Winter-Spring 2014 Anime |OT3| People incapable of guilt usually do have a good time
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MetroidPrimeRib
Banned
Wow it's been a long time since I've seen a Gattai sequence that over the top.
I like it.
I like it.
Admiral Woofington
Member
Eh I'm fine with shows with no overarching plot if they have good characters, good comedy, or a particular creative style to them.
Most decent slice of life comedies fall into this category, also Natsume Yuujinchou (which all of you should still watch), and Space Dandy as well for like 3/5ths of its first season.
Most decent slice of life comedies fall into this category, also Natsume Yuujinchou (which all of you should still watch), and Space Dandy as well for like 3/5ths of its first season.
Basileus777
Member
You scoffed at this reasoning for Ragyo.
Ragyo's scenes were played for titillation though. GOT doesn't use the incest to pander the same way as KLK, well at least in the TV show.
The difference between Mushishi and Space Dandy is the former's ability to build a far more consistent and engrossing tone throughout the series.
Majin Bone 1
me on the left reading the mahouka incest shit itt
The CG is kinda shitty and the card-game nature shown in the OP puts a damper on things but the Murata character designs meets Hosoda's flat shading with some nice sakuga moments thrown into the mix honestly made this a pretty damn fun episode to watch. Easily the surprise show of the season if this keeps it up.
Majin Bone 1
me on the left reading the mahouka incest shit itt
The CG is kinda shitty and the card-game nature shown in the OP puts a damper on things but the Murata character designs meets Hosoda's flat shading with some nice sakuga moments thrown into the mix honestly made this a pretty damn fun episode to watch. Easily the surprise show of the season if this keeps it up.
Well the cast of K-On develop by resolving how the characters handle the cast's impending graduation, which is probably the major theme in season two. I'd say that K-On leans more towards continuous character development than Mushishi and Space Dandy.
AquaWateria
Member
Can't wait for Black Bullet though.
Basileus777
Member
That's why I specifically excluded the books! While the TV makes extensive use of titillation, I don't think they've done it with the incest.
Though it's weird that I've found myself defending this. lol.
MikeHattsu
Member
Look what I found in Shinjuku today:
Not that fat pink masts or myrish swamps are not a thing, but incest is never played for titillation in the books.
killer rin
Member
The Irregular at Magic High School
I dont know what it is... its not anywhere close to it and there are no similarities, but I'm getting a very Steins;Gate feel from this show. It just feels extremely familiar. Im not sure if its the voice actors, or the characters themselves, but I really like it and I dont know why
I dont know what it is... its not anywhere close to it and there are no similarities, but I'm getting a very Steins;Gate feel from this show. It just feels extremely familiar. Im not sure if its the voice actors, or the characters themselves, but I really like it and I dont know why
You never get a second chance to make a first impression and if that first impression is a soul one it leads to for good or for ill shows being dropped. We are in the premiere of one of the big anime seasons. Some 40 titles are being released this month and most of the old shows have ended. Time is a commodity and the competition for our attention is fierce, those who make a bad initial impression risk losing that attention as there are too many new experiences to behold right now.
foxuzamaki
Doesn't read OPs, especially not his own
damn right
KnightBuster
Member
Jojo's Bizarre Adventure (2012) 16-26
Joseph is all that is good with the world. I guess it helps that Cars didn't know how space works apparently. And so...
Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders (2014) 01
I appreciate Jotaro's nobility in staying in jail to keep himself from harming others with his Stand, but therein I must ask the question: do they ever acknowledge Ripple was a thing? Or are Stands like a higher form of it? I don't know. It just seems odd to have Dio back and not mention it at all.
Joseph is all that is good with the world. I guess it helps that Cars didn't know how space works apparently. And so...
Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders (2014) 01
I appreciate Jotaro's nobility in staying in jail to keep himself from harming others with his Stand, but therein I must ask the question: do they ever acknowledge Ripple was a thing? Or are Stands like a higher form of it? I don't know. It just seems odd to have Dio back and not mention it at all.
