I personally see the karuta of Chihaya as a vehicle for both character development and thematic transformations, and not much more than that. I'm not seeing how they can be separated, really. Hosanna, I believe even you made the mistake of thinking that ep 14 was all about the game, when it was just for the larger purpose of bringing The Queen into perspective.
Winter 2012 Anime Thread of Roundcats Up in This
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I personally see the karuta of Chihaya as a vehicle for both character development and thematic transformations, and not much more than that. I'm not seeing how they can be separated, really. Hosanna, I believe even you made the mistake of thinking that ep 14 was all about the game, when it was just for the larger purpose of bringing The Queen into perspective.
RurouniZel
Asks questions so Ezalc doesn't have to
I'm here for the pretty artwork on this one. It's nicely drawn/animated for the most part.
hosannainexcelsis
Member
Chihayafuru spends too much time detailing the rules, strategy, and culture of competitive karuta for the game to be nothing more than a vehicle for character development. This isn't a situation where you could swap in any old game and the series would remain essentially unchanged.
firehawk12
Subete no aware
Most of the character development is still tied to the sport though. The only thing we see these characters doing is playing the sport or somehow espousing their love for it. The one time they don't play the sport, they go to Taichi's house in order to practice the sport before being interrupted.
Just thinking about the individual arcs, you have Porky, Desky and Taichi coming to terms with not being the best at something, Kana wanting to see Karuta as more than just overglorified Pokemon or Magic cards with fancy poems on them, and Chihaya with her desire to be the best at the sport.
I don't think that's necessarily a problem, but now that I look at it, it's very heavily skewed toward that direction. I mean to say, you don't really see what these characters are like in the absence of karuta. They don't go to a karoke box or drive to the beach or play at a secret base (while listening to Secret Base) or do whatever it is Japanese teens do in their free time.
There's loads of character development in GK and OoFuri and even in Saki. It's just that a majority is linked to the sport that they play.
Unknown Soldier
Member
I'm fine with Space Pirates possibly being a bunch of fluff, as long as it is going to have some awesome space battles and also gunfights. And fistfights. And other kinds of fights. They're pirates, so there had better be fighting! Marika is pretty cute anyways, and Kana voices the not-Kuroneko character. It seems like it will be a fun show. I'll drop it if it fails to be fun, but I'll stay with it if it is fun.
Femmeworth
Banned
Code Geass Ep. 08
Okay, I have to admit that I'm genuinely getting into this. I'm actually hoping this turns out good in the end. :|
Okay, I have to admit that I'm genuinely getting into this. I'm actually hoping this turns out good in the end. :|
The basics were always going to be explained, sure. The audience needs to know what the hell they're looking at. But as for the history, and/or finer details to the game, look at how they went about that; they used it as a chance to expand Chihaya's harem, exemplify the core theme a bit, and do a bit of building for Oe.
My issue atm is actually sticking a word to the over arching theme. It's various permutations throughout the show have been so obvious and I still can't identify what exactly it is--working backwards, and it feels weird.
Firehawk, my bro, I think we're agreeing, lol. I think it's more character focused than it is sports, but as long as we're agreeing that the developments are linked intrinsically, I don't care enough to take a stand over semantics.
It's too late for you. Welcome to the club.
Unknown Soldier
Member
Oh, it turns out "good" all right. It's not necessarily the definition of "good" you're used to though.
Regulus Tera
Romanes Eunt Domus
Another one bites the dust.
And you thought I was kidding.
Jex
Member
Basically I still think it's still a 'sports' title, just because it happens to have good character development doesn't mean the sport itself is irrelevant. It's just that, unlike other sports titles each episode is not just:
A) Engaging in a match
B) Training for the next match
I am open to the idea of Bodacious Space Pirates, but what's here just...isn't fun. The characters are unmemorable and uninteresting. Each of them has nothing to say, and no memorable features. They kind of try to be stereotypes, but they are so generic and lifeless that they fail to even become anything more than figures that belong far off in the background.
