The Weird Choices of High Guardian Spice (Part 1)

[@c-puff]

Just pinning a comment for those who have already watched the show; I'm referring to Snapdragon as 'he' until the storyline explores their character more. I promise I'm not misgendering just to be an asshole! Just to circumvent any comments correcting me. 🙏

[@jacobitewiseman3696]

Triad sounds like the Chinese mobs.

[@c-puff]

@@jacobitewiseman3696 ...omg you're right... WHOOPS. 😂💀

[@dani7308]

What's the name song used in the intro?

[@SM-cv8sv]

@@c-puff Honestly the triad is another rehash of "the maiden the mother the crone" popularized in Neo-pagenism. At this point i doubt any of the writers are aware of this given how unbelievably derivative this work is. If this work where a person, it would look horribly inbred.

[@Pyracyntrix]

​@@c-puff you seem rly smart How do I get as mature and smart as you like holy heck you're a goddamn saint among role models

[@guardianHQ]

High guardian spice is a huge pile of confusion from beginning to end. The magic system especially since its so poorly explained and over powered that it breaks the story

[@c-puff]

It wouldn't be AS bad if it wasn't for the fact that the story places a lot of importance on the magic system. That's what kills me. It's not some background detail but treated by the show as if it's going to be one of the main driving forces of the plot. Also being so over-powered completely breaks a lot of other things in the show that suddenly makes no sense.

[@gtf234]

@@c-puff Let me put it this way, I have played eroge with more complicated and fleshed out fantasy worlds and more clearly defined rules for how its magic and other mechanics work...and are IP that predate The Simpsons with most of these rules being established in the very first game. I really enjoy explaining this team couldn't do better than some R18 games

[@markmorales7958]

So it’s just like Dragonballs power system, but somehow even worse… and that show breaks its own basic rules faster than a Hentai MC getting laid within less than a minute…!

[@ethangnasher3848]

@@gtf234 It was Rance, right?

[@gtf234]

@@ethangnasher3848 Yup. Saying it predates the Simpsons gives that away- a very "if you know, you know" case.

[@cakefrosting6451]

You know what’s funnier? When the end credits of HGS has seemingly better quality than the actual show itself. Like as if the whole story is trapped in those stills in their end credits.

[@c-puff]

Honestly you're not wrong. Like... where was THAT show???

[@Painfulldarksoul]

Amaryllis is one of the few generally liked characters of this show. The creators thought: "She's supposed to be an antagonist at first, so she can be an unlikeable jerk, with good traits mixed in!" While not giving their main characters traits they considered flaws of personality... They straight up made a character with an interesting personality and thought it would look unlikeable, in comparison with several Mary-Sues and bland cardboard cutouts. They accidentally made one of the rarest good characters. A destructive trash goblin, full of precious chaotic trash gremlin energy.~

[@fandemusique4693]

Well, amaryllis is also a awesome friend.

[@Painfulldarksoul]

@@fandemusique4693 That would be the 'good traits mixed in!'-part.

[@fandemusique4693]

@@Painfulldarksoul yeah, but you mentionned only the destructive trash gobelin and chaotic energy after and how she is entertaining without mentionning explicitely her sweeter side, it's for that.

[@Painfulldarksoul]

@@fandemusique4693 Alright.

[@caitlinsnowfrost8244]

"You look like an invertebrate" is the funniest line in this whole thing, and I don't even think it's meant to be.

[@c-puff]

Amaryllis is unironically the best character in the whole show.

[@johannesseyfried7933]

I don't know why, but Amaryllis reminded me a lot of Trixie from MLP. I mean, both of them are pretty snarky, wear pointy Hats sometimes, and they start out as Antagonists.

[@caitlinsnowfrost8244]

@@c-puff I would unironically watch an Amaryllis solo series; she's just so fun.

[@afieldofroses]

Dude Amaryllis's line delivery had me laughing way harder than anything else in the show. my personal favorite being her delivery on "Oh no, an infestation of *nerds* "

[@c-puff]

Almost every single line she says is an instantly classic. I didn't do it too much but I definitely had to pepper a few of them across these videos because they're so good.

[@noahgray543]

...I would absolutely watch Sailor Moon reimagined to be a metaphor for Ireland rebelling against Britain. That would be amazing.

[@thanetothefalseking332]

“Come tell us how the moon Was o’errun by Beryl’s goons, Emanating from that evil tyrant’s fortress. Come tell how Sailor V Fought ‘em single-handedly, ‘Til Usagi realized her lunar purpose.”

[@tayschannel2695]

Would you watch sailor moon but with a metaphor on Christianity and more lesbians???? Let’s sign up a contract-

[@tomboywarrior3229]

I have said it before, but the good thing about HGS is that it became a material to study on how to not do storytelling.

[@LukasJampen]

We can learn way more from bad examples than from good ones. By good ones you know it worked but people will have a hard time defining why it worked if it was just good and not standout excellent. It's like a good User Interface in games if it's good you won't notice it at all but if it is below average it will annoy you and you notice. This show can in almost every aspect serve as an example. Worldbuilding, bad animation, dialogue, magicsystem, protagonists, antagonists, motivations, sending mixed signals, etc.