There's a lot this season that I'm interested in giving a try. There are so many interesting-sounding shows! I'm personally looking forward to Gochuumon wa Usagi Desu Ka? and Ishuukan Friends because those sound like the type of shows that I'd like, but there are plenty outside of what I usually watch like the Ping Pong anime and Break Blade that I'm interested in trying as well. And of course there are all of the second seasons too.
MetroidPrimeRib
Banned
A lot of awful shows have good or decent first episodes, that's why a lot of people give shows 3 episodes, not a concrete rule and it doesn't work excellent
Samurai Flamenco
MetroidPrimeRib
Banned
In the manga, Stands were called "Ghost Ripple" or something of that sort, don't remember. You could call them an evolution from the Ripple. They do acknowledge the Ripple once or twice.
Part 3 is very weird and kind of disorienting, a lot of things are dropped and added and they expect you to roll with it immediately with little explanation.
I argued the same for Ragyo!
Basileus777
Member
I suppose you could argue that sex scene in the sept is titillating, but I don't think it was written with that intention.
I guess we just interpret those scenes differently then.
My usual rule is 4 episodes before making a final choice if it interests me enough, though shows that flat out bore me out of watching the first episodes of shit that pissed me off so much I never want to see it again are the first to get cut.
The books have a lot of elaborate sex scenes. The "you know nothing" line was also said during orgasm while Jon performed oral sex.
Not that there's anything inerently wrong with sex, but it's nice to see what some will make excuses for.
Lol well, if a bad series has a great first few episodes, you'll probably end up watching to a point where you realize that the rest is bad and stop. The sadder scenario is when people drop a great series with a bad first episode (like with me and Girls und Panzer). It's nice that we're in a general community thread so people can hear about how a show has improved.
Basileus777
Member
Absolutely. I'm not even going to try and say that those books aren't full of titillation or awkwardly creepy sex scenes.
I'm not seeing how I'm making excuses of any kind.
Apparently it is like higher form of like as it is named as Juuhamon but later developed into something of its own. Ripple is still there, but since their opponent is no longer vampire this time, Joseph just don't used it as much. This one is spoiler of the-end fight, read on your own risk.
Well, in Joseph VS Dio, the former tried to kill the latter using ripple that channeled through his Stand, Purple Hermit , but overpowered by Dio's power and failed.
I think it comes up later but its relegated to Joseph since that was his thing.
AnathemicOne
Banned
I have no idea how you even think of that relation. Perhaps you watched S;G recently?
It is unfortunate but it happens, I probably would not have rewatched Sakura Trick or Samurai Flamenco without this thread.
foxuzamaki
Doesn't read OPs, especially not his own
I never pinned you as someone who would ever watch sakura trick
Oh, I wasn't only referring to you, but I'm not really interested in winning this particlar fight over those scenes in KLK, only in pointing out how much easier here it seems for some to separate out something meant to be creepy in a work dripping with lust.
Sometimes my tastes shock even me, I didn't think Love Lab would have been one of my favored anime from last year, but its quality shined through.
I imagine it is one of the reasons why these communal reviews exist in the first place.
KirbYuuYuu
Member
Still seems bizarre that I've seen no recent polls for Cure rankings. Rather interested in seeing where Dokis ended up (and I guess any potential changes in ranks for Cures not named Black and White.)
Ripples do get mentioned, but not very often.
You really don't need to think about it that much, Araki doesn't. It's mutha fukkin Punch Ghosts now, and it's awesome.
hipbabboom
Huh? What did I say? Did I screw up again? :(
Kamigami no Asobi - 01
I'm really struggling through this first episode. I don't think I can take more than two flowery character introduction screens. What exactly is going on here?
EDIT: WAIT A MINUTE!!! Is this another one of those "Let's watch a bunch of guys abuse a woman" shows?
