Reviews: CARL by Hussein Traboulsi

Hello everyone! 

Today, I will be telling you why YOU ABSOLUTELY SHOULD READ the webcomic CARL by Hussein Traboulsi. This

What's So Great About It

CARL follows the story of a robot psychiatrist, named CARL, who becomes sentient. He works with patients, interacts hilariously with his "younger siblings," and protects his friends and family from people who might want to hurt them. Besides CARL, the delightful cast if populated by CARL's no-nonsense "father" Dr. Alda, his adorably geeky brother Two (he's my favorite), his grumpy sister Oreo, and––later on––friendly the human scientist Vicki and the quirky engineer Larry.

The premise may make CARL sound a little campy––and it is good, campy fun a lot of the time––it is sooooooooo much more than that. This webcomic put me through the emotional ringer both times I've read it. There were times I laughed hysterically, times I screamed at the characters for doing stupid things, times I couldn't help but say "Awww" because of the wholesomeness, and times where I bawled my eyes out. It has everything!

Most of the first season's story follows the exploits of CARL, Dr. Alda, and Two as they try to stop Alda's arch-rival, Dr. Vauss, from stealing the CARL project for himself.

CARL and Two also have to find acceptance in the world of humans when their sentience becomes known to the world. The season will have you griping the edge of your seat in anticipation for what happens next!

Where Can You Find it?

CARL was first published in November 2017 and is available on WEBTOON. (I will also provide a link to it.) It updates every Monday and Tuesday, but is currently on hiatus until September.

Don't let that stop you though! While it may not update for a while, there are 150 strips for you catch up on. If that sounds intimidating, it's not as bad as it sounds. I managed to binge it all in three days, and it was a magical use of those days.

Please, check out CARL for yourself here: CARL by Hussein Traboulsi

Review: RWBY Volume 6 Soundtrack

Hello everyone! 

The soundtrack for the sixth season of my absolute favorite show, Roosterteeth's hit web series RWBY, dropped on iTunes the other day, and I am so stoked to review it for you today. Note: I will only be addressing the songs with lyrics; I will not be addressing the score.

The soundtrack is written and performed by Jeff Williams, with vocals by his magical daughter Casey Lee Williams and guest appearance by returning artist Lamar Hall and RWBY newbies Adrienne Cowan, the Hitpoints, Kairi, and Heavenview. The album features eight new songs, one acoustic cover of the Volume 4 song, "Armed and Ready," and two remix versions of Volume 5 songs, "The Triumph" and "Path to Isolation." Below, I will rank the songs in order of how much I like them (at least at the moment, I'm sure my rankings will change over time). Afterwards, I will discuss a little bit about each song. These are just my opinions; any differing opinions are also valid.

Rankings

1. Nevermore

I feel like this song should go next to Lionize in the order of the soundtrack (even though it doesn't). It basically picks up where Lionize left off, but from Blake and Yang's perspective. It's a song about two powerful women freeing themselves of the man that has caused them so much pain. I also appreciate that the lyrics acknowledge that Adam wasn't always evil, but rather was consumed by hate and spite. Even though I think Adam was a rotten, abusive piece of crap, it is a good reminder that he wasn't always that way.

2. Lionize

I have a penchant for the villain songs, and this piece about Adam is no different. It shows viewers how Adam thinks, gives us a glimpse into his life before Volume 1, and shows what led to his eventual downfall.

3. Indomitable

I think this song is beautiful. The lyrics enchanting, and Casey's vocals are haunting. It is a beautiful tribute to late show creator Monty Oum, and I loved the song's use in (I believe––it's been a few months) Volume 6, Episode 13 "Our Way," when Ruby uses her silver eyes.

4. One Thing

I love this song and all it represents. Neo is a very intriguing character to me, especially since she is mute. This song, in essence, gives her a voice. Though, it doesn't reveal much about her past, other than she had a different name before joining forces with Roman Torchwick. It does call into question how easily she allied with Cinder though, since she was pretty dead set on murder in this song.

5. Miracle

This song reminds me a lot of Volume 5's "Triumph," but a little more interesting. I like its reference to prayer, even though RWBY has really no true religious leanings. I mean, there are gods in the show, but I don't think they can really be considered that since they are arrogant pieces of garbage. "Miracle" continues RWBY's theme of holding onto hope even when there seems to be none.

6. Path to Isolation (Heavenview Remix)

I usually hate the synthesizer-filled remixes that Jeff Williams tags onto the ends of RWBY soundtracks, but this one really works. I'm not overly fond of the original version of this song, because I feel like it just addresses things that have already been beaten to death about Weiss's past; also, it sounds very similar to every other Weiss song in Williams's collection. Adding synthesizer and significantly slowing down the lyrics really breathes new life into a rather dull song.

7. Forever Fall

This song is cute. I didn't think it was really anything special, but it was a nice bit of closure for Jaune and his feeling for the late Pyrrha. Admittedly, the scene it was played in did almost have me in tear though.

8. Rising

Musically, "Rising" is a nice song; lyrically, it is rather lacking. There is very little tie-back to the volume it is the theme for, unlike the other volumes' themes. It is probably my least favorite of the RWBY themes to date. Maybe information revealed in future volumes will make me like it more, but for now it is just kinda meh.

9. Big Metal Shoe

There's nothing really wrong with this song, it's just not really my cup of tea. The abundant fairy tale reference within it feel more forced that usual. Also, I was not a fan of Caroline Cordovan, on whom this song is based. Like "Rising," it's kind of meh to me.

10. The Triumph (Kairi Remix)

The synthesizer put into to this song neither added to or took away from this song. Like "Rising," "The Triumph" is kinda meh, so it's good, just not my cup of tea.

11. Armed and Ready Acoustic

This song was a mistake, in my opinion. I like "Armed and Ready," but I do not think the fast-paced, in-your-face lyrics go well with a backing track played mainly on the ukulele. The violin sounds nice, but the ukulele just sounds ridiculous and painful.

Conclusion

So, those are my thoughts on the RWBY Volume 6 soundtrack. What did you think of it? Let me know in the comments!