When the worldbuilding is actually insane...
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- Опубликовано: 5 июл 2024
- If you haven't watched Scavengers Reign yet, go and watch it this instant. It is by far the best animated show I've watched in a really long time, and also science fiction at its very best!
0:00 Worldbuilding
2:21 Universality
6:05 Geography
10:18 Biodiversity
13:49 Interactions
20:28 Logic and Rules
But in this video, I wanna talk about the wordlbuilding in Scavengers Reign. Why it looks different than others, and what happens when the worldbuilding is actually insane...
Scavengers Reign is set on an exoplanet where the worldbuilding is mostly composed of nature. The world is fictitious, with several aspects of biological horror and cosmic horror, combined with an adventure style of storytelling. 
Развлечения
Have you watched Scavengers Reign?
its a beautiful series. ive been trying to get my friend to watch it
Yes, it's a all-time favourite of mine, and i started because of the speculative biology and stayed because the narrative and plot is AMAZING.
@@018FLP It is indeed!
Holy crap, thank you covering this series, its sooooooo good but when it was airing it went under so many people's radar
@@adammasterx5854 It did! I was surprised that more youtubers weren't talking about it!
I´ll never forgive Max for canceling it
Yeah, I've got no clue why they'd do that either! Although...I've heard that Netflix might stream it, and even make a season 2!
wiat, they did? really?
They did!? Wtf, that's extremely stupid. If netflix picks it up we might have a second season, yeah, but their track record with animated series is quite... Worrying
Perhaps too complex for an audience wanting yet another Marvel film ... But a great shame. Hope Netflix does pick it up and develops it...
@@darioferretti3758 Do you mind giving some examples or elaborating on that? I'm sure there might be good reason to have misgivings, I just can't think of anything myself
It's a shame it wont be getting a second season on Max I loved everything about Scavengers Reign. It's one of the most unique shows I've ever come across and the fact that nothing about the Flora and Fauna is explained makes it better!
Yes, I've heard this as well. If that's the case, shame indeed. But I also heard that it's coming to Netflix, and they might actually think about a season 2. So, hopefully, we get a season 2 somehow!
@@wonderescence You should review the art style of Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur. It's giving Spiderverse pop art but less 3D, more flat shapes
You may be in luck. I think Netflix just picked it up to produce a 2nd season
@@NastyKnox the first season has to be released in netflix and do well first before they greenlight a second. but atleast there is a chance
I feel like the reason why the world building feels so real and complete is because it seems like the world was created first, and then the characters were built to fit in it, rather than the other way around as many other do.
Yeah, I think so to. It was originally made as a short film about 6 years ago. No dialogue, just beautiful animation and visual storytelling!
That's how quality works
Definitely sounds like how it should be done, and I feel like it makes for a better story that way, figuring out how the characters can fit in and interact with the setting, especially in a scenario like this
@wonderescence I knew it! Of course it has roots as an indie animation! It's too creative for a corporation to have made!
The manly urge to make a bewildering nature-filled creature-eat-creature world with no reason specified.
I've got bad news for you about the gender of most worldbuilders
@@gearandalthefirst7027 Most woldbuilders I've seen/heard of are male.
Regardless, worldbuilding isn't a trait of a certain gender nor is it classified as masculine or feminine. BUT the things you focus on in your worldbuilding project can inherently be masculine or feminine. What OC said seems to focus on a masculine aspect. And that's all.
@@gearandalthefirst7027 I am 100% sure that the dude did not mean only men can world build lol. It's like saying "the feminine urge [insert something basic]".
Men liked to do it in the 1800s as well. The urge ebbs and flows
@@catgames703ppl are so confused with gender nowadays, we’re bound to lose historical values of feminine emotion, and even women’s intuition, or the drive of man, or even a mans duty to protect
It is the most wonderful love letter to ecology I have ever seen.
Yeah, we need more of these!
@@wonderescence it kind of inspired me to try my own animation projects, I understand the principles and think I have enough skill, just done flash for simplicity, but hand drawn is so charming
Yes, you can see traits of evolution in all of the organisms. I loved that aspect of it. It wasn’t random fantasy, everything was set in biological rules. Also, fungi played a large role on Vesta and fungi are known to connect organisms together through networks. It gave some rationale to the resurrection of Levi.