I'm really struggling through this first episode. I don't think I can take more than two flowery character introduction screens. What exactly is going on here?
EDIT: WAIT A MINUTE!!! Is this another one of those "Let's watch a bunch of guys abuse a woman" shows?
Basileus777
Member
That's fair, and it's an interesting thing to think about. I was more concerned that I was coming across as some sort of defender of GOT/ASOIAF when I'm actually pretty critical of it in general. And those KLK scenes are something that I haven't gone back and analyzed after my initial negative impressions.
In Kill la Kill, the only scenes of a sexual nature (intimate touching onward) are incestuous. That makes it a lot harder to draw comparisons within the work itself. With Game of Thrones, you can compare the incest scenes to other titillating sex scenes and see any differences or similarities easily.
Basileus777
Member
The World is Still Beautiful 1
It's difficult to get a grasp on what shape this show will take from this introductory episode, but the female lead at least appears to be a pretty interesting character. I'm not sure how things will go from here though, has anyone read the manga?
It's difficult to get a grasp on what shape this show will take from this introductory episode, but the female lead at least appears to be a pretty interesting character. I'm not sure how things will go from here though, has anyone read the manga?
Jex
Member
[Captain Earth] - 1
I can't get into any kind of discussion about this first episode and my reaction to it without setting it in the wider context of what Studio BONES has produced over the last few years and how that compares with some of their more popular titles. You could argue that I'm not being entirely fair to the show as a result because I'm not judging it in a vacuum, but there's no point pretending that BONES haven't had a bad track record with these kinds of shows recently and as a person I am going to take that all into account when I watch a show by them.
As many of you are no doubt aware, BONES are a studio known for putting out a lot of high quality work whether it's FMA, RahXephon or Eureka 7 or Sword of the Stranger. However in recent years there output hasn't been particularly...stellar. I'm talking, specifically, about their 'Original' works that aren't based off of existing properties, stuff like Darker than Black: Gemini of the Meteor, Star Driver, Xam'd and Eureka Seven AO. Original works are, obviously, trickier to develop than straight forward manga adaptations because you have to create and write the whole thing.
This, I feel, is where the problem lies. Those original works have all, at some point or another, collapsed under the weight of their own nonsensical writing. Rather than making simple, solid and straightforward stories these writers for these shows decided to make incredibly convoluted stories that lack form and elegance. They seem to confuse having lots of characters, factions, buzzwords and twists for good storytelling and as a result they aren't satisfying or enjoyable to watch because the stories degrade into various degrees of nonsense. I know I'm generalising a little here but if you've watched some or all of these works I imagine you'll understand what I'm getting at. All these problems where at the back of my mind when I sat down to watch this episode and they certainly influenced my impressions.
So, onto the episode itself. It's essentially your classic first episode in any mecha series - we get introduced to the protagonist, his life, his backstory, and then an event happens which means he has to 'step up' and into a robot. There's nothing particularly fresh about this setup which is perhaps why it's partially told in a non-chronological order, to keep the viewer engaged. However this is where my problems with this episode start to manifest.
Firstly, all this cutting back and forth through time (and also between completely separate characters and groups) really destroys any kind of flow the story could be developing and it doesn't give the audience any time to get invested in what's going on because it's so piecemeal. Perhaps if the writing was really strong that could serve as an anchor to keep the viewer engaged with the material but sadly that isn't the case here. Yes, I know that the blue stone is there to help you keep track of time so you don't lose your way but that's more of a marker. The fundamental problem still remains - if you're only getting a scene that lasts thirty seconds that's no time at all for the viewer to get to know the characters or better understand the situation or develop any kind of emotional rapport with the text.
Here's one really key example, and I really hate when shows do this, it's the famous
It doesn't, and won't ever, work because we have no idea who these people are, what they are doing, or why. In the wider context of a series of scenes it's totally viable to do something like this but when you just flashback to a sequence without context and worse, have characters spew out unbelievable dribble, you can't expect anyone to care.
