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Paracaidas
Sep 24, 2016
Consistently Tedious!
Hello and welcome to the Legend of Vox Machina, where a bunch of nerdy rear end voice actors hosed around and launched a multimillion dollar multimedia empire because they play dungeons and dragons. The series can be found on Amazon Prime with new episodes dropping on Thursdays. (OP updated for season 2)

What is the show like?
It's adult animation of fantasy adventures - so bawdy jokes, magic, big rear end weapons, dragons, excessive blood and gore, and interpersonal dynamics within a group. The sort of show that has a song about anal beads and an extended arc showing the collateral damage from a monomanical focus on revenge. And guns.

There's more heart and drama than you'd expect from an adult animated comedy, and also more effort than you'd expect put into the dickjokery.

Is it good?
The first season was extremely well reviewed, certified fresh with a 100% tomatometer and 93% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes (the first episodes are a bit rough, think more Train Job than the original Pilot of Firefly). Screeners for the second season have received similar praise thus far.

It's not funny enough to stand on its own as a comedy (e.g. Archer) nor thoughtprovoking and meticulously crafted enough to stand alone as a serious work (e.g. (I'm told) Invincible). It does a solid job of finding that center, though, a whole greater than the sum of its parts. The only thinkpieces it'll generate are meta (the process of the kickstarter, the adaptation of hundreds of hours of source material, gender dynamics in the nerd community), but I find it an enjoyable middlebrow animated series that manages to punch out of its weight class with some regularity.

This is based on some podcast stream right? Do I need to have seen it?
The overwhelming verdict from the first season is no past knowledge of the hundreds of hours of Critical Role that this is based on is necessary. The biggest thing I noticed from responses in thread is that streamwatchers found certain characters less grating and certain moments less selfindulgent than those who came in blind. Personally, I love seeing the reactions and takes of everyone who hasn't seen the stream, so please :justpost: if you do give this show a shot!

I suspect you'll be able to jump into Season 2 without having seen Season 1 (will update this take as needed)

Season One (plot spoilers below) ended with a cataclysmic attack on a major city by a group of dragons. From reviews and interviews, Season 2 will deal with the aftermath of that attack and the question of how you defeat an undefeatable foe. Season 3 has already been greenlit.

Season 1 recap:

Vox Machina gets into a bar fight, bickers, and nearly gives up on being a ragtag group of misfits before finding a bounty poster and going off to defeat the beast ravaging the countryside. It goes poorly, with Keyleth panicking and freezing before saving everyone's lives from a dragon. Well, everyone in Vox Machina. The plucky young children we meet earlier in the episode? Of course they're dead. Their deaths spur Vox Machina to fight the dragon and, after a brief investigaton and through a blend of trickery and selfawareness, defeat it. But not before it warns that dragons will usurp men as rulers.

Hailed as heroes and protectors of the city, Vox Machina are granted a castle and invited to a banquet, where they meet the Briarwoods. Lord Sylas and Lady Delilah Briarwood are sexy and supernaturally powerful rulers of Whitestone, Percy's ancestral home. We come to learn they rule the city because they viciously murdered Percy's entire* family. In a fight outside the soiree, Vox Machina gets their collective asses kicked but Vax, whilst dodging a threesome, manages to steal a book of great import from the couple. Percy also goes positively batshit.

Under house arrest in the castle, many characters share their deepest struggles until Delilah's undead servants come and start killing the guards (and crushing Vox Machina) in search of the stolen book. With teamwork, and some surprisingly powerful magic from Keyleth, they manage to defeat the ghouls(?) and are freed from their imprisonment on a mission to rid Whitestone and the realm of the Briarwoods. Pike stays back, because she's a cleric struggling to connect with her patron and must undergo secret mountain training in a temple. Along the way, the group begins decoding the book and find reference to Vecna The Whispered One and a ziggeraut. The book is eventually lost (along with most of their gear) as one of Delilah's menagerie of horrors finally bests the group, but they nonetheless arrive in Whitestone where they are greeted by murdered villagers hanging from a tree, men women and children dressed to look like them.