I so desperately want a no man's sky / Minecraft style survival game set on Vesta with a minimalist art style that pays homage to the animation ahhh
AN artstyle Ssimilar to Sable would suit it so much!!
If NMS had this kind of flora and fauna I'd be so happy. It's a great game but honestly very dull after the many hours I put into it.
at the start of the video you describe Vesta as, among other things "lacking in artificiality". However as a biologists I got an intense feeling that the ecosystem is artificialy designed. Vesta is clearly a gaia world and may itself be designing the creatures but it's very clear that few things here are the product of natural evolution. In essence the world feels like biology based technology without the chaos of nature
Interesting take. Do you think those weird beings in the post credit scene have something to do with it? It wouldn't be unfathomable to think that, I hear it!
Had a similar school of thought. This is a created world that went feral a long time ago. Some of the stranger organisms seem to have been biotech machines, for lack of a better term.
i would really like to believe that there are pathways for such ecosystems to exist, but I could hardly point to anything here on earth that could encourage the development of the giant hollow cylinders or walls of telepathic bushes or parasitic plant things that could create any copy of any organism it could analyze. I hope there is at least some world out there like vesta though, earth is comparatively a disappointment.
Had the same feeling, especially after the "lil' alien that self-pollinates a flower" scene. It's so horribly inefficient that I find it hard to believe this was a natural thing, more of a remnant of an intelligent designer.
Yeah, so many of the creatures fill a niche so small and so dead-end that it could _never_ have been created naturally. I kind of got the feeling from this show that the ecosystem was designed in a Rick and Morty style, by conversationally going "haha wouldn't it be funny if..." and then animating it.
Wow the production quality is unmatched for such a small channel, can't believe this has less than 1k views at the moment.
Thank you so much! Appreciate it!
You'll be happy to know this video blew up and sits now at around 90k :D
GOD scavenger’s reign is so good..
Scavengers Reign for me is one of those stories and settings that comes along and pops the bubble of cynicism that grows as fiction writers disrespect your capacity to take in what they really want to create. Not that there isn't genuine wonder in others between it, but compromise is built into so many settings and stories to make them accessible, and every now and then a group just lets their world run wild in a literal sense and makes a place you might genuinely yearn to inhabit - danger, horror, and all.
Very well put!
tbf doesn't scavengers reign narratively allow itself to not need such compromise? Its supposed to be an alien world we dont fully understand after all, I dont think you could totally do something like this outside of fictional worlds where heavy emphasis is placed on living amongst the unknown, where anything really can happen.
I hope everyone will watch it on Netflix when it comes out there. We need a S2 of this.
Yes! We need at least one more season!!
Maybe its just how alien and hostile it is to the outsider but Vesta has always felt like a realistic deathworld. You won't find anything like this on earth and the way characters talk about it, it does feel like the "hostility" of its nature is very feared or atleast well known.
Its not some over the top deathtrap like something 40K would portray as a deathworld but its still very hostile to the point where it does truly feel like it would have a pretty low survival rate if you aren't properly equiped to deal with it.
Agreed. Here it's living creatures that function as part of an ecosystem, completely indifferent the human characters who find themselves trapped in the system, as opposed to plenty of movies where it's just giant monsters constantly chasing after the protagonists
I saw the short film 6 years ago but was unaware of the TV series.
Oh yes, the same creators made the show! It's a bit more polished than the short, but the same style!
Scavengers Reign is absolutely brilliant. They painted an intriguingly terrifying universe. A masterclass in world building.
The greatest single example of 'show dont tell'
This show was so good I went from “I need to pass a bit of time before I go somewhere for dinner” to me never leaving my couch until I watched all of it at once
THE MOST UNIQUE WORLDBUILDING EVER. I WAS SO INVESTED that I made my own collection of photos of the flora and fauna and have them all my own names. My favorite is glugslugs, the white slug-like creature that eats fruits.