Someone has already brought up the comparison with Eureka Seven's opening episode and that's really a master class in handling very similar plot points in a far better way. We spend a couple of minutes at the start of the episode introducing some people from Gekkostate and, perhaps more importantly, we get totally sweet mecha action (not just launch porn) within the very first scene of the episode as opposed to some cock-tease at the end. Then the entirety of the rest of the first episode is simply devoted to introducing Renton, the environment he lives in, his hopes, dreams, etc. That's a lot of time spent fleshing out the protagonist before the main plot really kicks into gear and that's important because if we don't care about our main character we won't care about what happens in the show and once everything starts to get crazy we've already been introduced to the main character in his normal life so when he changes and develops we've got a base line to measure his growth and development.
In Captain Earth they spend about two minutes trying to set up the main character and a lot of that time is spent with characters talking at the main character about stuff that isn't really relevant or interesting, it's effectively dead time that doesn't tell us anything about him. We learn that he looks out the window and plays vidoegames. As soon he sees the TV broadcast that brief period of time stops and we start to get into what I loosely call "weird shit" territory where our protagonist starts getting involved with weird shit that we can't really relate to anyway and which still fails to develop him because all we learn is that he can jump over fences and occasionally display human emotions but apparently this was mainly when he was a child. Still, most of the time our hero has a completely vacant expression on his face and displays all the charm and enthusiasm of a cabbage. Oh yes, and he also has this whiny teenage line about not liking his hometown, but it's never explained why he doesn't like his hometown. It's a hollow, empty line that serves to remind you of Renton's line from Eureka Seven except that in that show it's explicitly made clear why Renton doesn't like his hometown.
Compare and contrast with Renton from Eureka Seven. Renton has well defined hopes and ambitions even if they're really dorky and completely unrealistic his enthusiasm and excitement are thoroughly charming. You see how everything to do Gekkostate and riding waves brings him joy and excitement and as these important things are taken away from over the course of the episode (the old guy who repairs boards is leaving to go elsewhere, the military move into the spot where he wants to ride waves, his grandpa tries to take his board away) we feel his crushing disappointment and we understand why he dislikes his crummy town. He also explains that he's a kid who lacks the freedom of an adult, which is of course a very relatable situation, and that he's looking for adventure in his life. At school he's teased about his family and he responds with violence showing he has feelings, and he's even teased by girls because he's dorky. Then he meets a cute girl and we learn that he's understands the concept of romance and attraction to others humans, showing that once again he's a human being we can relate to. He tries to show off to impress her and ends up being clumsy but still kind of charming nevertheless. Finally at the end of the episode everything that we've learnt about him comes together to show both his determination and also his childlike naivety as he literally plunges into the unknown but importantly he's fully aware of everything he's doing and he moves and acts with full awareness of what he's doing.
As for Captain Earth kid, he has literally no idea what's going on, or why, so his choices and actions are meaningless and hold zero weight. He went down some stairs and met some little kid and rode a ghost elevator and then had a feeling that bad stuff was coming towards earth. Then he magically teleports around and he's next to a mecha. I guess he does what he does because...in the past he jumped over a fence and met some weird kids. Also some guy said something about his Dad being a good Captain? I have no idea. This is a real problem because a character that just reacts to events out of his understanding (and completely beyond our understanding) or control is pretty boring to watch, because nothing he does can possibly hope to have any weight or impact.
The other thing that serves to keep viewers at arms length during these bite-sized Captain Earth scenes is all the nonsense that spews from people's mouths. Here's some examples:
Now, when people just spew a bunch of acronyms, technobabble and other assorted nonsense the viewer is left distanced from the text because they can't understand what's going on why they should care. What's worse is that if characters are only saying plot-related stuff we don't understand we can't get any kind of feeling for them as people and that's another turn-off because it makes the series appear like it's filled with completely untreatable characters. This is exactly the same problematic writing that appears in the Star Wars Prequels where no-one feels like a real person because there's nothing in their dialogue that has any authenticity to it. If everyone is speaking in babble or clichés then it's tough for the audience to care.
