OptimisticOctopus's movie Reviews on Newgrounds

[Donaji & the Magical Poncho]

Wow, this was cool! It gave me real Windwaker vibes, what with the tapestry intro, the magical clothing passed down from the mom to the daughter and even the music. Your design for the evil god was really cool too, reminded me of some Ghibli type stuff. It's nice to see animation from other countries/cultures other than the US and Japan, and it's a shame that we don't get to see more of that on TV or in theaters. For what it's worth, this felt like a pilot to what I could very easily see becoming a long running series. I think it's definitely worthy of that, but I'll have to check out your webcomic too. Just hope that doesn't mean you're gonna stop making animation.

Shi-Gu responds:

Thanks a lot!
Indeed, I gotta admit Windwaker was a big inspiration for this.
I'm really glad you liked it and also to see interest in other cultures.
Back in the day I had the impression that people in NG did reject anything that were not in english, so I was pretty nervous when uploading this here.
Glad to see such a positive responce.
I won't stop doing animation, I'll try to have some animated parts in the webcomic as well. It's just that it takes so much time to do, so I often don't get to do as much as I would like to.

[EGG]

I knew this animation was about Northernlion. Very accurately done, well-researched documentary filmmaking here.

(but really well done. Weird as hell and I like the loose, scribbly animation style)

[The Halloween Collab 2K13]

While I've got enough of a sense of humor to appreciate a good prank, the one downside is that there is no ACTUAL collab to see. And as a guy with a renewed appreciation for Halloween recently, that does make me just a little bit sad. Nicely done, though. I definitely didn't see it coming.

BoobMarley responds:

Trying to lift spirits here, bub.

[Birthday 22]

Ah, your yearly existential musings are more of a comfort than you might think. We'll see you when you're 23.

[Que?]

Oh man, the bit where he just throws everything cracks me up. Perfect timing on the humor, and of course, that art is eye sex.

[Love on the Beach 2]

For the inspirations you list, you certainly don't emulate them very well. The facial expressions are there, but the humor lacks a lot of those animators' wit and personality. I'll give you credit for the little GG bit at the end, but overall this feels very much like a 2005 Newgrounds animation. Back then I feel like this would've passed the test, but we've evolved a bit since then.

[: Bus Ride :]

Here's a question, how would she even know about the hard-ons/ejaculations unless she was actively looking? And even then she'd have to have eagle eyes. Or maybe X-ray. Anyway, I like these short sketches. Almost Seinfeld-y in that genuine, slice-of-life type way.

[: You're Too Negative :]

Heh, it's part of my namesake. I do consider myself an optimist, but I don't group the people you talked about in with me. I think the word you're looking for is "delusional". Of course bad shit happens, if you deny it then you're retarded. The point of optimism is believing in the general goodness of people and that life is ultimately worth living DESPITE all of the stupid, pointless bullshit. So basically, I agree with everything you said.

I love that years later your show is still relevant, well-produced and funny.

[ZTV News Short: Christmas]

Wow, Zone is capable of sentimentality? Who knew? Anyway, this was surprisingly sweet. Sure his car blew up, but she did kinda save his life.

[I Know You Too Well]

Whaaaaaaat. This is surprisingly heartwarming for you. :P It looks great and the story you set up meshes perfectly with the song. This makes me think we should go back to the old Newgrounds standard of adapting every single RBF song into a video.