[@SaiyanGamer95]

So, not only is Carraway voiced by the creator, but his appearance is the same as Raye. Basically, Raye inserted himself into the show as a side character who's purpose is to explain that trans people exist, help Snap transition, and introduce the concept of combining old and new magic to Sage. Raye also has something called Reclaim Gloria (I don't know if it's just a concept or whatever) and he also kinda inserted himself into the cast of characters. Even if you haven't see what Raye looks like, look at the characters and you'll see one that looks like Carraway. I've also seen a lot of people absolutely despise the "I'm transgender" scene, since it serves no purpose other than revealing Carraway is trans, which doesn't affect Rose in any way at all and could easily be removed with no change to the overall plot. I've seen people suggest the scene would be better later in the series, when he's with Snap. I've also seen people (either trans or non-trans) rewrite the scene. I saw one where Carraway explains why he transitioned, comparing being born a girl as like wearing clothes that didn't fit. It was done by Jamie De Jonge, who did a few other rewrite scenes. There was another, but I can't remember where I found it, but there was a more melancholy feel to it. It had Rose saying she wonders where the girl in the picture was, to which Carraway says "Uh... yeah... Me too, kid". Like I said, slightly melancholy, but at peace with himself, even if he didn't want to talk about something to personal.

[@jessyonugbolu2106]

That “We never see this hammer again” is such an underrated statement and so shocking I burst out laughing. 35:15

[@ferrishthefish]

They probably went through all the creative ways they could think for her to use it in that one mini-story. Keep in mind, this is coming from people who lack the imagination to turn their pencil around and use the other end when they write shitty dialogue.

[@MrAuthor3DS]

Man, RWBY's first official episode managed to show: - The basic backstory of Remnant, laying the foundation of the Grimm, growing Dust technology, and the four Kingdoms - A hint to the major conflict between Ozpin and Salem - Two of the recurring villains (Roman and Cinder) - An action scene for Ruby Rose, as well as some of her basic background - A glimpse at what an experience Huntress (Glynda) can do - Reasons why Ruby was transferred to Beacon Academy - The first direct mention of silver eyes - Introduction to Yang - A brief first glimpse of Jaune ...and in HALF the time of HGS's first episode! Buuuuut if we wanna include enough RWBY episodes to match the time (the next two), we also get: - Introductions to Weiss, Blake, and Jaune - An introductory speech for Beacon Academy - A brief first glimpse of Pyrrha - A greater clarification of Ruby's personal motivations (to make the world a better place) and what inspired her (stories of heroes)

[@c-puff]

RWBY may have many problems but ideas, setup and wasting time are not one of them.

[@markmorales7958]

This “show” is the exact opposite of RWBY! It’s so unimaginative, it flat out rips-off a grand majority of the main cast. Hell, the main villain of this only season is a Mercury Black ripoff!!! I personally just call out the “characters” in this show as “NOT RWBY Characters” Example: Rosemary Aka “NOT Ruby”, Snapdragon aka “NOT Juane”, Callaway aka “NOT Ozpin/Ozma”…

[@MrAuthor3DS]

@@markmorales7958 Hm, not just of Mercury. He's also got Neo's disguising power (and pink hair), Roman's villainous finesse, Cinder's pyromania, Adam's vengeance against his former black-haired catgirl partner...

[@markmorales7958]

@@MrAuthor3DS Holly sh!t you’re right… 😨

[@NoxAtlas]

Too bad it took them 5 seasons to explain what a semblance is which plays a big role during fights. And no, I'm not including thr extra episodes which only serve as info dump because RT couldn't manage to include basic information and worldbuilding in the regular episodes

[@maggier4806]

Thank you for this intellectual and unbiased review of High Guardian Spice. Wish there were more content creators like you out there who arent just on one side of an argument or opinion

[@c-puff]

Thank you so much! That means a lot to me because I really set out wanting to discuss this show from an animation standpoint. Of course it's impossible not to have a bias, but I really tried my best to not fall into the trap of getting into a debate. As an animator myself, a poorly made show with so much arrogance on full display is very aggravating to me, but nobody seemed to be discussing that. And I am tired of bad shows not being called out for being bad because they use topical issues as a distraction. It's so infuriating to see 😂

[@Crows256]

HGS really was just forcing Sage and Rosemary's "romance" from the first episode. There were multiple times that were clearly meant to be romantic and hint at their attraction towards each other, which felt too forced and out of place. HGS missed an opportunity to have a best friends to lovers arc by shoving their romance down our throats like that. Like damn, establish that these characters are best friends a little more before shipping them.

[@c-puff]

Right? In the next part of this series I even point out I fully thought they were already girlfriends because of the way this first episode sets them up.

[@Crows256]

@@c-puff Yeah, they might as well have started off already dating. Missed opportunity.

[@keshiaanders6452]

And it's trying to copy how Sakura & Tomoyo/Maddison's friendship was in "Cardcaptor Sakura," where one party clear has a crush on their best friend & the other is probably a premature bisexual but doesn't have the same level of feelings as the friend.

[@renemartinez3451]

20:54 This whole sequence you made is so damn cozy and charming. I can’t believe you got me to feel a positive emotion from this show. But this just goes to show how much optimal pacing and clever editing can elevate even the most rough budget and animation limitations. This feels pretty appropriate considering how much the show lifted from anime. Btw, song name?

[@caitlinsnowfrost8244]

Agreed; this intro would actually make me want to watch the show, and makes it seem like at *worst* it would be peaceful, slice-of-life stuff.