It's certainly right that some of this stuff is fairly clear code for easily explained concepts but then why is their this line drawn to pointlessly distance us from the story? In Eureka Seven's first episode the only piece of babble is LFO, a concept that's explained two scenes later in a classroom where a teacher explains the acronym, as well as the key concepts and history of the story in like three sentences. This very neatly tells us everything that's going on, and why. They even call the Air Force in that episode "The Air Force" - how novel! We don't really get that kind of explanation or clarity here.
Still, there can be perfectly reasonable times to for characters in a certain technical field to talk in a language only they'd understand - because they're talking between themselves and they wouldn't need to pointlessly exposit for the sake of the ignorant audience. Still, I think Infinite Ryvius is the only show that I can think of that got away with leaving the audience completely in the dark because a couple of episodes later they nearly explained everything and allowed us to get caught up. This may well happen here but it's part of the aforementioned worrying trend in BONES shows.
Why do they feel the need to introduce so many concepts, factions, and ideas in this first episode? It's far too clustered and messy and all this time could have been better spent fleshing out the cast. As a writer you really don't have to show all your cards at once in the very first episode. I believe that you've done some world building and there's lots of story to come later on so don't just dump it all in my face in very first episode of the show.
I understand that, as the audience, we're not supposed to understand what's going on because, like the protagonist, we're new to this world and it's rules. That's fine, in theory, but when you're going down that root you really have to do a better job of introducing and developing your main character before we fall down the rabbit hole. He can't just be some bland lump. As I've said above, if BONES hadn't made a habit of producing shows that all feature these consistently messy and convoluted stories I wouldn't need to raise so many warning flags so early but I feel entirely justified in doing so based off of previous experience. I think we've all been burned too many times to give them the benefit of the doubt.
This though, this is really like a slap in the face from the writers. They're actively acknowledging that everything is a confusing mess and that eventually they're going to sort it all out and pull you through. Seriously, screw you. If you have faith in your ability to write a decent story then write one and let the audience make up their own minds. Don't ask us to blindly put their faith in the ability when they've demonstrated time and time again that they're not up to scratch.
I'd really like to be wrong and learn that no, all these characters, words, phrases and factions will all mean something important and that the story will develop organically over the course of the show and it won't be filled with hammy writing, bad character designs and bullshits twists. We shall see.
Here's some other random thoughts:
- Night launches are cool, shaky cam is not!
- Are we so tired of Rei-type character designs we have to make boy Rei's now?
- I suppose we have to blame Cowboy Bebop for popularising the kid hacker character stereotype.
- The animation in this first episode was pretty good
- These character designs are awful and why does is the computer system called "Macbeth". Anime.
- This girl has already lost.
I can't get into any kind of discussion about this first episode and my reaction to it without setting it in the wider context of what Studio BONES has produced over the last few years and how that compares with some of their more popular titles. You could argue that I'm not being entirely fair to the show as a result because I'm not judging it in a vacuum, but there's no point pretending that BONES haven't had a bad track record with these kinds of shows recently and as a person I am going to take that all into account when I watch a show by them.
As many of you are no doubt aware, BONES are a studio known for putting out a lot of high quality work whether it's FMA, RahXephon or Eureka 7 or Sword of the Stranger. However in recent years there output hasn't been particularly...stellar. I'm talking, specifically, about their 'Original' works that aren't based off of existing properties, stuff like Darker than Black: Gemini of the Meteor, Star Driver, Xam'd and Eureka Seven AO. Original works are, obviously, trickier to develop than straight forward manga adaptations because you have to create and write the whole thing.
