Procrastinator Supreme

(I'm revisiting the series in anticipation of a trip to San Francisco and will be reviewing/rating each Volume as I watch it on YouTube.)

So, Volume 1. I mean, what can I say? The writers needed to craft something that hooked readers immediately, introduced the characters, told a compelling story, and compelled people to invest in the weekly episodes, and man did they come out swinging. There's a reason that this is a lot of people's favorite volume.

It's shorter than every other volume, but it fills the runtime extremely well. No scene is wasted. It's punchy, intriguing, has snappy yet believable dialogue. It introduces and establishes each character brilliantly. Mal and Natara's dynamic is immediately entertaining and compelling, and feels natural. Incredible twist and exciting final showdown. The writers also managed to sprinkle in little tidbits to foreshadow future plotlines and character points (Natara's last name change, Mal's dad, MR. SHAWN MALLORY, and Genevieve, of course). It also feels self-contained enough that if someone downloaded the app and only played Volume 1, they'd get a full story out of it (although the hook of the Connoisseur is so interesting that I'm not sure how anyone could only play Volume 1).

It's just as close to a perfect beginning to a series as you can get. I'm not surprised 8th grade me played this and decided to dedicate all of my thoughts and attention to it for the next 4 years. I'm having a great time experiencing this story again.

As such, I'm currently very nostalgic for this game, for making shit post memes (Oscarborn 💀) and overly-GIFed reaction posts, and for my friends from across the globe from the Kik group chat we made to fangirl but then just to be friends and learn about the world from each other (if you're still here give me a holler).