[@c-puff]

aw thanks guys XD Considering the first episode borrows heavily from Kiki's Delivery Service's intro as its inspiration I thought it would be nice to try and match the tone it was going for. I listed the song in the credits with the exact name and such but iirc it's called "On Shore" by Keiko Han. There's a youtuber called MartyMcFlies V2 who uploads vinyl rips from his 80s Japanese music collection where I got it from. I'll add a link in a new comment just in case yt deletes it. (yt hates links in comments)

[@c-puff]

Here ya go! give it a like and check out his other stuff too. I often use music from him kzbin.info/www/bejne/ooinoJyMmNmnaNE

[@TaoScribble]

I love how literally no one knows WTF a guardian is in the context of this show. All this time and not even a tweet from the creator explaining it. XD

[@Lesbiwolf92]

An entire season goes by and the show still hasn't defined the vast majority of its world lore, what a Guardian is, the history of the academy, the villains or the supposed legendary Guardian that is Rose's mum. Our main girl squad also has little to no definition. Sage: Wants to be a great healer yet spends the entire season umm-ing and uhh-ing over should she use old or new magic and predominately using offensive spells. Rosemary: Wants to find her mum yet doesn't strike out on an adventure looking for her or following up on leads, she only ever asks one person about her mum and she didn't even initiate the conversation and mostly forgets why she left home in the first place. Parsley: Is a black smith who goes to the Guardian academy to...become a black smith. Thyme: Wants to save her homeland yet never tells anyone about her homeland, never asks direct questions about possible methods to save her homeland and like Rose doesn't look for or follow up on any leads and seems to forget all about why she is even here. It's like the writers wanted Deltora's quest mixed with D&D but somehow ended up with a boring slice of life high school show where the plot is too drunk to show up to work and the characters are ad-libbing episodes out of an idea hat.

[@FrenkTheJoy]

Your last paragraph hit the nail so hard on the head I don't think anyone ever needs to say anything about the show again, which people still are doing even after a year.

[@TuesdaysArt]

Fun fact: According to Raye Rodriquez, they couldn't find a good voice actor for Caraway so he volunteered to voice Caraway himself. He says he doesn't know if he would recast himself if he had more time.

[@c-puff]

Well if that's what he says then fine, I guess. I find it suspect tho. You're telling me that the one character they couldn't find a voice for just HAPPENED to be the one FTM character character who also happens to look exactly like one of his "OCs" as he calls them, Is shown flirting with ANOTHER one of his "OCs" in the halloween episode, Happens to look a LOT like Rodriquez himself, and is the one who can do super special magic at the end of the show? You want me to believe the ONE character they "couldn't find a voice for" just happened to be this one? Yeah, ok, Rodriquez. Whatever you say, dude. 🙄

[@TuesdaysArt]

@@c-puff I would've bolded and italicized the "According to Raye Rodriguez" part, but I'm on mobile and any sort of formatting I try on my phone disappears into the ether. I'm not sure if I believe it either (though considering they allowed Slime Boy to record his lines on a potato, it wouldn't surprise me if they were willing to let anyone voice the characters); that's just the reply Raye gave me on Twitter.

[@c-puff]

@@TuesdaysArt Oh yeah I wasn't doubting you at all XD But yes. It's very "sure Jan". Tell me again why the show is bad because it was animated in Korea, Raye.

[@CompSomAnichi]

21:00 That small music video actually made me feel more fluffy and comfy than the show ever did. Nice music choice.

[@c-puff]

Thank you so much! ;w; I was worried I was taking too much time on this one point, but I'm happy people seem to really like the end result.

[@MsVelve]

@@c-puff What song is that please???

[@captainslender12]

@@MsVelve Keiko Han - Kaifuu ~on shore~ (1983) - kzbin.info/www/bejne/ooinoJyMmNmnaNE (assuming you're still looking for it)

[@CompSomAnichi]

18:25 YEAH! I remember DA comics were exactly like this! XD Like the webcomic is still in its infancy with 10 pages, but you can read all the world building in other pages. XD

[@caitlinsnowfrost8244]

Okay, "By The Rising of the Moon" still feels like it fits Sailor Moon better than "Scarborough Fair" fits HGS.

[@seekingabsolution1907]

It was very funny.

[@ChaosoneX]

3:58 And here I was, thinking my opinion of Kate "Hashtag kill all Men" couldn't get any lower. Turns out I'm only on the first level that is her repugnance.

[@PlanetZoidstar]

That edited travel scene would have actually been better with no audio other than the soundtrack. Plus why are Rosemary and Sage taking all those travel methods WHEN THEY HAVE A FLYING BROOM?

[@c-puff]

I think maybe they felt using the broom would be way too much like Kiki. More than it is already, that is. But also I've seen how Sage flies in later episodes 🙃

[@PlanetZoidstar]

@@c-puff Yeah, I think it was to show off their "amazing worldbuilding" which gets just more impractical as the scene plays out. Also if that was their reasoning, that's rich given Sage's entire character is heavily inspired by the "cute witch" anime archetype that Kiki popularised but has been an anime staple for decades. Also Harry Potter like you also pointed out.

[@helloill672]

Flying on a Broom stick for hours sounds uncomfortable, so taking the carriage and train makes sense, but they could have used it to go up the mountain side instead of the weird stair train

[@PlanetZoidstar]

@@helloill672 We never get any indication in-universe that brooms are uncomfortable for extended periods. Plus Sage's lesbian aunts could have just teleported them there in seconds.

[@insulttothehumanrace3807]

Being a bit fair, if they're not very familiar with the world at large, as was implied by them looking wistfully at their village through the telescope on the weird stair train, then one could infer that they didn't take the broom because they wouldn't know which way to go. There's already so much wrong with this show -- heck, this episode. Them not taking the broom is passable.

[@kendybanana3815]

this show seem like they brainstormed and left it at that.

[@c-puff]

It's written a lot like I see peeps on tumblr/twitter write about their OCs and their lore. Perfectly fine for tumblr, not so much for a professional, structured show.

[@vfxninja5503]

The AMV comparison is so brutal that if it was directed at me I think I would just cease to exist.