They learn Percy's younger sister Cassandra is alive and being held by the Briarwoods and that Percy's childhood friend is leading a rebellion against them. Episodes cover the swath of revenge Percy carves through the Briarwood cronies who tormented his family and he becomes notably more demonic with each revenge murder. I'm sure this will end fine. The Briarwoods raise an undead army and appear to have the rebellion and our heroes beat until Pike returns* and uses her holy power to kill the army.

The Briarwoods, we come to learn, became servants of notVecna when Delilah sought to save Sylas' life many years prior and are going to use the ziggeraut to bring about his return. A chase/dungeon crawl ensues and Cassandra betrays Vox Machina for the Briarwoods, only somewhat due to mind control. Keyleth kills Sylas, Percy battles a fearsomely literal representation of his inner demons, they stop Delilah's rite, and a De Rolo returns to power in Whitestone as Cassandra takes the throne. Vox Machina return home victorious and the season ends with the surprise dragon attack and seeming fulfillment of the first dragon's warning.

Official ships as of the end of S1:
Pike & Scanlan (we don't feel great about it)
Vax & Keyleth
Vex & Percy
Vax & Vex no Lannisters allowed


Character and Cast intros and the original OP in the next post!

Paracaidas fucked around with this message at 06:40 on Jan 19, 2023

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Paracaidas
Sep 24, 2016
Consistently Tedious!
Who are these heroes?


If you have ale, then you have a friend in Grog Strongjaw. A goliath barbarian has an appetite for the two great loves in his life: combat, women, and ale. Don't be fooled by his towering size and intimidating demeanor, Grog is lowkey the brains of the group and is often consulted by his friends for his vast knowledge of shapes, colors, and shiny things. Please be aware that he would like to rage.


Grog was created and is voiced by Travis Willingham, best known for voicing Roy on Full Metal Alchemist and Thor in everything ever. He is the CEO of Critical Role Productions and husband of Laura Bailey.




What is a fearsome barbarian without his little friend? A cleric of Sarenrae, Pike Trickfoot is the healer of the group and found out the hard way that sometimes healers need some help of their own. Though she was brought back from the clutches of death, the journey has left some scars on the bright and sunny healer--- a bit more violent, a bit more aggressive, a bit more willing to look the other way for some of her less... devout... companions.


Pike was created and is voiced by Ashley Johnson who I recognize as Gretchen Grundler from Disney's Recess but you would better know as Ellie from Last of Us, Patterson from Blindspot, Chrissy Seaver from Growing Pains or the titular lead from the cult favorite CBS sitcom You've Got Gale (canceled after 4 episodes, it was the Firefly of the 80s. Gag us with a spoon, CBS!). 




Vax'ildan is the party's cunning halfelf rogue and resident sadboi. An outsider since birth, Vax quickly learned to solve life's challenges in his own particular way, often by sidestepping them entirely. And when his knack for circumventing adversity isn't enough, the way of blades the elves schooled him in more than makes up the difference. Which blades? His first choice is always dagger. Dagger is his second favorite, and when pressed, he will sometimes instead choose dagger.


Vax was created and is voiced by Liam O'Brien who was Gaara on Naruto, Akihiko Sanada in Persona 3, Caius Ballad in Final Fantasy and hundreds of other characters on a bunch of things I don't watch or play. He also voice directs all of the things.




Obnoxiously named twin sister of Vax, Vex'halia is the halfelf ranger in the crew. Whereas Vax took to the cities, stealing small trinkets and learning the ways of the thief, Vex kept to the woods. She preferred the isolation. Always the keen observer, she learned to hunt and to track, to spy, and to shoot. And through a series of fateful events, earned herself a companion in the form of a bear—her own stolen Trinket—to fight alongside her and protect her fiercely. 


Vex was created and is voiced by Laura Bailey, who broke into the industry as Kid Trunks in DBZ (which his how she met her husband, Travis Willingham. I feel as though this would make a better plot for HIMYF, a show that I have never watched), Abby in Last of Us 2, Black Widow in most things Marvel, Rise Kujikawa in Persona 4, female protagonist in Persona 3 Portable and also all of the women in all of the other games and anime that have ever been made.




