plenty of shows out there that have a vague continuity, and it's not something to knock the show for unless you really hate the format.
Hmmm I think there is a lack of arguments in your critic. I mean, do you always need a shakespeare dramatic structure? Why cant be independent episodes and get linked when they needed? What about the composition of the animation it self, AF haves some kickass frames and nice anamorphic drawings. The sound design maybe? Maybe its related to the time when it was aired, 1993 was very different than now... Maybe you need to watch it without "thinking" that much...
That basically amounts to...nothing. You're saying it's different because it can, and that somehow that's a good thing. Let alone, like Sage said, that works better on the shorts format, not an episodic series that is poorly put together narratively. It's break of sequence doesn't really create any subversion or point to be made, and for something "not meant to be thought much about" it tries to induce pretentious elements to it.
But it does induce elements just not on a regular dramatic way, theres so many angles of views for a serie like aeon flux, weather u wanna focus on things i mentioned above or in pseudo theories like the critic overhere mention, if you want to like it u will like it and if u want to hate it you will hate it and both are ok but dont ignore the drawing, the concepts, the music designs, the fiction world thats created, the character it self, i mean, saying that this is a piece of garbage is really IMO a mistake.
clubluchadormma The things he focuses on are objectively flawed though, so alternate takes basically ignore narrative cohesion. He also admitted the aesthetics are unique, but that the story is shit regardless.
Samael16661 Why not? Is there any rule? I dont get confused by AF and I think theres a lot of people that think the same way, anyways, Im not going to start an argument so have a good one.
I agree. Sage mashes sine good points but alot of other points are just personal nit picks.
I remember watching a movie based on this.
Mistakes were made.
Memories were sealed in a chamber of the mind where even the dread priest of the Great Old Ones would not venture.
I normally don't take most stuff Bennett says that seriously, but I'll say this, if the show was as bad as he says it was, than the film was just slightly above it if only because of the existence of an actual plot (however terrible it was.)
I liked the series
there will come a day when Sage finally reviews Neo Tokyo, aka a collection of animated shorts that include The Running Man
Peter Chung is brilliant. Aeon Flux is a masterpiece. The correct blend of Sci-Fi elements and the bizarre. I am truly hoping this guy gifts us more in his lifetime.
I like AF because you can never figure out wtf is going on. As soon as you start to think you understand you end up going wtf is this?
The first I ever heard of this title was that live-action movie from a few years back. I didn't even know there was a cartoon of it until stores started selling new edition DVD's of it to promote the aforementioned movie.
And if you saw it that way round (so did I) you might have liked the movie and wish it'd stand on it's own.
3:50 I used to tape Liquid Television back in the early '90s (when I had a mullet), mostly because of the Aeon Flux. The shorts were great. The series with the dialog just wasn't the same. Boring by comparison.
5:22 My first was 'The Lost Cities of Gold' back in the '80s.
6:30 She's brought back to life by essentially the Monican version of a New-U station. Hyperion can't sue because they exist in a different timeline (and most likely farther into the future).
9:41 It's pronounced "BREN-yuh." I think Peter Chung was going for sort of an Italian thing (like "Bologna").
9:43 Monica represents freedom, individuality, and chaos, whereas Bregna represents oppression, collectivism, and order. In some ways, it's similar to Clive Barker's "Cenobites Vs. Nightbreed" mythos with Monica corresponding with the Nightbreed and Bregna corresponding with the Cenobites.
15:05 It's "Cliff's Notes," not "Cliff Notes." Everyone says that wrong.
15:27 She probably died and respawned at the usual Monican New-U station.
15:22
You didn't complain when Aeon would die every episode, only to come back the next. You're the one being inconsistent.
DUDE!! Don't burn the collection! There are still episodes I haven't seen!!
You could have given it to me :'(
I couldn't agree more. It's way overblown and lacks courage to go in all the way. It want's to be a lotta things but doesn't know how.
I was going to sub UNTIL I saw this video. I suppose that you're not a David Lynch fan... surrealism in film is open for personal interpretation and you were so caught up in your own ego that you wanted to make some sense out of the plot in Aeon Flux, but the truth is that you can make your own sense out it. Bravo for destroying a perfectly good box set copy rather than giving it away to someone that might want it or be interested in it. It doesn't affects me though, I have my own box set and it's kept nice and safe :)
Except he brought up how the show has linear storylines and a semblance of continuity yet at the same time it's incredibly inconsistent, which shits on the notion of "lol, it's surrealism". We're not talking about the Holy Mountain or Eraserhead, many of the supposed surreal stuff has a clear cut symbolic foundation that is poorly used on the symbols themselves, and ins't exactly open to interpretation just because it fails to be consistent.
