Tokyo Otaku Mode: Could you give us some background on what made you decide to take on this project?
Director Keiichi Sato: For this, I received a request to direct a Bahamut anime and create a story from scratch. Up until now, Ive worked a lot in genres that Im good at, such as near-future anime, and I hadnt made any fantasy anime with swords and magic or any on-the-road type anime. I took on the project thinking it would be good to focus on something different and challenge myself.
TOM: What else did you focus on in this work?
Sato: I tried to keep the story simple while leaving room for emotional depth. I think its important to keep the important plot points spread out in the story, but I didnt want to make something that wouldnt be understood and accessible after watching the first episode. I am always thinking about how the character drama should develop and grow as I write. This series follows an adult character in a grown up world, and he likes to drink. Im very interested to see how his mature behaviour is received by younger viewers.
TOM: Could you tell us in detail how you ended up working in the anime industry?
Sato: At first, I teamed up with a friend from school, aiming to become a comedian.
TOM: Comedian? So thats why youre so good at talking. But still, comedy and anime directing are two completely different jobs, wouldnt you say?
Sato: It was in my high school years that I first saw MTV. Before that, I was watching Best Hit USA. I like western music, and watching promotional videos made me dreaming of making PVs myself. I didnt know how I could enter the video world, so I was worried, then a friend invited me to do comedy. That was what started me on the road of comedy (laughs). The friend who invited me made a night flight, and just when I was struggling and not sure what to do, an acquaintance introduced me to a studio in Tokyo, which I went to work for. I worked behind the scenes, making variety programs and television dramas.
The first episode hasn't aired in Japan yet. I bet it'll come back after that happens in a few hours.this interests me much more than I thought it would being based on a F2P mobile game.
Where are you guys watching the first episode? It doesn't seem to be on funimation anymore.
yeah, I'm liking the humor so far.This part slayed me. I was waiting for something completely epic, then the dog scene just... bahahahahahahahaha
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Episode 1
That was even better than I expected honestly. It wasn't just the production values which impressed, but how it was all put together. For fantasy animation is definitely felt inspired by films than by other anime, which is always refreshing for the medium. It's a very expressive show with minimal exposition, something I certainly hope continues.
It's really nice to see a story being told by what happens rather than people explaining what is supposed to be happening. The relationships between the characters, their motivations, and the general setting in the world can be derived by what the characters do and what they say to each other without anything feeling unnatural. The title cards for the character names are pretty hilarious too. For a show with a dark setting where people don't seem to mind killing each other, the tone is pretty whimsical. Pirates of the Caribbean comes to mind... for more than one reason (lol).
So yeah, the story seems interesting enough, the characters are better than expected, the animation is great, the action is great, the music is phenomenal. Unless they totally fuck it up, this could be a real winner.
It is again interesting to note that this praise for a anime TV program would be considered the bare minimal qualification for a American live action TV procedural. There really is a chasm of expectations and standards when people critically approach Western live action shows compared to Japanese anime ones.
Amira is much more kid-like than I expected compared to the 1st episode.
Episode 2
The highlight of the episode was definitely the dance sequence. Not only was it really energetic, it also did a great job of conveying how drunk Amira was, which made the scene much more humorous.
Oh yeah, the Sayo Yaamoto directed ED for Bahamut is pretty good although I'm not really in love with the music:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvkXodHrIIk
It's certainly up there with Sayo Yamamoto other recent ED's like Attack on Titan:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWUCdTngVjk
and Fujiko OH GOD NSFW:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbJUjfKS3IU
She's certainly been sticking to one visual style for all three shows.
the dancing was also really nice.
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/all that f2p money doing work
the whole setting made by any type of monster or mythical creature, magic stone cards and dragons does a pretty good job in reminding that this is an anime based off a fantasy game. not sure why you get that impression just from a talking duck, lol.The duck and the drunk man are fine, but they detract the work in the sense that they are in the group of things reminding me that it's either based off a game or anime.
Same with theat the end. Stuff like that ruins my immersion.two talking cat/dogs who made 'cute' noises
the whole setting made by any type of monster or mythical creature, magic stone cards and dragons does a pretty good job in reminding that this is an anime based off a fantasy game. not sure why you get that impression just from a talking duck, lol.
the lady with those 2 puppets will probably be a shitty cliched charchter, hopefully they won't fanservice into her tits too much.