“Stranger Things: Tales From ‘85” expands the universe in a way the original series never had room for, with new perspectives and mysteries while keeping the show’s signature tension.
As someone who grew up loving “Stranger Things”, “Tales From ‘85” feels like opening a time capsule to a thrilling story that was never told until now. It’s not just nostalgic, it’s chaos and magic only Hawkins can bring.
After El closes the gate and finally gets to live a life of her own, strange things start happening in Hawkins. People start to go missing and vines start attacking, it is clear that something from the Upside Down survived even after the gate closed. The group decides to make the H.I.C (Hawkins Investigators Club) to find out what exactly is attacking, how it survived, and how to stop it.
Once I pushed play on episode one, I couldn’t stop watching. I love “Stranger Things” and was sad when it ended. I knew that “Stranger Things: Tales of 85” was coming out but I didn’t want to watch it because I was scared that it would be too childish. Boy, was I wrong, it was just like watching normal “Stranger Things” except there was no blood or swearing. I was surprised by how much I liked it.
The animation was really smooth and the design was stunning! I love how it looks kind of chopped and sharp, you can see every color and line just like a comic. I think the design doesn’t quite fit the animation, because the artwork is so choppy it feels like the animation would be too, but it’s not. I still love it but I think it would be better if the animation was choppier to get more of a “Spider Verse” comic style.
Another thing I liked was how much it felt like the original show. I was on the edge of my seat just waiting for them to figure everything out. I’d have to say I was waiting for the famous gore to appear so I was a bit disappointed when I remembered it was PG, but other than that, I was well pleased.
