So many shows nowadays seem to allocate what little thought and effort was actually put into them toward crafting an attention-grabbing premise to hook the audience, but one which, nevertheless, simultaneously panders to them with all the same recycled tropes which the producers behind the show know the masses will love and pay for, but Back Arrow doesn’t care about having a mind-blowing premise it’ll never deliver on, because it can simply endear the audience naturally with genuinely likable characters and actually funny dialogue, or interest them in its original setting. The comedy, the simplicity, the straightforwardness, and the lack of any particularly pretentious elements make this show feel so genuine. There’s Gurren Lagann in the dialogue, bits of s.CRY.ed in the action, tons of Gun x Sword weaved throughout the entire presentation, and even an energy similar to Goro’s episodes of G Gundam all wrapped up in one creative package, and the result will certainly be a rare treat to any other boomers like me longing for the good old days where anime was more about reckless creativity than it was about chasing trends and optimizing algorithms. It’s not trying to be their newest, greatest masterpiece, and if anything it seems instead to want to refine its predecessors down to their most essential elements and walk away with a simpler, more laid-back, innocent experience. Back Arrow holds in its heart all the influences which its old and storied creators carry, but it’s not trying to outdo any of them.
And if that didn’t at least make you smile, then you don’t know how to have fun.īack Arrow feels like it stepped out of a time capsule from the early 2000s, certainly not made with today’s audiences in mind, and it so boldly, delightfully embodies all that makes writer Kazuki Nakashima and director Taniguchi Goro stand out, it’s hard to even tell where one of them ends and the other begins.īut this isn’t even criticism. And it’s always a fun challenge.A naked idiot who doesn’t even remember his own name falls out of the sky, gets called a dumb bastard (a “baka yarou”), mishears the insult, and decides, yup, that’s my name: Back Arrow. And also having someone as lovely as Tony Curran - who’s playing Despero - to answer questions and to work with and to try and take on, but also, they sent me a bunch of questions and let me do my research. And you suddenly throw Mia in the world of aliens and supers in a very different way than she’s used to, and she’s having to play a little bit of catch up. This one’s a little bit different, given that Mia doesn’t normally exist in a world where that’s a possibility. I mean, look, I’ve come the world of ‘Shadowhunters.’ I’ve had my fair share of possessions. What was it like to be able to play those different layers ? It’s got to be fun.
You got to do a possession scene in this episode. You know, I certainly know we tried to weave in as many Easter eggs, both physical and verbal to kind of allude to different other open ends and other relationships and other things throughout Mia’s life that we sort of planted throughout. Actually, that’s a question for folks that are not me (laughs).
Was any of the stuff that appeared in your Armageddon ‘Flash’ episode stuff that maybe was going to be in the spinoff series that the backdoor pilot was setting up? And so, a lot of what’s driving Mia is finding her brother and I think that’s something that we just have to do hopefully. Now, probably no fault of hers, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t feel that way and that fault and that guilt. And Mia does, because she made a promise to Oliver on his deathbed to protect William and she has not done that, clearly. Though … I don’t know if it’s just me, because I have a personal attachment to Ben Lewis - but I really feel strongly about finding William. Katherine McNamara: I mean, there has not been any talk with me as of yet, but I would absolutely love that. Has there been any talk with you about continuing that more at any point? In the near future, or longer future?
TheWrap: The William thing is a great running storyline. Katherine McNamara Says ‘Tangled Web’ Awaits Mia Queen in ‘The Flash’ Armageddon