[@c-puff]

I love this comment so much 😂😭

[@TroySpace]

Regarding Scarborough Fair, I was busy editing my own book when I realised that All Along the Watchtower perfectly fit the narrative. But I thought that if I went back and bent it to fit perfectly, I'd kind of wreck the story. It did give me some insipiration for the revisions but nothing more. I think the worst thing I could do was literally call the character "the Joker and the Thief" because that just destroys immersion. Also, people would think it was a Wolfmother reference. Pacing is also important as you say; it's necessary to get the Call to Action or Inciting Incident out of the way as soon as possible. HiGS could have just cut everything and started it all in media res halfway through the first term at HiGSwart with Sage's potion being ruined. That's pretty extreme but the fact that the story arc works without it shows that the first two episodes are filler.

[@c-puff]

Oh! Have you ben published? I'd be happy to hear more about what you've written! And I agree. If it wanted to adapt Scarborough Fair into a narrative that would have been one thing, but it just feels out of place here. Even just naming the characters would have been ok but actually including the song is a very jarring choice. Also, I genuinely don't mind filler! (Sailor Moon is 200 episodes for a reason...) but to have it in the first 2 episodes really kneecaps the show right at the start. I'll talk about this more in the final part but I feel they needed to plan the overall arc of all 12 episodes better, instead of focusing on episode by episode. This is also whey I take so much time explaining the pacing. it's both a small AND large problem.

[@TroySpace]

@@c-puff just a short story so far sitting with a publisher. Khoisan myth meets Mars colonies.

[@c-puff]

@@TroySpace Oh keep me updated! And good luck!

[@TroySpace]

@@c-puff thanks!

[@HateshWarkio]

It's amazing how this show couldn't even do the whole "going very far from the home" schtick If at every point that they switch the means of transport, they looked back at their hometown, Pebble, and it was getting smaller and smaller until it finally disappeared, then the whole switching of means of transport part would have at least a reason to exist But they somehow made it halfway, they made it so Sage and Rosemary travelled far but then they could easily see Pebble like they had gone to just the next town/city

[@cognito3408]

I've litterally heard about this show only yesterday on Tumblr, and since Google likes to spy on my computer, youtube somehow picked it up and started to suggest me videos about it. Specifically about how bad of a show it is. And ngl, I did enjoy reading some of the comments on those 'OMG, HGS IS SO BAAAAD' vids, because a good laugh after a long day is always welcome. I didn't really give much thought besides this. But then yesterday I saw your post on Tumblr so I saved the vid to watch today, and while I didn't have any real intentions to watch the show, I thought maybe I should give it a try just so I could follow your vids with a bit of firsthand knowledge and personal opinion about it. But you summed it up so nicely that I don't think I'll ever have to waste any amount of my limited time to actually do so. Hurray. It was a really interesting vid with lots of indepth info and relevant remarks, I'm looking forward to watching the other parts! I really love how you manage to be critical without being mean, for real, loved the vid! ♥♥ (Also I have to mention I'm in love with the blink animation you did. Your eyelashes go WHOOSH and I can't stop going back to watch it again whenever it happens!!)

[@jcudejko]

About the eyelashes: I agree so much! I skipped back more than a couple times just because I was surprised it was even animated! That's a really good touch that not many go to the effort of with character drawings like this

[@carlacahill9453]

I feel like in the 3rd episode, they used the flashback to avoid animating the tricky parts of Parsley’s journey

[@WolfmanBrown]

Thanks for posting the Cybersix intro. Just thought I’d put that out there.

[@ryanleatigaga7596]

I gave HGS the three episode rule of anime and it REALLY doesn't hit. It's like if someone tried recreating anime through after hearing of it through legends of old. It uses trends like "main character eats a lot" without knowing WHY that's the case. Anime protags like Goku and Luffy eat a lot because they use a lot of energy in combat. The Scarborough Fair inspiration would have worked if Rodriguez channeled his inner Hirohiko Araki and actually wove in the message of the song within the story. After listening to your analysis, I have to agree that Rodriguez was the WRONG person to give the title of director to. It's like giving a toddler access to the missile codes. I feel offended when you gave that OC example because it's a lot like my process lol. Overall, it's a bad show. The creators were way too arrogant for their own good, and mentioning that "they had a small budget" while hiring fifty trillion storyboard revisionists just put salt in the wound. And I liked your review!

[@c-puff]

haha! Sorry if the OC comparison stung. But I think my main problem is carrying that mentality into an animation studio environment. OC is very ownership focused, but animation is a team effort. Repeatedly referring to the main characters as his OCs made it feel like Rodriquez saw everyone else in the production as hired hands commissioned to indulge himself with his characters. I'm not sure if I'm explaining that correctly. It just rubbed me the wrong way. thank you so much for watching! :D and yeah i'm definitely gonna go more into that "we had a small budget" tweet at the end.

[@BlueBlazeKing]

Exactly a show will loses its casual watchers by the end of the first three episodes, so if you can’t get them hooked by then it’s game over. And this show definitely turned me off due to how boring episode 1 was.