This, I feel, is where the problem lies. Those original works have all, at some point or another, collapsed under the weight of their own nonsensical writing. Rather than making simple, solid and straightforward stories these writers for these shows decided to make incredibly convoluted stories that lack form and elegance. They seem to confuse having lots of characters, factions, buzzwords and twists for good storytelling and as a result they aren't satisfying or enjoyable to watch because the stories degrade into various degrees of nonsense. I know I'm generalising a little here but if you've watched some or all of these works I imagine you'll understand what I'm getting at. All these problems where at the back of my mind when I sat down to watch this episode and they certainly influenced my impressions.
So, onto the episode itself. It's essentially your classic first episode in any mecha series - we get introduced to the protagonist, his life, his backstory, and then an event happens which means he has to 'step up' and into a robot. There's nothing particularly fresh about this setup which is perhaps why it's partially told in a non-chronological order, to keep the viewer engaged. However this is where my problems with this episode start to manifest.
Firstly, all this cutting back and forth through time (and also between completely separate characters and groups) really destroys any kind of flow the story could be developing and it doesn't give the audience any time to get invested in what's going on because it's so piecemeal. Perhaps if the writing was really strong that could serve as an anchor to keep the viewer engaged with the material but sadly that isn't the case here. Yes, I know that the blue stone is there to help you keep track of time so you don't lose your way but that's more of a marker. The fundamental problem still remains - if you're only getting a scene that lasts thirty seconds that's no time at all for the viewer to get to know the characters or better understand the situation or develop any kind of emotional rapport with the text.
Here's one really key example, and I really hate when shows do this, it's the famous
"introduce and kill off character and have them make heroic speech that sounds nothing like what any human being would ever say and expect you care anywhere" scene where we both meet and say goodbye to Captain Earth's father. Please, writers everywhere, you can't just drop in a 45 second heroic sacrifice out of nowhere and expect anyone to give a crap about the character that dies.
Someone has already brought up the comparison with Eureka Seven's opening episode and that's really a master class in handling very similar plot points in a far better way. We spend a couple of minutes at the start of the episode introducing some people from Gekkostate and, perhaps more importantly, we get totally sweet mecha action (not just launch porn) within the very first scene of the episode as opposed to some cock-tease at the end. Then the entirety of the rest of the first episode is simply devoted to introducing Renton, the environment he lives in, his hopes, dreams, etc. That's a lot of time spent fleshing out the protagonist before the main plot really kicks into gear and that's important because if we don't care about our main character we won't care about what happens in the show and once everything starts to get crazy we've already been introduced to the main character in his normal life so when he changes and develops we've got a base line to measure his growth and development.
In Captain Earth they spend about two minutes trying to set up the main character and a lot of that time is spent with characters talking at the main character about stuff that isn't really relevant or interesting, it's effectively dead time that doesn't tell us anything about him. We learn that he looks out the window and plays vidoegames. As soon he sees the TV broadcast that brief period of time stops and we start to get into what I loosely call "weird shit" territory where our protagonist starts getting involved with weird shit that we can't really relate to anyway and which still fails to develop him because all we learn is that he can jump over fences and occasionally display human emotions but apparently this was mainly when he was a child. Still, most of the time our hero has a completely vacant expression on his face and displays all the charm and enthusiasm of a cabbage. Oh yes, and he also has this whiny teenage line about not liking his hometown, but it's never explained why he doesn't like his hometown. It's a hollow, empty line that serves to remind you of Renton's line from Eureka Seven except that in that show it's explicitly made clear why Renton doesn't like his hometown.