Maybe part of the reason he doesn't like Aeon Flux is because he assumes that he Gnostic references means that there is Gnostic symbology and themes, when in reality the creators didn't really understand nor care about Gnoticism. The Gnostic references just sit ontop of the story and themes. I haven't actually seen Aeon Flux, but I know that Evangelion has the same relationship with Christianity. The creators mined Christianity for some impactful (pun intended) imagery, but they didn't understand the particulars. Thus on a deeper level the correlation between the show and the religion disappears.
Maybe they are multiple outcomes from linking timelines. Some episodes are canon and others are branching out comes from the canon episodes? It would explain the continuity errors
That theory can be used to plug pretty much every plothole in existence.
Schwarzer Ritter What about the muffin button than?
thebatmanover9000 ESPECIALLY the muffin button.
Isn't a show allowed to be weird for the sake of being weird? And are you saying we are wrong for enjoying that? I also think you failed to mention the themes of Authoritarianism versus Anarchy. Plus I thought the ending, where she opted out of her reality in order to raise the boy in suburbia, was brilliant. Bennett, sometimes you just have to let go and enjoy the trip
may be every Aeon Fulx is not same Aeon Flux from the previous episode,may be when one Aeon is killed another one is cloned and the new one has the memories of the old one,
I loved the art style, reminded me of Schiele paintings, and the music created great ambience. It always felt dark, bizarre
I do think the show suffers for trying to apply logic to the surrealism of the shorts. That said, I don't think it does so in a way that is unfaithful to them - it simply answers the question "what's up with this stuff?" with "a bunch of crazy nonsense." It's not really meant to make any more sense, just to be a more elaborate mass of goofy nonsense.
Scroll down to see why opinions should be banned.
Aeon Flux was fine for its money, nothing more, nothing less.
you know Hogan won that title
3:48 ''Only a shadow of it's former self....MTV'' And that was said a literal decade ago. Christ.
I like this show. I thought its pretentious smugness was hilarious and the visuals worthy to be played at parties while heavy mettle played over it.
This show was alot better when it was nostalgia critic
hi dude!! love your reviews!! i know you dont review tokusatsu series but could you make an exception for kamen rider ryuki or kaizou sentai gokaigers. it would love to see you do a review on either series. keep up the good work!
WOW! I feel like I'm in an art school with all of the pretentiousness going on in the comment section. "YOU JUST DON'T GET IT 'CAUSE YOU'RE STUPID!" You people get so fucking uptight when someone has the balls to challenge a popular belief. I hope Bennett tears into more overrated shit like Aeon Flux just to piss off more these people.
You're the best, Sage.
The more u trashed it the more I wanted to rewatch my Aeon Flux dvd
I never knew about the whole Gnostic thing about the show (hope I'm spelling it right) and that honestly is why I love Aeon Flux. I just love how out of left field the show is. I remember when the show first came out and I kept feeling like I was missing something as I watched the show since I thought there was more to the show then it was... I gave up on that after a while but still liked what I was watching. Sometimes you just have to embrace the insanity.
I kind of always just took Aeon Flux on an individual episode basis. Each one was just a different story with the same characters. Even when it threw the previous stuff in, I pretty much just ignored it because otherwise it just doesn't make sense at all. However, I still love the series because it is genuinely an interesting idea.
Even though I completely disagree on Aeon Flux which I adored back when it first aired and still look fondly upon to this day, I respect your eloquent barrage against it and well structured admonishment. I greatly enjoyed your review and the ultimate destruction of the box set at the end provides a satisfying conclusion to the review.
You don't have to mirror all my views for me to enjoy your opinion and analysis. It's what review and criticism is all about.