Lord Percival Fredrickstein von Musel Klossowski de Rolo III Percy was the third child of seven children, born to a noble family who lived far to the north in the ancient castle of Whitestone. With so many siblings to share the burdens of lordship, Percy turned his attention to the sciences, engineering, and naturalism. His family was murdered and much of the first season revolves around his thirst for vengeance. Speaking of revolving, this tinkering gently caress basically invented guns. I'm sure introducing firearms to this fantasy world will be fine?



Percy was created and is voiced by Talesin Jaffe, an immortal vampire best known as Kenny from Mr Mom and She's the Sheriff, Uldric from Pillars of Eternity, and is also that middle aged goth guy that always seems to vanish when you try to get a closer look.




Naive, petite, shy, self-conscious, and socially awkward, Keyleth's image camouflages the beast within. Literally. As the party's Druid, Keyleth will shape herself into nearly any beast once combat begins. Keyleth has been groomed for leadership in her elemental bender Ashari tribe but... leading is a lot of pressure. How can anyone live up to such high expectations? Has an affinity for goldfish. 


Keyleth was created and is voiced by Marisha Ray, who has a relatively light voice actor background compared to the rest of the cast-I know her best/exclusively as Margaret from Persona 4. Her corporate role seems to have picked up the pace a year earlier than her colleagues, at least in a publicfacing way: She serves as creative director of Critical Role Productions, making her generally responsible for making good on all of the potential benefits of CR separating itself from Geek and Sundry/Legendary at first opportunity in 2019-with a hand in content production and selection, set design, and generally wrangling the herd of cats necessary to at least kind of professionalize the behemoth that grew from "i guess put a camera on us and we'll play and see if anyone watches" to "twitch's top earning channel" without losing the charm or the enjoyable dynamic for the cast/owners. She's married to DM Matt Mercer (who created drat near every character not listed here), which is as close as you can come to wedding the Internet's Boyfriend without actually marrying Garrus.




Oh, you haven't heard of Scanlan Shorthalt? Well, gird your loins, ladies, because he has his eye on you. A talented musician, master of disguise, and dashingly handsome in his own mind, Scanlan sings songs almost as much as he sings his own praises. Born in a trailer park in Detroit's 8 Mile a poor gnome, Marshall Scanlan used his endless charm and soaring tenor voice to croon for coin and support his single mother. One day he was discovered by and joined Dr. Dre Dr. Dranzel's Spectacular Traveling Troupe, where he learned the ways of the world, and honed his skills as a bard extraordinaire. On the stream he was an endless fount of topically-focused parodies of pop songs. We are told that his ballads are just as bawdy and hilarious in the show but feature original music to avoid legal issues. He has two key relationships in the party, even though neither is particularly reciprocated- sworn enemy of Vex's bear Trinket and devoted wouldbe lover of his fellow gnome Pike.


Scanlan was created and is voiced by Emmy Award Winner Sam Riegel (hosed up that it's his legal name), best known as the voice of Donatello from TMNT, Tristan's original voice (RIP) from Yu-Gi-Oh, Teddie from Persona 4, and as a voice director in so many goddamn things. When you hear famous guests in Legends of Vox Machina, it's because Sam directed them once in something (Ducktales, usually).





Trinket, Vex's bear, is a vehicle for DM Matthew Mercer (overwatch, persona, pillars of eternity, fallout, all of the things) to make surprisingly expressive and evocative bear sounds. Expert back massager. Unwitting sworn enemy of Scanlan Shorthalt.


(More characters to be added as they're introduced! Existing character descriptions borrowed and adapted from the potentially spoilery episode 0 of campaign 1)

Original OP:
What is this?
An adult animated series condensing hundreds of hours of live, streamed D&D into 4 hours of animated bliss with another season to come. They drink. They gently caress. One sings. They kill enemies and themselves in violent and gory and fishy fashion. In the end, it's a story about a group of unlikely heroes and the friendship they develop while going up against their most stubborn foe: Doors, and later... a chair (that may once have been a door).

