My Favourite Five TV Shows
Introduction
This channel has focused a lot of its time on character studies for movie characters and when I do dabble into TV it is primarily for Hunter X Hunter.
I am a fan of television slash Netflix slash Amazon Prime shows.
But the reason I do not cover the silver screen as much is because there is a great deal of time that goes into watching a series and then trying to understand one.
With movies, I get to allocate two hours of my time to a film. With a series, I have to allocate about a month or sometimes even more.
However, TV has impacted me more than movies because of their way to pull you back every week or every day. That longevity in its storytelling means I think about a series more than I do a great movie.
I follow a character from their prepubescent innocence to life struggling ordeals. You see a character grow up right in-front of your eyes. And that longevity is what makes TV series so compelling and fun to watch.
So, in honor of TV Series, I wanted to talk about my favourite five. The ones that will stay with me for a lifetime.
Number Five - Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood
My entry point to this list is a show that at one point would have been in my top two until other shows came along or if I had just finished the series. But alas, it has been a few years since I have watched my number five - Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood.
I had no idea what this show was about. I did however read the first few pages of the manga but other than that I was going in blind. And that is the best way to experience the show.
What makes Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood special is the relationship of the two brothers Ed and Alphonse Elric. Their bond of the tragedy of trying to bring back their dead mother is made stronger due to Ed’s decision to sacrifice his arm and leg to transmute his brother's soul into some armour.
This tragedy starts their journey to find a way to bring back Alphonse’s true body and along the way the two brothers find themselves in-tangled in a huge government scheme.
The story building for Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood is breathtaking as new characters appear with greater danger always around the corner.
It is difficult to get a satisfying conclusion to a show that constantly keeps building mystery but with Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood it concluded the only way it could and left no transmutation stone unturned. Allowing the perfect closure to an unbelievably well crafted story and world.
Number Four - Gravity Falls
How to describe Gravity Falls?
Gravity Falls is a whimsical, funny, adventure that follows the story of Dipper and Mable, twins who stay over their Great Uncle or Grunkel’s antique shop.
On the surface level Gravity Falls is made for kids, but underneath Gravity Falls is still made for kids.
But what makes it enjoyable is the fact that it understands who their target audience is but has the intelligence to sprinkle more serious themes that the kids who will grow up and revisit the show will understand a bit more.
The themes of love, betrayal, and redemption is the cornerstone of Gravity Falls.
Dipper is your average kid who just wants to be loved. Mable is weird but feels betrayed (in later episodes) and their old Grunkel just wants to be forgiven.
Gravity Falls is emotional but it doesn’t slap you in the face with it. You laugh with the characters because the moment was genuinely funny, and you cry with them because it literally breaks your heart.
It is that real emotion that the characters feel which makes them so easy to understand and follow.
The show knows it's smart because it is. But what makes it a great TV show that has stayed with me is the characters are genuine people that I would like to chill with and explore the wacky town of Gravity Falls.
Number Three - Breaking Bad
Breaking Bad is a seminal series that will be regarded as the greatest of all time. No show has captured the descent of man’s humanity as well as Breaking Bad.
I honestly don’t have a bad word to say about the show.
From the writing, directing, acting, and production - Breaking Bad rules television series.
The slow story-telling with its twist and turns left me speechless with awe. No story can match that of Walter White. Hands down the best character to be put on TV.
His descent to be the monster at the end of the series was satisfyingly sad because all he wanted to do was to earn enough money that his family could financially survive when he dies of cancer. But the power he atoned with the notoriety he gained corrupted Walter. And to see that demise was gripping.
Breaking Bad is a power house of television. Truly one of the greatest shows of all time.
Number Two - Hunter X Hunter (2011)
The biggest compliment I can give Hunter X Hunter is that I have watched the series three times and made four videos about it in three years and I’m seriously considering watching it a fourth.
And the reason for that is the world and characters of Hunter X Hunter are all unique and all have a purpose. No locations are wasted and no characters are just “there”. Everything in Hunter X Hunter has a purpose which means there is always something new to find out about the series.
Every arc brings in new locations for Gon and Killua to explore. From the Hunter exams forest, prison, and airship, to Battle Tower, Greedo island and even Whale Island. Every location has its own personality. You feel safe within the confines of Whale island while York New is sleazy. Wing San’s house is full of opportunity as Greed Island is full of progression.
That world has its own life.
But what makes the show special is the characters. From our two main protagonists Gon and Killua to side henchmen like Welfin. Every character has their reasons and back story, everyone does what they do not because the story told them too but because it leads to their own goal or follows their own beliefs.
No one is wasted on Hunter X hunter.
But then there are those special characters that raise the show's quality.
Gon, Killua, Kurapika and Leorio is the shows back bone but then you are introduced to Hisoka, Killua’s family, Netero, Bisky, Razor, Genthru, The Spider Troupe, Pariston, Meruem, Komugi, Pitou, Pouf, Youpi, the entire Chimera ant race, Kite, Knov, Knuckle, Shoot, and of course Ging. But the scary part is that there are so much more interesting characters to name.
Yet the show finds the balance for each character and never relies on just one. This is a world that feels inhabited not just there for our main character to roam but to experience. And we also experience that world.
Hunter X Hunter is brilliant and will stay with me forever.
Number One - Dragon Ball Series
My number has been my number one for a longtime. Not because it is technically great but because of the impact it has made on my life.
The Dragon Ball series is my favourite shows of all time.
The whole series from Dragon Ball to Super ranges from extremely poor to untouchable.
The show really sucked me in when I rewatched Dragon Ball Z in 2014. My interest was peaked so after I finished watching Z I watched Dragon Ball, when I finished watching Dragon Ball I began to read the manga, when I finished that I watched GT, then Kai, then the movies, then Super.
It had a hold of me and I was holding it back.
The story of Goku is one for the ages. It isn’t complex. Goku wants to get stronger. That simplicity is what makes Dragon Ball great because it doesn’t take itself too seriously. And when it does, it is impactful.
But the best story arc is that of Gohan. A crying little child that overcomes every obstacle and eventually becomes the saviour of Earth even though he never wanted too. Gohan’s selfless behaviour made him endearing and following his journey was rewarding.
The Cell games in which he beats Perfect Cell was the pinnacle of Gohan and Dragon Ball’s story telling. It was so exhausting watching it that I had to take a break away from the show for a couple of months.
His story to that point impacted me. I was heavily invested emotionally and not even knowing physically because I was absolutely consumed from the Android and Cell arcs that the moment Gohan won I too lost all my energy.
Dragon Ball and Z are far superior than those that followed but even the bad I enjoy because I love watching Goku and friends interacting.
My favourite episodes of the Dragon Ball series are those of the down time they have. In Z when Goku and Gohan finish their training to fight Cell, they have 10 days to recover so they do normal things like celebrate Gohan’s birthday to Goku solving a puzzle.
Those intimate moments are what makes Dragon Ball great and why the power ups and transformations are rewarding. We see them as normal people but they are not defined by their limit, instead they are motivated to break it.
The Dragon Ball series isn’t the best on a technical level, or story level, but it impacted me in a way that no other show has.
Dragon Ball is my favourite series of all time.
Fin
