Netflix has tons of shows worth watching this holiday season -Gudstory

As brutal as the streaming wars have become, Netflix is ​​still hanging in there and holding its own with a steady stream of original movies and series designed to entertain us all. While the content should be streaming, Netflix’s front page still does a poor job of actually telling you about all the concrete things the streamer has to offer. So we’ve put together a short list of some highlights that should be watched whenever, but especially during the holiday season when you’re at home and just looking for something to watch.

based on capcom The game series of the same name, from studio Sublimation and director Shinya Sugai’s new Onimusha The series follows a fictional version of the famed swordsman Musashi Miyamoto (Akio Otsuka) as he embarks on a journey to Edo-period Japan to rid the country of a growing demonic threat.

of netflix Onimusha Makes light of direct references to the games, and its story feels more like a fictional dramatization of the real Miyamoto’s life than a faithful adaptation of the games. But if you’re interested in charming, animated, period pieces that temper their historical accuracy with heavy doses of bloody action and magical mystery, Onimusha Maybe right up your street.

Like OnimushaStudio Blue Spirits blue eye samurai The story from co-creators Michael Green and Amber Noizumi is set during Japan’s Edo period. It narrates the journey of a warrior on a mission to bring peace to the country by eliminating hordes of black-hearted villains.

but while OnimushaThe monsters are quite literal, blue eye samurai pits its lethal heroine against monsters who are super-human and more accepted than society expects. blue eye samurai It’s certainly based on the genre’s twists and turns, and it takes a few episodes for its story to really kick into gear. But the show’s animated action is gorgeous, and there’s consistent strength in the performances from its lead cast that bring these characters brilliantly to life.

Set three decades after Jun’ichi Sato’s original anime adaptation of Shigeru Mizuki’s manga Akuma-kun, Toei Animation’s new revival of the series is somewhat of a family story that focuses on different generations of magical child geniuses working together to save the world from supernatural threats. Although they appear to be normal children, Shingo (Alex Cazares) and his adopted son Ichiro Umoregi (Michael Johnston) are both part of a long line of powerful demon summoners called “Akuma-kun” who only appear every 10,000 years. Are born once.

In the past, it was the responsibility of Akuma Kunas like Shingo to harness the power of demons in the hopes of creating a paradise where humans and demons could live in peace. But the mortal world had become a very different place in the time Shingo was the only Akuma-kun, and even though he and his son don’t always see eye to eye, working together is the only way they can defeat the darkness. The forces can be expected to be kept at bay.

Using its most recent season to focus on everything from Imelda Staunton’s Queen Elizabeth to Elizabeth Debicki’s Princess Diana, Crown was able to revive and reinvent itself as a dynamic period drama capable of truly humanizing the British royal family.

In its sixth and final season, Crown It becomes a tragic account of Diana’s last days in 1997 and explores how her untimely death devastated the entire nation. While last season Crown Deftly straddling the line between nuance and soap operatic spectacle, these final episodes lean into the exaggerated and maudlin to varying degrees of effectiveness.

Squid Game: Challenge

The whole point of Hwang Dong-hyuk’s origin squid game The series was clearly intended to critique the capitalist systems that keep poor people trapped in cyclical poverty, but that hasn’t stopped Netflix from turning the deadly competition of the same name into an actual reality TV show.

Squid Game: Challenge This isn’t a particularly imaginative competition, and its attempts to craft compelling narratives from the contestants’ confessions pale in comparison to the entertaining story of the original. But the show is a fascinating example of Netflix making as much money as it can out of its hottest properties, and in doing so, letting viewers know where its priorities lie.

scott pilgrim flew Spends a large portion of time (one or more episodes) retelling familiar events from Brian Lee O’Malley’s original graphic novels.

Once it gets through the hit songs, though, the Science Cypress-produced series becomes a thoughtful expansion of the world surrounding Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) who meets Knife Chau (Ellen Wong) and Gideon Graves (Jason Schwartzman. ) to a new level. Of complexity.

Putting aside Scott’s love story with Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) for a bit, set out Have the flexibility to experiment with new approaches. And while the show is definitely a love letter to Edgar Wright’s live-action Scott Pilgrim Vs The WorldThis is proof of how bad animation really is sometimes If you want to do the comic book justice, go this route.

Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Remix

Instead of directly adapting the story. far cry 3, Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Remix Pulls together characters from several different Ubisoft properties to tell a bright, mixed-medium story about revolutionaries who oppose oppressive government rule. By using video game icons like Rayman to depict how fascist regimes need to overstimulate their population and feed them constant streams of propaganda, Captain Laserhawk This makes its intention clear to the audience so that they walk away from it wondering why they have loyalty to the brands they love.

Like the animated adaptation from which it is derived, Castlevania: Nocturnal A large amount of the mythology of Konami’s video game series is woven into the history of the Belmont family’s centuries-long crusade to rid the world of demons. But after several seasons Castlevania Taking a bigger picture of humanity’s fight for survival in a world overrun by vampires, nocton Brilliantly inverts the formula with a zoomed-in focus on small key moments that shape the arc of history.