# Love, Death, & Robots (Netflix animated series) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted, netflix\ **Created:** [March 16, 2019, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-death-robots-netflix-animated-series/831222 "2019-03-16T10:07:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2019, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-death-robots-netflix-animated-series/831222/1 "2019-03-16T10:07:37Z")
Just saw this pop up on the front page of my Netflix feed and it caught my eye right away. It’s an adult-themed sci-fi anthology series, currently consisting of of 18 episodes in the 15-20 minute range, with every episode animated by a different crew from various places around the world. I’m watching the first episode - “Sonnie’s Edge” - right now, which is about a gladiatorial league in a dystopian future Britain where human fighters control genetically engineered monsters in battles to the death.and it’s got a very '90s cyberpunk vibe to it, very reminiscent of _Aeon Flux_ and the cutscenes from Final Fantasy VII, and I’m loving the hell out of it so far. Anyone else watching yet? ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2019, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-death-robots-netflix-animated-series/831222/2 "2019-03-16T16:37:22Z")
I watched the first 7 or 8 episodes last night. So far I’ve liked Sonnie’s Edge best of the bunch, but I’ve found them all enjoyable. Some of the gratuitous nudity is obviously gratuitous (like fuckin’ '80s style) but it’s a fairly minor complaint. I’ve really enjoyed the art styles employed so far. Sonnie’s Edge had a very video game/CGI-realism feel, Suits looked like a Disney cartoon from the '70s and The Witness looked like digitally rotoscoped footage (wonderfully surreal). All very different but all very well done and worked well for the subject matter. The voice work is fantastic too. I recognize _a lot_ of the voices I hear. And yeah, the show reeks of Liquid Television, which is fine. LT was a fantastic show for the most part, they just couldn’t keep production of new quality material coming fast enough (at least, that’s how I remember it) so when it started to degrade, the curve became steep. ---
**Author:** ![sohvan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/96bed5/32.png) [@sohvan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sohvan)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2019, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-death-robots-netflix-animated-series/831222/3 "2019-03-16T17:10:11Z")
I binged all of the episodes, and it was very enjoyable. I liked **Sonnie’s Edge, Suits, Beyond the Aquila Rift, Zima Blue, and Good Hunting** the best. I wouldn’t mind seeing more from some of these premises. I thought **Alternate Histories** and **The Dump** were the weakest, and there were a few too many episodes with a heavy focus on combat. The animation was very impressive, and some of the motion capture scenes were hard to distinguish from reality. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2019, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-death-robots-netflix-animated-series/831222/4 "2019-03-17T06:58:12Z")
It should additionally be noted that most, if not all, of the episodes are adaptations of short stories, which is the sort of thing we haven’t seen on TV for awhile now. I’m very interested in going back after I finish the series and reading the stories themselves. I just got to episode 6 - “When the Yogurt Took Over” - and immediately geeked out at Maurice “The Brain” Lamarche’s narration. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2019, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-death-robots-netflix-animated-series/831222/5 "2019-03-17T07:09:28Z")
Was very excited for Love Death + Robots. Generally a fan of animated Spec-Fi shorts anthologies/festivals. The Liquid Television sort. Watching was a very conflicting experience in all aspects. My inner narrative kept throwing commentary at me. I like weird, raw, and transgressive art. This should have been a big win for me. I wasn’t entirely comfortable with the amount of focus there seemed to be on violence towards sex workers, and there were some other gender and violence associations which were provocative in the style of maybe 20 years ago. I do kind of love that there’s a little bit of everything, and I know how hard it is to make that work well, and I’m so appreciative of the format. I do wish there was a little more heart and joy. I’m not sure what to say about the uncanny valley effect except that it is a fascinating toy for the mind. There are aspects which seem hyper real next to obvious animation. It makes one wonder where the threshold is for the “real/not real” qualia of consciousness. I quite liked Aquila, Shape Shifters, Lucky 13, and would have loved Fish if not for the ending. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2019, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-death-robots-netflix-animated-series/831222/6 "2019-03-17T07:39:06Z")
> [@jackdavinci](#): > > I’m not sure what to say about the uncanny valley effect except that it is a fascinating toy for the mind. There are aspects which seem hyper real next to obvious animation. It makes one wonder where the threshold is for the “real/not real” qualia of consciousness. > > I quite liked Aquila, Shape Shifters, Lucky 13, and would have loved Fish if not for the ending. “Beyond the Aquila Rift” definitely has some of the most gorgeous CGI I’ve ever seen. Seeing how photorealistic it is now really makes you think about what the medium will look like 20 years or so from now. The animation is gorgeous in general, whether it’s 3D or rotoscope or cel-style. “Three Robots” and “Suits” are tied for my favorites so far. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2019, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-death-robots-netflix-animated-series/831222/7 "2019-03-17T07:57:28Z")
I just started last night with “Three Robots” and enjoyed that. I also like the shorter format - I don’t always feel like sitting down for a 90-160 minute movie, a short format well done is very enjoyable. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2019, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-death-robots-netflix-animated-series/831222/8 "2019-03-17T09:13:35Z")
Completely gratuitous. I don’t like gratuitous graphic violence. I’ll give a few more episodes a chance, but if they’re all like the first I might have to pass. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2019, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-death-robots-netflix-animated-series/831222/9 "2019-03-17T10:49:10Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Completely gratuitous. I don’t like gratuitous graphic violence. I’ll give a few more episodes a chance, but if they’re all like the first I might have to pass. I’m sure you’ll like “When the Yogurt Took over” at least. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2019, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-death-robots-netflix-animated-series/831222/10 "2019-03-18T00:35:41Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > “Beyond the Aquila Rift” definitely has some of the most gorgeous CGI I’ve ever seen. Seeing how photorealistic it is now really makes you think about what the medium will look like 20 years or so from now. The animation is gorgeous in general, whether it’s 3D or rotoscope or cel-style. > > “Three Robots” and “Suits” are tied for my favorites so far. There were a few where if not for the human renderings, I would have thought it was straight film. Mostly the faces. Even the fabric moved right. And they seemed to have invented a special physics engine just for the motion of boobs. I was slightly relieved that there were eventually a few installments which balanced the objectification out with some male nudity, including surprisingly the Seth Rogen one. ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2019, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-death-robots-netflix-animated-series/831222/11 "2019-03-18T11:02:08Z")