[@GippyHappy]

17:08 I had to rewind this like 12 times cause I was confused why you could see Rosemary and Sage's silhouettes in the windows when they're still standing outside

[@seelcudoom1]

"guardian" really feels like they saw how other things had a designated sort-of-adventurer, the state alchemists of fma, the huntsmen of rwby, hunters of hunterxhunter ect but they had no idea what the role was suppose to be just that the concept was cool, which is why its an extremely vague "do good" while all the others have either specific missions, state alchemists are hybrid researchers and soldiers, huntsmen while shown frequently doing general "help people" jobs shows this is secondary to there primary job at dealing with grimm, even with ones that are more vague like heroes or hxh they are both defined by how they do it, heroes and hunters are both the people authorized to use the settings power system and deal with threats normal people cant, which they easily could have done with guardians by just, making them the certified magic people who deal with magic problems, except we see several of them have nothing to do with magic, you wouldent have even had to change the warriors just add that they specialize in magic weapons and channeling the magic of an enchanted sword is more complex then just swinging it around, so maybe warrior guardiasn learn to the the anime sword beams and charged attacks and stuff like that

[@insulttothehumanrace3807]

Now that you mention those other media, that's just one of the many failures of the Guardians in this show: lack of incentive to become a Guardian. Let's just go over the ones you brought up. Full Metal Alchemist's State Alchemists: Get government funding to continue your research in your alchemical field, and with it a pretty comfy life, and/or the resources to help people and serve your country. Plus access to knowledge and research that regular alchemists do not possess. RWBY's Huntresses and Huntsmen... I'm not very familiar with RWBY as of writing this, but I do know that they are raised to combat a great threat that plagues humanity as a whole, so being a huntsman/huntress is a respectable job in its own right. Probably comes with some nice benefits, plus the promise of adventure. Hunters of HunterXHunter: A hunting license lets someone fight creatures that nobody else can, go places nobody else is allowed to go, have many great job opportunities... becoming a Hunter more or less lets you do whatever you want in life. ... I'm not entirely sure what you mean by "heroes", but I'm going to go with My Hero Academia because being an officially licensed Hero lets you use your powers to fight crime and the forces of evil; but also grants you a decently paying job and celebrity status, which you can use to practice whatever other passions you may have. Meanwhile, High Guardian Spice's Guardians: ... I got nothin'. Not sure what becoming a Guardian gains someone.

[@007MrYang]

I didn't know that Scarborough Fair had that much history behind it. I literally only heard it on the WorldEnd or Sukasuka anime, so I thought that was the modern example you were gonna bring up lol

[@c-puff]

I didn't even know that! XD And to be fair I was only aware of the Simon and Garfunkle version until I looked into it for this video.

[@MrKingkz]

The song is really old I come from Yorkshire the country where Scarborough is and have been there lots of time I have even been where the fair/market is because there is still a market there tho much smaller then when the song was written

[@lehahiah81]

Best girl for my friends and I was a background character just because of how many scenes she showed up in, and when she didn't show up we just made up stories about what she was doing. Character was a brunette with long braids.

[@c-puff]

Honestly there's one background character that I kept noticing which is the dark skinned student with glasses and short purple hair. She looks like if Anthy and Sailor mercury had a child.

[@LRCh_]

Head canon: the original idea for the brother was to be Mandrake, but they forgot

[@dragowolfraven3806]

This show could have been a lot better if it was worked on & polished more. Plus the magic system is broken as hell and makes me wonder why warriors/rangers exist. I am pretty sure that a fanfic writer could do a better job with this show as it is a great way to learn what not to do when writing a story.

[@c-puff]

At the end of the show what made it so much worse for me is it's not even that everything in this show is awful and there's no value to it. There IS potential here. It's just er.... nobody had any idea what they were doing. At all. It makes it so much more frustrating than if it was just bad.

[@dragowolfraven3806]

I agree with you. It gets worse when you realize that the creator was pitching the show since 2013 with no script.

[@c-puff]

@@dragowolfraven3806 oh good lord I didn't realise he didn't have a script. He had a storyboard so I just ASSUMED he had... you know... actually written something.

[@dragowolfraven3806]

@ C-Puff Person Nope.

[@Zentron]

For me, it's a poor concept that's been handled poorly, there's hardly an episode that isn't filler, if Raye has had the idea for the show for the amount of years he said he had, the show makes it blindly obvious that he hasn't learned anything in all his years. Just looking at the flat artwork and clunky animation and listening to the stilted forced dialogue, made me nauseous... and bored. I can see that there might been a good idea or two in the show, but overall, it's just all so 'meh' in every aspect of its execution.

[@c-puff]

I didn't go into the broader scope of the show as a whole in this episode, but once I've covered every episode and we get to part 4 I am definitely gonna talk more about that!

[@Zentron]

@@c-puff it was a difficult watch, but I like to give things a chance. I think the whole show was screwed from the beginning, the lack of a clear narrative and direction was its biggest issue, as you craft your stories and situations around these elements. Not to mention the fact not a single character is named after a spice! With this one episode, it makes it evident that there is a lack of clear direction, even the title itself is unrelated to the episode, as they hardly do any travelling in the episode, they spend more time exploring Lyngarth than actually travelling there. And the one dimensional artwork and animation, holy smegballs... and they had 8 storyboard artists for this ep? Money not well spent!

[@shilohmagic7173]

So... amaryllis is totally most people’s favorite character, probably.

[@c-puff]

In researching these videos... she is 100% everybody's favourite.

[@yamyams8147]

"she goes to meet this 'snape did nothing wrong' character" BYE I'M DEAD

[@guardianHQ]

If you think 8 storyboard artists are bad episode 3 had 11

[@c-puff]

GOOD GRIEF. But............ why tho..............

[@guardianHQ]

@@c-puff “ok guys we have a low budget so lets hire 11 story board artists for one episode”

[@ЭлмоСВТ-40]

Rosemary's mom disappearing, a very happy looking protagonist, going to a guardian school to learn how to be a guardian... Rosemary's mom looks like what a guardian would sorta look like so therefore this kinda sounds like HunterxHunter for some reason... Also they're a group of four too..

[@jacobitewiseman3696]

When can we get fantasy anime inspired by power metal bands.

[@c-puff]

it would be too powerful. The world is not ready. (I am ready tho. Give it to me. I want it now.)

