Win or Lose

See Pixar? See what happens when you let go of your franchises and start experimenting with the millions of dollars you have? But in all seriousness, this is the only Pixar project i am passionate about and think that it fully utilises the language cinema to convey its story like it used in the 2000s, with its use of color and lighting. The Pickles team are some of my favorite characters of any animated media and i adore each of their interactions. Let's just say that i was THIS 🤏 close to giving it a 10/10. The show also uses a sort of magical realist tone à la Michel Gondry/Amélie to bring both the characters' feelings and the rashomon effect to life to then communicate the subjectivity of the human experience. The soundtrack is great, the characters are all really likeable & relatable (depending on the viewer's experience) and the animation style is pure eye candy, as Pixar remembered themselves that they're making animation projects. Alot of people took issues with it by simply calling it the "calarts/corporate" artstyle, but i think it is very nice and makes the show look pretty and cute (i also think it looks leagues better than the hyperrealistic style of IO2/Lightyear but let's not talk about that). I'll get the problems out of the way, yeah the episodes are WAY too short. The show's entire runtime feels the same as cutting an hour out of Magnolia, which makes the episodes seem rushed or may lack some details about what the characters feel and go through. And i'm sure you guys are aware of Disney cutting Kai's trans storyline but i'll keep it for later. And yeah, i loathe Disney. Coach's Kid - Really good opening, right from the start you can tell that the show has alot of fun with itself. Damn, Laurie is literally me, as i'm socially awkward and fuckin' sucks at sports but still try my best in whatever i can do (like the best of us does). The opening shot of the NIGHT OF THE CHAMPIONSHIP (and the opening like i said) is a great use of recontextualisation, as we'll see in the finale. It weirdly reminds me of the opening shot of Boogie Nights in some way(?). Wow, these writers really like PTA. Solid start for the show. Blue - Don't really have that much to say about that one, there are some beautiful (and sad) moments, but it didn't feel like it brought that much to the table. Francis is such a diva. Raspberry - This is where the Rashomon effect truly starts to present itself after bits of it in the previous episode. Rochelle is absolutely great (and relatable tbh, with how i sometimes feel like the adult with your parents in the room even as a kid and still worrying about our financial stability). A good episode that reflects the consequences that inflation has on middle class families, and how money is often earned in questionable ways in our current climate. The soda kid might be an entity from the black lodge. Pickle - Good episode, really makes you understand Vanessa's POV after having been shown in a sort-of bad light in the previous one. Although it is kinda sad seeing how scared she was at that closed door when you realize that she was a teen mom on a rewatch. Nice of Pixar for going back to their roots and reference The Shning, that was neat. (And thank you Pixar for the proper latino representation by depicting the younger sibling as an absolute little demon) Steal - Ira is also very likeable and relatable, as a kid who spent wayyy too much time daydreaming and had no one to hang out with. Nice use of 2D animation and again, the soundtrack slaps. Kinda wish we got an episode of the Bleacher Creatures. Mixed Signals - This and Steal made me realize how much Taylor feels underwritten as she also seems to be going through alot like the rest, but most of the perspective is focused on Ira and Yuwen. Speaking of which, Yuwen is also likeable, except when he bullies Laurie and Ira for no reason and gets away with it scott-free but MAN cardboard Yuwen is the cutest thing i've ever seen. Like look at him! Look!! Remember when i mentionned Michel Gondry early on? Well this episode feels more akin to The Science Of Sleep (and his music videos to an extent) with its use of DIY materials to convey its short-lived love story and themes of fragile masculinity and relationship. Great use of the 4:3 ratio aspect, old-timey music, live action footage and b&w in its visuals. Definitely the show at its most experimental. (Laurie deserved much better than Yuwen anyway) I Got It - About the cut trans storyline, yes it is genuinely unfair, but at the same time i appreciate the effort to at least give us hints. Her episode not only suffered from that, but the short runtimes like i said earlier also had to compress an entire year of her life which feel rushed by the end. Though at the same time, i really like it, Kai might be my favorite character and frankly, her episode almost brought me to tears. Just that scene of her levitating after finally feeling accepted by people she can feel close with and the fact that she can now feel at peace with this sort of found family by her side and that scene with her and her dad at the table like wow, really beautiful relatable stuff (i may or may not be projecting here). I also like her dynamic with Laurie and this episode made me realize that this show deserved a Talking Heads needledrop more than Elio did. Home - Oh MY GOD HE SAID WIN OR LOSE ITS THE TITLE OF THE SHOW. Personally, Dan's storyline and the finale should've been separated. It's nice as it is, but the ending felt like the writers just wanted to get over with it and i'm not sure how to feel about this. Great use of recontextualisation, like i said, and Key To Life is a banger. The climax also gave some serious Everything, Everywhere, All At Once energy and yeah, seeing Ira hug the team made my whole day. There's some things i could talk more about the finale, but this review is getting wayy to long so i'll just get to my last point. (Edit: Okay so lately i've been feeling really depressed lately, and i'm beginning to think that the end credits of this episode probably is what singlehandedly caused it. God i need more of it 😭) In the end, this show is a huge step forward for Pixar, their best since their run in the 2000s. You can feel the passion that went into this show and the empathy that each of the storyline has for its characters and (in a sense) how the story punishes them for holding on to their insecurities. It also brings complex emotions to life in far more interesting ways than Inside Out does. Whereas Inside Out feels like it spoonfeeds you all the informations and metaphors, Win Or Lose let's the visuals guide you to understand these ideas. No one talks about this show and it hurts my feelings. I would actually really like a season 2 if i'm being honest. Nice show, please let people be aware of its existence before we get Toy Story 6. Also i ship Laurie and Kai but that's a story for another time!