Love, Death and Robots is the best thing that has happened in animation this year. And that's why

Variety and complete freedom of choice

The very first episode (Sonnie's Edge) suggests the general mood of the anthology. A strong woman who has suffered from violence takes part in the battle of creepy monsters. Future technologies, cruelty, blood, eroticism.

It turns out something like "Black Mirror", only with the addition of animation capabilities. But soon (literally after a couple of episodes), you can realize that those covered by "Love, Death and Robots" are much more. And due to their brevity, they also open up brighter.

Most of the stories are about the future and technology, but there is a series about werewolves during the Cold War in the Middle East and even about the occult in the USSR in the 1940s. Most of the episodes are serious and even carry some social connotation, but there is also simple action and very funny comedy plots.

The scripts for 15 of the 18 episodes were written by one author - Philip Jelatt. But this is, perhaps, all that unites them. To work on the project, Miller and Fincher brought together completely different animators from a dozen different countries. They were given plots and complete freedom of action, allowing them to show maximum imagination.

Therefore, in the hard and frank series The Witness, it is easy to recognize the handwriting of Alberto Mielgo, who developed the animation for the cartoon "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse." And then there's the traditional Japanese anime Good Hunting. Or an unusual 2D image in Fish Night by Platige Image, a Polish visual effects studio for Wonder Woman.

Each episode has its own individual style, and this often causes interest in its authors. And so you can, for example, find out that the excellent action series Blindspot was shot by a Russian team.

Brevity and flair

Each episode lasts approximately 5 to 15 minutes. And this is at a time when episodes of TV series are increasingly approaching full-length films in terms of duration. The short film format allowed the authors not to clog the time with unnecessary plot lines.

Each episode of the anthology "Love, Death and Robots" is an outburst of emotions. And the fact that many of them want to speculate and learn more about the structure of the episode's world is an indicator that the authors did everything right. Whether it's a story about farmers where Pacific Frontier mixed with Alien, or a story about reasonable yogurt.

As it turned out, in 10 minutes you can show an intense thriller about space or the life story of a great artist. And to do it in such a way that the characters are sincerely worried.

Of course, there are also "passing" series, which either end too abruptly, or themselves seem uninteresting. Apparently, there were not enough equally bright ideas for all episodes. But there are very few such episodes, and besides, it is impossible to get bored here: even if you don't like something, you can just wait for the next story.

Due to the small timing, the viewing becomes "drunken": hardly anyone will sit down to watch one or two episodes, it is better to immediately evaluate everything in a row or at least half. And given that the episodes are not at all connected with each other, you can watch them in any order. And it will allow each viewer to experience their own sequence of feelings. In this case, the change in the places of the terms still affects the amount.

Adult themes

Against the background of attempts by many studios to shoot action films and thrillers with a "childish" rating, without undue nudity and cruelty, the anthology "Love, Death and Robots" is literally overflowing with blood, murder and naked bodies. But interestingly, all this is not an end in itself, but only an addition to the plot and a way to better understand the characters.

If one of the heroes appears naked, it is only for contrast. A naked girl as opposed to a cruel persecutor. The fragility of the human body as opposed to a strong mechanism. All this allows you to more clearly feel the weakness of the heroes.

It's the same with blood and murder. Even in the first episode, the streams of blood during the fight of the monsters turn out to be more than just shock content. The war appears here with all its horrors, and the human passion for cruelty and violence is not covered by censorship, because everything here is just animation. True, it is sometimes almost impossible to distinguish it from reality.

And the more unexpected then to see on the screen the simplest unrealistic "cartoon" in bright colors or a story about the world in the refrigerator. Although, even under such paints and surrealism, serious themes can be hidden. And it is this unexpectedness and unpredictability that makes the animated series Love, Death and Robots so fascinating.

Most of the anthologies are united by something common: "Black Mirror" - the theme of technology, "Fargo" - black humor, "Room 104" - a simple visual row and room. And this show is completely impossible to predict. As soon as the viewer gets used to one atmosphere, they change it to something completely new, most often no less exciting.

And in this animated series there is not only love, death and robots, but also cats.