Reviews for Stickman Can't Fight 4

[II2none]

Stickman Can still entertain

Concept: This series still retains it's original storyline about a stick man who *GASP* can't fight???

Aesthetic: Notable improvements in many aspects. I still like the increased level of detail in characters during the close up shots for those comedic and dynamic moments. It's a good, fun style to use and not many stick animators do it. The use of shading is used well overall, the shading only looked off on the red stick figure in the beginning, specifically near his neck and left shoulder. The backgrounds are also more detailed with convincing drawn terrain with only the lack of perspective in the opening scene throwing me off.Personally I felt those mountains should've been taller.

Your music is fitting for every scene and does a great job implying the humorous tone of this series. I still love the jingle after the protagonist finds out about his "hidden ability".

Story: Although this is only part 1 of a story arc.It was interesting to follow our protagonist quest to find his hidden (if any) potential in the face combat.

Animation:

Is still fluid, and crisp. It really seems like the author takes pride and joy in his work. The highlight of this flash, in terms of animation was when Firegirl destroyed a waterfall, her movements were dynamic, and intense with of the help of color skill and special effects to get that extra "umph" prior to launching her attack. It makes me ecstatic to imagine what future fights will be like.

Humor:

Although there's a lack of action in comparison to the previous 2 episodes,(As stated by the author) the humor more than makes up for it. From the unexpected return of the P.V. introduced with his dumbfounded expression. to "courage the cowardly dog" reference, to the "noob stick" getting "serious" in one of his third training session resulting in snapping his arms in two. (followed by my sound of satisfied laughter.)

Improvements:

- better use of perspective

-keep your skills in check by practicing when you can, looking good my man.

Overall: Well done you continue to show promise and if this flash doesn't speak for it's self your daily 5th sure as hell does! Readers, If your tired of the same old " one stick vs a million" animations (For the record those never get old.) "Stickman Can't Fight" will give you a satisfied breather. (If you don't keel over from laughing)

4/5

guitan11 responds:

aaaaaaaaaaaa yes, the satisfaction of a fancy looking review :P
thanks a million for the review, i really like your reviews personally for the amount of thought gone into this. im satisfied to know that my references were understood by other people, sometimes i think it might just be me who understands the joke :P

as far as improvements go, others have also states better use of persective and angles. so.... i'll try....... but the setting for the next one might make that tough. ANYWHO, thanks man :D glad you enjoyed it.

[JinsokuMan]

Fun times

This really feels like something out of early New Grounds, but I can see heart was put in there. It was interesting and made me smile, and I thought the close-ups to see detail on the stick faces was a nice touch.

Critiques? Learn to loop your music better, some of your timing with delivery was off, and this one is probably me nitpicking but try a better way with the dialogue; maybe word balloons or lines coming from the speaker and keep the text to one color as some colors clashed badly with the background.

Otheriwise, that's it! Enjoyed it!

[S-Master1996]

Good Job!

Really looking foward to seeing the rest of these.

guitan11 responds:

are you and the guy under me related?

[Sajaidh4life]

Next episode... that is all.

guitan11 responds:

coming out may. that is all

[6th-sage]

This is very original, in terms of stick series. I like how you incorporated comedy with action into this series and took a very unique turn that very few others have done on newgrounds. That being said, I can't help but wonder if Kung Fu Panda or Karate Kid gave you any inspiration. Oh well. Most newgrounds movies are created upon inspiration of another work, and those works by previous works and so forth. I'd guess Kung Fu Panda as Po's so-called "fat" and "soft" style corresponds to this stick's "fart" style. But again as it's pure speculation, I can't be sure, so that's why I'm asking.

So we all know that his finishing move is the so-called "fart". Element-wise it is technically air. It can also be applied as biochemical weapon, which fits the "weapons" category. And Being able to emit a large amount of toxins and store a large amount of metabolized gas as well as release is in a deadly form is an ability of sorts. Which is fun in terms of comedy. Definitely original.

What I think you could improve on:

Well, for the first thing, I would hire voice actors. Voices can definitely add a lot to the dramatic effects and could jerk us awake when we're bored. And there are times in the videos when we do get bored.

For example, although your series did take a unique turn, it does what every cartoon on television, parody: make a dramatic badass entrance for the protagonist and then muck it up by making him fail at every trial. It's gimmicky. It's corny. It's overly played. It's been done over and over and over that when I saw the trials, I KNEW it was going to be him failing at every single one and yes, I knew it was going to be a fart as I can related it to a previous episode. If you can predict it, it's BORING and you should take some twists.

For example, the "Larry" series could be looked at if you haven't already. Although there are a lot of gimmicky references and recurrences that do make me sick, there are parts that are hilarious, like in episode 2 where Larry slaps his dog with a stick and accidentally chops his foot off and he runs to stimulation of alcohol. THAT is unique. Because I did NOT predict that and even if I did have a feeling, it still made me laugh so hard. Your series 4 did not, really. I predicted what was going to happen in every scene. So I suggest you can add some twists, something no one can predict. Even one per episode could be good.

Your silly facial expressions is a good twist. That's a start. Which is why I actually think voice acting could help to the comedic effects. You could make some more good work on that.

You can also add humor to the "epic/strong" characters like Red and Pink. Let them have silly habits. Let them have secrets or something silly that no one could predict. You could take a turn at poking fun at them. Let them mess up, too when you expect them to win.

So in essence, make the series more unpredictable. That's the good and bad of the series in a single sentence - it is original in theory and unique, but has too many overplayed elements. Add some more twists. Whenever you create a new scene, ask yourself, "Is the audience going to predict that?" And if you watch it and think you know what's going to happen even if you're the artist, throw it out and rewrite.

All epic series eventually fall because of they run of out ideas. Keep the series fresh with new twists and angles and throw things in our direction that completely blow our mind. If you think of immediately, it most likely has been done a million times. And when you think even more outside of the box, and give your next episode that element of twist beyond the normal twist, I can safely say then I'll give you the full 5 stars.

Best of luck and wishes! Looking forward to the next Stickman Can't Fight episode.

guitan11 responds:

awesome review! have you seen the next episode? i think i covered some of the things that you wrote about. this series is growing with each new episode, and so am i. so i really enjoy detailed reviews like this one that tell me what other people see in my work. so thank you very much! :D