I didn't watch it while it was on Max, I binged it last night on Netflix and it's by far one of my favorite things I've seen in recent memory, the ecology and worldbuilding is so unsettling and fascinating, loved it the whole way through.
i will come back and watch the video when i finish this film thank you for the recommendation
You're welcome!👍
I love the way you described the world as playing by its own rules indifferent the humans, and the only way they can survive is by working with it, rather than against it
One great example of this that comes to mind is when Azi is seen riding with the herd and gets bumped around by them until she sees how they signal each other that they're about to move and starts moving with them
I knew you were going to say Scavengers' Reign! I have only seen clips on YT so far, but it looks visually incredible and a refreshing difference in story. A truly alien, not 'anthrocentric' alien world.
Love the video - sub'd
Yes! Give it a try, It is so good!
Reminds me of Wayne Barlow's Darwin IV, featured in his book Expedition and later a mockumentary called Alien Planet.
The book lets you travel across the lense of an expedition log and sketches of the main character who is pretty much the author himself on a human-alien expedition to the planet. Alien Planet appears like a documentary where we follow a robotic mission to the planet.
What makes Darwin IV even more unique is how different from Earth it is: it's Mars sized, has almost no liquid water expanses and orbits an orange dwarf star. A giant "carpet" of a jello like mass covers the world's only ocean, walked on by giant creatures that feed through their feet. Clicking theropod-like blind predators run across the dry landscape chasing large preys with two legs places one in front of each other. Tiny rainbow colored arrow like creatures fleet en-masse across low vegetation. There is a huge range of creatures and ecosystems not just unique but adapted to the world's rules, different than what we have on Earth.
Thanks for bringing this to my attention
As a person who world builds as a hobby I can appreciate every thing here it is all so beautiful I'm definitely have to look up scavengers reign. The world I'm building I'm trying to replace all resources with natural alternatives that have multiple uses which allows decommissioning and ways to reproduce the resources. Bio naturalism is really puzzling and really satisfying well being outlandishly creative.
Yeah, then you'll definitely enjoy this show!
Actually the behavior of the “horselike” animals is actually more similar to lantern fish which exist in unfathomably large schools and use their signature light to communicate with their school. Coordinating exceptionally well.
Oh, that's interesting!
Show was amazing. Excellent use of foreshadowing throughout.
This video single-handedly made me wanna see this show! What a gorgeous world and style.
You're welcome mate! Love that!
It' interesting how the angry jelly bean is called "Hollow" which could be due to it being netiher good nor evil but only once filled by human greed was when it turned evil itself.
Amazing video
Nice explanation
I don't know when we will get back to vesta
You forgot to dig a little more on the world building. These guys definitely were inspired by Brazilian artist Léo (Luiz Eduardo de Oliveira) and his comic series Worlds of Aldebaran. I didn’t know about this at first, but since I became a fan of this, I had to do more research and found in Reddit about this artist. Many of the plants and animals depicted in Scavengers Reign are nearly identical. The creators really did a great job adding their influences (including the line drawing style of Moebius). It thankfully got picked up by Netflix nd we’re hoping more people see it to get the second season it deserves.
AYO!!! IS THAT HELLDIVERS REFERENCE?!! 0:06
This show came out before HELLDIVERS 2, this is a frame from it
this show reminds me of Nausicaa, Moebius' work and the videogame Rain world. love it!
Huh I should have subscribed when you made that Ghibli nature video, I loved this one too!
Appreciate the support! Much love!
Scavengers Reign was so interesting and clever, I want more series like this!
"Human traits like greed and selfishness permeate this relationship, where it reaches a breaking point. And Hollow, completely consumed by these traits, in fact, consumes the human." 💯
idon(t know if you saw it, but the world building of Made In Abyss is a master piece.
I really love the worldbuilding of Nausicaa: Valley of the Wind. It's one of my favorite fantasy movies.
Yup! One of the best still!
Well now I've gotta go watch this.
While it is very unique and interesting, just about everything feels, ironically, unnatural. Nothing in Scavengers Reign feels like it's actually part of an ecosystem, it's all very clearly invented. Every interspecies relationship in the show is very isolated, with there being at most like three different organisms in a given food chain. If you look at Earth ecosystems, you have very complex food webs that incorporate many different ecological niches. Speaking of niches, there's no competition to fill them in SR. There's no competition at all, really. Every organism feels like it was purpose-built to fit a specific role and to relate to one or two other organisms.
You could argue that we just don't see enough of the ecosystem. Ok, but why? If the point of the worldbuilding is to establish an alien ecosystem (or multiple), we should be shown that ecosystem in enough depth.