Is it good?
haven't seen it yet, to be honest. Now I have! I like it! Especially episode 3! As of the first weekend it has 17 critic reviews and is 100% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. Consensus seems to be that the show hits its stride after a couple performatively edgy episodes to prove how adult it is. Goons who backed the kickstarter and got to watch early seem to agree that it is heavy on the gore early on.

Do I have to have watched the hundreds of hours of Critical Role to enjoy it?
"No!" according to the thread, friends, reviewers and the internet. Please join us! Selfishly I'm excited to see the reactions of anyone who hasn't poured literally weeks of their lives into watching Campaign 1 and how you feel about the characters and the stories and all of the things!

How did this happen?
There was a kickstarter to fund like, a half hour animated special and um, things escalated quickly. To the tune of a 2 season order from Amazon. The cast all has extensive voice acting experience, in gaming, in American cartoons, and in anime dubs. This experience has led to connections with character designer Phil Bourassa(from DC's Young Justice), guest cast like David Tenninchant, Tony Hale, Gina Torres and Stephanie Beatriz, and the animators of titmouse. To find out more about the overall world of Critical Role, please visit the wonderful thread that is currently discussing Campaign 3 (but very welcoming to anyone regardless of how many of the ~800hrs of CR content you've consumed). Or just ask and I'll answer in not the OP

Character and Cast intros in the next post!

Paracaidas fucked around with this message at 05:29 on Jan 19, 2023

lemonadesweetheart
May 27, 2010

Someone good at time zones tell me is it after midnight PST now? Did you mean it drops on 29th? I'm confused because I expected this to be up by now.

Leaving this here because I'm dumb as gently caress and just realised it's the 27th.

Paracaidas
Sep 24, 2016
Consistently Tedious!

lemonadesweetheart posted:

Someone good at time zones tell me is it after midnight PST now? Did you mean it drops on 29th? I'm confused because I expected this to be up by now.

Leaving this here because I'm dumb as gently caress and just realised it's the 27th.
Are... are you wondering if it's Friday yet?

hollylolly
Jun 5, 2009

Do you like superheroes? Check out my CYOA Mutants: Uprising

How about weird historical fiction? Try Vampires of the Caribbean

lemonadesweetheart posted:

Someone good at time zones tell me is it after midnight PST now? Did you mean it drops on 29th? I'm confused because I expected this to be up by now.

Leaving this here because I'm dumb as gently caress and just realised it's the 27th.

It drops on Friday the 28th which is technically at midnight Thursday/today. I think it’s always midnight PST for Amazon but I could be wrong!

Fauxshiz
Jan 3, 2007
Jumbo Sized
I really enjoyed the first two episodes, and if they're the ones that are turning people off I'm super excited for the rest of the season!

xeria
Jul 26, 2004

Ruh roh...

hollylolly posted:

It drops on Friday the 28th which is technically at midnight Thursday/today. I think it’s always midnight PST for Amazon but I could be wrong!

New Wheel of Time eps dropped on Amazon at I think midnight GMT. I definitely remember watching those eps on early Thursday evenings.

Hef Deezy
Jun 11, 2006

Show no fear. Show no emotion at all.
Thank you for making the thread, but is it possible to edit Marisha's bio to not focus so much on how angry some dudes got at her existence 5 years ago? I don't feel like I've seen that sentiment for a while now, and it kinda seems like an overly negative way to introduce her to newcomers...

I saw the first two episodes and loved them. Gore, sure, but I thought they really encapsulated all the vibes of CR in just an hour. Like Fauxshiz said, if those two are the least rated episodes of the ones the reviewers saw, then I'm even more excited for the rest. I could not wipe the smile off my face at the end, and I didn't even watch much of campaign 1.

Paracaidas
Sep 24, 2016
Consistently Tedious!

Hef Deezy posted:

Thank you for making the thread, but is it possible to edit Marisha's bio to not focus so much on how angry some dudes got at her existence 5 years ago? I don't feel like I've seen that sentiment for a while now, and it kinda seems like an overly negative way to introduce her to newcomers...

In my defense all sense of editing had left my brain by that point. On it! E: and done!

I'm accepting any and all other feedback or notes. I'll likely swap out the character art for better examples as they arise in show!

