MetroidPrimeRib
Banned
Being extremely reductive doesn't stop these shows from disappointing at the finish line
-
Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!
Autumn Anime 2016 |OT| The seasons change, but we're still Falling for Euri
- Thread starter TUSR
- Start date
- Status
Being extremely reductive doesn't stop these shows from disappointing at the finish line
SliceSabre
Banned
Note that I'm not defending any of these shows or even disagreeing with anyone, just pointing out what is common sentiment seen in the animegaf threads near the end of every season.
EDIT: I'm the type of person that if I had even a few shows I liked/enjoyed in a season it was a good season.
hosannainexcelsis
Member
Ha ha, I only mean that in the sense that
main character learns her life and relationships are all a lie.
I said from the first episode, when some people were complaining about how plotless it was, that the more Flip Flappers focused on plot the worse it would be. Turns out I was right!
Time to live in the past of our backlogs!
nintendoman58
Member
Flip Flappers' plot would have been fine if it was as standard as something like Precure's.
Here's all it needed to be: Evil dudes want the fragments, Papika and Cocona gotta get them before they do. At first glance, that's what it is.
But then you have the creepy cryptic-nature of these villains, the rivalry with Yayaka, this Cocona/Mimi psychological thing, whatever the heck is up with Dr. Salt, and the whole thing ends up being a mess!
In something like Smile Precure, it's: Bad guys want bad energy, they get bad energy, and girls stop them from hurting people. Their goal is to resurrect their evil king, and the majority of the foreshadowing is just a literal clock that ticks to his arrival every episode. That's it.
Narrative-wise as a whole, the story wasn't really that strong. But do you know what the show as a whole was? FUN.
I had fun with the episodic antics of the characters, as repetitive as the show was. The villains were fun because they hammed it up and acted like jackasses. None of it felt rushed as the show was 50 episodes.
I wanted Flip Flappers to follow a similar structure and with every passing episode I got more and more nervous of this outcome as I loved all the fun adventures in Pure Illusion. That's not to say I wanted it to have no story at all, but this is a clear example of sloppy build-up and sloppy execution.
I can't for the life of me think of an anime that went middle of the road with episodic and narrative structured shows when the show is only 12 episodes. A side just has to be picked otherwise the show will only turn out as a mess.
Here's all it needed to be: Evil dudes want the fragments, Papika and Cocona gotta get them before they do. At first glance, that's what it is.
But then you have the creepy cryptic-nature of these villains, the rivalry with Yayaka, this Cocona/Mimi psychological thing, whatever the heck is up with Dr. Salt, and the whole thing ends up being a mess!
In something like Smile Precure, it's: Bad guys want bad energy, they get bad energy, and girls stop them from hurting people. Their goal is to resurrect their evil king, and the majority of the foreshadowing is just a literal clock that ticks to his arrival every episode. That's it.
Narrative-wise as a whole, the story wasn't really that strong. But do you know what the show as a whole was? FUN.
I had fun with the episodic antics of the characters, as repetitive as the show was. The villains were fun because they hammed it up and acted like jackasses. None of it felt rushed as the show was 50 episodes.
I wanted Flip Flappers to follow a similar structure and with every passing episode I got more and more nervous of this outcome as I loved all the fun adventures in Pure Illusion. That's not to say I wanted it to have no story at all, but this is a clear example of sloppy build-up and sloppy execution.
I can't for the life of me think of an anime that went middle of the road with episodic and narrative structured shows when the show is only 12 episodes. A side just has to be picked otherwise the show will only turn out as a mess.
KirbYuuYuu
Member
Guess I made the right call in not watching Flip Flappers after 3 episodes lol
Turin Turambar
Member
I'm too cool for school and dropped Flip Flappers after the first ep.
Cornbread78
Member
LOL, the same spot I stopped watching as well. Something about that episode really put me off. Well, I could probably describe it, but I'll leave it at that, lol.
Hellwarden
Member
Episode 3 was the peak of Flip Flappers.
Cornbread78
Member
something like that... It went places...
That would be episode 6.
I always said Flip Flappers sucked because the leads sucked. Heavy plot or episodic focus doesn't matter when I have no reason to care about these characters. Chemistry is the one thing Precure always gets right, but Flip Flappers completely dropped that ball in every aspect.
nintendoman58
Member
At least I got a good Super Robot 2D mecha tribute in episode 8.
PdotMichael
Banned
Except 2017 when you can eat Sabers for breakfast.
Cornbread78
Member
LOL, true, very true... That post exuded excitement.
Turin Turambar
Member
Is she also too cool for school?
BTW, how many eps is going to have Yuri!! on Ice? I'm continuing it with the thinking that it was the typical 12-13 episodes, otherwise I would have dropped it already.
NaDannMaGoGo
Member
Yuri on Ice, Flip Flappers, To Be Hero, March comes in like a Lion and The Great Passage all delivered promising first episodes.
Now only The Great Passage remains as I cannot muster up the energy to continue any of the others. The season sure took a nose dive. Thankfully there's also Haikyuu and for all I know that Udon show and Digimon will be of quality too, when I eventually get to watch them.
Now only The Great Passage remains as I cannot muster up the energy to continue any of the others. The season sure took a nose dive. Thankfully there's also Haikyuu and for all I know that Udon show and Digimon will be of quality too, when I eventually get to watch them.
KirbYuuYuu
Member
I mean Megumi and Hime weren't exactly great together, but at least they had other characters yeah.
The characters in Flip Flappers just couldn't gel with me. It's like people forcing Riko x Yoshiko pairings. It just doesn't work.
Jex
Member
I think the comparison with Death Parade isn't entirely accurate, but it is instructive to compare the two shows. DP and FF both contain episodic stories inside the shell of a larger narrative, they do it in very different ways.