Maybe the intent is to show humans in a completely unfamiliar world. Could be more likely, but then what was the point of coming up with all the incredibly interesting ideas we see in the show? Certainly not to build a true ecosystem.
What if none of the biological concepts we know apply to the world in SR? That very clearly isn't the case, as we are repeatedly shown interspecies relationships that mimic Earth ecology.
Does the massive diversity without explanation foster a sense of discovery? Maybe at first, but the world is never explored in enough depth to really discover anything beyond the superficial. It's mostly a backdrop.
That "feeling like a rube goldberg machine" is honestly a negative when you're building something as massively complex as an ecosystem. It's not just "one creature affects the next affects the next," a true ecosystem is "one creature creates habitat features while it gets food, which affects every organism that lives in that habitat, which supports a different complex web of species, all the while the original creature affects several predator and prey species at once." If you took a piece out of the ecosystems in SR, the entire machine would implode. The defining trait of an ecosystem, however, is being able to fill that gap because of biodiversity within niches. Without that, there is no resilience to outside pressure. That's what really puts the last nail in the coffin of the believability of SR from a biological/ecological perspective, there is no outside pressure. Everything we see functions as a perfect system, clean and efficient. That's not how nature works, real nature is messy. Organisms in nature compete to survive, while everything in SR exists as it is with no threats besides the humans. Those humans shouldn't be the only source of environmental pressure. Evolution is driven by that pressure, which creates related species in phylogenies. That is totally absent here.
Overall, SR presents a wide variety of interesting, creative ideas that use their weirdness to distract from the lack of total interconnectedness inherent to a true ecosystem. The show is great, as the world doesn't need to be that complex in all aspects in order to support the story being told, but it's quite the stretch to call it something akin to "the best worldbuilding." It wows with how fascinating everything is, but doesn't hold up when you use a reference frame of actual ecology, phylogeny, and biology.
As with the majority of world building it has been built specifically to fit the story they wanted to tell. The best ones trick you into thinking that everything has been mapped out, and trusting that the stuff we can’t see is there and will make sense. The creators have gone to great effort to make what is seen appear to make sense in its isolated bubble. It doesn’t need to show the ecosystem in broader details because the only parts that matter are the parts specifically designed to cause conflict.
I do agree that there is a lot of hyperbole in display here regarding this show.
The dish mushrooms are likely based on splash-cups or birds-nest fungi, not hot springs.
Omg finally someone talking about this amazing show it's so beautifully interesting i want more
This channel needs more subs and views
Thank you! Appeciate the support!
Currently working on a story, and this really helps, thanks
Cheers mate! Glad I could help!
hollows look like the creators’ twist on the stereotypical sentient grey alien trope
my new fav show
This show is the longest loveletter to Moebius' artwork.....Literally everything here screams Moebius,from color palette to line weight to subject matter
It is a perfect one season story. Any season after this is a blessing in this media landscape.
I haven't heard about it before but you've made me want to binge it in one night too.
I love nature and I love science fiction, so both combined is just perfect. Yes, nature can be savage for a "foreign" organism, neither bad nor good, it's just is, but it can also be a life saver. It all depends on how you addapt to it.
Many movies and shows depict humans as the "top of the chain" organism, bending nature to our liking. So seeing one that goes the other direction is interesting. Also, Nausicaa is one of my all time favourite movies, so thanks for the recommendation.
No worries! Give it a try! It's coming to Netflix on May 31!
@@wonderescence already watched 4 episodes 🤭 I love it so far and will rewatch again on netflix to give it more love. I'd love if they made a second season.
something like made in abyss
The show was immaculate!
You should make a video about Made in Abyss!
I've heard about the manga. I'll give it a look!
@@wonderescenceBe aware, you'll be going into something that WILL, most likely, make you uncomfortable at multiple points. So just remember that going in. If you're okay with that though, MIA might end up being one of your favourite series.
Looks cool. I like that adaptation of Larry Niven's reflective sunflowers into animals instead.
Jean Giraud would be so proud.
A mix of Studio Ghibli (obviously, as you pointed out) and Laloux's Fantastic Planet/La Planete Sauvage & Wayne Barlowe's Expedition/Alien Planet, all on a level rarely seen. Recommended for both the science fiction and exoplanet enthusiast. :)
Great video
Thank you!