Paracaidas fucked around with this message at 22:16 on Jan 27, 2022

Dameius
Apr 3, 2006
I'm surprised you're not giving Laura the nod for voicing Kid Trunks in DBZ. I guess she's done bigger by now but that was the big credit she was known for when CR started annnd its the credit that got her and Travis together. :3:

Paracaidas
Sep 24, 2016
Consistently Tedious!

Dameius posted:

I'm surprised you're not giving Laura the nod for voicing Kid Trunks in DBZ. I guess she's done bigger by now but that was the big credit she was known for when CR started annnd its the credit that got her and Travis together. :3:
My anime knowledge is functionally nil so that meant nothing to me but it's in the OP now!

DesertIslandHermit
Oct 7, 2019

It's beautiful. And it's for the god of...of...arts and crafts. I think that's what he said.
Hell yeah ground floor. Hope to see this series carry on to the original campaign’s finale (and hopefully the epilogue adventures).

Antitonic
Sep 24, 2011

Invented By Gandhi
I’m waiting until it’s fully released to binge it, because I know I won’t be able to pace it out properly if I don’t.

DesertIslandHermit
Oct 7, 2019

It's beautiful. And it's for the god of...of...arts and crafts. I think that's what he said.
Realizing the whole season together would be about as long as an average episode of Critical Role. Us Critters have been spoiled on such a long show.

Dameius
Apr 3, 2006

Paracaidas posted:

My anime knowledge is functionally nil so that meant nothing to me but it's in the OP now!

When the show first went live on Twitch and their notable credits were being used as selling points it was Kid Trunks and Lust from Full Metal Alchemist that were her big two. Which also meant her and Travis got to have another great/charming anecdote because his character got to kill her character in a pretty gruesome way.

Rougey
Oct 24, 2013

Paracaidas posted:

Hello and welcome to the Legend of Vox Machina, where a bunch of nerdy rear end voice actors hosed around and launched a multimillion dollar multimedia empire because they play dungeons and dragons. The series can be found on Amazon Prime with new episodes dropping on Thursday nights/Friday mornings :siren:The first episodes drop at Midnight PST on 1/28:siren:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvwxQSc-3os

Midnight GMT* and it's up, thankfully - it's 11am in Australia and I shifted a meeting so I could watch.

EDIT: Ahahahaha Gnome nuts.

Rougey fucked around with this message at 01:12 on Jan 28, 2022

Gaz-L
Jan 28, 2009
I appreciate Matt playing seemingly every other random white guy in Tal'Dorei. It's a nice way to keep the vibe of him as DM while allowing more diversity in casting of the more significant characters. I also kinda wish Stephanie Beatriz was playing Kima with her normal voice, as I think the sort of chirpy quality would contrast nicely with Kima's whole soft-butch feel.

Edit: Awww, Sam and Liam put their kids in the show.

Paracaidas
Sep 24, 2016
Consistently Tedious!

Rougey posted:

Midnight GMT* and it's up, thankfully - it's 11am in Australia and I shifted a meeting so I could watch.

EDIT: Ahahahaha Gnome nuts.
Holy poo poo I was mislead. This is amazing news

Gaz-L
Jan 28, 2009
It's been a while but (spoilers for the D&D campaign) David Tennant is the dragon, right?

Dexo
Aug 15, 2009

A city that was to live by night after the wilderness had passed. A city that was to forge out of steel and blood-red neon its own peculiar wilderness.
Yes


Also probably need to figure out spoilers rules and make sure people specify spoilers.for the show or stuff that's based on the Livestream game.

DesertIslandHermit
Oct 7, 2019

It's beautiful. And it's for the god of...of...arts and crafts. I think that's what he said.
The show attempts to be as accurate as possible to the campaign and Pike suddenly leaves to a faraway place called Blindspot.

Hulk Smash!
Jul 14, 2004

Like others have said my main issue with the first 2 episodes is the pacing. I get that it's supposed to be frenetic and high-octane but some moments felt like they needed a little more room to breathe.

Gaz-L
Jan 28, 2009
Sunil Malhotra's Gilmore is uncannily close to Matt's performance. I almost wish McGlynn had pushed him to make it more his own.