> [@jackdavinci](#): > > And they seemed to have invented a special physics engine just for the motion of boobs. Of course they have. See: [Jiggle Physics](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/JigglePhysics), and [Gainaxing](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Gainaxing). ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2019, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-death-robots-netflix-animated-series/831222/12 "2019-03-18T14:26:50Z")
Saw the first one. Too cliched and predictable. Science fiction is suppose to be about the future/present, so why use a situation that was old hat in the 1940s? ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2019, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-death-robots-netflix-animated-series/831222/13 "2019-03-18T15:04:46Z")
I just finished the series. If I never see something again that features a group of men fighting off insectoid creatures it will still be too soon. Man I wish that fucking cliche would die already. ---
**Author:** ![Mikemike2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikemike2/32/305_2.png) [@Mikemike2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mikemike2)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2019, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-death-robots-netflix-animated-series/831222/14 "2019-03-18T15:38:06Z")
I watched about half the episodes and loved them. You guys are always so hard on TV shows and movies, lol. Obviously, a lot of time money and talent went into these productions. They all have a unique style, story and are short. If you watch one and decide that is not good enough for you, what do you watch? There is only so much really high-quality content available. ---
**Author:** ![Labtrash](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/labtrash/32/528_2.png) [@Labtrash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labtrash)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2019, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-death-robots-netflix-animated-series/831222/15 "2019-03-18T16:35:17Z")
Loved it. Graphics sure have come a long way since the _ **Money for Nothing** _ video! ---
**Author:** ![Mikemike2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikemike2/32/305_2.png) [@Mikemike2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mikemike2)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2019, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-death-robots-netflix-animated-series/831222/16 "2019-03-18T16:50:52Z")
> [@Labtrash](#): > > Loved it. > > Graphics sure have come a long way since the _ **Money for Nothing** _ video! Yes, I remember that video, big blocky heads, lol. ---
**Author:** ![sohvan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/96bed5/32.png) [@sohvan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sohvan)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2019, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-death-robots-netflix-animated-series/831222/17 "2019-03-18T16:51:14Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Saw the first one. Too cliched and predictable. Science fiction is suppose to be about the future/present, so why use a situation that was old hat in the 1940s? There’s some reports that netflix is showing the episodes in a different order for different people, so it’s not clear which episode you’re referring to as the first one. ---
**Author:** ![Mikemike2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikemike2/32/305_2.png) [@Mikemike2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mikemike2)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2019, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-death-robots-netflix-animated-series/831222/18 "2019-03-18T17:17:49Z")
> [@sohvan](#): > > There’s some reports that netflix is showing the episodes in a different order for different people, so it’s not clear which episode you’re referring to as the first one. Sonnie’s Edge was the first short for me. Loved it. The establishing shot is amazing. It has a long wide view of a futuristic city. I have dabbled with 3d modeling and I was thinking how many of those buildings where actual 3d models, and how much was a matte painting? A tremendous effort for a scene that lasts a few seconds, and is not re-used. The scene pans down to a street view of a truck driving in the dark and you mostly see the beams of light from the headlights. The lights move in a laser straight path, not like coming from a heavy truck with wheels and a suspension. The twist ending is that the consciousness is actually in the monster, not in the human supposedly controlling the monster. Therefore her edge is every fight is literally life or death. My thought was I would look for a different line of work. There were a couple of the shorts I did not get, they seemed more like thought experiments of some type. Two would be the yogurt one, and the one where a sex worker is running for her life. The running one seemed like some type of endless loop. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2019, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-death-robots-netflix-animated-series/831222/19 "2019-03-25T06:56:50Z")
Liked it, didn’t love it, yogurt and post apocalypse robots were my favorites. Agree the animation is impressive throughout. But it was a little heavy on the testosterone for my taste. ---
**Author:** ![Scribble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scribble/32/3317_2.png) [@Scribble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scribble)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2019, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-death-robots-netflix-animated-series/831222/20 "2019-03-25T14:51:21Z")
I’ve seen almost all the episodes at this point. The animation is incredible. The storytelling is hit-or-miss. The ones I liked best so far were: When The Yogurt Took Over Three Robots (The robot tourists, with the cat) Ice Age (with the refrigerator) Zima Blue I also liked Fish Night and Alternate Histories, despite some of the less amazing moments in both episodes. I thought the ending to Fish Night was kind of disappointing, and some of the alternate histories were kind of dumb. Some of the alternate histories were very funny, in an over-the-top, slapstick-like way. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-death-robots-netflix-animated-series/831222.md?page=2)