Beautiful video
Thank you so much!!
YES
Primal also has some pretty good worldbuilding. Not quite as good as scavengers reign but its worth looking into
To end this world and make it friendly for human life you'd need the Ultra Relativistic Electron Beam from that british animated science channel with the birds
I think Avatar (the Cameraon movies) did a decent job of this, but not to the extent of Scavengers Reign. Made In Abyss is one that does a great job of world building and nature and how humans interact with it.
Yes, Made in Abyss is incredible! I'm currently watching it after all the recommendations in the comments!
Made in abyss world building 😩🤚
Yes.
It's nice too, but I feel like too much is unexplained
@@oriionkekg that's low-key the point ngl
@@oriionkekg It's still an on going series there's a lot more to explore.
When it comes to world building Oban Star Racer is great show
Max absolutely made the right move by canceling this show. The whole show, including the ending was nearly perfect. And I don't think anyone could say with a straight face that they could imagine season 2 being better or even measuring up. It'd be like having a perfect, grass-fed burger cooked by a master, and then following up with a McDonalds burger
Don't need to watch but giving you a like and just here to say Scav Reign fucking rules. The reddit community is great. Have never felt like a show was mine as much as this.
Thanks mate! Yeah, this is an all-timer.
Thx for sharing! Unfortunately not available from germany atm. Any tips of access are highly appreciated
You could use a decent VPN, it should work. Or if you scour the internet, there might be some ripped version of it streaming on some random website. Or check scavengers reign reddit, there migt be some links in there that should help!
If you like world building you need to watch Andor. It's star wars but its nothing like any of the movies or other tv shows we've ever scene. Some of the best world building i've ever seen. Same with Attack on Titan
Something about this planet...
yeah greatest imaginative world building since ever
makes me think of Moebius or "Les guardiens du temps" kind of stuffs
Leave it to ghibli to strike the shit out of everyone using even a sliver of their footage
Good vid btw
@@seriamon Thanks mate! Appreciate the support!
Modern media these days gives more emphasis on characters so they just using generic assets/settings just to fill the screen.
Hi! I think you should check out the anime named "Made in Abyss". It has many of the themes that you touch on in this video, including a very rich and interconnected (and very alien-feeling) ecosystem.
Yes, it's on the list for sure! I'm gonna watch it soon!
If some of yall people like world building similar to this one where the world is unknown unforgiving etc yall should watch "made in abyss"
I feel like I gotta check it out now, coz I'm getting lots of recommendations for it in the comments!
You won't regret it
@@JustStart562can be a teee bit questionable at times to say the least but it is pretty good, (unrelated but bondrewd is the goat)
@@voidlets3359 What people call questionable is the fact it doesn't sugar coat anything. The world feels real and everything that happens will question your morality as well as the characters.
What movie is that clip of the person spinning in space from???!!
That is from the film 'Gravity'
animated movie at 0:42?
cant believe not a single image/word about dark crystal
has bro not watched made in abyss yet?
Well actually no. But seeing how people are recommending it to me in the comments, now I have to!!
@@wonderescence best world building ive ever seen in a anime personally
Made in abyss. Best watch of all anime right now. Heavenly delusions is also a good contender when it comes to unique world building
Happy birthday
check out infinity train also. Another great show with amazing world building canceled by HBO in its prime
Will check it! Thank you!
This art style really reminds me of the Dye Fanstasy music video
Looked it up just now! I see what you mean!
ooh yeah i have seen the trailer of this show and thought of giving it a try but never did cause i forgot the name of the show
I guess you gotta give it a try now
@@wonderescence i want to but they cancelled the second season for no reason
dope
Can someone pls tell me what's the anime at 0:27-0:28?
'Your Name'
this video is actually really loud when compared to most other videos on youtube
Insane
No, how have I never heard of this?! Time to hunt!! Thank you!
Oh drat it's american and not an anime... ah well!
Sucks that I don't have a Vpn. Netflix only has it for a few countries
That's unlucky. Where are you from? Sometimes it could be on a different site.