Paracaidas
Sep 24, 2016
Consistently Tedious!
One episode in:
  • Hey, that's the name of the show!
  • Gnome balls
  • The pacing definitely feels a bit off
  • please let that he the last Scanlan rap

Gaz-L
Jan 28, 2009
I liked the rap as a nod to Riegel admitting Scanlan started as a Slim Shady inspired joke character.

CuwiKhons
Sep 24, 2009

Seven idiots and a bear walk into a dragon's lair.

Gaz-L posted:

Sunil Malhotra's Gilmore is uncannily close to Matt's performance. I almost wish McGlynn had pushed him to make it more his own.

I can see why she didn't though. Fans were really torn on whether or not Matt should get to voice his favorite character so changing the voice would just invite criticism.

DesertIslandHermit
Oct 7, 2019

It's beautiful. And it's for the god of...of...arts and crafts. I think that's what he said.

CuwiKhons posted:

I can see why she didn't though. Fans were really torn on whether or not Matt should get to voice his favorite character so changing the voice would just invite criticism.

Matt should stick to his perfect merchant role (Campaign Spoilers) Victor

Paracaidas
Sep 24, 2016
Consistently Tedious!
Episode 2: the conclavw rug in the magic room

Gaz-L
Jan 28, 2009
On the other hand, the casting for (ep2 stinger) Delilah is loving perfect. I dunno why I never thought of Grey Griffin for that role.

Dexo
Aug 15, 2009

A city that was to live by night after the wilderness had passed. A city that was to forge out of steel and blood-red neon its own peculiar wilderness.
God Talesin put his foot in episode 3

Paracaidas
Sep 24, 2016
Consistently Tedious!

Dexo posted:

God Talesin put his foot in episode 3

Absolutely stellar. Also I knew where Beads was going from the jump and still :lol:'

Craven's Edge!!!

Paracaidas fucked around with this message at 03:02 on Jan 28, 2022

Wyld Karde
Mar 18, 2013

She's so ~dreamy~
The third ep definitely eased off on the madcap pacing and gave the story some breathing room when needed. It was nice to see Vax making good use of Simon during his solo outing there. I am living for those little nods.

CuwiKhons
Sep 24, 2009

Seven idiots and a bear walk into a dragon's lair.

Definitely agreeing that the first two episodes felt rushed but three slows it way down. Probably because the first two episodes are more or less just an introduction to the characters and setting, whereas the third is kicking off the rest of the season's plot.

Pussy Quipped
Jan 29, 2009

I’m going to have Beads of Love stuck in my head tomorrow.

Wyld Karde
Mar 18, 2013

She's so ~dreamy~
There are worse places to have them stuck.

CuwiKhons
Sep 24, 2009

Seven idiots and a bear walk into a dragon's lair.

I've JUST realized why Simon has an eyepatch. He's a one eyed trouser snake.

Wyld Karde
Mar 18, 2013

She's so ~dreamy~

CuwiKhons posted:

I've JUST realized why Simon has an eyepatch. He's a one eyed trouser snake.

Oh god dammit, Sam. I have no way of knowing if it's actually his fault, he just seems the most likely candidate to have come up with that.

CuwiKhons
Sep 24, 2009

Seven idiots and a bear walk into a dragon's lair.

Could also have been Laura "dick jokes" Bailey. Its a very good visual pun though.

Mage_Boy
Dec 18, 2003

This hotdog is about as real as your story Steve Simmons




Now I wish I didn't watch tonight. I know the story. I know exactly where it goes. And I'm still impatient for the next episode anyway.

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DesertIslandHermit
Oct 7, 2019

It's beautiful. And it's for the god of...of...arts and crafts. I think that's what he said.
I'm glad Scanlan's comedy doesn't feel overdone and too disruptive even when he just (Episode 3 Spoilers) did a song about anal beads in front of a banquet of nobles and emulated a moneyshot with pastries on a man's face while the party was fighting the Briarwoods outside. The comedy felt appropriate because he was purposefully doing a distraction and had no idea how bad it was getting with the other group members.

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