#like thats not hazel thats not bigwig thats not hyzenthlay and thats not bluebell!

[naylte-bryhlath]

My favorite WSD is the book because it had Bluebell in his rightful place

YES literally!! I love book!Bluebell, he's so fun and I love his dynamic with Holly.

[owsalfa]

now that i’ve rewatched the mini series, i wanted to write down some of my thoughts about it as I didn’t do it after it aired as 2018 was... a bad year for me. Lets start with positives!

I like the inclusion of Dewdrop, its nice to see a little slice of life Hazel had at Sandleford. Fivers visions! I like the new take on them where he was in a very 3D, lifelike state he could move around in, as though everything really was happening around him. The Warren of the Shining Wire! Though I feel like perhaps a bit more..weirdness could of been shown? Maybe in Silverweed? I’m sad Bluebell wasn’t introduced with Captain Holly, but I’m glad he got included regardless. Hyzenthlay’s and the Does new roles! A big deviation from the book, but I like this version of events. They were trying to free themselves. The does rising up and singing We Shall be Free. A glimpse into Woundworts backstory! Campion!!! Blackavar got to play his part in the downfall of Efrafa so thats nice. At least he didn’t die this time. I like the new take on some of the relationships. Holly & Hyzenthlay felt more deserved than Book! Hazel & Hyzenthlay. Bigwig & Strawberry was interesting, a kind of enemy to friend thing? No real build up, but its Ok i guess. I swear they took inspiration from the series too. Hawkbit & Dandelion arguing all the time but having each others backs. Fighting over Strawberry but not getting anywhere with her (Like Heather in the series) The Black Rabbit of Inle!

What I didn’t like Almost every piece of animation of Kehaar. And the pronunciation of his name. Keh-haar rather than Key-har. Woundwort being so interested in Clover. He gives her basically no choice - be my queen or die. Its just creepy and wrong. The failed escape attempt. Book Efrafa would of killed them all there and then. Efrafa in this version seems weaker and easily tricked. It should of been Fiver who led the dog, not Hazel. Hazel couldn’t run because of his lame leg. The cat moves too rabbit like. The dog’s animation is awful. Flat out awful. His front legs are stiff, but back doesn’t move, and his face/mouth is bad to look at. The Human Warren. A big part of the escape was Blackberrys boat trick. I don’t see why they had to escape through the town, AND they didn’t even SHOW it. The escape from the Farmers House. I guess it was to show that Hazel faced his fear over Humans from Holly’s tale about the destruction of Sandleford, but it was jarring. I think they tried to add a subtle messege that “not all humans are bad” but this is not what Watership is about. Humans are not a big part of this story.

Things I’m torn about Clover & Hazel’s relationship. I like it, but I feel like there should of been more build up to their relationship, instead of being immediately so in love with each other. Also Clover finding Hazel in the drain after being shot, that should of been Fiver, after all he did sense Hazel was still alive and “in a hole,” but I understand why it needed to be Clover. The Efrafans being SO close to Watership/Nuthanger. Again I’m torn because they were obviously trying to find Holly after his escape. Bigwig posing as a story teller instead of a an ex-owsla member. I know he was trying to prove that he wasn’t a “hot head” but being ex-owsla is what got him initial respect and immediate entry into being a Officer. But I like that Efrafa saw his potential and decided to train him. Hazel’s death. The way its presented makes you think its the same season/year, there’s not clear reason why Hazel had to die that very same season/year, so its strange. He’s gone to all that effort to establish a new warren and defeat the bad guys, now he has to die. He doesn’t to reap any of the rewards. I think showing a CLEAR passage of time would of cleared this up easily.

Overall... A good show! I will be watching it again sometime. I give it a high 6 or 7 out of 10. I appreciate that it is a different version of the book, it’s its own continuity. That’s okay. I feel like at some points, they missed the actual POINT, but sometimes things don’t translate very well from writing to visually. The worst thing about the show, which stops me from giving it a higher mark is the animation. With a budget of about 20 Million? More of that should of gone into the animation. It has a very...unfinished look to it, like it needs another 30 minutes in the oven. At some points it looks good, but at others its downright bad. Compare these two shots. Yeah. (sorry for small size, its tumblr)