- In DP, every episode tells a different story about a different character. It explores the lives of a wide variety of characters to make its points about human nature.
- In FF most episodes feature some kind of adventure which explores a theme or idea that ties back into the main characters and their relationship. Outside of episode 6, FF doesn't really tell actual stories in the same way that DP does.
- The set-up of DP is much cleaner. Chiyuki is essentially a woman with no memory who wakes up in this strange world and has to do this very weird job. That's the entire premise - there's no weird mysteries to unravel, besides who Chiyuki was back in 'the real world'. We learn about Chiyuki's past in a very focused story-arc right at the end of the series and the revelations about her life don't tie into a bunch of other mysteries that explain the rest of the series - they just illustrate it's themes.
- Meanwhile in FF there are multiple secret organisations with unclear origins and aims chasing shadowy McGuffins. Every character has a secret backstory and secret motivation that all ties back into an overly-messy, yet still completely opaque narrative. Everyone is lying all the time about everything for some reason, but don't worry because it Will All Make Sense Soon.
Yuki Yuna is a Hero 1
I hoped it would be more than a Madoka on discount, but the first episode didn't really impress me. They try to make the world artistic and they fail miserably compared to shows like Madoka or even Flip Flappers. The Mami imitation isn't particularly interesting as a character that is supposed to introduce you to the new world. Even the transformation music reminds me of Madoka, though it feels uninspired. Also, maybe because I knew what I was getting into, the normal life red herring felt really boring and dumb.
The show's saving grace were really those last seconds. Cool transformation and action sequence. I wonder if that's enough for an enjoyable show, because it doesn't seem like that.
I hoped it would be more than a Madoka on discount, but the first episode didn't really impress me. They try to make the world artistic and they fail miserably compared to shows like Madoka or even Flip Flappers. The Mami imitation isn't particularly interesting as a character that is supposed to introduce you to the new world. Even the transformation music reminds me of Madoka, though it feels uninspired. Also, maybe because I knew what I was getting into, the normal life red herring felt really boring and dumb.
The show's saving grace were really those last seconds. Cool transformation and action sequence. I wonder if that's enough for an enjoyable show, because it doesn't seem like that.
MakotoYuki
Member
I was zapping and found Isu Grand Prix, now I'm watching it thanks to Yuri on Ice.
hosannainexcelsis
Member
Char Aznable
Member
Keijo!!! Ep 10
Cornbread78
Member
Well, it's ecchi, so I'm guess you will find out at some point with a tail grab.
My pickings for this season didn't quite come out as well as I had hoped. Probably is kind of sad that Bungou Stray Dogs is likely going to be AotS for me lol, but that the show that I felt has been really damn good and consistent for the most part. Euphorium S2 is still great in ways, but some of its drama and structure kind of drags it down this season. I wish I enjoyed 3-gatsu more, but it has some things that really drags it down to disappointing levels. Izetta and ClassicaLoid are okay, with ClassicaLoid being really hit or miss in particular.
Joe Molotov
Member
Cornbread78
Member
There is something extremely disturbing about this gif...
MikeHattsu
Member
Anime
Is that potential even high though? I mean I have been defending some of the writing in here sporadically, but as much as I think the character arc for Cocona is decently made, it's something we've seen done hundreds of times and I don't really feel FF differentiates itself or puts a particularly interesting spin on it.
The real strength of the show was always the Pablo-infused colorful adventure and the variety in the ambiance of each new world they visited. These past episodes going plot-heavy in drab looking labs just don't carry much weight, especially since so much of 10 was about 'revealing' stuff that people discussing the show had recognized many weeks ago.
That's high praise, coming from you.
Flip Flappers 10
Main plots in episodic shows are overrated and often lead to garbage like this. It's a lesson that people should just enjoy the episodic goodness instead of demanding progression towards some final big bad or whatever other nonsense that isn't relevant to most of the show.
Main plots in episodic shows are overrated and often lead to garbage like this. It's a lesson that people should just enjoy the episodic goodness instead of demanding progression towards some final big bad or whatever other nonsense that isn't relevant to most of the show.
Cornbread78
Member
Joe Molotov
Member
Senran Kagura
Well...it might be weekly on Netflix Japan if they have it exclusively.
Cornbread78
Member
Dedication Through Light
Member
2nd side is good, but the other side could have been much more pleasing.
But what about elsewhere. D: It be too bad if needing to wait to see it legally in the spring or such.
nintendoman58
Member
YUKI YUNA YUUSHA OH.
The show manages to come out nicely as its own thing early on. It's more something that was inspired by Madoka than it was something copying it.
Yuki Yuna has some lows, but I'm someone who really liked its highs.
NaDannMaGoGo
Member
Kemono no Souja Erin - 37
Because you ruined the episode? 37 episodes in and I'm supposed to care about some new brat with a sob story. I probably can't finish this series, even though I'm fairly invested being 37 episodes deep and still sorta curious how it'll all play out.
I think that by now the best parts of an episode are the appearances of yet another cover version of the OP or an entirely new song.
Because you ruined the episode? 37 episodes in and I'm supposed to care about some new brat with a sob story. I probably can't finish this series, even though I'm fairly invested being 37 episodes deep and still sorta curious how it'll all play out.
I think that by now the best parts of an episode are the appearances of yet another cover version of the OP or an entirely new song.
Emperor_EL
Member
Keijo!!!!!!!!! Ep 10
When I saw the move in the OP I called it the "Gate of Bootylon". I had no idea that it'd actually be called that. This show is brilliantly stupid & stupidly brilliant!
When I saw the move in the OP I called it the "Gate of Bootylon". I had no idea that it'd actually be called that. This show is brilliantly stupid & stupidly brilliant!
- Status