Compare and contrast with Renton from Eureka Seven. Renton has well defined hopes and ambitions even if they're really dorky and completely unrealistic his enthusiasm and excitement are thoroughly charming. You see how everything to do Gekkostate and riding waves brings him joy and excitement and as these important things are taken away from over the course of the episode (the old guy who repairs boards is leaving to go elsewhere, the military move into the spot where he wants to ride waves, his grandpa tries to take his board away) we feel his crushing disappointment and we understand why he dislikes his crummy town. He also explains that he's a kid who lacks the freedom of an adult, which is of course a very relatable situation, and that he's looking for adventure in his life. At school he's teased about his family and he responds with violence showing he has feelings, and he's even teased by girls because he's dorky. Then he meets a cute girl and we learn that he's understands the concept of romance and attraction to others humans, showing that once again he's a human being we can relate to. He tries to show off to impress her and ends up being clumsy but still kind of charming nevertheless. Finally at the end of the episode everything that we've learnt about him comes together to show both his determination and also his childlike naivety as he literally plunges into the unknown but importantly he's fully aware of everything he's doing and he moves and acts with full awareness of what he's doing.
As for Captain Earth kid, he has literally no idea what's going on, or why, so his choices and actions are meaningless and hold zero weight. He went down some stairs and met some little kid and rode a ghost elevator and then had a feeling that bad stuff was coming towards earth. Then he magically teleports around and he's next to a mecha. I guess he does what he does because...in the past he jumped over a fence and met some weird kids. Also some guy said something about his Dad being a good Captain? I have no idea. This is a real problem because a character that just reacts to events out of his understanding (and completely beyond our understanding) or control is pretty boring to watch, because nothing he does can possibly hope to have any weight or impact.
The other thing that serves to keep viewers at arms length during these bite-sized Captain Earth scenes is all the nonsense that spews from people's mouths. Here's some examples:
Now, when people just spew a bunch of acronyms, technobabble and other assorted nonsense the viewer is left distanced from the text because they can't understand what's going on why they should care. What's worse is that if characters are only saying plot-related stuff we don't understand we can't get any kind of feeling for them as people and that's another turn-off because it makes the series appear like it's filled with completely untreatable characters. This is exactly the same problematic writing that appears in the Star Wars Prequels where no-one feels like a real person because there's nothing in their dialogue that has any authenticity to it. If everyone is speaking in babble or clichés then it's tough for the audience to care.
It's certainly right that some of this stuff is fairly clear code for easily explained concepts but then why is their this line drawn to pointlessly distance us from the story? In Eureka Seven's first episode the only piece of babble is LFO, a concept that's explained two scenes later in a classroom where a teacher explains the acronym, as well as the key concepts and history of the story in like three sentences. This very neatly tells us everything that's going on, and why. They even call the Air Force in that episode "The Air Force" - how novel! We don't really get that kind of explanation or clarity here.
Still, there can be perfectly reasonable times to for characters in a certain technical field to talk in a language only they'd understand - because they're talking between themselves and they wouldn't need to pointlessly exposit for the sake of the ignorant audience. Still, I think Infinite Ryvius is the only show that I can think of that got away with leaving the audience completely in the dark because a couple of episodes later they nearly explained everything and allowed us to get caught up. This may well happen here but it's part of the aforementioned worrying trend in BONES shows.
Why do they feel the need to introduce so many concepts, factions, and ideas in this first episode? It's far too clustered and messy and all this time could have been better spent fleshing out the cast. As a writer you really don't have to show all your cards at once in the very first episode. I believe that you've done some world building and there's lots of story to come later on so don't just dump it all in my face in very first episode of the show.
I understand that, as the audience, we're not supposed to understand what's going on because, like the protagonist, we're new to this world and it's rules. That's fine, in theory, but when you're going down that root you really have to do a better job of introducing and developing your main character before we fall down the rabbit hole. He can't just be some bland lump. As I've said above, if BONES hadn't made a habit of producing shows that all feature these consistently messy and convoluted stories I wouldn't need to raise so many warning flags so early but I feel entirely justified in doing so based off of previous experience. I think we've all been burned too many times to give them the benefit of the doubt.
This though, this is really like a slap in the face from the writers. They're actively acknowledging that everything is a confusing mess and that eventually they're going to sort it all out and pull you through. Seriously, screw you. If you have faith in your ability to write a decent story then write one and let the audience make up their own minds. Don't ask us to blindly put their faith in the ability when they've demonstrated time and time again that they're not up to scratch.