Worst of all the show is plodding along at the worst speed, and nothing of any significance has really happened in the two episodes so far. And the things that actually do occur in the show are just rendered uninteresting by the very vanilla flavor of the show. Like, how are mini-skirts in zero-g this boring? How do you mess up something like that? There is just no spark or creativity to the show, and the awful CG certainly doesn't help in that regard. All I can see when I watch this show is some sad staff member sitting down at a desk and thinking, "Ughhhhhhh, another day slaving away at this stupid space pirate show."
Jex
Member
Clearly if they just had moth bath scenes for the BD release, or perhaps a hint of some man on man action, they'd sell a lot more copies.
Jex
Member
Well, I mean apart from the obvious changes to the team doing the adaptation which has resulted in an inferior product (which I've mentioned earlier) I can certainly say that if that's the pace they're going for they've made a mistake. A lot of the lengthy scenes that they've adapted are little more than fanservice and I don't think fanservice alone holds a show together (especially when it's kind of dull).
There's a ton of fanservice-focused works out there, but Bakemonogatari had (some) memorable characters, which is why the people who liked it, liked it. It was a some fanservice mixed with the character development (apart from the Snake arc) rather than just straight fanservice and nothing interesting happening on screen or in the conversations between characters.
If they cut down on the lengthy and rather pointless sequences and got in with the stuff that's actually, er, new, like the Fire Sisters, that would help.
Trim it, yes, when it's near pointless (which I think it was far more with Snake than with Snail). Speed up the editing, cut down the length of scenes etc. Sometimes things can be sacrificed for entertainment!
I get what you're saying, but that's actually all Chihaya consists of.
Must we sacrifice dignity?
Jex
Member
Not literally, that would be something like Hajime no Ippo where characters exist solely to train and do battle. In Chihayafuru you have characters discuss stuff (shock) unrelated to the sport, or you see Chihaya at home looking through photo albums or Chiahaya and Taichi spending a day out to visit Arata. It's Karuta related, yes, but that' episodes was nearly all character development. They don't dwell on the characters home lives but they do exist and these characters are established in a fairly fleshed out manner. It's not as 'bare bones' as other sports titles.
firehawk12
Subete no aware
It's why I'll say it's a spectrum. But it's much more OoFuri than Adachi. All of this comes back to the fact that I think the romance/love triangle aspect of the show seems to be minimized in favour of the sports. The rather underwhelming/anticlimatic reunion only added to that feeling.
Femmeworth
Banned
Code Geass Ep. 10
Some good action. The Guren Mk-II is awesome. :O
Some good action. The Guren Mk-II is awesome. :O
Jex
Member
But you see what I mean, right? A whole episode where all characters do is travel to see an old friend is kind of outside the realms of a totally straight 'sport' story.
In all fairness Bakemonogatari had quite a bit of trivial banter in it as well, but they managed to do a relatively good job of keeping the pacing fast and I wasn't bothered by it in the same way that I've been bothered by scenes in Nisemonogatari.
Oh wow.
I don't normally like to play the 'back seat director/adapter' game, especially when I don't know the work being adapted. Perhaps if they had betters staff working on the same material (well, not perhaps, I'm sure) it would work better.
Well it was certainly hella Goro, that's for sure.
See, that's the thing; I don't think you should really separate the romance from the characters, as it feels like it was written in Chihayafuru's case not to just be an empty addendum to the narrative, but a core character development device--especially so in the case of Taichi. It sounds as if you want to say that the show has switched gears from it's prologue arc, throwing much of the direction it built towards in that away, but that doesn't really make much sense. It wouldn't have gotten both the extra bit of perspective with Taichi, and the continual small, but significant segments it does if it was really thrown away. Them letting it stew sounds to be the more plausible scenario, to me.
The anti-climatic reunion being only to invigorate/maintain Chihaya's idol infatuation. Having him show himself to her for only that second during the tourney both allows them to maintain Arata's position as the endgame, and saves them from having to write her into getting depressed about his not coming later.
Also, we're in a total circle with this convo, lol. a bit of reiteration in a debate never hurts though.
I saw what you meant, and was never actually the one saying that Chihayafuru was a sports show at all, lol. I was just picking at the irony in your post.