I enjoy your reviews, but I'm at odds with you here. You say that your "hate is sharp, honed, and well-informed," when really there's little of this sort of criticism in your review. You attempt to impress and appear "well-informed" by giving an explanation of gnosticism in order to make the argument about how Aeon Flux mishandles this concept. But what this all boils down to within your video is evidence of how series contradicts itself in two episodes, even though you've already established within your review that the series operates on an episode by episode basis, and is frequently contradictory. In fact, in the second episode, "The Purge", that you use to prove this contradiction, the issue that you discuss is in the background for most of the episode. You say that this contradictory nature is a major fault, since it is briefly established in one episode that there is something of a continuity. Yet this episode, supposedly acting as an establishing point for the show's continuity, is perhaps the most contradictory episode in the show's run, as it's focus is on repeated and paralleling narratives, having Aeon die multiple times within one episode. Essentially, what you have done is that you have picked up a minor detail and, using 4 minutes of Oancitizen-esque pseudo-intellectualism, have used it as the crux of your argument, making for a weak one at best. What you haven't been able to argue is supplemented with yelling about how shitty the show is.
I know from some of your other reviews that you can be a good critic. But your flaw seems to be that you are willing to spend the time deeply examining and looking critically at things that you like, such as Jin Roh and Ghost in the Shell, while completely dismissing any sort of valuable analysis of things that you don't like, like this or Evangelion. Aeon Flux does a lot of great things that aren't at all touched on here, and it's a pity you've totally ignored them.
DrSpikeSpiegel change your fucking name chump
DrSpikeSpiegel
Reading this you're the only one that seems like a pseudo intellectual tbh
;^)
Bettett you smoking some crazy shit, AEON FLUX was the best show on Liquid Television!!!! What a great time to grow up in the 90s, everything sucked balls but at least we got 90s anime dub and Aeon Flux!
Ur crazy man. I dig the series.
Yeh, think ya thinking abit too much into this one, the for 3 seasons it just felt like a bigger budget version of the shorts, with some semi continuity. Dnt get all the hate, enough to burn the dvd anyway.....
You don’t have to apologize for Evangelion, I think it’s pretentious as well
Yeah sorry no the series is good there's a reason why people like it. And all honesty I feel like you actually didn't get it sooo yeah sorry. you even see in the comments people are like I actually liked it.that series was entertaining.
Bennett, i was shocked/disappointed with your opening hate statement, being a fan of AF from when it first aired in the UK in the 1990s an all, but as you went on i got what you were trying to say - indeed, i agree, the shorts were the best - they were short & to the point, left u thinking + felt like something Peter Chung dreamed; however the series' _are_ weaker and a bit all-over the place but did have good moments of dark humour and things like the 'custodian' were proper creepy, i'm still glad for them to exist and don't deserve so much hate to be BBQed! Animation style still unique feeling and great unconventional characters.
During the Covid Pandemic Lockdowns when we were lined-up outside supermarkets i immediately thought of those people from AF lining-up for their cabbages 😬
He totally needs to review Reign the Conqueror: Alexander A.K.A. Alexander Senki. The art in that show is also done by Peter Chung and its weird as fuck. I think its weirder and more pretentious than Aeon Flux because its supposed to be historical fiction. Aeon Flux is like a guilty pleasure for me because I know its supposed to be this deep cartoon, but its so weird and bizaar it made laugh, stare at the screen in aw at the batshit insanity I'm looking at, and wondering what the fuck I just watched. I had that exact same experience with Reign the Conqueror: Alexander. I recently checked out some of the shorts and episodes of Aeon Flux and have to admit the shorts worked better than the series because of the lack of dialogue.
I love the show and I like your review there both good.
“actually...” yeesh it’s art, eye of the beholder and all bruh
Really? I really enjoy it. It's bizarre and fun. Not great, but cool.
If this guy thinks that eon flux is bad Wait until you see the maxx He is so going to get a overload once he watch the whole entire series
I can respect your opinion sage, but saying that anyone that disagrees with you is a 'fanboy', that's a punk move to try to discredit dissenting opinion. It's dishonest.
And even though I'd love to hear your analysis(no sarc) I just can't through all the useless screaming.
Trevor Cormier true, and i find his rants ignorant. maybe his fat got the better of him.
Kay Puppy oh you sure should him with an insult a five year old would roll there eyes at.
I think he was calling the people who might have said that he only hates it because he doesn't get the symbolism, and that its his fault.
It's like Kyle was made to be an alagory of Bennett's critics.
I completely see where you are coming from about AF being up its own ass, empty, etc. But it was trippy and mildly entertaining.
Peter Chung was a character designer for Phantom 2040. That is pretty cool.
15:27
What the Hell happened to the audio? Why does it sound so washed out?
Edited out the music that plays during burning of the set. Watch the review on his site so hear it.