Xavier: Renegade Angel

[Magikarp2]

I have openly accepted adult swim's "weird commedy" in fact, it has grown on me over the years. Shows like Tim and Eric, Tom goes to the Mayor and the like have grown on me and I find entertainment within them.. But this show.. I just don't know. I want to get it, I want to get SOMETHING from it..  but every time I watch it I am near the point of cringing or eye rolling in embarassment for this show.

I can't grasp it.

Perhaps it is the animation. Like watching a cut scene from a low budget Playstation (not 2 or 3) game..

or perhaps it is the appauling voice acting.. in comedic speculation they hold no value.. in combination with the script.. which makes absolutely no sense (which is acceptable) but it makes no sense in a completely unfunny and dull sort of way.

Don't get me wrong folks. I guess if I'm searching for anything, I'm looking for people who like the show to post here and say WHY they like it.

EDIT: I felt that I need to add that I have experienced with multiple substances, in multiple qauntities to try and understand this show and so far,  no luck.

[spejic]

You can't think that Xavier is anything close to Tim and Eric or you are never, ever going to understand it. It isn't a form of deranged comedy where you let the mood of it wash over you. It is, instead, a detailed and exacting show that demands attention and thought to it's individual moments and to the overall themes and structures. At one level are the puns in the dialog, which sometimes come so fast and furiously that you need to watch the show with subtitles to catch them all. There are also visual puns that may play over a couple of scenes, be repeated through the episodes, or even be hidden in the background so well you don't even see them until the 10th viewing. But ultimately, the show is about a great mind pun of the brain. It takes great - and not so great - philosophical and religious ideas (particularly those related to New Age beliefs) and puts them in new contexts or takes them to the absurd limit to give new meaning to old ideas, and to eventually show how meaningless and harmful they are. It is a show about an idiot spending his time searching for the meaning of life to show how idiotic spending your time searching for the meaning of life is.

You can't look at the surface of Xavier (the animation, the voices, the stupidity, the gore, and the perverted sexuality which even I, one of the shows biggest defenders, don't always like) and think that that is what the show is. That is part of the philosophical nature of the show - don't accept the surface and then think that you understand the depths. PFFR put in that surface stuff, partially, because they are disgusting perverts, but more to hide those depths and to only let the select in.

[Remoat]

A possible starting point is to watch some Wonder Showzen, which is the series PFFR did before moving on to Xavier.  Wonder Showzen is more direct about the creator's perspective, so it can give you some insight into what they like to communicate before trying to comprehend the more abstruse Xavier.  The [adult swim] series is not nonsensical, as it may initially appear to be, so I advise against watching it with that notion in mind.

When you start noticing the connective tissue, the fun begins.

Part of its appeal does come just from how unusual it is, but that strangeness is just what immediately attracted me to it.  I stayed for the more carefully constructed narrative threads.  I assure you, they're not all just something we read into the show.  I mean, that stuff happens too, but the show has a deliberate structure that isn't always easily observable.

I would give you an example, but too often entire episodes are needed for the context to properly work, so explicating an individual scene might not to do much good.

[animatedTVshows]

I've met people (the guy who first introduced me to ATHF YEARS ago) who love this show as I do, and others who don't get it or hate it.

Each to his own, I guess, but the weird ridiculous (it's absurdist, as most adult swim stuff is, obviously) waves just keep crashing over you as you watch it. Brilliant genius. Yeah PFFR are awesome - Wonder Showzen, and their insane music!

[Dark_Lord_Khrima]

Xavier's very convoluted, abstract, and unpredictable. Watching it is like looking at a surrealist painting for fifteen minutes and then trying to figure out what the artist was getting at. It's an interesting experience, and sometimes it takes a few viewing to get all the subtleties of the episodes, but in the end it's really enjoyable IMO.

[beeercreeek]

this has to be the best explaination ever, however, those 'old' ideas are not always harmful if used in the context they are suppossed to be used, that is for enlightenment instead of power. it's sad the meaning of life is a double standard.

[GodspreadThin]

It's a test of patience. But the question is not to be answered.

[DrakeIsGod]

The show is all about life. You have to visualize strongly and put deep thought into this show until you actually understand it. The show is telling us that we are all just players in this game of life. The show holds deep secrets constantly in almost every clip. It doesn't take drugs to understand this show's meaning, it takes deep thought and concentration. This show can actually emulate your soul if you understand it. This show has changed my life and soul completely and spiritually. It's all about life and what life is about. And if you watch this show the right way, you will understand the way I do.

A couple signs to look for:

1. The sign that repeatedly shows up; an episode where it is mostly surfaced is the Shakashuri Blowdown episode.

2. The third eye that also repeatedly shows up on many of the people; Xavier's third eye is where his hammer is. Xavier's father appeared in the Shakashuri Blowdown episode with a third eye.

3. The easy to find hidden messages; there are a couple good ones in the Damnesia Vu episodes on Season 2.

There are so many things that Xavier: Renegade Angel has to show. It shows that life is a gift, immortality is a curse, and that trying to find the answers of life will never work; for there are no answers and you have to find out on your own. You can't just let life get in the way of your goals, you have to find out what life is last.

That is what Xavier: Renegade Angel is about; at least in my eyes.

[DrakeIsGod]

There is so much I could've added to that, but my computer is slow and have to go.