[@ethangnasher3848]

That would be... brutal.

[@snowgrave2475]

@@c-puff does Metalocalypse count? Probably not, but it's great

[@meb4224]

The closest to this that I can think of is "The Legend of Black Heaven", but that's more sci-fi than swords and sorcery fantasy.

[@LukasJampen]

When Alex Hirsch voices multiple people in Gravity falls we don't complain because he is actually good. Also Dipper (which he didn't voice) is clearly the character based on himself since he drew a lot of inspiration from his own childhood and from his real sister for Dippers sister.

[@vash3055]

The fact that you do not understand how a song about the Irish Rebellion fits Sailor Moon like a Thematic Glove is why you fail to see how much of a "special" gem HGS is. LoL!

[@gilbertotabares8196]

Ah these High Guardian Spice critique videos shitting on an inferior product add just the right amount of spite I need to help me get through the day.

[@engineerforthefuture8593]

I'm glad people are still discovering the greatness of TNG

[@c-puff]

It's so good!!!

[@Lesbiwolf92]

Oh my god, it was YOU! You are the one that put Cyber Six into the back of my brain and ended up being the reason I looked it up and binge watched it. You are also the reason I am grumpy it didn't get more than one season >3>

[@scootermcburczak3192]

13:26 It took me a while to get the joke, but now I think it's the best one C-Puff has made! 🤣🤣🤣 Sailor Moon... priceless!

[@zainmudassir2964]

Been waiting for this this! For all the outrage all these years it just fizzled out since it's so average imo

[@c-puff]

I think so too. I'm pretty harsh on it in this episode but it picks up a little bit before getting into the really "bad" category, but it's honestly nowhere near the worst thing I've ever seen. I think the worst thing about it is how frustrating it is because it COULD have been fixed into a good show. Thank you so much for watching! 💖

[@turquoisesorcerer]

incredibly high quality content for how few views there are here honestly. love the music choices too !!

[@SwiftNimblefoot]

Damn that Cybersix intro, that music still makes me emotional. Just awesome. Also reminds me of Elaine, probaby the sexiest werewolf lady ever to grace the screen. :P LOL the opening of this show. They just straight out spout exposition. Also is her luggage literally a flying mimic from D&D? I guess she thought is Discworld did the Luggage, so can she...

[@anthonynguyen1289]

The best thing this show did is show me your channel. This seems like an interesting review of the series. Gonna watch all the parts probably back to back.

[@c-puff]

That's so kind of you, thank you 🥺

[@anthonynguyen1289]

@@c-puff You’re welcome also I’m currently on the last part right now haha. Sleep was evading me.

[@c-puff]

@@anthonynguyen1289 djgjfhsfg I hope you get some sleep afterwards! 😂

[@anthonynguyen1289]

@@c-puff I shall now that I’m finished watching 😂

[@randomxiwi1273]

I have ideas of what this show could be: What if the new magic indirectly consumes the soul of the user while the old magic doesn't. And maybe the land they live in is surrounded by a deadlier environment and some dangerous things tend to slip in, so they will need guardians to guard over the land. It's just too simple to think some reasonable concepts in a day, and the creators had more time.

[@_-insertname-_]

Good video aside, that’s just some really nice music in the background, and having all the names appear in the corner when a new track starts playing is such a neat detail!? So thank you so much! :D

[@c-puff]

You're very welcome 😌 Most if not all the artists are on youtube and easy to find. I highly recommend checking out their original uploads and supporting them 💖

[@BaneKaikyo]

It's interesting how I can watch this awful show, and listen to countless video-essay style breakdowns of how bad it is and all the mistakes that are made, and EACH ONE has new stuff to point out. It really is the gift that keeps giving.... This is maybe the 7th or 8th video/series going over HGS and this is the first to note that it has too many story board artists. I never knew that 8 was so beyond the norm

[@seekingabsolution1907]

It occurs to me that no one outside the UK knows how to pronounce Scarborough. In the suffix Borough as in this word the second and third syllables are run together in a way that shortens the "o" sounds into "uh" sounds so "buh-ruh" although if you're in a hurry it can be further compressed in so that it is is pronounced "Scar bruh" like you were trying to tell your bro who the villain in the Disney film The Lion King is. Though you do stretch it out to make the second syllable more audible in the song Scarborough Fair itself.

[@c-puff]

Ah I see! Thank you! I was indeed pronouncing it after the song 😂

[@LordChaosHavik]

Wait no.. I've never seen this exact shot before but... 24:56 is that picture... Caleb and Frumpkin? Like his 2nd phase when he cleaned himself up.

[@TroySpace]

50 000 yen, that would make Uncle Roger put down leg from chair. To put that 50 000 yen into context, you can get a 1K apartment for 40 000 yen a month in Gifu (which is a cheap area in Japan). Even a shitty language teaching job at Nova would pay 170 000 yen.

[@c-puff]

It's absolutely ridiculous. And I didn't even mention that 90% of these animators have to find housing IN TOKYO.

[@TubbyTarchia]

Just found this video and am excited to explore more of your catalogue, I love your editing and commentary! I would suggest turning the music a bit more down though, as sometimes I really have to focus to understand what you're saying, but that's all!

[@ArchieRatsworth]

I can't believe you used Neverhood tracks for background sound. You have taste!

[@c-puff]

How could I pass up the chance to use a song literally called "Confused and upset"

[@ArchieRatsworth]

@@c-puff I played that game so often, as a kid. I still fear long corridors and little men who hang out of tv sets.