I'd really like to be wrong and learn that no, all these characters, words, phrases and factions will all mean something important and that the story will develop organically over the course of the show and it won't be filled with hammy writing, bad character designs and bullshits twists. We shall see.
Here's some other random thoughts:
- Night launches are cool, shaky cam is not!
- Are we so tired of Rei-type character designs we have to make boy Rei's now?
- I suppose we have to blame Cowboy Bebop for popularising the kid hacker character stereotype.
- The animation in this first episode was pretty good
- These character designs are awful and why does is the computer system called "Macbeth". Anime.
- This girl has already lost.
foxuzamaki
Doesn't read OPs, especially not his own
Toradora Episode 17
It just hit me, toradora is a very subtle harem anime
Lots of cute moments with taiga this episode, would screencap or even gif some if I had the patience.
It just hit me, toradora is a very subtle harem anime
Lots of cute moments with taiga this episode, would screencap or even gif some if I had the patience.
I'm kinda hoping Takusu ends up with Minori in the end, though I would be fine with taiga, or really any of the 3 girls really
I look at you in a better light regardless
foxuzamaki
Doesn't read OPs, especially not his own
I honeslty hope someone responds to my toradora post, I kinda want to talk about it right now but everyone suddenly decides to disappear D:
I thought this was a corvo post until i scrolled up.
I thought this was a corvo post until i scrolled up.
That is interesting.
killer rin
Member
Nope. Last time I watched S;G was a little over a year ago. I have no idea why its even popping into my head when I'm watching the show. Its odd.
firehawk12
Subete no aware
Everyone forgets about Heroman.
It's funny, while I do appreciate a lot of your concerns, my reaction was different in that what you found a bit vague and underdeveloped I took as taken for granted and extremely tropey. I think that's why I just felt more tired with the show than anything else. If I hadn't watched a lot of shounen mecha, then I might have had your reaction, but it just felt like they were using the same exact playbook. Same main character, same backstory, same mythology. I really don't know what they can do to change it up, because even using female protagonists has become old news now (with Rinne and Vividred and Nobunagun and so on), so there doesn't seem to be a way for me to be interested in the genre anymore.
Or at least, the intro episode. There's a lot of ways to, if nothing else, subvert expectations. I'm just done with chosen-one-thrown-into-mysterious-situation-and-discovers-his-power introductory episodes.
So true.
---
So ANNCast is back and they went on a tour, so I figured that Zac wouldn't have time to talk about how Miyazaki is whitewashing WW2 or whatever.
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/anncast/2014-04-04
This is the tour: https://pacsettours.com/portfolios/animated-spring-2014/#.U0EXEq1dXaA
I'm still not sure how I feel about going on a tour of Japan with a group, although I suppose it'd be cheaper given that a group can probably get better rates than you on your own. Probably the most appealing part would be just having a guide who is going to help you navigate the language barrier, something I'm just wary of doing on my own.
Also sorry zeroshiki, but Zac says Osaka is a dingier Tokyo. So it must be true!
Also, Zac complains about the commercialization of Kyoto's temples. He's obviously has never been to ANY cathedrals in Europe, because apparently only the Japanese like to whore out their religious culture. lol
Basileus777
Member
Captain Earth 1
The writing in this is setting off some alarm bells. I hope this isn't another Bones show where the writing turns into self-indulgent nonsense, though I'm already getting that vibe from the first episode. Please don't be another Star Driver. I'm actually surprised this received so much glowing praise earlier in the day.
The writing in this is setting off some alarm bells. I hope this isn't another Bones show where the writing turns into self-indulgent nonsense, though I'm already getting that vibe from the first episode. Please don't be another Star Driver. I'm actually surprised this received so much glowing praise earlier in the day.
It makes sense that ladies love Ryuuji. He knows how to cook!
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