However, I didn't find that this really helped in getting to know the characters because there's only a little homefront info then jumping into deployment. Rather, there seem to be less development than in the other series, at least in the first episode.
I totally agree with this assessment. Even though I tend to prefer The Pacific for its take on the war that's less rose-tinted than Band of Brothers, I will say that the first few times I watched it, the first handful of episodes were difficult to get into. It's a much better experience having read both Sledge and Leckie's books, but I firmly believe that it ought to be able to stand up on its own without that background knowledge and it doesn't do an altogether stellar job there.
The overall structure of the episode also didn't really lend itself to much understanding of what was going on, aside from certain scenes. Part of this was probably the many night scenes, and also less clear progress in terms of troop movement.
I think TP overall suffers a bit for its focus on three different protagonists rather than sticking to one solid unit, though I do appreciate it for its tonal shift in showing how brutal the Pacific Theatre really was. I also appreciate that it doesn't shy away from the racism present in the American social fabric at the time, even if it's treated the Japanese soldiers so far mostly as faceless terrors in the night.
I do agree that I had a much harder time fixing in my mind the more granular troop movements and objectives this time around, even though the map graphics between segments helped a bit in terms of general placement.
I like the scene with them reading one another their letters. I wonder if that's still as popular today given so many more entertainment options.
I would imagine that letter reading, or at least gossiping about things back home, is probably still a pretty popular social practice among soldiers or really any group made up of a set of people that share a common background that's different from their current surroundings. I know when I was in college across the country from my hometown and met someone from that area there was always that innate drive to chat about the differences between "there" and "here," respectively.
Re: Part One [SPOILER FREE]
I totally agree with this assessment. Even though I tend to prefer The Pacific for its take on the war that's less rose-tinted than Band of Brothers, I will say that the first few times I watched it, the first handful of episodes were difficult to get into. It's a much better experience having read both Sledge and Leckie's books, but I firmly believe that it ought to be able to stand up on its own without that background knowledge and it doesn't do an altogether stellar job there.
The overall structure of the episode also didn't really lend itself to much understanding of what was going on, aside from certain scenes. Part of this was probably the many night scenes, and also less clear progress in terms of troop movement.
I think TP overall suffers a bit for its focus on three different protagonists rather than sticking to one solid unit, though I do appreciate it for its tonal shift in showing how brutal the Pacific Theatre really was. I also appreciate that it doesn't shy away from the racism present in the American social fabric at the time, even if it's treated the Japanese soldiers so far mostly as faceless terrors in the night.
I do agree that I had a much harder time fixing in my mind the more granular troop movements and objectives this time around, even though the map graphics between segments helped a bit in terms of general placement.
I like the scene with them reading one another their letters. I wonder if that's still as popular today given so many more entertainment options.
I would imagine that letter reading, or at least gossiping about things back home, is probably still a pretty popular social practice among soldiers or really any group made up of a set of people that share a common background that's different from their current surroundings. I know when I was in college across the country from my hometown and met someone from that area there was always that innate drive to chat about the differences between "there" and "here," respectively.