[@akaiyoru2681]

In the trip sequence...yeah, most they could have done is just ride off on a carriage after saying goodbyes to their families, then include a few shots of them stepping onto that...london bus carriage thing, then step onto a train and perhaps have them look from the window in anticipation of the city they are going to. You then get a shot of the train arriving onto the scene and characters excitetly stepping out. Takes out a lot of clutter

[@kin.g-yawna]

13:38 THE WAY I CACKLED AT THIS

[@hungryhedgehog4201]

"Look how progressive we are, we only hired women to make this show!" "Are you gonna pay them union wages?" "Oh look who is trying to cancel our progressive studio!" They sell their shit under the veneer of progressiveness and "helping those poor animators" but then the studio they make themselves is non union, and under budgeted, typical corpo shit.

[@FrenkTheJoy]

The "I'm trans" scene would've been so easy to rewrite to be less sucky! Pink haired idiot is like "oh who's this girl with my mom?", Carraway says "Oh, that was me when I was much less happy. Your mom was always there for me, even when I realized why it was I felt so unhappy." So we get it tied into his friendship with pink haired idiot's mom and the explanation isn't so bluntly on the nose only for Rose to absolutely not care.

[@Mecharnie_Dobbs]

7:07 C'mon, that is hilarious. "They're in denial" Like they can't deal with being straight.

[@cyndrick7373]

Does anyone know the name of the song used at 21:00?

[@BeanKally]

Honestly The designs are pretty good imo Everything else? NO Tbh the “adult” parts feel more like a child that just got permission from their parents to swear

[@jcudejko]

20:52 I ... I have to know... What is this song? Kind of pretty 24:08 oh ouch, I wouldn't call that inspiration, leans toward direct rip IMO 32:58 this edit has me laughing for like three whole minutes! Nice work 🤣 34:50 non euclidean broom closet, well that was unexpected... 35:18 we never see this hammer again. Ah. Of course. End credits music: WOAH WOAH 😨 I'm here for the cringe, but sheesh

[@c-puff]

Thank you so much! XD the song is On Shore by Keiko Han: kzbin.info/www/bejne/ooinoJyMmNmnaNE

[@Worn_Guide]

OH! Finally, someone who knows of POGO! My favorite is Dayvd.

[@alyssamontgomery2978]

26:13 - 26:17 I thought they tried to mix She-ra with SVTFOE & wound up with RWBY.

[@cyruscrompton8221]

I ended up watching HGS mainly because of this video, weirdly enough i ended up liking it despite its flaws! Even though I cant agree with every point this is still one of the best videos about HGS and I'll still listen to while I do fuck all, it is a lot of fun to hear the deconstruction and get so many ideas off of what it could've been average C-Puff W

[@three.6]

somebody help me out here whats that song at 21:00? please 😁

[@wruzicka78]

Hey, you think you had it rough with that squirrel mating dance, I had to storyboard it. lol Also, most 22 minute cartoons in the US have three to four storyboard artists per episode. A show like Adventure Time, which is 11 minute episodes will have 1 or 2. In some rare cases, people are brought in to re-do storyboards, replacing boards that did not work. In that instance you still credit everyone who worked on it regardless if their boards are still reflected in the show. I THINK on this show they just listed the entire board staff on every episode. I could be wrong though, I have not checked each episodes credits.

[@c-puff]

Oh good lord. Thank you for your service 😂💖

[@Lupus-iv7jp]

It also should be noted that caraway is rayes self insert which given he looks like him as well

[@ExtremeWreck]

Well, to be fair, you haven't seen some truly weird choices until you've seen the Mister Spiff series of video games or that 1982 Bulgarian Treasure Planet movie or Revenge of the Sunfish.

[@c-puff]

tell me more 👀

[@ExtremeWreck]

@@c-puff Hoooo boy, I have a LOT to talk about the former. Seriously, that series looks to be a rabbit hole, especially considering the engine it was made in, RSD Game-Maker, is a rabbit hole in of itself!

[@c-puff]

@@ExtremeWreck I am definitely gonna have to look into this

[@MrDannyKicks]

Can I please get the name of the song starting at 20:55?

[@pspence9569]

I have no idea what this, I'm 43, it sounds like an aftershave aimed at my grandfather. Seems to have brighter animations. Can't wait.

[@coyotesvods3841]

Fascinating first part here, I look forward to watching your opinions on the rest of the show and I commend you for your in-depth discussion of what's happening here. I've been wanting to see a thorough deconstruction of what High Guardian Spice did right and wrong since videos calling it the worst show of 2022 started popping up, but unfortunately the fact that it's bad AND marketed as diverse means there's a lot of people claiming it's bad BECAUSE it's diverse and it's sometimes hard to tell from the title and thumbnail that they're going to go on a transphobic rant 30 minutes in 😔 So many of the bad parts of this show seem to be things that would be fine in a vacuum, or if done differently (it seems like the show's implying that new magic seems to be perfect and without downsides because the 'cost' is shifting to the world at large and it's maybe causing the rot and that sounds extremely cool, for one), so it must be difficult to talk about the things that make the show bad and provide evidence and clips. Especially while making the whole thing entertaining! With that said, I commend you and I think you've succeeded handily. (Also, everyone loves Amaryllis. I love Amaryllis and I haven't even watched the show, she just seems like a blast to watch)

[@triforceninja13]

You want to see a better version of HGS’ magic system, look at Tales of Xillia.

[@c-puff]

Oh yes? Do tell!

