10 Reasons Why Ren the Series is Awesome

Today’s Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by The Broke and the Bookish) prompt was is Ten Reasons I Love X — which I’m turning into Ten Reasons Why Ren the Series (a.k.a. Ren: The Girl with the Mark) is Awesome and Why You Should Watch It.

I’ve mentioned it before, but it deserves its own post.

Let’s get to it!

(Warning: If you’re allergic to fangirling, this post is not for you. There will be a lot…)

Ten Reasons Ren the Series is Awesome

1. It’s an original, indie-made fantasy adventure webseries available to watch online.

Okay, so if that’s not reason enough…? Well read on. But really! It’s basically the best indie-made film-ish thing I’ve seen, tying with Beyond the Mask, I’d say (even though they’re both quite different). And it’s fantasy and online and indie authors and film-makers are awesome, don’t you agree?? Speaking of which…

2. It’s made by the talented Kate Madison (and Christopher Dane) and their crew, who made Born of Hope.

These people are AWESOME I tell you. In case anyone doesn’t know (where have you been? Goodness. XD) Born of Hope is a fabulous fan-film that’s a sort of prequel to The Lord of the Rings, about Aragorn’s parents and the Dunedain. (It also features the sons of Elrond, who are EPIC, by the way, but I’m getting sidetracked.) I loved Born of Hope back in the day, so I’m so incredibly excited about the Ren series, which is even better than BoH (if possible) and is an entirely NEW story. It would be like if a favorite author of mine wrote wonderful fanfiction I loved… and then came out with an original novel so that even the people I know who don’t know the fandom can enjoy it because it’s ORIGINAL. EXCITEMENT.

3. The CHARACTERS

So… characters tend to be one of my favorite things about books/film. This show has so many fascinating and cool characters!

Ren, Hunter, and Karn are my favorites so far… Ren herself is a really likeable heroine. Hunter, the rogue-for-hire, is awesome. And my favorite of all, the mysterious Karn… YES. 😀 But I love all of the characters (except creepy villains. EEK). They’re all fantastic and real and loveable. ❤

4. The Visuals/Scenery/Sets/Costumes

The awesome forest (can I live there please and thank you) and real-feeling medieval-esque village are just so amazing. And don’t get me started on the costumes because I could be there all day. XD This thing just looks so REAL. I’m so impressed at what this small group of filmmakers was able to accomplish. It feels like a large-budget movie/show and it’s just fantabulous, I tell you.

5. The Music

THE MUSIC. I love love love the music so much. Here, give it a listen in the credits. It has a sort of Celtic-esque, thoroughly fantasy feel that I love. It’s so wild and beautiful and free and it just makes my heart soar and my feet want to leap in a dance and go off on an adventure through the forests and mountains with Ren and her friends. ❤ I need a soundtrack for this thing, SO MUCH. ❤

(I was in fact assured that there will be one forthcoming, since I managed to get in on a live-stream chat thing Kate Madison and company held after the final episode aired. You know, one of those things where fans type questions and they answer them. They answered my question about a soundtrack and mentioned my name when they did, and later moved the camera over to show off Ren’s costume since I asked to see it up closer. Excuse me while I fangirl, but THAT WAS KIND OF AMAZING OKAY SORRY BUT NOT SORRY.)

6. The Accents

Okay, so call me shallow. But I adore accents. And all of these characters have absolutely fabulous British accents (some Scottish perhaps thrown in there) and I’m assuming they’re real too because the actors are British and it was I believe filmed in England… Like how cool is that? (I particularly love Ren’s father’s voice… the accent and growly quality. He just has a really cool voice. *thumbs up*) (Aaand you all probably think I’m crazy. Oh well. :P)

7. The Story

It’s exciting, action-y, mysterious and thrilling. You’ve got the scary uptight “officials” who are basically out to terrorize everyone (apparently. I mean, what else would scary guys in ninja-esque outfits who march grimly around be doing). You’ve got the secret fugitives on a mission… Mysterious backstory that’s only hinted at… Family troubles… Mixed in is some humor… (particularly from Baynan. XD) And I don’t want to give all the story away but I’ve really enjoyed it so far and I have so many questions and just yes.

8. The Worldbuilding

I should have put this one up front because IT’S ONE OF MY FAVORITE THINGS ABOUT THIS SHOW. Don’t you love that feeling when you read a really good fantasy book and are swept away in the world? This is like that. You can tell this one’s really well put together and that we’ve only seen the tip of the iceberg. It makes me really really excited for more! (And also it’s fun to rewatch and discover stuff I missed and make theories…)

9. Because it’s awesome and I love it and I need another season, so it needs to go viral so that we’ll get one soon!

I… don’t really think this point needs further elaboration. XD

10. It’s free on YouTube and short enough it won’t become a black hole that eats your time.

So you don’t have to worry things like: “Oh, well, it sounds kinda cool, but I don’t have TIME because I’m in the middle of 10904930 shows already and I need a time machine to keep up with them all already,” and/or “Oh noooo not another show — it will suck away all my time faster than pinterest!” (Or am I the only one who thinks that last thing? *cough*) The point is (much as I would love to watch hours of this thing) the first season consists of 5 ten-minute episodes, so it’s less than an hour to watch, and we all probably spend at least that much time obsessively reloading our inboxes waiting for a particular email (oh, just me again? >.>) — so why not go watch an awesome thing instead?? 😀 (And did I mention FREE?)

Ren the Series Website

Watch Ren

On Youtube

So shoo, why are you still here, you lovely blog-readers? Go watch it! (And if you have already, well then you obviously know what’s up. ;)) Did you enjoy Ren? Do you need the second season as badly as I do? BECAUSE I NEED IT LIKE I NEED AIR. *flails*

This has been an almost-belated (but not quite! It’s still Tuesday, I promise!) Top Ten Tuesday post from a vaguely sleep-deprived writer who should be asleep (which may or may not account for the flailyness of this post).

Thank you and good night. *exits stage left*

(*whatever on earth that means because I fail at theatre references*)

(*Ahem*)