I need a reference sheet of all of the footage used 😩
Haha, there's a lot to list. I can't give timestamps, but I'll mention a few;
Obviously, Scavengers Reign. Nausicaa of the valley of the wind, My neighbor Totoro, Howl's moving castle, Kiki's delivery service, Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, Blade Runner, Star wars, Gravity, Dunkirk, Your Name, Guardians of the galaxy, Spiderverse, Alien, Lord of the Rings, Arcane, Pirates of the Caribbean, Akira, Cowboy Bebop, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Jurassic Park, Elden Ring, Game of thrones, Hogwarts legacy, God of war, Zelda, Ghost of Tsushima, Annihilation, Matrix...
@wonderescence thanks a loty for this, but especially for talking about the show. It's such a refreshing discovery !!
Scavengers Reign is the perfect sequel to Dead Space
6:54 a mcdonalds would look great here
It would lol😂
❤
0:42 what anime?
Cowboy Bebop
Have you watched made in abyss? You might like their world.
I'm watching it right now! It's incredible!
@@wonderescence yay i love that series to death
If you like great worldbuilding I suggest you check out rain world. Amazing game.
Yes! I'm not really much of a gamer tbf, but I do know Rain world. It did intrigue me, might actually play it.
It reminds me of made in abyss ever seen it?
No, I haven't yet. I'm planning to watch it!
My ass thought this was curious archive
That is the best compliment, I'll take it! Love curious archive!
feel like it was written by an ai
😅Naa, I wrote it.
When I watched the beginning of the first episode, my reaction was "Just WOW, so cool, so novel", when I finished watching the first episode, it was more like "There's too much imagination for a sci-fi". I mean, it's always nice to see a new original world, an interesting new ecosystem, but come on, it looks as if someone tried to make literally every thing as unusual as possible, not the best approach for sci-fi. This creatures... they don't resemble each other at all which is pretty strange, in our world we can clearly see "oh, that's a bug and that's a bird, and that's a mammal", while here everyone has a unique shape, how is this possible? And using animals as tools... how many terrestrial animals can you use as a specialised tool? Here we have an animal which can give you some kind of torch, an animal which you can use as a gas mask and an animal - air balloon, wtf, is this an alien planet or a biopunk civilization?
So maybe it isn't Sci-Fi then
@@DundG It's pretty clear that it is scr-fi. Even if it's not, the flaws in phylogenetic continuity still exist. When you look at an organism as common as the squirrel on our Earth and it has dozens of relates species. That's not demonstrated here, every creature seems purpose-built instead of evolved to fill a niche.
How do you determine that it is sci-fi? What are the features of sci-fi? No magic?
And sometimes pre determined rules on what is believable can kill a story for you. There are youtubers who critizise the inconsistencies of temperature zones, biome and river placement in video game and movie worlds, and can't immerse themself in the world as much for it as it makes the world less believable to them. Most don't know how it works, and therefore take it as it is and get more immersed.
In short your experience and insistence that it needs to be this way to be good kills the childs wonder. Which is ok. But doesn't need to be a flaw. You're simply not the target audience then.
@@DundG If the series took place not just on another planet but, let's say, in another dimension, this flaw wouldn't have existed for me because who knows what nature laws would govern there.
It is sci-fi because it's not fantasy, and yes, partly because of lack of magic, some people might say that fantasy is more broadly defined by a presence of something supernatural, unexplainable, but we can see it isn't the case here: the characters don't perceive Vesta as an anomaly zone, for them, it's just an alien world and they can apply their existing knowledge in order to use the local organisms as tools or materials.
Edit:
from wiki: Science fiction is a genre of speculative fiction, which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel universes, and extraterrestrial life.
Excluding time travel and parallel universes, this is literally the definition of scavengers reign
Some of the species' designs and their relationships to other species are clever, but the animation feels a bit hollow. Is it just me?
I'll be honest with you, when I first heard about the concept of the show, it was right up my alley. But when I watch the show, besides how insipidly annoying every single character was besides the robot, I found the World building childishly convenient. Poison in one scene, no problem the plant in the next scene fixes it. Cliff that you need to circumvent, no problem, there's an animal right there that can turn into a parachute. Need a backpack? The plant in the next scene can become a backpack, on and on. It felt like a world design for a show about humans surviving, not a world that was alien, that humans happened to stumble upon.