[@triforceninja13]

@@c-puff well in Tales of Xillia magic works like this; A person will make contact with a nature spirit and offer it some magic power or mana from an organ in their brain called a mana lobe, in exchange the spirit will obey the human’s command and cast a spell. This is a mutually beneficial process, the spirit gets nourished by the human’s mana and the human can throw fireballs at people. The drawback is that this method is rather lengthy and there are even some people without functioning mana lobes. So the bad guys in the game create this new kind of technology called Spyrix. Spyrix is a faster and more convenient way to use magic, no mana lobe necessary. The downside here is that there is no exchange and the spirit is drained of their mana, sometimes resulting in the spirit dying. When the sprits start dying, nature is thrown out of whack. The main plot of the game centers around the king of the spirits teaming up with a young doctor to stop a Spyrix super weapon.

[@MrDannyKicks]

This was an incredibly interesting review. Way too much I wanna say but this comment would go on for days. Just gonna leave it at, neat.

[@Worn_Guide]

18:39 Except, had they been smart with this, they could've given that infomation either through natural dialogue/environment or commercal breaks.

[@hungryhedgehog4201]

This show reminds of when someone is like asking for book recommendations but using fanfic terms. Like it doesnt matter to them what the content and context is just that it has queer rep and a list of tropes.

[@c-puff]

that's actually a REALLY good way to describe it.

[@nooneinparticular5256]

12:40 So, do you think it would be distasteful for me to make a fantasy setting, where the dragons speak Welsh, and their leitmotif would be Yma o Hyd?

[@c-puff]

Not unless you really screw it up somehow. The Welsh flag has a dragon on it and accoding to google Yma o Hyd is a patriotic Welsh song, so you already have a theme of Welsh tradition and pride as a background theme even if you never actually mention it. HGS messes up by using a song tied to the themes of a tragic love story with a show that has 0 to do with tragic love stories, or England, or Scarborough Fair, or English history, or ANYTHING.

[@nooneinparticular5256]

@@c-puff Ah, so THAT was the problem. Well, my idea for them in the story would have a number of parallels to Welsh history & culture. Sort of playing with the trope of an ancient dragon race thought long extinct, that suddenly returns one day. Kind of like an alt version of Skyrim, with the dragons being more nuanced. On one hand, to give Welsh some representation, and bring attention to them....and also, because I just think some of their stuff is cool & exotic.

[@c-puff]

@@nooneinparticular5256 So you already are treating your sources with more thought than this show 😂 That sounds good, tho! Do your research into the culture (although it sounds like you find it interesting so that's probably not gonna be a problem) and it'll be great! Welsh culture is incredibly under-represented, it's true.

[@Monothefox]

Lyndgard = new IsekaiTown

[@The-Random-Hamlet]

I was not expecting a Cybersix reference... Nice. Now if only the full opening song had been released.

[@Halfort57]

So, what I gathered from what the crones said in their vows, a Guardian is supposed to be a mix between monster exterminator (witcher), magical pest controllers and scholars. I could be wrong but if I were to take a test about it, this is what I would write.

[@starofjustice1]

20:55 Now I need to know what real anime that song's from.

[@DarkRaikon]

if you replace it with a magician or license to do the thing you did in school(armor making/healer/fighter etc...) it makes a bit more sense?

[@itskevinjustkevin]

21:02 I need to know this song, its such a vibe

[@fermintenava5911]

I'm actually commenting on here after binge-watching the entire review-series. It's both incredibly thourough while being as fair as possible, and I feel like the more caustic critics of the show could learn a whole lot from it, if they weren't focussing on any "woke" focus-points (as justified as this might be in this case). It's not a hateful show, nor does it hate men as much as Kate Leth makes it appear to be. But any weird charme it has mostly comes from amateurish qualities, and only some of the decisions (hiring Julia Kaye for Snapdragon, some of the non-sequitur humour, almost everything about Amaryllis) actually work in its advantage.

[@Monothefox]

Diogenes was metal af.

[@c-puff]

If there isn't already a powermetal song about him there should be.

[@anthonymarziano9984]

I find it weird that so much pour so much work into this show only for the final product to come out bad.

[@realmoftheouroboros8313]

0:14 i am ad a blank what the middle girl is from. Witch acadamy and Ruby

[@eldritchabomination9726]

That's Luz from Owl House I believe

[@Verydeadbarbie]

I have a pretty interesting preservative on this show I watched it before I knew about the drama and cunrchyrolls way of marketing it, so take on the show is for how I see the show. I'm someone who is their target audience I'm lgbtq+ so are all my freinds who watched it with me, and we all have the same opinion that the show when it deals with those topics for wanting to handle queer and femisnt topics fails to a laugable degree, other shows we've seen even kids shows handle those topics so much better without us feeling talked down to, or at, like we are just here to check a box and win some points in a writing award

[@Warpenguin55]

34:45 excuse me, they are actually called baby Parasects

[@chaos4654]

It's no accident the walled isekai cities all look the same. All/a lot of these same anime were in Isekai Quartet, a crossover involving them all. It's just an in-joke among the creators and staff, they're all friends.

[@star22sally67]

12:31 no nononononoonono do NOT tell me that's where they got the names from edit: AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH

[@c-puff]

I am so sorry 😂😭

[@star22sally67]

@@c-puff MY BRAIN 😭

[@warlordsquerk5338]

I like the video mostly so far but er... 26:47 it seems pretty clear from the clip you show that she's addressing the students not her colleague in that scene.

[@c-puff]

Yeah I know XD She's giving a speech to the students introducing them to the Guardian Academy and they do this "What IS a guardian?" speech. The problem is they do this in this "You will find out eventually" way but then... never clarify it at all. And at the end when they give their big important vow it doesn't actually just give me a straightforward answer like "A Guardian is an Adventurer" or something.

[@Alex-dh2cx]

13:38 LOL

[@Alex_Masche]

Parnelle and Amaryllis were the real stars of the show.