Gilbert is a clown

While I truly appreciate some of the changes like not showing Calliope's sexual assault on screen, and it only being implied - I do think her talking to Maddoc before he even harmed her undermines the impact of her dialogue. In the comics it's a desperate attempt at making a clearly irrational man see reason, it's her fighting for her life and dignity after she's been wronged. In the show it seems like an attempt to show reason to a man before those things can happen to her all over again, and it works to a certain extent, because until that point Maddoc is not shown to be a writer being driven crazy & threatened to submit his work. In a way, Maddoc in the show is worse for still having abused Calliope, because he's doing it with the explicit knowledge that she was taken advantage of - but the reader's heart breaks in the comics in a way the show audience won't understand. It relies too much on implication, and the dialogue doesnt convey brutality.

Regardless of whether it could have worked out or not, I'm really happy they stuck with the way Morpheus is shown on screen, and I have a bunch of reasons for that [outlined later]. But before that, I really want to talk about how ridiculous it is to expect a human become an absolute mirror of an illustration without it looking a bit off. Resemblance in terms of looks is important, yes, but only to fulfill the context/ reasons for why the character was drawn in a certain manner - and I think these are fulfilled really well. I want to outline three aspects about Dream that the show explores and how the makeup & eyes align with it. I have read the comics, but am writing this post on the basis of the show in isolation (as much in isolation as is possible)

1) Dream's Nature

We see right from the beginning of episode 1 that Dream is not someone who is particularly loquacious. Now of course it's understandable why one might not want to converse with their captor, but we see this throughout the season - with Death, with Hobbs, even with Matthew. Dream is someone, er, something, that only talks when it's required of him to do so - largely when he has to demand something or express authority. It's precisely because of his reticence that body language becomes the medium through which the audience is able to interpret his behavior and emotions.

In the comics, each reader has their own view of what Dream might look like, and there are the narrative / descriptive speech bubbles to help set the atmosphere & tone of a particular action or exchange of actions between the characters. In the show we only have the lighting, music, and of course, the way Sturridge carries himself. This is where the makeup & hair department shines.

In not giving Sturridge the big poofy hair that seems integral to Dream, it allows the viewers to concentrate on his face without any distractions. This is crucial, because anything the viewer wants to know about Dream has to be ascertained through Sturridge's eyes & facial expressions. In not giving him pitch black eyes, Dream is emotionally an open book - we see him flinch when Jessany dies, his eyes cloud up when he learns about the theft of his tools, and the twinkle of amusement everytime he meets Hob Gadling. So yes, for the audience to get a feel of what lurks behind Dream's seemingly emo boy exterior, it is essential for us to be able to focus on his face. And Sturridge does this portrayal exceptionally well [although that's for a different post]

2) Dream's Relationship to Humanity

I think unarguably, this season is about Dream understanding his position with humans - right from the torture & frustration at being kept in captivity by Roderick Burgess, upto him acknowledging his companionship with Hob Gadling. I'd put forth that this exploration was successful because of how human Dream looks.

Every moment in episode 1 when the camera focuses on him, we're able to sense the pain in his eyes, the intensity of losing Jessany when he flinches, and the anger of being treated so horridly while captive. He is stripped down to a fragile being, and the audience is compelled to view him as a helpless human. With the demonic like appearance as in the comics, it would be difficult for an audience to accept that he was truly captured and couls not escape. Interestingly, one of the few (only?) times across the season when we do see Dream's pitch black eyes is when he blows sand into the security's eyes after stepping out from his prison & when he goes to exact revenge on Alex. It's a reminder that Dream is not human, but more importantly it comes at a point where Dream no longer wills to have a relationship with humanity, his only aim is to destroy those that hurt him.

Dream understanding that his purpose is to serve humanity is a product of him interacting with humans, or being compelled to observe humans (by Death). His appearance (and costume) here becomes integral to how people perceive him as well. Johanna Constantine looks him over when he approaches her, and even goes as far as to ask him who he is. Hob Gadling is curious each century as to Dream's identity. Both these sets of interactions were able to play out because Dream looked human. Both these people played significant roles in reminding him what he should be doing - Johanna when she reminded Dream that humanity was right in front of him, and Hob by just being Hob. Dream having humanlike characteristics makes it convincing & believable to the audience that he wants to serve them because he genuinely cares and understands his purpose - and not just because it was an obligation given to him upon his creation. It also shows his growth from being someone who plotted revenge for a century to someone who wants to help people.

3) Dream is Not Human

One can argue that Dream is not supposed to look human because he isn't - he's a menace, he's terrifying, he's the lord of dreams and nightmares. But the humanlike appearance is exactly what allows the direction to focus on actions and qualities that make him not human.

Gwendoline Christie [for those of you unaware, she plays Lucifer] in an interview with Cinemablend mentioned that the complexities and conflicts of Lucifer portrayed very human qualities of the character. "You believed that was a person, you could see it." The same goes for Dream - the audience, although aware that Dream is a member of the Endless, still sees some human-ness to him, and views him as a person. And it's this human-ness precisely that shows us how much he is not. His moments of tenderness when he gifts Abel the gargoyle egg or helps Shakespeare achieve his dreams of being a playwright contrasted with moments of abject harshness when he unmakes Gault or takes Hector away from Lyta are marks of the power that rests with Dream. Power is such a human thing to want - but to have so much of it is decidedly otherworldly, and wr are constantly reminded of the same. Dream is terrifying because he looks human but has power beyond the scope of human capacity and imagination.

Throughout Haikyuu! we get an insight into the different mindsets of each team and the players, their techniques of playing, and the atmosphere they play volleyball in. For the members of the Inarizaki team, each play in each match is about putting the best foot forward- not one's personal best, but the absolute best there is on court. While at face value, this may seem similar to any competitive club, there is a unique sort of pressure experienced by the players of Inarizaki that other school teams do not have. There are two factors that contribute to this:

1) The Cheering Squad 

In the beginning of the match, Inarizaki’s cheer squad seems to be just like any other- clapping for and aggressively supporting their team. However, it is soon revealed that they also jeer at the mistakes made by their own members (contrary to other audiences like karasuno’s who might be upset in the moment but never show it for the sake of the players). This creates an immense amount of pressure in the players, to the extent that they worry about losing because of the backlash they would face.

The players own feelings of loss are heavily influenced by the reactions of the audience, and this is evident when Atsumu Miya addresses the crowd in his brain “Insult us already, losers don’t need applause.” His surprise at the crowd clapping for the team shows how foreign the experience of being appreciated not for the results, but for the game, is to him- and this feeling probably extends to the rest of the team.

2) Inarizaki’s Slogan 

Inarizaki’s slogan reads “We Don’t Need Memories,” signifying that the past is of no importance. While it can be interpreted to emphasise focusing on the present & future, the manner in which it is deployed is extremely business-like; nothing about the past matters because you need to focus on achieving your next result. This way of thinking does not allow the players to reflect on their mistakes and actions, due to which they never end up playing the sport for themselves.

Conclusion

Miya’s expectation of getting insulted after losing the match, despite individually having played excellently, shows how he hasn’t (within the atmosphere of Inarizaki) gotten the chance to play volleyball for himself.

Osamu saying “We fooled around too much” to his brother, after performing the quick attack that ultimately resulted in Inarizaki losing, further showcases how much the idea of winning as the sole focus of volleyball has been ingrained in the players. The mentality of ‘having fun can’t produce the best results’ can be attributed to the same result-oriented mindset.