I liked the first episode of Nisemonogatari, but the second episode didn't really do a lot for me. It was sexually charged, but not particularly provocative, particularly on an intellectual level, if that makes sense. I'm also only two episodes into Bakemonogatari right now, and the contrast between the two is rather interesting. Bake is pretty much just mesmerizing and enrapturing out of the gate because its mastery of conversation is interspersed with a more directed plot that keeps the dialogue fresh. Nise so far has pretty much just been a talk tour for the main character, and that format just kind of boxes the show up into a corner where there's less to really be surprised or taken aback about.
Jex
Member
Episode of 7 of Michoko to Hatchin is the bad one? I think not!
Maybe you should check out some Japanese CGI and compare it some good Japanese animation, you'll note that they often have, er difficulty, with CGI people.
Perhaps you've just forgotten what good animation looks like. Have you not seen The Idolm@ster or K-On recently?
Femmeworth
Banned
Code Geass Ep. 11
This definitely had the best action in the whole series thus far, which isn't quite saying much. Regardless, some damn good action between
As long as there is more fine action like that, I don't care how bad the story gets.
This definitely had the best action in the whole series thus far, which isn't quite saying much. Regardless, some damn good action between
the Guren Mk-II and the Lancelot, as well as the Four Holy Swords versus the royal guard.
So looks like there will be another season of Uta no Prince-sama. Good for everyone who likes singing bishies, I guess.
If you guys havent seen Taisho baseball girls i highly recommend it.
Arata husbandu pillows to save the show.
This always makes me think about how the anime musical is a nearly nonexistent genre.
PdotMichael
Banned
Your country just isn't capable of handling Taisho-era girls singing a traditional song about Tokyo.
Regulus Tera
Romanes Eunt Domus
I doubt Shaft will care about that when the BDs top the charts.
Why the FUCK are there so many translator notes on what's supposed to be a professional sub?
Its not better. You are missing out on :cajun
[Nisemonogatari]
In fact, that might well be one of the reasons why Karen Bee will be 7 episodes long versus 4 episodes for Tsukihi Phoenix (both stories are equally long in novel form): the Grand Harem Tour is in the first 150 pages or so, and trimming the banter past that should be considerably easier.
But like I said earlier... ah, I see you replied below. ^^
In fact, that might well be one of the reasons why Karen Bee will be 7 episodes long versus 4 episodes for Tsukihi Phoenix (both stories are equally long in novel form): the Grand Harem Tour is in the first 150 pages or so, and trimming the banter past that should be considerably easier.
Try this link, perhaps.
Complete with creepy youtoob description: "I want Koume's clothes after she's spent a day playing baseball in the heat. The smell of active, adolescent girl embedded in fabric drenched in her blooming body's sweat is something I'd kill for. After all, hygiene in the Taishou era must not have been as good as it is today.
Pic related: I want a whiff. I want to hold her close to me in a loving embrace, and inhale the fragrance that wafts from her body.
Oh and her feet must smell delicious too."
It's probably like, important to some people for some obscure reason, dunno.
Femmeworth
Banned
Regulus Tera
Romanes Eunt Domus
Why do you think Asuka is always the one that gets
mutilated physically and psychologically
"This video contains content from The Anime Network, who has blocked it in your country on copyright grounds."
lmao, looks like something you'd find on sos
A Black Falcon
Member
Because the Japanese have bad taste and prefer Rei, right?
Femmeworth
Banned
It all makes sense now!
Oh I believed you, I was just curious on what exactly "terrible" fanservice was.
Now I can look at Maken-Ki and think it's an alright show now.
Oh, it's still entertaining to a lesser degree, but bare fanservice like that is unmemorable.
It wasn't only the pacing. There was a sense of cohesiveness in the unfolding plot, tying the mood of each ensuing banter to their respective places. I feel Nise is relying too much on past familiarity with the Bake cast to establish a similar mood if that makes any sense.
I agree my comments could have me assuming such a role, but the reason I'm particular about that opening scene is because it set the meaningless tone throughout that episode. Undistilled fanservice like in Nise is entertaining in its own way, but it isn't why I watched Bake in the first place.
Unknown Soldier
Member
There's a couple of comments in response to that video which I won't even copy-pasta verbatim. Only look at them if you are really, really brave or suicidal.
Jex
Member
I agree with all of this as well, I just didn't want to say it again because it might have sounded like I was repeating myself. Of course, because I didn't do that my opinions on that matter weren't clear, whoops.
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